Queen Serenity the Third, Queen of the Neo Silver Millennium, glanced one more time in the mirror. Another pink wisp of hair had escaped the pointed odango. Everything had to be perfect for her oldest daughter’s debutante ball. Even Serenity’s appearance, even though it was her daughter Shizuki who should draw all eyes.

Remembering her own debutante, Serenity smiled wryly. That day, several thousand years before, had been intended to be perfect, too. She’d grown four centimeters and a bust size between the last fitting of her debutante gown and the day of her ball, and she’d been rudely interrupted by one of her possible future selves. Queen Rage had been amazingly hard to beat. Fortunately, the future where Usa, as Serenity had been known then, became Queen Rage wasn’t the present Serenity lived in. Praise the moon, the sun, and the stars above for that, she thought.

That debutante ball had been the day Usa rediscovered her identity as a Sailor Senshi. Rediscovered, because she had been a Senshi-in-training. Usa’s mother, Neo-Queen Serenity, had erased Usa’s memory of that training, in hopes that Usa would never need to be a Senshi. Queen Rage’s arrival had changed that. Serenity’s memory of those days was still hazy, but she remembered.

Another possible thing that could go wrong, Serenity thought sadly. Much clearer in her memory was the days before the old Queen had died, the many, many battles against an all-consuming energy force. Shizuki had been a Senshi-in-training then, just like Usa before her. Serenity, like her own mother, had erased Shizuki’s memory, and for the same reason. Now, Serenity hoped and prayed that she would not have to tell her daughter of her destiny, just like she imagined her mother had done.

Serenity decided she would bring Shizuki’s old transformation brooch, just in case. She really didn’t want the Sailor Senshi to be awakened. Three women were missing from the ranks of the Neo Sailor Senshi. Who would replace them, Serenity had no idea. Himeko didn’t remember being a Neo Senshi. Megami had gone insane. Seishi…Serenity hauled her thoughts away from Seishi. She’d been dead a long time. Ryuu and Kasumi’s daughter, Tomoe, might be the next Sailorsaturn, looking so much like Seishi as she did. Looks weren’t everything, though, and Tomoe might only appear to be Seishi’s daughter. But that still left the problem of Uranus and Neptune.

* * * * *

Shizuki sighed. Things were not going well.

First, she’d found out that she was expected to dance with the prince of the neighboring system of Bèllo Domenica. From overhearing gossip among the servants, Shizuki had learned that eventually she was probably going to marry Prince Giovanni. Shizuki was not the least bit pleased at having life decided for her. If I’m lucky, I can’t dance well enough for him to be interested in me. I think this might just be the first time I’ve thought of the fact that I can’t dance as a good thing, she thought.

Second, there would be at least twenty holoview crews there, focused on her royally screwing up what she was supposed to say and stepping on her own and everybody else’s feet while dancing. Shizuki thought about the ancient, ancient idea of a "Kodak moment". As her history teacher taught it, a "Kodak moment" was an instant in time peculiarly suited to being "photographed", the archaic practice similar to holography but incapable of producing either 3D or moving images. Shizuki hated being holographed, and she didn’t suppose that being in a "Kodak moment" would be any improvement.

Third, Shizuki didn’t understand why there was so much fuss. It was just a debutante ball, after all. There was one every sixty years, for those who had reached the appearance of sixteen years of age since the last one and who cared to participate, though Shizuki hadn’t been given a choice. This one should be no different. Besides, her best friend, Seijitsu Minako, was the daughter of the heir to the throne of Kinsei. Minako would be one of the debutantes along with Shizuki. Minako would wear the same silver-edged white gown as any other ordinary debutante. Shizuki’s gown was gold-edged white, which was unusual enough, and she would be the only debutante with a crown. The holoview crews were there to holo Shizuki, not Minako. While all the debutantes had to dance at least once, with their escorts, the first dance would be Shizuki and Prince Giovanni. All by themselves. With every eye on them. Minako wouldn’t go through that.

