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Chapter 7 Avalanche Attack! There were close to two dozen women gathered at the starting line of the Moon Princess Contest, and they all looked calm and comfortable with what was about to happen. Serena looked at them all in faint disbelief, especially after getting a look at the steep beginning of the descent down the mountain. Are these girls all crazy? Serena wondered. Her heart was jack-hammering in her ribs at the idea of going down that path. Especially in the dark, as the sun was swiftly setting behind the mountain range. Near the start line there was a stage with a microphone and speakers, and to one side of the stage was a map of the track down the mountain. Looking at the map did nothing at all to soothe Serena's nerves. It looked long and had many turns in it, and there might have been a jump in the middle, but she was hoping she was misreading the map about that. From the corner of her eye, Serena saw Raye looking at the map, too, and while she didn't look

Chapter 6 The Ski Contest The sky was mostly clear when the Sailors and Yuuichirou arrived at his family cabin that Friday. The fresh snow sparkled under the sun, with only the occasional shadow from a cloud drifting over it. They could see the ski lifts and the lodge close by, red and brown against all of the white, and part of a train track. Yuuichirou drove his rented car past the road to the main lodge and went up a secondary road with practiced ease, and they went through a small, patchy bit of forest before coming to a driveway. “Wow, it's so pretty up here!” Serena said as she stared out the window. Raye was up front with Yuuichirou, Serena and Amy were in the middle, and Lita and Mina were in the back. “It's too bad Luna and Artemis won't get to see it,” Amy observed, looking out her own window. “Oh, it's fine. They'd rather be curled up somewhere warm, anyway, and they probably have work to do,” Mina said a guilt-free smile. Back in Crossroads at that moment

Chapter 5 A Weekend Trip It had been very cold in Tokyo for several days, and everyone was bundling up. The air was crisp, and breath looked like plumes of fog. The sky was clear for the moment, but there could be no question winter was creeping in bit by bit. Serena was on her way to Raye's temple for another Sailor Scout meeting, and she was actually on time for once. She wore a puffy pink jacket, a white turtle neck sweater, a light green miniskirt over white leggings, and pink ankle boots. She felt warm and stylish, an excellent combination to her way of thinking. Luna was getting a check up at the vet, so Serena was on her own. As she headed down the sidewalk toward the bus stop, she saw a woman and a man handing out colorful fliers to passersby. “Hm? What's that?” she wondered aloud. She glanced around at the shops nearby. “Ooh, maybe they're handing out coupons? Or a sale is coming up?” None of the stores were particularly fancy or anything, but saving money was

Chapter 4 Graduation Day “Missing girls? Really?” Luna said, her eyes wide. She was in Serena's bedroom, speaking to Artemis and Mina with Serena's communicator; Serena herself was in the bath, soaking the aches and pains from the corset and shoes away. “That's what the newspapers are saying. Have you seen anything suspicious at the Rose Mansion?” Artemis answered, looking very serious. “No, not a thing. And I haven't sensed anything, either,” Luna shook her head. She hadn't been going with Serena everyday, but what she had seen when she was there had looked and felt normal. Her fur bristled at the thought that she could have missed signs of the Negaverse. “Hopefully, that just means there's nothing going on,” Mina sighed. “If the enemy has figured out how to shield their energy from us, it could be really bad.” “I'll investigate the mansion while Serena goes through her last lessons on Saturday,” Luna said. “If there's anything to find, I'll find it. In the meantime,

Chapter 3 Charming Lessons Serena got through the tea party mostly okay, except for being told twice not to talk and laugh so loudly. The girls then changed into their riding outfits and filed outside neatly and politely. A butler led them to an open area of lawn and started handing out Frisbees, then instructed the girls to team up and stand across from each other in two straight lines. Once everyone was in position, they began tossing the plastic discs back and forth between them. The girl Serena was playing with tossed the Frisbee a bit wide and it landed in the grass a few feet to Serena's left. Serena got it and smiled at the girl. “Let me show you how it's done,” Serena said quietly in a mock-snooty voice, and then tossed the Frisbee with stupendous accuracy. It flew past the girl, making her flinch, and then spun back to Serena like a boomerang. “Man, if this is all it takes to be a Princess, I've got this in the bag,” she giggled, then she noticed the disconcerted

