Okay, it's time for the next chapter. I really hope that everyone likes this chapter as much as the last one. Now that we're through the angsty parts we'll be able to find out more about Mithos' grand plan. Oh, and more fight scenes! Well, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 7: A New Ally

"I say that we believe her for the time being, at least while we have this many enemies to fight," Lloyd told everyone, trying his best to get them to fight with Sutra.

"Fine, but I have some questions for you when we're done," Kratos told her as he got ready for the oncoming attack.

"Yeah, and don't think that we're not watching you like a hawk. After all, we've been betrayed before," Zelos told her. Sutra nodded her head in reply as she raised her bow, ready for another shot.

An angel was flying right towards Yuan who was trying to fight off another one at the moment. He was attacking it with his Double Saber as he swung it at the heavenly creature. Sutra saw what was coming at him from behind as she raised her readied bow at it.

"Fire Arrow," she muttered as the arrow caught on fire. She released it as it whirled through the air, hitting the angel perfectly, causing it to not only cry out from the arrow, but also to catch on fire. The angel fell to the ground as Zelos ran over and gave it the finishing blow on his way towards another set of angels.

"Lightning Blade!" Yuan finally yelled after getting frustrated with the angel he was working on. He hit it dead on, causing it to fall to the ground as it stopped moving. But before Yuan could celebrate his victory he was slammed from behind by yet another angel, this one sending backwards a few feet while also leaving a cut on his arm. He managed to maintain his balance as he came back at it, swinging his saber at it, threatening to slice it in half.

"Grave!" Kratos called as spikes from the earth flew up, engulfing one of the angels he was fighting, but the others managed to fly away from it in the nick of time. He didn't let them get very far as he rushed at them, jumping into the air with his Victory Light Spear attack, knocking one out of the air completely. Sutra managed to see the other one as she attacked it with her Lightning Arrow as she managed to either kill or paralyze her enemy. Kratos looked at the half-elf, trying to judge her character as best he could. He wanted to find out exactly why she would be leaving Cruxis. Why would she join them? There had to be more to it than she was saying, and he was going to find out what.

Zelos was beginning to get ganged up on by all of the angels as they all decided to take out their opponents one at a time. Zelos was now surrounded by about six angels. He glanced around nervously as he tried to figure out some way to gain some more ground. He then realized that there wasn't any and that he'd have to make his own. Soon, Kratos and Sutra noticed his condition and decided to help him out a little. They soon realized that Zelos was getting ready to launch an attack so they decided it would be better to just let him handle himself, at least for the moment.

"Eruption!" Zelos called out when the angels had gathered close enough to him. He released a large amount of mana causing a huge explosion to rush out from him, knocking the angels to fly backwards, many of them not even attempting to get back up.

Lloyd took this as a great opportunity as he finished off the few remaining angels that had not received any damage from the blast while Sutra took care of the few that were still moving after it. Lloyd went after most of them using his Beast attack, slamming them to the ground before rushing at them with his Super Sonic Thrust.

Finally, silence fell over the battlefield as the warriors realized that everyone had been defeated. Then, all eyes fell on Sutra who still had some explaining to do.

"Well Storm, now that you're completely under control you can tell me everything you know. So, tell me, does Lloyd still possess the Eternal Sword and hold a pact with Origin?" Yggdrasil asked the girl.

Storm looked at him before nodding her in response. She looked fairly normal at first glance, but anyone who really knew her could tell that she had lost the spark in her eyes, the thing that made her seem happy and alive. Now, she just seemed dark and hollow, something that obeyed orders. Her conscious part was taken over by her rage and Mithos was the only person that could control it and use it for himself. She still thought of him as her mind's voice and she would obey what he said.

"Okay, I suppose that means we'll have to kill the summoner then. If I can get the Eternal Sword back I can put my plan into action," Yggdrasil laughed.

"One problem," Storm began. "The Summon Spirits would most likely never make a pact with you. If you want the sword you'll need a new summoner," she told him.

"But where would I find a summoner? The summoning arts have almost been completely fogotten," he explained.

"Find the summoner's children. I believe that they may know how," Storm suggested.

"Excellent idea. Find them, and if you happen to find the summoner maybe you can get rid of her too," Mithos said. He then stopped and thought for a moment. "Actually, I would like to take care of Lloyd and the summoner separately. I will teach that boy why he shouldn't mess with Lord Yggdrasil. He'll watch the mother of his children die, just like his father did," Mithos laughed.

This all managed to register itself in Storm's mind as she began to react to his words. Her conscious part was beginning to come out again as she fought to gain control once again. She couldn't stand to be a part of her brother's destruction, even if he did hate her. She wouldn't stand the same thing that happened to her mother to happen to Sheena.

"No, you can't," Storm struggled with the words as she fought to regain control of herself. Before she could get any farther though she was slammed into a wall by Mithos for her outburst.

"Never defy my commands," he yelled at her. "Keep your rage or more pain will be coming your way," he screamed as he kicked her on the ground. "You'll go to wherever their group is and deliver the message that we're after her children. After that, you and Anna will head to where they are hiding the children. I presume you know their whereabouts. Take the children and bring them back here. I'll take care of the rest, I have some business I need to attend to first though," Mithos told her. Anna was standing with him as she heard the orders without reacting even after watching her mother's beating.

"Okay, I want you to tell us why you want to join our group. Why are you attempting to defy Yggdrasil?" Kratos asked Sutra.

"I couldn't stand to see what he was doing. I wanted him back because I thought that he would help the half-elves, but he has his own plans. So far, it seems as if he's taking revenge on Storm," Sutra explained.

"She's still alive then. What is he doing to her?" Yuan asked impatiently.

"Well, he's trying to take over her mind. When I left he seemed like he was really gaining progress on her. I think that if she hasn't already lost control, she will soon. If you see her again you probably won't even recognize her," Sutra told them.

"He already tried to do that once when she was little, I doubt that he'd be able to make her into a lifeless being again, she still has control over her thoughts," Kratos explained.

"Well, he figured that out too. He also saw that she had very strong emotions and he decided to use that to his own advantage. He's using the Derris Emblem to create images of her friends and family in an attempt to cause her to express extreme rage towards everyone. It was horrible to watch her go downhill. I couldn't stand it anymore, so left," she told them all.

They all looked at her, not wanting to believe what she was telling them. No one spoke for awhile until Lloyd finally decided to speak up.

"I think we should believe her, she seems like she's telling the truth," he told them. The others actually seemed to be in agreement. "There's one more thing I wanted to know though...," he added.

"What's that?" Sutra asked, ready to answer his question.

"What did my image say to her?" he asked sadly as he looked at Sutra hoping her answer wouldn't be too heartbreaking.

"I don't think you'll enjoy it," she warned him, the others looked on, All of them wanted to know what their images had said to her. The Derris Emblem was, after all, a way to tell what that person's deepest fear were. They all wanted to know what Storm thought about them.

Sutra sighed a little, realizing that she wasn't going to be able to get out of this situation as she began to tell them about the horrible images Storm had seen.

Well, that's it for this chapter. Next chapter preview includes the guy group's reaction to what Sutra says and Sutra and Anna make a trip to see Raine's group. All that and whatever else I decide to throw in. Anyway, let me know what you thought. Please review. Thanks!