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"WHY in the world did you decide to raise me on a planet that has no universities??" she sighed as she joined her father at the sun-speckled kitchen table. He didn't respond. Chikako had heard his "bloom where you're planted " speech so often she had once recited it for him. "It's not as if you didn't have EVERY planet in the Galaxy to choose from," she went on, feeling especially whiny that morning.

"Not exactly," her father said, refilling his cup with hot water from an old orange kettle, the deep crease in his tan forehead showing how reluctant he was to continue this conversation.

"I know, I know," Chikako said, tearing a roll in half, "ex-smugglers can't retire just anywhere they please."

He didn't say anything and Chikako ate quickly. "I'm sorry, Dad," she said, getting up to leave for work a few moments later, her mouth still full. "I'm sure you had your reasons – though what they were I can't even begin to imagine!" she smiled, and kissed him on the cheek. Myrkr really wasn't that bad, but Chikako had her heart set on going to college, and since she couldn't do it here, she'd decided it *had* to be on Alderaan!

"Chika-chan," he called, just as she reached the door.

"Hm?" she turned, surprised to hear her childhood nickname.

Her father pulled a tiny wooden box from a pocket in his brown gardening pants. Chikako walked back over to him. The unseen contents of the box – and the strange gleam in her father's gray eyes – made her curious enough to be late for work. When he removed the lid, she peered in and saw a thin silver chain coiled in a corner. She lifted it carefully and examined the charm: a miniature silver ring, too tiny for anyone other than a small child. She gave her father a questioning look.

"It belonged to- uh, your mother wanted you to have it," he stuttered.

Chikako's blue eyes gleamed. Her mother had died when she was seven -- just one year after they settled on Myrkr. She barely remembered her. And she had never seen this necklace before. "Why now?" she asked.

"You're going to be late. We'll talk later, okay?"

"Okay," she said, leaving again, a little taken aback. The small gift had already made an ordinary Wednesday far more interesting, she thought as she half hurried down Hyllyard City's main street to the Holovid Library, where she'd been working since she'd graduated Hyllyard Academy – the only school on the planet – a year ago. Work was boring, and since she'd seen almost every holovid they had, Chikako was prepared to spend the day thinking of all the reasons her mother might have wanted her to have the necklace, and why her father had chosen today to give it to her.

Chikako pulled a handful of tiny pink flowers out of a pot near the small Republic Embassy building and fixed them in her short brown hair. Every flowerpot in town was overflowing with them, and they also filled the fields and forests surrounding the City this time of year. Chikako loved them. They were one of the things that kept her happy having to stay on Myrkr. The other thing was Maiko. Chikako grinned and scooped another handful of pink flowers from the next pot she passed as she saw her friend coming.

"You had better not forget about the berryad game today!" Maiko, who happened to be carrying a berryad ball, called from down the street, the light breeze rifling through her long, straight black hair.

"When have I ever forgotten about berryad?" Chikako giggled, knowing very well that she had forgotten to show up for more than her share of games. She handed Maiko the flowers when she got close enough. "They match your dress perfectly!"

Maiko dropped the ball and curtseyed. "Seriously, Chikako!" the pretty girl said when she straightened up, "You're the goalie tonight!"

Chikako winced. If there was one thing the youth of Myrkr did learn in school, it was how to play berryad. The only people who really got to go to college off-world were guys who got berryad scholarships. Chikako loved the game, but she wasn't that great. And frankly, being goalie scared her.

"Don't worry, Chika-chan," Maiko teased, fastening the pink flowers to her headband, "you've got me on your team!"

"True," Chikako said. Maiko's tiny frame, pretty smile, and delicate femininity often gave competitors the wrong impression -- the truth was, she could beat anyone on the planet in a game of berryad. But her real passion was dancing – and that's what would get her to college. "How did the audition go?" Chikako asked.

"Good! I hope..." Maiko answered, tugging on her short pink dress, nervous at the thought of it. It had been her last of six auditions that week. "But you're late for work, aren't you? I'll tell you more at the game!"