Chapter 2 A Clever Plan Serena and Molly sat together on a bench near the school library to eat their lunch, and Molly could sense that Serena was excited about something. Serena popped a bite of rice ball into her mouth, chewed quickly, swallowed, and then turned to Molly. “So, what else do you know about the Princess Seminar?” Serena asked before taking another bite of food. “Uh, not much,” Molly said, her chopsticks halfway up to her mouth with a piece of tuna. “Just what I told you this morning, really.” “Don't you know where it's being held or anything?” Serena asked. “I think at Countess Rose's estate, but I don't know where that is,” Molly admitted. “You want to know about the Princess Seminar?” Melvin asked as he popped out of nowhere, startling the two girls “GAH!” Serena gasped. “MELVIN!” Molly shouted. “I told you to stop doing that!” “Sorry,” Melvin said sheepishly. “It's not my fault I'm quiet.” “Wait, do you know something about the seminar?” Serena asked dubiously

Chapter 1 Princess Seminar The morning started as so many school mornings did in the Tsukino household, with Serena's shriek of horror at how late she was for school. She charged out of her house at top speed and barreled down the road, her book bag in one hand and a piece of buttered toast in the other. It was the only breakfast she'd had time to grab, and she knew she'd be starving before lunch came, but it was better than nothing. She didn't even notice Luna, her talking black cat, watching her from on top of the wall in front of her house. “Being a princess hasn't changed a thing for her, has it?” Luna yawned sleepily. The little cat thought back to her old life on the moon, trying to remember if Princess Serenity had had trouble with tardiness. She seemed to recall Serenity being late a few times, but she never went running around like Serena did when she was late. Or did she? Luna puzzled over it. She couldn't remember for sure. She decided she wasn't awake enough to

Chapter 12 The Path Ahead Mina reached into her skirt pocket, her arm and hand feeling heavy and clumsy from the monster's spray. She forced her fingers to grasp her transformation pen and pull it out. It looked like the other girls' transformation pens, just with an orange body and the Venus symbol on the cap. Her arm shook slightly as she raised the pen up, and she was very glad everyone else was out like a light so she didn't have to try to stand up and walk to find a place to hide. “VENUS POWER, MAKE UP!” Mina cried with all the strength she could muster. At once, she felt herself lifted from the chair, her strength returning as she spun around. A string of glowing, golden stars whipped out of her pen and spiraled around her as she spun in circles, changing her clothes into her Sailor costume. When she struck her finishing pose, one foot in front of the other, one arm raised to the sky while the other was crossed in front of her chest, she felt completely normal again. To

Chapter 11 The Black Rose Mina had only been sitting and reading her magazine for a few minutes before another hairdresser came up to her. “Hi, thank you for waiting. We can take care of you now,” the young woman said with a friendly smile and a gesture toward the work area. She was in her early twenties with brown hair in a pony tail, and was wearing a red dress. “Oh, I'm not here to get my hair done. I'm just waiting for my friend,” Mina said with a small wave of her hand. “While you're waiting, why don't you try our steam treatment? It uses a special herbal mix that gives your hair extra shine and bounce, and can help with split ends. Not that you need much help, your hair is already amazing!” the hairdresser smiled sweetly. “Well. . .that does sound pretty good,” Mina admitted as she set aside her magazine. And besides, it is free, she thought with a little grin as she followed the pony-tailed hairdresser back to the steam machines, which looked just like the hairdryers.

Chapter 10 Make Over Therapy After she came home from school, Serena went straight up to her room, barely acknowledging her mother's offer of fresh made pie. She set her book bag aside and sat on the floor in front of her little table, and stared off into space. The table only had two things on it, a small mirror and the star locket. Serena flipped open the locket and its soft, sweet tune began to play. She had been listening to the locket a lot lately, as the music was soothing to her, even as it made her think even more of Darien. She vaguely wondered were Luna was, aware of the little cat's absence only by the lack of talking, but didn't worry about it. Luna was capable of taking care of herself, after all. As Serena zoned out, she replayed the battle at the Starlight Tower in her mind for the millionth time, and wondered what she could have done differently. If she had just attacked Zoicite right away instead of letting Darien try to keep his duel with her, he might not