Children of the Prophecy

Written by Chikako/Sailor Myrkr

With his wife gone, attending an old friend's wedding on another planet, Kalei feels like doing very little beyond waiting for her to return. However, he's much too busy to mope around, and most of his days are pleasant. He spends his time playing with his younger children and making preparations for his oldest daughter's homecoming.

At age fifteen, Aiko had been accepted to a galaxy-renowned university... on Coruscant. Her parents were reluctant; but it was a time of peace, and, not wanting to deny her such an opportunity, let her go.

Now, almost a year later, she's returning home. Kalei, counting the days till her arrival, thinks it can't come soon enough. He's only disappointed that Chikako won't be home in time for their daughter's return.

When the day finally comes, Kalei is helping Sugar and Rory put together a puzzle when his thirteen-year-old twins - Shinnen and Mikomi - burst into the playroom. He knows they've been staring at the sky for most of the afternoon. "We saw a ship!" they announce breathlessly.

"That's probably her! Sugar, go get your brothers and sisters." He looks at the twins. "Are any of Mommy's handmaidens here?"

When everyone finds their way back to Kalei, he does a headcount while the twins and Jenaye keep the smallest kids from defecting. Once everyone is accounted for, he pulls Rory up onto his shoulders, and they're off to the docking bay.

Aiko, exhausted from travelling, can't help but laugh when she comes off the ship. Her family comprises at least half the people in the docking bay! And they are definitely the noisiest. Sugar is the first to rush into her arms. Aiko holds back happy tears and tries to hide her face in her little sister's dark curls. As indescribable as her year at school had been, she's so glad to be home.

Kalei stares at his daughter, oblivious to Rory's pleas to let him down. Looking at Aiko, he can't believe only a year has passed! She's several inches taller, a bit thinner, and wears more makeup. Her blonde hair, loose down her back, has gotten longer; and her skirt has gotten shorter. But this isn't what shocks her father. He'd expected her to grow up some in a year away from home. However, he hadn't expected her to grow up into Lily.

The thought of her throws him way back in time, to when he was more of a phantom in Chikako's life than he was a lover; back to the beginnings of the Empire and the early years of the Sailor Jedi. Lily had been around such a short time, but it was such an unforgettable time that every detail - Lily included - is etched into his memory forever.

"You okay, Dad?" Aiko asks, worried he might have seen her new tattoo when she lifted Rory off his shoulders.

After talking with his daughter on the way home, Kalei is relieved to find that she's their same old Aiko-hime, just a little more grown up. He longs to spend time with her, but she and Jenaye - who are close friends - have a million things to share. She falls asleep in the handmaiden's room before dinner and doesn't wake up till the next morning.

That evening, Kalei locks the door to his bedroom. He then unlocks his wife's top dresser drawer and reaches to the back. He takes out a pink velvet box and pulls up the velvet to reveal a combination lock. Inside is a metal key; he puts it in his pocket. Once he closes the drawer, he stands up on the dresser and measures the wall three hand-lengths down from the ceiling. He holds his right hand in that spot; when the wall underneath begins to glow purple, he climbs down and walks across the room to a round mirror. It's hung at Chikako's height; Kalei has to duck to see his reflection. He removes the mirror and lays it carefully on the bed; he then holds his left hand to the wall where it had been. When that spot also begins to grow purple, he replaces the mirror and sits on his bed.

Fifteen minutes later, a spot above his headboard begins to shimmer slightly. The glow spreads and forms a square doorway halfway up the wall. When it's complete, he pulls himself up and disappears through the doorway. Once he's in, the wall returns to normal.

As mystical as its entrance is, the secret room Kalei enters is nothing special. There's nothing inside but seven stone stairs; the air is stale and warm. At the top of the stairs is a simple hinged door with a lock. He pulls the key from his pocket and opens the door, entering the inner room.

