A/N: Written with permission from XxSanitariumxX, based on his Frozen Hell duology, now in limbo. You don't have to read them, but this chapter is set just after Chapter 18 of Back to Hell if interested. The original version of this story, from 23 October 2013 to 8 September 2014, had continued the story where he had left off (before Chapter 19 was posted). It was then left in limbo until 8 September 2018 when I started working on it piece by piece.
As of this update, 3 November 2021, I've taken several liberties to expand Sanitarium's original universe into a different sort of story, and if you have read Frozen Hell consider this a spiritual successor, if not a parallel. Hope Like Ice is not going to be considered, and if plot similarities show up it is entirely coincidental.
An additional thank you to Arcmind of Destinypedia for proofing sections of this chapter.
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Kursed
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Blessings — Laura Story
The gates of hell are open night and day;
Smooth the descent, and easy is the way:
But to return, and view the cheerful skies,
In this the task and mighty labor lies.
"Raye, Raye, help me—argh! "
"Shut up, you human bitch," Krystal growled.
"Jessica?! " a voice shouted, distantly.
Crap. Krystal's growls intensified. Not him again.
"Raye, help me, please !"
"I said shut up !" She clocked the woman over the head. There was a loud crunch and Jessica fell silent, collapsing where she stood. Krystal could only swear like a spacer as she forcefully dragged the woman's unconscious body behind.
Aboard the Eternal Fire, flagship of the Final Dynasty, any wrong move could cost her. The entire ship was crawling with human scum—it was almost by pure coincidence that she came across the woman undetected, found her unguarded. Krystal thought she'd make a good hostage should she have to negotiate for her freedom. Now she was starting to regret not silencing her earlier.
Why can't I knock her out? She raged, trying again to use her telepathic reach, and failing as it stubbornly refused her. It'd be so much easier if it just worked for once when she actually needed it.
It couldn't even tell her if there was a squad around the next corner. Knowing this ship, that was a distinct possibility. She had counted no less than sixteen groups patrolling, and that was before everything had gone haywire.
Little did she know it was because a Cornerian supercarrier, one of their few remaining capital ships worth sneezing at, had done a point-blank hyperaccel straight into the Titan. Fortunately the ship's trishielding and adamantium-plated armored hull tanked the hit, even with a prior EMP burst.
The first of its class, the Eternal Fire was a terror on the battlefield. Able to duel entire fleets one-on-one without any escort, its massive coilgun could oneshot battleships with relativistic missiles multiple times from across a star system before they ever got into engagement range. Scores of ships both great and small had fallen to its mighty weapon, and not even the extremely advanced Cornerian Federation could effectively fight it. After the first few engagements all Federation fleets fled if so much as a hint of the titanic vessel showed up.
However, this time it was different. Following the invasion of the Soran worlds, and the obliteration of Benomu, all Federation assets had been recalled to defend the capital. They arrived just in time to tackle the Eternal Fire and the massive escort fleet gathered there. The chaos had been brief, but it gave Krystal a chance to slip beneath the sensor-sweeps amid the ECM blanketing the battlespace and board the ship.
She had waited patiently as the Dynastic high command shattered in what looked like a coup, the woman she now held captive emerging as the winner. Then after the last Dynastic soldier had disappeared, leaving this Jessica unattended, she made her bold gamble.
It had paid off, mostly. She didn't take into account that human females have very high voices when panicking—or that human men responded quickly to one of their own in distress.
No! The mission, it must come first, she thought, glancing this way and that as she came to an intersection. The lights had dimmed to emergency red and every display was blank. There came a groan and the halls creaked—the distant, thundering shocks of heavy artillery discharging sounded like hammer blows upon the bulkheads around her. For a ship this enormous (some Cornerian estimates put it at eight whole kilometers) the din was mercifully muted.
It was also getting hot, overwhelming her suit's cooling capabilities. Such was the temperature she could see her breath fogging up her faceplate. The battle outside must be going badly for the ventilation to shut off this totally.
