Each female emitted a gently glowing aura of color. Kento could feel their power, as if it were a tangible thing. It permeated the air, until he thought he could almost reach out and touch it. He watched their lips begin to move in a synchronized chant, and the fire danced in rhythm to their speech. Kento was awestruck as the scene unfolded. Suddenly, the flames burst yards higher, and a face appeared. His face appeared. Three pairs of glittering eyes snapped open, focused directly on him. Stumbling backwards, Kento fell flat in the dirt. He leaped back up, but the priestesses and the fire were gone without a trace. Kento turned to go, and found the blonde girl standing immediately in front of him.

"Where is it?" she questioned him irritably. He nearly whimpered, still smelling that spicy scent, but unable to touch her.

"What? I'll give you whatever it is you want!"

"Pathetic creature. You don't have what I'm looking for at all." She then spun on her heel, beginning to walk away. Kento couldn't bear it; he grabbed her wrist, unable to stop himself. Her slight frame was pulled toward him, and he pressed his lips roughly to hers. She jerked away from him, growling. She looked down, her hair shielding her face from his view.

"Please, don't--" he was cut off with a choke. Her smooth hands became scaly and a sickly green, tightened around his neck, strangling him. He tugged pitifully at her hands, but her inhuman strength was too much for him. He struggled against the monster's grip, but everything began to get dark. The creature hissed at him through yellowed fangs. As he kicked his last, he could still faintly smell that spicy sweetness.

* * * * *

Kento bolted upright, clawing at his throat. He gazed around his room, gasping for breath. The sunlight was just beginning to filter through the window, underneath the drawn shades. He climbed out of bed on unsteady legs, wiping sweat from his forehead. A loud grumble rose from his stomach. He pulled on a yellow t-shirt, then shuffled downstairs.

This was the house he shared with his five closest friends. It was very large, and owned by Mia, a young woman whose grandfather had recently passed away. The rest of the inhabitants were male. Occasionally they were visited by a young boy named Eulie, but his presence had become less frequent as time went by.

He could smell Cye's cooking as he neared the kitchen. Another growl rumbled in his belly, and he picked up his pace a bit. As he passed the dining room, he caught sight of Rowen seated at the table with a book. Kento thought better of trying to enter Cye's domain, so plopped with little grace into the nearest chair. His blue-haired friend gazed up at him with a sleepy smile.

"Mornin' buddy," Kento said, trying to seem cheerful. Unconsciously, he raked a hand through his dark hair. Too late he thought about his action, as it was a sure sign he was nervous or shaken about something. Rowen leaned forward at the table and put down his book.

"What's up, Kento?" He could tell something was bothering the bearer of the Hardrock armor.

Kento was reluctant to tell of his dream, but decided that Rowen might be able to make sense of it. Either Rowen or Sage would, he decided, and Sage took just that moment to enter the dining room, being freshly evicted from Cye's kitchen. He had with him a cup of tea and a piece of toast that he

munched on as he examined Rowen's latest read, a science fiction novel.

"Well, since you're both here now, I might as well tell you…I had this dream last night, and I hope one of you two will be able to decipher it." Kento told of his dream in great detail, all the while Rowen's eyes

widening ever so slightly and the wheels in Sage's head visibly turning. When Kento was done relating his dream to the two, they made a quick escape.

"Uh, sorry, Kento, buddy, maybe you ate too much ice cream before you went to sleep last night," Rowen suggested over his shoulder as he headed onto the screened porch then down onto the dock.

"I agree with Rowen, Kento, this dream isn't making any sense to me." Sage finished his tea, left the cup on the table, and retreated to the forest to meditate. Kento just stared in awe. Never had such a thing happened. They usually seemed to care so much…then he shrugged it off. It was a Monday, after all.

