Princess Mercury was the only one still sitting at the table, letting her glass of champagne go warm as she glanced through the cream-colored bubbles at the couples who swayed in impeccable timing to the music played by the quintet on stage. No gentleman was ever going to ask her to dance, she knew that. At least not a suitor, anyway. Now that the celebration was drawing to a close, she tried to comb her tousled hair over with her gloved fingers before contemplating heading home early.

But the fact was, she knew she would run the risk of offending her generous hostesses. Queen Serenity and the young princess adored her cerulean gown and matching gloves, and how well she fit in at the table during the banquet, with the other seven planetary princesses in their gowns: her in blue, Mars in red, Saturn in purple, Uranus in navy, and the list went on. Now the Queen was talking to the Prince Endymion from Earth, so strikingly handsome that he was out of any woman's league, with the exception of the Princess of course, and goodness knows where that frivolous girl had run off to.

She grimaced as she tilted her head back to finish the last of her glass. Drinking certainly wasn't her thing at all, and she wouldn't describe this feeling as a "buzz" per se, but she could feel her eyes getting larger, and a feeling of carelessness began to sweep over her.

This was until she finally caught sight of the Princess, beautiful as usual in a white gown with her blond hair done wonderfully. Bubbly and excited, she chattered away and showcased a new golden heart-shaped locket to the Princess from Pluto, who listened intently.

She, too, looked impressive, with her pretty pine-colored hair tumbling to her waist, the ends of it curled in teasing ringlets. She wore a black silk gown, not too revealing but undeniably sexy, and the long gloves that she wore made her fingers seem longer, thinner and a little more pointed, and they curved naturally over her champagne glass in striking contrast. In her eyes she only showed genuine concern for the young Princess Serenity, and tonight she most unusually avoided looking at the grandfather clock in the corridor.

Mercury watched Prince Endymion take his leave of the Queen and approach his love, and she began watching the Queen, who suddenly had a look of worry spread across her gentle face. She held her chin in her hand, and her blue eyes kept moving from one corner to the other in pensiveness.

Sure enough -- a loud, piercing scream came from outside the palace, followed by the sounds of utter panic coming from the other citizens of the Moon Kingdom.

Almost instinctively, Mercury's eyes darted toward those of Pluto, who nodded to her sharply and beckoned her behind the curtain at the head of the ballroom. In high heels, Mercury hurried after her as fast as she could, reaching for a tranformation pen she'd hidden in the front of her gown. They could both feel it -- time for the real action to begin.