Hi guys!

A huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story! I love all of the support so much and I really appreciate the feedback so a huge thank you to everyone! I know I say it every time but I do mean it so a huge thank you!

Answers to reviews:

- Adam will be appearing in a few chapters. He's taken a bit of a break but he'll be reappearing as a man character very soon.

- JulesAnon – I love the description of them all trying to decipher the plans! It's just so what they would do if they had the opportunity!

So please read on and hope you enjoy!

Chapter 20 – Freak Storm

Maren

After all the destruction in this city and our earlier battle in the base, I never thought I could feel so relaxed here. But it's a beautiful night. The moons shine down on Moridas, turning everything pearly silver and somehow managing to make the ruins look elegant, mysterious. It's cold outside, my breath fogging in the air and I think I can even see some ice on the shattered glass windows. I shouldn't really be outside since the guards are inside. But I couldn't stay in that crumbling building that is the Loric leader's base; I needed get to some air, even if it was bitterly cold. I needed to clear my head from that stupid dream.

But I can't of course. I'll never forget that dream.

Lilia's screams…her screams had killed me inside. Even now I feel sick as I think of how he hurt her and all I could was watch as he taunted me, telling me how weak I was. His taunts telling me what a bad sister I was to let her hurt whilst I did nothing. It killed to see her look so small, so weak, so defenceless as he taunted her, tortured her…to know that he's hurting her so badly and she's begging for me and I'm not saving her. I draw in a shuddering breath, trying to fight down the tears but it's so hard. I want to cry, want to be able to let out all of the pain I feel. I shut my eyes, gritting my teeth as I fight against the tears.

It's so hard being strong. Most of the time I forget about the pain, about Catia and my mother's death and Lilia's imprisonment. It's easy when we have so much to do and so much to achieve. It's easy to bury pain and anger and fear in training and planning for killing. Besides, I have to be strong. I have to be strong for Nine, who needs to see me cope so he can do the same. I have to be strong for John who hardly needs someone else breaking down on him when he still struggles. I have to be strong for Joseph, who also feels like he needs to hold on for us all. I have to be strong for Marina since it's her turn to need people now. But when I'm alone, out here in the cold, it's easy giving up that strength and letting my feelings out.

Only problem is, I'm so used to repressing my emotions that it's hard to finally let them out.

"Maren, are you out here?" I jump at the voice, brushing a stray tear away before anyone can see.

"Yep" I reply, my voice sounding a little strangled. I turn to see John linger by the doorway. He's dressed in pyjamas too, his hair ruffled from sleep.

"Are you all right?" John peers out into the darkness, trying to locate me.

"You scared me," I reply, still sounding a little choked. "But, I'm, um, I'm fine," I'm glad it's dark; that way he can't see my face. He makes his way outside, rubbing his arms too.

"No you're not," he doesn't even need to see my face; he can tell by my tone of voice that I'm not happy. I turn away, peering out across the square instead. The need to cry is stronger than ever and it almost physically hurts to fight it.

"No I'm not," I admit. What's the point in hiding things from him? He knows me too well.

"Then what is it?" he steps out carefully, moving so he stands in front of me.

"I had a dream. From Setrakus," I bite the inside of my cheek, the physical pain helping me cope.

"What did he want?" his voice is controlled but I can hear the tiniest bit of anger. Just a little.

"Nothing," I whisper. "It was just a dream," John shakes his head, standing in front of me, and gripping my forearms. It doesn't hurt but the intensity of his face, the tightness of the grip shocks me a little.

"Maren, tell me," He orders. "I talked to you yesterday. Now it's your turn," I think about lying again but what's the point? He knows he too well.

"He's taunting me with her, John," I shut my eyes. "He's hurting her John, he's really hurting her and I can't do anything," I draw in a deep breath. Don't cry, don't cry, be strong, don't cry.

"Maren, listen to me,' John sounds almost urgent, "It's not real. He's not hurting her," His hands shake my a little, his grip tightening on my arms. "It's just a trick, Maren, it's just a cruel trick,"

"It's real. I know it was," I whisper, my voice shaking. "Every time that we do a video, every time that we fight back, he hurts her!" I shudder, feeling so close to losing it all, to losing the steady control I've maintained for so long.

