A/N: Having read chapter 12 of Reflections of Regret will help you to understand a part in this chapter. Not NECESSARY, mind you, but a part from this chapter will be explaining questions people had in regards to a part from that story's chapter.

If you didn't already know, I've made a facebook page for readers of my stories. Simply look up, "Kit Karamak" and click "become a fan". Feel free to say what's up, ask about my next update or whatever else. You don't have to do it RIGHT NOW, or anything. I'll remind you again at the end of the chapter. xD

Chapter -21-
"New Direction"

Fox ducked a tree branch, keeping his eyes on Fara and Marcus with his paws in his pockets. He was ignoring Panther and Tricky; his mind was wondering. He pondered what it was like to fake your death for the media, something his son had to endure at the moment. Even though Fox, himself, was also thought to be dead, he had an older frame of mind about the situation – it didn't bother the aging pilot, but he knew it had to bother his son. Then he wondered what it was like living in a shadow far taller than James McCloud ever created. He thought about what it must have been like to have a son and hardly know him. Fox's thoughts turned to Jaye.

A deep, creamy voice filled Fox's ear. The feline spoke with a slight smile. "So, McCloud, what's it like to find out you're the Prince of Cerinia by marriage? Or would it technically be king, now?"

Fox didn't respond. He was deep in thought and didn't give a damn about whatever Caruso had to say. He saw the clearing up ahead and followed Fara and Marcus through the last row of trees. He activated his shield barrier, as did everyone else. McCloud gave one to Tricky and activated it for him. The group crossed the vast stretch of dirt. A few charred stumps remained but most of everything was gone. A temple could be seen in the distance, hiding behind a row of trees at the opposite end of the clearing.

However, the group soon realized that they wouldn't require entrance to the damaged building. There was a fresh, scorched hole at the center of the clearing. At first it looked similar to a crater but upon closer inspection, the deep indentation in the ground had a hole at the bottom, which led into a cavern. However, it was dangerously high up.

Fara and Marcus were the first to the sinkhole. Fara got down on her knees and peered into the aperture with Marcus holding her by the hips for stability. Loose sand rolled into the hole but the granite beneath was solid enough to keep the strangely placed entrance from widening. The fennec glanced back at everyone and said, "Foxes and cats should be able to survive this drop. Tricky would never make it, though. Not without being injured. We could always climb through the temple remains but I understand that may take some time to clear out."

Fox folded his arms. "Tricky came from there – he wouldn't be able to fit back through that way, though."

The King Earthwalker nosed by everyone and stuck his enormous head down into the hole. After a minute, he pulled back out and shook the dirt from this face. "There's a shuttle down there. It's big enough that I can jump down onto it. I can make that. I know I can."

Fara tapped her lower lip with a manicured fingernail. "How'd it get down there – wouldn't there be another hole that allowed it access to the underground cavern? This one is hardly the size of a person."

"Good question," murmured Panther. "She did have an entrance. There's a cavernous way in not far from here. If we head to the temple I should be able to get my bearings to its location."

"You having memory problems?" asked Fox with a smirk.

Caruso glared at Fox with a wide left eye and a half-lidded right eye, furrowing a single brow in question. "Last time I saw this area from this angle, there were more trees. Last time I went to the cavern, I'd come from the temple. I need to be there to acclimate myself. Follow me, everyone."

"Here we go," mumbled Marcus. "It's time to follow the village idiot. This can't be good."

Fara gently nudged him to lower his voice, trying not to grin. Next, his father glanced at him and came alongside the young man, whispering, "When all of this stuff settles down, we should arrange some visitation time with my grandson."

Marcus rolled his shoulders up in a shrug. "I'll talk to little miss Violet Gryphon Lombardi if she's in the talking mood."

"You say her name with such contempt." Fox quirked a brow.

"I shouldn't have," he replied with a sigh. "She's been working with me to see him but… I still feel a little awkward about how it all happened. Anyhow." He trailed off and the group continued to follow Panther Caruso.

Krystal blinked then returned her paws to Kursed's head. Seeing the collaboration with Fox McCloud on Kew helped to jog some of her memories. She was starting to see familiar things but it wasn't enough to help her remember everything. Needless to say, she was seeing Fox's amnesia and what happened with Octoman back on Kew. Kursed's memory took place the day after Fox McCloud's birthday. (Reflections of Regret, Chapter 12)

So far, everything she saw was identical to what occurred in her life. Krystal watched the memories through Kursed's mind as if she were living them, herself.