This room is just as stuffy as the staircase, but not so empty. Round silver trays, suspended in transparent purple globes, hold the most precious and secret treasures of the Kingdom of Myrkr. Kalei punches a code into the shield generator and one of the purple globes disappears. The exposed silver tray holds a round Corusca gem. He picks it up carefully and examines it. He'd seen Corusca gems that looked like they were on fire inside, but the intensity of this one surpasses them all. The shine within is more like turbulence than it is sparkle. Then again, he isn't holding an average gemstone. It had been a gift from one of Chikako's girlfriends, endowed with a power only that person could give. Ippin had said they would know exactly when to use it, when the time came. Kalei's not sure yet, but strongly suspects it has. He pockets the enchanted jewel and leaves.

The next morning, he approaches the twins' room in search of his eldest daughter. "Look at these clothes Aiko-hime brought back!" he hears Jenaye's voice lament. "How come they don't sell cute stuff like that here?"

"Cute?" Shinnen's voice replies. "It looks like our old school uniforms." Mikomi giggles.

"Obviously, you two have no idea what's in style," Aiko says. "Ooh, look at these cute antennae I got! Don't they look real?"

Kalei gets to the doorway just in time to see the twins' faces; they're a little weirded out by the fact that their sister has come back from college wearing antennae. Jenaye pulls something silver out of Aiko's suitcase. "Are these wings?"

"Oh yeah, these are hoth." She slips them on and notices her father standing in the doorway. "Ta-da! What do you think, Dad?"

She curtseys, a small metal wing behind each shoulder; her short belted dress has matching boots and gloves, and her hair is pulled up into two high ponytails behind her antennae. Lily, right down to the eyeliner. Kalei clutches the Corusca gem in his pocket. The time has definitely come.

Chikako pulled anxiously on her short brown hair as Priire talked about the trip she'd be taking to the moons of Yavin. "Yavin!" she exclaimed as soon as the blonde paused. "You'll go right by Myrkr!"

Priire rolled her eyes and buried her head in the kitchen table. Ippin groaned. For months, Chikako had been trying to convince anyone with a ship that they needed to go to Myrkr. Her pleas had grown so frequent in the last few weeks that she'd grown quite notorious for them.

"Sorry," she laughed, looking at her friends' faces. "But I haven't seen my dad in ages! And Maiko will be home from school in a few days, so I reeeally want to go visit." She smiled pointedly at Priire.

Later, Xanthus sat on Chikako's bed twirling a small flower-shaped pillow he'd found there. He watched her dart around the room, humming and tossing things into a travel bag. She held up a dress and looked at it sideways. "I'm so excited!" she said, mostly to herself. She decided against the dress, returned it to her closet, and moved on to the next one. Xanthus smiled down at the pillow. A moment later, it bounced off Chikako's back. "Hey!" she cried, turning around. She dropped her travel bag and scooped up the flower pillow, whipping it back at Xanthus. He caught it and sent it back, then reached under her bedspread to bring out the heavy ammunition - a big feather pillow. She shrieked and tried to fight back with the little throw pillow, but to no avail. "Okay, okay!" she said, spitting feathers out of her mouth. "I surrender!"

Xanthus relented but still kept her pinned. When their giggles finally subsided, he looked her in the eye. "Take me with you," he said.

"Xanthus," she said, focusing on some point over his shoulder. "We haven't been dating that long."

"Don't think of it like that, Chikako. I know we're still getting to know each other - that's why I want to go to Myrkr with you - to see where you come from. Your old school, the house you lived in as a child, the library you worked at... you spent most of your life in Hyllyard City. It's part of who Chikako is."

"Mm," she said, still avoiding his intense green eyes, thinking about how she still didn't know which planet Xanthus had been born on.

"Cyrus and I have been planning to go there for a long time. We'll just... happen to go at the same time you do." He grinned.

"Well, if you're going there anyway... I guess having a boyfriend around wouldn't be that bad."

"Pack?!" Chikako made a face. "But don't you feel like going out to eat with me right now at the Greenroof Cantina?"

