A/N: Written with XxSanitariumxX's permission. Inspiration came from his two Frozen Hell stories, Star Fox: Survival in a Frozen Hell, and Star Fox: Back to Hell. I recommend you read them if you like background material for this story.

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Kurse of the Erinyes

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Find a Way - Amy Grant - (Spotify, YouTube, iTunes)

Blessings - Laura Story - (Spotify, YouTube, iTunes)

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.

"I finally have you back, I'll never let you go again."

Kursed McCloud lay in bed next to an incapacitated Fox McCloud, aboard the Earthen Military Ship (E.M.S.) Eternal Fire of the Earthen Empire. Not too long ago the vessel was badly damaged when a Cornerian Carrier Jumped into it, half-destroying the eight-kilometer long battleship, causing heavy structural damage, massive topside damage, and leaving most of the systems in critical condition. And then a little while later during the confusion Kursed captured the human leader, a female named Jessica, and forced her to show where her Fox was held. Then Jessica was stunned and Kursed took her along as a hostage for insurance.

Now she was finally reunited with the only man she'd ever loved, the only reason why she had done what she had done against any and all who dared to stand in her way.

"No one will ever take you from me again. Ever, again," she murmured softly as she caressed his limp fur. But he still remained cold to the touch, barely alive. But that would change, one day, when the war was over, and humanity either annihilated or put in their rightful place.

The sick-bay was dark, a result of the Carrier's suicide Jump into the E.M.S. Eternal Fire, but here and there a few lights flickered bravely over the rows of grey beds. The ventilation-systems had shut down, leaving the air to grow stale and cold. Combined with the few lights and the general darkness of the room, it was a gloomy place. The only other sound besides Kursed's husky breathing was the softer breathing sound of the unconscious human women, Jessica, the Empress of the Earthen Empire—a position that was growing precarious by the minute, for once Kursed turned her attention away from her unconscious mate, death was imminent. That or suffering to the degree of sadism.

"Never again, my love." she whispered into his ear, ruffling his fur.

"The hour has struck." a quiet voice behind Kursed said.

She pulled away from her nuzzling and stared at the intruder. Outlined against the dark room was a faintly mannish shape, a tall, powerfully built humanoid. In addition there was a perceptible air of authority around him, one she'd felt before: No! Not one of him again! Kursed snarled and bared her teeth. She scrambled out of the hospital bed and grabbed her blaster.

Pointing the handgun at him, she snarled again, and said, "How many times do I have to deal with you!?"

"The one thou refers to is not I," the dark figure calmly replied.

Kursed simply lost it, she had descended far into madness. She depressed the trigger and let loose a hail of blasterbolts upon the motionless figure, howling in rage and anger.

But not one of the bolts touched him; they simply winked out of existence as they reached him. Kursed's features, if possible, grew even more demented. "How many times to I have to kill you, skinner?!" she screamed, squeezing the trigger so hard she nearly broke it, continuing to spray the humanoid with beams of death.

"The one thou refers to is not I," he replied again, in the same calm, infuriating tone of voice. His features, revealed by the harsh yellow lasers, were aquiline, smooth and regular; in short, a perfect example of what could be called human male beauty. However all Kursed saw was the face of the human Raye Belial, a human male she'd tortured to death and yet met again only days later.

Throwing aside the useless handgun, Kursed jumped towards him, claws extended and teeth gleaming: She was going to rip and tear, rend and claw, bite and even gulp down to shreds the insolent human who refused to die—and this time she was going to make sure there was not a single bit left for any one to resurrect!

She leapt upon him and bit down hard on his face. But instead of sinking through warm, living flesh, her teeth grated against something akin to steel; her claws slid and scrabbled to keep a hold on him. Strangely enough, he stood straight-backed and tall, ignoring the bloodlusting vixen on him as much as one would ignore a flea or a mosquito. Then he moved—quicker than the eye could register.

