Reiji Date awoke with a start, thinking about the armor spirits. He had been dreaming about them, especially about his great-grandfather Sage, but he couldn't recall the exact nature of the dream. That he couldn't remember about someone and something so important was by itself disconcerting. He turned his head toward the mirror and stared at his reflection. Both eyes were a clear blue like Sage's. However, Reiji's right eyelid, lacking the normal amount of muscles, drooped down over the right eye and almost gave him a one-eyed appearance. His hair needed a trim since it hung close to his shoulders. His smooth pale complexion was also like Sage's. Reiji frowned, hoping his reflection would have resurrected a memory of the dream. There was something about the armor spirits. Were they in danger? Were they trying to contact him about a new threat?

He turned to the other side of the bed where his nightstand was and placed his fingertips on the electronic trinket box. It made a static sound before the lid flung open, revealing the new Halo armor orb resting on a small pillow. Reiji clasped the orb in both hands and, closing his eyes, held it to his forehead as in a prayer.

~ Sage? ~ he called out in the spirit world. ~ Sage? ~ He saw the sakura petals flying in the breeze. Reiji smiled. He was at the right place, the area of the spirit world where the armor spirits resided. The sakura tree, always in bloom, hadn't been hurt. Expecting to see Sage appear, he approached the five tombstones in front of the tree.

However, the tombstones lacked their dignified beauty, and the engravings appeared indistinct.

~ Sage? ~ he called out again but received no reply. ~ Sage? ~

The tombstones faded, and the wind picked up, departing from the sacred resting ground.

**********

Reiji immediately phoned the Ronin he knew would be awake – Kento of Hardrock II. "Have you sensed anything about the armor spirits?"

"Nope, but I haven't checked in the spirit world, either."

"I had a disturbing dream."

Kento spoke before Reiji could continue, "Maybe you're stressing. We've been warriors for six years now, so we can expect to stress after this time. Plus, stress happens. Relax."

"No, it's not stress. I went to their graves, and something is happening to them. Sage didn't appear, and the tombstones are fading."

Kento-kun sighed irritably. "Alright, I'll check and see if Kento-sama's there. Call the others."

*************

Reiji attached the additional phone speakers to the main phone base for the warriors to talk to each other as a group. He proceeded to call each Ronin on each speaker. Aiden Sanada, Seito Mouri, and Toriyama Hashiba. Aiden and Seito had just woken up. Tori had been awake for a few hours. All had the same vague dream and the same experience in the spirit world.

"What could this mean?" Aiden wondered. "Are they in danger?"

"I don't know," Reiji replied. "They might be."

Tori said, "We should probably go somewhere. When I woke up, I had a strong feeling that something important is going to happen in a certain place. I think I've seen it before in Rowen's memoirs, so I am looking through it right now."

Reiji nodded. "That's good."

While Tori was flipping through the old book, Seito Mouri asked, "If the armor spirits are in danger, how could we help them? We haven't had much experience with the spirit world."

"I don't know."

The Ronins then remained silent, waiting for Tori to figure out where they were supposed to go. Then, the second Ronin of Strata exclaimed, "Ah! I've found it. There's a hotel in Shinjuku. It was built right during their time. There's a Ronin ghost story about it too."

************

Kento Rei Faun the Second stared up at roof of the hotel and listened to Tori Hashiba talk about the ghost story while waiting for Seito Mouri, the last one to arrive. In 1991, people heard a girl weeping and whoever went to the top floor saw armored demons fighting. The armors were responding to whatever presence still dwelled on top. There was no doubt that the current warriors were at the right place.

"According to the story," Toriyama said, "and this is one of many, the Ronin Warriors emerged out of the top floor from a dimension parallel to ours. Then, depending on which story exactly, they either killed the demons and rescued the little girl or the little girl turned out to be a demon. Another story says the girl was a distraught spirit who they simply guided."

Kento crossed his arms. The myth about the Ronin Warriors dwelling in an alternate world and entering the human world only for its salvation was fortunately commonly-accepted. If everyone knew the Ronins lived in the human world, they would be in constant danger from those who desired power.

"I wish Seito would get here soon," Kento grumbled. "Hey, Tori?"

"Yeah?"

"In college, I'm taking a class about the Ronin legend, and there's a new edition of Rowen's last book. If you want, I could get you a copy."