"You! Telepath!" The masculine voice startled her. She looked up from where she was leaning against the Arwing's hull then tilted her head. It wasn't her watcher. Instead, it was a man dressed in some sort of fatigues in an unfamiliar style.

"So you are a Kew Hunter."

He folded his arms across his chest, approaching her in a casual fashion. "Your perverted mind tricks tell you that, girl?"

She blinked. "No, my…" She wanted to say that her watcher mentioned it but then she remembered watchers weren't supposed to interact. She tilted her head and said, "My keen eye – I'm a perceptive girl."

He gritted his teeth. "Telepaths aren't supposed to know about Kew hunters until it's too late for them. Are you somehow able to read my mind? After all, you understand my language so you must be reading some part of my mind. You're even speaking back to me in my native tongue. Hmm… I've not seen a telepath with your abilities before. Where are you from and why are you here?"

"My world, Cerinia, feel to a tragedy that was unavoidable. The central star collapsed. Billions are dead and it's possible I'm the last of that race. I'm here because I came to stop a criminal from hiding out in this area. I'm not sure how I'm able to understand you, as your kind blocks out my ability to hear conscious thoughts but I assure you I'm not scanning your mind as an act of perversity. Incidentally, how did you know I was telepathic?"

"We lock on to people's mental signatures. Yours is developed, allowing me to see that you can read thoughts. It is, shall we say, an underdeveloped version of your abilities. But you probably already knew that, since you can somehow read my mind."

"I'm afraid I can't read anything more than your emotions," she said with a frown. "And I can tell that you're not happy to see me, but that much is obvious by the coldness in your eyes."

"I kill your kind for a living," he sneered. "I'm pleased to hear your race has been eradicated. It is the mighty Creator's way of giving other species back their freedom of thought and free will."

"After what has happened to me over the last few days, believe me when I tell you, sir, that NO ONE can appreciate free will more so than myself. I've recently had it stripped from me and it was awful. I'll politely decline to comment on your words concerning my friends, family and home. While I find it ignorant to say such things, I understand that your job is to stop errant telepaths from becoming dangerous. I mean harm to no one. In fact, I didn't even kill the criminal I tracked to this planet. I put him into custody. A jury of his peers will decide his fate on the planet Venom in the Lylat system."

"Your presence here is less than comforting to me," he said in a throaty voice. "If you really are the last of your race, then you're all alone."

"That's unfortunately the point," she said, trying not to be facetious about his semi-insulting words. "I assure you I'm leaving in peace after I clean up the mess that was made on your planet." She gestured to the Arwing. "We also extinguished the smoldering remains of a shuttle in a clearing not far from here. It belonged to Octoman, the criminal I'm bringing to justice. I have acquaintances that are coming through here to pick up these scraps then we'll be underway."

"You know… I've always wanted to catch a telepath and find out what makes them tick," he mused, folding his arms. He wasn't a badger like Darius – instead, he was a generic looking weasel. It was obvious that the two races were related but also had trademark differences. The man continued, bringing a chill to her spine. "Little girl, no one would find you if there aren't others like you to search. Knowing your mind better would help us do our jobs better."

"If you're looking for a volunteer with whom to play mind games… you should probably look elsewhere."

"I didn't say anything about volunteering." He leered at her then grinned deviously. Rather suddenly he disappeared. There was no light or fancy effects but, all the same, Kursed felt her eyes hurt terribly. Seeing him teleport made her eyes sensitive. She covered her face and groaned in pain.

He appeared behind her with an arm around her neck. "Just relax. There's no need to struggle. You'll be our test subject, female."

Kursed swung her staff back hard but it struck the Arwing hull. She looked around through squinted eyes but didn't see him. The woman continued to pivot, making a full turn. Again, he was behind her. His arms moved around her body, gripping at her wrists to subdue her. She cried out in anger. "Leave me alone! I mean you no harm!"

What she saw next, she didn't recognize. From this point onward, everything was different. Kursed lifted her head expectantly but the GreatFox was not in sight. She tightened her paw around the staff and struggled in his grip. The hunter kept one arm at her neck and the other slid around her waist. He whispered into her ear, "Calm down or I'll make things painful. You see? Your friends never came for you. I guess you're all alone after all. It's time to see what makes you telepaths tick. I have a special surprise in store for you… we've finished a machine that will allow us to project images into your mind and gauge your mental responses in order to study your use of the frontal lobe. Let us go and make sweet science together, girl."

