Well, I'm back, its quick I know, but its another short chapter, because this was supposed to be part of the last chapter, hence the whole Part 1 and 2 stuff. Sorry about that by the way, apparently if I had just waited for a few weeks, I could have finished the full chapter and gotten it up in one go. Considering how big my drive was to work on this, and how much I want to work on my other active stories, I take that as a sign that I'm starting to get back into the swing of things. I guess we'll see though.

It also doesn't hurt that Cpt. Fox updated one of his stories today, I read that and it reignited my drive with a fierce flame. So here is hoping that he updates Broken II or Fate, cause, that would be just grand. Plus imagine how much I would type if they have the same effect ha ha.

So, before I leave you with the next chapter, its gets a little mystical here, or rather, a lot of mystical, I hinted at this in chapter 6, and you get to see some fuller effects of all that here. Hopefully I wont loose to many of you with this semi sudden turn. I know I lost quite a few of you over the last updates, or rather, they have stopped reviewing, which usually means to me that they haven't anything good to say.

Meh, back to the story, I'm not quite sure where this is going to lead off, but it felt right while I was typing it, so I'm going with it. Speaking of, I think we should start with whats happening to Krystal...

Star Fox: The Dead Planet Chapter 8: The Fate of a Cerinian/Part 2

"I can't sense anything, so they aren't Cerinian. I want to see who barred this door, waste em."

It started as soon as her finger tightened on the trigger of her weapon, just a forbidding sense of doom descending upon her, draping over her shoulders like a cloak, sinking through her skin and bones to settle on her very being, her very soul. Time seemed to slow for a minute as the flash from her weapon lit her eyes and the round sped to its target, which for a moment didn't look like a melted shadow, she saw a quick hint of blue before time resumed its normal flow.

As her spent shell settled into the dust she scoffed and opened her mouth "They won't-" she closed it again as something winded her. Her eyes widened as a odd panic overtook her brain and she sucked in a greedy breath to try and restore her lost breath. Her arms started to shake as adrenalin flooded her system, her grip loosening on her gun which now felt like it weighed a ton, she was vaguely aware of Fox glancing at her and calling her name as her gun started to fall to the ash covered ground.

She felt her balance shifting and reached out a hand to brace it against the wooden door next to her. She gulped heavily and her erratic breathing took on a heavy tone as the pressure on her chest that first winded her, refused to go away. Each breath felt like it was through a straw while she was buried underground. She felt her eyes wetting with tears as a pressure came to painful surging life inside her brain, she almost felt like somebody was squeezing her head in a vice.

Her balance failed and she leaned her shoulder against the door as she fell to her knees. She wanted to reach out and touch somebody, and the first person she thought of was Fox. She tried to call out, but she barley managed to get the name whispered out of her dry mouth. She was briefly aware of Fox giving out orders as a roaring sound of anguish crept into her ears, quickly building into a crescendo that quickly overcame all other sounds. Her eyes were squeezed shut against the pain in her head, and now she couldn't hear anything either.

Kursed was lost, awash in thoughts and feelings that were not her own. Pain. Fear. Rage. Sadness. Trapped. Hopeless. These were just a few of the emotions that swamped her as she struggled to keep her mind in one piece. She wasn't aware of how long the noise sounded, she knew that as some point she had been moved, but she couldn't take much more. Just as she was ready to throw in the towel and fade away into the sounds and the voices in her head, another voice cut a screaming swath through everything else, ending them in an instant. In that single moment, as the voices stopped, the pressure around her skull lessened and faded as well, her heart rate calmed down and she suddenly felt like herself.

"-rsed, can you hear me?"

Against her better judgment, Kursed forced her eyes open to take in her surroundings, she blinked a few times before a vulpine face swam into view. Her mind managed to connect the face to Fox and she reached out a trembling hand out towards his cheek. "Fo...Fox?" she asked softly, not quite sure of what was going on, she knew that he was holding her muzzle in his hands, but that was about it. As her fingers touched his fur though, a searing pain burned across her head and she pulled back with a hiss, she grabbed her head and wished for the pressure that had been there before to return.

"Kursed."

Fox called out to her again, but the name he used was wrong, she wasn't Kursed, she was Krystal, Krystal!