"Oh, it's great. They totally redid it after the last time Nom and Priire met for lunch there."

Without taking it, Aiko looks at the Corusca gem he's holding out to her. "Round-trip ticket to where?" She pauses, but he doesn't answer. "Dad, I just got here."

"I know. I'm sorry, sweetheart. But if it wasn't for you, you might not be here."

Suspicion flashes in Aiko's brown eyes, and she turns them on the gem. " 'Not that Coruscant?' Where'd you get that gem?"

"A friend who also happens to be the Guardian of Space and Time? She bopped it with her big stick, didn't she?"

"So I have to go to the past again, eh?" Suddenly she looks terrified. "Please say it's not for training! I'm a full-fledged Sailor Jedi now, and..."

"You don't have to stay as long this time. And relax! It's not for training. Actually, it has more to do with matchmaking." He grimaces. "That must have been really weird for you."

She hugs him and takes the gem. It fits perfectly into one of the rings on her henshin wand. "I'll just... transform like normal then, and see what happens?" she shrugs. Her father shrugs back.

On their way back from the cantina, Xanthus and Chikako took a routine detour through the park. Xanthus nodded towards a row of refreshment stands. "Look babe, an ice cream cart."

"Strawberry." She winked at him as he took his place in line and found a bench to sit on while she waited.

"The editing is terrible," Kalei said. "There are three typos in this article alone."

"Really?" Chikako thought about revealing the fact that, though she always bought it, she almost never read the Coruscant Times. That way she'd have an excuse for not noticing the typos. Then again, what kind of person buys a paper religiously and never reads it? She was sure he'd question that. Then she'd have to decide whether or not she should bring up the incredibly hot paper boy near the Temple, which would make her seem sillier than anything.

Wait, why do I care what this guy thinks of me? she thought. He's the rude one who bashed the paper right after I said I bought it every day! How tactless! She glared at him, but made sure to change her expression before he looked back at her.

"So what's your name?" he asked, sounding like he was asking the question purely for formality's sake.

Chikako felt unusually bold and took the opportunity to use as little tact as her acquaintance. "If you're not really interested in knowing my name, don't bother asking the question. I'm perfectly happy sitting in silence with someone like you."

Chikako, biting her lip to keep from mimicking Kalei's accent, turned away from him to check on Xanthus's progress through the ice cream queue. Kalei snapped his newspaper back open so hard it nearly ripped. They sat in silence for a moment. Once again, it was Kalei who broke it.

"For your information," he said, "the reason I didn't sound very interested in asking your name is because I already know it."

Exasperated, Kalei looked up at the sky. "Yeah, except that the last time we met, your friend yelled 'Chikako' from across the Room of a Thousand Waterfalls, and you answered. That doesn't exactly require the intuition of a Jedi Master."

More silence followed. Kalei folded his paper and tossed it into a passing trash droid. "So... come here often?"

Chikako then had a mild fit of giggling, postponing any conversation sparked by that line. "Yeah," she finally said as she stood up. "I suppose I do." Xanthus approached with a smile and two ice cream cones; he exchanged one of them for a kiss on the cheek. "This is my boyfriend, Xanthus," she said. "Xanthus, this is Kalei."

The young men traded handshakes and polite 'happy to meet you's before Xanthus and Chikako continued on their way. "It was nice talking to you," she called over her shoulder.

Startled, he turned to see an exotic-looking girl with yellow ponytails, thin metal wings, and heavy eyeliner. She was sitting where Chikako had just been. "She's my destiny," he said to her, then blinked. "That sounded so corny. Sorry."

The girl giggled, sounding eerily like Chikako. She leaned in towards him. "Want me to help you win her?"

"Oh, sorry!" she said, slapping her forehead. She held out her hand. "My name's Lily!"

Later that afternoon, Chikako continued her packing without the threat of pillow fights and awkward propositions. She'd about finished when a knock came at her door. She hit the button to slide it open, expecting Xanthus or one of the Senshi. Instead, a stranger with antennae stood on the threshold.