She struggled wildly in his grasp and lifted her head again. A flash of red high above was the last image she saw before the forest melted away. The Great Fox was in the middle of breaking into the atmosphere, miles above them. It was too late. Everything went dark. Seconds later the teleporting hunter reappeared with Kursed still locked in his arms. They were inside of a rotten old cellar somewhere on the southern continent.

He released her neck and waist then grabbed her staff. Again, the man teleported. She looked down, quickly, so as not to see the fantastic light-bending ability come to pass. When she lifted her head, he was standing with her staff on the other side of rusty iron bars. He gave her a smile then placed the staff against a wall opposite of her bars. "You won't be needing your little metal pole anymore. You'll probably die here, girl."

"I've done nothing to you," she pleaded. "I was just leaving your planet. Please."

"You're a dangerous woman. The last of your kind? You have nothing to live for and your humanity will eventually dwindle. No, girl, you're very dangerous. You just don't know it yet. It's time to crack open that pretty head and look at all your thoughts. Don't worry, we use a machine to peer inside – we won't actually split you open until much later. So, dangerous girl, what is your name?"

"I'm Krystal. Please, if you can find a watcher from the Northern continent, his name is Darius Tyger Vai. I'm begging you – please. He'll vouch for me that my race was the most peaceful group of telepaths in the Kew Records."

The hunter sneered at her. "The Kew Records… what a joke. Those idiots and their stupid records. They're obsessed. But my people… the south nation… we do things with heart. We have rhyme to our reasons but we have emotions and believe that faith, heart and passion is the key to a better world. And let me be honest with you, Krystal… my friends and I take our work very seriously. We'll study you with gusto, my dear. It's a shame you're so pretty. But it doesn't matter because after we study your frontal lobe, we'll kill you and run physical tests on your brain. One less telepath is never a bad thing." He left the area for the time being.

Krystal released Kursed's head and slumped back. "I was never captured in this universe. Fox arrived just in time and the hunter was spooked. He left before anything happened.

Kursed shrugged. "I dropped the alter-ego name and was known as Krystal again. For quite a while, actually. I didn't return to being 'Kursed' until later, when I was speaking with your son, dying in the streets. It had a familiar ring to it; I'd not thought about it in ages. It suited me. I decided to bring it back. Ironic, no?"

"Indeed, it is," said Krystal with a frown. "What did the Kew Hunters do to you?"

"My memories end during the first torture session. They hooked me up to a machine. At first, they started forcing images on me. They wanted me to see memories of losing Cerinia and Fox McCloud kicking me off his team. They played it over and over until I was grief-stricken with tears. Every time I was forced to watch these painful memories, they became a little worse. They distorted and every change made by their machine was so real that I believed it was really happening. It felt like déjà vu, but the most recent replay felt confusingly like the reality version. Eventually I stopped knowing how this breakup really occurred. I've been fuzzy on it ever since. While they forced me to watch these horrible versions of my worst memories, they were scanning my brain. I remember being mind-raped but my actual memories stop before the end of the first session with them. I'm glad for that. From what I know, I managed to escape and kill everyone then I came back to Lylat, screwed up in the head. Unfortunately, I took it out on Fox McCloud then Sauria. I re-read the newsreels and recorded logs from my shuttle after losing my memories. Apparently I killed Fox and his comrades then I removed the spell stones of Sauria to use as a weapon. With all four stones combined, I took one of Andross' plans, left in a Venom library, and I combined the two things to the best of my ability. The weapon wasn't stable but it was enough to destroy Fichina. My universe is far different, now. I'm glad I don't remember the details of that night. It made me quite a deranged woman."

"I'm so sorry," Krystal murmured. "No one deserves to be put through something like that."

"I sense everyone."

Krystal nodded. "Yes, they're quite close. Marcus hasn't responded to my telepathic messages."

"Mine either." Kursed shrugged. "He can't. Something about the radiation field that blocks his frontal lobe usage. I think he hasn't mastered his abilities the way we have. Anezka isn't near, thankfully."

"Are you going to behave?"

Kursed quirked her brows, rolled her eyes and looked away. "Just remember, my truce is temporary." She tilted her head a bit then glanced off to the side. "I… Do you sense the strange energy closing on us, Krystal? I… I can see something – a canister in an old fighter on a flight deck." She rubbed her jawline in thought then said, "I sense part of Great Fox has come. Hmm, seems that it's only the carrier section. The dreadnought part must still be in dry dock."

Krystal started to smile but it faded right away. Her paw lifted to the side of her head and her legs began to feel weak. Without a word she swayed forward. Her eyes rolled up into her head and she fainted on her feet.

