CHAPTER 33

Serena was in trouble with Miss Haruna at school yet again. She had been sleeping in class for starters because she had been up all night crying and fretting about what the Negaverse had done to Tuxedo Mask. While she was sleeping behind her open textbook she had been having unsettling dreams. She saw herself in the role of the Moon Princess at a royal ball and everybody was admiring her. Then Tuxedo Mask appeared from nowhere and asked to dance with her. At first they danced round and round the ballroom happily until Tuxedo Mask's facial expression changed into an ugly grimace.
He gripped her arms very tightly that she gasped in pain and he growled, "Give me the Silver Imperium Crystal!"
Serena screamed and Miss Haruna woke her up crossly. "Serena! Stop that disruptive noise!"
Serena realized she'd been screaming in her sleep in response to her nightmare and looked up into Miss Haruna's furious eyes feeling very small. "S-sorry," she stammered.
Miss Haruna frowned down at her. "First you fall asleep in my class, then you start shrieking your head off young lady. Now did you by any chance do your homework last night?"
Serena had not of course. She blushed very red and started to hum and ha. This was the final straw.
"GET OUTSIDE AT ONCE!" Miss Haruna roared pointing to the door and Serena took off like a scared rabbit.
Standing outside she thought to herself, "It's so unfair. Miss H doesn't know how much trauma and grief I've been going through. If only we could liberate Tuxedo Mask everything would be all right."

At the same time Darien was being briefed by Queen Beryl in the presence of Malachite and her remaining army. Even Castor and Pollux were present with their tails heavily bandaged but Suzuran was still recovering in hospital. Darien was wearing elegant robes that Queen Beryl herself had selected for him.
"Darien. Time is of the utmost essence," she told him. "You must trap Sailor Moon so we can obtain the Silver Crystal."
"I hear and I will obey," Darien answered mechanically.
Beryl then addressed her last general. "Malachite. Housenka and Gureepo will supervise the trap you have devised and help Darien succeed. Are you ready?"
Malachite's hands were still hurting him but he bowed and said, "Yes Queen Beryl. We are going to take control of Countess Rose and her finishing school for young ladies. We will mail out invitations to every young girl Sailor Moon's age in town promising that we will teach them how to become as dignified as royal princesses. We are hopeful that Sailor Moon will accept the invite since she discovered that she is also the long lost princess of the Moon Kingdom."
Queen Beryl was impressed with Malachite's cunning confidence. "There could well be a very strong chance things will work out as you hope Malachite. Very well. Proceed and I warn you. Don't fail me."
Housenka and Gureepo gulped and bowed nervously. "We won't Queen Beryl."

And so Countess Rose and her servants had a very nasty surprise as Gureepo and Housenka paid them an unannounced visit after all their current students had gone to bed that night. Before they could fathom what was happening they were all in the same hypnotic trance as the ladies had been at the Beauty Salon. All throughout the building the various serving staff were under Nega-control. Finally they approached Countess Rose herself and her two butlers. The men tried to attack and overpower the intruders but they were inevitably stopped in their tracks and put to sleep where they stood.
Countess Rose was terrified. "Please don't hurt me. You can have anything you want," she sobbed as Gureepo and Housenka walked towards her.
Gureepo grinned, "All we want is your facilities and your assistance."
With that the Countess started to scream but Housenka placed her hand over her mouth. "Now now. No noise please. You'll disturb all your sleeping charges."
Gureepo reached out and touched her forehead. "You should really be delighted. We're going to increase your school's productivity."
With that the two soldiers laughed as Countess Rose succumbed to their power.

So very soon everybody was talking about how many invitations had been sent out from the finishing school. Molly was amazed. "Usually they only accept students who are recommended by their members. But they've personally invited every young girl in town to sign up for their course. I have one too."
She held up her invitation for everybody to see. All the other girls including Serena held up theirs also. They were all standing in a group on the sidewalk outside the ice cream parlour.
"Are you going Molly?" one of the others asked.
"No. I'm not personally interested in this."
"Well I for one am going," Serena declared waving her invitation with glee.
"You really mean it Serena?" Molly was even more amazed and so were all the other girls.
"You bet. As soon as I received this in the mail I immediately ran straight to show it to my mother and father. Dad was very hesitant about me going at first but thank goodness, Mum was deeply keen and talked to him. She said it would do me a lot of good to learn how to be ladylike."
Although Serena didn't say anything about her brother Sammy, he had really riled her privately. He told her that she would utterly fail the course, but she had determined to prove him wrong. He said he would take back his words when she passed then and they had left it at that.
A few of the other girls like Molly were not going but most of them were and their parents had made all the necessary arrangements for them to be exempt from regular school for the duration of Countess Rose's tutoring.

