Channelling

Krystal shivered and pulled the robe tighter around herself. Sunday mornings in the McCloud household were usually merry, a time when they left all chores be and did what they pleased, which more often than not involved playing games with Marcus.

Not today.

She had another sip of coffee from her mug, although knowing that the decaf would do nothing to ease her pounding headache. Leaning forwards, she rested her elbows on the kitchen island and her head in her hands, waiting for the painkillers she'd taken to kick in. She'd barely had a wink of sleep since Bill had dropped her off last night. The bulldog had offered to stay until Fox returned, but she had assured him she'd be fine, and he had reluctantly left.

Marcus, on the other hand, was full of energy despite being up late the previous night. He was eagerly chatting with Hope while the two of them went through the fridge and cupboards, making a mess in the kitchen. Krystal winced at the clang of a metal bowl hitting the floor. She fully expected the kit to get overtired and turn into an outright little terror in the afternoon, but she had enough of her own problems to worry about that right now.

Speaking of things to worry about, Fox entered the kitchen wearing his dressing gown. He had black eyes, dishevelled facial fur, and his mohawk was askew. Krystal assumed he'd had as little sleep as her, since he came home from the 'party' in the early morning. Dragging his feet, he shuffled over to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup, next to where Marcus and Hope were putting bowls and utensils on the bench, their tails wagging in excitement. Hope had tied up her hair for once, presumably not to shed any in whatever they prepared to cook, and Krystal's gaze followed the long ponytail down to Hope's narrow waist. Krystal caught herself staring at Hope's shapely rump, but luckily Fox was too tired to notice.

"We're making pancakes!" Marcus blurted out. "How much of everything, Daddy?"

"Uhh..." Fox scrunched his face up in concentration, his brain obviously not firing on all cylinders yet. "One measure of flour and two measures of milk per egg... I think... and a pinch of salt."

Krystal gaped at Fox, impressed that he could remember all that on the spot, despite what had happened last night. She tried not to think at all herself, but it was to no avail; the guilt kept creeping back. She just wanted to disappear. The thought of taking her Cloud Runner and flying off in solitude appealed to her, both because she needed to escape the noise around her, and because she was afraid of hurting someone else.

Marcus and Hope chatted and laughed while they made a ruckus, clanging about with pots and pans, only interrupted by the sounds of batter being poured into a sizzling hot pan.

Krystal looked up at Kayuq who sat on the other side of the kitchen island, looking quite content as she sipped her cup of tea. But behind the facade, the vixen seemed deep in thought, because her unseeing eyes moved and her ears twitched a little.

Fox sat down next to Krystal and put an arm around her waist. She closed her eyes and put her head on his shoulder. She didn't think she deserved the affection, but his scent was comforting, as was the smell of freshly cooked pancakes.

"Thank you, dear, but I think your mother needs the first one," said Kayuq.

Krystal opened her eyes to see Marcus's beaming face as he passed her the plate. His tail spun like a propeller when she ran her fingers through the swirl of white on his forehead, her gorgeous little kit. Suddenly feeling hungry, she took a bite of the blueberry pancake and sighed with content. Maybe this was better than solitude right now?

"How's Uncle Peppy?" Marcus's question brought her mood crashing right back down.

"He'll be just fine," said Fox. "He just fainted, tired and stressed from working too much."

Marcus frowned. Maybe he could sense the lie? Or maybe burnout was just a strange concept to someone with the kit's boundless energy. After Fox once more assured that Peppy was going to be okay, Marcus returned to Hope's side by the stove.

Slowly but steadily, plates filled up with pancakes, and they ate their meal while talking about everything but last night. Hope was eager to learn about life on Corneria, and Marcus answered every question with enthusiasm. After breakfast, Marcus dragged Hope away for more play, leaving the kitchen looking like it had been hit by a tropical cyclone, but the mess could wait, Krystal decided.

"So..." Kayuq turned towards Krystal. "Would you care to show me what really happened last night?"

"No, please." Krystal moaned and shuddered. She couldn't drag it all up, not yet.

"Would you mind if your husband did instead?"

Krystal shook her head and watched how Fox's eyes glazed over for a minute, while he shared his memories with Kayuq. Kayuq's brows furrowed in concern, and she put a hand under her muzzle.

"Do you think the General suspects what Krystal did to him?" Kayuq's question was more for Krystal's benefit, since she could read Fox's thoughts.