Surprised, Kursed tried to catch her. Krystal slid through the woman's arms, dropped to a kneeling position and slumped against Kursed's stomach. Her head lulled to the left. The confused youthful-looking vixen looked up at Panther, Fox, Fara, Marcus and Tricky. Krystal slipped the rest of the way out of her arms and flopped to the floor. She saw Marcus and Fox break into a sprint. Sensing their initial thoughts, the vixen lifted her paws in protest. "I didn't effing touch her!"

Panther folded his arms and quietly asked, "What happened?"

"She fainted just now. I'm as surprised as the rest of you." Kursed placed her paws on her hips, glanced at Fara then Tricky. Her eyes shot back to Marcus and Fox. "She and I made a temporary truce so don't even start with me."

"Is she being honest?" Fox asked Marcus, knelt over his wife's body.

Marcus shook his head. "I don't know. I can't sense anything from her or anyone else while we're down here. I don't know why." His eyes glanced up at Kursed and in a calm tone, he asked, "Where is Anezka?"

"She's not here or we would be dead. You and I need to talk about whatever it is that was found in your grandfather's fighter. Krystal said something about an artifact that caused her to forget things. Apparently, when she touched it, I was affected as well." She paused then, in a softer tone, said, "Krystal is fine. I can still sense her thought patterns – it's not like she's in a coma. In fact, she's dreaming. She's fine. Let's just get her out of here." Kursed turned to Panther and pointed towards the cockpit of the shuttle. "You and Fara head to the front and fly this thing. Fara, use my communications panel to contact the Great Fox and take us there. We'll track Anezka's whereabouts with their sensor array. I need to see this artifact so I can figure out how to reverse what's happened to my mind."

Fara narrowed her eyes at the request but Panther went to the front of the shuttle without a word. After a moment, Phoenix followed him to the front. However, she left the door between the two compartments wide open to keep an eye on Kursed.

The youthful vixen settled on the sofa, crossed her legs and folded her arms beneath the swell of her bust. Fox glanced up at her, unable to deny her looks. He was conflicted with confusion – she appeared to be about twenty. "It's weird. Like you're fresh from my past. You look like Krystal looked the day I met her."

"Odd, isn't it? When I look into a mirror, I'm just as confused as you are."

Marcus tucked his mother's hair behind her ear. "C'mon, wake up." He used his thumb to ease her right eyelid open. Krystal's eyes were rolled upwards but she was breathing and her pulse was strong. "It's me, mom. Just wake up so I know you're okay." However, Krystal remained unresponsive.

Up in the cockpit, Panther began running through an abridged version of the pre-flight checklist then engaged the throttle bar. He focused on passing through the subterranean cavern while Fara sent a message to Great Fox. Once the shuttle was clear, she turned back to Panther and folded her arms. "So, what's your story?"

"I'm still in love with her. The problem is, she looks too young. I feel like I'm robbing the cradle and don't care for that feeling."

Fara rolled her eyes. "Bull, it's the last thing on your mind. What about Star Wolf?"

"Star Wolf and Star Fox have grown beyond their tensions for the time being. No one cares about that sort of thing anymore. Besides, Wolf's son and Marcus are quite close. Again, no one cares. Miss Phoenix, Panther is not here to make you trust Kursed – Panther wants to learn, though, what does your people know about her?"

"Very little. I was hoping to learn what you know." Phoenix glanced at the instrument panel and frowned. "Some of these controls are marked in a language I've never seen before. I take it this is Cerinian?"

"Apparently so." He lifted a paw and touched two switches above his head then leaned back in the piloting seat. "She's a lovely woman – she always has been lovely. I… am in love with her but… the vibe is wrong. Panther is hoping to help guide her in the right direction but she's as stubborn as she was at the age she now looks. She's always had a stubborn side."

Fara glanced between the seats, back through the doorway to Tricky, Fox, Marcus and the unconscious Krystal. Kursed looked up and met Fara's gaze then looked back to her doppelganger. Phoenix sighed and slumped back in her own seat. "What's she hiding?"

"It's complicated. Panther would like to think she's simply angry. Deep down she's still Krystal. Things she says are out of frustration. However, her core mission at this point is the restoration of her race."

"…Yeah." Fara sighed in a rather audible way. "I know you don't have a good," she paused and waved her paws as if looking for a word. "You don't respect Marcus, for lack of a better word. You have a low opinion of him. But you don't know him."

"Panther has seen him fight and now respects him on a battlefield. However, he's an emotional boy at heart. He has a great deal of growing up to do."