"What game?" Chikako teased. Maiko glared at her, then smiled, and they parted.

Chikako hummed mindlessly as she played with her new necklace, sitting at the desk in the dimly lit library. The promotional holovid from a college on Alderaan played for the fifth time behind her. This was how she spent her days – almost nobody came in. So she was startled by the "ding" when the door opened. She almost giggled when she looked up: a girl and a guy, obviously off-worlders, stood blinking in the doorway, trying to adjust to the change of light. The young man wore a brown cape, and Chikako recognized him as a Jedi, which seen in holovids but hadn't paid much attention to. The girl was very pretty, with dark hair and big blue – almost violet eyes. What amused Chikako was the way the two were continually glancing about the room nervously, as if they expected someone to attack from behind. They reminded her of people suddenly struck blind, trying to feel their way around.

The Jedi eyed her suspiciously. "Can I help you?" Chikako asked the pair, somewhat self-conscious under their untrusting gazes.

"We're looking for a holovid about the history of Myrkr," he said. The pretty girl just stared at her.

Chikako walked to the back of the room. "We have 'The History of Myrkr' and 'Myrkr's Glorious History.' Any preference?"

"What do you think, Koumi?" the Jedi said to the girl. She smiled a little and shrugged. "Uh, we'll take The History of Myrkr," he told Chikako.

The holovid was almost new. Since Chikako had seen it in school – and it was pretty terrible – she'd never bothered watching it at work. When she pulled it off the dusty shelf, she noticed something behind it. She glanced at the patrons, who were still glancing nervously around the room and jumping at every noise. Reaching behind the holovids, she pulled the object into the light. "What the…?" It was a stack of thin whitish leaves, bound together on one side. Each page was covered with symbols Chikako didn't recognize right away. But the script looked vaguely familiar… she stared at the title on the cover of the book, sure now that she'd seen this language before. In fact, she could almost read it…

DING!

Chikako dropped the book, startled, and both patrons whipped around and faced the door. "There you are!" said the girl who'd burst into the library. Koumi smiled and the Jedi greeted the newcomer, a cute blonde with braided hair and a somewhat mischievous smile.

Chikako left the book where she dropped it and brought 'The History of Myrkr' up to the desk. "Do you have a library card?" she asked the Jedi.

"I don't need a library card," he said, with a slight wave of the hand.

Chikako bit her lip, a little confused. Everybody needed a library card! "Well, even if you don't live here, you can fill out a short application and get one now," she offered.

The blonde girl laughed. "You forgot what planet we're on," she said to the Jedi.

He blushed. "Use *your* force, then, Priire."

"Okay!" the blonde pulled out a blaster. "We don't need a library card," she repeated, waving her hand for the show.

Chikako gasped and pushed the holovid across the desk. Koumi picked it up and the trio left.

"I didn't mean to scare the poor girl," Priire said outside the library, truly feeling a little bad. "But really, how often do I get to do that?"

"Don't worry, Priire," the Jedi said. "She seems to be a strong girl – I think! I can't sense anything here! I wouldn't even know it if one of the Sailor Sith were standing right behind me." All three glanced over their shoulders just in case. "This is one planet I wouldn't mind never coming back to."

Koumi nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, she'll be fine," Priire said, looking back at the library.

"She's ready," Geri sang, joining the other Sailor Sith in the ship's control room.

"Finally," Kendra said. "Now if only we knew where those Sailors were!"

"You don't know where they are?"

"We lost them early this morning," Areil grumbled. "They were near Myrkr. They may have gone there."

"That wouldn't make much sense, unless they're crazier than I thought! We're not following them, are we?"

"Of course not!" Kendra snapped. "We'll just wait until they land somewhere else. It doesn't matter where."

"And then we'll release Obscuria!" Geri giggled, delighted. "There is no way they'll be able to defeat her!" The others joined in, reveling in what they knew would be the end of the Sailor Scouts.