Fox shook his head. "I don't think so. It seems he thought that Krystal made him feel her anger, and on top of everything else that triggered his condition, but not that she actually... you know."

Krystal moaned and buried her head in her hands.

"He did offer to help, after all," Fox continued.

"Still, we must presume that he might exercise caution, since he now knows you have your powers, the very thing that his intelligence organisation fears." Kayuq scratched her chin. "I think Hope and myself need to find other living arrangements, in case they decide to put you under surveillance."

"My apartment in the city is vacant," said Fox. "Fay and Miyu have been renting it, but they're stationed on Katina at the moment."

"Excellent." Kayuq had a sip of her tea. "That way we can move around freely and gather intelligence."

"Bill caught a whiff of you," said Krystal with a sigh. "He's more of a bloodhound than a bulldog. He asked if we had visitors. I said it was just our housekeeper, but I'm not sure he bought it."

"He did." A little smirk played on Kayuq's muzzle as she tapped her temple with a finger.

"Of course you snooped," Krystal grumbled.

Kayuq ignored the remark. "Housekeeper... that's a good cover, letting us come and go."

"You might need some disguise. We don't want SIRIUS learning that a prominent Cerinian has returned to Corneria." Fox looked alert, his brain kicking into problem-solving mode. "Some false teeth should throw muzzle recognition technology off."

Krystal tore at her hair. All this trouble just because she couldn't keep her emotions in check. She felt herself choking up, ready to cry. "I'm a terrible person," she sniffled. What if I hurt someone else, someone I love?

"I'd be more worried if you didn't show remorse after what you did to the General." Kayuq's tone was soft. "However, you've experienced unfathomable trauma, so severe that you lost your memories. Emotional outbursts are understandable, but self-control can be trained. It's about time we start."

To protect yourself and others, she added telepathically.

"When?" Krystal looked up. She wasn't sure what the training would involve, and what it could do, but she needed hope to cling on to.

"As soon as you feel ready." Kayuq put her cup down and stood up with her tail wagging behind her. "But first, rest up and play with your child."

The staff extended in her hands, the gem placed in its tip glowing faintly. Krystal savoured the mental connection, the staff feeling more like an extension of herself than a melee weapon. She tightened her grip, feeling the warmth as energy flowed from the staff into her artificial hands, charging the capacitors that powered them. With a chuckle she remembered that time she had tried to draw too much power, triggering the built-in fail-safe mechanism in her prosthetics. To her surprise the connectors had released, and the staff clattered to the floor, artificial limbs still clinging to it.

She turned around when she heard a noise behind her. Marcus walked down the stairs to the gym room, still dressed in his pyjamas adorned with Arwings, leading Kayuq by the hand. The sight warmed Krystal's heart; Marcus's tail wagged and Kayuq wore a happy smile on her muzzle.

Kayuq's choice of attire surprised Krystal. The old vixen wore a shawl draped over her shoulders, which left her surprisingly flat midriff uncovered. Her skirt reached just below her knees, but with a slit on one side revealing a slender yet toned thigh.

"You keep yourself fit," Krystal remarked and compared with Peppy, whose belly had grown even more with age.

"I do my bodyweight exercises every day." Kayuq smirked before turning serious. "Is that a staff I sense? May I...?"

Krystal placed the staff in Kayuq's outstretched hands. The old vixen received it carefully, slowly running her fingertips along the groves, humming with content when she touched its power source.

"The Saurian gems are of excellent quality," she said and frowned. "Possibly even rivalling those from Cerinia."

Krystal had learned that Cerinia had Krazoa statues, and now power gems as well. The words of Fangio, her guide on Papetoon, rang in her ears; how the people of Cornerian might have had interstellar help populating Lylat. Maybe when and if they arrived at Cerinia, they could find out if there was any truth in the legends about World Builders. But for now, Krystal put the thought aside, watching Kayuq spin the staff in her hands. "I assume you lost yours."

Kayuq sighed and nodded. "Yes, these clothes I wear is all I escaped from Eldey with."

Krystal admired the garments, simple in design, lined with traditional Cerinian symbols in gold on a pure white fabric. They resembled the brasserie and loincloth Krystal had arrived on Sauria in, while being more modest. She compared them with the plain, purple tank top and black sweatpants she wore herself.