She sighed. She really didn’t understand. Then Shizuki spared a glance in the mirror, to see how her maidservant was getting along in styling her hair. The floor-length peach river had been arranged in the traditional spherical odango, with the traditional comet-tails hanging down, but that was only the base of her hairstyle. The comet-tails hung only to Shizuki’s shoulders, then looped up. The maidservant was putting the last few hairpins in the design, which appeared to be her name and rank in an overly ornate and decorative calligraphy style. Shizuki couldn’t stand it.

Shizuki stood up, startling the maidservant and knocking several hairpins to the floor. Without the hairpins to hold it together, the "ty" of "Serenity" collapsed into a tangle of hair and a large number of loose peach strands escaped the beautiful letters. Shizuki smiled and began to shake her head rapidly from side to side, which made the rest of the hairpins fall to the floor. "Milady, what—" began the maidservant, but Shizuki held up a hand to stop her mid-sentence.

"Lia, would you please brush my hair again, remove any hairpins that might still be in, fetch my star jewels, and arrange my hair just as you did yesterday," Shizuki told the maidservant as she gracefully sat back down. Her tone made it an order, not a request. Lia sighed, but obeyed.

"Milady, your mother the Queen ordered me especially to set your hair that way. All of the other debutantes tonight will have their hairstyle showing their name and rank. You can’t simply go against tradition like this," the dark-haired girl informed Shizuki.

"I can and I will, Lia, and I’m countermanding Mother’s order, and she’s not to know until I walk down those stairs at the ball, underst—" Shizuki broke off at the knock on the door. Barely waiting for a response, the door opened and Serenity gracefully walked in.

"Lia, my dear, I know I told you how to style Shizuki’s hair," she began, seeing one side of Shizuki’s hair in the star-shaped odango around the light blue jewel, but Shizuki interrupted.

"She told me that, Mother, and I told her I’d rather have my hair simple tonight. I’d rather look like myself." Shizuki’s voice was soft and slightly apologetic. Lia, her job completed, scurried from the room. Serenity sank into the dark-haired girl’s vacated chair.

"I understand, Shizuki. I wanted to look like myself on my debutante night, too. The only problem then was I wasn’t quite sure what ‘myself’ looked like," Serenity said, startling a laugh from Shizuki.

A bell chimed the hour. …nine, ten, one, two, three, Shizuki thought, counting each ring for the hour and each chime for the quarter-hour. In an hour and fifteen minutes, just as that bell rang the twelfth hour, she would descend the wide stairway into the ballroom. The pattern of the chimes seemed to echo the rhyming pattern of one of the longest of the prophecies. She began to murmur the words under her breath. "the brightest moon, the shining star, the gentle earth, the glowing sun, which it is, no one can say, who is the chosen one? dancing flame, flowing stream, singing wind, growing tree, which it is, no one can say, which will the chosen be?"

Serenity sighed. Shizuki’s words—she has to be ‘the brightest moon’, she thought, and Hikari is probably ‘the glowing sun’—no, I will not think about Solana now. Tomiya must be ‘the gentle earth’, and Stella’s daughter, Suzumi, must be ‘the shining star’. I wish Shizuki hadn’t remembered that prophecy. I wish I hadn’t. All it does is make me more sure she’ll have to awaken to her destiny tonight, she thought. Aloud, she added, "I think by now you ought to be waiting in the east wing of the throne room, Shizuki, dear, and I’d best make my way to the throne room myself." She stood and started to leave, then glanced back at her oldest daughter. "Good luck," she whispered, "since you’ll probably need it."

* * * * *

Morino Tomoe sat anxiously in the front row of seating in one of the spectators’ balconies above the ballroom. This one was the best, since it was at the end directly opposite the great staircase from the throne room, and level with the top of that staircase. Queen Serenity III and her husband, Prince Trent, were seated in those thrones. She, like everyone else, wanted a good view of Princess Shizuki de Tsuki. It wouldn’t hurt to get a good view of her younger sister, Aya, who would descend those stairs tonight as well. Thinking of Aya and Shizuki led her to thoughts of Hades Chiharu and Seijitsu Minako, who were also among tonight’s debutantes. That reminded Tomoe that she and her family weren’t the only people occupying the central balcony. She twisted around to see who else was seated near her.

