dis-claim'er, noun: a denial or disavowal of legal claim: relinquishment of or formal refusal to accept an interest or estate; b: a writing that embodies a legal disclaimer; c: a statement made to save one's own ass.

Chapter 4: Hana

"You must be new around here."

The blonde smiled sweetly, "Nah. I've been here for a while. Now, put this on your finger."

The greasy haired man smiled. He was obviously drunk, "Hows about I get your number and when you get off we can get a drink together."

Hana bit the inside of her cheek. She knew it came naturally, but sometimes she hated being so pretty. She ignored the man while proceeding to write his stats on paper .

"Follow me, please."

The urge to run always kicked in when a pervert was behind her, but Hana knew that the hospital staff wouldn't let anything happen to her. Plus, Rekino was there. She knew that if anything was to happen that girl would surely raise hell.

When she stopped in front of room five to open the door, the drunkard stopped and put a hand on her hip.

"Don't be shy. I promise I won't hurt you."

Hana gritted her teeth to the point she thought they might break, but still managed to force a smile, "The doctor will be with you as soon as she can. We are short staffed at the moment so your wait may be longer than usual."

"You could stay and keep me company. I'm sure we could find something to do."

The guardian of the armor of light placed the man's chart in the file holder on the door, "I hope you get to feeling better. Good evening, Mr. Yama."

Mr. Yama rolled his eyes, "Suit yourself, sugar. You know where to find me."

Hana almost came out of her skin when the old man slapped her rear end as he went into the room. It took her all of her self-control to not turn around and break his jaw. She closed the door behind her very forcefully about the time Rekino came around the corner.

"Dude, that was loud as hell," the petite warrior said. "What happened?"

"It was nothing. Just some drunk idiot trying to get me to hook up with him."

Hana walked up to the ER nurse station to sign in the patient. Rekino was beside her instantly, amethyst eyes full of anger. The blonde laughed at her.

"Calm down, killer."

"Yes, you used proper noun. Killer. I'll hit him so hard he will go into cardiac arrest."

"No need for that," Hana put the pin back in the shirt pocket of her scrubs. "Go do your job and let me worry about mine."

Rekino puffed her cheeks in annoyance, "Bitch."

The blonde blew her friend a kiss, "You know I love you."

"Yeah, yeah."

Hana walked away with a smile on her face. As she made her way back to triage, she mused on her life and how she came to be in her current situation.

She was born to Thomas and Ami Utano at the U.S. Army base "Baumholder" located in Germany. Her brother, Brandon, was five years older than her. Her father was a Japanese-American whose mother had Cherokee Indian in her blood; her mother was full blooded Japanese. When she described her heritage to people she often referred to herself as a "mixed breed". She had the exotic eyes of her Asian lineage, the face structure of an American, and the thick hair of the American Indians.

Hana grew up like most children in a military family. The entire family was up my 5 A.M. She had an hour to shower, brush her teeth, get dressed, and make her bed. Her father inspected her room, as well as her brother's, before they were allowed to leave. It included taking a penny to see if it would bounce off the sheets. If it wasn't perfect, they had to redo until the goal was accomplished. If met, Thomas told them to go downstairs to the kitchen where Ami had breakfast prepared for the siblings

Hana started doing this when she was six years old.

During the meal, their daily calendar was talked about. After that, Thomas would get Hana and Brandon in the car to drop them off at the bus stop for school while he drove to the base. Hana knew that her mother would be taking care of the home while they were all away.

School was from 8 A.M. until 4 P.M. She and Brandon both participated in after school activities. Brandon was in the art club while Hana went to cram school. She strived to be the best and not let anyone get ahead of her. She stayed there until 6 P.M. and went home. By the time she and Brandon got home, their father had arrived from the base. During dinner, they ate and talked about what had happened during the day. Her father would usually tell stories of what his soldiers had done.

Afterwards, her dad would always have a glass of scotch and go watch TV while she and Brandon did homework and their mother cleaned the kitchen. They had an hour to finish their work.

She would then go upstairs, change, and read a book until it was lights out.

That was her routine every day. It didn't change unless her father had an emergency on base and had to stay late. Even in the present, the routine instilled in her hadn't changed. She still gets up with the sun regardless of what time she goes to bed.