Just like that the voices returned, and Krystal tried to tell Fox that, but all that came out of her mouth was a string of no's that quickly merged into one another as the voices swimming about in her mind gathered in intensity. Then just as quickly as they had come again, the voices were gone, and Krystal opened her eyes as the pain faded. She closed them and blinked again as she took in her surroundings.

The blinding light has stopped her at first, but that had quickly faded and Krystal found herself standing at the base of the palace steps. She darted her head side to side as she tried to make sense of what was happening. Around her, people, her people, were going about their daily business in the village. She couldn't make heads or tails of it, the village was destroyed, she saw it, had felt the ash drift through her paws, tasted it on her tongue when she inhaled.

"Krystal."

Krystal spun around as her father walked around the corner of the stairs to the palace and approached her. He held his staff in hand, fully extended, and he marched towards her in the last thing she had seen him in. The flowing robes had been replaced with a tight fitting tunic and pants, both of which were covered up with leather armor with polished armor plates covering his chest, lower legs, and arms. Under one arm, he held a helm made of the same gleaming metal, and Krystal found herself staring at the helmet, her eyes pulled to her own reflection.

She blinked, trying to understand what she was seeing, it almost looked like she was split in two. One half of her was how she used to her look, her robes and tattoos clearly visible, but the other half was shrouded in darkness and she could barley make out the outfit she had worn down to Cerinia. She pulled her gaze from the helmet and back to her father.

"Father?" she asked softly.

Her father grinned sadly then shook his head, when he opened his mouth, his voice was like the one she had first heard. Somehow it sounded like tens of thousands of Cerinians talking all at once.

"No. Your Father died doing his best to protect his people. To protect Cerinia."

Krystal blinked and glanced at the ground, she wasn't sure what was going on, but something in this figure in front of her spoke so clearly that she could feel the truth of his, its words. Her Father was dead, even though she had doubted it from the start, some small part of her had hoped.

"As for what is going on, it's rather complicated, I can't explain it, but I took this form because I knew it would comfort you."

Krystal brought her gaze back up to her 'father' as he spoke. "So, this is all in my mind then? I'm imagining it?" She said the words forcefully as if they would make them true.

Her 'father' frowned at her.

"I know your father raised you correctly, you know what this is."

Krystal raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Honestly, so much has happened, and with that strange noise and pressure, for all I know, I'm unconscious and imaging all of this."

Her 'father' sighed.

"Oh, you are unconscious, we wouldn't be able to talk otherwise. As for proof that this is real, how about this."

The image of her father brought his staff up and tapped it on the ground once. Krystal hissed in pain and clenched her paws for a moment before she raised them up to her eyes and slowly opened them. A red line ran across both palms, and Krystal's eyes widened. She lowered her paws, the pain forgotten as she stared at her 'father'. "The bonding ceremony." she said softly.

Her 'father' smiled and nodded.

Krystal glanced down at her palms once more. "But...how?"

"When you killed one of those you were bonded to protect, it created an opening for me to speak to you."

Krystal blinked and thought for a moment, her mind drew a blank for a moment. She frowned as she spoke up. "But...that thing...it wasn't a Cerinian, I would have felt it."

"Are you sure? You have been away from your kind for so long, you have forgotten what it feels like to be among your own people."

Krystal shook her head and dashed a hand through the air in front of her. "No. I don't believe you. I would never."

Her 'father' shook his head slowly.

"Still you doubt. Perhaps this will convince you."

Krystal turned her head to watch as a Cerinian walked by her to stand between her and her 'father'. He stood there for a moment, staring at her, then he smiled and raised a hand. Krystal smiled too, she suddenly knew him, knew his name, his wife, his children, she knew everything that was to know about him. "Roc." She said softly as she raised her own hand to touch his, but was horrified when she saw that she was holding her pistol. She tried to stop herself, but the gun fired and she felt the sharp recoil as the round sped through Roc's head, blowing a hole through his face and out the back of his head.

Krystal ran forward, the gun suddenly gone to cradle the dead body as red liquid spread out around her. As she held him, tears running down into her fur, his fur faded away and his skin turned gray and bubbled. Before long Krystal realized that the form she was holding like her own child and crying over was twisted and deformed, she pulled back from him, scooting back like a crab as her tears caught in her throat.