Fara was quick to defend her mate to the onyx-furred panther. "You came face to face with him after he thought he'd just murdered his own mother. Fighting your mother's doppelganger is beyond logic and belief, Panther. He thought he was the last of his race at the time. He was struggling with having just learned about his son's existence; he'd missed everything – the first step, the first… everything. You wouldn't know how important those things are even if they bit you in the face, Caruso."

"Kursed has incredible respect for him," Panther replied in a soft tone. "She says he's the only one she fears and respects. She also says she's glad he's willing to have a truce."

Fox carried his wife from the shuttle and glanced back at Fara, Marcus, the King Earthwalker and the other two. His gaze returned to his son, wondering how his boy was holding up with everything happening to Krystal as of late. Fox looked back at his wife and sighed. He swallowed back his emotions and continued from the hanger into the next corridor.

As he passed through the doorway, a soft voice caught his attention. "Why the glum face, baby?"

He looked down at Krystal and saw her staring up at him with a weary smile. "Krystal… you're okay!" His voice was barely a whisper but full of excitement.

"I have such a headache." She lifted a paw to his cheek and rubbed away the frown until her husband managed a smile. "Stop worrying if I'm going to be okay. I've got all my memories back. To be honest, I think I needed that – after putting myself in that mindset for the last few days, I feel younger than I have in years. It was interesting to be the one without my memories this time. Ironic, if you ask me."

"God I'm so glad you're okay."

She eased up and kissed him then said, "I love you, Fox." But before he could reciprocate the sentiment, she glanced over his shoulder and said, "I think the temporary loss of memories was important. I was so jaded after being put through so much. I needed my innocence back to survive going toe-to-toe with my doppelganger. She might have made me worse – thank goodness I had no memories of ever feeling anything less than happy and loved. Connecting with her may have had a positive reaction on her mind."

Marcus, sensing his mother's full recovery, rushed to meet up with his parents. "Mom, you're… you again!" He was delighted; his eyes sparkled with optimism. "I was so worried you would stay that way forever."

Krystal slid from Fox's arms, putting her feet firmly on the deck. She turned around and embraced her son and kissed him. "I'm really proud of you. You were so quick to man up when I couldn't be there to help you. I'm sure you're ready to learn how to take your abilities to the next level. You won't have to wait anymore, sweetheart."

Marcus pulled her face into his neck and rested his chin upon her head and sighed in content. "We have lots to talk about but… I really wanted you to tell me about our blood. I've learned that we're royalty and …I just never knew. I want to know more about myself."

"We'll how about some mother-and-son time?" She lifted her head from his collarbone and looked up at him. 'How about my favorite pastime? Hot tub and chocolate cake – does that float your boat?'

He laughed aloud and shook his head with a grin. 'Hokey, mom. Real hokey. Yeah. I know how you love hot water and chocolate cake. Look, how about we make a meditation date out of it? I'll get some candles or something. Do you want to invite… you know… your twin over there?'

Krystal shrugged and patted Marcus' cheek with a smile. 'I'm not sure. Maybe. We have a lot to talk about, either way. Perhaps it should just be us at first. After we talk, we can invite her to join us and see if we can't make her feel like she belongs to some sort of family environment. It's been a long time since she's felt that way and I'm sure she needs it.'

Kursed, from back by the shuttle, joined into the mental conversation. 'Indeed. It HAS been a long time since I've felt like I belonged somewhere. You two go on ahead and talk amongst yourselves. I'll join you within the hour. I need to have a private conversation with Panther to see if I can't get his head straight.'

Fox patted his son on the shoulder then leaned to kiss his wife. "You two go on ahead. I assume Marcus has a lot of questions. I'm going to show our 'guests' to their quarters. Then Fara and I will start reviewing some of the sensor information we have in regards to this new… hostile character. We'll review logs and whatever else we can dig up."

Fara approached them. "Sounds like we're in for some digital detective work. I'm up for the case, Inspector."

McCloud grinned slightly at the fennec's humor. "Very good, Doctor. See me in my ready room in thirty minutes."

"Sounds like elementary to me," she replied. Fara turned to Marcus, kissed him softly then said, "You did real good down there. The snow, rescuing them, taking Panther down a notch or two… all of it. I'm really impressed at the man you've become." She kissed him again then said, "I'll see you this evening," she told him with a hint of promise in her eyes then nodded to Fox. She turned to Krystal, hugged her boyfriend's mother firmly and smiled. The two vixens had shared a mental bonding about a year ago, and since then they had become close friends. Fara offered a wink to her mate then headed up the hallway to her room for a long and much desired shower.

