Lewis sighed as he drove the old van through the dark, foreboding forest. It had been a whole year since Aria's death, and none of them were over it. Vivi was still obsessed with finding some way to contact their friend, Mystery was sulky and forlorn after the loss of his loving and sweet mistress, and Lewis... He was still trying to make sense of it all.

It was meant to be an easy job. A cave where people had kept hearing strange noises and getting turned around. Nothing really dangerous had happened, and it was simply that is was getting inconvenient and unnerving. While there, Aria had kept insisting that they leave, she kept saying that she had a 'bad feeling' about the place. They had ignored her pleads, thinking that she was just being their timid, fearful Aria, though Lewis had promised her that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to them, to calm her down. Lewis sighed as he thought of that. Why had made that promise? They had gotten separated from Vivi and Mystery and had ended up at a cliff. Lewis had gone to look over the edge, again ignoring Aria's nervous warnings to be careful and that it was dangerous. It was only when he'd heard her scream of fear that he looked back at her, so see a sight that made his heart stop. Aria was standing a few feet back, her whole body shaking and her left arm glowing a sickly green. Her other hand was gripping it so hard it couldn't not hurt. The thing that stuck in Lewis' mind the most, was the look of pure terror on her face. Lewis had known that something was wrong. He tried to reach out to her, but she moved away. She began to back up towards another one of the cliff's edges. Lewis had tried to reach out to her, to grab her hand and save her from the plummet and the rocks below. But, he was too late, Aria fell over the edge of the cliff and was impaled on the rocks below.

He had been trying to understand it for the past year. Why had Aria had to die that day? Why did such a simple case go so horribly wrong?

Lewis was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts as he saw a small group of five people dress in old fashioned clothes walking across the road, the one at the front carrying a lantern. Lewis quickly slammed on the breaks to avoid hitting them, and the group looked up, startled.

"Oh! Terribly sorry about that, sir!" The young women of their group exclaimed. "We weren't expecting anyone to be driving down this path tonight."

"What are you all doing out here this late at night?" Vivi asked, looking at their clothes in appreciation.

The man with the lantern smiled. "We are on our way to a ball at our Lady's mansion." He explained. "It is set to be a grand time." He smiled at them welcomingly. "If you wish, we would be happy to show you the way. All are welcome to our Lady's balls."

"I don't know," Lewis said uncertainly. "Don't you think we'd be underdressed?"

One of the children in the group smiled. "No way! Our Lady doesn't care what you wear. So long as you are there. It could be that we're overdressed."

The group all let out a chuckle as Lewis looked at Vivi. These people were very strange and they never heard about a mansion being out here, let alone a Lady with subjects. Vivi was obviously dying from curiosity, but Lewis was still wary. He'd already lost one friend he couldn't lose another. But, he knew that Vivi wouldn't let him be if they didn't go, and they did have Mystery with them. He turned to the group.

"Hop in, we'll drive you." He offered.

The five ball-goers smiled gratefully and climbed in. The three children instantly became fascinated with Mystery and started to scratch his ears. Seeing this relaxed Lewis a little, he knew that Mystery wouldn't let anyone he thought was dangerous anywhere near the van let alone scratch his ears.

They drove for about thirty minutes before coming across a large group of people all carrying lanterns, going through a pair of large steel gates to a mansion with yellow light spilling from the windows. Lewis stopped the van and looked at the building. It was huge and old looking, and he wondered how Vivi had never hear of it. When he turned to ask Vivi what she thought, he saw that she'd already left the van with their five other passengers and Mystery. Sighing, he put the van into park and got out, quickly catching up to them due to his long legs.

It quickly became evident as to what the group had meant about there being no expected clothing type. Some, like them, were dressed in fancy clothes ranging from style and era, others wore casual clothing or dressed like they were going to a costume party. One looked like he was a factory worker from one of those Sherlock Holmes movies, another looked like a circus acrobat. They were all so mismatched that Lewis had no doubt that he and Vivi would have no trouble both blending in and standing out.

As they entered the mansion Vivi asked their companions about what kind of person their 'Lady' was. They had smiled and told her that she was a wonderful woman, pure in personality and spirit.

"There will be a proper introduction of her when the ball begins." The man said, blowing out his lantern. "Now come, we must hasten to the ballroom if we are to find a good seat."

