Yay! Time to update. I got a bunch of new ideas for the next story so I can't wait until I can start it. I hope that everyone will like it and I hope I can make it just as good as A Storm Was Brewing in Cruxis. Anyway, here's the next chapter and I hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 15: The Marketplace

The day after Storm's surprise birthday/baby shower she and Zelos decided to go shopping again in downtown Meltokio. Once a month, downtown Meltokio became extremely busy as hundreds of vendors from all over Symphonia came to sell their wares. It was a tradition for Storm and Zelos to go and see what kinds of bargains they could find.

Once they made it to the center of town they split up to look through the hundreds of displays that were covering every corner of a few blocks. Storm was never able to believe how much stuff there was to look at. There were clothes, plants, food, jewelry, housewares, and many other things to look at. Storm was making her way towards a booth where a man was selling children's toys. Zelos, on the other hand, was checking out some of the outfits that another man was selling.

Storm didn't notice that she was being watched by a young child. In a dark alley across the street from the toy booth, a young half-elf girl was watching Storm very intently. Storm couldn't help but feel as if someone was watching her. She turned around and began to search for whoever was looking at her. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of the small child who was peering out at her from the alley. Storm began to walk over to see if she needed some help.

When Storm got to the little girl she bent over and reached out her hand to her. "Are you lost? Do you need some help finding your mom and dad?" Storm asked, but the young girl slapped Storm's hand away.

"I don't want your help. You're a bad person," the little girl said.

"What? Why do you say that?" Storm asked her as she pulled her hand away.

"My mommy and daddy say so. They say that you is the reason why we aren't happy. You live in a big house and have lots a money, but we got nothin," the little girl yelled at her as she came out of the darkness.

She was a young half-elf girl, probably no more than five years old. She had long silver hair that was kept up in two pigtails held by red ribbons. She had one icy blue eye and one crimson eye that glared right through Storm as she judged her. She was wearing a long, white sleeveless sundress that came down to her ankles and she also wore white sandals.

"What makes you think that I did all that?" Storm asked her.

"It's because you don't like us half-elves," the young girl said.

"That's not true. I have friends who are half-elves," Storm protested.

"Well, I don't see you helpin any of us get a better life," the young girl yelled.

"I am trying, it's just going to take a while. Now, are you lost? What's your name?" Storm asked her.

"My name is Sutra and I don't need any help from you," she yelled as she ran away from Storm, back into the alley.

Storm didn't quite know how to react to the girl's words, but she couldn't help but understand her point. Storm really hadn't done a whole lot to help the half-elves, but she wanted to help them more than anything. She just really wished that she could help that girl understand that humans weren't all that bad.

After deciding that the young girl wasn't coming back, Storm decided to go back over to the booth with the toys so she could browse before Zelos decided that he wanted to go home. She noticed that there were more and more people coming to the market every minute as noon approached and she could barely make her way through the large crowd. She finally got to the booth she was looking for and began to sift through the piles and piles of toys.

Storm didn't realize that somebody was hunting her. Her angelic hearing had been lost, along with her powers, since she had become pregnant and she couldn't hear the sound of metal being taken out of a sheath close behind her. The crowd around her was too noisy for her to hear as someone made their way up behind her with one goal in their mind; to kill her.

Someone else noticed that Storm was in danger and was quickly pushing their way through the crowd to come to her rescue, but they were afraid they'd be too late for her. The knife came down near Storm's heart, as Storm was turned away from her attacker, but before it could come in contact with her, someone jumped in front of Storm, taking the blow for her.

Storm heard the sound of flesh being cut behind her and a cry of pain from someone very close to her, a sound that she never wanted to hear in her life. She also heard the frustrated cry from her attacker as they realized that they had not achieved their goal. The young man ran away from his crime scene, but had caused too much of a commotion in the crowd for him to escape. Several people caught him and the young woman that was with him as everyone gathered around the sad scene before them.

"Zelos, please say something," Storm cried as Zelos fell into her arms. She slowly moved him to the ground as he began to fade from loss of blood. He had taken a blow right in the chest and Storm was afraid that the attacker had gotten close to his heart.

"Storm, are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm fine, but what about you. You're okay right?" she asked hopefully, dreading that his answer would prove otherwise.

"I'm fine if you are," he replied. She knew deep in her heart what that meant. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she rested her head on his chest and began to sob.

"Zelos, you can't leave me. If you die, so do I," she told him.

"If I die, I don't want it to be in vain," he explained to her.

"I didn't deserve this, I never once deserved your kindness," Storm said to him.

"I love you, and I know that you deserve everything you get and much more. I can't offer you enough," Zelos replied, angry that she always put herself down.

"Zelos...don't leave me...please," Storm begged.

Suddenly, some people came up behind Storm to take Zelos to get some medical attention. Storm really wished that Raine was around to help him out, she could do a lot more than doctors could. She was forced to allow them to take Zelos away from her. She was also told that Kratos and Yuan were on their way to help her and that the attackers had been captured.

Storm didn't listen to anything that anyone was saying, all she could think about was the fate of Zelos. She decided that she had to go to the hospital, she didn't want to leave him. She began to pray to whatever deity that would listen to her. No matter how hard she tried the tears wouldn't stop flowing until finally, half way to the hospital she broke down completely. She fell to her knees in the middle of town and began to sob uncontrollably.

Suddenly, Storm felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked behind her, eyes swollen and blood-shot, and saw her father standing next to her.

"Let's go to the hospital," he told her as he helped her stand up. Her father offered her some comfort, but she'd only be okay if Zelos returned to her. She hoped that everything would turn out okay.

Well, that's it for this chapter. What will happen? I don't know, you'll have to wait and see. Okay, so I do know, but I'm not planning on telling you. Anyway, I figure about 2-3 chapters now. So, get ready for the end here pretty soon, then it's on to the dark ages. Everyone who's been complaining about the peace, you'll like the next story a lot. There will be a lot of dark parts. You all know that I am getting pretty good at writing that, it's obvious because I really suck at this humor stuff, plus this story gets boring for me. That's why I threw this chapter in, hehe... Oh, and if the next few chapters seem short, it's because they are. That's a combination of wanting to finish, writer's block, and the fact that where I stop makes sense. Anyway, click on that button at the bottom of the screen and please review this, okay? Thanks!