Marcus and Krystal waited for Panther and Kursed to catch up then turned at the intersection and headed down a different hallway. Fox grinned at Tricky, held up a finger as if to say, 'watch this' then, in a rather shocking display of outgoing friendliness, he stepped between Panther and Kursed, placing his arms around each of their shoulders. "Well, you two, I guess I should take each of you to your guest room. We have plenty of room on the carrier ship and, believe me, we're not lacking in guest quarters. Kursed, if that's what you still wish to go by, will get the first room closest to the flight deck. That way, if you need anything from your shuttle, it's not too terribly far away. Meanwhile, Panther gets a room up on the top floor near the sickbay just in case medical attention is needed for that broken nose. We're going to have a great time!"

Caruso snarled and Kursed rolled her eyes, looking off to the left with a sigh. The King Earthwalker snickered softly, following the group. Meanwhile, Kursed asked, "Must you act as a chaperone?"

The feline shrugged Fox's arm away. "Panther wishes not to be touched, lest you find a bouquet of fresh roses at your door first thing in the morning."

McCloud grinned. "Cheer up, sour puss." Fox accented the last word as if to make a pun on a nickname infamous for felines. He gave Panther a firm swat on the shoulder and said, "Don't be such a homophobe. I'm married and you're a panty chaser. I think we're both confident in our sexuality, right pal?" He knew it was making Caruso uncomfortable and enjoyed having control over the situation. Typically, Panther was very sure of himself and would have played Fox's game right back but right now, with his nose broken and his pride recently shattered, he wasn't in the mood for games. He also wasn't in the mood to have Fox's arm around his shoulder.

On the other hand, Kursed was in the mood to reciprocate his faux friendliness. She leaned her head to the right and kissed the side of Fox's face. "Thank you for being a gentleman, Mister Fox McCloud. A lady appreciates being escorted to her door." She wanted to turn the tide on Fox and make him feel awkward for Panther's amusement. The ploy didn't work, however.

"Well, golly gee!" Fox eased his arm from her shoulder, rubbed his cheek gingerly then turned about and touched Panther's lips. "This must be for you. Pass it on!" He saw the feline wince from being touched so closely to where his nose had been broken. McCloud unwedged himself from between them and stopped at the first door on the left, merely a hundred feet from the flight deck. "Miss Kursed, this is your den. Since you're telepathic, you should be able to find your way up to where Krystal and Marcus are located, later on." He turned to Panther, clicked his tongue against his molars and hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "This way, Top Gun."

Tricky waited by Kursed's door just to provide the vixen a sensation of awkwardness. He stayed there until she went inside. He hurried his pace to catch up with Fox and Panther and followed with a boisterous step. "This place is way bigger than Marcus' ship! It's the size of a village if not bigger. I need to get one of these!"

"Yeah, right," Fox chuckled. "You're the King, bud. You can have your own palace, why settle for a ship?"

"Not to seem like a rude guest," Panther murmured, "But, with a splitting headache, it would be appreciated if you could simply remain chatter-free for a moment."

"Fine with me," said Fox with a shrug. He knew he was making Panther feel uncomfortable and that was his objective all along. "Commencing radio silence until further notice." Again, his words caused Caruso to sigh. They took the lift then went down the next hallway, passed the sickbay and turned to the very next room. Fox opened the door and gestured with his paw. "Your room, my good sir. I do hope you find your stay pleasant and the accommodations equal to or better than a royal suite found at the Lunar Stone Hotel. Dinner is at nineteen hundred hours and the pool closes for guests at sundown. Thank you for staying at Casa De McCloud." He stood there with a broad grin until Panther went into the room. The door slid shut with a thump.

Fox turned back to Tricky and shook his head. They began walking. In a soft voice, Fox said, "I hate that idiot. Anything I can do or say to make him feel awkward… Well, right now, I'm all about that."

"Do you guys really have a pool onboard?" Tricky's eyes gleamed with excitement.

McCloud furrowed his brows and scoffed. "Hell no, we don't have a pool onboard. This isn't a Phoenix Starliner – we're mercenaries not tourists."

"Are you going to stay a mercenary?"

A frown touched Fox's muzzle as they walked. "Now that her memories are back, I don't know what to think. Last we talked, before she lost them, she said she wanted to retire and get snuggly in a cabin by the sea. She wanted a little garden and some flowers in a window box. Maybe I should get her a castle and she can live like a queen, huh?"

"If you're nice to me for once, I might give you a small continent on Sauria," said Tricky. "You can rule there, if you like. I'll even get you that castle, if you want it."

