StarFox: Cerinia Has Fallen
by Dakota West
Disclaimer: This is a fan made story chronicling the character known as Krystal from Nintendo's popular video game series, StarFox (also known as Lylat Wars), leading up to the destruction of the planet known as Cerinia. While the reported destruction of Cerinia is an official event in the StarFox universe, the events mentioned in this story are not and therefore should not be considered in any way, shape, or form to be canonical to the StarFox universe. I do not claim ownership of any kind. All rights go to their respective owners.
With that said, enjoy the fan fiction.
Chapter Two: Coronation
"... And with that, we move on to our next top story: Top student of the Cerinian Temple, Valin Emerov, will be coronated to sagehood tonight! A surprise announcement was made only a couple of minutes ago and the Temple is opening it's gates for the public for the first time in twenty years." the news channel was buzzing throughout the city.
"Valin is the subject of a lot of talk as of right now as he is to be the youngest sage coronated in it's history at the age of twenty one. Record breaking as the next youngest sage was Randorn, who was coronated at the age of thirty six, making Valin fifteen years younger. The student's records states that he has proven to be a born natural at the magical arts and his knowledge in them is unrivaled among his classmates. He has also demonstrated exceptional combat training, being voted second best in his class next to fellow student, Sabre. Back to you, Kris..."
The news spread like wildfire among the community, from the mellow suburbs to the uproarous downtown city. A coronation to sagehood? That was a particularly rare event to witness. It was practically like seeing a prince be named king! Everyone began going on their social media networks, inviting friends with them to see this ceremony. The sound of typing on key boards and tapping of touch screens could be heard all over the city, all of which having something to do with Valin's coronation.
Valin himself became increasingly excited. He had adorned himself with a white robe. Gold silk could be seen at the edges of his hood, sleeves and at the bottom. He wore a silver necklace with a gold symbol, a spiral with four triangles pointing in all directions. His hair was slicked back and he had recently washed his red and brown fur, which gave an illustrious shine in the twilight.
Under the robe was a purple long sleeved shirt and white pants. His shoes were a light brown and made of fine leather and his hands were covered by white gloves with the same symbol as the necklace. And finally, as a sentiment to his dear parent's, he wore a mask, the Mask of the Dearly Beloved. Gold lines traced lovingly on the silver face of a Lupis, created a tear shape around the eyes.
He looked at himself from the mirror that lay on his desk. Yes, he thought to himself, this will do for the coronation.
There was a knock on the door.
As he went to open it, there was Krystal, also dressed in a manner similar to him. She was wearing a white and gold dress with many adornments on her head. She looked breath taking.
"Hello again, Valin." she said with a big smile. Valin was a tad confused as to why she was so well dressed.
"What are you doing here?" he asked politely.
"I am to escort you to where you will be named a sage. My father chose me of all people. Said it would be fitting. Whatever that means." she said, still smiling.
Valin understood what she did not but did not speak. He only nodded.
"Well," she said "let's not keep them waiting."
He closed the door behind him and followed her down the stairs. As they went from the dorms to the main hall, he could hear the thunderous sound of people talking and laughing coming from the courtyard. Too many to be just the temple dwellers.
Krystal stopped and turned to him.
"Now don't be shy... but there are a LOT of people out there." she smiled.
She opened the door. Bright spot lights blinded him for an instant followed by several flashing lights coming from all sides. He quickly deduced that these were cameras taking pictures of him.
Through it all, he noticed it: thousands of people around him. He began to get a little nervous, which Krystal took notice of. She grabbed his arm gently and laughed.
"Come on, Valin. Let's get to the temple balcony so we can get this all under wraps. These people are excited to see you become a sage."
"I know." he said as they began to walk. "I just did not expect to see so many people here. It's kinda daunting."
"No." Krystal jovially said. "Fighting Saber is daunting. Becoming a sage at your age is a daunting task. This is nothing."