She'd let herself up, but didn't say so. Aiko had lived in the Room Behind the Waterfall when she was six years old; for her, that was ten years ago. For Chikako, it hadn't happened yet. "Peetie let me up," she said, hoping he wouldn't get in too much trouble.

Ironic, since you eventually give birth to me, Lily thought. "Is there any way I can persuade you to take me?"

Chikako sighed. Strange girls showing up in the Room Behind the Waterfall roused her suspicions. But if Lily knew Kalei... he didn't seem the type to associate with Sith and the like. "Okay," she finally said. "I'll be right back." Chikako stepped out in the hallway and pulled out her communicator to call Peetie.

"Lily. She said you let her into the Room Behind the Waterfall. She's got wings?"

"Long blonde hair, ponytails, lots of eye makeup. She looks like she's wearing some kind of uniform, except it's really short. Tall boots, matching gloves. Oh, and antennae!"

Chikako turned her communicator off, shaking her head, and went back to where she'd left Lily. "Okay, okay," the blonde girl said before Chikako had a chance to say anything. "Peetie didn't let me in. But I can't tell you how I got in or you'd think I was crazy. I just need you to trust me," she said, looking right into Chikako's blue eyes. "I'm a friend, I promise."

Chikako thought for another moment, staring back into Lily's brown eyes, trying to use the Force to figure out the girl. She certainly didn't sense anything evil. "Okay," she said slowly, "but you'll have to ask Priire. It's her ship."

"Great, let's go!" Lily said, smiling and walking towards the place where Priire usually shot her guns. She caught herself and cut her pace dramatically. "And, uh, where might Priire be?"

"I'll take you," Chikako offered. She flipped on her communicator. "Priire, where you at?"

"Sure." They walked on for a few seconds without talking, sneaking the occasional curious glance at each other. Lily was amazed - far more than she'd been at six - at how little her mother's physical appearance had changed in so many years. She'd hardly aged, and even kept her haircut the same, except during the Rebellion.

"Cute outfit," Lily said. Chikako was wearing a white sundress with cherries on it and had red ribbons in her hair, though she hadn't bothered putting on shoes for this walk. She glanced down at the ensemble and smiled her thanks for the compliment. And if you ever again tells me my skirt's too short ... Lily thought.

Lily and Chikako arrived at Priire's ship with bearing snacks. She greeted them warmly, then took the food off their hands. "This is Lily," Chikako said by way of introduction. "Lily, this is Priire. She's a pilot. And she likes guns."

Lily had dealt with Priire before she'd dealt with first grade and didn't bat an eye. This disappointed Chikako a little, who would've felt better knowing the stranger was a little afraid of her friends.

"Yeah. Why not," she shrugged, a little put out about being held accountable for people she didn't know very well. She turned to Lily. "Why does he want to come?!"

Priire went back under the ship. "Hey," she called, "if you promise you'll never again bug me to take you to Myrkr, you can bring all the people you want."

Chikako stuck her tongue out at Priire's feet, the only part showing. She and Lily walked back to the main room behind the waterfall. "I have one more favor to ask," Lily said. "Since we're leaving in the morning, do you think I could crash in your room tonight?"

Since they'd be spending the next few nights on the ship together anyway, Chikako didn't put up a fight. "And as long as you're hanging out here," she said, seeing a head of spiky purple hair approaching, "I know someone who wants to meet you."

Elsewhere in the Jedi Temple, Xanthus watched, a bit stunned, as Cyrus fluttered about his room much like he'd seen Chikako do earlier. His stern Jedi Master was as excited about going to Myrkr as his giggly twenty-year-old girlfriend.