The j-pop star Tamashiino-Hisakino Karei was two rows behind Tomoe and three seats to the left, with her mother, her daughters and her husband. The older girl had cherry-red hair that barely brushed her shoulders. The younger had hair the same color as Tomoe’s own, black with hints of violet, though the violet in the other girl’s mid-back-length hair was closer to red. Just in front of Tamashiino-san sat Tokino Setsuna, the famous fashion designer, with Chiharu’s parents Hades Yoake and Hades Alexander. Tomoe recognized Chiharu’s younger sisters Chinatsu and Chiaki in the olive-green- and spring-green-haired girls on either side of Tokino-san, and Chiharu’s older brother Aaron sat on the other side of Chiaki, just behind Tomoe. For one instant, seeming an eternity yet all too short, Tomoe’s dark emerald eyes met Aaron’s brilliant emerald. They both smiled. She had to force herself to look away.

Seated next to Aaron was a pale-blue-haired girl Tomoe didn’t recognize, next to a pale-pink-haired girl, a white-haired woman who didn’t look old enough to have white hair, a violet-haired man, and a pale-violet-haired girl. Behind those four were two black-haired girls, a purple-haired woman, a dark-green-haired girl, and a green-haired man. Behind those were a dark-gold-haired man, a black-haired girl, an orange-haired woman, a golden-haired girl, and a dark-orange-haired girl. Next to Tomoe, but one chair away, sat a pink-haired woman, and on her other side were a light-purple-haired girl, a light-brown-haired girl, a light-brown-haired man, and a light-blue-haired girl. On Tomoe’s other side were her sisters Utako and Megami, her little brother Masaya, and her parents Kasumi and Ryuu. Behind Ryuu, at the far end of the row, sat Shizuki’s younger sister Hikari, and behind Hikari was her younger sister Tomiya. Next to Tomiya, occupying the remaining six seats, sat Minako’s sisters Murasaki, Misora, and Midori, their mother Aiko, and her husband.

Tomoe glanced around the room. Every balcony was filled, and Tomoe spotted several familiar faces scattered throughout the room. Among them were her grandmothers Ami and Makoto. One of the balconies, just above floor-level, was clearly reserved for dignitaries. Under the flags of each of the planets of the system sat its governor and his/her family. In the front row sat an aging woman, a young man, two young boys, an older man, and a woman with a baby under the flag of the neighboring system of Bèllo Domenica. Next to them sat a woman who looked like Queen Serenity but with blue hair and a young girl with green hair in a similar hairstyle under the flag of the not-so-distant system called simply Star.

A bell somewhere chimed the eleventh hour. From the single balcony above the great staircase came the sound of a trumpet fanfare.

A young lady with dark brown hair in a silver-edged long white dress stepped out from the west side of the throne room to the top of the great staircase. Everyone fell silent. A man’s voice rang out, "Announcing the Lady Aogawa Sakura." As the young lady began to descend the staircase, the man spoke of her family, her achievements, and her hopes for the future. At the bottom of the staircase, she was met by an older woman who carefully placed a necklace around her neck. The young lady then walked gracefully to a balcony at the far end of the ballroom. As soon as she had received her necklace, a blond girl in the same dress stepped to the top of the staircase, and the man called out, "Announcing the Lady Phyllis Summer." Several more young ladies went through the same ceremony, each taking about five or six minutes to descend the staircase. Then came Morino Aya, then Hades Chiharu, then Seijitsu Minako.

Another trumpet fanfare. This one was more complicated than the first one had been. Abruptly, all the lights in the ballroom went out. The windowless room was completely dark. Then, one single thin ray of light came from the general region of the top of the great staircase. Then another, then another, angled to hit the ceiling well above Tomoe’s head. The pattern formed by the many rays of light was a brilliant silver crescent moon. Then, one bright light shone from behind and slightly above the crescent. A figure stepped into the light. Only her outline was visible. The dress was clearly a form-fitting top and a long skirt. Her hair was styled in the distinctive comet-tails of Selestia’s lineage, with star-shaped odango. As she walked forward, stepping into the center of the silver crescent, a bell chimed the twelfth hour.