Grabbing her throat in a vise-like grip, the humanoid pulled Kursed off as if she were nothing, and forced her to a kneeling position in front of him. Lowering his cold, dark eyes, so frighteningly like the one she thought she'd killed, he stared into her own ice-blue ones. Kursed suddenly felt, in addition to the choking grip, something quite odd happening to her. It felt as if someone had lit a bright light inside her soul and saw things she'd tried so desperately hard to keep hidden, and failed. That and an animalistic fear, a deep, instinctive primal fear—one she had not felt since the beginning of the human/Cornerian war.

"Thou art found wanting," he whispered, "and thou shalt pay the price of all that thou hast caused."

Lifting Kursed up high into the air with absurd ease, the humanoid turned swiftly to the left and threw her across the room. She crashed through hospital beds, feeling as well as hearing something in the base of her spine break; at the same instant a bolt of pain shot up her backbone as she landed hard on the floor. Slidding to a stop against a wall, she tried to stand to reattack the human; but a moment later her legs collapsed and she fell. Kursed groaned as the adrenaline suddenly faded and she was struck with pains from nearly every corner of her body: bruises from wherever she'd hit beds, a near concussion, and the awful sensation of her tail no longer moving—it was broken.

Slowly and softly, her assailant walked towards her, moving deliberately and with purpose. Soon he reached her, and knelt until he was eye to eye with her. Kursed snarled again; but something deep inside her realized that this was a far different opponent than a human; something that held her with remote contempt.

"I knowest thine actions, one who was called Krystal McCloud, now called "Kursed,"" the humanoid softly spoke; yet each word held a degree of menance that was carefully measured. Kursed instinctively shrank away, even though it was irrational and that she could have clawed out his oddly blank eyes by now. "I knowest of the suffering thou hast caused to the two Races of Men called Humanity and Cornerianity. Thou hast injured both, and destroyed many lives of both. Thou hast betrayed thine own kind from thy actions."

"Quit the fancy talk, motherf*cker!" Kursed shouted back, anger fueling her, "Kill me now, or I will kill you!" She bared her claws, threateningly, and started to stand.

"Thou hast already killed thyself. Yet there is hope for thy soul; but thou must be brought to it." He had retreated, and now stood a few meters away, back towards her, quite unconcerned with her threats; but that would be his undoing: never turn your back to an enemy, especially one that has nothing to lose.

Kursed regained her feet and faced him, purple-colored fur standing on end. She hissed, "You had your chance, human, now it is my turn."

"Thou art deceived; I merely wear the form of Man." he replied; and Kursed charged, ready to kill.

Suddenly he whirled, faster than her eyes could track, and an instant later Kursed felt as if someone had plunged a red-hot branding iron all over her; she collapsed to the floor again, screaming in mortal agony as white lightning shot from the humanoid's outstretched hand and played over her writhing form. Her entire body was illuminated from head to toe; sparks danced up and down, torching her fur; jots of light flashed before her eyes, blinding her; her vulpine mouth wide open, screaming helplessly, terminally, as lightning ran in between her white, pointed teeth. She rolled around, trying desperately, instinctively to get away from her tormentor; but it was hopeless. A wall was behind her, overturned beds blocked her passage on either side, and the cold steel floor did nothing to suck away the electricity: rather it exacerbated it.

Then, just as suddenly as it started, the lightning left. Kursed stopped writhing around as it left her, and now only twitched as residue electricity that lingered inside her leached itself away. I will not be played like this by a filthy human! She thought savagely, Let's see how he will fare when I attack him! For the unknown assailant had forgotten about her telepathy, and did not know how such a powerful weapon it was in her hands. She had used it to bring countless humans down into the state of idiocy. They would be drooling and jerking uncontrollably like animals when she had extracted every last bit of information from their pathetic, weak, non-telepathic minds, and then killed like vermin. Surely he was no different!

Kursed turned her head to face him, glaring with undisguised hatred at him, and reached out with her mind, determined to crush his like an insect. To her surprise and mounting impotent fury (and slowly growing fear) she "saw" nothing, "felt" nothing, "heard" nothing; he did not exist to her othersenses; He simply was not there: he could not be touched! She tried to scream, attempted to gather all of her anger into one mental blast of hatred and rage and "throw" it at where his mind (if it was there at all) would be; but in the next moment it fled away as he said, "Thou art deceived; thou canst not touch me; it is futile."