"He...He..."

Her 'father' was suddenly next to her, a hand on her shoulder.

"He was a Cerinian, they all were. They have been twisted by a grim and dark science from a madman."

Krystal closed her eyes and turned her head away from the grisly scene in front of her. She placed a hand on top of the one on her shoulders and frowned. She gasped and stood up, backing away from the grisly gray creature in front of her.

His limbs were stretched out past normal, and he was hunched over slightly, his face was deformed and flattened, all of his fur gone and replaced by the bubbled gray skin. His mouth was partial agape, and Krystal could see the black rotted teeth inside. His eyes were blank and were a pure white with no pupils, yet the creature still stared at her with an accusing glare. His claws were long and black, and they seemed to ooze a dark blood that pooled around him.

Krystal turned away.

"What's the matter? Afraid to look upon your work?"

Krystal turned back to her 'father' to see that he had returned to normal, the body of Roc was also gone. "What do you mean my work?! I didn't do that!"

Her 'father' shook his head again.

"But you did. You led the fiend who did this straight to your village, and you were so blinded by your own desires, that you believed his lies, over and over again, until it was too late."

He held out his staff at her.

"You stole this, and it led to the fall of your village, and once that fell, so did the rest."

Krystal stepped back from the staff. "I took it, but...I...how did that lead to everything I saw?"

Her 'father' pointed behind her.

"Watch, see from the collective memories of your people. See what happened because of your selfish need to escape."

Krystal turned around and took a step back against the wall. She glanced around her and flattened her paws against the wall to the armory room in the upper floors of the palace. In front of her, her Father, her real Father was kneeling in front of the podium where the staff normally rested. She watched as he stared at the empty spot, her mother was in the corner of the room, a red burn across her arm that a guard was working on treating.

"How is this possible?" Krystal turned her eyes to the guard standing next to her father. "Who could remove the staff?"

Her Father sighed and stood up, glancing at her Mother. "Krystal."

The guard looked at her father in surprise. "Are you sure?"

Her Father nodded. "The staff can only be removed by one of royal blood and a bond to Cerinia. Shes the only one who would. She has not been happy here as of late. I wouldn't be surprised if she took it and left before all this came upon us."

A muffled boom sounded and rubble fell from the ceiling above them. She watched as her father turned and drew a sword. He was facing the door with the weapon raised and ready, and so he was the first one who was struck by the green energy bolt from the ape who stood in the door. Krystal gasped and watched as the green beam burned right through her fathers armor and left a gaping hole behind as it blasted through him. The rattling gasp he drew as the energy left him was a sound that would haunt Krystal for the rest of her life. She tried to move, but found herself stuck against the wall, unable to move, forced to watch as more apes entered the room, and quickly made short work of the guards.

Her Mother was the last one to fall, haven taken up a sword at the last minute to try and fend off the apes. As the five burly apes surveyed the room, one of them came up to where she was.

"What about this one?" he asked out loud.

One of the apes, wearing a helmet that marked him as a superior walked over and studied Krystal for a moment. "He is already mostly gone, I'm surprised he's stayed standing this long. Finish him and lets go."

The ape who had asked the question grinned and reached out, Krystal felt his his hands on her head, and she tried to struggle, but she couldn't as her head was twisted sharply to the side.

Krystal gasped and screamed as she suddenly found herself standing in front of the steps, just like before.

"After you left, and with your Father and Mother slain, and the princess missing, the peoples will crumbled, and it was not long before they were overrun."

Krystal dropped to her knees, still in shock over watching her Father die, and from the being joined with the guard as he died. "I..." she cut off, unable to finish.

"It is hard, being in ones body when they die. But it is something you need to experience. So that you'll understand."

Krystal turned to face her 'father' "Understand what?" she asked softly, tears once again creeping into her fur.

Her 'father' stared at her. He blinked slowly and when he opened his eyes again, they were white and his voice echoed through every fiber of her being.

"Princess of Cerinia, you are the last in the line. Your duty is to protect, not to kill, nothing gives you that right. You have failed in your duty, you have forgotten who you are. You have failed to protect, you must repair yourself. You must remember who you are, then and only then can you save them"

Krystal shook her head. "How?" softly.