When she was six, her father was promoted to Sergeant Major and was relocated to the Zama Army Base located in the Zama Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. They moved to a town called Tsuru in the Yamanashi Prefecture that was roughly an hour away from Zama. She and Brandon enrolled in the nearest school and they stayed there for five years until her father was moved to Germany. Her mother died in an accident on the AutoBahn almost a year later. She was twelve when that happened.

After her mother's passing, it seemed that her father had worked a lot after that. She had always been close to her daddy and brother, but the aftermath of her mother's death seemed to deafen the tone in the house. The love was still there, but it all seemed to be reflected in black and white. The best memory of that time was when her father took the entire day off work and let her play hooky from school to celebrate her thirteenth birthday.

Shortly after that was when the bullying started.

It was a girl in a grade higher than her. Nathalie Hansel. Hana had never been self conscious about her looks or attitude, but this girl and her "gang" tortured Hana until she started to draw within herself. The biggest laugh they had gotten was making fun of her for her heritage. Hana was an American-Indian, Japanese child who had no ties to Germany and it showed. The teasing continued for a year until the girl happened to get sick. Hana watched as the girl stayed out of school for weeks until she heard the girl had been diagnosed with acute kidney disease. The girl's kidneys were failing and she only had a short time to live unless she received a transplant.

While she was eating dinner one night she seemed to have an epiphany. It was as if she had been struck by lightning. Even though the girl had been a bully, Hana should do what she could to save her. She waited until her father got home that night to run the idea by him. It took her two days of strong negotiation until he relented. The next day, she went to the hospital and had herself tested.

The results came back as a match for her to be a donor. Her father didn't hesitate on signing the papers. Hana had pre-op the next day and was in the hospital being prepped for surgery two days after the paper was signed. While under the anesthesia she experienced what she thought was hallucinations until she woke up in recovery to see a dark green armor standing at her bedside. She reached up slowly and touched her fingertips to the armored figure before it disappeared and the aura was slowly absorbed into her body.

Her forehead burnt for a second before a single word reverberated into her mind.

Grace.

That's when she realized that the "hallucinations" she had been having while she was under the medication were actually the truth. And ancient battle between good and evil, armored warriors defending that universe, a power that would change all of mankind and history. The armor had accepted her because she had passed the test of Lady Korin by showing her true nature of 'grace'. So much flooded her mind at one point that she remembered someone she had forgotten…

Rekino Sanada.

She was six when she started school in Japan. She had taken her assigned seat next to one of the windows and a quiet voice had greeted her. When she turned around and saw the black haired, amethyst eyed young girl something clicked. From that moment, the two became inseparable. They had so many things in common. They both studied martial arts, had older brothers, loved animals, and adored their dad's. They spent so much time at one another's house that they just left clothes so that way neither needed to worry about bringing any.

Enter summer break after she turned ten years old. Rekino was supposed to come to her house and they were going to the park to spend the day together. Hours and hours went by and she hadn't showed up. The Sanada house phone also wasn't being answered. She had started to get a bad feeling. Right before she was about to go to the bus stop to go check on her friend there was a knock. Ryo, Rekino's older brother, was on the other side and looked distraught.

"H-hana. Something happened."

According to Ryo, there had been a fire. No one knew how it had started. The two Sanada siblings had been the only ones home when it started. It had burnt everything down to the foundation. Ryo said he let go of Rekino's hand and a flaming beam had fallen on top of her, but when the fire department had arrived there was no sign of her body.

Ryo blamed himself.

Hana was heartbroken. She spent several days numb. She had held onto hope that her friend was still alive, but after a week the searches had been called off and everyone stopped looking. It was the night of Rekino's memorial that she finally let her emotional wall down and cried. She cried for days. After that, her father received new orders to be stationed in Germany. They moved and Hana, for some reason, completely forgot about Rekino.

She began training with her armor in secret every day after school. After the transplant, Nathalie started to be nicer to her and the two formed somewhat of a friendship, but the memory of Rekino haunted her. Presumed dead in the fire, but never found her body. That meant Rekino might still be alive. She started searching on the internet for any kind of clue that would lead her to her friend. Hana had been on the precipice of defeat when she came across an article on the website of the Bujinkan Dojo. It was a group shot of a tournament that had been held in the North American chain of the schools.

Rekino had been front and center.

Hana screamed for joy, knocking over her chair in the process. Her joy turned into sadness when she realized the girl in the photo was Candace Askea, a girl from a town in central Alabama. Her heart almost broke, but there was still hope. She knew it had to be Rekino. No one had eyes like that girl. A pool of amethyst that almost glowed in the dark.

