The Senshi of Cerea

Different people do things for different reasons. Sith have different motives from Jedi. Princesses do things that queens never would. A beggar thinks differently from a nobleman. People do things for different reasons.

A certain princess knew this. A certain princess knew this and wished with all her heart that her elders knew this as well.

This certain princess's name was Chikali Meeyusaki, and she mourned. Chikali mourned for a different reason that her elders. Her mother, the queen, was mourning in a vindictive, heartless way. The planet's council was mourning in a sinister, cruel way. The citizens were mourning in a shallow way. Chika was mourning with all her heart and soul.

Yesterday the king had died.

Yesterday, Chikali's world had been turned upside-down.

Even as she lay huddled on her bed, the eighteen-year-old saw visions of yesterday and cried. She had been crying for hours, earning the reprimand of her mother. Cerea was paradise. Chikali was now just learning that paradise came with a price.

Cerea's palace was supposed to be untouchable, insurmountable, and completely protected. After coming home from a walk yesterday, Chikali's palace was proved not to be all those things.

The images of carnage were awful. As a shocked queen, kneeling beside the lifeless body of a dead king, was revealed, so was Chikali's wounded younger sister, Mikizukirii - Mikizuu for short.

After that, everything came rushing out. How a lone Sith had gotten inside the palace, killing the king and his surrounding guards. Chikali's mother, Queen Shin-Juu, was a Jedi Knight. Shin-Juu had tried to avenge her husband when she came on the scene seconds later, but only succeeded in winding herself. Mikizuu had been caught in the initial attack, getting her arm grazed by the lightsaber that had taken her father's life. Something was strange about that the blade, and the graze had immediately gotten infected and swollen.

And so Chikali had cried because her father was dead. Chikali had loved her father with a passion, respecting him over everyone else in the universe. In fact, he was the only one who had ever called her Chikali.

The funeral would be in two days. For this, Chikali was also sad. Her paradise, she realized suddenly, had some real problems. Her father's body would be buried in two days. Well, not the body so much. Only the head, which had been found a few feet away from the torso, would be given a proper funeral. Obviously, once cut off, the head had rolled away a little.

The worst part was why Chikali couldn't bring herself to come to terms with her father's death. The worst part was that Cerea, for all its beauty, was low on humanitarians. Cerea firmly believed that feelings were unnecessary. It wasn't like Dathomir, where people were almost emotionless. Instead, Chikali would have to give a small smile. She would have to shrug, give an encouraging look and say, "My father was a great man, but my mother and I will rule better than him."

Shaking with disgust, Chikali hurriedly stood up. All of the sudden, her Force-sensitive side was giving her creepy vibrations, and the girl could stand the room no longer.

Chikali walked briskly through the passages and hallways, her long brown hair flowing behind her. Ever since she was young, Chikali's father had told her that her mane of hair looked beautiful, and Chikali refused to put it up in any type of hairstyle, despite the combined efforts of her mother and Carlotta, the overseer of the palace's handmaidens.

As she neared the private door, Carlotta ran up to the princes.

"No no no! Mistress must dress appropriately!"

Chikali ignored the chubby, short woman.

"Not today. I wouldn't wear a corset today if you gave me ten wenaks."

And with that, the girl whisked past the infuriated handmaiden and out the door. Looking behind her, Chikali saw Carlotta motioning toward her to two guards. At that sight, Chikali broke into a run, tapping into the Force as best she knew how, to help her run faster than should have been possible.

Chikali ran past fields and houses, entering a forest. The forest was dark and made for bad sight, but still the princess ran. Still she whizzed past giant plants and unnatural stumps from trees cut down for firewood. She ignored the leaves that pulled at her hair and the sticks that scraped her ankles. Chikali ran on, over roots threatening to trip her and branches that pulled at her, menacing a broken limb. The girl panted and wheezed but continued her flight until, exhausted, she dropped onto the ground, passing out.

When she awoke, it was midday. At first Chikali didn't know where she was and was frightened, but then remembered her run that morning. Huffing, Chikali pulled herself to her feet, trying to shut out the pain of cramped muscles. She began to walk slowly, knowing that whatever direction she took, she would have to get out of the forest sometime.

