Well, here I am with the latest chapter of this story. I really hope that everyone is enjoying reading this story. I think that I will be writing the story of Yuan and Storm after this fic. I never really explained how that relationship developed. Anyway, thanks for putting up with me this far and I hope that you like this chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 5: A New Deal
Zelos was wondering about Storm and her true intentions of being with the group. He
had already noticed that she was holding back in her fighting and that she seemed to be a little touchy about certain things that he asked her about. When he saw her run off into the forest he decided that he wanted to find out what she was hiding exactly. He followed behind her, just far enough away so she wouldn't hear him behind her.
She soon stopped in the middle of the dense forest as she pulled something out of her pocket and threw it on the ground in front of her. Zelos watched in amazement as it glowed, revealing a young man with long blonde hair. He looked to Storm who seemed to take on a different look in her eyes at the sight of him. She almost seemed as if she was afraid to do anything around him.
"Storm, I have just received the report from Pronyma," the blonde told Storm who looked down at the mention of the name. Zelos then remembered that Pronyma was the one that they had fought earlier that day, the one that had hurt Storm. Why did that bother him so much?
"Yes," Storm replied.
"Storm, I have to say that you've done well this far protecting the Chosen, despite the fact that she has returned to her normal self," the man told her.
"I'm sorry my lord, I had no idea that the Key Crest would be able to contain the power of the Cruxis Crystal," Storm apologized. It was then that Zelos figured out what theywere talking about. Storm was obviously a subordinate for this man and he wanted Colette for some reason. If Lloyd and the others knew more about this then they really needed to tell him more. It was then obvious that Pronyma, Storm, and now this man all worked together. Sotrm was working for the enemy all along! She was pretty mysterious.
"It can't and that is why I need you to return to Cruxis," the man informed her. Storm's eyes darted from the ground to her leader's eyes. She looked shocked for a split second, but immediately returned to her blank gaze before his eyes met hers.
"Why now? Don't you need me to return the Chosen?" Storm asked him, trying not to sound too desperate.
"No, I believe that she will return to us on her own. Once that Key Crest is unable to control the power of the Cruxis Crystal anymore she will begin to get very sick. The only way that they will be able to save her is to collect certain materials, one of which is a Mana fragment from Derris-Kharlan. They'll bring her right to us...and we'll be waiting," the man informed Storm. Zelos began to wonder what they were talking about exactly. Derris-Kharlan was not a familiar sounding name to him, he was feeling very left out on something.
"All right, when would you like me to come back?" Storm asked him.
"All in good time my dear, for now stay hidden. You've done a fine job so far. As a reward I will let you kill the Chosen's group when the time comes," the man told her.
Zelos stopped right there, deciding that he should head back before Storm got back. If Storm was going to kill their group he didn't want to get her mad now. He began to wonder about all the times she threatened to hurt him, would she? Maybe he needed to get in on this group before something happened to the other group. After all, he wanted to side with the strongest.
He wandered back to the camp, slipping in unnoticed and soon saw Storm follow in behind him. She still had the same blank look she'd had earlier, but it soon switched to an annoyed look when she saw Zelos looking at her.
"Now what do you want?" she asked, the irritation rising in her voice.
Zelos snapped out of his trance and looked her over. "I was just wondering how my sexy hunny was doing? Have your wounds healed?" he asked her as he checked her over up and down.
"I am not your sexy hunny!" she yelled at him before giving him yet another lump on his head.
"Ow...Storm," Zelos whined as he rubbed his head.
"And keep yours eyes in line," she warned him before stomping off to bed for the night.
While he watched her walk off she could only think that he was lucky she didn't kill him yet.
The next day, the group finally made it to Meltokio. They stood at the gates and soon realized that it was not going to be so easy to get in this time.
"Now what?" Lloyd sighed as he looked at the closed doors of the city.
"Well...there is another way to get in," Zelos said. Everyone looked at the Chosen, waiting for his answer.
"How's that?" Raine asked cautiously.
"Well, at night the doors to the city close and I had to sneak back in a lot through the sewer system," Zelos explained with a small smirk forming on his face.
"Why were you out so late at night?" Colette asked innocently.
"I'll show you sometime," Zelos replied, flashing her one of his famous playboy smiles.
At this comment, Zelos received not one, but two blows to the head as both Storm and Sheena smacked him hard.
"Ow...what was that for?" he complained as he held his hand to his now pounding head.
"For being a jerk and exploiting a young child," Storm told him as she hit him one more time.
"But I was helping too," Zelos whined.
As soon as the group made it through the sewer and met the fresh air again, they headed towards the Elemental Research Laboratory that Sheena had told them all about. Once they got there they discovered that there was a way for them to travel across the large bodies of water using an EC. Soon, the group found out that they would have to wait another day before they vould make their way back to Sybak to meet back with Kate.
"Okay, so now what do we do?" Sheena asked as she looked to the others in the group, hoping for some bright ideas.
"We can all head over to mansion and spend the night there," Zelos offered with a large smile.
"Couldn't that be dangerous, we are wanted criminals after all," Raine asked.
"Don't worry about that," Zelos said.
"Yeah, you only have to worry about him peeking at you in the shower," Sheena growled. Zelos smiled just at the thought, but was soon sent into submission when she saw his reaction. She slapped him across the face. "Don't look at me with those dirty thoughts in your head," she warned him.
Zelos looked to Storm for a little help, but soon received another reply from her.
"If you play peeping tom on me again you won't be around to talk about it," she threatened.
"Man...I really have no luck with this group...," Zelos sighed. He wondered what Storm was really like when she was in the group that he had heard her talking to. Maybe he'd get another opportunity to hear her talking to them tonight. With that, he led the rest of the group towards his mansion for the night.
Well, that's it for this chapter. Poor Zelos, he never has any luck with Storm and Sheena. If only Storm knew how things turned out, it's pretty funny. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed this and I hope that you review. Thanks for reading!
