All right it's update time! It's finally official, I have graduated high school. My commencement was on Saturday and today was my graduation party so I've been pretty busy. Anyway, now that that's all done I can finally update. Now there's just college left...and there's plenty of that coming. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Oh, and I found a song that's perfect for the Zelos/Storm relationship and I put which one it is on the forum, I don't know if anyone saw it. Oh, and I made a new video on youtube and the link is on my profile. It's kind of sad. Based on Kranna, Yuartel, and Relicia. Makes me wanna cry. Well, enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 8: Hidden Thoughts

"So, tell us what happened to Storm," Kratos ordered Sutra as they sat down to finally find out the truth.

"Are you really sure that you want me to tell you? I'm telling you right now that it will be hard to listen to," Sutra warned them as she looked to each of them. No one gave any objections so she began.

"Well, what he did was use the Derris Emblem to create horrible images of her friends and family to appear in front of her. These images would tell her horrible things until Storm either became very angry or very depressed. Mithos would then try to force her to become angry and if she decided to become depressed instead he would usually punish her physically," Sutra told them all. It was a few moments before anyone would say anything as she received many horrified expressions from them. Finally, Lloyd decided to get one question off of his mind.

"Couldn't she tell that they were all fake?" Lloyd asked.

"The Derris Emblem is able to create images that dig at the things that bother a person the most. When this person hears these things, they sound very believable because everything the image says is something that they think of themselves," Kratos explained to his son.

"So, all the horrible things she thought we said...she thinks that we actually think that way about her?" he asked sadly, wondering what his image had said to her.

"Yes, but it probably didn't help that one of the first things she saw was Anna," Sutra told them all.

"Why would Anna be a problem?" Zelos asked, happy to hear that his daughter was still alive, but wondering why Storm seeing her would make her angry or depressed.

"Well, it's because Anna confessed to Storm that she hated her. Storm knew right away that this was no image and it made the others seem even more real to her. Anna has totally sided with Cruxis. I'm so sorry," Sutra said as her eyes moved towards the ground. She couldn't bear to look at them as she revealed this new information.

"So, Storm went to rescue Anna only to find out that she wanted to stay anyway?" Kratos asked. Sutra slowly nodded her head in response. During this whole conversation Zelos had remained quiet, trying to get all of this through his head. Storm was being tortured and Anna was helping. He couldn't tell which was worse.

"I just can't...I can't believe that Anna would do something like this to her own mother," Zelos finally said as he stared at the ground, head in his hands.

"What did we say?" Yuan asked suddenly, not wanting to wait any longer.

Storm and Anna were flying all over Symphonia trying to find any sign of Raine and the others. They had to find Sheena and they knew that they were probably somewhere close to some of the larger cities. They would obviously got there first if they really were going to help restore more people's lives. They flew over Luin, Palmacosta, and they were about to fly over to Meltokio when they saw the group walking towards the city. They were about ten miles or so away and they were putting up camp for the night.

"Land behind those trees where they won't see us," Storm ordered Anna. They both descended into a small grove of trees a little bit away from the group. Anna looked over at Storm as she proceeded to walk out of the grove, leaving her mother behind her.

"Let me do the talking, I know exactly what Mithos wants," Anna commanded her mother. Storm didn't take this very lightly as she slapped her hard, sending her to the ground. Anna had never been hit before, and even if she had, it was never that hard. She stared at her mother, terrified, as she held her hand to her now throbbing face.

"I take orders from no one, especially not from you," Storm warned her. Storm still couldn't comprehend that Mithos was the one who was ordering her around. To her, she was the one who was carrying out this plan and her rage was the one in control. Her conscious self wasn't in control and she had no power over what she was doing. She definitely knew that Anna's voice was not the one that she had been listening to and she wasn't about to start listening to it. Storm walked out into the clearing and walked over to her friends with Anna slowly bringing up the rear.

"Storm! You're back and you've got Anna! That's so great!" Sheena exclaimed as she ran over to meet Storm. The others soon followed, happy to know that their friend was alive and well along with Anna. "What are you doing here?" Sheena asked. "Zelos and the others went to look for you. Didn't you see them?"

"I have a question for you," Storm said, completely ignoring Sheena's question. Sheena looked into the eyes of her friend and soon realized that something was terribly wrong with her. There was something different, something dark about them.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Everyone behind Sheena came a little closer, rasing their guard a bit. They could all tell that something wasn't right but they couldn't figure out what.

"How fast can the pact maker make it to Altamira?" Storm asked as she laughed before unleashing her Outburst attack, throwing them all backwards on the ground. Storm laughed as she released her wings, soon followed by Anna as they flew off towards Altamira.

Sheena hopped up first in a panic. "She's with Cruxis after all! They're going after the children, but we have to get there before them," she said.

"I knew that we couldn't trust her," Raine mumbled as the entire group quickly packed their things as they rushed towards Altamira, hoping they wouldn't be too late.

"What did my image say to her?" Kratos asked Sutra sadly, knowing that the answer would be one that he didn't want to hear.

"You said that you were tired of all of her lies, and that she never tells you the truth," Sutra began as she was cut off by Kratos.

"I did tell her that she never tells me the truth, but she knows that I'll always trust her no matter how many times she lies to me," Kratos said.

"Well, then you said that Lloyd was a way better child and that you wished that you would have found him at the bottom of the hill, and that you didn't want to even associate with her as family anymore," Sutra finished.