"That's great! Thanks!" Tori grinned, his purple eyes lighting up. He collected all of the books that Rowen had published and also each edition, even though the new editions only had new forewards and the text wasn't changed. "Did you know that Rowen never actually finished his last book? After he died, his son Mateo took stuff from his notes and added –" He stopped abruptly, still grinning. Everyone knew Mateo was his grandfather and the whole history behind Rowen's books.

Reiji asked, "Do you think we will actually learn what happened here in 1991?"

"I don't know," Tori replied. "Maybe."

The remaining original Ronin Warriors had begun their memoirs in their late forties, after the death of Ryo Sanada. Not every battle and detail had been included in those books. Sometimes, they referred to events without giving the exact location. The main source of information pertaining to the early history of the Ronin Warriors came from the books that Mia Koji published, the first one in 1993. Even then, to protect herself and the original warriors, Mia had avoided certain pieces of information such as where the warriors lived or their family names. Her three books, 1993, 1995, and 1998, became incredibly popular and sparked the entire "Ronin Warrior" craze and interest in mythology over the following decades. Eventually, it became controversial college curriculum.

Hearing a motorbike, the current warriors turned toward the sound's direction. Seito was driving up, his brown ponytail waving in the air. He stopped the motorbike next to them. As Seito removed the helmet and stood up, Reiji noticed the words on Seito's sleeveless T-shirt, "Orange Glowing Fish."

The second Ronin of Torrent asked, "Is this the place?"

Aiden replied, "Yeah. We think there's something on top."

Seito nodded. He put his left hand in his leather jacket's pocket and held Torrent. If some dangerous threat was trying to attack the armor spirits, he needed to be ready.

***************

They reached the top floor. It bore an old dusty smell. Morning light came through the windows, revealing an isolated place inhabited only by cobwebs. The warriors walked further into the room and separated into different directions, forming a semi-circle, to find whatever brought them there.

Suddenly, their armor orbs pulsed, and in that instant, their thoughts were the same. They rushed to the stairway leading to the roof. Once upon the flat roof, they pulled out their armor orbs. Then, they felt something departing from the armors. They glanced at the orbs and then ahead where they saw five shapes, glowing the same colors as the armors.

The colors brightened in intensity for a few moments and then condensed inward, fading and changing. The warriors saw five human shapes which gradually became distinct as the glowing armor-colors began to disappear. What they saw shocked them.

"It's them," Reiji whispered.

The five original Ronin Warriors stood on the flat roof. The five backed away from each other unsteadily and tried to glance at their surroundings with unfocused disoriented stares. Then, all five collapsed on the floor.

The new warriors hurried to them and tried to wake them. Not a single one was conscious. The new warriors checked their pulses. Every one was healthy and alive.

"They're young!" Seito exclaimed. "They look younger than us!"

Then, the new warriors paused and noticed the old warriors' appearances. They did look younger, pre-college age in fact but late high school. They were also fully-dressed.

"Strange . . ." Kento-kun murmured.

Tori commented, "They're just sleeping."

Reiji and Seito surveyed the area from where they stood for any signs of danger or an indication of what brought the original warriors there.

Seito said, "Guys, we'll need to figure out what to do about them. They can't stay on the roof."

Kento-kun replied, "Well, we can't take them home with us. Can't we take them back to the spirit world, somehow?"

For a brief moment, everyone glared at the second Ronin of Hardrock. Take them back how?! Aiden of Wildfire said to Kento-kun, "That would be rather inappropriate."

Tori of Strata added, "They're here for a reason."

Reiji said, "We are at a hotel. We can get a room, and they can sleep there. We might be able to learn what happened once they wake up."

Aiden told Tori to get a room closest to the top and to only sign themselves in. Once that was done, Aiden, Kento-kun, Seito, and Reiji carried the sleeping warriors to their room while Tori pulled the extra blankets and pillows off the two beds and onto the floor to accommodate all the original warriors.

*********

In a state of shock and disbelief, the second set of warriors sat on the couch and stared at the first for a full fifteen minutes in silence.

Kento-kun spoke in a strained voice, "Toriyama . . . say something . . ."

"Like what?"

Kento nearly sprang up in a nervous fit. "Like why they're here! They're supposed to be dead! They were dead! Now, they're alive! They're alive and younger than us! You need to explain it!"

Tori's eyes froze, focusing thoughtfully on his own mental workings. He blinked and turned his head. "Well, I was thinking . . ."

"Yes?"