* * * * *

Rowen sighed as he looked up at the sky. This dream business was bothering him. He lay on his back and contemplated some more before rolling onto his stomach and dipping his fingers into the cooling water of the lake. The wheels in his head were turning rapidly, almost too fast for him. He had had a similar dream. Very similar. It was too weird; it couldn't be a coincidence. After all he'd been through, much as he didn't want to admit it, he felt trouble was afoot. In his dream, the face reflected in the flame had been his own, and instead of the blonde, it had been the brunette kissing him and running her hands over his chest. She had looked at him with deep brown eyes and studied him, it seemed. He had felt as if he was under scrutiny of some sort. Then she'd kissed him one more time, almost sadly, and he'd been able to smell her. She smelled of…air and life for lack of better terms. He'd wanted to hold her forever. But it was just a dream, and as he'd pulled her back to him, she'd looked reluctant to stretch out her arms and choke him. The point was that she had. So these three must be a new enemy of sorts. This assumed, Rowen pulled his hand out of the water where a fish had been nibbling his fingers and went inside for breakfast, casting a glance in the direction of the forest and Sage, who was meditating. He briefly wondered if he'd had a dream, as well, then dismissed the idea quickly. It was silly.

* * * * *

* * * * *

Stepping out of the shower, Liriel thought about what she had decided the previous night. It had been on her mind since her alarm had yanked her from her slumber. She tugged on a pair of snug blue jeans, and slid a sparkling hot pink tank top over her head. As she towel-dried her dripping hair, a thought came to her. She couldn't let herself forget it, so she clambered through the pigsty that was her room toward her notebook. A pen in hand, she scribbled down scattered bits of thoughts with an impossible speed. A few spare drops of water dripped down onto the sloppy writing. Ripping the page out, she jumped up, wading through the piles of laundry and random objects to her door. Finally freed from the chaos of her bedroom, Liriel raced down the hall of the large apartment, toward the sound of oldies and the smell of cooking bacon.

* * * * *

Rhea glanced up from her sci-fi novel with a large grin on her face. Into the kitchen rushed Liriel, the top half of her shirt soaked from lack of dry hair. A wet, scratchy scrap of paper was immediately thrust under Rhea's nose. Laughing, she pored over the document. It took a while to decipher; not only did the energetic red head have terrible handwriting, but she never wrote full sentences, just tiny pieces of a thought. Rhea's years of friendship had taught her how to understand this other language, though, and she knew that Liriel wasn't an incompetent writer. She just thought too fast to get it all out.

"Good morning, Lir." A relatively short blonde stepped up to the table, a plate of bacon in one hand and a stack of pancakes in the other.

Rhea put down her book and snatched a piece of bacon from the plate as Daeya went by. After inhaling it, she reached for another piece and a pancake before realizing that she was being stared at.

Shying away from the other two girls, she said quietly, "Lir had a great idea…once again." Then she grinned and inhaled her other food.

"WHAT?!" she asked, slightly perturbed as the other two were still staring at her. "I didn't eat dinner last night, remember? I throw myself into dreams better on an empty stomach." Daeya laughed and nodded her head, signifying that she remembered. Liriel just kind of stared at her, waiting for a response to her work of genius other than "it was great". While she was at it, Liriel grabbed a couple pancakes and started nibbling on one of them.

Daeya seated herself at the round table and poured syrup over her mound of pancakes, then cut through them methodically. She, too, was thinking about last night's dream invasion. It was a shame that none of the three had had it. It would have made their mission quite easier. However, it would be rather amusing to bring them into their apartment for questioning…and possibly some torture if they didn't talk. The idea appealed to Daeya. It was a long time since she hadn't been so fascinated by pain.

Liriel had nibbled through her first pancake and was halfway through her second one, all the time staring at Rhea, who was finished and already back into her book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Breaking off a piece of bacon, she tossed it at the brunette. It bounced off Rhea's head and hit Daeya smack on the nose. Rhea was oblivious for a moment to the food fight that ensued. Then she was squirted with the syrup. Tossing aside her book, she glopped a handful of strawberry jam at Liriel. The madness continued until the dining room was completely covered in what was supposed to be breakfast.