Instead of an answer, she just got the same words back. "You must save them, SAVE THEM!"

The last words came out in a roar the had Krystal stumbling back and tripping, as she fell into blackness, she sat up with a yell.

Gasping for breath, she rolled off the bed she was on and heaved everything she had eaten onto the floor in front of her. As she blinked the tears out of her eyes she felt two strong hands slip under her arms and pull her up. She blinked and found herself in a bathroom, in front of her sat a bowl and cup of water. She stared at them numbly for a moment before she leaned forward washed her hand and muzzle clean of the left over traces of vomit. Then she grabbed the cup and drank greedily to stave off the parched feeling in her throat. The entire time she was aware of the the warm hand pressed against her back.

She stared at her reflection in the bowl for a moment before she spoke up. "How long was I out?"

"An hour, maybe two." Fox shrugged as she turned to face him, his hand dropping to his side. "Are you okay?"

Kursed shook her head. "No, I'm really not."

Fox was silent for a moment. "What happened?"

Krystal glanced down at her palm, and the red line that ran across it. "I can't really explain it right now, I'm still trying to figure it out in my head." she returned her gaze to Fox. "All I know for sure right now are those gray...creatures...they are, or were, Cerinians."

Fox leaned up against the doorway one elbow climbing up. "And I'm just supposed to be okay with that?" Fox scoffed and shook his head. "Kursed, that's not going to fly anymore, we're trapped in here, with some weird gray creatures out there that you say were Cerinians, and you have the knowledge after you spent three and a half hours tossing and turning on that bed and mumbling in Cerinian." Fox pushed off the doorway and walked into the bedroom. "I need to know whats is going on out there Kursed, and you seem to have an idea."

Kursed followed him out, sitting on the bed while he leaned against the door to the hallway. "I thought you said it was only one or two hours?" she asked him softly.

Fox cringed, caught in the fact that he had been keeping track, and then lied about it. "Okay, its been a little bit longer then that but..." Fox trailed off. "It still doesn't change the fact that you know something. Like the Cerinians for instance."

Kursed was sitting forward, staring at the floor, her arms hanging loose across her lap. "I'm supposed to save them somehow. Cerinia chose me to save them."

Fox frowned "Save them? Is that what you were shouting when you woke up? Sare tare? Or something like that?" Fox shook his head "You know what, I'm not letting you out of this room until I get some answers, so start talking."

Kursed blinked as Fox finished talking. Something clicked inside her at that moment. "I need to fix myself." she said quietly.

Fox looked at her oddly. "What was that?"

Kursed raised her gaze and locked eyes with him, Fox opened his mouth but closed it as she continued to stare at him. "I said, I need to fix myself, so that I can save them. It just came to me right now, you and I need to have a talk, we need to get some things straightened out so that I can save them." Kursed paused. "Okay?"

Fox nodded numbly. "Okay." he said softly.

Kursed smiled softly and patted the bed next to her. "Then come sit down."

WHOOO! Evil Cliff hanger! AGAIN! Damn, I'm evil, but everything that is coming deserves its own chapter. As for what is coming...well...I'll let you all think about that. : P Anywhoos, I'm looking forward to the next chapter personally, I'm still not sure which way it going to go, but I'm excited either way.

So, before I get into the guest reviews, I do have some semi coolish news. While I was away, and before everything that happened over the last month...well...happened, I started writing down a bunch of Star Fox one shots into the book I take everywhere with me. I only have about six pages now, one of the stories is complete and the other is about halfway done. Seems short, but I write small, and also, remember, one shots :P also I still have lots of ideas to pen down. Either way, I'm going to upload them, I'm just not sure if I'm going to put them on my author page on Facebook, or create a collection here on FF Net. You should all sound off and let me know what you would prefer, if you would even want to read them.

Right, that should be everything, so Guest Reviews!

Blake O'Donnell: Thank you for you kind words, and as for my Dad, hes doing better, in fact he's grumpy at his co-workers because he's trying to be his normal workaholic self and they keep sending him home early. Its great. I'm not used to stopping by my parents house and hes there. Awesome name by the way : P

Guest: Thank you for your words. Like I said above, my Dad is doing well.

Well, here we are again, end of a chapter, I'm sure you all know what comes next.

Peace,

- Emile