Blinking some sweat from her eyes she chose a direction at random, hoping the translation software read the Dynastic hieroglyphics right, and set off as fast as she could. Very quickly she reached a pair of double-doors in the corridor, to her right. They were sealed. No matter. She pointed her blaster and depressed the trigger. One explosion later and she was pulling her captive through.
"Oh my God, wha—?"
Krystal fired two more shots, and the medics went down, each with a cauterized hole in their chest. On a hunch she suspected they were right where she needed to be, no thanks to the human woman. Sure enough, as she neared their fallen bodies, she could see a supine, immobile figure upon the bed, one the medic's arms lying on him.
Dropping Jessica's arm and leaving her abandoned, Krystal raced toward the bed. Knocking away the medic's arm she gently, ever-so-gently, climbed alongside Fox McCloud, her captain and beloved leader. Pressing a button, she unlocked her helmet and set off to the side, wincing as the heated air hit her full force. Wiping sodden bangs from her eyes, she reached down to caress him.
"I finally, finally have you back," she cooed. "I will never let you out of my sight again." She stroked his fur, moving a stray hair from his eyes. It didn't matter that they were closed, or that the eyes beneath would be glazed toward near-death. She leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cold forehead. A pity his lips were concealed by an oxygen mask, the machines still tirelessly keeping him alive even in spite of the shipwide system shutdown.
Fox's nervous system had been severely damaged during a dogfight midway through the war, a lucky Dynastic railgun round crippling his Arwing and nearly killing him. Because Cornerian medical technology was stretched to its limits, there had been no time to give him proper care, so the only recourse was to induce a coma to prevent further damage to his brain. In this state he was vulnerable, and the Dynasty had exploited this only two months before the battle.
Getting to him had been her sole reason for this mad and daring infiltration of the Titan. Jessica was a lucky accident. "It will be all right," Krystal murmured. "We will make you better again, and together we will destroy the human Dynasty."
"The hour hath struck."
Her eyes widened and she sat up quickly. That was not Fox. Panning her blaster, she yelled: "Who's there?"
"The judge."
"That tells me nothing! Show yourself now." She squeezed off a shot, and the yellow plasma raced across the room with a sizzling hiss and boom as the gunshot reverberated. It briefly lit up the room before slamming into the far wall, melting a hole in the durasteel and threw off showers of twinkling metal everywhere.
"So be it."
Her ears swiveled—it was coming from the door. Krystal swung her head and weapon. Walking from the ruined entrance was a tall, broad-shouldered figure, with a perceptible air of authority emanating from him. The shadows cast by the emergency lighting obscured his face but he moved with deliberate purpose.
Krystal pointed her gun. "St—Stay back!" she barked, "or I will shoot!"
There was no answer. So she fired again. The plasma raced towards the man with astonishing speed—and winked out of existence. But just before it vanished the harsh yellow light revealed who he was.
Her mouth dropped. "No! Not one of you again!"
Inexplicably it was Raye coming toward her, preternaturally calm for a man who swore he'd kill her last they met. If that was even the same man. She had met two of them thus far—one who she'd tortured to death by rooting through his mind for everything he had known; and the other who appeared only a day later. That one she later learned was a lackey of that damned Director, who wanted to negotiate peace! As if that would ever happen!
"How many times will I have to deal with you?! " she screamed, jumping off the bed and pointing her weapon at him. He did not relent his slow pace. So she fired—held down the trigger until the blaster grew so hot she had to throw it away to avoid burning her hands. Each and every bolt that arced and whizzed toward Raye did nothing except to disappear, instantaneously, with no hint as to where they went.
Krystal, if at all possible, grew more demented. "Just die you f*#! How many times do I have to kill you! "
Raye's features were perfectly sculpted, with no hint of battle scarring or wounds, like a human god. His nose was most prominent—aquiline, almost like a hook. His black hair was not messy or greasy but done with care, cut to military precision. And those dark eyes, ice-cold, and completely and utterly devoid of emotion.