"I didn't see it before, never realised that he takes his anger out on her!" My voice is almost hysterical. "Every time we do this he's going to hurt her more. And one day he's going to kill her!" I bite down on my lip hard to stop from losing it.

"Hey, hey, he won't," he pulls me to him, into a reassuring hug and I cling to him desperately, as if he's the only thing I've got left. Maybe he is.

"It's just a trick Maren. He did this with Marina and Nine in the dungeons. He's trying to break you so you give up," he whispers softly, running his fingers through my hair. "It's a cruel trick, but it's a trick all the same," I shake my head; he's wrong. I know he's wrong.

"He's using her against me," I mumble. "Every time we do something right she pays for it. It's going to be that way for the rest of the war," I shiver. "What's going to be left of her when the war is over?" I whisper, shutting my eyes as if I can block everything out. But I can't. I just can't anymore.

"You can't think like that," he urges me. "It'll just make things worse,"

"I've tried to block it out for so long," I admit. "In training, with you guys…I can forget because it feels so normal and safe. But in those dreams it just comes rushing back and I can't control it. It feels like it's never going to go away properly, not really," John pulls away a little, looking down at me in concern. I can see something on his face, some weird emotion but I can't figure it out.

"Then you have to talk Maren, before it tears you up inside," he urges. "I know it's not much but it's a start," he pleads, taking my hands in his. I look away from him, away from those eyes that seem to see right into my soul, and I stare at the destroyed buildings around us all.

"What kind of sister am I, John?" I whisper. "I've been fighting all these mogs and winning all these cities and I can't even save her. And here I am, feeling sorry for myself…She must hate me," John shakes his head, his grip tightening on me.

"No," his voice is fierce. "She would never hate you Maren. She…She must know that you have work to do here. She'll understand and one day you'll be able to tell her face to face why you couldn't come for her," he promises.

"Not if he kills her," I say bleakly. "Like he killed my mother and Catia," It doesn't even hurt that much to say it out loud. Maybe that's just because I'm used to pain now.

"He won't kill her," he says with certainty. "He won't because he needs her alive. It's the last hold he has over you," he says and I know he's right.

"It would be better if she was dead," I say, the thing that's been haunting me the most finally said outloud. I hate to even think it but it's true.

"Don't think like that," he says softly. "We have to focus, Maren. We need you to win this war and we need you to be on your best game," he says gently. "Mourn those you've lost but don't mourn someone who's still alive,"

"She's got a death sentence over her heard for being related to me!" I snap. "You and I both know that!" He bites his lip, unsure of what to say because he knows I'm right.

"And what's the point in all this?" I gesture around me. "This isn't winning the war! This is pointless! There's one place we need to win and that's the Capital! Once that falls, the mogs are over and Laws knows it! Why are we waiting?" My voice sounds hysterical and I feel like I'm losing control of everything. John watches me warily, as if he doesn't know what to do, what to say. I think this is a first and it terrifies me.

"John, I can't do this anymore," I admit. "It's killing me waiting for the next big battle. I have to do something now," I twist my hands together, feeling so unstable, so torn up inside.

"We are doing something," he promises. "Hell, we just destroyed a whole base yesterday! We've got the plans to get into the Capital! I promise you, Maren, this is all worth it," I bite my lip, the tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

"I just want to save her John," I whisper. "And I can't and it's killing me. It hurts when I don't even think about it," He strokes my cheek, my hair and it's comforting but it doesn't help. Nothing can help.

"Maren, I promise you, I will help you save her," he looks me right in the eyes, earnest and serious. "I will come with you into the building, into the very cell and we will save her together," he vows. I nod, swallowing against the lump in my throat.

"Soon," I warn. "I can't do this for much longer,"

"Soon then," he promises. "We'll go together, leave the Resistance behind and get her out," I nod, feeling more determined, more resolved. I can see him wrestling with something, struggling to find the words, and I squeeze his hands as if to encourage him.

"Maren," he frowns, pausing a little. "Does it really bother you every day?" I look into his eyes, seeing that he honestly doesn't mean to judge me, and I know I can trust him.

"Not all the time," I admit. "When I'm training and working for the future, I forget. There are so many important things that it's easy to forget she's locked up. And when I'm with you and Marina and the others…" I look down. "I feel happy," I feel his hand under my chin, gently lifting my face up.

