Somewhere dark, away from any source of life, a woman dressed in a white dress sat in front of a floating table. On it stood five woman-shaped chess pieces, even though there wasn't a chess table, but a hologram of some planetary system right over the pieces and the woman's head. She grinned evilly as she analysed the sixth piece, which was on her hand.

Someone knocked at her dormitory's door. She allowed the blue haired man inside. He kneeled before her and spoke from the shadows.

"Great Kolton, the first part of my mission has already been completed. I proceed to the destruction of the reincarnation of Sailor Sirius before her awakening," he said.

The woman stood up from her armchair and walked to her balcony. She moved the silk curtain that covered the balcony's doors and the impressive views she had from her room were revealed. Her palace stood on top of a rocky hill and from there she could control the great plain that separated her hill from the one right opposite, and the sea, which extended its waters to the horizon.

She noticed that two of the three moons of her harmonious planet were starting to shine in the evening sky at the same time that the sun, the star Sirius, was setting behind the mountain opposite to her palace.

"Perfect," she said, breaking with the long silence. "Send one of your beasts to get rid of her. You won't need your full powers to kill a common human girl."

She hadn't let go of the woman-shaped piece. It represented a Grecian princess and was sculpted in some sort of blue stony material. The woman pressed the piece stronger and, without taking her eyes off the setting sun, she grinned.

Dublin. July 12th

Mariona hadn't talked to Shannon about Marian since the incident at the centre, but she knew that her new friend was worried about it. She had thought of getting Shannon to talk to her grandmother. However, she dismissed the idea because she simply couldn't find the way to do it. Moreover, the red-haired hadn't taken her to the centre since that day, and she knew that she didn't have much time: in three days she had to fly back to Barcelona.

Luck seemed to be on her side, though. That afternoon, Shannon had to go to work and Karen and Berni were busy, so Mariona went with Shannon to the centre.

"You know, I'd like to say goodbye to Marian, because I'm leaving on Monday evening," Mariona told her friend, who smiled sadly.

The Catalan girl thought it was the best Mument to talk about Marian.

"Why don't you come with me and talk to her a little bit?"

Shannon stopped doing the dishes, as if Mariona had named the devil himself, and stared at her with a strange mixture of anger and fear. There was a tense silence, which was finally broken by the ringing of the telephone. Shannon went to answer the call, and Mariona felt kind of embarrassed and thought that she had had a bad idea.

Shannon came back but Mariona didn't dare to talk about the topic again. The two girls barely spoke during their way to the centre, and Shannon left Mariona with the receptionist. They almost didn't meet during the whole afternoon, and finally, feeling defeated, the wavy-haired girl decided to go alone to see Marian.

She knocked the door but didn't wait for a reply to enter the room. Marian looked pleased to see her, and they started to chat about non-important topics, so that Mariona could understand everything without many problems. But the Catalan girl was full of curiosity for Marian's story about life outside Earth.

"Oh, yes, there was a very powerful kingdom, many centuries ago, a kingdom that ruled the whole of the Solar System from the Moon. Their reign was called the Silver Millennium. Those were prosperous days and peace ruled all over the Galaxy. But there were more planets, planets that were not under the Silver Millennium's influence… The Sirius Kingdom, for example. Around the star Sirius orbit seven planets: Rhiannon, Dragon, Vasha, Ziya, Connary, Stimme and Kolton. You should know, my dear, that all these planets… every planet, every moon, every asteroid, even stars themselves, have a source of power, which materialises in the form of a crystal called a starseed. And there is one person in each of these celestial bodies whose pure heart carries the starseed."

"A starseed?" asked Mariona, but her voice was echoed by somebody else's. The old woman and the Catalan girl turned their heads around to meet Shannon's incredulous look.

"Yes, that's what we call them," said Marian, and continued explaining her story, ignoring the fact that Shannon was there listening. "Only a pure heart can carry a starseed, and people who carry starseeds have the power to become the protective fighters of their planets. But they can also be corrupted by the power of Chaos."

"Chaos?"

"He is the source of darkness and evil. He wants more and more power, but he can only fight through somebody else's body. That's why he corrupts pure hearts and takes their bright light away and he begins horrible wars and endless fights all across the Galaxy. He still does. He might be trying to destroy or take a planet over right now."

"I can't believe a single word of what you've just said," interrupted Shannon. "This Chaos you're talking about doesn't exist, and he's not trying to destroy anything, because he's product of your imagination."

