"Uh...Cye?" Kento said beside him, his voice shaking. The aqua eyes opened slowly.

   "What?"

   "What is that?" Kento stared at a large orb floating in the middle of the room.

   It was midnight; the two warriors had been sound asleep when a gold light had awoken them. The orb hovered inches above the floor, and the two Ronin leaned closer to it.

   "I do not mean to scare you like this," a soft voice echoed. Inside, a figure with deep purple hair separated into pigtails with buns on top smiled out at them. She had sparkling green eyes, and wore a gown made of gold. A crescent moon pointed upwards lay on her forehead, its golden color shining. Around her neck lay a black choker with an upturned crescent moon hanging from it. Her dress was elegant: a gold bodice glittered with clear sequins, a thin layer of silk then coming across her chest. A large crescent moon was centered on her chest, and an eight-point star on lower abdomen. The gown hung down first in a gold skirt, then a layer of white lace flared outward. A second and final layer of lace gave the lady the appearance of a butterfly with a flowing train behind her. The dress was strapless, but was accented by the long white gloves she wore; just above her elbow they stopped and was held with thick bejeweled golden bands.

   Kento and Cye sent each other sideways looks, but listened as she began to speak again. The orb floated to the floor, and she stepped out of it, perhaps only a foot and a half tall.

   "I am Lady Tranquility, also known as the Lady of the Moon." She curtsied and nodded, then returned to her small height. "Please do not be afraid of me, for I am not here to harm you. Au contraire; I am here to ask for your help, and to warn you. I must meet with all nine of the Ronin Warriors."

   The two teenagers looked at each other sideways, then Cye stood up.

   "Just one moment." He walked over to the door and opened it; within four minutes, with a due amount of shouts from everyone in the house, the other three Ronin and Mia trooped in, yawning. Torrent turned on the light as everyone settled down.

   Tranquility reached into the air, a golden light appearing in her hand. A moment later, and a long gold staff lay across her gloved palm. Bringing it down so that everyone could see it, she explained, "I am the Lady of the Moon, Lady Tranquility. This is the Staff of Tranquility. My brother, Crisies, the Lord of the Moon, has the Staff of Crisies. Together, they have given us enough power to live off of, and to get us to Earth." She smiled, looking at the six tired faces around her. Barely thirty-six inches, Tranquility was still able to hold an impressive aura. "I do not see all nine warriors present; where are the other three?"

   "Um...," Mia looked to Ryo, and said, "I'm not a warrior, but I do know the legend. The other four are still in the Dynasty."

   "Is there any way of contacting them?"

   "Yeah, but it takes a while." Sage sighed, heading for the door. The other four Ronin followed, somewhat slowly. Mia walked after them, then paused near Tranquility. The Lady of the Moon held her staff high into the air, a purple light surrounding her. Blinded by the brilliant energy, Mia shielded her eyes. A slight gasp escaped from her lips as she looked back at Tranquility, now at her regal height of five feet, seven inches. Her gold gown was flowing behind her from some invisible wind, and her long purple pigtails were swept behind her head. The gold staff had extended to reach her height, and stood by her side.

   Mia was able to see the staff's intricate detail work: stones of deep blue, orange, white, bright red, deep green, pale blue, aqua, yellow, light green, and crystal gleamed in the light of the room. The scepter had a pointed end that extended upward to two curvy expenditures. From there, the rod was adorned with nine symbols: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto. A jewel followed each emblem. At the top, two more curves extended outward, then a large spade-shaped abrasion, and one last outward curve. The staff narrowed at the top, only to end with a large crescent moon, both ends turned upward.

   "The Staff of Tranquility is one of the symbols of the Moon Kingdom," Tranquility murmured, walking toward Mia.

   "It's amazing. What are these stones?" she asked.

   "The Mercurial stone is the Sapphire. The Citrine is the stone of Venus; the Opal is controlled by Earth. Mars' red fury can only be duplicated by the Ruby, while the Emerald is the stone of Jupiter. The Lapis is Saturn's; the Aquamarine is Neptune's jewel. Uranus holds the rare gem Yellow Jade, and the Plutonian stone is the Garnet. The Diamond is the symbol of the Moon Kingdom, as it resembles our own Imperium Silver Moon Crystal."

   The two walked slowly from the room, Mia in awe of the Lady of the Moon, and Tranquility smiling at the girl in a friendly way.

   Outside, the five Ronin Warriors decided not to wait for the two stragglers. They formed a circle, looking like a five-pronged star in the light of a full moon.

   "Let's get this started," Ryo muttered, withdrawing his kanji transformer. "Virtue!" he yelled, tossing the sphere into the air.

   "Justice!" Kento held his transformer above his head.

   "Trust!" Cye crossed both hands at the wrist, place them on his forehead with his crystal floating above him.

   "Life Force! " Rowen extended his arm outward, opening his hand wide, the sphere hovering on his palm.

   "Wisdom!" Sage allowed his transformer to fly into the air, hanging motionless near his forehead.

   Flashes of red, orange, sky blue, dark blue, and green illuminated the country side, and five warriors stood in sub-armor where five teenagers had been just moments before.

   "Power of Wildfire-"

   "Power of Hardrock-"

   "Power of Torrent-"

   "Power of Strata-"

   "Power of Halo-"

   "Teleport!" The powers collided in the center, forming a white orb. Keeping their energy streaming steadily, the Ronin waited; moments later, four figures stepped through.