Finally, she lost it. She bared her hands, suit claws nanosharpening to razor-like edge—and raced at him. She took a running leap and landed atop him. She was going to rip and tear, rend and maim, gulp down every last bit of him so there would be nothing left for anyone to resurrect. She went straight for the jugular as her claws got a grip on his shoulders, sinking into the padding.
And then she hurt herself.
Instead of sinking through warm, delicious alien flesh her teeth bounced off skin, pain shooting through her gums, and her claws tore through clothing as they too were unable to penetrate. It was like he was somehow made of durasteel that was still flesh. She slid off ungracefully, tearing cloth as she went, landing with a painful bump on the ground.
Raye stopped and looked down at her, his expression unchanging.
Krystal snarled and tried to tackle him again, this time adding her mental powers to the mix, her vision going double. This time it cooperated, turning on with a snap.
As a telepath she could see the silhouettes of every living being around her as a glowing humanoid-shaped mass of light. She could also, with impunity, punch these bodies and hurt them, reaching around their delicate, fragile minds with terrible force, if she so chose. Many a human had crumpled beneath her rape, turned into unthinking vegetables after she was through with them, put through unimaginable pain. She'd later kill them.
But this time she recoiled. Instead of a gentle light, maybe pulsing with emotion, about to be reeled by her "punch", she saw a blazing inferno that blinded her othersight completely and burned her own mind before, mercifully, her powers automatically shut off on their own. That had been happening lately, after Fox had been abducted. Her charge checked, Krystal instead hit a wall of man and crumpled to the ground. Again.
This time he gave her no time to recover. With lightning swiftness Raye reached down, grabbed her by the throat, and hoisted her into the air without so much as a grunt. Her feet dangling off the ground, Krystal tried kicking at his groin, but all she got was a searing pain as her foot rebounded off of the same steely imprenatrablibilty.
Bringing her to eye-level he looked into her blue eyes with an intensity that made her squirm—and choke as she fought to pry unrelenting fingers from off her throat. But then—something clicked inside of her, as if he was somehow shining a bright light into her very self, into her seething soul. Krystal's rage started to abate and was replaced with something she had not felt in a very, very long time.
Fear.
A deep, primal fear like that of the trapped animal facing the predator. She had felt this fear only—
"Thou hast been found wanting," he said, "and the price of thy deeds shall now be required of thee."
He turned and tossed her across the room with absurd ease—she hit the opposite bulkhead, just to the left of her blaster shot, and fell down with a cry. Something in her back snapped and her tail went limp, pain shooting up her spine. Krystal looked up, snarling. "I will kill yaaargh! "
Lightning—as if from a thunderhead—arced towards and hit immediately. Her body contorted, limbs going akimbo, as jolts of electricity raced up and down her. She was completely illuminated from head to toe, sparks blinding her, torching her fur—an acrid smell soon filled the room as her suit exploded. Her mouth was wide open, screaming helplessly and terminally.
Raye's supernatural display ceased, and he lowered his hand.
Krystal moaned, trying to push herself into a standing position. But it was impossible, all energy had drained out of her. There were bruises everywhere, on her neck, her foot, limbs and back from where she hit the wall, a throbbing in her head that could only be the beginnings of a concussion. Not to mention the melted plastic and ceramic mixture that had been her armor pooling on her skin, but she couldn't feel that, not yet.
"Thine actions hast not gone unnoticed, Krystal of Cerinia, now called "Kursed". I knowest the suffering thou hast done to the children of men, of Sol and Lylat." Raye strode toward her, the same gait as before. "I am here to set things aright before thou damn thyself to oblivion."
"Quit the fancy talk, f*#!" she screamed—or tried to. It came as a whisper, full of hatred. "I will kill you if you don't finish the job!"
"Nay, thou hast slain thyself. By the multitude of thine iniquities thou hast wrought this fate." He reached her and stopped, just within striking distance if she could get herself to stand. "But there is yet hope for thy soul—if thou shalt repent of thy sins." He looked back toward where Fox lay. "It is well he cannot see what thou hast become."