When Chikako started breathing again after the blaster incident (it's not everyday one gets held at gunpoint at the holovid library!), she ran back to where she'd found the strange book. She could see the words clearly, though the dark purple cover was terribly dusty. But the language was like something from a dream – she couldn't quite remember if she remembered it. It was a thick book. Chikako flipped through the pages. It all seemed to be handwritten, like a diary, and the script stopped about fifty pages before the end of the book.

On the last page of writing, there was what seemed to be a pressed flower petal. Chikako picked it up and held it to the small window behind her. It was not too big, though much larger than the petals on the pink flowers she wore her hair. The color was a light purple, almost iridescent. It seemed ancient, and looked very fragile, but in fact it was as hard as crystal. "So pretty…" Chikako muttered.

The library was owned by Hyllyard City. If they had known about this book, it would be in the museum. It couldn't belong to anybody, Chikako reasoned. And even so – who would miss a petrified flower petal? "Nobody," she decided, and attached it to the small silver ring on her new necklace. It looked perfect.

She glanced at the clock. "Now it's time to find out what this necklace is really all about," she said aloud and began closing the library. A few minutes later, she was on her way home, mysterious book in hand.

The Senshi were in Hyllyard City's downtown park. Generally, they didn't convene in such public places, but warnings of vornskrs, wild animals that attacked force users, had kept them away from the outskirts. The force users among the group were distraught enough, having one of their senses suddenly taken away.

Tuxedo Jedi and several Sailors were watching the holovid about Myrkr. Some Senshi were standing guard, since no one could sense danger through the force. A few of the others were talking in groups nearby. They had been flying through the galaxy somewhat aimlessly, led primarily by the force, when many of them suddenly got a feeling they should land on Myrkr. No one had ever been there, but they followed their unexplainable feelings, as Jedi are occasionally known to do, and now they were trying to figure out why they were here. There didn't seem to be any sign of Sailor Sith – dark force users didn't like that planet much, either. So in an effort to gain some idea of why they might be on Myrkr, they decided to start with the planet's earliest known history.

Chikako passed by the park on her way home, but didn't notice the Senshi at first in her hurry. "The girl from the library," Priire mused. "She seems to have recovered. Uh.. Coru, DUCK!"

Ippin hit the ground, half expecting a surge of force lightening to fry her. A berryad ball bounced lightly over her head.

"Thanks, Aster," she muttered, brushing grass off the front of her pants as she stood up. The boys who had thrown the ball flew by her, almost knocking her down again.

"I wish I knew what they were saying!" Kyoko commented as the boys shouted to each other.

Kairiku scrunched up her face for a moment in concentration. "It was something like 'Are you going to the game?' 'Of course'"

"Figures they'd be talking about sports."

Chikako, who was just running past, skidded to a stop. "You can understand them?" she asked in Basic.

"Kairiku's our resident genius," a girl with icy blue hair said. "She can learn any language in a matter of hours."

"No I can't!" Kairiku argued, blushing slightly. "Their dialect is not very complex. I get the general gist…"

"You've only been here a few hours?" Chikako asked, her blue eyes wide.

"Well, yeah," Kairiku looked down.

"Can you read this?" she asked, almost shoving the book in her hands.

Kairiku studied the book for some time, and Priire and Ippin looked over her shoulder. "I don't understand it," she finally said, "but I think I've almost got the script decoded…"

"What's it say?" Chikako asked impatiently.

"So important this must be!" Numako giggled.

Chikako blushed and shrugged.

"Well," Kairiku said slowly, pointing at the title, "I could be wrong, but I think this word is 'Myrkr.' If so, than this one might be pronounced something like – well, that would depend on… hm. I'm sure they have a study on this language in the Alderaanian library."

Chikako stared at the word Kairiku had pointed to. "Myrkr..." she whispered. "It does say Myrkr! I recognize it from..." She gasped and grabbed the book. "Aba Pranymali Kruui Aba Kryryo Myrkr!" she exclaimed. "I can read it!"

