Masters of Destiny

Abriel'a Dasani was never one to complain about moving out of her comfort zone, but the sudden transition from Dantooine to Coruscant would have been much easier without the startling and upsetting revelation from the Jedi Council. She sat in her new room, a tiny dormitory much like the one she had resided in at the other Academy, peering down at her bare toes. Turquoise-silver eyes moved to the Force-marked tattoo on her upper right arm again and again, and she sighed, raking a slim hand through her strawberry blond locks.

Sailor Auril... she thought, testing the title in her mind for the umpteenth time that afternoon. Her morning arrival on Coruscant had been shattered with the startling news that she, Jedi Knight in training and Blademaster to be, was in fact a Sailor Senshi. She thought of several of the girls she had seen in the corridors, many much younger than her in Standard years, giggling amongst themselves as they moved between classes or on errands about the Temple complex. Am I really to be one of them?

Her question fell unanswered as she stood and began to unpack her things. Several pictures in beautiful metallic frames were placed on a shelf that ran all along the wall that bore two large windows, looking out into the large Room Behind the Waterfall. The deep, hidden complex beyond her room where the Senshi resided was had amazed Abriel'a, and she felt like the surprises would not end this day. I don't think I could handle much more today...

At that, there was a knock on her door. Or rather, a loud crash and much shouting. The Maronderan opened the door, and jumped back as two figures chased one another down the corridor, squirting water from toy blasters. They rounded a corner and disappeared from sight, although their shouts and laughter could be heard all throughout the complex.

Flame. River. Wind. The Force... Abriel'a chanted mentally, calming herself as she closed the door again and held her face in her hands. She let her crystalline tears fall from her large eyes, overwhelmed with everything around her. Busying herself with settling her things, the Jedi quickly finished and then pushed her window open. Climbing onto the sill, she leapt into the sky and effortlessly began to pound the air with her sparkling wings. Soaring, she glided and twirled, like an aerial dance, bursting through the waterfall into the Room of a Thousand Fountains, before she found a plateau above several falls where she could be alone. It would be difficult for anyone to find her there without making a serious effort at it.

Abriel'a dipped a hand into the pouch above her lightsabre clasp, and pulled out a tiny holovid projector. Setting it on a relatively flat rock, she activated it. "Blademaster Practice, 7-F," she commanded, and the unit took only a second to activate. A figure was projected, a handsome young man with dusty blond hair and large blue eyes. The most striking feature about him was that he was completely nude; she would have undressed as well if not for the lack of complete privacy. She bowed to the man as he did, and they both ignited their lightsabres. On a silent cue, the winged woman leapt, curling down towards her opponent in a slicing arc that would have been a blur to anyone without advanced visual acuities. He twisted in a half spin, lifting his blade to deflect hers, and they began their intricate and deadly dance.

Her turquoise blade marbled with silver energy arcs, leaving a blue-purple blur as it sliced the air gracefully. Abriel'a had the power and grace of a lioness, wielding her blade in such a way that one could almost believe it was an extension, not of her body, but of her soul. The Force flowed through her, letting her anticipate her holographic opponent's next move and parry it with an intricate and dangerous deflection of her own, before she pressed further and brought on her attack. The scene on the plateau began to take the form of a great Jedi battle versus Sith, sending both swordsmen circling the other in a deadly dance.

Strangely, as Abriel'a was learning and applying the newest Blademaster techniques upon the lessons she had mastered thus far, something that had never occurred before began to take place. In her hands, the gleaming silver cylinder began to glow, and she could hear a humming sound from within the casing. "End session!" she called, and the nude swordsman disappeared. Switching her lightsabre off, Abriel'a stood in shock at the glow, and then yelped in pain as the metal burned her hand. Simultaneously, the tattoo on her arm began to feel like fire, and the Maronderan dropped to her knees in the lush grass.

"What is going on?" she asked out loud, clutching her hand to her burning tattoo and squeezing her eyes shut. The pain became white-hot and then flashed, fading quickly to darkness as her body crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

...Abriel'a...

