III

…Ow…thought Krystal. Actually, that's all she'd been consciously thinking about for the last 20 minutes. Her headache has spiked, and wasn't getting any better. She had just left Fox and the others to get to her room and sleep.

She got to the hotel room, and stepped into the bathroom. There, she found some pain-killer pills (Writer's Note: By painkillers, I mean Advil-like or Tylenol-like.) and took a few. Then she laid down on the king-sized bed (Fox and Krystal agreed that she'd have that one) and tried to fall asleep.

I must've caught a local bug… she thought drowsily. The pain still hadn't subsided ten minutes later. She tried to get more comfortable. It didn't work.

She laid on her back, and let her thoughts wander. About the Aparoids, about the Great Fox… Fox…

Krystal was on another planet. She looked to her left and right, and saw Fox, Slippy, Falco, and another avian. She looked forward, her muscles acting on their own. Her eyes saw they were underground on a hellish planet, scarred by volcanic eruptions. The cave – or catacombs, she wasn't sure - were smooth, as if lava had carved them out. That could be the case, she thought.

Her lips moved. "We have to get out of here! The cave is coming down!" Surely enough, the cave that had looked so smooth before was coming down in jagged pieces. Her muscles moved, as if she was only a spectator looking through her own eyes. She ran, saw Fox and the others – and that old avian – running too. She wanted to cry out, to ask why she was here, what was happening, but her voice was not hers to use.

She looked up and saw a piece of rock hurtling down. She wanted to dodge, but her body wouldn't allow it. She was hit hard in the arm, but she felt no pain as she cried out in pain and fell to the floor.

"Krystal!" Fox yelled out, and ran back to save her. He grabbed her good arm, pulled her up…

Krystal was on the same planet, it seemed. She looked up, but did not see Fox or the others. Was she saw was breath taking…

A giant pyramid, like an ancient ziggurat, stood up, miles away. Pale, blue –white things, almost like clouds, spun around the ziggurat. She saw at the top of the massive building, a hole, in the very air itself. A portal, to something else – somewhere else. She looked more closely at the portal, and suddenly, she was at the foot of it.

Electricity crackled from the confines of it, threatening to rip her to shreds. But what was more frightening was what was in the center of the portal.

Krystal looked at the center of the rip in space, and saw the blue-white things up close. She would have screamed if she could have.

All sorts of people from every race were there. Felines, dogs, foxes, and others still, were all semi-transparent and floating in that portal. But this was not the worst.

They all were dead. That was the best way she could comprehend it. Their faces, hollow, their eyes, black and empty. They stood as if a heavy load on their backs. They called to her, they knew her name…

"Krystal…" they repeated, until it was almost a chant. She wanted to look away, to make it stop, but her eyes were glued to the portal, to the people inside.

Suddenly, she was dragged, as if sucked into the portal by some giant fan on reverse. She clawed the ground, trying to escape. She looked back, into the portal, and saw…

Krystal screamed as she shot up in her cold, sweat-soaked bed. She gasped for breath, looking around.

"Krystal! What's wrong!" said Fox, coming into her room, trying to find the cause of the scream. She looked at him, pale and wide-eyed.

"Nothing… just a… bad dream…" she said as she panted for breath. Fox calmed down a little, and looked her and the room over.

"You sure?" he said cautiously. He still looked worried. Krystal tried to regain some of her composure.

"Yes. Thanks for coming, though…" Krystal said, unsure of what had just happened. "I appreciate it."

He nodded. "Well, if you need anything, just ask," he said. She nodded back.

"Thank you." She looked down at the bed sheets, thinking of whatto say,and looked up at him again. "Good night," she said. He left, and she was alone again. She laid back down, and fell asleep awhile later, still uneasy, still worried…

That's chapter III. Please review. If you have any questions, comments, I'll answer them. The chapter may seem a bit short, again.

Black Footman342