That was his mistake, two actually. One, never turn away from one who is trapped and desperate, and two, never, ever speak of her Fox in that way to Krystal. "You had your chance, human," she grunted, standing up slowly, clawing her way upright, "now it is my turn."
"Obstinance shall not avail—"
She gave him no quarter—like as before, she leapt upon him, attempting to force him to the ground where she could kill him. Alas, Raye's hand shot out and more white lightning erupted from his fingers. It was like a branding hot was being applied to every part of her body. Krystal was literally pushed back to the bulkhead by the force of the blast, screaming in mortal agony as her skeleton lit up from within. Her teeth had sparks dancing between them and her clothing went ablaze; the fur beneath started to burn off, grey ash filling the air. It floated down, like snow, the ventilation systems still dead.
Collapsing back on the floor she tried to flee, but couldn't, caught in the grip of the lightning. The durasteel floor and wall behind her did nothing to help, only exacerbating the pain tenfold. It was said that the average Cornerian body had a certain pain tolerance before blacking out, and after that came death. This was not happening for Krystal, as it was easily over one billion volts, and the air did little to disperse the charge.
The whine of the lightning somehow increased, but the pain did not—it had long since reached the threshold where she should have blacked out, but she didn't. Constant and eternal agony, all she could do was scream herself hoarse and whimper when her voice gave out.
Finally, it stopped.
This time she didn't move. She could only breathe. Most of her beautiful blue-and-white fur had been burned off, leaving behind huge scars on white skin that was already cracking. Her suit was nonexistent, reduced to small smoking splotches dotting the floor. Slowly she raised her head, hatred in her eyes. "F—F—F*#% you," she whispered, tears leaking from the few functioning ducts left in her eyes. "Ki—Kill me… kill… me… please…"
"I am forbidden to do so."
"Then, pl—please s—s—stop this…"
"Thy pain shall end when thou repentest of thy wickedness." His voice was unwavering, emotionless, cruel. There was a crackling and he raised his hand again. Krystal closed her eyes and braced for the pain.
Crack.
Bang.
Crack-Crack.
Raye turned around, to be tackled by a flying blur of white-and-speckled-brown. This time he did indeed go down.
The lynx Miyu Seraph, traitor to the Federation, was atop him, fangs bared and claws opened—and she was furious. "Take—That—You—Mother—F*#%—er—How—Dare—You—Do—This !" she screamed, punctuating each one of her words with a slash of her claws.
"I may hate the Cornerians as much as you," a deep masculine voice not unlike Krystal's tormentor roared. "But even I wouldn't descend to this. Miyu, get off him."
There he was—Raye. The one she had killed, why was he here?! Krystal's heart rate increased and her breath became short, her scorched lungs struggling to pull air in, starting to hyperventilate. First her tormentor now these two, who she had grievously injured. She feared their retribution more, especially Raye's. His scars were gone, but his face was contorted with fury. He pointed his gun at the fallen giant. "What do you have to say for yourself?" he hissed.
"Thou surprisest me, Raye Belial, son of Adam," the other Raye—the judge—answered. He began to rise.
Startled, Raye fired his gun.
Bang!
There was a ping, and a smoking, compacted bullet landed beside Krystal's muzzle, and rolled away, stopping when it touched a solidifying plastic pool. It was hot even from a distance, and could singe her whiskers off if she had any.
The Judge stood and dusted himself off. It was quite unnecessary. What little was left of his shirt had since disintegrated after Miyu's attacks. Most interestingly was the absence of any sort of wound or claw marks. And now that he was standing it was plain to see that he was a head taller than the actual Raye, with the right proportions to match. "Thou surprisest me very much," he repeated.
"You have three seconds before I put another bullet in you," Raye said, putting his gun up to the Judge's face.
"As demonstrated, the others did nothing" The Judge reached out and crushed the gun's barrel with a loud crunch. Raye let go with a shout, and the useless weapon dropped, clattering. "But tell me, Raye Belial, what is thine errand here?"
"How the fu…?" Raye wondered before snapping: "I was after Jessica, and then I hear explosions, and then I find you torturing the Blue Bitch. You are disgraceful!"
