Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers. Only my OCs.

Chapter 6: Revelations

Previously:

Zoey looked around, confused. Standing alone in the middle of a forest, she turned around to take in her surroundings. "What's going on? How did I get here?" Recognizing the type of trees as the ones belonging in the Magic Realm, she looked for anything familiar.

"Mom!" Putting her hand to her mouth to call out, "Mom! Phaedra!" She sighed in frustration. "Why did you pull me here? What happened to make you do this? Are you in trouble?" Not hearing anything, she kicked a tree, "Come on!" She screamed in anger. "Mom! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

She rounded a bend of trees and stopped. "Is that… a dragon?"

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"It's a tree." After walking closer to what she assumed was a dragon, Zoey noticed that it was a large tree carved into the shape of a dragon's head. "What in the world is this?"

Going to the front, she laid her hand on the top, "This is incredible. I wonder what kind of tree this is. I don't recognize it." Before she could say anything else, the mouth of the entrance started to lift up. Backing away, she hid behind a regular tree to see what was going on.

A familiar woman with red hair came out carrying a basket. She was followed by a laughing blonde girl about the age of ten. "Come, child. We need to gather some Stickle Berries for the Protection Potion."

"Why do we need a Protection Potion anyways?" The little girl ran up to her, holding her own basket, "I mean, the Gate is sealed. The evil within is locked away, right?"

"For now. But one day, something is going to cause the Gate to be reopened, releasing all of the evil locked in there. We need to be ready to protect ourselves."

"But, when that happens, if it happens, wouldn't the Mystic Warriors be there to protect us?" The young girl picked a flower and handed to the woman.

Smiling in appreciation, the woman rubbed a hand over the girl's hair, "Oh, my dear niece. We can hope that the new Mystic Warriors will be found. But we can't always rely on what ifs. There's always a chance that they might not be. And if that happens, we'll have to depend on ourselves for protection."

As she stood behind the tree, watching the pair walk away, Zoey felt a hand land on her shoulder, causing her to turn in self-defense. She stopped when she saw her mother standing in front of her. "Mom?" She leaned forward to hug her, happy to see her.

"Hello, my Darling."

"Why am I here?" She leaned back so she could look at her, "Why did you pull me again? If you needed me to see something, why couldn't you have shown me when I was asleep? We were scheduled for another session tonight anyways."

With tears in her eyes, Phaedra put her hands on her daughter's face, "Oh, my dear girl. I didn't pull you here."

"Wait. You didn't do it?"

"No, my darling. I didn't."

"Then, who did?"

"I believe it was the Mystic Mother. I'm not sure, but she was probably trying to show you something of importance."

"Like what? My Godmother and her niece talking about the prophecy and the future Mystic Warriors? I know all about that from my studies."

"Maybe it was to show you who to look for when the Gate opens again." Phaedra took Zoey's arm and they started walking in the opposite direction the woman and child took, "You know that you are part of the prophecy. When the Gate opens, you'll need to come here, find the Great Sorceress and help defeat the Darkness, once and for all."

They walk in the silence for a bit before Zoey turned to her mother, "Can I ask you a question?" Phaedra nodded, "Of course."

"My adopted family, the Olivers, gave me the name Zoey. And you call me Zoey." She smiled, "But I was wondering, I never asked, what was the name that I was born with?"

Phaedra smiled, running a hand down Zoey's hair, "You've done a lot of studying with me on the language of the Ancients. So tell me, what is the symbol on the back of your pendant? What does it mean?"

Zoey pulled her necklace out from under her shirt and looked at the silver compass rose starburst pendant dangling from the chain. It had an iridescent stone in the center and was lined with gold filigree. The symbol on the back was a circle, ringed by fire, with a six-point star in the middle and two crescent moons on the sides. There was a small Z in the center.

"I've seen this before. It's a Celtic symbol, right?"

"For the most part. It's a combination of symbols that represent you, your father, and me. The circle in flames is the sun. Your father. The crescent moons, of course, are me. And a star, for the brightest thing to come into our lives."