"Can I play too?" Marcus's eager hands reached for the staff.

"If you're gentle," said Krystal as Kayuq handed it over.

"Ooh, it's heavy!" He held it in both arms, making whooshing sounds as he spun on the spot.

"Be careful to not hit anything or anyone," Krystal warned.

"Oh, he won't as long as you have control." Kayuq turned to Krystal and tilted her head. "You do have a psionic bond with it, don't you?"

"Well, yeah..." Krystal remembered how she'd left Fox telepathic messages through it, and how she'd sensed his presence while she was imprisoned on Sauria. "I can talk to Fox using it." It had even let her take control of his limbs once, when he had allowed her to.

"I see you have more to learn than I thought." Kayuq smiled and her tail wagged slowly, as if she was looking forward to the prospect. "But first we need to focus on your mental strength."

"How do we do that?"

Kayuq performed the Cerinian greeting, and Krystal opened her mind. Through two minds controlling two bodies in unison over one link, thought the elder vixen, and made Krystal lead them both out to the middle of the basement.

"Marcus, could you help blindfold your mother, please?"

Krystal bent down so that the kit could put a gym towel over her eyes. She could feel both hesitation and intrigue from his mind.

Now, touch my hand, Kayuq commanded.

Unable to see, Krystal reached out to where the other vixen had been a moment ago, but found only thin air.

That would have been too easy, so I moved, Kayuq continued. You need to sense me.

Krystal strained her ears and listened, but Kayuq did not speak. There was only the faint sound of breathing and Marcus's tail thumping the floor, so she reached out. First, she checked on her son, who seemed to sit off to the side at a safe distance, all excited over what he was about to watch. But she could also sense Kayuq's presence, calm and free of thoughts. Turning in the direction of the slow breathing, Krystal dove deeper, and connected with Kayuq, feeling what the other person sensed. She could hear her own breaths through Kayuq's ears.

She'd never found her psionic sense to be precise, but she could tell the general direction of someone thinking about her. Using the feedback loop, she received the same sensation from Kayuq, and she let it guide her focus. Suddenly, the thoughts became crystal clear, and she sensed every part of Kayuq's body, as if their minds had aligned.

Krystal's breathing quickened and her heart thumped in her chest as she reached out with a trembling hand. She could feel exactly how Kayuq held her left hand up, but Krystal was a little taller, so she aimed slightly lower with her right. It was like an electric shock; Krystal's fur stood on end as their fingertips touched.

She held up her left hand, and within a moment, Kayuq's palm met hers. Not only did her hand's sensors register the touch, but also how strange her own fingers-hard metal and composites under a synthetic glove-felt against the old vixen's weathered pads. She relaxed and slowed her breathing, letting it synchronise with Kayuq's. Krystal could not remember ever having had such a deep psionic connection. She felt lucid and two bodies blended into one, controlled by two minds in harmony.

Now, we mirror-box, Kayuq commanded.

You mean shadow-box?

No, like a mirror, one person reflecting the other's movements.

The first jab was gentle, Krystal reaching out and grasping Kayuq's hand lightly. She repeated with the other hand. Kayuq continued striking in slow motion, Krystal feeling every movement like it was her own, knowing exactly how to counter. A low kick was parred, their shins barely touching.

Krystal took over the lead, striking out with her leg against the other's hip. Kayuq held Krystal's heel for a second, while Krystal balanced on her other foot, as if they were dancing. They increased speed. While barely thinking about it, they agreed on combinations, and executed them with perfection in complete synergy. Soon, Krystal could even reach out to Marcus and sense his awe, without letting it distract her.

Your balance is excellent, said Kayuq's mind-voice. Now, show me what you saw in Peppy's memories.

The anger welled up in an instant, catching Krystal by surprise and causing her to miss a strike, hitting thin air until Kayuq grasped her wrist.

Focus on my hand, she said, and they continued until Krystal found the groove again. Try again, but this time step away from your wrath. Do not feel it; just observe it.

Something peculiar happened. Her view shifted to Peppy's, watching her own snarling face through his eyes, a memory she was unaware she'd picked up from him.

Your anger is a natural reaction, said Kayuq's calm mind-voice. He has kept what you need from you, and let our people hurt. What is the best course of action?

With the clarity of hindsight, the question was easily answered: to remain calm, feign concern, and pick the information she wanted from Peppy's brain. Linked with Kayuq and freed of emotion, Krystal saw his memories in more detail, including the faces of the two Cerinians in the experiment.