"The first is unharmed, if not a little dazed. But the latter is none of thy concern."
"You'll have to go through me first, then," Miyu said. Krystal's eyes moved and was treated to the sight of the lynx bending over her, protectively, pointing a blaster at the Judge. "My claws may be broken but you'll find I have a lot of fight left."
"Tell me then, Miyu Seraph Belial, daughter of the earth, why dost thou seek to defend thy first husband's killer?"
A very good question, flitted through Krystal's mind, her vocal chords too tired to voice it.
"Because you are killing her."
"And what is the manner of her end to thee?"
"Because she would rather that the Blue Bitch be killed quickly and quietly instead of loudly and slowly," Raye added.
"I find that unlikely," the Judge answered. For the first time, there was humor in his voice, where before it had been flat and monotone.
"Raye is right, bastard." Miyu glared at the Judge. "I can stand many things but watching my enemy die a slow and pain-filled death is not one of them."
"Yet thou hast sought the same thyself."
"That's totally different!" she protested. "I tried to get her to see my side of things. I showed her my love for Raye and Caenda, I could reach her—!"
"Wait, you showed her?! " Raye yelped. "What were you thinking?"
"Shut up! Listen, Raye, or whatever your name is—you leave her alone. You're doing nothing but turning her into a worse monster than she already is."
"I find it amusing that thou wouldest show compassion for thine enemy even when thou sought to kill her, just as thou accuseth me of doing."
Raye tried to pull the Judge to face him but nearly dislocated his own shoulder instead. He gave up but still kept his hand on him. "I would gladly rip out her throat with my own bare hands. But what's the point? I was protecting my family from her, and she's clearly gone and descended into madness; she's an animal, and I can't hate an animal."
"A crazed dog may still cause great harm."
"So who cares? We can contain her. Miyu's right—she can be showed that we are not cruel. Not that I believe it," he muttered.
"That does not answer my question as to why."
"Because it is the right thing to do!" both Miyu and Raye shouted.
Silence.
Krystal could hardly believe her ears. Just a week ago she had thrown their world into disarray. She had killed Raye—or his double—tried to kill their hybrid daughter (disgusting that Miyu would voluntarily breed with him!) and hurt and shot Miyu so many times it was a wonder she was still able to move at all.
Now they were standing up for her, out of… what?
The Judge said, "Even when thou wast slain at her hand on the ice moon thou callest Hell, son of Adam?"
"Just call me Raye, thank you. Yes, even when she killed me."
"And even when she attempted to slay Caenda, daughter of earth?"
"Yes," Miyu gritted.
"Thou defendest her as if she wert still rational and accountable for her actions—even when in any of thine courts she wouldest be ruled insane and locked away with no hope of release."
"What are you getting at?" Raye asked. "Answer me that, what's your game here?"
"Thou hast shown her forgiveness. I thought it impossible of thee and thy wife."
"I just told you, I tried to show her that humans weren't so bad through my love of Raye, and she did show signs of changing!"
Actually, I wanted to vomit, Krystal thought. But it would have made a mess on the floor. Truth be told, what she had seen terrified her. That the humans were actually intelligent creatures capable of exactly the same things as anthropoi were. She fled the room to avoid seeing any more of it, lest her hatred for them, of what they had done to her Fox, wane and her purpose and ferocity in defending Lylat fade.
The Judge laughed, a first. "Thou hast surprised me greatly. Thou art not twisted nor vengeful, showing forgiveness in thine enemy's hour of need, after all of the pain thou and thy wife hath endured." His face then resumed its neutral expression, his eyes hardening. "But her judgment hath been decreed, and my task remains."
He took a step forward, almost pulling Raye off his feet without any effort; but Miyu stood, her short tail bristling, and faced him down, pointing her gun at him. "You try and hurt her and you'll have to go through us."
The Judge did nothing except to push her aside. She snarled and tried to step back in the way, but he pushed her again with enough force to send her stumbling into a bed; she dropped her weapon in surprise.
