1Okay, round one is over and it seems as if Pronyma has the upper hand on Storm. But of course, it's not over yet. Thanks for all the reviews, I hope that you like this chapter too. Oh, and didn't you just love my plot twist. I'm evil I know. Enjoy!

Chapter 21: Hope

After being healed by Raine and Kratos, Storm was able to stand on her own two feet again. She had taken a lot of damage, and from the looks of her army, they had as well. Things weren't looking good for Storm's side and she could tell how dire the situation was from the looks on her comrades' faces

"What are we supposed to do now, the prophecy said that whoever is Spiritua's reincarnate will win the battle and gain Derris Kharlan," Lloyd said.

"I know, but I can't give up just because of that. The only way that this war will end is if one of us is killed. I won't stop fighting until either she is dead, or I am," Storm replied.

"I don't know if I can let you go out there," Kratos spoke up.

Storm turned to her father and looked him in the eyes. "Dad, now is the time for you to let me go. I'm the only one who can do this, if I don't then everyone else will suffer for it. I will fight with all my heart, I'll fight for everyone," she said.

Kratos displayed a rare amount of emotion as he hugged his daughter tightly, not wanting to ever let her go, but also realizing that she was right. He held onto her for a long time, afraid that it may be the last time he would ever see her. Once he let her go, she walked back to her fatigued soldiers and prepared them for the second round of attacks.

"I know it may look hopeless, I know that you're all tired, but you need to keep strong and have faith. If we work together and have hope then there is nothing that can stop us, not even a prophecy," Storm yelled out as the army cheered for her. Zelos walked over to her and they shared a long, intimate kiss as the troops began to move towards Pronyma's side of the field. Storm and Zelos let go, and Storm flew into the air to prepare the attack.

"For Derris Kharlan!" she yelled as her side charged the field soon followed by Pronyma's troops advancing towards them.

Storm saw Pronyma emerge from the distance, her huge black wings making her look even more threatening than before. She flew at Storm who began to chant her Angel Feathers attack. Right before Pronyma hit her, Storm moved to the side and launched her attack. She hit Pronyma head on, but she seemed to be unfazed by the attack. Storm tried to block Pronyma's attack, but was unable to dodge the dark energy that Pronyma hit her with and she was knocked across the sky, but was able to stay air borne. Storm began to chant her strongest attack, hoping to at least apply some damage to the angel.

"Sacred powers cast light upon these corrupted souls. Blame your fate! Judgement!" she yelled as rays of light began to rain upon the land. Pronyma was engulfed by one of the rays. Storm thought that she had at least done some damage to Pronyma, but noticed that the light from the attack turned into darkness and Pronyma emerged, unharmed.

"Is that all you got runt? This is just too pathetic," Pronyma said as she hit Storm, hard with another attack of energy, sending her towards the ground. Storm managed to catch herself and fly back up towards Pronyma. Storm was bleeding and bruised from just the few attacks Pronyma had used, and yet Pronyma looked ready for more.

"Bloody Lance!" Storm heard Pronyma cry out and Storm felt herself be attacked by a large spear shaped energy bolt that sent an enormous amount of pain to every inch of her body. The attack made her feel as if her insides had suddenly caught on fire, and she began to bleed profusely from the spot she was hit. Storm was barely hanging on, but was still in the air. Pronyma took the opportunity to grab Storm by the wrist and pulled her towards her. Storm screamed as she felt her skin burning from only the touch of the dark angel's skin on her own. Storm was in extreme pain and tried her best to concentrate on what was going on.

"The best way to kill you, is to feed off of your pain and suffering. I know that even the angel of light has plenty of darkness in her heart. You will be consumed with pain from the inside out," Pronyma laughed as a ray of darkness shot out of Pronyma and went into Storm. Storm's mind became full of horrible thoughts and images.

She couldn't remember this event. She looked over and saw her mother, she was turning into the horrible monster her father had spoken of before. The look on her mother's face was full of sadness and horror. She saw the monster advancing towards her. She saw her mother raise her hand to prepare and strike her, but Storm was unable to get away. She cried out for her father but no one came to help her. Just before she was attacked, Noishe jumped in and saved her life. The monster cried out in pain, but soon threw Noishe off. The monster turned back into her mother momentarily and cried out in pain.

"Kratos...please kill me...before I hurt our family...please," Anna cried before she turned into a monster again.

Storm looked over and saw as her father ran towards Storm and her brother just as her mother was about to attack again. She saw the pain in his eyes, the guilt, and the sadness. She wanted to comfort him, but there was nothing she could do for him. She began to feel as if all the things she had done for Cruxis had been hard for his father to watch after everything he had done to protect his family from them. She couldn't even imagine all the pain she had probably caused him, working for Mithos.