This plan had been in the tentative stages for a few months, ever since Chikako had started talking daily about how much she wanted to visit Myrkr. They'd made all necessary arrangements so that they could leave as soon as she did, and Cyrus was clearly thrilled that this plan was so far working out. "Your darling Chikako is going to be on my turf now," he said as he pulled a curtain closed over a newly-alphabetized bookcase. He wasn't bringing much with him, but insisted on having all his things where they should be before he left. "I haven't been back since the beginning... but I hear not much changes there."

Xanthus smiled but didn't point out that technically, it was Chikako's turf too. Knowing his master's story, he was pretty sure a comment like that would've pushed all the wrong buttons and gotten Xanthus blasted into the wall. He wasn't about to test Cyrus's good spirits. Instead, he said, "She didn't seem too comfortable with me coming along."

"She's probably just worried that your relationship is getting too serious. Once she realizes you're just handing her over to me so I can exact revenge, fear of commitment will be less of issue."

"I couldn't do it without you, Xanthus," Cyrus quipped, now organizing his desk drawer.

"I'm not cruel!" Xanthus said, putting his hands up to show his innocence. "All I do is kiss her and share ice cream. I've never even lied to her."

"Not really. It's not like she's ever asked me if you were out to kill her. Though she definitely doesn't trust you..."

"That's good enough," Cyrus said. "Thank the Force she's going to Myrkr. Now we can get this done before she wises up and moves on."

Cyrus ignored him and continued. "She'll be away from all her little safe havens on Coruscant, and there won't be many Sailor Jedi along to protect her. Plus, they could be weakened by the ysalamiri on Myrkr. I, on the other hand, won't be depending on the Force this time. Ever since that first time we met, I knew that wouldn't work with her." He paused. "She's had this coming for centuries. And how fitting, to finish it all right where it started! It's about time we see some justice in this galaxy."

Xanthus frowned while his master went on for a while about injustice. Chikako wouldn't get sick of him, would she?

"Hello, Coruscant to Xanthus!" Cyrus said as he dumped out a pen case and then began putting them back in again, one by one. "What's the matter? Still floored by the idea of a girl dumping you?"

"No," Xanthus lied, pouting. It seemed strange to him that his master's good-humored teasing would be harder on the pride than the death threats he received when Cyrus was displeased.

Within a few hours, Chikako was entirely bored of watching Lily and Peetie's tiresome flirting. She peeled herself off the couch and said a general good-night to all the senshi littered about the common room. Yoshiko also stood with a yawn. "I'll walk up with you," she said, rolling her eyes as Peetie asked Lily where her tattoo was.

After spending the afternoon with her, Chikako forgot to be suspicious of Lily. Most of the other senshi took to her right away, and she treated them like old friends. People like Xarae, Koumi, and Yukiko, who were very strong in the Force, didn't seem at all troubled by Lily's presence, so Chikako didn't think twice about leaving her in the common room when she went up to bed.

Yoshiko took Chikako's arm as they walked together down the hallway. Once Peetie had stopped calling after her and turned his attentions back to Lily, the pink-haired senshi asked if Chikako about going home. "Who's all going with you?" she wondered after determining that she was looking forward to the visit.

"Lily and her friend are bumming a ride with us of course, and Priire's taking a bunch of senshi to Yavin, but the only ones I could convince to stay with me are Mika and Minae." She stuck out her bottom lip. "Nobody likes Myrkr."

"No!" she blushed, regretted the comment, and explained rapidly. "He's not going with us at all. They're taking a different ship, doing some padawan thing there, and we're just gonna hang out a little, since we're both gonna be there and all."

Chikako, vaguely wondering when her boyfriend had started going by X-man, went inside, leaving the door partially open so Lily could come in once she got tired of Peetie.

Early the next morning, Chikako and Lily set their stuff inside the Black Fire Dreamer and came back out to talk to the few early risers who'd come to see them off. Lily went to meet Kalei when he arrived, but Chikako stayed put. She was relieved when Xanthus came to say good-bye and to bring her a few holovids to watch on the ship. "See you in a few days," he whispered as he hugged her.