What? Who are you?

...I am the One...

One? I don't understand...

I am your Destiny.

But I don't know who you are! Tell me what is going on!

I was, I am, and I will be, Abriel'a Dasani. And you are the Future.

The future of what...? Why can't you tell me your name?

Embrace your present now, and you will find me, Beloved.

Please... I don't know what to do. How can this be my future? How can it be my destiny?

You are Sailor Auril... your power is great and the honor is yours and yours alone. Take that which is your future and take hold of it.

I don't even know how to be Sailor Auril...

The words are within your soul. You have borne this Destiny throughout the generations, Beloved Guardian of the Blade. You are the first and the last of a great family. Do not lose grasp of who you are! Farewell for now, Pretty Angel...

No, wait, please don't leave me!

I cannot leave you, for I am your Destiny...

It was night when Abriel'a woke on the plateau. She shivered, nearly soaking wet from the great mist rising from the falls around her, and stood shakily. The haunting, mysterious words echoed through her mind. She could remember every word as clearly as if she had gone through the conversation a hundred times.

"By the Stars and the Sea..." she murmured to herself. "By the Force..." Had it been real? She didn't know what to think, so she stood there for a long time, gazing across the inner-valley that was the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Reaching down, she picked up her lightsabre, and the blue-white light flashed before her once more. She did not lose consciousness, but images, words, songs, and emotions began to flood through her being. Staggering, the Jedi student nearly fell again, but she righted herself, a hand to her forehead.

The humming emanated from her lightsabre once more, so Abriel'a twisted the casing opening with a little help from the Force. Inside, her precious Maronderan Waterfyre crystal was glowing brightly, the inner flame greater than she'd ever seen it before. She touched it briefly, and the words came instantly to her mind. Auril Force Power Make-up.

"What a stupid thing to think of," Abriel'a said with a nervous laugh. "Really... Auril Force Power Make-up?"

Blue-silver swirls flowed around her, and Abriel'a felt herself lift off the ground slightly. It all happened in a flash of blue-silver light, in one instant, but the transformation shocked her, feeling like a vulnerable eternity to her mind. Gone were her white lace-up blouse and the tan leggings, replaced by black leather pants and a silver tank top. A black and silver chest plate hung across her upper torso, the leather straps crisscrossing over her back between her wings. Thigh and shin guards formed about her legs, matching forearm gauntlets. Lightsabre still in hand, she found herself standing on the ground, gazing down at the armor. A cross-bladed symbol that matched her tattoo was emblazoned on the chest plate, with the crescent moon pointing upwards behind where the blades crossed, rather than down and above the blade tips like her tattoo. Rather than three stars, there were now six, forming a great circle around the emblem of lightsabre, sword, and moon. She reached up, and could feel the tiny silver stars dangling in her hair, one at the end of the thin Jedi braid that fell from the side of her head.

A soft Maronderan curse whispered past Sailor Auril's lips, and she went to a pool of water that was relatively flat, flowing down to the edge of the falls before cascading far below. She knelt by the pool, shocked at the image, and reached out to touch it. "I am... it's me..." she whispered. It took some great effort with the Force to figure out how to transform back, and she found herself kneeling, at last, in her normal garb. Frustrated, she splashed the image out of existence and stood up, shaking the water from her hand.

"Destiny or not..." Abriel'a said with a sigh, gathering her holo cube. "...It's been a long day, and I'd like to go to bed now." Wings spread, she took a running leap off the plateau, gliding gracefully and with little effort through the waterfall and towards the open windows that represented her room. She slipped inside and closed the windows to cut out the roar of cascading water, before she changed into her dry pajamas and sat on her bed. Falling to her side, her head hit the pillow and Abriel'a didn't bother with her sheets. She fell into a hard sleep, curled up and hugging her pillow, with gentle, crystal-like tears on her white linens. Her dreams of the Jedi Master robes, the elegant Blademaster sigil embroidered over her breast, were crumbling to dust before her, replaced with awkward poses and skirted uniforms.