"There's nothing wrong with that," he says. "If anyone deserves a break, it's you," he smiles. I blush a little, looking away.

"But I feel bad!" I shake my head. "She's in there hurting and I'm having a good time," he shakes his head, a smile playing on his lips.

"Hey, I felt the same about Sarah," he says gently. "And what did you say? That they wouldn't want me to mourn and grieve. The same goes for you too," I don't know what to say and he smiles gently, hand still on my cheek and lightly stroking it with his fingers. It feels so nice.

"You're fighting for a better future, for a better Lorien," he says gently. "You're hardly having a good time," I nod, trying to believe what he says. I need to or I'll go mad.

"I suppose you might be-"

I hear the shooting noise and instincts kick in at once, even after opening up to him. I shove John to the ground, putting myself on top of him as bullets races around us. I drag John into the building, hiding behind the doorway. Honestly, where the hell are the guards? And what are the scouts doing? I can hear bullets ricocheting off the buildings, the rubble and I peer around the doorway, trying to see how many mogs there are.

"There can't be that many," John says next to me, his hands lit up with Lumen. "Just those who managed to escape the base alive," he says grimly.

"And who want revenge for what we did," I mutter. I can take in a few shapes moving around but they're slower than expected. Some must even be injured. They're mad to even attack us.

"John, get to the others and warn them!" I tell him. "We still need them, even if there aren't that many mogs," He shakes his head but I push him towards the base.

"Go!" I shout and then he nods, racing further inside the base.

Taking a deep breath, I leave the base at once, and a mog lunges out at once. Without really thinking about it, I grab a nearby rock and chuck it at his head. The rock smacks him in his temple, the force too strong for his skull and it caves in. He explodes to ash in front of me, making me cough a little. I turn invisible, trying to take in the mogs as they swarm around, trying to find me in the darkness. I can't tell how many there are, maybe about 30 or so, and they swarm for the door of the base. Some are injured, others look terrified, whilst some look prepared to die for their cause.

Whatever the case, I have to stop them before they get inside.

Without a sword, I only have my legacies. Concentrating on my legacy of elemental control, I imagine a gust of wind, strong enough to knock the mogs down. A surge of power rises up in me as my legacy kicks in. Focusing all my strength on it, I then let it go, feeling an almost burning feeling in my chest at the surge of power. A gust of wind, so strong it almost knocks me over, races through the courtyard, knocking many mogs to the ground. As they fall to their knees, I grab a fall mog cannon, using telekinesis to begin to shoot at them. It's not enough to stop all of them but it's a hell of a distraction.

To my relief I can suddenly hear more gunfire from the Loric soldiers on the roofs, finally realising what's going on. I can hear movement from inside our small base, as well as shouting and commands. The mogs in the courtyard are surrounded by the gunfire on the roofs, and more and more explode into ash as the Loric shoot down at them.

"Retreat!" I hear one shout. "Retreat!"

I know I should let them go. I know that there aren't that many mogs left in Moridas and this was just a revenge attack, a desperate attempt. I know that in fact these mogs have lost all hope and I should let them go. After all, we don't need to kill every mog on the planet, no matter how much I hate them. And we've won Moridas.

But I can't let them go, even if there's only about 20 left. Not after my dream. Not after seeing Lilia in so much pain.

I focus on the clouds about me, imagining them pulling together like a storm. My legacy builds up in me at once, stronger than ever before and it's so easy to just force the clouds together, building up the pressure. I'm barely aware of the Loric soldiers shooting down at the mogs, as they attempt to get away. But they won't.

Wind starts to whip up and it tugs at my hair, as there's a deep rumble of thunder. The mogs back away or try to but I fix them in place with telekinesis. No one is getting away from me today. The storm builds up and up, lightning flashing in the depths. My legacy keeps surging within me, and I'm trembling, the effort almost too much. I'm using far more effort now than I did earlier today in our battle. But I have to keep going. The storm is so strong now, pushing everyone around with the force of the wind, the rumbling getting louder and louder, and the lightning stronger and stronger.

"Retreat!" I hear another mog scream, as they panic in the freak storm. I smile grimly, and then release the storm. I stagger as the energy leaves me and I fall to my knees, gasping for breath. Only now do I notice my frantically beating heart, the pain in my head, the exhaustion almost seeming to drag me down.

