Okay, it's time for the next chapter. Sorry that it took so long to update but my weekend was really busy. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Merlin: 5

Chapter 6: Renegade Base

Storm and the others got on board of the rheiards as they made their way towards the Renegade base, hoping that they would make it there in time to stop Sutra from gaining entrance to Derris-Kharlan. Storm hadn't been paying attention to the scenery below her while she was flying to Altamira and she couldn't help as she looked down over Symphonia. There was so much destruction everywhere. Cities were in flames, smoke stacks could be seen above cities from even miles away. Storm looked below her and saw some small bands of survivors from the cities trying to find safe places to go. Women and even young children were struggling to find a new place to call home, there was nothing left anywhere. Storm felt so worthless, knowing that there was nothing that she could do to help any of them, after all, she was out of a home herself.

"Are you all right back there?" Zelos finally asked as he noticed Storm's silence and the looks she was giving to the people down below.

"I just...I just feel terrible. What are we...what is anybody going to do? There's nothing to go back to. Not even Anna could have a normal, happy childhood," Storm sighed.

"Hey, this isn't anyone but Sutra's fault, and we're going to make her pay for it," Zelos assured her.

"I guess you're right," Storm said uncertainly.

"Of course I am, I am myself," Zelos laughed, trying to cheer her up, but it wasn't working very well. Storm tried to crack a small smile at him, but she soon returned her gaze to the poor people traveling below her.

"Hey Sutra," Anna called the half-elf as she watched the Desians attempt to break into the well-defended Renegade base.

"What is it, I'm very busy," Sutra replied, getting very irritated at Anna's constant questions.

"Why are we attacking the Renegades? They're half-elves too, right? So, aren't they the good guys?" Anna asked.

"Well, there are good half-elves and bad half-elves. The Renegades work too closely with the humans that want to keep their power. The Renegades act like they're trying to help the half-elves when really they're helping the power hungry humans and themselves," Sutra replied. It was very obvious to anyone that that was exactly how Sutra felt about the Renegades. Anna could not but help but believe the same thing.

Suddenly, the front of the Renegade base finally broke down. Sutra looked up and noticed that her moment was at hand. She didn't waste anytime as she yelled out to her commanders in her army. "Charge! Get in there and kill them all, I want no survivors!" she screamed as the Desian army began to charge inside the base. They were met by a whole army of Renegade army. The soldiers on both sides put their hearts into their battle, but only one side would come out with victory.

Zelos caught Storm off guard, her eyes still drifting off on the scenery around her, as he set down the rheiard a few miles away from the Renegade base. It was too dangerous to land next to the base if Sutra's troops were already there. Storm and the others had no idea what was coming up and they could only hope that the Renegades were able to hold off Sutra's army long enough. The large group began to run through the desert as they attempted to get to the base in time.

"Do you think that they'll be okay?" Storm asked Yuan who was beginning to look very worried.

"I really hope so," Yuan managed to answer as they continued to jog to the base.

There was one more hill for the group to make their way over before they would discover if they were too late to help. As they walked up the hill, they each prepared for the worst news, but none of them expected what they would see. Storm's heart felt as if it dropped into her stomach as she looked at the scene laid out before her.

There were bodies littering the entire area around the Renegade base. Renegade and Desian blood was spilled all over the place, there was no separation of race here. Storm couldn't help break down when she saw many familiar Renegade faces lying on the sand as she walked over to them. Tears began to well up in her eyes at the sight of it all.

"This is...horrible," Presea finally said, breaking the long silence.

"Yuan, I'm so sorry," Storm told him as she gave him a hug. She didn't even think about, or care as his arms wrapped around her and pulled her into him. All she could think about was that so many good people had died there, both sides fighting for what they had thought was right, but no one on that field had really won. Storm was tired of all the fighting, that was all she had ever had her entire life and she just wanted everyone to get along. She now realized that her dream was never going to happen.

"Well, we can't stand here all day, there may be a fight going on inside, we can still defend this place," Zelos suggested.