   A man with green hair swept partially over his left eye came first. He was tall, and his skin was a pasty white color; his eyes were a deep brown. Sekhmet had an air of menace about him, but also had a soothing calm. He wore solid maroon sub-armor.

   The second figure emerged looking frazzled, his light green sub-armor holding patches of dirt on the knees as he fell to the ground. His solid white hair didn't cover the patch he wore over his right eye, nor the intense blue-black color of the other. Dais had somewhat tan skin and a manner that said he could be both serious and joking at the same time.

   A girl that looked sixteen continued the chain of people. She wore her long blue-black hair down on her back with a side fringe that stopped at her jaw. Kayura had large, vibrant blue eyes, and wore a long white kimono with a gold staff in her hand.

   Lastly came a man with dark navy blue hair. A scar fell across his left eye. Kale stood tall and proud, dressed in dark blue sub-armor with bright brown eyes. He had very tan skin, and a somewhat joking aura surrounded him.

   "All right, what's this about?" Kayura asked as the Ronin stopped their powers.

   "Lady Tranquility of the Moon Kingdom requested your audience," Ryo replied, crossing his arms.

   "Who?" Dais stood slowly, brushing the dirt from himself.

   "I am Lady Tranquility of the Moon Kingdom, also called the Lady of the Moon. I do apologize for disturbing you, but I need you help. Perhaps the best way -the only way- to start is by telling you the story of the Moon Kingdom.

   "Long ago, the entire Universe was at peace. All nine planets were living happily in what was known as the Silver Millennium. There were the nine Princesses: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto. These eight were part of Princess Serena of the Moon's court. Her mother was Queen Serenity, the ruler of the Universe. She lived on Earth's moon, a place called the Moon Kingdom. Princess Serena was engaged to a young prince from Earth: Prince Darien. He also had a court, but they were considered part of Serena's court as well. Prince Darien's contained nine young warriors from Earth; they were dedicated to their elements. They were the Princes of Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Light, Darkness, Metal, Wood, and Time. Everything was wonderful, with parties nightly and people from all around the Universe visiting the courts.

   "But these good times could not last. An evil -the Negaverse- attacked and swept quickly through the outer planets. Before anyone knew it, the Negaverse and the evil Queen Beryl had reached the Moon Kingdom. Beryl wanted to destroy Queen Serenity but also needed Princess Serena dead before she could take over the Universe. Everyone went into battle, including the Princesses, Princes, and Prince Darien. All but Serena fought, and they all died.

   "Though everyone fought bravely, they could not defeat Queen Beryl's superior Shadow Warriors. Queen Serenity was not able to do anything, but when Beryl killed the Moon Princess and Prince Darien, it was too much for her. Queen Serenity used an attack, one that would kill her: the Cosmic Moon Power. This involved the Crescent Moon Wand, the symbol of the Moon Kingdom, and the source of her power: the Imperium Silver Moon Crystal. Although Queen Serenity was able to destroy the evil Beryl and her Negaverse, she died. But before her death was final, Queen Serenity dissolved the seven Shadow Warriors into seven Rainbow Crystals and sent them to Earth. She also gathered Princess Serena, Prince Darien, and their courts, sending them into future lives on Earth as well.

   "I am Queen Serenity's sister, and I have been the Guardian of the Moon ever since I was revived by the Imperium Silver Moon Crystal. My brother Crisies has also faithfully served our older sister's memory. But we cannot do this forever. Our life times are growing short; thousands of years living is quite a while, and we are not going to be able to hold out much longer.

   "The reason that I am here is because an evil is coming to Earth that will destroy this planet. It is going to destroy every living soul here, and nothing is powerful enough to stop it. However, on the Moon Kingdom, young warriors had vowed to protect the Universe, planets, and elements, even if they died doing so. I am here to revive them. You nine swore that you would guard the Universe.

   "The upcoming battle will be harder than you have ever had to fight. It will be enough to destroy the Ronin Warriors, as well as the galaxy. I will serve as a guardian to you, but I am unable to fight and can only talk and guide.

   "If you choose not to accept your roles as guardians, however, I will understand." Tranquility stopped, her dark green eyes looking at all of them in turn. "The new evil will take over everything. Even with your acceptance, you may be powerless to stop this. Do you accept?"

   Cye opened his mouth, but everyone's gaze made him stop. A soft look came to Torrent's face as he smiled slightly.

   "We have no choice," he said, addressing them all. "If we are the only ones that can save Earth, then we have to. Everyone living here...We owe them that much."

   "I don't want to fight, but we have no choice. Tranquility is telling us of a past we never knew about; although depressing, I am glad to know it. And I am going to fight. There will be other warriors with us." Kayura paused, "Besides, if we don't fight, then everyone will die. If we fight, then we can fight for their lives. There is no guarantee that we will win, but we will have done something."

   "Are we agreed then?" Rowen asked, meeting his friend's faces.

   "Looks like we've got another war on our hands," Ryo laughed.

   "I guess." Sekhmet sighed, smiling. He stuck his left fist into the circle. Sage put his on top, then Rowen, Kale, Kento, Dais, Ryo, Cye, and, lastly, Kayura. Sekhmet put his right hand on the very top, sealing the agreement.

   Tranquility exhaled, her beautiful face softening with a smile. "I will reappear soon, because the evil is nearing. Thank you." Turning around, she smiled at Mia. "Goodbye." She disappeared in a shimmer of gold light.