The pilot snorted. "Oh please, give me a frickin' break." He got quiet for a moment then shrugged. "It's up to Krystal."

"She's the boss, huh? So it's like that, is it?"

Fox threw his paws up. "Thanks for reminding me why I treat you like a child. For a minute there I almost forgot that you still are one. C'mon, let's go upstairs so you can bother ROB."

Ignoring everything except the very last sentence, Tricky lit up. "Cool!" he exclaimed, boisterous with energy again.

Marcus sank into the hot water until its heat kissed his shoulders. He sighed softly, closed his eyes and tilted his head back. A cushion was fastened to the rim of the large hot tub and he murred at the back of his throat. "I need to get one of these on the cruiser. Now I know why Theodore wants one – have mercy, this is heaven."

Krystal, donning an unrevealing bathing suit, chuckled at her son and drew a plate into her paws with chocolate cake on it. "You know, a few days after I met your father… I was given the opportunity to reward myself with a hot bath and moist chocolate cake. I've decided, ever since then, that this combination was to be my guilty pleasure. It's quite possible you'll have both these ships one day soon then you can use this Jacuzzi as often as you like."

The candles and incense created a relaxing atmosphere. "I somehow doubt you had classrooms like this on Cerinia."

"And I didn't have instructors as cool as me! Lucky you!" she added, forking off a bit of the cake. "You know, I'd really like to be spending some time with Fox right now – I'm not going to lie. Of course, you already knew that; you can surely sense it… but do you know why I decided to put our lesson and our relaxation first?"

Marcus nodded but kept his eyes shut. "Yeah. You want me prepared incase we come up against that hybrid Krazoa woman again." He put his feet against hers, beneath the water.

"Very much prepared," she told him. Her son opened his eyes, locking his gaze with hers. Krystal continued. "There's honestly no time to sit here and teach you the way I learned in a class room. We developed our minds with practice drills, warm ups, training exercises… all that stuff is time consuming and time is precious. The best way for you to learn is by joining our minds together and letting you experience my telepathic evolution by giving you access to my memories. You'll live vicariously through my memories of every time I've used my abilities, but be warned, Marcus, you may see more than you've bargained for. I want you to wake up from this joining and know how to ask me a question from the next planet over. I want you to have the ability to read what everyone is thinking while inside of a radiation bubble. I want you to have the ability to do…this." She placed her fork on the plate, holding it in her left paw. Her right one lifted and she opened her fingers. The fork trembled on the plate for a moment then lifted six inches. She closed her fingers around it then pushed the fork back into the cake, slicing off another small piece. "It's exhausting, I assure you… I can't lift much more than this fork for much further than I just displayed for you. However, my capabilities have been known to exceed this display. When I'm in a state of deep relaxation or when I'm acting on instinct, hopped up on adrenaline."

Marcus was absolutely stunned. "Doesn't Kursed have that ability?"

"She's far more proficient in the use of telekinesis than I am. I developed it over years of extremely light use. It wasn't intended. I've not known our people to make use of it, but there have been historically-yet-rare documented cases of it surfacing on Cerinia. My parents never displayed it. However, Kursed had parts of her brain replaced with plastic computer chips and technologically advanced hardware. She was dead for quite some time, so she'd experienced a measure of decomposing. Those parts were replaced with …whatever allows her to have a higher level of mental mastery. It's not quite as grueling to her. Extended use won't cause swelling. In fact, I'm surprised she gets headaches."

"I want to learn all of those things. I wish I could learn them properly but I'm more than willing to receive the understanding of these abilities mind-to-mind. Just show me how to practice using these abilities so I can continue to develop them."

"You know I will," she said, giving his foot a playful push. "Let me finish my cake, first. I would like to relax within the company of my son before my silly doppelganger shows up." She offered him a slight grin then took another bite of the decadent triple-layered fudge cake. Marcus could practically taste it due to their physical proximity. Krystal glanced up from the plate and thought, 'She's going to teach you how to use your telepathy offensively in order to defend yourself. It's a very dangerous practice and if that ability is abused there will be consequences.'

He nodded. "I understand. I'm curious, though… IF I can learn through, uh, 'mental osmoses' in a sense… then why didn't your teachers train you and other Cerinian children the same way?"