"All right people, let's go!" Priire shouted from the open hatch. "Watch your step, Antennae Woman. I'm Seijoutai Priire - nice to meet you, Kalei. Mara, you know you're not coming on this ship unless you brought cookies." She smiled as the redhead shot her a glare and boarded the Dreamer anyway.

Nom caught Chikako's arm just as she was about to climb aboard. "Xanthus is also going to Myrkr?" she asked, making it quite clear she already knew the answer.

The dark-haired warrior gave her the gentle version of her intense stare. "I understand that you like the male, but do not be foolish." She lowered her voice to a hoarse whisper. "He does not love you."

Before she could respond, Nom released her one arm and Priire took hold of the other. "Get up here, flower-girl," she said and pulled Chikako into the ship. "All aboard? All right, let's ditch this silly rock!"

"I have seen every single one of Priire's holovids," Ippin complained after they'd been in space for a few hours. "Did anybody bring any new ones?"

Ippin looked through them. "Lessee... The Planet Before Time... The Planet Before Time II... The Planet Before Time VI... Jurassic Island... Bigzilla Eats Coruscant... Chika-chan, why are these all about giant reptiles?"

Ippin flipped through a few more. "Oh, here they are. While You Were Unconscious... You've Got Holo-messages... Sleepless in Mos Eisley..." She glanced up at her fellow passengers. "What'll it be? Giant reptiles or sappy romance?"

They decided on Jurassic Island, and since she'd seen it before, Chikako went up to visit Priire in the cockpit. "How's it going?"

"Peetie started it. Or was it Chouko? I forget. Hey, I hear he's meeting you on Myrkr?"

Priire shook her head, squinting at the computer. Chikako looked up at her. "Have you already seen Jurassic Island?"

"Oh, I don't know!" Chikako said, looking at her hands. "Not as serious as it sounds... he's just happening to go to Myrkr, you know."

Chikako blinked, surprised by such a question. "Well... he's cute, and really sweet, and we have fun together..."

Priire glanced up from her work, slightly amused. Chikako giggled nervously. "I don't know!"

"I don't think anything of him," she answered, absentmindedly trying to pull her short brown hair into a messy ponytail.

Lily narrowed her eyes, trying to see through her future mother's indifference. "Nothing? You don't think he's remotely cute or anything?"

For the first time since Chikako had met her, Lily was speechless. She rather looked like she was going to throw up.

"Yeah," Lily said. "Just the... though of dating... Kalei... he's too much like a... uh... brother or something."

"Umm... a while. I think I'm going to go watch the rest of Jurassic Island now. See you guys later!"

Priire and Chikako exchanged perplexed looks after Lily had left. "You do think he's cute, though, don't you?" Priire asked.

Chikako glared at her, which only encouraged the blonde pilot. She began to rub her temples and attempt to read Chikako's mind. "You think his accent is sexy!" she finally pronounced.

"You think he's ruggedly handsome - great hair and a nice tan. Plus you're enchanted by his beautiful brown eyes. Still, you find him incredibly irritating. But perhaps it's because you're drawn to him and you don't know why..."

"...and you, the Senshi of Faithfulness, feel guilty because you're with Xanthus. And you like X-man and all, but there's something about this Kalei..."

"You're totally wrong! I hardly even know Kalei, and he was a jerk in the one conversation we've had. I don't know what crazy ideas Lily has, but I don't need you encouraging her!"

"If I'm totally wrong, why are you so flustered?" Priire asked, clearly enjoying pushing her friend's buttons.

"Sure. I half expected you to cover your ears and start singing 'I can't hear you, la la la la la la, I like Xanthus, la la la la la la!' "

"You know, I think I will go watch Jurassic Island," Chikako said, trying not to laugh at the mental picture Priire had just given her.

"Okay," Priire said. "Would you mind sending up someone else for me to harass for a while?"

Children of the Prophecy

Written by Chikako/Sailor Myrkr

Keep reading "The Children of the Prophecy"... Page Two

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