Raye attempted to pull on his arm again but suddenly released it as a jolt of electricity coursed through him. "Ouch!" he hissed, now very preoccupied with shaking out his numbed limb. "What are you doing?"
"Seek not to hinder the judgement. It is not for my good but hers that I am sent." He knelt down before Krystal, who shrank away from him. Those eyes of his had held contempt even beneath the impartiality, a strange loathing that she could not fathom. Now they held… nothing. "Thine enemies have shown thee mercy. Doest thou accept it?"
She shivered and closed her eyes. She did not want to look at him any more.
"Then hearken well: thou hast been subjected to all of the physical pain thou hast inflicted upon thy victims. Now thou shalt endure the pain of the mind thou hast given them. Thy gifts shalt be stripped from thee, all of them. As king Nebuchadnezzar of old, second of that name, was humbled, even so shalt thou be."
Krystal felt a finger touch her forehead.
"The Lord hath spoken. Amen."
A strange warmth began to percolate through her body, leaving behind healing in every limb. She felt strength return to her. But before Krystal could stand, a new pain suddenly shot through her body—a sharp one; unlike the lightning it was swift and precise, not prolonged and agonizing. She gasped.
Miyu gave a small cry, putting her hands to her mouth, eyes widening. Raye cursed.
Krystal's arms and legs started to shorten and reconfigure, bones cracking as they reshaped themselves. Her body began shrinking and her skin bubbling like wax, contracting. Her neck popped and shifted, her head resettling in a new orientation and her skull morphed to fit. A tingling started to cover her throughout as new fur grew rapidly in a matter of moments.
Last, but not least, her roiling mind was suddenly calm, as if the raging storm had been quieted by just a word. The residual sensations of Raye, Miyu, Jessica, and Fox's minds all faded away from her perception. For the first time in a long while, her head was quiet.
Most important of all, the burning sun that was the Judge vanished, as if an eclipse had permanently snuffed him out.
"My God, what did you do to her?"
"She hath misused her gifts and perverted them to dark designs, changed beyond recognition. These now hath been taken from her. What remains is what she hast become."
Where an anthropomorphic humanoid fox had lain was now an actual literal one. She had regressed (devolved was perhaps the better word) back into a canid animal, no longer remotely human. Krystal's limbs were digitigrade, her fur a dark brownish color, and she had no capacity for speech, as she soon discovered when she tried to speak and only a yip came out.
Miyu quickly stepped forward and knelt down, gathering Krystal up in her arms.
"Raye and Miyu Belial, thou hast shown forgiveness unto thine enemy. Wilt thou now take her under thy wing? To protect her until she is made whole?"
"Will… will she become herself again?"
"That is up to her. The path to redemption is long, but it can be made shorter."
"There is no way I will ev—"
"We'll do so," Miyu said firmly.
"We will?"
"Yes!"
"You must be joking, Miyu, listen to yourself, why would we adopt her? She's a danger to everyone, and don't even think about putting her in the same room with Caenda!"
"Thy child shall help her regain her lost humanity," the Judge added.
"Damn it, no, there is no way—"
"Raye, we have to take her. No, shut up, and listen to me. You, Raye person, what would happen if we didn't take her in?"
The Judge answered: "She shall live as a beast of the field, reflecting forever upon all that she hath wrought, separate forever from her people until she at last maketh amends."
"You see, Raye?" Miyu said, looking at her husband, "we can't abandon her. Look, she has lost her mind and if she is found out do you know how many people will want her? The Dynasty will subject her to their experiments—you remember that, don't you? Corneria would do the same to her—and Fox, oh man, we can't even let him see her. Do you want another war started because he started to become like her?"
Raye's face twisted as he struggled against the logic of her words. "But, who cares about her?"
"Even if she's a war criminal she's still seen as the hero of Lylat. She'll be held up as a martyr—do you want another war?"
"No, of course not, but—"
"Then it is settled. Sir," she said to the Judge, "we'll take her in."
"Thou hast chosen wisely. So be it."