"Still, you wear the green gem necklace, don't you, Shannon?" replied Marian, to Mariona's confusion.

Shannon unconsciously moved her right hand over her neck. Mariona could see that she was wearing a black-stringed necklace from which hung a green gem, maybe an emerald, she thought.

"What do you mean by that? What relationship does my necklace have with your science-fiction tale?" Shannon nearly shouted.

"Mariona," Marian seemed to have ignored her granddaughter's questions. "You also wear a necklace. A blue, shell-shaped shell, isn't it?"

Mariona nodded, but was still confused. Why was Marian asking her that?

"Why do you wear it, Mariona?"

"My grandmother gave it to me when… some months before she died," replied the wavy-haired girl. "And I really like it, it's my favourite. I've always worn it."

"What about you, Shannon?"

The red-haired girl doubted whether she had to reply or leave the room. She finally said:

"I took it from the box Mum keeps her jewels in when I was a kid. I know she didn't want me to have it, because it belonged to you, but when she saw me wearing it for the first time, some months ago, she didn't seem to recognise it. Otherwise, I know she would have taken it away from me."

"These necklaces are the source of your powers. You must never get away from them, because I sense that danger is coming closer and closer, and you will have to awake your powers soon," said Marian, after a short silence.

"That makes no sense," said Shannon with sarcasm in her voice.

"I know it's hard to believe, but Shannon, believe it or not, you are the reincarnation of a warrior princess from another planet and your aura is very strong. This means that a planet protects you and your starseed."

"That's just a load of bullshit," Shannon said. "Mum was right about you, you're just a crazy old woman. I feel ashamed of having wanted to talk to you, regardless of what people say about you."

With those words, Shannon left the room and shut the door behind her. Mariona couldn't move. Her heart was racing and she didn't know what to do. She wanted to go after her friend, but she had been captivated by Marian's story and wanted to know more.

Just as if she could read her thoughts, Marian said:

"Your aura is very special, too, Mariona. You are protected by a much stronger power. I sense that the time is coming closer than we expected. But now go, my dear. I think my granddaughter needs someone to talk to."

Mariona was about to leave the room, but closed the door and said to Marian:

"I don't think you're a crazy old woman. I don't know why, but I believe your story."

Marian simply smiled with gratitude and Mariona went to look for Shannon.

She found her in the storage room, sitting on a small pile of boxes and crying. The light was off, but Mariona thought it was better to leave it that way. She kneeled next to the Irish girl and took her hand.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't a good idea to tell you to talk to her."

"I'm the one who should apologise, Mariona. I didn't expect her to… Planets outside the Solar system, warrior princesses… I mean, who'd believe that?" she said as she dried her tears with the back of her sleeve. She stood up to leave the room, looking as if nothing had happened. "Come on, let's get out of here. We have work to do."

These words were followed by an explosion. The two girls, scared, opened the door slowly. Light didn't work in the whole building because the corridors were in complete darkness except for the small emergency lights. They also expected to hear people shouting and crying, but people seemed to have disappeared, for rooms were empty.

Shannon found a torch in the storage room and she and Mariona walked through the corridor, opening the doors of the empty dormitories.

"This is very strange," said Shannon. "Where is everybody?"

"Hide!" said Mariona, trying not to shout too loud. She had seen somebody coming their way, but she couldn't tell who it was.

Hidden under the nurses' desk, they heard how the dormitory doors were opened violently, sometimes with smaller explosions, which were followed by a high-pitched female voice.

"Where are you, you little, disgusting rats? I know you are still alive, I can sense your auras."

Mariona tried to look from their position and saw a woman-shaped silhouette entering a dormitory. She looked human, but there was something about her that gave Mariona a bad feeling.

When the strange woman got out of the room, both Mariona and Shannon could see that her skin was a dark blue tone, her ears were long and pointed and she had a blue, dragon-like tail.

Shannon gasped almost imperceptibly and Mariona put a finger on her lips to warn her friend to be careful: they couldn't be heard. But the monster seemed to have a very good ear, because its high-pitched voice shouted:

"Ah, there you are!" The girls could hear her steps coming close to where they were hidden. "You can get out of there; I'm going to kill you anyway. But don't worry, it won't hurt much."

As the monster said that, it raised its hand to summon a red power ball. She was about to throw it to the nurses' desk when a green light hit it. Shannon and Mariona got out of their hiding place and saw the monster lying on the floor.

"Who are you?" it shouted.

Marian stood opposite to the monster, with a hand lifted as if she was ready to attack it again.