Kayuq grasped Krystal's paws and held them still. She was panting hard, Krystal suddenly aware of the older vixen's exhaustion from the exercise, but she could also feel the joy and relief.

"That's Ryuga... and Kabura," said Kayuq in-between breaths. "Peppy thought of a third fox, which must be Mitsuru. I knew they were alive."

Krystal reached for the blindfold.

Not yet! Kayuq was still in Krystal's head. Your mind is very strong right now. While it's in this state, share a memory from Cerinia with me. We might be able to tease something more from it.

After a moment's consideration, Krystal knew just the thing; a fragmented dream she'd had once, and that she was sure would impress the old vixen.

Blindfolded, Krystal walked, led by the hand by someone she somehow trusted completely. The air was damp and cold, and their footfalls echoed off hard walls. A strange whooshing noise increased in strength, filling her ears, and an invisible power made her fur stand on end. Two hands took her by the shoulders and turned her in the direction of the noise.

"Here we are." She recognised a deep voice, a voice she loved: Randorn. "Are you ready, my child?"

"Yes." Her heart pounded in excitement.

The brightness blinded her for a moment, and she shielded her eyes with a hand until her vision could focus.

An immense column of light rose from the abyss in front of her, confined by concentric spirals of bright metal. Shooting upwards, it disappeared through a pipe in the vaulted ceiling high above. The pulsating light reflected off the walls of the massive cave surrounding them.

Teenage Krystal in the memory stared in wonder at the edifice, so large that a small ship easily would fit within the beam of energy, but the current Krystal's awe was mixed with fear, tainted by terror from a vision Kamuy had shared with her of the structure in disarray.

Someone gasped. Krystal turned her head and saw the translucent outline of Kayuq as she entered the dream, her pale blue eyes taking in the spectacle before them.

It's the Shield Emitter, she explained. It's located in an extinct volcano by the magnetic south pole, deep into Wolven territory.

"I thought you would like it." The memory of Randorn looked at her, an old, tall and broad wolf with a loving smile on his muzzle. Krystal smiled back at the man she loved like a father. "The Shield feeds off the power from Kandesca's flares, boosting Cerinia's magnetic fields in the process, protecting us from the radiation. This is only the tip of the iceberg. The generators are in the empty magma chamber far beneath our feet."

"Did the Krazoa build it?" Krystal asked as she watched the light play on his golden and brown fur sprinkled with a little grey.

"The Krazoa are only spirits, watchmen left behind to guard the creation. According to the legends, the World Builders found this planet aeons ago, in the star's habitable zone, if it wasn't for the flares." He looked up, following the flow of The Shield's energy, staring at the heavens above. "They built this machine, terraformed the planet, and once lush and liveable, brought the people here who would become Cerinians."

"But when, and where did we come from?" Krystal's younger self was bursting with questions.

"A good question, which we may never find the answer to." Randorn laughed softly. "But does it matter whether we understand their purpose or not? Isn't it more important that we cherish and make the most of every day of our short lives, while looking after this precious planet we've been given?"

"But why did they bring two sapient species?"

He scratched his chin. "Perhaps to see who would look after the planet better, who would evolve strongest, or just what works best"-he chuckled-"brawn versus brain."

Or to see if we'd get along? Krystal thought.

"Like Sabre and yourself, really." He smiled, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. "He hungers for strength and courage, while you yearn for knowledge. You complement each other well."

There was a rumble and she could feel the ground shake lightly, before the column of energy flickered briefly and patches of colourful light flew by.

"It's beautiful," said Krystal, but then she saw Randorn's wrinkled forehead.

"That's actually a cause for concern." His voice hid it well, but Krystal could pick up the worry radiating from his mind. "Those are disturbances. The Shield is old and in need of... tuning." He turned on his heel. "Follow me, I'll show you something else."

He led the way along a platform that looped around the energy flow. Krystal squinted and peered over the railing to try and see what was below, but she couldn't make out any mechanism because of the blinding light. There was only the spiralling conduit that seemed to lead down into the underworld.