"What does it say?"

Chikako frowned. "I've no idea," she finally sighed, frustrated almost to tears.

"But you can read it," Ippin said, pushing her long red hair behind her shoulder. "That's... curious."

"Very curious," Kyoko agreed, turning away from Chikako for a moment. "You don't know what any of those words mean, Kairiku?"

"No, I was only looking at it for half an hour!"

"Very old that book is," Numako said.

"I'm assuming not every girl on Myrkr can suddenly read ancient languages?" Priire commented.

"Most likely not," Kyoko agreed. "They barely have a high school here!"

Chikako strained to hear what the girls were talking about, but they had switched into an off-world dialect she wasn't quite familiar with. But it didn't even occur to her to think "that's almost rude!" because she was so amazed at being able to read this language she didn't know. She was still wondering at it when the girls turned around.

A white haired girl with her hair in two buns stepped forward. "We'd like to take this book to Alderaan," she said diplomatically, though she was more telling than asking. And though Chikako was usually a fairly easygoing girl, she knew when the opportunity of a lifetime whacked her in the face.

"If my book's going to Alderaan," she told the group, "I'm going too."

"Maiko!" Chikako whispered loudly from behind some trees, hoping no one else at the berryad game saw her. From her hiding spot, she could see the entire berryad field, and beyond it, the flower covered hill where she and Maiko had spent almost every afternoon for years planning together how they would make their daydreams come true. Maiko, who had been practicing pirouettes since the action was currently on the other side of the field, was in goal. She turned at the voice, and finally spotted her friend hiding in the foliage.

"You're a bit late!" Maiko said, obviously annoyed that Chikako hadn't shown up. "Get in here!"

"I can't, Maiko."

"Why?" she said, seeming more puzzled now than annoyed. Forgetting to come to a game was one thing; coming and not playing was just weird.

"Because I'm going to Alderaan."

Maiko put her hands on her hips. "Uh-uh," she said, shaking her head, her long black ponytail swishing behind her. "What's on your wrist, Chikako?"

Chikako looked down at the thin leather band around her wrist. It had probably been there for ten years, so long that she didn't notice it anymore.

"Remember?" Maiko asked, holding up her own wrist, adorned with an identical bracelet.

"Yeah," Chikako smiled. Ten years ago, they had put on these bracelets as a symbol of their promise: one would not leave Myrkr without the other.

"So who are you?" Chikako asked when she could no longer see Myrkr from her new friends' ship. Her father insisted she'd been all over the galaxy with her mother and him before they moved to Myrkr, but she didn't remember a bit of it and was happy for some time just watching her planet shrink into a tiny spot of light. Maiko was standing next to her, wide eyed and hugging her bag, her face a little pale. She braced herself. "Maiko?" Chikako whispered. "Are you - Oh!" she gasped as the ship shook and took off into hyperspace. Maiko relaxed. Chikako stared at her friend. "How did you see that coming?"

The pilot turned from the controls to introduce herself. "I'm Priire. I threatened you with a blaster earlier. Sorry," she added sheepishly.

"No harm done," Chikako said. "You were in the library, too," she said, looking at Koumi.

"I was."

Chikako jumped. "Your lips didn't move. Why could I hear you?!"

"Maybe you have the Force."

Chikako squirmed and tried to cover her ears. The ship came out of hyperspace. "But I've never had the Force!"

"Know that you do not," Numako said.

"Numako's right," Yukiko said. "How could you tell on Myrkr?"

"Speaking of the Force," Ippin said, "I sense we're flying awfully close to an asteroid field! Priire??!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Coru," Priire replied, barely even pretending to be innocent.

"Ohh.. I feel it too.." Maiko groaned. "I don't like this at all!"

As thrilled as Chikako was to finally be on Alderaan – she had already picked up several college applications – she was also a little disappointed: nobody had any ideas about the language in her book. Even though she could read it aloud, nobody could guess at its meaning.