Krystal was silent now, huddled into herself. If her Fox didn't know what had happened to her, she had no future. How could she find him from wherever she was exiled to, let alone tell him what had happened to her? He might recognize her, but the odds were against that—about as likely as one of the humans recognizing an ape as one of them. The rest of Star Fox, after how she had treated them, would not be inclined to find her, despite the years of living and fighting together. Falco certainly would never want her back, but perhaps Peppy and Slippy might.
She felt a soft hand touch her tear-streaked face, and looked up. It was Miyu, who looked at her with pity and sorrow. Krystal closed her eyes and wept quietly—the full impact of what had happened came crashing down about her. She was an animal in body, but—faintly—still a woman in spirit, unable to communicate in any way except that of the body she was condemned to. It was, indeed, the greatest humiliation anyone had ever inflicted on her—and ironic, that in her powerless state she was to be given over into the care of her sworn enemies.
"All right," Raye said, finally, "But not until this war is over." The look he shot towards Miyu said that he wasn't done yet.
"That shalt come to pass in good time," the Judge said. "Both sides art tired of war, and the Matriarch mayest be more inclined to peace offerings when she learneth how thou hast saved her." He gestured toward Fox's bed, where Jessica was stirring.
Miyu gasped again, almost squeezing Krystal's breath out. "Oh my God, we can't let Jessica see her like this!"
"Fear not, she shall remember nought that is not hers to know once she awakens. But now my Lord's errand is done. I must depart."
"Hold on, what the hell are you?" Raye demanded.
"I am the Judge."
"No, what are you."
The Judge considered his words for a short time. He said, "I am one of the Erinyes, thou might find the name familiar. We impart justice to those who hath wronged others. We are the defenders of the helpless, of the fatherless, the widow and the orphan: we protect those who cannot protect themselves. This is our charge by our Lord's will."
"Your Lord?"
"Yes."
"Who is he? I want to have a word with him right now."
The Judge smiled. "So thou hast. Thou shalt know where to look."
He vanished.
"Wha—What happened?" Jessica asked, groggily. She sat up. "How'd I get here."
Raye immediately went over to her. "It was Krystal," he said, kneeling down. It was as if the encounter had never happened.
"Oh, that wretch. She—She got me—where is she!?" Jessica tried to rise.
"Please, don't strain yourself. I've taken care of her. Miyu too."
She stopped fighting his hands. "You came for me?" she asked.
He closed his eyes. "Yes," he said finally. "We came for you."
Jessica enfolded him in a hug. "Thank you."
Krystal ignored all of it. She was unable to even bring herself to wrestle from Miyu's arms, which kept tightening around her. She was humiliated. More than humiliated—she just wanted to die.
She heard a cooing above her. "There, there, Krystal, you're safe now." Miyu started rocking her back and forth like a baby. "We will help you. Shh, don't cry. It will be all right."
I wish I could die, Krystal thought.
A tramping of feet got their attention. Looking up they saw a virtual battalion of soldiers come charging into the room, SAM-Rs at the ready. "Room clear!" the commander announced. "My lady, we got word you had disappeared."
"Yes, I am fine," she said with some shakiness. "I would commend you for seeking me out but instead Raye and his—" she gulped audibly "—his wife got here first." She looked down. "Please see to it that these medics and this Cornerian are taken care of."
The commander saluted. "Yes, ma'am."
"So what's your goal now?" Raye asked.
"Finish this idiotic battle," she answered, "and find where Krystal went."
"I took care of her. It was quick and painless."
"Really?" She looked around the room, pausing at Miyu but failing to note the bundle of quivering foxfur in her arms. "I don't see her body."
"Cornerian blasters do a good job of destroying the body, you just got to set it right." Raye leaned down and picked up Krystal's dropped, slightly melted weapon. "This was handy."
"All right, I'll believe you, but I want a full debriefing later."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Also, Miyu, dear, would you like to be our ambassador to Corneria? I feel peace talks will be… needed. Not until I've hammered my will through the new Dynasty."
"I would," she said faintly.
"Excellent, come on, Raye, we've got a fleet and an empire to reorganize."
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