Tears fell unbidden from Chikali's eyes. She missed her father. Her mother only pretended to mourn. This way, she could relate to the people, earning their trust. The people didn't really care that the king was dead. Oh, sure, he had had some truly faithful followers, but the numbers were small. The council only mourned to save face. This way, if they got in trouble, other planet councils would feel more enticed to help them. After all, they were suffering from the loss of their king. As the princess continued, the forest grew continually darker. Chikali knew that she would have to hurry, for it was dangerous to be in the woods at night.

Birds flew by, and bugs flitted past. Chikali managed to catch an animal out of the corner of her eye every so often. It was thus that Chikali didn't see what happened next.

If she had, she wouldn't have thought much of it. Cerea was warm. Cerea was very warm. The cold wind that blew through the forest in the next moment was unnatural. The gust swept past each and every tree, bush, shrub and flower. The animals fell silent, quietly slipping away into their homes. The birds silenced, and flew to their nests. The bugs and other creepy-crawlies silenced their buzzing.

Chikali didn't notice the wind, for she had managed to catch a glimpse of a sauritan, a cat-like creature with hooves. As soon as the sauritan disappeared, Chikali once again turned her attention to the path ahead. And let out a blood-curdling scream.

As soon as the cry had stopped echoing, Chikali immediately cursed herself. It was stupid, she knew, to do such a thing when surrounded by feral animals.

Chikali had screamed because of some strange creatures on a rock in front of her. The rock was massive and gray. On top of it crawled small, fuzzy animals with six legs. As far as Chikali could see, they were brown. The creatures resembled bugs, and Chikali could see that they had many eyes. Despite the unknown origin of the beings, Chikali did not hesitate to walk closer. She soon could see that the strange animals were like the spiders on Cerea, though these were unlike any spiders she had seen before. If Chikali had wanted to touch the spiders, she couldn't have anyway, for right then, she passed out.

Shaking her head, Chikali sat up, blinking owlishly. It was pitch black, and the princess couldn't even see the hand she placed in front of her face. Chikali stood up, rubbing her eyes. As soon as she had done so, an urge began to swell within her chest. She wanted to scream and run with fear. Fighting down the feeling, Chikali tried to laugh at herself. She wanted to conjure up some sort of bravery in the now-black forest. What was causing this feeling? It had been years since Chikali had conquered her fear of the dark. And yet the princess was breathing rapidly.

Chikali realized with a shock that it was cold. Cerea was never cold. Chikali began walking, rubbing her hands together for warmth. The freak weather conditions must be a fluke, she decided. The cause of the cold had to be a strange breeze from an irregular air current.

Trying to calm down, Chikali continued to walk, putting an arm in front of her to make sure she didn't bump into a tree. It seemed like hours, though it might have only been moments, when she heard the breathing.

It wasn't raspy, nor was it soft. The sound was a steady pant, pant just behind her left shoulder. Now Chikali grimaced. Of course. She had been scared because the Force had been warning her of the person standing behind her. Chikali mentally reprimanded herself for not listening to her instincts. Alas, it was too late now. Strangely, she did not run.

Instead, Chikali stopped walking. She braced herself, though for what reason even Chikali was not sure. It was as if the stranger was calling her to him.

Chikali managed to whisper, "Who are you?"

A man emerged. Unlike any other man she had ever seen, he had white hair, though he was young. He had pale blue irises, so pale you could barely see them against the white of his eyes. Like a Sith, he wore black Jedi robes. The man's skin was so pale that it seemed white and had a variable glow to it.

Chikali realized only after she had taken in all this that her surroundings were much lighter and she could see better. After a glance at the trees around her, Chikali went back to staring at the man. She was fascinated by his exotic looks.

"I am Tiel."

She almost jumped. In fact, she would have if she did not feel glued to that exact spot. The man - Tiel - had spoken loudly, and after the silence, the noise of his voice seemed very loud.

And within her whirling mind, thousands of questions blossomed. Chikali was now even more fascinated with this Tiel. Why did he even bother to tell her his name? Was he a Sith? Was he going to kill her?

All these questions and more pushed at the back of Chikali's mouth, but she asked none. Tiel was looking straight at her; the purple crystal set in his forehead seemed bright. Chikali's head was becoming fuzzy. It was as if he was trying to get in. She could feel him boring into her eyes, to the brain, and in a whirl, Chikali was somewhere else.