They all piled into the ballroom with the numerable other guests of the Lady. Lewis and Vivi stood at the edge, where they could see everything, Mystery standing beside them, looking around almost nervously. He had been doing this ever since they had entered the mansion.

"What is it Mystery?" Lewis asked. "Do you smell something?"

Mystery shook his head. "It's nothing... I just... I smell something... familiar."

Lewis was about to continue his questions, when an announcer stepped out onto a podium, banging his cane to get everyone's attention. Silence washed over the ballroom in a flood as all eyes turned to the announcer.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Guest and friends from all over the wood. Welcome, to our Grand Anniversary Ball!" A cheer rose from the crowd before it was quietened with a razed hand. "The anniversary of our founding, was a day that none of us shall forget. For it was a day when our salvation came from the most unexpected of sources. For it was the day that our Lady rose this mansion and invited all who needed shelter to it. The day that she did the impossible and more.

For on this day, our Lady stood against an unconquerable foe and proved undaunted. She defied a demon of inconceivable power, not for her own gain, but for her true love. And though this fight cost her gravely, she did not let it cause her to forget who she was and why she had love him. The result of this tragic, beautiful love story is the mansion and forest that protects us and gives us a chance to find our way. Our Sanctuary.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present unto you. Our Lady, our guide. Our Lady Aria!"

As the announcer made a grand sweeping motion with his hand to the long staircase at the far side of the ballroom, a loud round of applause arose from the assembly, as their Lady stepped out from behind a curtain and into view.

Lewis stared, wide eyed, as Vivi gasped beside him and Mystery let out a noise that was something between a whine and a bark. For there, at the top of the steps, was a girl that could only be their Aria. Her long blond and brunet hair flowed over her left shoulder like a lion's mane. She was wearing a blue dress with a star tied to it, a golden locket hung around her neck. But her eyes were so strange. They were still brown, but the part of her eye that was meant to be white, was pitch black.

Lewis looked to Vivi knowing that she'd have an answer.

"She a ghost, Lewis." Vivi said in a small voice. "Aria's been a ghost this whole time."

"And been very busy from the looks of it." Lewis added. He tried not to feel bitter, but was finding it almost imposable.

She'd been here. This whole time, Aria had still been in the living world, and she hadn't tried to get in touch with them. Didn't she think that they'd like to know that their friend was still around?

Mystery took off into the crowd as Aria began to descend the stairs. Lewis and Vivi tried to keep up with him as they manoeuvred around the other guests. They finally caught up to him at the foot of the stairs where he had stopped for breath. Before Vivi or Lewis could say anything, Mystery opened his mouth to shout.

"Ari!"

Aria's eyes widened as she heard a very familiar voice call out a nickname she hadn't heard in a year. The anchor around her neck ached for a few moments as she considered the possibility it had only been her imagination. But, then it came again, only this time it was another voice, but still just as familiar.

"Aria Kingsman!"

Turning her head slowly, she came face to face with three familiar, equally shocked faces. For a few long minutes, they just stood there, staring at each other in stunned silence. Aria was the first to snap out of it, hearing the old ghost Alfred calling for her. Acting quickly, she motioned for her friends to follow her, leading them out of the dance hall and into what looked like a parlour. Closing the door behind them. Aria stood there for a few moments, facing the wall, her back to her friends. She felt like her anchor was going to start cracking at any moment. Steadying herself she took in a deep breath, preparing to turn to face them, only to be stopped in her tracks, as she felt all of her friends wrap their arms around her from behind. Tears stung her eyes and she felt the warmth of their bodies seep into her. She'd missed them so much. The next two to three hours were spent catching up and explaining everything that had been happening. Turned out, Aria had never intended for this whole 'Lady of the Mansion' thing to happen. She'd simply been offering lost ghosts that happened to come by a place to stay, and as more and more ghosts arrived she'd need to make her home bigger to accommodate them all. Alfred had been the one to start calling her 'Lady Aria', and it was only a matter of time before everyone else followed suit.

"But what was that whole story about you sacrificing your life for 'the love of your life'?" Vivi asked with a sly grin.

Aria huffed trying to keep her face from turning red. "Alfred tends to go for the dramatic. He thinks a tragic love story is a better story than a sacrifice for a friend."

When the explanations were over, Aria offered them to stay for the night. The next few days were mostly taken up by Lewis and Vivi convincing Aria into joining the gang again and turning the mansion into their base of operations. The gang was back together, and this time, they were going to stay that way.