As the young woman gracefully descended the staircase, the spotlight following her, more details were visible. Her hair was a pale peach, with thin red and gold streaks. The star-shaped jewels in her odango were light blue, a striking contrast. Her dress was pure white, edged in gold, coming to her ankles in front and trailing several centimeters behind her in back. Her shoes were shining gold. There was no doubt as to who she was, even before the spotlight revealed her brilliant violetish-blue eyes and the facial features that looked just like Queen Serenity’s. As she reached the bottom of the staircase and the lights began slowly to return to their former brightness, the man who had announced the other debutantes called out, "Announcing the Crown Princess, Lady Tsukino Kage Shizuki Selenity, Princess Shizuki de Tsuki!" The room rang with applause.

Queen Serenity stood slowly and followed her oldest daughter down the staircase. As she walked, the room slowly quieted. Finally, just as Serenity reached Shizuki, there was absolute silence except for the chirping of a lone cricket.

The room darkened. A spotlight illuminated Shizuki and Serenity. Serenity carried a simple silver crown with a large pale blue gem, surrounded by smaller light pink gems arranged in a crescent moon. "Lady Shizuki Selenity," Serenity began, "are you willing to accept the rank of Princess and all the responsibilities that come with that rank?"

Shizuki calmly said, "I am."

"In times of war, you will be called on to protect your people. Are you willing?"

Shizuki swallowed hard, then confidently answered, "I am."

This continued for a few more minutes, Serenity stating a responsibility Shizuki would have as the Princess and later the Queen of the system, then asking "Are you willing?", then Shizuki saying "I am."

Finally, Serenity repeated, "Lady Shizuki Selenity, are you willing to accept the rank of Princess and all the responsibilities that come with that rank?"

Shizuki again calmly answered, "I am." As she did, Serenity set the crown on Shizuki’s head. Loud applause came from all directions.

Another spotlight illuminated the young man under the flag of Bèllo Domenica. The man who had announced the debutantes now said, "Announcing Prince Giovanni of the Bèllo Domenica system!" The young Prince descended the short stairway to the ballroom floor, then walked quickly to Shizuki in the center of the floor. The musicians struck up a waltz. After the first few steps, other couples began to dance as well. Prince Trent was among the first people out on the floor, joining Serenity and beginning to dance at the base of the great staircase. Several more thin spotlights, of various colors, illuminated various couples for a few seconds each. Slowly, the spotlights began to dim and the room to lighten.

Tomoe felt a tap on her shoulder and twisted around. Aaron smiled at her, then whispered, "Would you care to dance?"

Tomoe smiled back, stood, and whispered, "I’d love to."

The two of them walked out to the stairway leading to the ballroom floor. Ryuu leaned over and whispered something in Kasumi’s ear as Aaron and Tomoe passed them. Kasumi laughed softly and, with Ryuu, followed Tomoe and Aaron down to the dance floor.

A shriek from on the floor near the great staircase caused the music to stop, the lights to come on at their brightest, all the dancing to cease, and all eyes to turn in the direction of the staircase. It had to have been Serenity who screamed. The crescent moon on her forehead faded, her hair became a darker red, and her eyes became a vacant purple. Then a black star appeared on her forehead, her hair turned jet-black, and her eyes became a clear-seeing blue. Her white dress became black edged with gold. A black teardrop-shaped crystal on a thin golden chain appeared from nowhere and fastened itself around her bare neck. Prince Trent was temporarily immobilized with shock, so much that he didn’t see the black-haired woman swing her arm at him. The blow connected with enough force to knock him backwards, crack his head on one of the railings of the staircase, and slide to a half-sitting position against the railing.

Aaron and Tomoe stood near the base of the great staircase, in its shadow. She whispered an apology to him and walked a few steps closer to Prince Trent, but not out of the shadow of the staircase. She held out an arm that was glowing faintly violet. A little bit of the violet light jumped from her hand to the back of Prince Trent’s head, where a thin but steady stream of blood trickled down one of the beautifully carved posts. When the little bit of light touched the spot, the bleeding stopped.