"I wish that I didn't have to find either one of you at the bottom of the hill, I wish that we could have stayed a family, but I feel like Storm would have been better off if she'd been like Lloyd. Of course I was so thrilled at the time with having her that I didn't even think about the consequences of her being raised by Mithos. I was just surprised that he let her come along," he said to the others. "What did she say back?" he asked cautiously.

"Well, her rage had been built up extraordinarily so before then so she was easy to get upset. She said that she couldn't believe that you'd chose Lloyd over her after everything she'd done for you. She said she helped Lloyd's group before because you did. She couldn't decide between Lloyd or Mithos and she chose Lloyd because you did. She said that if you felt that way then she'd be better off without you," Sutra informed him.

"I wouldn't chose one of my children over the other. I can understand why she'd have a hard time leaving Cruxis, but I know that she really was set on helping Lloyd's group. I can't believe that she thinks I hate her now. How will I ever gain back her trust?" Kratos asked as he looked to the others for comfort.

"What about me Sutra, she must really hate me," Lloyd asked.

"Well, let's just say you came after Kratos so she wasn't very happy," Sutra warned him.

"I'm ready," he assured her.

"You reminded her of a conversation you two had in Flanoir. You said that you still felt that way and that she couldn't be your sister because of how many times she's betrayed people," Sutra told him.

"I feel so guilty about that conversation. I was so upset, I wasn't thinking. It's all my fault, I messed up again," Lloyd said as he sighed loudly. "What did she say?" he asked as he looked to the ground.

"She said that if you hated her she hated you. She also said that if it wasn't for you, Kratos and her could still be in Cruxis like old times," Sutra told him.

"She hates me? I don't hate her at all. I could never hate her. This won't be good when we meet again," he said sadly.

"Sutra, I almost hate to ask what my image said to her," Yuan said as he slowly walked closer to her, wanting something from her.

"You pretty much told her that you were tired of waiting for her and that you wanted her to choose you or Zelos now," Sutra summed up.

"I would never ask her to do that. I know that she loves Zelos and I know that someday we'll have a chance, but I'm going to be patient until then," he said as he looked over at Zelos who was satisfied with his answer. Zelos knew that Storm and Yuan would be together once he was gone, and he had accepted that now. It was almost comforting to him to know that Storm wouldn't be alone when that day came. He was a little worried about what her reply was though.

"What did she say?" Yuan finally asked.

"She chose Zelos without any question," Sutra replied. Both of the men actually seemed satisfied with this answer. Yuan was happy that she wouldn't abandon Zelos that easily after all they'd been through. If she did he'd be afraid she'd do the same to him too.

"Well, then what did I say after that? I mean, she didn't seem like she was upset with me," Zelos pointed out.

"Well, you pretty much told her that you had had enough of her and you left," Sutra replied. "She pretty much lost it after that. She was about to resort to depression, but Mithos caught and made her channel her sadness into rage and she punched into a wall. She lost you and Yuan and she was completely alone. She'll be hard to get back now. She won't trust anyone," Sutra warned them.

Zelos was silent as he let everything run through his mind. He was mad at himself for letting Storm believe that he would ever leave her, and he was even more upset at Mithos for what he'd done to her.

"I don't care what it takes, we're going to get her back," Zelos finally decided. He was tired of Storm always saving them, he was going to save her. She always took the blame for everything and always put everyone's needs before her own. It's about time we did something for her," he told the others.

Suddenly, they all stopped. They heard wings, angel wings. Sutra didn't want Anna, Storm, or Mithos to find out what she was doing just yet as she ran behind a large boulder and hid. Mithos flew slowly down and looked at the small group.

"Ah Yuan, Kratos, how are you two doing?" he asked them with a small smirk on his face.

"Where's Storm and Anna you creep?" Zelos burst in.

"I wasn't speaking to you human!" Mithos yelled as he managed to keep himself from blasting him with mana for the time being.

"I was better before you came back," Yuan replied bitterly.

"Now, that's no way to talk to one of your old friends," Mithos told him. "Maybe you'd speak more respectively to me if I changed my appearance," Mithos said as he transformed himself from his twelve year old body to that of a Cruxis leader.

"The way you look will change nothing," Kratos told him.

"Well, it's no matter, I came here to talk with Lloyd," Yggdrasil said as he came a little closer to Lloyd who grabbed his swords' handles, ready for an attack.

"What do you need from me?" Lloyd asked suspiciously.

"You stole the Eternal Sword from me boy and I plan to get it back. I will make sure that the pact with Origin is broken. I have Storm and Anna out right now getting the new pact makers. Do you think you can get there on time?" he asked looking at Lloyd as his eyes grew wider as he realized what he was talking about. "How fast are you?" he laughed as he flew off in the direction of Altamira.

"He's going to get Kagerou and Martel if we don't hurry. Yuan, where are the Rheiards?" Lloyd asked frantically, knowing they were close to the old Renegade Base.

Sutra came out from behind the boulder and looked at Lloyd. "We actually hid a few here in case we needed them outside of the base," she informed them as she led them a little ways off the trail to where the machines were stored. Everyone boarded the Rheiards, including Sutra, who seemed trustworthy now. (Yes, in my story Lloyd and Zelos have no wings, so no flying. Lloyd's were from the Spirits at a good time and Zelos' Crystal was destroyed by Lloyd when they 'killed' him in the Tower of Salvation before Storm rescued him from death) They all rushed as fast as they could to Altamira before it was too late.

Well, that's the end of this chapter. Man, this took a long time. It's a lot longer than I thought it would be. Anyway, check out my profile for youtube links and then check out the Storm forum. Thanks for reading and please review. Thanks!