She spent several days looking up as much as she could about this Candace Askea. MySpace, Facebook, and several other websites said the same thing. After an extensive day of research, Hana had decided to go to bed early to rest her brain. Sometime during the night she had a dream.

"You're not asking the right questions to the right person. Expand your mind into the universe."

She woke up to her armor orb chiming silently. Hana took the small crystal into her hand and stared at it intently.

"Do you know where Rekino is?"

A silhouette of Lady Korin appeared on her floor sitting with her legs crossed, wrists resting on her knee.

Expand your mind into the universe.

That's when Hana started meditating. She did it in the mornings, during lunch, and before bed. Sometimes her mind would wander even in her sleep. Answers came to her even in her dreams. She dreamt of the demon Talpa and his Netherrealm. The nine armors that came from him were scattered across Japan. A man in a woven hat with white hair carrying a staff. A young woman with purple hair bringing about destruction and peace.

Then another man. She remembered he sat atop a large box. His hair was white too, but she could almost make out the features of his face. He put a nicely manicured nail to his lips as if he was telling her to be quiet while he patted the side of the box. Nine crests appeared on the front. The same nine as the other armors that were hidden in Japan. When she started to get confused, the man jumped off the box opening the lid. Lady Korin came out from the box along with eight other armors.

Guardians.

"Gather your comrades, but you must wait until they are ready."

A trip to France when she was fifteen led her to Amaya Blanchett.

Accompanying her daddy to a military conference in China resulted in her finding Josephine Rei Faun.

Researching the armor phenomenons in Japan drew her to Mia Koji.

She waited patiently for the time to come when she needed to journey to America to meet Rekino and on the night before her own graduation was when the armor gave her the call. She waited to get her diploma, of course, but then she boarded a plane and didn't look back. She had found Rekino and convinced her adoptive parents to let her move. After years of searching, it was like her life was finally complete now that her best friend had returned.

It didn't take too much longer after that for all of the Guardians to be gathered in one country and all but one of them live under the same roof.

Hana gathered her things from the ER breakroom just as Rekino ran past the door.

"'scuse me?" the ebony haired teen came to a screeching halt. "Where you going?"

The Korin guardian gave her most dashing smile, "We're over-staffed so they told me I could go home early since I stayed late last week to help when we were short."

Rekino pointed to herself and then back to Hana as she resumed running, "I'mma beat your ass when I get home. Just wait."

Hana laughed as she watched Rekino's tiny form disappear down the hallway. She didn't doubt the other girl's words, but knew that when the fire elemental warrior got home she would have to do homework then go straight to bed.

The air outside was perfect. There was a slight hint of cold in the air, but Hana couldn't ask for weather any more perfect than this. She used her clicker to unlock her Dark Green Mini Cooper, but turned around quickly when she heard what sounded like her name being whispered in the wind. When she realized she must just be paranoid, she opened the door to her car and got in only to almost come out of her skin.

The man with long white hair was sitting in her passenger seat. Her instinct was to start fighting, but when he raised a hand she recognized those nails.

"Yes, I'm the one who has been guiding you, Hana of the Lady Halo."

Hana smacked her lips, "How do I know you're not the enemy."

"Please. I'm too good looking to be the enemy."

That's when he looked at her and Hana felt herself unable to breathe. His eyes were like a molten pool of ice blue. The color swirled around like he kept all of the secrets of the universe hidden within them. He had the perfect cut to his jawline. His cheekbones were high and tight and she thought she was imagining things when she saw he had fangs when he smiled. Nope, they were real.

"Who are you?"

He crossed his legs, "I'm known as 'The Balance'. You can call me Balance, Majesty, Sir. I accept virgin sacrifices every Tuesday and Thursday between-oh, shit. That's rules of a different world. Ahem, just call me Balance."

"Uh huh," The blonde seemed unimpressed, "and I'm just supposed to believe you like the followers of a Charles Manson cult?"

"Hey now. Charlie did it right. Don't hate the player; hate the game."

Really? Hana thought.

"Yes, really," the Balance replied humorously, but then changed his tone. "It's almost time, Hana."

The blonde looked at him confused when he put his hand over hers, but then she felt it. She felt horror, despair, pain, war, sickness, death…

"You gathered the pieces. It's time to prepare because they are already here watching."

