Everyone sat in Mia's living room. Rowen, Sage, and Ryo had the couch while Kento and Cye each took a different chair. Anubis was sitting on the love seat, comforting Mia. White Blaze lay his head in Mia's lap, sensing that something was bothering her. Mia scratched behind White Blaze's ears and tried not to think about the encounter the day before. After Taitou showed up, the guys all decided that it would be safer to go to Mia's.

Mia's head was laying on Anubis' chest and she looked up into his eyes. She felt like crying but her emotions were exhausted, so no glistening streams came. She let out a half hearted sigh and closed her eyes tightly. Everyone sat quiet until Rowen shattered the silence.

"Looks like we have a real problem on our hands. We've got to figure a way to beat this guy before he causes any more problems." He looked at the worried faces around him.

Anubis' was the most worried, followed closely by all the others'.

Cye stood up from his seat.

"We've got to find out all we can about him. He seems pretty powerful." Cye shook his head. "There's got to be
a way to get through his defenses." He pounded his fist on the table. Anubis was deep in thought.

~I remember Talpa mentioning the lost princess and her descendants. He kept talking to himself about how she
disappeared and the whole legend behind her.~ He thought Mia looked a lot like her and that Mia had some kind of power that wasn't awakened yet. Could this mean something?~

Anubis shook out of his trance and looked down at Mia.

"Mia, I need you to answer a few questions for me ok?" He asked quietly as Mia opened her eyes slowly and stood up.

She leaned against the window, looking out into the dark forest. "Is that ok?" Anubis asked, afraid that he had startled her. Mia nodded.

"Sure." Mia smiled slightly. Ryo looked at Anubis.

"What's all this about?" He asked cautiously. Anubis took a deep breath and tried to think. "Just trust me. I have a few questions that's all."

He stayed sitting and watched Mia as she gazed out the window.

"Alright Mia, you have to answer me truthfully ok?" Mia nodded silently. Anubis continued. "Are your parents alive?" Kento raised an eyebrow and didn't understand why this was so important.

Mia looked out the window for a moment before answering.

"No." The Ronins looked a little shocked. Mia had never told them that. Of rouse, she hadn't been telling them much of anything lately. Anubis asked another question.

"How did they die?" Mia closed her eyes for a long time. She sighed before she answered.

"They were murdered, when I was 14. Both of them killed while I was at school." Anubis wanted to stop asking, but he had to get the truth.

"Do you know who killed them?" Tears formed in Mia's eyes. She waited a moment and kept looking out the window, as if remembering the whole incident.

"The police never found out who killed them. They suspected it was for their money, but Grandpa knew that wasn't why. He took me in and refused to tell me anything. I couldn't understand who would want to kill my parents or why they had done it..." The tears ran down her cheeks. Ryo had had enough.

"Stop it Anubis! Can't you see it's hurting her?" He looked pleadingly at Anubis. Ryo couldn't stand to see Mia this upset.

But Anubis again asked a question.

"Did your Grandfather ever speak of a woman named Tamura?" He looked right at her, his eyes soft and caring. More tears ran down Mia's cheeks.

"He used to pray to Tamura to guide me and to give me strength. Other than that, nothing." Her hands trembled. It was like torture. She was being asked to recall such painful memories.

Rowen pleaded with Anubis.

"Don't ask anymore, it's hurting her." Anubis sighed.

"One last question." He put a hand on Mia's shoulder.

"Did you notice yourself change dramatically after your mother's death?" Mia's tear streaked face looked over at him. She clenched her fist.

"I don't want to answer anymore questions ok?!" She yelled at him and ran upstairs. Sage glared at Anubis.

"Now you've done it."

Mia paused a moment before entering her room and took a deep breath.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and calmed herself. She had long gotten over her parents' death, but now that Anubis mentioned it, the incident does seem a little strange. She opened the door and went in, pushing thoughts of her parents' death from her mind. She refused to let the tears brimming her eyes fall own her cheeks.
She was through with being weak, she wouldn't let them get the best of her. In her heart, she knew Anubis meant well, but Mia was too angry and frustrated to cooperate anymore. She sighed, trying to forget her worries and just try to get a good night's sleep.

As she stood in the room, a sudden gust of cold wind hit her hard. As her hair wisped about her in the chilling wind, she looked around.

"I could have sworn I shut that window." She remarked aloud as she noticed the open window. She shrugged, figuring that she just forgot to. She slammed it shut again and shivered. The wind had been bitter cold, colder than when she and Sage had gone to Mount Doji to get Kento. She shook her head and went over to her closet. As she stood on her tiptoes to reach the blanket in the top, she heard the door open.

"Guys, I don't want to talk right now. Just leave me alone." She it was one of the Ronins or maybe Anubis worried about her and coming to check on her. She smiled in satisfaction as she heard the familiar click of the door closing and figured whoever it was had taken her warning and left in a hurry. As she returned to the task of getting an extra blanket for the cold night, she again felt a cold breeze enter her room.

"Now I know I closed that darn window!" She told herself aloud and as she turned around to close the very uncooperative window, she noticed something in the shadows of her room. It was dark and she could barely make out the lines of what seemed like a body. She squinted her eyes to see it and as she did so, the person or thing lunged out and her and grabbed her by the arms. She shivered under the cold touch of its armor and tried to pull away. But the figure held her tight and pinned her against the wall. She could feel its breath as it leaned closer to her. He whispered into her ear.

"Now you'll be mine forever…" Mia gasped as she heard the all too familiar voice of Taitou. Her eyes showed fear and confusion and Taitou just grinned evilly. After a few seconds of silence, she did the only thing she could think of.

"Ok, here is my theory ok?" He looked at them all, making sure he had their attention. "I believe that Mia is the last relative of Princess Tamura, the lost princess of the dynasty." Everyone gasped with shock. "It all fits! Talpa used to talk about the princess who had disappeared, the lost princess of the dynasty. When you guys showed up, he noticed Mia. Once, he commented on how much Mia looked like her and that he sensed that she had some hidden power. But something came up and he wasn't able to go deeper into that." Rowen scratched his head.

"Do you really think it's true?" He looked very worried and concerned. Anubis nodded.

"Yes, I strongly believe it is. The princess disappeared from the Dynasty, it was suspected that she ran away to escape the evil. Somehow, she ended up back in the mortal world, where she originally came. She adapted to life here and it was said that she had a daughter she named Aeries. Aeries then had a daughter, and so on until there was Mia. Mia's mother must have inherited Tamura's power. I suspect that Taitou tried to get her back but she refused so she had to be taken care of. Mia's father probably got caught up in it and Taitou probably wasn't aware that Mia even existed. I think Mia's grandfather knew about it, but wouldn't tell her. And I have the feeling that her grandfather hid the princess' armor somewhere. We have to find it before Taitou does." He shook his head. "I never thought that Mia could be her." Sage ran his fingers through his hair.

"I seriously doubt this. I mean, Mia, an ancestor of a Dynasty princess?" He shrugged. Before Anubis could respond, the quiet evening was broken by a scream. Everyone jumped up in surprise.

"MIA!"