Okay, I wanted to get this story going. I'm sorry if it seems boring so far because there's not much going on, but this will actually have some action. It's funny to be writing these both at the same time because the relationships are different in their own little ways. Storm and Zelos is strangely enough Angst/Humor while Storm and Yuan is Angst/Drama because there is so much tension in the relationship. There is a lot of angst in both as usual for my writing. Anyway, hope you're enjoying. Thanks for the reviews.
Chapter 2: Ideals
Storm and Yuan had the Renegades set up camp around the Palmacosta area. They were going to interrogate some of the citizens of the newly rebuilt city. They ordered a few soldiers to follow them in to help them out a bit. As they entered the city, Yuan looked over at Storm who was trying to take in as much of the city as possible. It didn't really look too much different than it had before it was destroyed, but she seemed obsessed with it nontheless.
"You seem a lot happier than you used to. Why are you so interested in this place?" he questioned her. Storm looked over at him with a confused look before finally realizing why he didn't understand her amazement.
"Oh, I've never been here before, but I've heard so much about it. The biggest city on the Sylverant side of Symphonia and it's gorgeous," she said as she stared up at the buildings. "It's like Meltokio except it has an older feel. I love it," she told him happily. Yuan looked at her, she definitely wasn't like she used to be with Cruxis. She was like she had been when she was younger, she was free to be herself. That's all he'd ever wanted for her.
"Well, you can look at the buildings, but I need to find who's in charge around here," Yuan said as he began to wander the streets in search of some friendly person that could guide them in the right direction.
Finally, Yuan picked out a nice looking couple who were walking through the streets with a small child who was out running in front of them. Yuan walked up to the man as Storm came up behind Yuan as she looked at the couple.
"Excuse me, but would you be able to show us where your mayor is?" he asked them.
"Oh, you mean General-Governor Neil?" the man asked him. Yuan wasn't too sure if that's who he was looking for, but it sounded like a good place to start at least. He nodded at the man. "He's over in that building in the square next to the church," the man told him as he pointed in the direction they needed to head in. Yuan thanked the man as the couple walked off.
"Well, I guess we talk to this guy to find out if he's seen or heard of Magnius in awhile," Storm stated as she began to walk the way the man pointed.
Yuan sighed as he watched her walk off. "Yeah, that was the plan," he whispered to himself. He couldn't believe how she was trying to take charge of something that was already being taken care of.
Storm walked into the square and stopped when she saw the church. She didn't really like the church in Meltokio either. For some reason they always reminded her of Cruxis even though Zelos had worked on reorganizing the churches. She still couldn't get that fear of Cruxis and the churches out of her mind. Yuan walked up behind her and looked at the church that she was staring at. He could tell that everything about her past still haunted and pained her. Was there more about her past that she hadn't even told him?
"Cruxis doesn't have any influence anymore, just Magnius and that's what we're going to stop," Yuan reassured her as he set a hand on her shoulder to snap her out of her trance. She looked back at him and gave him a smile to cover up any feelings she had.
"I was just looking at it, it's a pretty building," she lied to him. She didn't want him to figure out why she was so terrified of Cruxis.
"Here's the building we need to go in," Yuan said as he pointed to the building to the left of the church. Storm looked over and walked with him as they went inside, leaving the few soldiers they brought along outside.
"What can we do for you two?" a young woman asked as Yuan and Storm entered the building. She was sitting at a desk across the way and there were two guards present on either side of the doorway that they were entering.
"We're here to speak with General-Governor Neil," Yuan informed the woman. "We need to ask him a few questions," he added as a side note.
The woman looked at them for a few moments before she spoke up again. "May I tell him who's calling for him?" she asked them suspiciously. Yuan and Storm weren't sure if it was because they weren't from the area or if it was because they had been having troubles lately that was making the woman so nervous around them.
"My name is Yuan," Yuan stated kindly to the woman.
"I'm Storm Aurion, perhaps he's heard of my brother Lloyd?" she said before adding in Lloyd as a reference since she'd never actually met Neil before.
"I'll let him know," she said as she walked out of the room for a minute. Storm and Yuan stood around as they waited for Neil to show up. When he arrived in the room he looked at the two and immediately went over to Storm.
"You're the Storm Aurion that we've all heard about, the sister of Lloyd Irving Aurion. He helped save this town from Magnius a few years ago. Is there some way that I can help you?" he asked.
"Uh...," Storm was surprised by the overly kind greeting she had just received. She really didn't know what to say so Yuan decided to take over.
"We were wondering if you have heard anything about Magnius. We know that he's trying to start up another army of Desians,and we wondered if anyone has noticed any strange activity by his old ranch," he explained to him. Neil looked over to the half-elf and began to think a little about his questions.
"Well, there was some talk of a group of strangers wandering around there about a month ago, but no one has seen anyone since," Neil replied. Yuan looked over at Storm, and they both knew that someone had been up to something sneaking around there. They had a feeling that whoever was wandering around there was somehow connected to Magnius.
"Thank you so much for your help," Storm said as she shook his hand.
"I'd do anything for a relative of Lloyd's. We all still owe him so much here. If you need anything else be sure to come and speak with me," Neil told her. Storm and Yuan walked out as they decided that their next order of business was to investigate the old Desian Human Ranch in the area.
Once they got back to camp for the night, Yuan decided to try and start a conversation with Storm. The two had been relatively quiet since they left her house, and he wanted to make sure she felt comfortable while on the mission. There were tents all over the fields outside of the city as they all gathered in groups to relax before heading to sleep. Storm and Yuan sat next to where each of their tents were pitched as they sat around a small fire.
Yuan looked over at Storm who was looking up at the night sky. "Storm, you seem so happy. You're a lot more confident in yourself than you were when you were with Cruxis," he told her.
She looked over at him and smiled, happy that he had actually noticed her change. She was happier, she couldn't hide that fact. "Yeah, Zelos really makes me happy. If it wasn't for him, Dad, and Lloyd I probably would have died fighting for Mithos' ideals. Now I'm fighting for my own. But...," Storm told him happily, but when she trailed off at the last statement he noticed the painful look in her eyes.
"But...?" he asked her. Was there something that she's been hiding.
She stared at the ground for a moment with that same look on her face before she looked back up at him with a smile. He could tell that it was fake, she kept trying to hide her feelings. "It was nothing," she said.
Yuan decided to poke around in her feelings a little more, he wanted to know what was bothering her. "So, what are your ideals?" he asked her. Storm looked shocked as he asked her that. She sat in thought for awhile before she answered very simply.
"I don't really know. I guess they're actually Lloyd's...," she said softly.
"Well, that's all right too. As long as you know what you want, even if it is because of someone else. As long as you know that it's right in your own heart, that's all that matters," he told her. Storm looked away from him for a moment, she still looked pained. He couldn't figure out was bothering her.
"Yeah," Storm agreed with a whisper. If only he knew that she was still fighting in her mind whose ideals she believed in. She believed Lloyd's, but she also found a lot of truth in Mithos'. Had she actually done the right thing? She couldn't tell him though, he had fought so hard to stop Mithos and his ideals.
Well, that's the end of this chapter. I hope it wasn't too bad. I know that there's not much going on, but wait until later when the action comes out. Of course, there'll be a lot of angsty romantic stuff going on in between. There relationship isn't quite as goofy as Storm and Zelos' so don't expect large amounts of humor here. Well, tell me what you all thought and review. You have no idea how important your opinions are to me. Thanks!
