I'm back with another Perfect Insanity installment. We continue with the (R)path since the (D) has ended. Some of you were a little surprised at Phantom's reaction and actions at the end of that path, but I can assure you that this story isn't over and you will see why he reacted the way he did as (R) continues. Enjoy!
For those reading this, hoping for a new Remastered G-Zero chapter... I have to apologize. I couldn't do it. I was not capable of producing something that would pass any quality standard I set by myself. It read very quirky and was full of mistakes and grammar errors. I cannot present that to you.
(R)Chapter 16: Just relax
"Well Princess?" brings Sciltch up. "I believe you had something to say."
Krystal awakens from a thousand-mile stare as she shakes her head a bit. Her head and mind felt filled and overflowing the whole way through. She hasn't come up with anything satisfying to answer the touching words Sciltch has given her. It's simply too much for her to handle at this point.
Though she wants to believe the words Sciltch has been telling her, it keeps making no sense to her. And her heart is a mess as well. The love she felt for a certain fighter pilot leading a mercenary squadron of ace pilots fighting for the good cause for a fair amount. Someone with the spirit of true hero but with the mindset of a five-year old playing with a fully-automatic BB gun. That may sound worse than it truly is but given the experiences Krystal has had with him, it was enemy, gunfire, target hit and boom.
Yet she fell for him like a brick. Was it the determination in his eyes when he saved her on Sauria? His unrelenting support and guidance through her training to become a good, if not a great member of Star Fox? His devotion to keeping her safe? All that for, if not less than 10 years? Unceasing? How is it possible that she can remember so many things from her dream?
It makes her head spin even more than it already did. She looks up at Sciltch but not in the way either of them wanted to look. Sciltch would have preferred that Krystal would look a bit more... cheered up and ready to answer his feelings he expressed. Krystal would have preferred to look at her friend with a face that was drowning in regret. Neither gets what he or she wants.
Krystal looks up with a rather plagued and tormented expression on her face. "Sciltch." she speaks a bit hoarse. "Get me some water. My throat and voice hurt!" she suddenly screams out at the top of her lungs, rising up from the bed as fast as an arrow.
An arrow, which pierces right through Sciltch's opened up heart. "Oh... o-okay Princess."
Severely disappointed and slightly heartbroken, Sciltch walks over to the plate on the furniture he left it. The shards of broken china are still on there. They suddenly mean more to him than just fragments of something that was whole minutes ago.
The water in the teapot had cooled down to room temperature in the meantime. Krystal never likes her tea boiling hot but not cold either. Just the right temperature of her Royal Highness the Princess. He never saw this as something out of the ordinary. Let alone annoying. Something is different now. As the water pours into an unbroken teacup, something he does compulsory like a mindless slave blindly following orders, he sees his own reflection in the stream of water.
He sighs deeply as his reflection is a correct representation of what he feels inside. A broken person looking at himself. He's blaming himself. He should have never spoken out to her. Not until he was sure that the feeling would be mutual. This was… the moment he thought. He thought wrong however.
But he's not just blaming himself. Krystal has part in this as well. Her unsatisfying and insulting ignoring of Sciltch's feelings summarizes what the arrow through the heart felt like. Sadness and self-pity slow turn into directed hate and anger. It's only a tiny bit, nothing more than a spark that's not lighting any major fire yet. Partially because he can't let Krystal know. Something tells him that if he would fall out against her, he might never speak again.
While this divide is going rampant in Sciltch mind, he's not paying attention at how full the cup is. It overflows and he spills some on the plate.
Oh no… I can't use this right now! he complains moaning as he tries to wipe it away with his paw. Instead, he smears it out all over the plate making it look like a dirty stain. In his haste however, he sees another reflection. Not his but someone else's. It's a dark figure that blocks the sunlight from giving a reflection in the water in the first place.
Sciltch turns to where the dark figure stands and sees Krystal standing in the light. Her left paw is placed over her mouth and most of her muzzle. She's sniveling, trying to keep the tears inside and above not to show that she's crying.
The anger Sciltch felt over Krystal degrades, making less sense as the reason why makes more sense. But Sciltch needs to know for sure. Very gradually, he turns towards her. Krystal senses this and turns her head around.
"I'm sorry Sciltch…" she says bleak, her throat still hoarse before she turns her head back. "I didn't mean to command you like that. It's… I have too much on my head right now."
"Do I need to leave then?"
"No… please don't." Her head darts back and forth to Sciltch. "Can please take a seat somewhere? I have to tell you something. Gives you a general idea…"
"Sure Princess." answers Sciltch obedient as sits down on the edge of Krystal's bed. He can't say he's very comfortable. Not that it's the bed but rather the nervous and even anxious way he sees the blue vixen stands before him. Her back is covered in shadow that is darker than any other shadow Sciltch has seen.
He hears a deep sigh before Krystal turns around, trying to impersonate someone stronger than she is at this moment. "Sciltch... you must know that y-you are one of the most important peo- person in my life. I care about you because you... you are my best friend." she almost shrieks when her voice cracks. "But I can't handle much at this moment. I just woke up from a six day slumber; I have problems with my parents and to be honest... I have no idea what is real anymore."