At the Cherry Hill Temple the other girls were talking with Artemis. "Hey. Did you hear that Serena has accepted the invitation from the Rose Finishing School to learn how to be a princess?" Lita mentioned while they were gathered together.
Raye was sweeping the floors and she paused with her broom in hand to remark with a hard edge to her voice, "Do you really think she'll achieve success?"
"Don't be too hard Raye. At least she's trying," said Amy but Artemis wasn't too sure.
"Surely it'll take more than finishing school to make a princess out of Serena?"
"Oh Artemis," Mina answered. "Isn't she just fine the way she is already?"
Artemis was slightly taken aback but he agreed, "Of course she is Mina. But there's so much more to being a princess than how you look."
"What do you mean?" Mina wanted to know so Artemis thought a moment, then explained,
"Um. Well being a princess is all about what you are on the inside. It's nothing to do with your looks or even your manners. It's your heart that counts."
Then Amy suddenly exclaimed, "Hey! We all received invitations ourselves, didn't we?"
The other three all confirmed that they did and Amy went on,
"Well then why don't we all sign up too? What I mean is just so that we can offer our support and encouragement to Serena."
They all thought that sounded like fun. Even Raye.
"Yeah! Hooray!" They all cheered and laughed with joy.
Artemis thought this was way beyond crazy but he knew they wouldn't listen to him. He just shut his eyes, sighed and muttered, "Bother bother bother."

And so it was that to her surprise Serena found herself accompanied by Amy, Mina, Lita and Raye when she went to meet Countess Rose at her finishing school. As all the girls who had accepted the invitations exclaimed ooh and ah Countess Rose shook each one of them by the hand. "Welcome lovely ladies. My butlers Charles and John will show you all to your rooms where you'll be sleeping while you're here for the next three weeks. You can unpack your gear, then meet me in the dining room for lunch in two hours. Our course will begin while we eat. I'll teach you to be lady-like at the table."
The girls all followed the butlers up the stairs. They found themselves teamed up in pairs of two in each room. Serena was glad that Amy offered to be her roommate. Not that Raye would have wanted to make the offer. She didn't fancy the constant tension that Serena would create for her in all likelihood. Raye and Lita decided to go together while Mina went with one of Serena's schoolfriends. Like Raye, she went to a different school than the others and none of her own schoolmates had accepted the invitation. But she and the other girl were both very pleased to meet each other.
As Serena and Amy unpacked their bags and found places for everything there was a knock on the door.
Amy answered and upon opening she beheld a maid with a pretty pink frilled dress in each hand. "Hi girls," she smiled as she held the clothes out. "This is what the Countess wants you to wear when you come to dinner. You'll find your shoes just underneath your beds."
"Thank you very much." Amy was very polite as she took the dresses and smiled at the maid before closing the door.
"Let's get changed Serena. I'll go into the bathroom first. Then you can have your turn."
"Okay Amy." Serena looked at the dress as it lay on her bed while she waited for Amy to finish. When Amy emerged from the bathroom she looked so attractive that Serena smiled admiringly.
Grabbing up her dress she said, "Very nice Amy. I'll put mine on now."
However when she emerged she was looking very distressed and upset. "Hey! This dress is beautiful but why does it have to be so tight?"
Amy tried to be reassuring. "It's just because you're not used to it Serena. Let's get our shoes on next."
Again Serena was not happy. "These shoes. I swear they'll give me blisters."
Amy shut her eyes to compose herself. "Very well. You can take them off for half an hour before we will need to go to the dining room in twenty minutes."
So Serena sat around in her bare feet but she wished she could have taken the dress off too and not put it or the shoes back on. She was thinking to herself as she and Amy went to eat, "I won't be able to enjoy myself properly. They should get these clothes they gave me examined. I swear they must be faulty merchandise."