"The Z." Zoey looked up at her mother, "That's for my name, isn't it? It was because of the Z that they named me Zoey. Does that mean that my birth name starts with a Z as well?"

"The pendant, from the front to the back, is all about the three of us. The starburst, of course is you, our Little Star. It's a compass rose, to represent the way. Meaning, we'll always find each other, no matter the obstacles. The Z stands for Zarya; meaning sunrise, or morning star. Because you were our little star. Our light in the darkness."

"Really?" Zoey smiled, "I like that. What kind of stone is this?"

"It's a special and very rare gem. It's a labradorite. It's a stone of transformation and magic. It provides clarity and insight into your destiny. It has protective properties and promotes spiritual healing. In the human realm, it's called a black moonstone. But the ones in this realm contains equal properties of both moonstones and sunstones. Makes it a perfect blend between your father and I."

"I love it. It's so beautiful, mom. Thank you." Zoey hugged her mother, happy that she has another piece of life, "I've always worn it. Made me feel like you and dad were always watching over me. Even if I didn't know who you were."

"The necklace had a charm placed over it when you were born. No matter what happens, your father and I will always be there to watch over you. To protect you. No matter what."

"Thank you, mom." She sighed, looking around, "Now if I could just figure out why the Mystic Mother sent me here."

"I think I know." Phaedra pointed behind her daughter's shoulder. Zoey turned to see what was behind her and froze.

There, standing in the clearing was her Kitsune. Bigger and shinning brighter than she had ever seen it. Zoey walked forward, entranced, ready to finally greet the Grand Fox. Reaching a hand out, she stopped less than a foot away from the ethereal creature.

She closed her eyes and wait. After a moment, the fox leaned forward and placed her head against Zoey's hand. The young Mystic opened her eyes and stared right into the fox's eyes. Images started to flash through her mind, so fast that she couldn't keep up. The images were so intense that tears started to flow down her face.

A sharp pain suddenly pierced her skull, causing her to black out.

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Waking up with a gasp, Zoey started to hyperventilate. Feeling arms come around her, she jerked away in a panic.

"Zoey. Come on little sister. Breathe for me."

She heard her brothers voice calling out to her, almost in a fog. She was pulled forward to the side of the bed, "Come on, Zoey. Breathe in. Breathe out. Again. Come on baby girl. I've got you. I'm not letting go. I promise."

The soothing tones calmed her. She was able to get her breathing under control enough focus on the room she was in. "H-h… how… " She turned to her brother, "How did I get here? I don't understand. How long was I out for?"

Tommy looked at her face for a moment, making sure she was seeing him with clarity, "It's Friday." Her eyes widened, "Yeah. You were out for four days."

"I don't believe this."

"Why did she pull you? What was so important that she pulled you in like that?"

"She didn't…"

The opened and Jenna and Andy rushed in. Happy to see their friend away, they rushed over to her hugs, "Come on, you two. She just woke up. Give her a minute."

Jenna pointed to her friend, "This is the longest she's ever kept you. You'd think, being stuck in a mirror, she'd have a little more respect for you and your family."

"Well, as I was fixing to explain to Tommy, it wasn't my mom who pulled me in." She looked at her brother, "It was the Mystic Mother. She was the one who pulled me over the summer." She paused, "Huh. She actually let me say it. Anyways, she needed me to see something."

"What did she need you to see so badly that she kept you for so long?"

"Memories." She looked down, "A lot of them." She took a deep breath, "One of the ones that kept flashing is Mystic Mother standing next to another woman. I didn't understand it at first. I was so angry. How could this benevolent woman, the Empress of Good Magic, be standing next to that evil creature."

Looking confused, Tommy lift his sister's face, "What evil creature?"

"I kept seeing an image of the Mystic Mother standing next to… Rita Repulsa."

"What?!"

"How could that be? I mean, if this Mystic Mother is so good, why is she getting compared to Rita Repulsa?" Andy frowned, "After everything she did?"

"Wait." Jenna held up her hand, "Didn't Zordon's energy wave turn her good? Human?"

"Yes, it did." Tommy leaned back, "Did you figure out why their pictures were next to each other? Is their magic being compared to each other."