Randorn walked into a narrow tunnel on the other side. There was a faint purple glow in his eyes when he turned around to look at her. Just like in the Krazoa Palace, she thought. The passage opened up into a smaller chamber, perhaps twenty metres across, which was filled to the brim with pipes, cables, monitors, and humming machines. Each piece of equipment Krystal looked at seemed stranger than the one before. The centrepiece was another column of light, like miniature versions of the Shield's beam.

So he was experimenting with it, said the mind-voice of Kayuq. Her projection frowned, but with her maw hanging slightly open, as if both appalled and in awe.

"I've managed to divert the most minute amount of The Shield's flow to my laboratory," said Randorn and walked up to the beam. "We need to examine it and understand how it is generated in order to renovate and maintain it. The dark matter powering the core is unlike any technology we've mastered. Watch this!"

The beam emerged from a spiralling conduit, reaching up to Randorn's waist. It flowed up towards another structure, hanging down from the ceiling like a stalactite. He reached out and put his hand into the beam, which was completely undisturbed, passing through his hand as if it was nothing. He withdrew his hand and held it up for Krystal to see; there was not a mark on it.

"Ordinary matter does not interact with this energy." He pointed towards a pedestal next to Krystal. "Would you please pass me that ring?"

Krystal looked closer, and saw a circular object made of what seemed to be the same metallic substance as the Shield conduits were made of. The ring was hardly larger than a piece of jewellery, but its weight shocked her. She couldn't pick it up with her fingers, but had to use one hand to scoop it into the palm of the other, before handing it to Randorn.

"This ring is a Krazonium alloy," he said and attached it to a metal pole, so that he could put it into the beam and hold it steady. First he held the ring upright, disturbing the flow, which swirled around it, before converging and disappearing through the ceiling. Then he laid it flat, and suddenly the beam concentrated, increased speed, and passed through the centre of the ring. He tilted it slightly, bending the beam into an S-shape both this way and that.

"It does however react with charged particles, like the ones from Kandesca. Let me show you using a ray gun." He turned around and scanned the room. "Now, where did I put it?"

Mesmerised, Krystal walked up to the beam. Her skin crawled, both from the invisible energy permeating the room, and from her own anticipation, as she slowly reached out a hand. Sparks flickered around her claws when she put her fingers in the beam, and a strange sensation spread throughout her arm, feeling hot and cold at the same time. Her fur stood on end as the feeling continued, passing through her body, and out through her other arm. The claws on her other hand sparkled as well, and faint trails of light-hardly thicker than strands of hair-emerged from her fingertips. They swirled like wisps of smoke and travelled upwards before rejoining the beam.

"Wow... look at this, Father."

There was a clang as something hit the floor. She turned and saw Kayuq's projection standing next to Randorn, a dropped blaster by his feet. Both had their maws hanging open as they spoke in unison.

"You..." Randorn approached Krystal, reaching for the threads of silky energy coming off Krystal's paw, the light running through his fingers. "You can channel?"

Objects in the room started dissolving; this was where Krystal's dream had ended. "Is that unusual?" she asked, willing the memory to stay, craving an answer.

"Very much so," said Randorn as his outline began to blur. "There are only legends about people having that ability. The Wolven people seem to have lost it, and if any Vixon still can, they're keeping that to themselves."

Randorn and the beam faded into darkness. Krystal removed her blindfold, letting her eyes adjust to the light.

"I know the legends he spoke of." Kayuq frowned. "They say that some people were brought to Cerinia before others, helping the Creators terraform the world, channelling their powers into our physical world."

A shiver ran down Krystal's spine and the fur raised on her neck. She still remembered that moment as clear as day, when she was trapped in the crystal atop of Krazoa Palace. When the spirits surged through her, despair and fatigue had vanished in an instant. She had felt lucid and omnipotent, as if she could do anything she wished with that power, if she only knew how to. Just as quickly, it had disappeared, and she found herself falling towards the abyss.

She shuddered to shake the memory.

"That might be why our psionic powers run stronger in some bloodlines," Kayuq continued. "But whether we were given those powers by the World Builders, or selected because of them, has been lost in the mists of time. Our ancestors wrote nothing down, and the Krazoa Spirits have not been seen on Cerinia for centuries. We simply didn't know if anyone could still channel." The old vixen put her paws on Krystal's shoulders. "When Fox said you had channelled on Sauria, I was a sceptic. Not anymore."

Something wrapped itself around Krystal's leg. She looked down to see Marcus's beaming face, showing without a doubt how special he thought his mom was.