"Aba Pranymali Kruui Aba Kryryo Myrkr," Chikako repeated, laying on her bed (Audra had known exactly where her and Maiko could find a room to share). She stared at the words, hoping their meaning would suddenly come to her, till a very exhausted Maiko walked in. She hadn't wasted any time in setting up dance auditions, and had just finished her first one.

"Tough audition?" Chikako asked, setting her book on the mattress. It bounced a little. Maiko flopped onto her bed still wearing a loose white dance costume.

"Not really," she mumbled into the pillow. "I just have this feeling like something bad is about to happen. It's making me tired."

"You've been having a lot of those feelings lately."

"Ever since we left Myrkr." She frowned and looked up at Chikako while she pulled her hair out of a ponytail. "The Jedi thinks I'm 'Force-sensitive.'"

"Isn't that good?"

Maiko shook her head. "I don't think it is! I was fine before. And besides, I'm too old to be trained as a Jedi... so it's like I'm going to know whenever something is not quite right but I'm not going to be able to do anything about it." She flipped over on the bed, rolling herself up with a blanket in the process.

Chikako bit her lip. "I'm sure you'll find some use for it," she offered weakly.

Maiko peeked out of her cocoon. "Well," she giggled, "since we've left home, I've figured out how to do this." She pointed to the room key on the table near the door. It slid a few centemeters to the edge, trembled, and fell to the floor. "Pretty useful, eh?" she laughed, and pulled her blanket over her head again.

Chikako laughed a little and shrugged. "It was pretty cool, at least. I mean, I can't do it!"

"You sure?" Maiko asked, peeking out once again. She started working on lifting the key back to the table so she didn't have to get out of bed, but she could barely get it off the ground.

"Pretty sure," Chikako answered, watching her friend concentrate. "I haven't had any of those feelings, or premonitions or anything, like you have."

Maiko gave up trying to lift the key and turned to look at Chikako. "But you knew what Koumi was saying even when she didn't say it out loud."

"Yeah..." Chikako thought about that. Although the girls had suggested she might have the Force, nothing else like that had happened. Maiko was trying to lift the key again. She elevated it a few centemeters this time before it fell. "I don't know," Chikako finally concluded. Her eyes fell on her book. "Maiko! What about this?"

"Right!" she laughed. "I can't even lift a key!"

"I don't want you to lift it, silly! Do you think the Force could help you to read it?"

Maiko looked at the book skeptically. "You've already had trained Jedi look at this. I don't know what I'd be able to tell you that they haven't."

"But you're from Myrkr - and so's this book. Just try." Chikako held the book out to her.

Maiko mumbled that she wasn't *born* on Myrkr, but took the book. She really didn't know how to use the Force, but she reached out as best as she could guess how to, mostly to humor Chikako. She studied the cover and moved her finger along the straight rows of script inside. "The author was... good," she said. The Jedi had already mentioned something like that, but Maiko was so surprized that she had sensed it too that she said it again. "He was loyal... and... blonde? ... and when he wrote this, he was sad." She was on the last page of writing. She closed her eyes. "It's a letter," she whispered. "This page, I mean. 'To the Small Sailor' - Why, I can read it!" She opened her eyes. "But that's all I can read." She flipped through the book a few more times, but could only translate that one line on the last page. But that was enough. "I can't believe I can read that!" she cried. "Why should I be able to read that? Does it even help you?"

"I don't know! Give me the book," Chikako squealed, thrilled by this breakthrough.

Maiko almost dropped the book while handing it to her. "I'm so tired. I bet they teach less exhausting ways to use the Force in Jedi school."

"Probably," Chikako mumbled, flipping to the spot Maiko had read from. "'To the Small Sailor'... oh my goodness, Maiko, you're right! I can read it too, now! I re- I remember it, I guess. Oh my goodness," she repeated. She closed the book and read the title. "Aba Pranymali Kruui Aba Kryryo Myrkr: The True Kingdom of the World of Myrkr!"