"That's just it." Zoey stood up and turned to face her friends and brother, "In my previous lessons, I kept wondering why Mystic Mother looked so familiar. Like I had seen her before. But it wasn't until I saw their pictures next to each other that I figured it out."

"You've got to be kidding?" Tommy stood up, "Are you serious?"

"Yes. Mystic Mother is the former evil sorceress, Rita Repulsa."

"How is that possible?" Andy scratched his head.

"From what I gathered, Rita regained her powers and was granted the position of Mystic Mother by the Tribunal of Magic. They chose her because of her history. She was someone with knowledge of the Dark Arts who could lead the new generation of Mystics away from the darkness. Help keep them on the right path."

"I guess her age helps in that as well." Jenna leaned back on her elbows, grinning.

"I guess it does. If the images and information is correct, once she received her new status, she was sent to the past to protect the Magic Realm after the Master and his servants were sealed away in the underworld. That was eight years, give or take, before Rita was released from her dumpster. Eight years before Zordon gave the Power Coins to Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, and Kimberly."

"That's insane."

Shaking his head, Tommy put his arm around his sister, "How about you take a shower and come downstairs. Then we can go to the café and get something to eat. We can decide what to do with this new information later. We don't need to decide on anything now."

"That sounds like a great idea."

"Come on you two. Let's give her some space." Feeling a tug at his pants, Tommy looked down and grinned, "Someone else who's been worried about you." He bent down and picked up the blonde fox and handed her to her momma. "She's barely left your side."

Alone in her room, Zoey sat on her bed and cuddled her baby, "Hey, Kit. Did you behave for Uncle Tommy? Huh?"

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"Why are we here?" Conner complained as he, Kira and Ethan trudged through the forest on their mentor's property, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy Zoey's okay. Especially now that we know the whole story, but it's Saturday. There are so many more interesting things I could be doing today."

"Look, Conner. We're all glad Zoey's okay. The fact that she felt comfortable enough with us to tell us about her visions and everything she saw means a lot. It means she trust us." Kira shoved him in the shoulder, "And what does it being Saturday have to do with anything?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like you had a date or anything." Ethan smirked.

"Zoey requested we come out here and meet, and that's what we're going to do." Kira grabbed Conner by the shirt and continued to pull him along with her.

They walked awhile longer to the appointed clearing and stopped in confusion. Looking around, they saw a massive training arena had been set-up. The trees were rigged with bridges, zip-lines, ladders and platforms. There was free-running obstacle courses and what looked like a motocross race track.

"Um, what is all of this?" Conner looked on in awe.

"Welcome to your new training arena." Zoey stepped around a wall with their remaining teammates, "It's not finished. We are currently working on a training area for the Raptors with state-of-the-art stables."

"We will also be building a retractable dome over the clearing by the lake." Jenna threw a smirk over her shoulder, "It's gonna be fun."

"Ok. Why?" Ethan gestured to the arena, "What's the point of all of this?"

"The point? Is to train." Tommy stepped forward, "The original twelve Rangers were all extremely active throughout their careers. Between martial arts, gymnastics, dance and sports, every one stayed fit and healthy; ready to take on the bad guys."

"And they trained." Andy nodded, "On their own. Since their mentor was stuck in a time warp, they took the time to work out and train themselves. If they didn't have any martial arts experience, they got help from their friends and fellow teammates and gained the experience, outside of the suits."

"Those of us that were already doing martial arts on a daily basis took the time to work with the other members of our team." They looked at their mentor, acknowledging his wisdom, "The suit can only do so much. You're going to get attacked out of morph plenty of times and it's not smart to morph every time you're attacked by Tyrannodrones. Relying on your morphers and the suites to do all the work makes for lazy and complacent Rangers.

"The Ranger teams that followed Zordon's Twelve had their own training." Zoey stepped forward, calling attention to herself, "The Space and Galaxy Rangers had the Simu-Deck on the Astro Megaship. The Lightspeed Rangers were a public team run by the military. They had daily obstacles and training sessions. It was mandatory. The Time Force Rangers were a police unit from the future. They already had the training necessary to handle the morphers, but they still took the time to exercise and workout to keep their bodies fit."

