Zell pulled into the driveway of Mia's old house for the second time that day. The first time was to bring Kento home from the hospital with his sprained arm and now she was returning from the library with some research material. She said hello and checked in on Kento, who was sleeping in front of the television. When she had made it to the room where she was staying for the weekend, she pulled out her books.

     "Let's see.  A Guide to Magical and Mythological History, Magical Armors, Book of Spells, Dynasties of the. . . what?" said Zell, picking up the third book. She hadn't remembered picking this one up.   For some reason, it had a strange looking engravement on the front. She tried to open the book, but it was sealed shut. Interesting.

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     Arashi walked briskly back and forth. With each movement, her crocodile earrings swayed, and seemed to be shaking with the same anger as their wearer.

     "Let me get this straight, Fox, you and my son found the warlords and they escaped in their familiar forms? And Ardour, are you telling me the book wasn't there, and there was no signs of theft?"

      "Well, when I entered the room, the case was shut and the laser thingies still worked because when I tried to open the case, cuz I thought the book might have been invisible, the loud bell rang and lots of men dressed in blue came running at me," said Ardour, thinking hard. Arashi shook her head in frustration. She walked down the steps to them.

    "Fox, what animals were their familiars?"

    "I don't really know. All I saw was one leaving by air, and three by land," he said, fearful of what she would do. She raised her hand and he shrunk back, but she only plucked a stray hair out.

     "My son. Saffron, do not disappoint me. Did you see what they were?" Saffron looked into his mother's cold grey eyes and shook his head.

     "I did not see," he said simply. She sighed in annoyance.

    "Get out," she said softly. When they did not move, she yelled, "I said, get out!" They each ran to their quarters after giving Arashi a stiff bow.  She swung her cape behind her as she climbed the steps. "I'll have to keep an eye out for the one with the staff. She'll surely make contact with my enemies soon, but what can their familiars be? Curse them all!" She slammed the door to her chamber.

     In a smaller chamber, Saffron looked into a mirror. He only had his mother's grey eyes and that was the only resemblance that could tie the two together.

     "But why are hers so cold and mine so warm?" he asked, touching the eyes in his reflection.

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     Zell studied the engravement from every angle she could think of. Finally, figuring it out that the engravement was a lock to keep the book shut, she had been trying to look for the lock itself, and how to pry it open without the key. By now, it was dark and from the dial of her watch, she figured it to be close to ten. She returned her gaze back at the book. The engravement was shaped around something like a diamond shaped hexagon. This looked familiar to her, and it clicked. She pulled her necklace off and held the stone next to the engravement. It was the same shape.

     "So, he was trying to keep me from finding this out. Well, too bad, Dad.  You didn't try hard enough." With that, she placed the stone into the engravement.

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     Arashi shot up in her bed.

     "Someone is using the book." She quickly got dressed, and summoned Fox to come with her.

    "What. . . why. . . where are we going?" he asked, still half asleep.

     "The book." With those two words, she pulled him through the portal. They landed in the woods behind a large house. In the upper window, behind a balcony, was a blinding blue light. It soon subsided. Fox pulled out his sword.

     "Do I just take it or kill?"

    "Do whatever it takes."

    "All hail Master Arashi," said Fox with a smile as he stealthily approached the house. To his amazement, four figures in armor stood to greet him.

     "What kind of sneaking around was that? We heard you coming from miles away," said someone with a British accent. "I'm Sai of the Torrent."

    "You'll be lucky to leave alive. I'm Sage of the Halo."

    "You'll wish you never came, cuz I'm Rowen of Strata."

    "You'll pay, for I'm Ryo of the Wildfire."

    "Gee, I'm only Fox. Now, wait, let me see. . . one, two, three, four.  Four? Aren't their five Ronin Warriors?  My, my," said Fox sarcastically. Ryo felt his temper rising.

   "Are they protecting the book?" asked Arashi silently from where she stood.

   Suddenly, a blue light shot from the same window behind the balcony. It hit Ryo and the other three started to glow.

    "Ryo, we're forming the armor? But how?" asked Rowen, but Ryo wasn't listening. He formed the white armor and retrieved his Fervor Swords. Fox gulped.

    "I'm ready when you are. Mystic Saber Strike!"

   "I don't think so! Rage of Inferno!!!" The two attacks collided with force and Ryo's easily overpowered Fox's. Fox's body rolled back and stopped about thirty yards away. Ryo walked forward. Fox tried to reach for his sword but Ryo kicked it away. Nothing but revenge burned in his eyes. Fox closed his eyes.

   "Go ahead. It's what you want," he said calmly. Ryo faltered for a split second before starting the final blow.  In that split second, Fox had jumped up and grabbed his sword.  Ryo's sword hit the ground.  He's incredibly fast, thought Ryo as he stood straight and faced his opponent. Fox smiled and began to run, he encircled Ryo and kept running.  Ryo could only gasp.  He could hardly keep his eyes on Fox, he was moving that fast.

    "Incredible," he said in amazement. What Fox lacked in power, he gained in speed. Suddenly, Ryo jerked forward, as though he was hit from behind. He swung wildly behind him, trying to hit the blur that was Fox.

    "Come off it, you're too slow. Try again!" taunted Fox as he hit Ryo again. And again. And again.   "This is pathetic! Inferno, my foot. I thought this was the armor that beat Talpa? Guess it was a different one," said Fox with a laugh.

    Suddenly, a falcon dove from the sky. It cried out and began to fly at the same speed as Fox. Ryo stood ready. He closed his eyes, somehow trusting the bird. When he heard the call again, he sliced in the direction of the sound. Fox staggered back. Ryo's blade had cut into his side. A portal opened behind him and he fell inside it. The falcon flew into the sky again. Arashi turned back and walked towards the original portal she had arrived in, smiling.