What has been afflicted upon thee was only a taste of what thou has done to the children of Humanity," the humanoid spoke quietly as she sank in despair back to the floor, her fury fading away with the futility of her position. "Thou hast not yet reached the pinnacle of pain thou hast caused in others."

"You... you... you bastard!" Kursed yelled at him, wishing with all of her might that she could rip out his throat. "Kill me instead of this sick and cowardly attack!"

"Alas, thou hast not yet accepted that this pain has been brought upon thee by thyself." he replied, and once more lightning shot out from his fingertips. Kursed arched her back, mouth open as wide as it could go, yet no voice emerged from her lips; the pain, if possible, was even worse than before. "Once thou has accepted thy punishment, only then will it end," came his unwavering, emotionless voice as the pain mounted. Kursed slowly felt herself loosing consciousness, but before she slipped fully into unreceptive sleep, the lightning stopped, and she lay unmoving on the floor.

"Stop this!" she screamed again, or tried to; what came out was a thin croak from vocal cords weary with screeching in unendurable agony. "Please, stop this! Kill me and end this! Please!"

"No." he replied. Tears started to form in Kursed's eyes, tears of hopelessness not grief: she was going to die, and no one would know or care, not even Fox. "Thou wilt continue to suffer until thou hast repented of thy sins. You will not die, but stay in the land of the living, until thou art broken as thou hast broken others."

"Pl—please... stop... this..." Kursed whispered pitifully, "Pl—please... stop..."

"I shall not. Thy punishment hast been decreed for thee, and thou wilt suffer it here in the land of the living, not in the second death where there is no return." he stated flatly, though without any inflection whatsoever: his words had no emotion save that of the unmerciful judge. He raised his hand again; lightning was already forming at the tips; Kursed closed her eyes and lay back to die when an unexpected voice shouted behind her torturer.

"Stop!"

Kursed heard the discharge of electricity being aborted and the sounds of struggle. She opened her eyes, grateful to whomever had stopped him; and froze as her eyes registered with what she saw. Two figures, one human, and male, and a Cornerian, female, were wrestling with the judge. Her own hated enemies, Raye Belial, the one she'd tried so hard to kill, and Miyu Seraph or surnamed "Belial," the one who had given birth to a human/Cornerian abomination. Each had grabbed an arm and were forcing the judge to his knees; or tried to. He remained standing, an indomitable tower of adamant against them. Kursed started to weep again, not out of being saved, but out of terror. Who knew what these two whom she had hurt the most would do to her if they defeated her tormentor.

But for all of their efforts the judge remained unmoved: it was like struggling with a statue, that was how hard it was. Their combined strength could not shift even one arm, let alone both. Raye gave up and produced a small handgun from somewhere and fired it at the judge; but like Kursed's weapon the bullet simply vanished before making contact.

"What the hell..." grunted Raye as he brought the butt of his gun down on the head and heard it shatter. "Die, damn you!" he shouted. Miyu ignored weapons entirely and used her claws and teeth on the goliath; but like Kursed before she struggled to keep hold on him, as if he'd suddenly turned to ice. The judge simply sighed, as if he was being merely irritated more than anything.

He did something, a gesture or motion, and suddenly both Miyu and Raye had lost their holds on him: both found themselves on opposite sides of the room. Then he stepped forward towards Kursed, electricity crackling on both hands. Kursed tried to get away as fast as she could from him but it hurt terribly and only succeeded in injuring herself even more. The slow, plodding footsteps grew in sound as he neared her, and then stopped, only feet away from her face. She opened her eyes again; a shadow blocked most of her vision, but after squinting she saw it was Miyu.

"You stop this, you sadist!" Miyu growled; from her tone of voice she was very angry; but unlike the mad rage she'd shown towards Kursed back in that abandoned Cornerian base, this was a carefully controlled anger - an anger that was as deadly as any weapon ever made. "You will stop this, or you'll have to get past Raye and I. You will not hurt her like this!"