Up above in the sky, the lightning flashing in the clouds seems to spin around and around, forming into one master bolt. I watch in fascinated horror as it builds up and up and up. Then all of a sudden one huge bolt of lightning suddenly strikes down, hutting the square in front of me. I'm thrown off my feet by the force, hitting the side of the base with a large thud and I cry out in pain. But my scream is covered by many more. The mogs. I hear their screams, the zapping sounds as the huge bolt hits them, frying them in seconds. I throw my hands up as another gust of wind races through the courtyard, ash and dust blinding me. There's a huge booming, crashing noise nearby.

It suddenly goes very quiet.

I look up to see the courtyard is empty of mogs. My storm hit them all and they're all gone, dead in seconds. There's a dust cloud nearby, hovering over a newly formed pile of rubble from a building that must have collapsed in the freak storm. I stagger to my feet, turning visible, as I take in the now empty square. The Loric on the roofs are still aiming, still preparing for another attack. I stumble, grabbing onto a nearby pile of rubble, trying not to collapse to my knees. There's a dull pounding in my head from where I must have hit it.

"Maren!" I turn to see the Loric leaders here have finally arrived. Just a little late. John races over to me looking panicked, but I don't have the energy to tell him I'm fine. All energy I had went into that monster bolt.

"Send scouts out to look for any more mogs," I hear Commander Dawson order. "Mobilise the troops in case of another attack," I try to focus on what she's saying but it's like she's talking from the end of a tunnel or something and I can barely hear her.

"Maren, are you ok?" John asks, helping me stand. The world is spinning around me, everything seems blurry and the pain in my head is just getting worse and worse.

"Just great," I reply and then I black out.

Xxx

When I wake up I know I'm back on the ship once more. I can tell because of the slightly unsteady rocking motion, the familiar clunking sound of the ship's gears working and the humming noise of the engines. I'm lying on a mat on the ground, not thick enough to really protect me from the cold, hard floor. I can feel someone stroking my hair, and it feels so relaxing that I keep my eyes shut so it carries on. I don't want it to end.

"Maren?" John's voice is close by; of course that it's him next to me. "Maren…are you awake?" Somehow he's managed to see that I'm awake.

"No," I reply. He laughs in response and I can't help but open my eyes, wincing a little at the bright light. John smiles when he sees me awake and it's so nice to see him here, knowing that he's all right. It feels like a weight is lifted off my shoulders.

"Where are the others?" I look around the small room that looks like one of the storage rooms to the side of the main part of the ship.

"Joseph's in another room, trying to get some sleep," John rolls his eyes and I can't help but grin. "And Nine's being, well, Nine,"

"Annoying people then," I decide and he laughs, nodding.

"Probably. I came to hide in here," he admits. He looks so happy, despite the fighting we've been doing, despite the promo videos where he had to open up in front of the whole of Lorien. I know they've been hard for him but you couldn't tell looking at him now. It makes me happy to know that he's not upset.

"So, how are you feeling?" he helps me sit up, looking a little concerned. I don't feel that bad but I wonder what I look like. Probably awful even though I hope not.

"Fine," I shrug. "Quite good actually,"

"Of course you would be," John rolls his eyes, speaking more to himself. "Do you know how scared I was?" he almost demands. I shrug again, trying to ignore how pleased I feel that he was worried about me.

"Look," I reply. "It's fine. It's just a legacy. I've done it all the time. Hell, I even did it earlier today…or yesterday I guess," He sighs, looking exasperated but amused at the same time.

"I know, but not to that scale," he complains. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I was impressed, but you almost killed yourself! When you fainted…you have no idea how scared I was," he lowers his face, blushing a little.

"You were scared?" I hate how pleased I sound all of a sudden but I can't help it.

"Of course I was," he rolls his eyes. "I don't think…I don't think you realise how important you are to me…I don't even think that I do sometimes," he admits. I shouldn't feel so happy, so excited by such a simple statement but I do. I've never felt like it before and it scares me. It scares and thrills me.

"I'm an Elder," I shrug, trying to play off how I feel. "Of course I'm important. Besides, I've saved you guys so many times now that you're used to having me around. Who knows what'll happen when I'm not around," I pretend to brag, to hide my sudden shyness because it's not like me at all.