She looked around, trying to figure what had happened. Black surrounded her, though this place was very different from the forest. The blackness gave the feeling of going on forever. And again Chikali saw Tiel. He wore a smug expression, his arms crossed. She saw one of his hands held an ignited lightsaber.

"So very easy." Tiel was talking to her. "I would have thought you would have put up a fight. But no. I entered without any effort."

Whatever had kept Chikali silent before was gone. "What?" she asked in confusion. "Entered where? Wait a minute - where are we?" Chikali demanded.

Tiel let out a harsh laugh. "Inside your mind."

Chikali was puzzled for a moment. "What? What do you mean?"

Tiel sighed. "I can read your mind," he said with the air of one who knew everything. "I can make you see things that aren't there."

And in a second Chikali was nose to nose with him. Nervously, she backed away.

Tiel continued. "I can enter your mind. Of course, we're still in the forest. But yet, we're here. We're in both places, one and none, both and neither. Either, or. One and all. All or none."

Chikali curled her lip. "What kind of a trick is this?"

Tiel sauntered over to her. "No trick… Chika."

Chikali gasped, speechless. Tiel grinned.

"And so, you die." With a ferocious yell, he lifted the lightsaber high above his head and brought it down with terrible force.

Chikali yelped and fell, narrowly avoiding the blade. As soon as Tiel lifted it, she hoisted herself up and scrambled away. Tiel gave chase, deadly determination written on his features.

Though Chikali's actions were to be commended, for her legs were like jelly, she figured that her life would be over soon, anyway. When one took a close look, it seemed pointless. After all, Chikali could not run forever. And even if she managed to get away from the murderous Tiel, Chikali did not know how to get out of this place.

But she ran blindly on, knowing that to stop meant death, and even if death was right around the corner, Chikali refused to give in without a fight. Of course, she made the mental note, If I keep on running I'll do myself in. First this morning, then now.

Tiel, following close behind, panting and huffing for all the world like a steam engine, was growing tired. Not only of the physical exertion, but also because of the time he was wasting. Soon Mikizukirii would die from the poison he had injected her with via his lightsaber. Then, he would have to kill Queen Shin-Juu. While not an expert with her saber, the woman was still worthy of a slow, agonizing death for her fight with him earlier. He had almost gotten caught, thanks to her distractions.

Finally, Tiel decided to end the race. He used his unique ability to transport himself directly in front of the fleeing princess. Chikali, sputtering, slid and tried to turn around. Tiel cut her off again. Finally, slumping onto the ground, the teenager acknowledged defeat.

"Go ahead. Kill me." Chikali said quietly.

With a mighty heave, Tiel put all of his strength into one blow. He brought the blade down with frightening speed and force. From instinct, Chikali put her hands above her unprotected head, though it would do no good. A moment passed, and Chikali felt a strong pressure, but no pain. After another long, agonizing moment she took a cautious glance upward at Tiel. Her own outstretched hands were tightly gripping a lightsaber, parrying Tiel's thrust.

A wave of shock ran through Chikali like lightning, and in a split second she was up on her feet, her lightsaber held out in front of her. Chikali could see it in Tiel's eyes. There was shock there, even though he had formed his face into a solemn mask. He regarded her with caution before throwing himself at her, and again Chikali was forced to defend herself. On they battled, Chikali always on her guard. She was clumsy at sword-fighting, she knew, but at least she wasn't dead. Tiel was always staring at her, as if she held a secret he longed to know. In a heated moment, Chikali was forced to jump over Tiel, doing a somersault and landing behind him. Tiel went to take a swing at her, but Chikali knocked the strange blade out of his hand, nearly searing his flesh. Chikali stepped on the handle of the lightsaber and, eyes still on Tiel, kicked it as hard as she could. The blade whizzed off into the distance until it disappeared from sight.

Tiel held out his hands, palms facing Chikali, in a sign of surrender. Chikali let out a gusty sigh and, warily glancing at Tiel, deactivated her lightsaber. It was only then that Chika noticed something strange. She was wearing a sailor fuku.

Chikali instantly turned her full attention towards herself. Her long brown hair was still down, but she wore a purple and blue uniform, with tall boots.

That would explain the bright blue lightsaber, thought Chikali.

"Yes, it would," replied Tiel.

It took a minute for Chikali to remember Tiel could read minds. She glared at him.

"It would be nice if I could go home now," she said.

Tiel smirked. "As you wish."