Almost instantly, the light around Tomoe faded. Suddenly, her legs decided it was too much effort to hold her up and her eyes decided it was too much effort to stay open, and she collapsed. Aaron took a few steps forward, scooped Tomoe up, and walked to the nearest pair of empty chairs that had been set up around the perimeter of the room. Almost soon as Aaron’s hands touched Tomoe’s bare legs, faint bits of violet light began flickering around the two. Every second or third one touched Aaron, feeling like a very small electric shock. Those ones that did touch him became more greenish than violet, then jumped to Tomoe and sank under her skin. As each greenish one sank in, ten or twenty more appeared. Aaron didn’t notice the lights, or that every little shock seemed to make him a little more tired. When Aaron got about halfway to the chairs, Tomoe opened her eyes.

Aaron whispered, "Are you all right?"

Tomoe whispered back, weakly, "I am now, thanks."

Most of the people were panicking, and no one would have been surprised if people had been trampled in the rush to the exits. The former Neo Senshi and Star Senshi stared, amazed, at the woman they had thought dead long before. Aiko summed up their feelings with a single word. "Shit." Kasumi added in a whisper, her voice filled with hate, "Solana."

A burst of violet light came from a point near the middle of the great staircase. Quickly, the light collapsed in on itself, then formed into a female human body. Everything but the long waving black hair was sparkling violet energy. Even though nothing but her hair was recognizable, still Ryuu, amazed, knew her, and whispered her name.

"Seishi…"

The violet energy flowed away from Seishi, leaving her dressed as Neo Sailorsaturn, holding the Silence Glaive in her left hand. The glove was missing from her right hand, which she held open so everyone could see the six-pointed star traced on her palm. Neo Saturn only spoke one word aloud, but that was enough. "Tomoe…"

Amazed, Tomoe stared at Neo Saturn. There had been so many mysteries in her life…and this woman, who had died so long before, whom she had only heard about in history class, she could explain them with just one word?

Whispering an apology and an "I’ll explain later" to Aaron, Tomoe got up and walked forward a few steps, not quite coming out of the shadow of the staircase. Her eyes, firmly fixed on Neo Saturn’s, held so many questions. Neo Saturn smiled, then extended her right hand to Tomoe and traced a hexacle in midair. The hexacle on Neo Saturn’s palm glowed violet, then faded. A sudden sharp pain struck Tomoe’s right hand, startling her into stepping backwards, tripping over her own feet, and falling back into Aaron’s arms.

Slowly, Tomoe got back on her feet. Her attention was more on her right hand. Something had traced a glowing violet hexacle onto her palm. Something about that glow, though…just the shade of amethyst of Neo Saturn’s eyes. Wait…Saturn…she’s my mother…that must mean… Half-formed thoughts raced through Tomoe’s mind, slowly assembling themselves into words. "Spirit of the Earth Star…" Tomoe began. A violet aura flared up around her. She knew exactly what she had to do. "I call upon the powers that are rightfully mine by destiny. In the name of Saturn!" she shouted. The symbol of Saturn glowed brightly violet on her forehead. A thin violet mist formed around Neo Saturn. "Saturn Crystal Power, Transform!"

The violet auras around Tomoe and Neo Saturn became brilliant amethyst columns of light. The columns shifted toward each other, then became one. Seishi stepped backwards out of the column. Kasumi, Ryuu, thank you. Then she was gone.

Tomoe was still in the column of violet light. Her dress seemed to fade away, not that anyone could see any details thanks to the violet light. A sudden wind rushed upwards from the floor under her feet, strong enough to lift her a few inches from the floor. Her long braided hair whipped upwards. Under the force of the wind, her hair escaped the elastic securing the braid and unbraided itself. A small bit of the violet light swirled around itself, then rushed into its own center, then exploded outward. A violet rose-shaped crystal fell out of the spot, then hovered level with Tomoe’s neck. Black light exploded out of the crystal, then whirled around Tomoe, enveloping the crystal as well. The black light and a lot of the violet light collapsed inward, outlining Tomoe’s body and a sailorfuku. Silvery light erupted from the rose crystal, now firmly attached to the round brooch in the center of the front bow, and washed over Tomoe and what looked like a long staff with two blades attached to the top.