"We don't know the psychological impact this experience would have on them. As far as I know, this has never happened before to anyone. I'm not sure what to expect. Was everyone else thinking the same thing?"

Aiden and Seito nodded.

Reiji replied, "Like Kento, I am more concerned with why they are here and what brought them here, but your point is valid, Tori, and we should consider that first."

"Thanks."

**************

They resumed waiting in silence. The original warriors began mumbling and turning over. The new warriors approached them and listened, but they merely heard the semi-sensible ramblings of people in the midst of sleep.

Kento-kun grumbled, "I can't believe they're just sleeping!"

Aiden commented, "Whatever dreams they're having, they must be pretty intense."

Tori said, "I wonder if they're actually dreaming. Maybe their minds are actually coping with the physical world, and sleep is the best way for them to handle it."

Kento sighed, "Would you mind explaining that?"

"Well, it's like with babies. Babies go through some intense REM sleep. I've never known for adults to go through REM as extreme as they're going through right now. Their REM is much more intense than an infant's. Babies need a lot of sleep because all their brain functions aren't capable of dealing with the world, and sleep is when all their major brain functions begin to develop. Of course, babies also need active stimulation, but . . ." Tori stopped, realizing that he was starting to digress. "Anyway, I don't think their minds," he pointed at the original warriors, "are capable of dealing with the physical world just yet, but they aren't babies. They're adults or teenagers or." Tori shrugged. "That's why their REM sleep is so intense. Since they're adults, they have a lot of mental catching up to do."

The new warriors again resumed their silence while the originals continued to speak unconsciously and roll over. What the originals were saying began to sound coherent with normal grammar and sentence structure. They seemed to be having one-sided conversations with people. Tori wondered if they were voicing their memories. All of the names that the originals used and referred to in their speech came from their pasts.

The new warriors heard threats and challenges to the former warlords. "Dais," "Sekhmet," "Kale," and "Anubis." Neither of them had heard of Anubis before until they listened to Ryo. The new warriors also didn't know Lady Kayura was once a member of the ancient Dynasty under Talpa's rule until they listened to both Ryo and Rowen. Only then did the new warriors hear Ryo speak about Anubis in a less hostile tone.

Sometimes, the originals used simple youthful dialects that must have came from their childhood. They voiced a variety of memories. Conflicts amongst themselves, conversations with their wives from before and after marriage, lovers' quarrels, happy times goofing off with friends, jests and jokes, eulogies, anguish at finding a son dead, divorce proceedings and advice, remorse at not being a better father, wedding vows, when to have or not have children, chats which could only occur between a husband and wife under the covers.

Hearing all this certainly made the new warriors feel uncomfortable.

***************

Aiden suggested to Tori to call his wife Lena in case the new warriors needed to remain and look over the original warriors for the night. Once that was done, the originals awakened somewhat. Kento-sama and Sage simply opened their eyes and did nothing else. Sai tried to move around but merely twitched and fidgeted.

Unexpectedly, Ryo awoke enough to brace himself. He tried to sit but lurched to the side. His arms propped him up. He was shaky, wobbly, swaying. Aiden of Wildfire hurried to him. They stared into each other's eyes. What Aiden saw frightened him on behalf of his armor spirit. Ryo was not blind; he could see, but incomprehension clouded his eyes. He could not make sense of the information coming in.

A spiritual connection compelled Ryo to venture out his heir's name. Aiden guessed his armor spirit's worries, "It's okay, Ryo. You and your allies are safe. We are here to be certain of that."

Ryo smiled at his heir's reassurance. Knowing he and his friends were away from danger, he allowed himself to fall back on the floor.

Concern evident on his face, Aiden raised his head to look at Tori. Tori knelt on the floor along Rowen and held Rowen's hand. Something similar had transpired between the two bearers of Strata. Tori replied to Aiden's stare, "Whatever brought them back, they never expected it or planned on it." Rowen and Ryo tried to communicate, but their words came up as gibberish. Tori Hashiba had been correct; their minds and spirits were hurrying to adjust to the physical world. In five or ten minutes, all the originals had reentered the state of extreme REM.

*********

The time was 2:30 PM – over six hours since the originals left the spirit world. Tori and Seito decided to drive to a local convenient store and buy some food and drinks for the day.

"I suppose we'll have to call Kento 'Kento-kun' more often now," Seito said, putting on a white cap as he and Tori got off the motorcycle and approached the store.