After helping with the massive clean-up, Rhea retreated to the bathroom, intent on washing the sticky brown goo out of her hair. Throwing her clothes on the floor, she stepped into the shower and relaxed a little as the warm water pelted her skin. The scent of lavender filled her nose as she poured her herbal shampoo into her hands and scrubbed it through her thick brown hair. As she cleansed herself of breakfast's remains, she reflected on Liriel's idea. It was a good one, if they could manage to pull it off. They were outnumbered by two, and one could not forget that tiger. There was also the difficulty of transporting them back to the apartment. She preferred her motorcycle to the cars the other girls took, but she supposed she'd end up in a car, too. It was hard, after all, to carry an unconscious person on the back of a motorcycle.

Stepping out of the shower, she pulled on some leather pants, perfect for riding, and threw her blue hoodie over her head. She needed to think.

* * * * *

Rowen and Sage happened to bump into each other, quite literally, while each was walking through the kitchen. Rowen, of course, had his nose in a book, and Sage was off in space. They collided in the

doorway and Rowen's book went flying. Sage fell backwards onto his tush, but Rowen managed to grab at a counter and keep his footing. The book lay discarded as both Ronins mumbled their apologies and went their own ways. Sage, of course, finally accomplished his entrance into the kitchen and made himself a cup of tea. Today, however, it was obvious to Cye, who was cooking lunch, that something was wrong with both Rowen and Sage. First off, Sage just stared into his teacup. He even let it get cold, and still no sign of drinking it. The tip-off that something was bothering Rowen was that he had left his book where it had fallen, just lying open on the kitchen floor. Cye figured they didn't want to talk about whatever it was, so he let it be until lunch. He knew that Ryo would bug at least one of them to the point of breaking.

* * * * *

Lunch time. Kento was seated before anyone else, as usual, with the exception of Sage, who was still gazing at his untouched tea. Rowen wandered into the kitchen, a glazed look on his features. Ryo bounced in and immediately started asking questions. Cye had to laugh. He had a feeling that his dark-haired friend was going to get a beating for this one.

"Sage! Rowen! What's up? Neither of you has been acting normal today. Spill it. Make it easier on yourselves." Ryo leaned back in his chair after his spiel, then noted that neither man had even bothered to acknowledge him. Kento paused in his munching to explain.

Ryo and Cye stayed quiet a minute then burst out laughing. Kento looked hurt, so Cye tried to stop, but the look on his face made it worse. After the fit of humor, Ryo tried to apologize.

"Kento, buddy, I'm sorry I laughed…hee hee…it's just…that three beautiful girls and one of them kissing you doesn't seem like it would make those two so thoughtful. Hee hee. Whoo, buddy, I wish I could have a dream like that! Man, that'd be great." He looked at Kento again, and realized that he'd hurt his feelings. It was time for Cye to step in.

"Kento, you know he didn't mean it…I mean, Ryo's a dip-ass sometimes, you've just gotta live with it, ya know? Ignore him…I'm sure your dream is important. It's not everyday that a beautiful girl turns into a monster and tries to kill you. Do you think maybe there's a new enemy?" Rowen took this opportunity to speak up.

"Yes." It was the one word he'd uttered since earlier that afternoon.

* * * * *

Daeya pulled her tight yellow tank top over her head and grabbed her chokutou from its place in her room; she kept it beside her bed for emergency situations. She was going to practice, but she needed a sparring partner. It just wasn't fun to try and insult a stuffed dummy while "fighting" it. Daeya heard a rumbling and looked out the window in time to see Rhea pulling away from the apartment complex on her motorcycle. She was headed in the direction of the beach, where she usually went to think. That ruled out Rhea for sparring, but Daeya found Liriel a more entertaining partner anyway; she used near enough the same weapon, instead of Rhea's yumiya and and that damned aikuchi she kept holstered about her ankle. Turning towards the living room, she heard music. It was Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine". Suppressing a grin, Daeya walked into the room to find Liriel dancing around to the song, even going as far as the Axl dance.