"I think this pudding is far better than that pudding," Annika argued.

"No way," Yukiko said, spoon in her mouth. She shook her head to emphasize her point, and repeated herself. "No way."

"This pudding is better, because - "

"I cannot even believe you're trying to use logic in a pudding argument!"

Most of the Senshi were so doubled over in giggles at the debate that they didn't even notice the commotion occurring outside their window. The people of Alderaan, being peaceful of course, had little way to deal with major troublemakers, besides simply running away from them. And that's what was happening: people were running everywhere.

Priire dipped a finger in each bowl of pudding. "I will decide this!" she announced.

"Oh my - " Audra said, finally glancing out the window. Upon realizing something was wrong, the senshi immediately transformed and ran out into the chaos, determined to find its cause. The pudding debate was never decided.

Chikako's eyes hurt by the time she reached the sentence Maiko had translated. Maiko herself had been sound asleep for hours. The bulk of the book was a fascinating historical account that seemed to have been written by a general of some sort. Chikako still had no idea why this language was familiar to her.

There was several years' difference between the date of the last entry and that of the last page, which was a short personal letter, adressed to the Small Sailor:

"My daughter, your service to the King at age four has been beyond what many serve in a lifetime. But I cannot let you use the last of your short life against the dark soldiers – it is clear now that we will not defeat them no matter what. Though they do not know that our world itself will defeat them someday, and banish the dark Force from Myrkr, as was prophesied. I am hiding you now, so that you may continue your life in a time when you may use your powers, small pretty Soldier, to further serve the True King of Myrkr."

"Aw!" Chikako cried, looking up for the first time in hours. "What a great story! Too bad there's no more. Did she ever wake up?" she wondered, playing with the flower petal hanging from her necklace. "It's signed 'Dad.' With a post-script. 'Rememeber: Myrkr Power Make-Up'"

A moment later, Chikako stifled a scream and jumped off the bed. She barely recognized herself! All of the sudden, was wearing a short pleated skirt and a purple, pink and white Sailor Suit. And, she couldn't help but think, some pretty cute shoes.

"What does this mean?" she whispered. The purple flower petal she had found in that book had become the knot on a big pink bow. She touched it, and looked at the book. "Am I the Small Soldier? That would explain knowing the language... but my father was a smuggler, not a general. How can I – "

Maiko bolted awake. "I have a really bad feeling about something," she cried. "There is evil here... someone we know is in trouble."

"Evil? In here?" Chikako said, ducking behind her bed so Maiko wouldn't see her strange new outift. But Maiko was busy mopping the tears pouring from her eyes and didn't even look at her.

"No," she sobbed. "Out there. There are pretty soldiers, but they're hurt. They need help."

Pretty soldiers? Was Maiko dreaming? "Go back to sleep," Chikako said gently. "It will be okay." Much to her surprize, Maiko did just what she was asked. Seconds later, she had stopped crying and was sound asleep. Chikako stood still for a moment, not knowing what to do next. Even if Maiko was only dreaming, Chikako was not. She really had just read a book in a language she didn't remember learning; she really had said three magic words and changed into some kind of sailor. And though she knew that what happened was real, none of it made sense to her. She looked at Maiko, wrapped in a blue blanket and quietly breathing. "If there really are other 'pretty soldiers,'" Chikako realized, "I need to find them - and help them!"

Tuxedo Jedi forced himself to focus on his lightsaber, several feet out of reach. He had barely any strength left, but maybe if he got it, he could at least defend himself against the villain of the hour: a huge black mass of seemingly nothing but dark force energy, like a giant shadow crackling with blue lightning. Not even wanting to think about how many innocent people the Sailor Sith had sucked energy from to create this creature, he lifted his weapon off the ground. The creature turned toward him. In midair, the lightsaber flipped around, ignited, and came at Tuxedo Jedi. "Nooo!" he cried, trying to find the strength to move.