"Yes, maybe Sutra is inside. She may have Anna and we may be able to stop her from getting to Derris-Kharlan," Kratos told them.

"Okay, I say we get in there and find out what's going on," Storm agreed.

The group made their way down to the base and slipped inside. The hallways seemed relatively quiet and the group began to wonder what had happened to everyone. Did Sutra retreat with her soldiers, or did the Renegades all fail? Suddenly, the group ducked into a small room as they heard two men who were talking.

The men appeared to be Desian soldiers who were just casually strolling by, allowing the party to believe that Sutra had taken over. They all strained to hear the conversation the two soldiers were having, hoping that it would reveal something, anything to them.

"So what is the leader planning on doing now that she's in Derris-Kharlan?" the one, a tall muscular man asked.

"She said that she was going to go through an angel transformation with the Cruxis Crystal along with that brat that she keeps bringing everywhere. You know, that Anna girl. I guess she wants to become an angel too," the other, a slightly shorter and huskier man replied.

"Why is she going to let her do that?" the first man asked.

"I guess that she's just very easy to trick. She's only bait after all," the one man laughed. Storm almost rushed out of the room at them then, but Lloyd and Sheena held her back, Lloyd covering her mouth to keep her from blowing their cover.

"So, how is she planning on reviving Lord Yggdrassil?" the first man questioned.

"Well, she said that his Cruxis Crystal was destroyed almost sixteen years ago, but the shards have fallen from Derris-Kharlan and landed in certain parts of Symphonia. She wants to look for them and bring them together to revive him. She needs a lot of mana for that, but that's why we capture Storm. We don't need to kill the little angel, just use her for awhile, but if Lord Yggdrassil wished her dead, then so be it. Anyway, Sutra wants to become an angel so she can gather the shards easier. That's all that I was told by our leader," the second replied.

Lloyd and Kratos nodded to each other as they jumped out from the room and swiftly killed off the two soldiers, not even giving them a chance to run off. They were all so tired of the fighting, but they were unable to keep themselves from fighting to make it stop. At this point, fighting was a certainty.

The others soon followed the two out and they couldn't believe what they had just heard.

"Well, she's already in Derris-Kharlan, we can't stop her now," Sheena sighed.

"No, but we can get the crystal shards before she does. If she cannot collect them all then she cannot revive Lord Yggdrassil," Kratos added.

"Well, how are we supposed to find the shards, we don't even know where to begin looking," Lloyd asked.

"I know one person who would be able to find anything if it's been sitting around gathering dust for long enough," Genis offered happily, yet there was some slight embarrassment buried in his voice.

"Who's that?" Storm asked.

"My sister," Genis told them. "She should be around Iselia, she was checking in on the old school and Colette, hopefully she's okay."

"I guess that means we're going to Iselia," Zelos said as the others agreed as they made their way out of the Renegade base, trying not to get noticed as the walked out of the relatively silent hallways.

Storm noticed the effect that losing his soldiers was having on Yuan so she grabbed his hand, causing him to look at her.

"Hey, we'll get her back, don't worry about it," Storm assured him.

"I suppose you're right, but I can't help but feel like it's my fault. I wasn't there to help them," Yuan said sadly.

"But you cared enough to come for them and fight for them," Storm added.

Yuan couldn't help but smile. She always could cheer him up, he just wished he could do the same for her.

"Don't worry, we'll get Anna back," he told her. "I won't stop fighting until we do."

"I can't believe that she'd join Sutra. I must be a horrible mother," Storm said sadly.

"No, she just doesn't understand, besides we don't really know if Anna is really willingly working for Sutra," Yuan told her.

"I know, but I'm still afraid for her either way. I hope she doesn't make a stupid mistake, I would never be able to forgive myself if she did," Storm told him.

Yuan couldn't believe it, no matter what was happening around them, Storm always managed to throw the blame on herself. Not once had she said anything about it being Sutra's fault or even Anna's, she took the entire blame on her own shoulders. He also hoped that Anna did not make a stupid decision, or Storm for that matter.

Well, that's the end of this chapter. I hope that you liked it. Tell me what you thought and thanks for reading.