Before Chikali could stop him, he took a step forward and pressed his finger against a spot in her neck.

Chikali fell into his arms, unconscious.

Chikali woke up, unhurt, in her bedroom. Dazed, she rubbed her temples. She had a throbbing headache. Chikali's head snapped up. Suddenly, she remembered her last few moments of counciousness. Chikali jumped onto the floor, looking around wildly for any signs of Tiel.

Resolved that Tiel was nowhere around, Chika lay down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She lay still, thinking of nothing, trying to block out the pain of the migraine.

Suddenly, Mikizukirii opened the door to Chikali's room and walked in, plopping down on the bed. This caused to Chikali to moan, "Go away, Mikizuu. Can't you tell I'm trying to sleep?"

Mikizuu crawled over to Chikali on the large bed, peering down into her face. "So?" the eleven-year-old snorted. "You think I care? And besides, my arm hurts, and I don't complain."

Chikali rolled over away from her annoying little sister. "Go away" was the muffled reply.

Mikizuu frowned. "Don't you even want to know what I came in here for?"

Chikali turned to face her sibling. "No."

Mikizuu bopped Chikali on the head with a pillow. "There's a man downstairs."

Chikali yawned, sitting up. "And I care… why?"

Chikali's little sister frowned. "He wants to see you. The guy's real strange. Seriously. He has white hair, and this really pale skin. His eyes are -"

"Light blue?" Chikali asked with dread in her voice.

Mikizuu chewed on her lip. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

Chikali cried out, as if in pain. "Why?!" she asked the ceiling. "Why couldn't it have been a dream?!"

Leaving behind a befuddled little sister, Chikali quickly left her room and strode purposefully to the lower floor. Once there, Chikali made her way to the entrance room of the palace. In the middle of the room stood none other than Tiel himself.

"Why hello," Chikali said dryly. "Who do I have the pleasure of meeting, mother?" The question was directed at Shin-Juu, who stood near Tiel.

Shin-Juu appeared not to recognize Tiel; however, Chikali was not surprised. Her mother seemed wary of Tiel, even though she wasn't enlightened to his true identity. "He calls himself Derek." Queen Shin-Juu had come to stand close to her daughter. "He wishes to speak with you." The queen glanced at the pale-skinned man. "Do you know him?" she asked her daughter.

Chikali forced a small smile. "Yes. He's an old friend of mine."

The queen nodded and stepped to the side. "Then I'll leave you two alone." Before her mother had a chance to leave, Chikali, after taking a deep breath, firmly gripped Tiel's hand and led him to the nearby door. She nodded to the guards posted outside the courtyard gates and continued walking, Tiel in tow. As soon as they were out of sight of the palace, Tiel came to stand by Chikali.

"Why hello, Chika," he said with a cold smile.

Chikali's jaw was set, and she ignored Tiel. She was somewhat surprised to see that it was morning.

"Nice to see you too," Tiel commented.

Chikali turned her head and glared at him. "Don't call me that."

Tiel smirked. "Call you what?"

"That name. That's not my name." The two continued walking. Soon they had come to one of Chikali's favorite spots. It was had been a corner of an ancient temple. Now, it was just a ruin.

"Well, Chikali isn't either."

Chikali stopped abruptly. "How did you know - oh, never mind." Chikali couldn't keep the frustration out of her voice.

Tiel turned to face her. "You shouldn't run from what hurts, you know," he said softly.

Chikali was very taken aback. "Are you a Sith or not?" she exclaimed.

Tiel sniffed, holding his head up high. "I am very proud of my profession. I take pride in being evil."

Chikali scoffed, "Well, acting like a sissy doesn't make it look that way."

Tiel narrowed his eyes. "Not many people would dare talk to me in that manner."

Chikali cocked her head. "Do you think I care?"

Tiel backed her into the corner of the ruin. "Why aren't you scared of me?" His voice was tense.

Chikali adopted a look of defiance but didn't answer.

Tiel gripped her wrist tightly. "Answer me!" he commanded.

Chika scowled. Raising her hand, she slapped him and pulled her arm free.

Huffing, the princess squirmed out of the corner past Tiel.

Before she walked back to the palace, she called over her shoulder, "You're right. My name's not Chikali. And I'm not going to run. I, Sailor Cerea, Chika Meeyusaki, will avenge my father's death. And that means going through you."