Six years earlier, when the new warriors realized there were two people with both the name "Kento Rei Faun" and title "Kento of Hardrock," they decided to distinguish between the two by using different suffixes during their Ronin adventures. The first Kento became known as "Kento-sama" while the second became "Kento-kun." No one remembered why the second Kento obtained the suffix –kun, but it stuck.

Tori noticed the white cap and asked Seito, "Where did you get that?"

"Sai was wearing it when he appeared. It fell off, and I picked it up. It fits me perfectly, doesn't it?"

Tori nodded. "It's really amazing that Rowen's here. I never thought I'd actually see him."

"I never thought I'd meet Sai, either," Seito murmured as they walked through the aisles and scanned the shelves. Seito Mouri had prided himself on being the only one of the new warriors to have lived at the same time as one of the old warriors. In his wallet, he carried the sole picture of Sai and him together. Sai had been bedridden in the last year of his life. Seito's parents, grandparents, and great-grandmother often took him upstairs for the ailing warrior to see. In the picture, Sai watched a two-year-old Seito dressed in shirt polka-dotted with blue, red, and green fish and playing with colorfully-striped blocks. Sai died a few weeks after the picture was taken.

Sometimes, Seito wondered what memories he would have of his great-grandfather if the first warrior of Torrent hadn't given away a part of his life energy in a desperate attempt to defeat Anil's forces. Anil himself had caused the death of Ryo of Wildfire, and one of Anil's generals succeeded in killing the first Kento of Hardrock over a decade later. Rowen of Strata, Sage of Halo, and Sai of Torrent knew they couldn't win against that vile demon without their fallen comrades to support them. The three remaining warriors used their armor's powers to imprison the demon and wait until another generation of Ronin Warriors arrived with a bond as strong as the first.

**********

The remainder of the day continued in a less than exciting manner. Every few hours, the original Ronin Warriors would wake up, more coherent and capable than the last instance but still feeble. Their awareness would dissipate quickly, thrown into a fit of disorientation and nausea, and they would fall asleep again. The original Ronin Warriors had also lost their sense of time. The new set of warriors realized this when Ryo, able to look out the window, became alarmed and distressed at the sun's movement. Night and day, weeks and years, all sense of time was meaningless in the spirit world where an eternity could be the same as a moment. Time was a concept that the original Ronin Warriors needed to relearn, and this lack of awareness concerning time helped to explain their inability to cope with the physical world and their craving for sleep.

While the first set of warriors napped, the second chatted about their daily lives. Kento-kun had some essays to write, which he hadn't even studied for, so he and Tori conversed about those topics. From Tori's words, Kento-kun picked out a thesis sentence, several key points, and the supporting details. He wondered if Tori knew he was using him for his class assignments, and he also wondered if Tori would even care.

Aiden Sanada and Seito Mouri discussed politics, nature, and their families. They supported the same politicians. They loved nature conservation. And, they came from large families. Although the three branches of the Sanada family descended from Ryo were scattered across the globe, they remained in contact with each other. After receiving Wildfire, Aiden moved from his native home in Scotland to live with his cousins in Japan, the Hideosanadas. The Mouri family, on the other hand, remained settled mainly along the coast. Seito's grandfather Yoshio Mouri recently passed away, leaving Seito's father in charge of the family's large pottery, plant, and animal store chain. Sai had wanted to keep the family business small, but Yoshio had expanded it from two stores to seven. Seito's father wished to expand the business even more and discussed company policies with him. The new warrior of Torrent found himself with a bigger influence in the business.

Reiji Date remained silent for the majority of the evening. Whenever he did talk, it was usually in response to someone else's conversation.

Toriyama Hashiba was more than happy to inform everyone of all the awesome things he learned and all the books he bought. He planned to buy more shelves and redecorate his two library rooms to house more books. He spoke proudly of his wife Lena and their baby. He also rambled about his various freelance projects.

**********

After they discussed their families, the same question about the original warriors haunted them again.

"Why are they here?" Kento-kun wondered. "Why are they young again? They look about seventeen."

Tori replied, "I bet whatever brought them here has some important connection to them from when they were first seventeen. It's the only thing that makes sense."

"What year was it when they were first seventeen?"

Tori frowned thoughtfully. "Rowen was born in 1973… so he'd turn eighteen in 1991, but… he'd be seventeen for most of 1991 since his birthday's late." He glanced around the room and behind him. "That's the same time the ghost story here took place."