Notes: Thanks to Cypher for letting me use his character, Rich.

Mia pulled into the driveway of her mansion and turned off the engine. She undid her seatbelt and stepped out of the car. Turning to her companion, she said "Well, we're here."

"Thanks for picking me up, Mia. I didn't really want to take the bus all the way here."

She smiled. "No problem. I'm sure Rowen and the guys will be happy to see you."

"Yeah, after they get over the shock of seeing me." He and Mia laughed as they walked up to the door.

Mia turned the knob, only to find it locked. "What? It's locked. They must have gone somewhere."

"Then they'll be even more surprised to see me when they get back."

Mia unlocked the door and the two of them went inside. After putting his bag in the spare bedroom, Mia's friend headed downstairs and into the living room where Mia was waiting for him.

"How about a snack while we wait for the guys to come back?"

"That sounds great!"

"Right this way then." She led him into the kitchen.

As he walked over to the table, the young man saw a sheet of paper lying there. Hmm...What's this? He thought to himself. Looks like a note. He skimmed the writing on the paper. "Oh crap."

"What is it, Rich?" Mia asked, her head in the refrigerator.

"I just found out where, at least, Sage is."

"What do you mean?" She shut the refrigerator door and walked over to him. He handed her the note and she read it to herself.

Dear Mia,

If you get this before we get back, we had to go to the Dynasty for a while. Hopefully be back soon.

Sage, Sekhmet, Dais, Cale, and Anubis

Mia's eyes practically bugged out of her head. "WHAT?! Why did the warlords sign this, too??"

"That's a good question. But I'd like to know why they went to the Dynasty."

"Jeez, I go away for a four month retreat and this is what I come home to!"

"Hey, Mia?"

"Yes, Rich?"

"Do you think Sage went to the Dynasty because the others were kidnapped?"

Mia thought about it for a second. "It's very possible."

"Then we should go after them!"

"And how do you propose we do that? There's no way we can get there by ourselves!"

"Perhaps I can be of service."

Mia and Rich whirled around to face the new voice.

"Kayura!"

"That's right, Mia."

"Why are you here? You're the enemy! Right?"

Kayura chuckled. "Perhaps. But for now, I'm on your side."

Mia gave her a suspicious look. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"You will just have to."

"Why are you here?" Rich asked, just as, if not a little more, suspicious.

"I'm looking for the warlords. They aren't in the Dynasty."

"The warlords?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mia. The warlords. Have you seen them?"

"No. I haven't been here for four months."

She turned to Rich. "You?"

"Sorry, Lady."

Kayura took a closer look at the young man before her. "Strata, you've shrunk!"

"No I didn't."

"And he's not Strata."

"What? Are you sure? Looks just like him!"

"I'm sure."

"Say, why are you looking for the warlords anyway?"

"That, at the moment, is none of your business, Strata."

"I'm not Strata!"

She ignored him. "So, Mia, can you help me find the warlords if I get you to the Dynasty?"

"Well...I suppose. But they should be in the Dynasty." She held up the note. "According to this, they and Sage went there. They even signed it."

"Let me see." Mia handed her the note and she looked at the signatures at the bottom. "You're right, they did sign it." She handed the note back to Mia, who put it back on the table. "Well, time to go."

Before either Mia or Rich could utter a word, Kayura teleported the three of them to Talpa's castle.

--

"Man, where are they?"

"Don't have a heart attack, Viper."

"Shut up Webby!"

"You shut up, Vipes!"

"BOTH of you shut up!" Viper and Webby looked at Roan. "THANK you."

"Look, it's not my fault I don't know where they are."

"Maybe not," Spider said. "but we don't need to hear you gripe about it every five seconds."

"Fine, I'm sorry."

"Now then, can either of you tell me what's going on?" Webby looked back and forth between her two friends. "Viper, you first."

"All I know is that Roanna came up behind him and talked with him shortly. Then they left."

Spider thought about it for a moment. "Wasn't it Roanna's turn to check on the prisoners?"

"Yeah, but she should have been finished way before she came and got Sterling."

"You're right, Sis. So where else would she have taken him?"

Viper blinked. "The training room!" Two sets of eyes turned to him. He rolled his. "They probably went to the training room since Sterling practically lives there, anyway."

"OOhhhhhhhh..." They said in unison.

"Let's just go." Viper turned and started walking in the direction of the training room.

After shrugging to themselves, Spider, Webby, and Roan hurried after him.

--

"Just how did I get in the Dynasty??" Rowen asked himself out loud. He got no answer. Every one was busy with something else.

"So, are you going to answer my question or not?"

"Don't answer Ryo! She's eeeeeviiiill!"

Ryo looked over at the Ronin of Trust. "Jeez, Cye! Act your virtue why don't you?"

"SHE HURT ROWEN!!"

After a few minutes of silence, Ryo stopped staring at his recently-gone-insane friend and once again turned his full attention on Roanna. "Oh man, where to begin?"

"Try the beginning, Ryo."

"Oh yeah. Thanks Kento."

"No problem."

"Don't tell her Ryo! She'll just hurt you too once she's got what she came for!!"

Ryo ignored him. "It all started about three months ago, when-"

"DON'T DO IIIIIIT!!"

"The four of them appeared-"

"NO NO NO NO NO NO N-"

Sterling lowered his arm after backhanding the insane Ronin. "That ought to shut him up for a while."

"Great. Now who's gonna tell me how I got here?" Rowen looked at the other occupants of the cell. "Well? Anyone gonna tell me?? Anyone?"

Tuning out Rowen's chatter, Ryo continued. "As I was saying, it all started when the four of them appeared on our doorstep."

"Yeah," Kento took over. "Ryo and Rowen thought it was a trick, but it turns out it wasn't."

"What wasn't a trick?" Sterling asked, just a little confused.

"Oh, that they had been kicked out of the Dynasty."

"They were kicked out? Why were they kicked out??" Roanna could barely keep her anger under control.

Ryo picked the story back up. "Dais had said it was because Talpa had found better warlords than them."

"They've been living with us ever since." Kento finished. He and Ryo waited for their two captors' reactions.

Sterling stood there taking in everything they had said, while Roanna looked like she wanted to hurt someone. Sterling turned to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. When she looked at him, he shook his head and motioned for her to wait outside. Nodding, she unlocked the cell door and stepped out.

He turned back to his small, but sane audience. He opened his mouth and...

"I still wanna know how I got here!" Rowen's voice shattered the silence. "Why won't anyone tell me anything?? What? Do I have some sort of contagious disease or something? Huh? HUH?"

Ignoring him, Sterling said "I need to be going. See if you can calm him down a bit, huh?" Without waiting for any kind of reply, he teleported out of the cell.