She saw them. Two females and one male. Armors that she had no clue where they were from or what they did. She saw them fighting her friends and their counterparts, Kayura, and the warlords and their counterparts. She saw people dying. She saw sickness taking over the land. When the images disappeared, she opened her eyes to find the Balance gone and in his place was a Starbucks cup.

It said on the side in immaculate handwriting: Sorry for the disturbing images. Coffee always makes you better.

Hana reached out to get the coffee. She hesitantly sniffed the drink before taking a sip. It was as if the weight of what she just saw was lifted off of her.

Did he just give me magic juujuu coffee?

But, more important than that question, on the drive home Hana pondered how the hell she was going to explain this to her friends.

Next up: Amaya

Name: Amaya Faye Blanchet
Age: 19
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 120lbs
Hair Color: Chocolate brown, reaches her chin
Eye Color: Light brown
Ethnicity: ¾ French, ¼ Japanese
Birthdate: March 16
Birthplace: Paris, France
Astrological sign: Pisces
Blood Type: O
Favorite Sport: Swimming, tennis
Martial Art: Savate, Water Dragon Kung Fu
Interests: Swimming, romance literature, cooking desserts, painting
Dislikes: Anti-religious groups, using the Lord's name in vain
Language: French, Japanese, some English
Armor: Lady Suiko/Lady Torrent
Virtue: Trust
Weapon: Tanto behind right shoulder; Suiko Yari, a combination of a trident and a mancatcher.

Family:

Mary: Mother. Bread Baker
Jean: Father. Devote Catholic. Banker
Michelle: Older sister. Housewife
Natalie: Older sister. PhD student.
Michael: Younger brother. High school student

Amaya is Catholic and very conservative. She wears dresses or skirts that reach her ankles and her sleeves always go past her elbows. She always wears flats with her outfits. She is a direct descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Amaya is a natural empath. She feels the emotions of others on a different level than most people. She can feel emotions so deep that it can make her sick especially if someone has been emotionally damaged. When it all becomes too much for her, she finds the nearest body of water and uses it to "wash away" the hurt.

Amaya acquired her armor when she was fourteen. She donated part of her family fortune to a charity that helped children in third world countries to have education and health care. Because she was going to be a nun, she had come to the decision to live her life without material resources to be closer to God. This act of "Trust" caused the armor to awaken and Lady Suiko, Lady Torrent, appeared before her.

Amaya's light blue yoroi is Suiko, Water, and draws power from any water source. She has a tanto (dagger) behind her right shoulder and wields Suiko Yari, actually a combination of a trident and mancatcher. Her special attack is called "Deep Fathom Sphere". She uses her yari to throw a ball of water at an enemy and encases them within it. She can control the pressure of the water in the ball to either subdue an opponent or crush them to death.

When in armor, Amaya can pinpoint the nearest ocean and has nautical accuracy. She can also communicate with sea life. Amaya is able to clap her hands together in prayer and a chain of sharpened rosary beads comes out and on the end of the chain is a crucifix with sharpened points. She utilizes it as a chain whip.

Armor of the Lady Torrent: Can pull moisture out of the air and use the water in an offensive or defensive manner. When it is raining her ability is amplified by 100%. Her ability to pull moisture from the air is dependent on the humidity and dew point of the area. If she is in the ocean her power is unlimited. She can communicate with all sea life.

Amaya's Closet: Her favorite color is any shade of Sea Blue. She loves pastel colors. Because of her religion, her dress code consists of things that cover most of her skin. Amaya will wear things that stop at her elbows/knees, but will go no further than that. She questions whether she should wear open toed shoes. Amaya will mostly be found in a dress and flats. She will occasionally wear pants and a flowy dress shirt. She will only bear skin when she is in a bathing suit. She trains/works out in leggings and a long sleeved shirt or tank top.

Notable facts:

1. She doesn't like to hear curse words, but she can tolerate some.

2. Never takes the Lord's name in vain.

3. Her favorite animal is a dolphin.

4. She cooks, but mostly enjoys making desserts.

5. She has an IQ of 135.

6. Her favorite pastime is curling up outside with a book and a hot cup of tea.

7. She is a pacifist at heart and will only fight when necessary.

8. She took to learning the martial arts when her sister was sexually assaulted.

9. She can play the piano.

10. She goes to church every Wednesday and Sunday.

When she isn't reading, Amaya enjoys painting.