She was right. He began to walk with more of a spring. Krystal took notice of this and had to adjust herself accordingly. She was escorting him after all.
As they reached the alter over at the temple balcony, there sat Randorn along with the other four sages. They stopped and Krystal took a bow before her father and quickly went to sit next to the rest of the students.
Randorn looked at Valin and began to speak.
"Valin, I have heard the voices of the temple and they have told me that your time to be a sage has come!" he gave a big grin to Valin. "Valin... for the following reasons of exceptional swordsmanship, masterful use of magic, excellent teaching for struggling students, and understanding the knowledge of this world and it's various laws and ideals, it is with great pleasure that I announce you Valin, Sage of Wisdom!"
Randorn pulled out a large amulet with a symbol of a half circle with two dots surrounding it above a straight line. Valin kneeled to one knee. Randorn then placed the amulet over Valin's head and set it around his neck gently.
"So rise, Valin. And be known among us as Sage of Wisdom!"
A great weight nearly prevented him from rising back up. But, with great effort, he got back to his feet. Thunderous applause was heard and he felt a sense of relief. It was over. He could go back n-
"And now, of course, we FEAST! We have prepared a mighty dinner for this event. Even on such short notice, our cooks have done their best to give us quality food for this special event! Come everyone! To the dining hall!" Randorn bellowed.
Another thunderous applause was heard as the students surrounded Valin and carried him to the dining hall.
...
Krystal and Saber sat next to the other students adjacent to Valin, who was at the very front of the dining hall with the other sages. He seemed to be discussing something with them. His mask of the dearly beloved was off.
Saber spoke. "I wonder what they are talking about."
"Probably how to better teach us or some crap like that." Lindah laughed.
"I don't know." Krystal said, "From what I have heard, they actually talk about things like the future and where the world is heading. It is odd that they would name Valin a sage so young. Perhaps there's more to it than that."
"Bah! Whatever! Nice guy and all but Valin always had a sense of awkwardness about him!" Saber said.
"Agreed." Lindah replied. "He always kept to his books and all that. He never came out and hung out with any classmates unless it was in a classroom, learning a subject."
"I think that just shows how genuine he is about his passion." Krystal said. "His awkwardness comes off as sweet. I think he just needs some people to help him get out of his room more often."
Saber laughed. "Are you suggesting us?"
Krystal frowned. "Yes, actually. There a problem with that?"
Saber turned and took a huge bite out of his steak. "Yeah." he said, mouth still full. "The guy is a total stiff. Sure, he can fight and knows a lot of magic. But have you ever really had a discussion with him? He only ever talks about that stuff. I enjoy our temple as much as the next person but damn he needs another hobby."
Krystal continued to frown. "Precisely why we should help him with that."
Lindah finally spoke again. "I think Krystal is right. Valin would be a cool person to hang out with a lot if he just had some people like us."
Saber scoffed. "Alright fine! You guys do what you want."
Lindah edged a little closer to Saber. "What's this 'you guys' thing all about?"
Saber blushed. "I don't really care about getting to know the guy that much."
Lindah edged a little closer. "Come on, Saber. Do it for me, please?"
Saber blushed even more. Her muzzle was almost touching his. She had these pleading eyes and all that begging nonsense going on.
"D'oh, alright!" He finally said.
Lindah scooted back to her seat with a silent yay.
Krystal looked bewildered. She was not sure what she just saw. Did Lindah just flirt with her brother? She chuckled to herself.
Over in the back ground, someone yelled for Valin to do a speech, which was soon met with more people.
Krystal looked at Valin. Clear across the other side of the table, four hundred feet away from her, she could see his nervous expression. Randorn gave him a pat on the pack. But that didn't comfort him much, it seemed.
He slowly rose from his seat. He was handed a micro phone. Krystal would never forget the look of fear in his eyes. He began to stammer.