"Shannon, Mariona, the time has come. You have to awaken your powers now!" said Marian. "Follow your hearts."

Mariona noticed Shannon's necklace was shining with green light, and saw that hers was glowing too, but with blue light. She felt warmth around the blue shell that hung from her necklace, and her lips moved automatically, as if it wasn't her who ordered them to move.

"Sirius Crystal Power, Make up!" she shouted. The blue light from her necklace filled the room, and when everybody could see again, Mariona was dressed in a sailor fuku in different shades of blue: the collar was dodger blue, as well as her skirt, even though the skirt was the same shade of pale blue as her bodice. Her wavy hair had changed from dark brown to the same dodger blue of her fuku skirt, and she wore sandals in the same colour.

"Who are you?" shouted the evil monster.

"I am the soldier from the brightest star, a warrior of peace and justice, to defend the innocent from evil. My name is Sailor Sirius! Prepare to fight!"

The evil woman just laughed at the speech. "We finally meet, Sailor Sirius. I am Malvada, and my mission is to destroy you!"

Malvada created another ball of energy on her hand, and shot it to Sailor Sirius, even though she could avoid it, because she found it easier to move now thanks to some sort of power she didn't understand.

Shannon, however, felt unable to move. She was terrified, but Marian, wounded and bleeding, said to her: "Raise your hand up to the air and shout the words your heart whispers. You must do it now, my child!"

Shannon doubted, but finally her lips moved almost automatically. "Rhiannon Crystal Power, Make Up!"

Her body was now surrounded by green light and leaves that flew around her. She had transformed into Sailor Rhiannon, and her fuku was very similar to the one Mariona wore, only that Shannon's was in shades of green and wore brown leather boots. Her hair had become slightly darker, and it was now combed in two short braids, one at each side of her face.

Meanwhile, Malvada hadn't stopped attacking Sailor Sirius, even though she had learned to do the Sirius Bright Wave attack, which consisted of attacking her opponent with a flash of light, which blinded her foes, followed by a strong wave of water that left them completely soaked, because they couldn't prevent it or escape from it because of the blinding.

Sirius had been wounded, because Malvada was also powerful and Sirius's attack hadn't been enough to stop her. And now the evil monster decided that she had had enough of the girl in the blue uniform, and went after Marian, who was an easier aim.

"Don't you dare touch her!" yelled Shannon, and moved her arm to use her Rhiannon Whip. Malvada was hit and she got some deep cuts on her skin.

"You..." cried Malvada. Her cuts hurt her when she moved, but that that didn't seem enough to stop her.

"I won't allow you to continue hurting innocent people. I am Sailor Rhiannon, the soldier of nature! En garde!"

"I don't care who you are! I'm going to kill you as well," growled Malvada, ready to attack again. But now there were two Sailor Senshi, and the combination of their attacks made the monster disappear.

The girls were happy because they had defeated her, but they didn't forget about Marian. The woman lay against a pile of empty cardboard boxes, but she hadn't stopped bleeding. Mariona entered the storage room and found some bandages for Marian.

"Don't bother, girls. It's no use," she said, even though Marion and Shannon still tried to stop her bleeding. "I'm about to die."

"No, you won't die!" Shannon had accidentally raised her voice too much, which shocked Mariona. She didn't expect her friend to react like that, but she was glad that Shannon finally showed her real feelings towards her grandmother.

"But that's life, Shannon," Marian said. "You two are the ones who have to be careful from now on. The fight that you've just fought has nothing to do with what will come, and sooner than any of us expected."

"Any of us? What do you mean?" asked Shannon.

"The other guardians of the Sirius planets. There are six of us. Well… there were six of us. I'm afraid I'm the only one left. And not for long," she smiled sadly. "Shannon, Mariona: you have to find the other Sirius Senshi before it's too late. Don't let her do it again."

"Do what?" asked Mariona. But Marian didn't answer.

"M-Marian…?" Shannon shook her arm gently, but it was useless. Marian was dead. "No… No! Grandmother! Don't die!" Tears fell down her cheeks as she took Marian's cold hand.

That night, Mariona had another dream. In the same field where she had seen a blue-haired boy give her a blue rose were now seven roses. A blue rose was standing in the middle, and next to it was a green rose. But the green rose was divided in two: a new flower was blooming on top of the older rose.

The other roses seemed to be blooming as well, but Mariona couldn't see them clearly. One of the moons of that place was in its full phase, while the other two started to shine very slightly.