Sciltch returns a blank glance. He wants her to continue, knowing that there is more to come.
"It all felt... so real. And to just label as a dream that I got from a disease I've only now been introduced to..." She shakes her head, hiding her teary eyes. "I can't do that. I'm sorry Sciltch. I cannot give you the answers you crave for. Not now."
She looks up to see that Sciltch's expression has changed. It utters pain and compassion, both for her and him. He understands her struggle but he wanted salvation for his own hauntings as well. He's tapping his fingers nervously on the side of the bed, not knowing what to say or how to react properly.
"Sciltch... could you please leave my room? And... take off that maid outfit." she says with a grain of daring comedic arrogance. "It makes you look a bit ridiculous."
Sciltch looks down at what he's wearing and plucks a bit at the latex material it is made of. It does make him look ridiculous but if that is his biggest concern at this moment...
Without a little nod, he agrees to what Krystal said. He rises from the bed and takes the plate with him. Krystal watches him go, tilting her head to the right to catch a glimpse at what is underneath under her servant's tail.
I am going to miss the sight of him wearing women's underwear. she giggles in herself before she finds that her room is very empty. She crashes face-first on her bed with a pillow being her savior from getting a painful nose. She takes a deep breathe, smelling her own scent very clearly. Only to be disgusted by it instantly.
Pinching her own nose, she walks over to the bathroom in order to freshen up. Her nightgown needs a serious wash and her hair seems glued together, messed up beyond belief. It even scares when she looks in the mirror.
I look like a savage! she thinks of herself in horror. Normally she would scream like a banshee but since her throat still hurts, she decides to spare her voice this time. She turns the valve and lets the warm water fill up the bathtub. One that is hers and hers alone. Made by the finest hands Cerinia could offer and build from porcelain and various precious metals. A satin handle on one of the edges helps her maintain balance when her naked body gets in. Its other purpose is just so she doesn't drown if she were to fall asleep because she always holds on to it. No matter what happens.
Once she's in, she looks to her left. On the other edge close to the wall, various oils perfumed with the richest scents stand there right for the picking. Her eyes scan through the arrangement of oils before she finds an orange-golden small jar. It looks very oriental, like it came from afar. Krystal has never seen that jar but it must have been a present from an admirer.
She receives many anonymous gifts from people that see her as a beauty. It's quite flattering but she has never replied with any vow of love. Why would she? If she can get everything from everyone and it works without a flaw, there is no way she would change that.
She picks the bottle from the edge and turns it around a couple of times to see if anything is written on it. An eyebrow is raised when no text or even a symbol is found. But the oil is very liquid and it shines when she holds it in the light. Like liquid gold.
Only for that reason only, she opens that jar as the water level reaches her belly button and the steam reaches the ceiling above her. The cap is flipped away while she fills her nostrils with the sweet and strong honey and caramel flavored fumes that come out of the bottle. It's not like she's going to close an empty bottle.
And as the oil mixes with the warm water, she turns the valve and the faucet off before finding herself in a hypnotic state of being. She stares endlessly at the ceiling. Her head resting relaxed against the bathtub itself with her chin barely touching the water. The feeling is so overwhelming and so good... it's should be considered a sin to be feeling so free and satisfied.
Slowly, her eyelids begin to feel very heavy. The warmth of the water begins to feel like a unique hug and the smells around her quenches both her thirst and her hunger. Its softness and gentle nature of the swallowed fumes eases her hurting throat, making it smoother and feel less irritated. The ever rising steam coming from the water makes her eyes a bit teary and messes with her vision a bit.
Nothing of this bothers her however. The water gives her a sense of love and affection she haven't felt for over... well ten years it must have been. Her nose triggers memories of bygone times. The pleasant times she had as a small child. That one time she went to town and tasted her first caramelized candy. She got spoiled, true. But it was great fun.
Her eyelids are closed by this point. Her grip on the satin handle loosens up as her chin submerges into the water. Her lower jam follows soon after. Her rational thinking is blocked off by the memories and the overwhelming full scents. Her body is getting tingly, goose bumps running rampant across her skin. The feeling... it is like she knows it. Encountered it before. She could compare it to that knowledge... but why would she? It could ruin her experience and the inner peace she's having. Maybe she can even answer to Sciltch's feelings if she continues.
It's like an angel whispered that in her ear. Or a little demon but who cares? Whilst slowly being smothered, her nose sniff up the final inhale of fresh oxygen before it too is submerged under the water. The last part of her, the paw that was holding the handle, droops into the water only moments later. Fully submerged in the water, she feels free and oh so relaxed. Just... relaxed.
Please leave a review of your honest opinion and PM me if you see any minor errors or nitpick-worthy thingies. I would rather have them dealt with personally than that others have to read every little mistake being highlighted. Thank you in advance.
-Phantom R.D.S. Foxx