Nephrite picked up his communication Crystal and thought about who he wanted to talk to. As expected, Mercury appeared inside the gem.
"You called, Nephrite?", the double agent said with a bit of snark. "I heard that Queen Beryl wants us to work together on this princess task. Not having second thoughts, are you?"
"No!", the general said with his usual growl. He had never liked the Senshi, even in the old days. Back then, the only one he ever spoke to was Sailor Jupiter and she was anything but friendly with him. And as much as he wanted to gut Mercury and mount her head on his door, Beryl still had a use for her. "I just want to tell you that I know you and Jadeite are hiding something. Zoisite's death seemed very convenient for you two."
Mercury merely smiled. "I couldn't possibly comment on that. Is that all you called me for? To share your wild mass guessing over the death of the Dark Kingdom's most despised warrior?"
"No. I wanted to ask you about your "comrades". What are you going to do about them? No doubt they're going to sneak in to find out the same thing we want to know."
Again, Mercury smiled. "You'd be correct to assume that. At this moment, we're preparing to buy formal dresses so we can sneak into the gala. Once we're inside, I'll suggest we go around and mingle with the other guests to see what we can uncover. Then I'll meet up with you and we'll take an up close and personal look at the princess."
Nephrite was impressed, though he was too arrogant to say so. "Very well, I'll inform Beryl of our plan and meet you there tonight."
That night, at a grand mansion just outside the city, the party was in full swing. The richest people in Japan were in attendance, as were a few government officials and members of the press. For the girls, getting in wasn't much of an issue. Rei was the daughter of an influential politician, who was unable to attend the party. Plus, the richer guests were allowed to bring along at least 3 "plus ones", which made it easy for Makoto and Ami to get in. All of them were wearing different styles of dress. Rei was wearing a formal red ball gown, with a matching hair ribbon. Mako was wearing a green 19th century-styled dress, with a hat to compliment the look. Ami had stuck to a simple, blue Victorian-style dress.
As she had discussed with Nephrite earlier, Ami suggested that the 3 of them split off from each other and see what they could find. Mako went off towards the west wing of the mansion, where most of the common people had gathered. While there, she had her photo taken by a photographer. "Whoa, what was that for?", she asked nervously.
The photographer lowered his camera. He had black, close-cropped hair and was wearing a formal dinner suit, with glasses. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought you looked stunning in that dress. If you don't mind-"
Mako smiled nervously. "I don't mind at all. It's just a bit sudden to have my photo taken by you, Mr-?"
"Tsukino. Kenjii Tsukino.", the photographer said with a smile. "I'm here to cover this event for my editor. But I'm also taking some pictures for my daughter."
"Your daughter?"
"Yes. She's about your age. She really wanted to come here tonight, but I wasn't allowed to bring a guest, being lower class and all. So I promised to take some private pictures back for her."
Mako instantly replied "Well in that case, how about we take another picture. That last one wasn't my best."
Elsewhere, in a different part of the mansion, Rei was interacting with the richer among the guests. She briefly bumped into another man. It was Chiba from her self-defence classes. He was wearing the same formal outfit as the other male guests (except for the long-haired Brunette in the business suit), but with the addition of a cloak. He was also wearing a top hat and a domino mask. Rei noted that his scars had begun to heal, recognising them from someone else. But before she could put two and two together, she bumped into someone.
"Oh excuse me.", the other person said. Rei looked at her and saw that she was the same blue-haired girl she met at the jewellery shop. She was wearing a purple dress, very Cinderella-esque. "Oh hey, I think I've seen you before."
"Yeah, 2 weeks ago at the jewellery shop.", Rei replied. "What're you doing here?"
"Well I have a bit of a reputation as an artist, and I wanted to look at the crown jewel, so we decided to pay a visit. And you?"
"My dad's on a high-up government board, but he wasn't able to come here, so he sent me instead." Then she paused to take the other girl's words in. "Wait a minute, "we"? You're here with someone else?"
But before she could get a reply, that "someone else" came up to her. Rei recognised him as Haruka, the self-defence instructor at the youth club. He was dressed like a revolutionary-era prince, with a gold waistcoat, a white cravat and a navy jacket.
"I didn't expect to see another familiar face around here.", the blonde said to Rei. "I see you've already met my friend Michiru."
"Yes.", Rei said sheepishly. "So are you her…?"
"No, I'm not her boyfriend, Rei. But I am in a relationship."
Elsewhere, Ami met up with Nephrite. "Are you really wearing a business suit to a formal gala, Nephrite? I thought you were an expert with parties."
Nephrite was slightly annoyed. "Not with these modern parties the humans hold. Anyway, what happened to your little friends. Get thrown in the play pen?"
"Jupiter is posing for a photographer while Mars is chatting it up with some friends.", Mercury replied. "Leaving us with little resistance as we target the princess. Do we have a plan for her?"
"It's simple.", Nephrite replied. "I infect the princess with one of my posession shadows. Then I have her bring the crystal outside and give it to me. Simple, effective and with zero damage to property."
With the plan agreed upon by both parties, they set off for the Princess's chambers, unaware they were being followed by a blonde in a yellow dress.