The wind and the silvery light vanished. Tomoe stood, eyes closed, holding the Silence Glaive in her left hand. Her bodysuit was white, with fringed sleeves, like Neo Saturn’s. Her pleated skirt, the brooch holding the rose crystal, her knee-high boots, and the scarf with a single white stripe were plain black. Both the front and the back bows, with medium-long tails, were dull violet, as was the plain choker. A polished white oval gem, with hints of every other color running through it and fading, sat just where it would had there been a tiara to hold it there. The long white glove on her left hand had a black stripe at the end, and her right hand was bare except for the glowing violet hexacle. A few feet of long black hair trailed behind her. A teeny bit of violet light ran across her lips, leaving pale violet lip gloss. Her hair braided itself up. The violet light faded.

Tomoe’s eyes snapped open. She smiled. She could feel the power…the power of Saturn. Crystal Sailorsaturn.

Solana, almost forgotten, stared, shocked, at the figure who had just stepped out into the light. She couldn’t be Neo Sailorsaturn…could she? She looked just as Neo Saturn had just before…except her hair was braided, and her eyes looked different somehow…but…never mind that, she had to be destroyed. Solana raised a hand to the sky. A single ray of brilliant golden light shone down from the sun, despite the sun having set several minutes before and the ceiling being in the way. The ray became a sphere in Solana’s raised hand. The light faded. Solana brought down the golden crystal, aiming a ray of light at the black-haired girl.

Crystal Saturn smiled. Attack first, talk later. She began to spin the Silence Glaive, deflecting the ray of light harmlessly into the ceiling. Then, she began to whirl the Silence Glaive around above her head, running toward Solana. As she got about halfway there, the black star on Solana’s head flickered, then faded for an instant to be replaced by a crescent. As that happened, her hair flickered to dark red, then pink, and her eyes to violet, then red. Serenity brought out from a hidden pocket in her skirt a round brooch with a silver crescent moon engraved on its pale blue lid and threw it to Shizuki. Almost before it had left her hand, the black star returned to her forehead, her hair became black, and her eyes blue.

Shizuki, amazed, stared at the brooch in her hand. I’ve seen this before, she realized. But where? That’s the symbol of the Moon, and that’s just the color of my hair jewels—I wonder— Shizuki’s thoughts were cut off by a silver blade rushing down in front of her, stopping just above her extended legs, then moving out of her sight. She looked up to see Crystal Saturn offering her a hand up, having just deflected one of Solana’s gold light rays. Shizuki took it gladly and resumed examining the brooch. She unconsciously began tracing the outline of the silver crescent. After three times around, she heard a click. The circle of pale blue inside the silver crescent popped up. Just under the circle was a pale blue crystal. I’ve seen that before, too…Wait a minute…She pushed down the pale blue circle and waved her right hand in front of the crescent. The lid seemed to dissolve into silvery sparkles, revealing the crystal again. It began to glow pale violetish blue. The light detached itself from the crystal and rushed around her, surrounding her in a bluish glow that then sank beneath her skin.

That’s where I’ve seen this before! she thought as all the memories came rushing back. I’m…I am… I was Sailorchibimoon…but now…I’m…Sailormoon…Shizuki had forgotten—or been made to forget—her trip into the past to help conquer Solana and to train Shizuki as a Senshi in the hopes she would never need to use the training. Now, Shizuki was glad of the training, though she wasn’t overly pleased about forgetting the friends she’d made then. Not that she’d had many of them.

Another of Solana’s light rays came in Shizuki’s direction. She dove out of its way and ran, panicked, toward the nearest exit. Safely behind the closed door, she raised the brooch into the air. "Moon Crystal Power, Transform!"