"I-I want to- to thank you all for c-coming." He began. "I- I have been living in this temple for almost eighteen years a- and these have all been wonderful years for me. Wi-" he stopped.
"I-" he began again, "I have met a lot of students in the time being here. Many of whom I have grown to be rather fond of." He looked around. "I-..."
Something was wrong and Krystal could feel it. She had a knack for this extrasensory perception.
Valin tried to speak once more. "I hope to be..." he stopped again. "I... I..."
He suddenly began running out of the room, his face covered by his sleeves.
"Well, damn." Saber said. "I did not expect that."
Randorn picked up the microphone.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" he boomed. "Pay him no mind. He's just shy is all. This is all a very new experience for him! Anyway thank you very much for participating in this rather historical event and the door is that way when you have finished eating! Good night everyone!" he said as he began to head in the direction of Valin.
Krystal rose out of her chair and was just starting to make her way to the dorms to see what was wrong when Lindah and Saber grabbed her hands.
"What are you doing? Let me go." she said.
"Trust me, Krystal, it's best if you let Randorn handle this. I'm sure Valin does not want anyone seeing him in tears right now." Saber said.
"What are you talking about?" she said harshly.
"I'm a guy, trust me on this. We never want to show weakness to anyone." he said sternly.
She broke free of their grasp and began heading in that direction, ignoring the waits and don'ts coming from behind her.
She went to the hall and got to the stairs where she could hear Valin and Randorn talking.
"What did you expect to happen, Randorn?!"
"I expected you to just say thank you to everyone and say that you hope to make them proud or something like that and then sit your blooming ass back down!"
"That was so embarrassing! I must look like a damned fool!"
"Valin, don't worry about it. I screwed up big time on my first speech. It happens, my boy. You get used to it after a while."
"Well what do we do now?"
"Tomorrow we will be have the staff ceremony and-"
"I know!" There was a pause. "I know..."
"Get a speech prepared for her and when you hand her the staff, give that speech to her too."
"Okay..."
"I am gonna go back to eating my dinner now, if you want I will have one of the servants come and bring yours up here."
"Thanks..."
Krystal hid behind a tapestry as Randorn came out of the room and went down the stairs. So it was a girl that was getting the staff tomorrow? And Valin was to give it to them personally? Neat information to find out but she had more pressing things to attend to.
She slowly came up to the room. Valin was whispering to himself about something. It sounded like a speech. Something for whoever was recieving the staff tomorrow, most likely.
"Hey." she broke the silence. Valin nearly jumped ten feet in the air. She had really startled him.
"Krystal..." he said softly. "How long have you been there?"
"I just got up here. I wanted to see how you were doing."
He recollected himself and tried to look as aloof as possible. "I am fine." he finally said after nearly a minute of silence. "You should go eat and be among your friends. I really have other things to attend to right now."
"I was wondering if you wanted to come back down with me and be hang out with us." she said as gently as she could, trying not to make feel anymore uncomfortable.
He began to stammer. "I- I- I'd really like to but, this really isn't the best time for me to be hanging around with other students right now. I really do have to get on to something urgent. Randorn was up here and gave me my first task as a newly appointed sage and all."
Krystal walked over closer to him. "I see. Well, my friends and I will be down over by the courtyard after everything is said and done. Maybe when you are finished we can hang out then?" She smiled. "It's a weekend night anyway."
Valin stared at his mirror. Then he stared back at her.
"Very well." he said. "When I am done preparing for the task I have been given for tomorrow, I will come down and meet with you guys."
Krystal beamed up with happiness. "Great! We will see you then!"
As she was making her way for the exit she turned to him again. "And by the way," she spoke, "I think you are going to be a great sage."
With that, she left. Valin began to think about what a kind girl she had always been. She was far more polite than most. Not that he had a real issue with other people, but she just seemed so genuinely likable. With those thoughts running in his head he began preparing a speech for her. Hopefully he would not botch this one up.
End of Chapter 2