"This is a contradiction, Miyu Seraph Belial daughter of earth. Defending thy enemy? After she nearly killed thy child, and had murdered thy first husband?" It was simply that; no threats of dismemberment, no displays of anger, no electrical forms of torture being discharged. It sounded simply as if the judge was stating the time of day or night. "What hast brought about this change in heart?"

"I can stand many things, but watching my enemy being forced to die a slow and painful death is not one of them!" Miyu said, in the same controlled tone of voice.

"I would gladly rip her throat out with my bare hands," Raye said quietly, somewhere behind the judge, "After what she had done to me, I would gladly kill her over and over; but this is insanity! You have given her no chance to fight back, and if there is one thing I hate more than the motherf*cking Cornerians, it is this baseless, honorless torture you've done."

The judge stood quietly, the electricity slowly dying. Then he said, "Even when she hast not given thee a chance to fight back on the ice-bound moon, Raye Belial son of Adam, thou defends her as if she were one of thy kind?"

"I do not call her a human being, sadist; she is an animal, simple as that!" Raye protested, voice growing louder, "But even animals do not deserve to treated like this!"

"This is, quite the contradiction, son of Adam. Defending one who moments ago who would have killed thee once more, and yet thou defendst it still." the judge replied, in the same tone of voice he had used when addressing Miyu. "Thou hast shown forgiveness towards thy neighbor. I had believed it impossible of thee and thy wife."

"Speak german why don't you," Raye said, irritation plain in his voice. "Regardless of what you say, she is not my "neighbor;" not in this life, nor ever. But I will not allow you to hurt one who is helpless, regardless if that someone had hurt me. Leave her alone." The force implicit in those last three words was thinly veiled.

"You try to attack her," Miyu said, moving a step forward, giving Kursed a clearer view of her tormentor. He looked as if he had all the time in the universe to talk like this: Kursed only wanted him gone. "You will have to go through Raye and I first." It was then Kursed saw Raye standing behind the judge, holding a combat knife. Their eyes met, only for a moment, his expression unreadable, then he broke contact.

Suddenly the judge did something entirely unexpected; he laughed. "Thou hast surprised me greatly, Raye and Miyu Belial. I didst not expect that thou wouldst stand up for thy enemy, nor defend her after the pains thou hast both gone through." Then his features returned to their normal impassiveness. "But first, the judgement of Those Above All."

He moved forward, but Miyu stopped him by simply stepping in the way. "What are you going to do to her?" She hissed, eyes ablaze: Raye moved until he was on the opposite side.

"Daughter of earth, do not halt judgement as decreed by Those Above All. It is for her own good." he replied: "Stand aside."

Such were the force of his words that Miyu backed slightly away. Then the judge turned his attention back to Kursed. Kneeling in front of her, who looked at him fearfully, he said: "Thine enemies hast shown thee forgiveness, even after what thou hast done to them. Dost thou accept their forgiveness?"

Kursed simply did not know what to think. They should hate her, not try to protect her! It defied all logic. But then again, logic had ceased to have any meaning for her when she had embarked on this path of retribution: she had been single-minded in her attempts to get back at the humans for putting her Fox into a state where even her telepathy could not reach him, into a state of near-death. She had lost all sanity and clearness of thought and judgement. Instead of giving an answer, she moved back even more from him, whimpering involuntarily as she met bruises both external and internal.

When no answer was forthcoming, the judge then said, "Then hear this, and hear it well. Thou hast endured the physical aspect of the pain thou hast done to the children of Humanity; what thou hast not endured is the mental pain thou hast inflicted upon them. So be it. Thy gifts shalt be taken away from thee, all of them. As king Nebuchadnezzar, second of that name, was humbled so thou shalt be."

He reached towards her and touched her forehead with a single finger. "Those Above All have spoken," he intoned. Kursed suddenly felt a warmth spread from where he touched throughout her whole body, felt all of her injuries heal suddenly and quickly; and felt the bizarre feeling of her limbs shifting, reconfiguring, her bones reforming themselves, skin melting like wax; her body was suddenly starting to shrink. The judge stood as Kursed (or Krystal) continued to feel strange sensations coursing throughout her form and turned away.