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      Zell had quickly stuffed all the books back into her bag. She had covered her necklace and the strange book with a pillow. She looked out her open window again. It appeared that the guys were all coming inside. She dove under her covers and pretended to be asleep as the guys walked past her room. She only dared to remove them as the light under her door went back out. She pulled out her flashlight about ten minutes later and removed the pillow. A whitish blue light had zapped back into her room after Ryo dispersed his armor. Her necklace and the book looked the same. The only difference was that the book was open to a page. It had a weird symbol handwritten on it.

    "Okay, that's a kanji and, um, it looks like kaichou. Unity? How strange," said Zell, as she read the rest of the page out loud.

Le leggende parlano d'una signora,

Signora di A del cielo.

Ha l' pontenza da distrugg,

La malvagità dei mondi.

Unirà i cinque che erano uno

E ristabilisce l' ordine all' universo.

     "Oh, why did I ever quit Italian?" said Zell frustrated. She looked up from her reading and nearly screamed. In front of her was a ghost of a girl a few years older than she. Her blond hair softly moved behind her and she opened her blue eyes, which were full of kindness, and stared at Zell.

    "Did thou readeth the book?" she asked. Zell just sat there, transfixed in both fear and awe. The ghost looked down and saw the stone at Zell's feet.

    "Thou is the owner of this stone? Speaketh," said the ghost. Zell nodded, more from fear than anything else.

     "Then thou have receiveth this stone from thy mother?"

    "Who are you? Where did you come from?" said Zell, wanting to ask all of the questions that were zooming around inside her head. The ghost laughed shortly.

    "Thou maketh a good point. My name is Mary Gossamer," said the ghost.

    "Gossamer, I know that name. Wait a minute! It was on my family tree, like over four hundred years ago. Does that mean, we're related?"

    "Thou useth strange words. But my blood flows in thee. "

    "I guess that makes sense."

    "What is thy name?"

    "Zell Mi– Zelda Misora."

    "Thy mother nameth thee after the sage. Thy mother must beith very clever."

     "I guess." Mary looked to the book on the floor.

    "Thy book is magic. Thou must swear to not let the evil one get her hands on it. Thou is the guardian of thy book and thy stone. Thou understandeth?"

   "I have to protect the book and the stone? Why not ask the Ronin-"

   "No! Thy blood maketh thee the guardian! No mere man may readeth thy book! The evil one must never layeth her hands on thy book!"

   "Who is this ‘evil one'?"

   "The evil one is the undead soul, Arashi, and thy book containeth her full power. If the evil one layeth her hands on thy book, thy world will be destroyed. I will giveth thee the power, if thou is ready to take it," said Mary, resting her feet on the floor.

   "But no harm ever came from reading a book," said Zell, still unconvinced about what the apparition was saying.

    "Thou knoweth not what thy words meaneth! She will rise up and the world will know her wrath. She was hurteth by her courter and gaveth her soul to the emperor of the Netherworld. She will never die, and will sealeth her immortality with the legendary stone of the Lady."

   "Slow down here. This book has her full power in it. If she gets the book, then she will release her wrath on the world. Now, you're telling me that the stone of the Lady or whatever will make her immortal? Where's the stone?"

   "Thou stone is the stone of destiny, which belongeth to the Lady. Thou is the guardian of the stone, thy stone is the key. Does thou accepteth the power and knowledge of the guardian?" Mary had neared Zell and had stopped only inches away from the book that still laid open on the floor.

   "Sure. I'm game," said Zell. Mary then leaned forward and her astral body merged with Zell's. Suddenly, the world around Zell blurred and then it went all white. Zell opened her eyes once she felt like she wasn't moving anymore. She found that she was inside a large training-like room. Mary appeared before her. She had brought with her the stone and the book. Zell looked as Mary's body became solid.

    "What the?"

    "In this place, I liveth as flesh," said Mary, opening the book to a page near the back. She held up the stone as she read a passage.

La pietra del destino,

Unita con l' pontenza del guardiano,

Produrrà l' armatura del cielo.

     The stone glowed brightly with white light and then flashed green, red, blue, orange, and blue again. The stone then split, to reveal a pale blue orb about the size of a golf ball. The stone floated over to Zell and a dark blue symbol glowed inside the ball.

   "Kaichou. You wrote the symbol inside the book, didn't you?"

   "Thou will learneth the ways of the guardian. Thy training begins," said Mary, her body being covered with sturdy white armor and holding a long staff. Zell felt that this was unfair. Mary charged and swung her staff at Zell, who jumped over it. She dodged the staff until she was struck and fell.

   "Thou needeth to use thy power." Zell looked down at the armor ball.

   "This looks like those armor orbs that the Ronins use to call on their armor." She jumped into the air and did a simple flip over Mary's head, calling out the kanji on the ball. When she landed, she had changed. Instead of her pajamas, she now wore totally different clothes. She wore a full body suit which was dark blue. Around her waist was a pale blue belt and an armored skirt of the same color. On her forearms were pale blue gauntlets. She also wore simple black boots. On her head was a silver mask (identical to Zechs' mask from Gundam Wing). She looked at Mary in shock.

   "Thou is nearly ready to begin. Remove thy weapon to begineth it." Zell reached behind her and pulled out a small staff about three feet long.

   "This is my weapon?" Then she noticed a section in the center of the stick that looked to be quite different. She twisted it and it became a staff as longer than her body with two blades turned upward (like Sailor Saturn's weapon from Sailor Moon). The two halves of the stone then attached themselves to the staff right below the blades, one on each side. Mary then attacked once more.