Professor Chronos asked, "Kaolinite, have you found the next target?"
"Yes," Kaolinite agreed. "This person has a very pure soul."
"Then I shall give you my strongest demon," Chronos laughed.
"Today is June 30!" Serena shouted. "Today is my birthday!"
The girls were walking home from school. The others looked at Serena dully. "Good for you, Serena," Lita congratulated tiredly.
"Yeah, Happy Birthday," Ami added.
Serena was disappointed by the cold reception. Rei said, "Just because it your birthday doesn't mean you can be late for the study session. See you at four."
Serena started to cry in disappointment. The others left her alone.
As Serena walked dejectedly down the street, she saw a shoe store. In the window she saw pretty pair of glass shoes. "Maybe I'll ask Darien to get them for me as a present."
Serena searched for Darien. Finally she found him. "I've been looking for you."
"Why?" Darien asked.
"You're pretending you don't know," Serena laughed. "There's something I want as a present. Glass shoes! Please get them for me."
Kaolinite hovered in the air, watching Darien and Serena.
"Christmas is a long ways off," Darien said.
"Of course!" Serena began to get the suspicion that everyone had forgotten her birthday. "Darien, don't you know what day this is?"
Darien drew a blank. "Today? What is today?" Serena looked so disappointed, Darien tried to cover. "Just a joke. How can I forget...Today is the day that we first met."
Serena slapped Darien and ran off crying. As Serena cried, Erica and Michelle walked over to her. "Tears don't look good on you," Erica said.
"Darien forgot my birthday!" Serena sobbed.
"The nerve of him, forgetting your birthday..." Michelle said.
"He's not my boyfriend anymore," Serena cried.
Then there's a chance for me..." Erica got closer to Serena.
"I've got to go to Rei's house and study," Serena said, backing away from Erica. "Bye!"
As Serena left, Erica commented, "That girl is cute."
"She might be the owner of one of the talismans," Michelle warned.
Erica was stunned. "It can't be."
Meanwhile, Darien called Rei, concerned about Serena. Rei told Darien that it was her birthday.
Serena opened the door to Rei's room. "Happy Birthday!" the girls shouted. Serena squealed in delight and surprise.
Lita had made bushels of food. Ami brought Serena a present, a study book with lots of questions that could be on tests.
"C'mon, Serena. Cheer up," Rei encouraged her.
"Let's forget about studying and party," Mina suggested.
"Uh huh!" Lita and Rei agreed.
"Well, alright. But just today. And tomorrow we'll have to study extra hard," Ami conceded.
Serena thought to herself that she really wanted a present from Darien.
Darien wandered into the shoe store. He picked up the glass shoes, and walked to the counter. As he waited to pay, Kaolinite put the demon egg into the shoe.
Michelle and Erica were outside the store as Darien left. Both of them saw Kaolinite. "He must be the next target," Erica concluded.
Serena slumped in a chair, while everyone else was partying. "What's wrong?" Rei asked.
"I slapped Darien," she cried.
"Because he forgot your birthday, right? But he didn't forget, he never knew," Rei told Serena.
Lita advised, "Did you ever tell him your birthday?"
"Of course, I never told him," Serena pouted. "But if he really loved me, he would feel it in his heart."
"Then Serena, do you know Darien's birthday?" Mina asked.
"Yes!" Serena exclaimed. But then she thought about it. "I guess I really don't know. I should go apologize to Darien."
Serena found Darien in the street. He held the shoes out to her. "Here, try them on," he urged. As Serena stuck her feet in, the demon emerged.
The demon struck Darien and attacked Serena. He picked Serena up and pushed her against the wall, preparing to take her soul.
She took out her compact, "Moon Cosmic-!"
The demon swatted the compact away from her. "Don't hit me with that."
Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus appeared on the scene. They saw that it wasn't Darien that was the target, but Serena.
The demon pulled out Serena's soul. Neptune asked, "Aren't you going to save her?"
Uranus replied, "But she might be someone with a talisman."
Neptune laughed, "You think we shouldn't let her die if she is the one. It's written on your face.
This time, Uranus laughed. "Don't be stupid."
The demon examined the soul crystal. "This is the talisman," it growled. "It's different from the other ones."
Sailor Uranus saw that it was different too. "It must be the talisman!"
Uranus advanced to retrieve Serena's soul, but Neptune stopped her. "If it is really the talisman, you can't return it to her. She will die."
Uranus nodded slowly. "I know."
A rose struck the demon, knocking the soul crystal away from it. Serena's soul returned to her body. Tuxedo Mask told the demon, "A pure soul is a light that shines in the dark. I will protect the brilliance of that heart."
He threw a dozen roses at the demon. It froze. He swooped down to Serena and pulled her away from the demon.
Tuxedo Mask stopped on top of a building. "Now is the time to transform, Serena."
"I've lost my compact!" she shouted, afraid. "I can't transform."
Kaolinite appeared over the demon. "What happened?"
"Someone interfered," the demon snarled.
"Find the girl," Kaolinite ordered the demon. She noticed the compact on the ground and picked it up. "This looks like the one worn by Sailor Moon."
From atop the building, Serena saw Kaolinite pick up her compact. Tuxedo Mask said, "We have to escape."
The demon saw them running away. It chased them. They turned a corner and ran straight into Kaolinite.
She pulled out her communicator and contacted Luna. "I need the others."
Kaolinite slapped the communicator away. "It's no use calling your friends, Sailor Moon."
Sailor Uranus and Neptune were watching nearby. "Are you just going to leave her?" asked Neptune.
"Yes," Uranus nodded. "We must find the three talismans and the Holy Grail. For that, sacrifices must be made."
At the Hikawa Shrine, Mina moaned about eating too much cake. Rei said, "Serena and Darien must have made up by now. I wonder what's taking so long?"
Ami's communicator rang. She pulled it out of her pocket. It was Luna.
"Stay back while I fight the demon," Tuxedo Mask told Serena. "Escape when you have the chance."
Tuxedo Mask lunged at the demon. Serena made a run for it. She was stopped by Kaolinite.
"Don't you want this?" she asked, holding out Serena's compact. "If you don't want it, I'll break it." She dropped the compact on the ground and placed her foot on it. "Don't resist having your soul taken!"
The demon sprayed something on Tuxedo Mask. It froze him. Serena couldn't do anything.