Raye softly swore as the judge exposed Krystal. Where an anthropomorphic vulpine woman had laid, there was a fox; literally a fox, for Krystal's legs and arms had reconfigured into digitigrade limbs; her head had reset itself; and now she looked exactly a fox than a near approximation of an anthropomorphic humanoid. Even her fur color had changed: where it was once blue it was now that of the common brown. Krystal had regressed (devolved was perhaps the better word) back into an animal of the Vulpini tribe of the Canidae family, no longer remotely human. And to add insult upon ultimate insult, her telepathy was gone; it wasn't simply as if a void had appeared in her mind where telepathy once occupied: it was simply gone, as if it had never existed.

"Miyu and Raye Belial, thou hast shown forgiveness towards thy enemy, wilt thou now take her under thy wings? To protect her until she becomes as she once was before the madness?"

Miyu was the first to recover. "Wh—what have you done to her?"

"I have done nothing; only Those Above All have decreed what is to be done." His features were still blank, but there was a perceptible feeling of emotion underneath; a kind of sadness, as if there had been no other way but this. Then it faded away and he became as before. "She has misused her gifts, perverted them to dark designs; changed them beyond recognition. She has earned her punishment."

"Will she... regain her form?" Krystal couldn't tell if it was Raye or Miyu who had spoken, it was quiet.

"In time. She has brought this upon herself, and the path to redemption is long, hard, and painful. It can be shortened, if thou will take her under thy wings."

"How can we "help" her on this?" Again, the indeterminate voice.

"By showing her that through love, all things are possible. Even those who are lost can be redeemed through love, if only they will accept it. It will never be instantaneous; it will be for as long as it is needed. Man fell through pride; the same has happened to her. Only through thy influence will it be reversed, and then not for a long time." Then something akin to wryness entered his voice. "And thy child, whom she tried to kill, shall help her regain her lost humanity as only a child can do."

Miyu glanced over to Krystal (no longer Kursed), who still lay huddled on the floor, still in shock over her sudden and abrupt change, as the judge started to walk away. "Just who the hell are you?" Raye said harshly, hand on the judge's shoulder, preventing him from going any further. "Just what gives you the right to do what you just did?"

The judge answered, "I am one of the Erinyes, or what you would call the Furies. My kind administers justice to those who have wrongfully wronged others. We are the defenders of the helpless, of the fatherless, of the widow and of the orphan: we protect those who cannot protect themselves." He resumed walking, starting to fade away with each step. "We avenge those who cannot fight back."

"Wait just one moment!" Raye commanded, his back towards Krystal. "What are you?"

"I told you what I am."

"No, what are you."

The judge paused, half-visible, and considered the question. At last he spoke. "I am one of many who serves the King of kings and Lord of lords. Is that answer acceptable to you?"

Raye took a step back. "No way," he whispered. "Impossible."

Krystal felt a soft hand touch her tear-streaked face and she looked up. It was the feline features of 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 Cornerian 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. It was ironic that she, once the most powerful woman of Star Fox and of the Cornerian Federation, should have her life in the hands of this, thing, who had mated with a human.

She could never live down the shame. Perhaps that was the punishment; to rely on those who were once her enemies, those who could turn her out any time they chose.

"What should we tell Fox?" Miyu asked, looking back towards the judge. "What if we do not help her?"

"Nothing, daughter of earth. He will come to his own conclusions, and move on." Miyu was at a loss for words, her mouth partly open. "And if you do not, she'll live out her life as a beast of the field, reflecting upon all that she has done, and perhaps she will learn her lesson before she dies as a beast."

"And if we help her?"

"You will go a long way in healing both sides, both that of thy family, and of hers." came the solemn reply. "Perhaps even bringing her back."

"You must be joking. What makes you think we will "adopt" her? She tried to kill Caenda! She killed me for god's sake!" Raye protested.

"Nothing is ever a joke unless in the right circumstances," the judge replied, looking at him in the eye, "In all seriousness, this is true. Krystal's life is now in your hands, son of Adam. Do as you will." He said, inclining his head slightly.