"Tuxedo Jedi!" Sailor Asteroid cried. She started running towards him.

Sailor Ryloth saw that she would never make it. "Oola Crescent Headpiece Slash!" Her headpiece knocked the lightsaber out of the way just before it could impale Tuxedo Jedi. The dark force mass roared and turned to deal with the interfering Senshi. "Ahhhhh!" she screamed, and a bolt of dark energy sent her flying into a nearby building.

"Thanks," Asteroid called gratefully to Sailor Ryloth, who had fallen in a heap on the ground several feet away.

"I have had enough of this!" Sailor Hoth shouted, getting to her feet. "Hoth Blizzard Blast!" Her friends - those who were strong enough - joined her attack.

"Carbonite Freeze!"

"Corellian Windstorm!"

The black mass met all of their attacks with a crackling wave of dark force energy, nullifying the attack and often flooring the Senshi. By that point, almost no one had enough energy left to attack.

"I don't believe this!" Sailor Yavin said, dodging a bolt of blue force lightning. "It's too strong for us!"

"Where did it come from?"

"We'll worry about that if we survive!" Sailor Asteroid cried. "Asteroid Shower Power!" She watched her attack disappear into the black mass and tried to jump out of the way of the coming blast of dark energy. She didn't quite clear it, though, and it sent her barreling into a bruised and bleeding Sailor Tatooine.

"We don't have the power to fight pure dark Force energy!" she said to Sailor Asteroid. "How could the Sailor Sith pull this off? We can't let them win!"

"Looks like you have no choice!" laughed Kendra, who appeared with Emi, Areil and Geri above the shadowy mass. "Now let's finish them off once and for all. Obscuria - Erupt!"

"Not so fast, laserbrain!" shouted a Sailor Scout in pink and purple with short brown hair as she ran into the center of the action.

"Laserbrain?! Oh, it's just another little Sailor Brat. Too bad we missed you. Oh well, we'll just toast you with the rest of them. See ya!"

"Think again!" the new girl shouted to the Sailor Sith. "I am Pretty Soldier Sailor Myrkr, Senshi of Joy and Faithfulness, Servant of Myrkr's True King. And in his name, and for Myrkr, I will punish you!"

Kendra rolled her eyes. The black shape rumbled, force lightning crackling wildly. Sailor Myrkr knew it would explode any second, and probably engulf the entire city.

"Myrkr Force SHIELD!" she screamed. She hadn't anticipated the power of the attack and it blew her to her knees, but she held her hands in front of her, sending purple waves of energy in all directions. The black creature had just started to erupt from the bottom, expanding like an atomic bomb, when Sailor Myrkr's shield hit it. Everything within the expanding dome of purple light was suddenly robbed of the Force. So when the wave of energy cut through the black mass of pure dark force energy, the monster vanished, leaving only a bit of dust.

Sailor Myrkr's eyes were squeezed shut. She opened them when she heard the roar of dark force energy quiet, but still held the shield. Kendra and her buddies were piled on the ground. Normally they would've bailed, but the vacuum Sailor Myrkr's attack had created kept them from going anywhere by way of the Force.

"Sailor Myrkr!" Sailors Naboo and Chibi Naboo shouted in unison, scrambling up off the ground.

Sailor Asteroid produced a blaster. "Looks like you're not going anywhere this time!" she said to the Sailor Sith, who were cowering close to the edge of the shield.

"Leave us alone!" Emi shouted. One of the Senshi giggled.

Just then, the purple dome surrounding them disappeared. "What happened?" Sailor Asteroid asked, looking at Myrkr.

"Let's go!" Areil said. They were gone by the time Asteroid looked back. She cursed and put away her blaster.

"I'm sorry," Myrkr said, still on her knees and gasping for air. "I couldn't hold it anymore!"

"Don't worry about it!" Asteroid exclaimed. "We lost the Sith for now, but we are still alive!"