She returned a fresh forkful to her lips and directed her thoughts to her son. 'Marcus, if you woke up tomorrow with enormous muscles but didn't do anything to build them up… that would be hard on your body. If you went and lifted heavy objects for several hours, you would put a lot of strain on your joints and the muscle fibers because they weren't strengthened naturally. That's why we pull muscles when we do hard labor… because the truth is… muscle tissue is delicate. It tears, it knots, and when you pull something… it HURTS. I'm going to give you the knowledge of how to utilize your frontal lobe better but without experience you may do more harm than good. But at this point, being unable to protect yourself is much worse. I expect you to take this knowledge and be responsible with it. I expect you to meditate more, practice and warm up as often as you can… It's akin to doing stretches before you run a marathon.'

He nodded slowly. "In other words, I'll be suffering from headaches if I overexert myself. If I take what you teach me and attempt the advanced stuff later this afternoon, I'm going to stress my mind to the point where I could theoretically have a stroke. Is that about right?" He changed his tone and asked, "So, when we join… what will I see?"

"Everything," she said, placing the fork back on an empty plate. She moved the crumb-covered dish to the edge of the tub, licked her finger and used it to capture the crumbs. She licked them from the slender digit then said, "I'm going to be honest with you… there is no way to filter out everything. Please understand that you'll see intimate things and you'll see personal things that may be painful to watch."

Marcus frowned. "The fight with dad, the breakup…" His heart dropped. "…Cerinia."

"When you wake up from this, Marcus, you'll feel like you've spent your childhood there. You'll know your grandparents as personally as I knew them. You'll know pain from every time my heart was hurt. You'll know love as I experienced it. You'll see yourself when you were born and better understand how much I love you. I can't filter those things."

"I thought I was just going to bond with you and…?"

"No, this is something far deeper. It's rare that our race ever needed to perform what we're about to do… In a mere hour, you'll have experienced my whole life. You'll know our rituals, our history, and our cultural ways. Marcus, it won't be easy on you – there's a great deal of emotional trauma and a lifetime of experiences that you'll be bombarded with all at one time."

"How is this different from when you bonded your mind with Fara last year?"

Krystal took a deep, relaxing breath and said, "I only saw the highlights. I didn't experience her every ache, or garnish personal experience from her. She has the frontal lobe to have performed such a joining but it's far too personal. Typically this is something that spouses do with one another; it's very private."

"I understand," he murmured softly. "But now I'll know what you experienced when you were in that other dimension."

She nodded. "And I will know what you experienced when you thought I was gone. We'll be cramming two lifetimes worth of memories into your mind. You may have headaches at first."

Marcus willed himself to relax as well. "Did you perform this with dad?"

"No." Before he could ask why not, she added, "Although I might. I know he's lost a great deal in his life. He's experienced very personal deaths – his family. Asking him to join with me and go through the emotions of losing my family… that would be difficult. Plus I don't want to burden him with mistakes I've made, and things I've not talked about."

"You mean like Panther Caruso… and being a monarch?"

She offered a sour face. "Precisely. But now that Panther has thrown it into his face… and now that I know he's taken such information gracefully… it will be time to share our experiences."

"I really don't want to see you with Panther."

"We have little choice for me to expedite your abilities. Are you ready?"

"How long were you and him together?"

Krystal chuckled and scooted closer to him. "Stop worrying. I've been 'with him' fewer times than you have fingers on your paw. It'll be over and done in the blink of an eye. I don't even remember the details, so I doubt you'll be able to recall them either – you'll have so much crammed in your head at this point that you should be able to overlook it so long as you don't dwell on it." Krystal took his paw.

"I'm ready."

A/N: Okay! Next time we see Marcus, he'll know a lot of crap. It'll be like he just read through the entire REFLECTIONS series and played all the games starring his parents. xD

For those of you who were curious what was different about Krystal and Kursed's experience on Kew in C12 of Regret… well, now you know! It's technically Fox's fault because he was five minutes too slow. Why? No reason why. Maybe stopped to take a leak before going to the bridge of GreatFox – no one knows. It's chaos theory. Even the slightest action can have unfathomable consequences. Also, I'll be explaining why Krystal suddenly gets her memories back – to be honest, I thought it was obvious. She's in proximity of that object in James' old fighter, sitting in the hanger of the GreatFox Carrier. And what of the cruiser section? Well, most likely, it's still in dry dock getting an engine-core refit. And getting guns installed. And there was a patch job done on the hull in the past; that's probably getting touched up. Leaving it in dry dock means the media still acknowledges that, "Marcus McCloud's ship is in orbit." So it helps make people think he's still dead. And Fox… basically everyone but Fara and Krystal are thought to be dead. xD Of course, Bill knows better. Miyu and Crimson know better… right now the team has that as part of their advantage.

Oh… and before I forget… Facebook, 'Kit Karamak'. See you there!
;)

Thanks for reading!