"Then there's the Wild Force Rangers. One Ranger grew up in a martial arts family, one was in the Air Force, and one was raised in the jungle. The other two made up for it by training with their teammates on their own time to be able to keep up with them." Jenna smiled.

"Not to mention a 3,000-year-old warrior who was possessed by an ancient evil spirit." Zoey crossed her arms, "But that's neither here nor there. When we were in Blue Bay, the Ninja team trained under the supervision of Sensei Watanabe. Power Rangers or not, we were still expected to show up and train every day. Our lessons varied from spiritual to physical. Even as graduated Ninjas, Jenna and I still participated. We did it, not from a sense of obligation, but from honor and respect to Sensei and the rest of the team. To keep ourselves fit and ready to be able to handle anything that Lothor threw at us."

"I've asked Zoey and Jenna to help me work on some training regiments that would focus on each of your individual talents as much as your team work." Tommy clapped on hand on Conner's shoulder, "The gems gave you, not just your genetic abilities, but a sense of self preservation. The ability to fight and defend yourself without any formal training. That's the power of the gems. What we want to do is to help you hone those new abilities so that you're not always relying on your powers. So you can think faster on your feet and act instead of react." He looked around at his students, "Any questions?"

When they shook their heads, he continued, "I know you have things you would rather be doing. When I was in school, we took training very seriously. But we also made time to be teenagers. We participated in a lot of volunteer programs, school functions, after school activities and sports; all while maintaining a 3.0 minimum grade point average. I don't want to take anything away from you guys. I want you to be able to play soccer and perform at the café. I want you to participate in school functions and clubs, and still have time to hang out with your friends. But I also want you to be able to set some time aside a couple of days a week to train. Work on building your team work, your individual strengths and building up your weaknesses by turning them into strengths. Do you guys understand?"

The looked at each other and smiled, "Honestly, Dr. O., I'm surprised you waited this long. I mean, none of us had any martial arts experience before we picked up those gems." Kira shrugged, "I kept waiting for you to call us to the mat a lot soon than this."

Laughing, Zoey walked over and hugged her brother, "He's been a little preoccupied trying to get everything going. But, before we get started, there's something we need to do first. Now, I can't vouch for any other team that came after Zordon's Twelve, but we were there. Well, Andy wasn't. Tommy was one of them. Which makes you part of Zordon's Legacy to this planet."

"And because of that Legacy, there's three rules we need you to understand. Now, I'm sure you've been doing your best to keep your identity a secret, and that's for the best." Tommy nodded, "But there's more to it. The three rules to being a Power Ranger are simple. They were told to each of us when we first became Rangers. Now, I'm going to teach it to you three." He gestured to behind him, "Those three already know them. Andy learned it by the girls in Blue Bay."

"Rule number one; never use your powers for personal gain. It's very simple. You're supposed to be the good guys. Don't stoop to their level. Fight fair and with honor." The teens nodded in assent.

"Rule number two; never escalate a battle unless you are forced you to. Being a Ranger is about protecting and defending the Earth. One of the first things you should learn is that martial arts was not developed to hurt others. It was created for protection. Make sure that you absolute cannot solve the fight before morphing. And calling on your Zords should always be the absolute last resort. Understand?" They nodded again and he continued.

"Rule number three; Always keep your identity a secret. There's going to be situations where you can't help it and your forced to reveal your identity to someone. But you must always try to find another way first. Your identity is one of the most precious things to a Ranger. The bad guys may know who you are, but you don't need to be exposed to the rest of the world. It's not just your anonymity at stake, but the protection of your family."

He waited until the nodded in acknowledgment before finishing, "To break these rules is to risk losing the Power forever."

Conner looked at his friends, "We understand."

"And promise to follow these rules every day. No matter what." Ethan nodded.

Kira stepped forward, "I wish we could have met Zordon. What an honor it would have been to have gotten to work under a true warrior like him. But we do have you. And to me, you're the best mentor any of us could have asked for. So no matter what, we will abide by those rules. Always."

He looked at the six teens in front of him, his teammates, and grinned, "Let's get started."

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