Krystal wished she could speak, to plead, but she couldn't. Her only way of communication was that of tears and animal cries. She curled up and continued to weep silently. Miyu turned back to her and said softy, "There, there, Krystal. We will help you,"

"What?" Raye turned to look at Miyu, shock written across his face. "You cannot be serious! Remember who you're talking about!"

"Yes I am, Raye, I am both serious and I know what she is, or was. She has already become mad, and no matter which side wins this war, she will be a criminal." She stood as if shielding Krystal from Raye's piercing glare, "Mercenaries aren't welcome no matter how honorable they might be, even Star Fox. They all turn out bad in the end. The Federation will only use mercenaries until their usefulness is over. Krystal is now almost certainly like that of Andross or of Star Wolf: she needs our help!"

"Listen to thy wife, son of Adam."

Raye seemed torn, outnumbered on both sides; that of the Erinyes and of his own wife. He was hesitant, and he stalled by looking from Miyu, who glared at him; to the Erinyes, who simply looked at him; and to Krystal, who avoided his gaze.

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, let alone tell him what had happened to her? He might recognize her, but the odds were against that. The rest of the Star Fox team, after how she had treated them, would not be inclined to find her, despite the years of living and fighting together. But then again, they might, but the odds were also against that.

"All right," Raye said, finally, "But until this war is over." But the look he shot towards Miyu said that he wasn't done yet.

"That will come to pass, soon enough. Both sides are done with conflict, and are only waiting for one to make the first move." The Erinyes then looked towards Krystal, and suddenly a voice sounded in her mind: ~Do not despair, child. This will last only as long as needed. You will change back soon enough, if thou will submit to the judgement. But know this; thou now has time aplenty to reflect upon what thou hast done~

A sound penetrated the silence; Jessica was starting to wake. "How will we hide Krystal?" Miyu asked, concerned. Krystal knew fully well what would happen should Jessica see her in this condition.

"She will be hidden easily enough. Jessica and those who serve her will not see Krystal, nor will the Cornerian forces."

"Then how can we explain why we are here?" That was Raye.

"She will not ask. She will forget everything once she steps out of this room. No one will know, except you, thy wife, and the judged."

The Erinyes looked at each of them in the eye, then turned away and vanished like smoke, just as human soldiers came running into the room.

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A/N: This is not intended as a bashing fic; if it was, I would have left it to Kursed being sadistically tortured to death. Neither did I enjoy writing it but I wanted to; and these sort of things do not come naturally to me anyway. So I apologize if you got the wrong impression. (And if one looks up the lyrics to the above soundtracks, you'll find that they are not those of revenge.)

I stick to the rule, "When you enter another's reality, you obey their rules.", and I believe I have done so, though the supernatural part is my own invention, as there is nothing I could have used to teach Kursed a lesson without bringing some truly outrageous elements that do not belong in here. And as I respect other peoples' universes, I make sure I stick to the rules laid down in them, though if there is a loophole, I'll take it; and as mythological elements already pervaded Sanitarium's "Frozen Hell" universe (not "Hope Like Ice"), such as "Eros", "Seraph", "Belial", ect, I felt reasonably justified in introducing the above character (even though it is not a character per se) to carry out the punishment that Kursed justly deserved.

The Erinyes (Ancient Greek: Ἐρινύς (Erinus).) was a natural choice as they are the spirits of vengeance, who visit justice on criminals and torment those who have not been punished, or if they have, not punished properly. I added an element from my own universe by making the Erinyes a mere servant, not of Zeus, but of "the King of kings." That, in itself, should be self-explanatory. The punishment I chose for Kursed is fitting as she in the "Frozen Hell" series behaved like an animal, so an animal she became. Just as Lucifer became the devil, so she became an animal. The good news is that in time she'll turn back into her beautiful self but "changed and broken"; and that is left to your imaginations as who knows how long it'll take for her to "change". But that is something I intend to do in this story.

I thank Sanitarium for allowing me to write this little story in his universe. I made it AU because I do not know what he himself has in mind for Kursed's punishment, and as I do not know if Erinyes' exist in the Frozen Hell proper, so came about this little fiction. So, kick back your feet, and get out the popcorn; cause Krystal is in for the fight for her life.