"Sorry to interrupt your fun, Rocket Queen," Daeya said, using one of Liriel's many nicknames, "but I need a sparring partner…you up for it?"

Liriel grinned. "Always," was her reply, and she went off to her room to get ready. She traded her sparkly pink shirt for her black "I Love Rock" tee, then snatched up her ryoubanoken and matching kyoujin. Grabbing her Guns N' Roses CD, she entered the room that served at the girls' fighting arena. It was

Liriel took the upper hand first as she twirled behind Daeya in an attempt to knock her off her feet. Daeya turned in time to block the blow to her knees...and take a backhand to the face. Rocking back on her heels, Daeya stepped back to regain equilibrium. Her curls swirled around her face as she brought her chokutou flying toward Liriel's neck. The two weapons clanged together as Liriel danced back, blocking with her blade. Daeya feigned left, then lunged to the right, sweeping her sword across Liriel's midsection. Liriel skittered backwards, sucking in her belly to avoid the attack. Daeya sprang at her, sword pointed straight at her chest. Knocked off balance, Liriel toppled to the floor, rolling aside just as Daeya brought her chokutou down in a chop at her neck. Rolling to her feet, Liriel drew her kyoujin. She thrust the long dagger at Daeya's stomach, feeling a bit of resistance as it drew a thin line across the smooth skin.

"Fuck!" Daeya growled, springing forward to throw herself on top of Liriel. Wrenching the kyoujin from her hand, Daeya pressed it roughly across Liriel's neck.

"Alright! You won!" Liriel yelled, knowing how Daeya could get in times of rage. She wasn't afraid to die, but to do so uselessly would be shaming.

"That didn't take long," Daeya said, grinning wickedly. "But Jesus! Watch how far that goes in! That did more than just sting..." Tilting her head to one side, she suddenly changed the subject. "By the way, do you know where Rhea went? She went speeding away on her bike before I came to get you."

Liriel had a blank look on her face before it was replaced with understanding. "She didn't say anything. Just that she needed to be alone."

Daeya shook her head. "Sometimes that girl thinks too much. She's always worried about the 'what-ifs'."

* * * * *

Rhea made it to the beach in record time and parked her motorcycle on the sand. It wasn't the greatest thing for it, but she wasn't in the mood to care. She wanted to believe Liriel when she said that everything would work out, but thinking through, it didn't all seem to add up. There were three of the girls and five guys, plus the tiger. That meant that they each had two to take out, and Rhea wasn't so sure about her own skills. This was going to be one tough act, but she was hopeful they could pull it off. She took off her leather boots and her socks and rolled the legs of her pants up, wading into the breaking waves. The salty water lapped against her ankles as she stood, head tilted, thinking once more of what Daeya tended to call the "what-ifs".

These "what-ifs", however, weren't about the battle with the Ronins. They were about a certain Ronin. A certain blue-haired Ronin whose dreams she was to invade again. She had seen the intelligence in him, and he seemed like someone she would, under normal circumstances, want to get to know. She blushed at the thought; it had been a long time since any guy had had that effect on her. She wasn't too experienced in the relationship department, regardless of her true age. Maybe, just maybe, she thought, that might change. She stayed a while at the beach, watching the waves crash against the sand, then headed home, intent on getting sleep.

Once she got back to the apartment, she recalled why she had chosen the beach. It was to get away from Daeya and her "Fuck the world!" attitude. Rhea had been in no mood to fight that night; she was saving energy for the oncoming madness.