Silvery rays of light came from every direction at once. Some were absorbed by the pale blue crystal, but most began to circle Shizuki. A strong wind rushed upwards from the floor, lifting her several inches off the floor, making her pigtails point upwards, and causing her star jewels to dissolve and all of the hairpins and elastics that held her hairstyle in place to jump out. The silvery rays of light wove themselves into a single long ribbon, most of which then wove itself into her sleeveless bodysuit and scarf. The rest lengthened considerably, and a short piece detached itself. The long piece wove itself into her light pink skirt, the short piece became much longer, and another short piece broke off. The long piece divided itself into two parts, each of which became one of her light blue bows. The brooch, which had been hanging in midair, secured itself to the center of the front bow. The piece of ribbon grew longer and divided itself into three parts, two of which became her boots. That process was repeated, forming her gloves. The last bit of ribbon did NOT grow longer, and did divide itself into eight bits. One became her plain choker, one her silver tiara with its pale blue stone, two became new star jewels (which her hair arranged itself around), two more became her dangly silver crescent moon earrings, one became pink sparkly lip gloss, and the last one grew longer. Shizuki held out her hand, as if she was holding something, and the last piece of ribbon wove itself around midair. That ribbon seemed to collapse in on itself, forming the Crescent Wand. (Note: Remember the wand Usagi had in the first season? That would be the wand Shizuki has, except somewhere along the line the handle turned light blue. The Silver Crystal isn’t there, either.)

Crystal Sailormoon smiled. It felt good to have her powers back. She was stronger than she’d been a few hundred years ago, when she’d been training in the past with the Neo Senshi, and she could feel that. She ran through the hallways back to the east wing of the throne room, where she’d been only a few short minutes before.

Saturn and Solana were engaged in a duel of sorts, Solana flinging golden light rays from the golden crystal she held—Iridescent Jewel, that’s it, Crystal Moon thought—as she dodged swings from the Silence Glaive, and Saturn expertly attacking Solana (and stopping her swings when Serenity regained control of her body for brief periods) and deflecting the golden light rays. Crystal Moon removed her tiara and, with the skill of long experience, flung the silver disk of light between Saturn and Solana.

Both Saturn and Solana were startled badly when the silver light disk came between them. Just then, the lights went out in the nearly empty ballroom and a spotlight illuminated a silhouetted figure, the same way it had illuminated Shizuki a few minutes before. The silver disk looped back, boomerang-style, to land in the girl’s hand.

"Solana, didn’t you learn your lesson last time?" demanded the girl in a half-bored-sounding tone. She leapt to a point about halfway down the great staircase, the spotlight following. Now, her peach hair in star odango was clearly visible, as was the fuku very similar to what Saturn wore except pink and light blue where Saturn’s was black and violet. Also clearly visible was the look of determination on her face.

Solana flung a good large number of light rays at Crystal Moon, saying sarcastically, "What, no speech?"

Halfway through her flip off the staircase out of the way of the light rays, Crystal Moon replied, "Why should I waste my breath?" As she landed, she added, "Crescent Moon Purify!" as she traced a large circle in the air in front of her with the tip of the Crescent Wand. Silver sparkles followed the wand around, clearly visible in the dark ballroom. The silver sparkles wove themselves into a single ribbon as Crystal Moon pointed the Crescent Wand at Solana. The ribbon threw itself at Solana, wrapping around her, then dissolving.

Someone had the presence of mind to turn the lights back on. In the brightness, it was clearly visible that Solana was losing control over Serenity, as the symbol on her forehead was a flickering crescent moon, her hair was dark red edging towards pink, and her eyes were flickering between red-violet and red. Finally, her hair reached a normal pink, her eyes became red and stayed there, and the crescent moon stopped flickering. Her dress faded back to white, and the black crystal on her necklace faded to a silvery color. Serenity stood up, very dizzily, and looked around. Crystal Saturn had vanished, and Crystal Moon’s peach pigtails could be seen disappearing into the west wing of the throne room.

Tomoe slipped out of the shadow of the great staircase and back to Aaron. As the music began again, they began to dance again.

Shizuki peeked out from the door she had used to escape from the ballroom. She glanced around, saw everything was fine, stepped cautiously into the room, then rushed to her wobbling mother. It was more difficult than Shizuki had thought to assist Serenity up the great staircase.

The bell chimed the twelfth hour and the second quarter hour. Only thirty minutes had passed since Shizuki had first entered the ballroom.