Soon, the vision was gone, replaced by a familiar one in her mind. She was lying on the cold floor in Derris Kharlan. Pronyma had just beaten her and had left her to bleed all over the floor. She could feel pain all over, but more than that she remembered the depression, the feeling of being lost. She realized how pointless, how meaningless her life was. It was so full of pain and hatred, she felt like giving up and dying.

As soon as that vision left her she encountered more and more painful memories, never leaving her. All the hatred, rage, guilt, pain, sorrow, and depression that had been accumulating over the years, were all coming back to her in an endless stream. She couldn't see or feel anything but pain. She felt the darkness begin to consume her and her strength was leaving her.

Kratos looked up at the battle in the sky and saw Pronyma attack Storm with some sort of darkness, and Storm began to fall from the sky. Her wings had disappeared, probably from a lack of energy, and she was falling head first to the ground. Kratos flew quickly towards his daughter and managed to catch her before she hit the ground. He flew her over to a relatively vacant area on the field and tried to wake her up. She was mumbled about darkness and pain. She was in distress and he was sure it was because of what Pronyma had done to her. He looked at her wrist and realized that it was black and burnt, from Pronyma's grasp.

"Storm, you have to get through this, you can't let her win. I know that something horrible is going on in your mind, but you have to remember all the good times you've had in your life. Remember what your mother would say to you. Don't give up Storm, you can fight this, you can win," Kratos pleaded as he tried to wake her up.

All the good times? She thought hard, she remembered, somewhere in the recesses of her mind, a memory with her family. She remembered staring at the stares with what she believed was a younger Lloyd, her father, and her mother. They stared up at the night sky as they sat on a blanket. Storm was sitting on Kratos' lap and Lloyd was leaning against their mother.

"Daddy, what are stars made of?" Lloyd had asked Kratos.

Kratos stared up at the stars, obviously thinking of something to respond with. Finally, he looked at the two of them and smiled. He looked back up at the sky. "The stars are built off of the hopes and dreams of every person. As long as people have hope, the sky will remain bright from those stars," Kratos replied.

Hope...Storm thought to herself.

She thought to just a few days ago, back on her dream with her mother. She remembered her words clearly. (A/N Chap 11)

"You have your family and friends and they are all counting on you to be strong and fight. Without you Pronyma will rule Derris Kharlan and everyone's dreams will be worthless. You can't allow something like that to happen to the ones you love. If you die, you'd be killing all of them as well. Don't let that happen. Don't forget, if you ever need me, I'll be right here. Fight for the two of us. Have hope," she had said.

She had promised her mother that she would keep fighting, that she would defeat Pronyma and she wasn't going to let her down. She would have hope, she wouldn't let that hope die.

Storm woke up from her trance and looked at her father who was standing over her. She stood up slowly and looked around, noticing that most of their soldiers were seriously injured, most of them laying on the ground. Storm began to hope and pray, asking her mother to help give her the help she needed.

Mom, what should I do? I don't know how to do this? She thought.

Suddenly, a white light began to glow from Storm as she felt a warm and comforting aura surround her. Kratos stared at her, unable to believe what he was seeing. The white light floated around Storm and Kratos, wrapping itself around him before entering Storm's body.

"Anna?" Kratos asked out loud, sure that he knew the feelings that were pouring into his heart and soul.

"Storm I'm here to help you, with our hope, there is nothing that we can't do. Just believe," Anna said to Storm.

Two large, white wings sprouted from Storm's back, they looked just like angel wings. These wings were pure white and were actually made out of feathers. Storm began to glow brightly, and the darkness that consumed the area, disappeared where she was standing. She flew up in the air and, staring at her tired soldiers began to chant.

"Sacred powers, bring hope to these injured souls. Salvation!" she yelled as all of the fighters on her side, including her friends and family, began to glow the same as Storm. They began to rise, revived and rejuvenated from her angelic spell.

Lloyd and the others were all shocked at Storm's transformation and her new powers. Even more shocked than they were, was Pronyma who was furious at the other end of the field.

"It looks like it's time for round three," Storm said as she prepared to face Pronyma in what would be the final showdown.

Woah, cliffie! Hey, I was generous and didn't leave you at where I was going to. I was going to end before Anna decided to come in. Oh, and she's not Anna's reincarnate or anything. Anna is just aiding her for this battle. Okay, so please review and tell me what you think. Thanks.