"Thanks to you!" Sailor Hoth added, getting to her feet. "You were just in time. Where did you learn that attack?!"

"I don't really know," Sailor Myrkr said, noticing she'd skinned her knee. "When I became Sailor Myrkr, I just somehow knew it. Almost like it's something I've said before, a long time ago."

They all stood around for a moment. Everyone had their guess about who the new Senshi might be, but no one said anything out loud. Finally, Sailor Naboo spoke up.

"Let's get the hurt Senshi back to the ship," she said. "Then we'll all talk."

A few hours later, when everyone had been appropriately bandaged or dipped in the bacta tank, and chocolate cake had been distributed, the Sailor Senshi all transformed back into their normal selves.

"Chikako! I knew it," Annika said.

"Well who else could Sailor Myrkr be?" said Mara.

"Maiko perhaps," Zyta suggested. "But obviously, it's not Maiko. It's Chikako."

"Could I have some more cake?" Priire asked.

Chikako stood with her mouth open, wearing a plain khaki dress that touched her knees. Somewhere beneath her feelings of amazement, she was glad she hadn't bothered changing into her pajamas earlier. "You're all Sailor Senshi?"

"Every one of us," Annika smiled. "So how did you find out?"

"My book. Maiko... then I... then the letter to the Small Pretty Soldier..."

"You need some more cake," Ippin decided, taking her plate.

"I do," Chikako admitted. Eventually, she managed to tell her story to the other Senshi, and they talked and asked each other questions over many cakes that night. And before they knew it, it was dawn.

Chikako woke up several hours later in her bed. Most of the Senshi had decided to go to sleep a little while after sunrise, and Chikako didn't object to the suggestion. Maiko was gone, probably to an audition. She picked up 'The True Kingdom of the World of Myrkr' and flipped through it. The book had totally changed her life in one week: she had gone from being a clerk in a dingy holovid library just trying to earn enough money to get off Myrkr, to a sailor-suited defender of inter-stellar justice. But there were still so many questions she didn't have answers to. Was she the Small Sailor? If so, how was that possible? Her father was never a general under the True King of Myrkr. And who in the galaxy was that, anyway? She'd never heard of such a king in any of her history classes. And who were the dark soldiers the general was so sure would defeat them? How long ago was that? Did it even happen? It could all very well be fantasy - oh, no it couldn't - holding up her flower petal necklace and saying "Myrkr Power Make-Up" would destroy that theory. So how was she supposed to serve an ancient king who was no doubt dead? And how -

"Chika-chan?"

"Oh, Maiko! You scared me. I didn't even hear you come in."

"I know. You were pretty deep in thought," she said. "I saw Kyoko and the others on my way home. They want to meet us at the ice cream shop on Straight Street in half-an-hour."

"Yippee!" Chikako said as she hopped out of bed. "Ice cream sounds great right now!"

Maiko laughed. "Ice cream always sounds great to you! ...Um, Chikako?"

"Hm?" she asked, already dressed and combing her hair.

"Whatever you were worried about a minute ago... it's going to be okay."

"Oh really?" Chikako asked, more surprised than anything.

"Yeah!" Maiko said, pretending to be offended that Chikako would question her. "I have the Force. I can sense these things!"

"Is that so?" Chikako giggled, eyeing her friend in the mirror. "Well then, Jedi Master Maiko-chan, use your Force against THIS!" she said as she dropped the comb and tackled Maiko with a pillow.

Maiko screamed and grabbed another pillow to defend herself with. "You are so going to pay for messing up my hair!" she yelled between attacks. "It took an hour to do these braids!"

Twenty minutes later, their room was a wreck and both girls were paralyzed with giggles. "Should we clean this place up?" Chikako wondered when she had stopped laughing enough to speak.

"What?" Maiko cried. "And be late for ice cream? I think not!" Chikako started giggling again and the two ran - laughing - out of the room, out of the bulding, down the street, and all the way to the ice cream shop.