"It's more than that," he smiles gently, looking almost affectionately at me. I don't think anyone's ever really looked at me like that. "I mean, you're helpful and everything, but it's far more than that. If I lost you I don't know what I'd do,"

"You'd have the others," I look down, finding his eyes too compelling to loom at. "They're your friends too," I whisper.

"I don't care about them in the same way," he replies. "The way I feel for you is different. It's taken me a while to realise but I'm starting to now,"

I don't reply, not sure what to say. It reminds me of a conversation Sam and I had long ago when he had that crush on me. But back then I'd been nervous in a bad way, angry with myself for leading him on, sick for having to let him down. This is different. I feel like I did in the corridor yesterday when he opened up to me about Sarah. I feel elated, nervous in a good way, almost thrilled that he's saying this. I want him to say more. I don't know what to think and even if I do, I don't want to admit it to myself. I don't want to admit what my feelings are.

"John…" I finally force myself to look up at him, surprised to see the shy look on his face. This is just as nerve-wracking for him too. How did we get to this topic? I don't know how to turn back and even though it's such new territory for me I don't know if I want to.

"You don't have to say anything," he shrugs. "I just…I've always been too open with my feelings and I know that I like you. I really like you, maybe I always did, and-"

The door bursts open and I jump up in shock to see Joseph by the door, looking serious. He doesn't seem to notice as John and I jump back, unaware of how close we were leaning to each other. I compose myself, taking a deep breath to fight the nervous butterflies in my stomach and the excited feeling that had been coursing through me just seconds earlier. I try to look all business-like but it's hard with John kneeling next to me, especially after what he just said.

"Guys, we need to talk in the other room," Joseph says sternly. "Seriously, you're not going to want to miss it," he says grimly before teleporting away.

John and I share a glance before scrambling to our feet, heading for the door. It leads straight into the main part of the ship where Henri is pacing around the room, his face twisted up in a scowl. Nearby, sitting on one of the seats along the wall, Nine glares at anyone daring to look at him. I get a sinking feeling in my stomach, the happy feeling gone at once.

"What's going on?" I demand.

"It's Innail," Henri says grimly. "The mogs have attacked the city again to regain control," I stare at him, barely able to take in the words. No, he can't be serious. This has to be some sick kind of joke.

"What?" John looks as shocked as I feel. "But we won the city! It's ours now!" he protests. Joseph scowls, pacing in agitation.

"The mogs can go back at any time and reclaim a city," he points out.

"But don't they know it's a lost cause?" I demand. "We'll just go back and fight for it again,"

"Which would waste precious Loric resources in a pointless fight. We're going to run out of fighters soon, whilst they can just make those stupid vatborns," Nine scowls from his chair. "Gotta give it to them, it's not a bad move," he looks down, his fists clenched.

"Even worse, they've targeted more than Innail," Henri continues. "Navaria and Baladh are under attack too and we're pretty sure the same will happen to Moridas any day," he looks exhausted.

"Most other cities are still fighting for control…we're back to where we started a few months ago," Joseph adds grimly. I swear, trying to control the anger inside. We won those cities! And now the mogs have marched back in and ruined our hard work! All that fighting for nothing! We are back at the very beginning.

"What the hell are we going to do?" I snap. "I said this was useless!" I throw my hands up. "We've basically gone back to square one," I can't help but be annoyed. We tried so hard with those cities and winning them had been such victories. We'd slowly but surely been winning over the planet; the Capital was within our sights! We even had the plans to break into it! But now it seems that we're going to have to go back to base one.

"Not quite," Henri shakes his head. "I don't think the mogs particularly want to spread out their troops so much; they lose strength when they're not fighting in numbers and they're weary of the prospect of a war that would be fought city by city. We would all lose resources, all lose moral and hope,"

"So why are they doing this?" John asks.

"To scare us," Henri guesses. "Make us act irrationally,"

"So we shouldn't," I reply. "We should do exactly what they don't want us to do,"

"Which we will," Henri points out. "We have information that they don't realise we know. We have advantages they don't even realise,"

"So what then?" I demand. "What's the plan now?"

"We're going to try a different strategy," Henri says grimly. "No more cities, no more promo videos. Now we're going to attack them where it hurts them most,"

So hope you enjoyed the major Jix! I promise I'll try and stop it being so angsty but in this story it is necessary to have some angst.

Please review!