* * * * *

Later that night, Sage was toweling his hair dry, taking care not to break any strands or split any ends. He had been able to push the dream far out of his mind while he and Cye were practicing, but now it was coming back to haunt him. Damn it all to Hell, he thought, wishing that it would just leave him alone. It wasn't however, the dream itself that had him so captivated. It was one of the dream's main components, one of the girls. In fact, it was the girl who had kissed him, whose scent had entranced him. She was absolutely radiant, with her red hair and grey eyes. He wished he could go back into that dream and have part of it real, the part where they were kissing. He was a practiced flirt, but no girl had ever been able to affect him the way he affected them. But now, this girl who he knew nothing about, this girl who was most likely the enemy, had him fascinated. A hand waved in front of his face and Sage realized he'd been staring off into space, wandering around on Cloud Nine. After the hand passed his face again, it was replaced with blue hair and elven features. Rowen raised a curious eyebrow, silently asking what Sage had been thinking about. Rowen himself had been off in La-La-Land, which was not unusual for him, but he had been thinking of the dazzling young woman from his dream. Rowen didn't usually daydream about girls, as his mind was too busy and full of other things, his books, the Ronin Warriors, and the like.

Sage waved his best friend off, giving him a look that definitely said "I refuse to tell you, not now, not ever." Rowen just shrugged and went about the business of brushing his teeth.

* * * * *

Ryo meandered through the hallways of the large mansion and found Kento leaning against the couch, game controller in hand, and two very large words flashing on the screen: GAME OVER. Kento never let a game just get over without him complaining or throwing the controller or something

happening. And it appeared that he'd just let the game run itself down, whilst he stared off into space. Far off in the corners of Kento's mind, his thoughts dwindled on one thing: food. Well, two things. Food and the girl from his dream. She was serving him food. A ravishing girl cooking for him and feeding him. The

only thing to bring him out of his trance was the low rumble of a distant earthquake…or was it his stomach?

Snapping out of his reverie, he saw that he'd lost Zelda-again. This was the fourth time in the last hour that he'd zoned out. Throwing the controller down in a fit of rage, he stomped out of the room, leaving a confused Ryo and a still flashing TV screen behind him.

* * * * *

Cye went to bed early that night, since he knew he'd be getting up early the next morning to cook breakfast. While he slept, he dreamt, a dream that the other Ronins were to share once they succumbed to sleep. In this dream, he saw a new enemy. It was going to be one hard fight, he could tell. He took in his surroundings and thought himself to be somewhere within the depths of the Esper Forest. The other Ronins were near him, though he couldn't see them, due to heavy fog. They were kithing, so they could at least keep in touch with one another. Sage and Rowen were fairly close together from what he gathered, and Ryo was to his left, with Kento somewhere behind him. He had thought himself to be on guard, but as a blade flashed through the air directly above his head, he realized he was far from ready for this.

* * * * *

Rhea returned home to find Daeya sprawled on the couch with her shirt pulled up slightly, and Liriel pressing a cloth over the exposed part of Daeya's stomach. Daeya hissed and arched her back as the alcohol on the cloth soaked into her open wound.

"Fuck it all, Liriel! That hurts!!" She noticed Rhea and then went back to squirming. She wasn't used to the sting; it had been a long time since she had been wounded without Rhea there to heal it.

Rhea put a hand on Liriel's shoulder, signifying that she could take care of it. As Liriel moved aside, Rhea removed the alcohol-soaked cloth and surveyed the wound. It was made by Liriel's kyoujin, no doubt. The wound wasn't that bad, but Rhea could tell it hurt like hell. That blade of Lir's was sharp, and it had gone pretty deep this time. She'd have to remind them to be more careful during sparring.

Kneeling next to the couch, Rhea closed her eyes, to concentrate, and put her hands over the laceration. Daeya's breath hissed through her teeth. Rhea's eyes rolled back into her head behind her closed lids, and a soft blue light emanated from her fingertips. The blood stopped freely flowing, the tissue pulled back together, and the skin sealed over the place where the wound had once been. Daeya opened her eyes and examined the freshly-healed skin, poking it. It was a ritual with her; she was always amazed at the healing power Rhea held.

Laughing, she said "I've been unwounded!" Liriel chuckled, shaking her head at Daeya's new term.

Rhea teetered, then fell back against Liriel, unconscious. Liriel promptly picked her up and deposited her in her bed, closing the door silently as she crept back out, careful to let the drained Rhea sleep.