Serena quickly forgot about the way her clothes made her feel though. As soon as they were all seated round the big rectangular dinner table and Charles and John proceeded to begin to serve lunch starting with soup, Serena was eager to begin her meal.
Countess Rose at the head of the table said, "Well ladies. Let us begin our delicious luncheon."
"Oh good. I'm really hungry." Serena picked up her spoon and as soon as Charles had filled her bowl she began to dig in.
SLUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRPPP!
To everybody's shock Serena slurped her soup very noisily. Charles tried to correct her. "No no miss. Ladies do not slurp their soup."
Serena paused and looked at him. "Huh? Oh okay."
But again when she put her spoon to her lips there was a nerve-wracking slurp. Charles was getting incensed. "I said no slurping! Stop it at once! If you keep slurping your soup it will be taken away! Understand?"
Serena moaned, "It's so unfair to turn something as simple as eating into such a difficult chore!"
Then suddenly everybody jumped in fright as Raye shouted across the other end of the table. "Get a grip Serena and GROW UP!"
John immediately rushed to her side. "No no no miss. Ladies do not raise their voices or lose their tempers so quickly."
Raye's face was the absolute picture of embarrassment and to make it worse Serena started to giggle. "I-I'm sorry Raye. But you look so funny with your eyes and your mouth all wide open. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Raye shut her eyes and bowed her head to control her rage while Charles told Serena to stop laughing at once.
Lita, Mina and Amy were all nervous but kept silent staying out of the affair. Countess Rose sighed to herself. She would have to keep her self-control and set an example for her girls. Serena would need to be watched very carefully to avoid things getting out of hand.

Later after lunch the girls all sat around in couches and armchairs listening to Countess Rose giving a lecture on the art of how ladies should speak. Serena was literally bored to tears. "This is worse than maths class," she thought to herself. Just as she began to yawn she was startled to hear the Countess address her by name.
"Serena." As she jumped she stammered.
"Er. Y-yes."
"What would you say when you offer a cup of cocoa to your guests?"
Serena stumbled for what to say. "Um. Hey everybody. The cocoa jug's been boiled. Come and get it."
Then she became nervous. "Or perhaps please come and get it?"
As several of the other girls began to chuckle at her she blushed very red.
The Countess turned her attention elsewhere. "How about you Amy?"
Amy stood up. "I would say "Would you like a cup of cocoa? Please allow me to serve you."
The Countess smiled. "Very good Amy. Do you see Serena how much better it is to offer to serve your guests rather than tell them to help themselves?"
Serena felt so very small and she was as red as a beetroot in her face as she sat down with a whimper.

And so as the three weeks slowly ticked away Serena found that learning to be a lady was not something that came easy to her. She was very clumsy and she wasn't very good at table manners, speaking appropriately or anything else. But there was one thing that was an exception for her.
Countess Rose loved discus throwing and she felt it was an excellent pasttime for young ladies. Every second day they spent the afternoon throwing the discus back and forth to each other. This was something Serena was truly good at and she dazzled everybody with her skillful talents as the discus twirled superbly through the air doing many different kinds of tricks but always returning to Serena like a boomerang. Even Raye admitted she was impressed.
But while the Countess and her two butlers were out in the grounds supervising the discus all the time two other pairs of eyes were watching through an upper window. Gureepo and Housenka were spying out the girls as they threw the discus and they noticed Serena at once.
"She's definitely the best hands down Housenka," said Gureepo.
"Maybe she's Sailor Moon Gureepo. Sailor Moon's tiara turns into something that resembles a spinning discus when she throws it," Housenka remarked.
"That makes sense Housenka. We'd better keep a very close eye on her. Still it amazes me how she can be so very good at this but so pathetic at everything else."
"I agree Gureepo. She's pathetic as far as Princess material is concerned."
"But she's dangerous all the same. We must watch our step as we proceed."
Housenka shuddered as she remembered how close she and Gureepo had come to getting killed along with Suzuran at their first encounter with Sailor Moon. "That's definitely a very serious point to keep in mind. I don't want to die."
As she said this Serena spun the discus on her pointer finger before sending it zooming off again with a huge smile on her face.

And so as the three week course came to an end Countess Rose announced that the final class in the seminar would be a dance ball night. Young men from the community, who were in the employ of the finishing school would be there to dance with them. "At the end of the ball all girls whose shoulders I personally touch will pass the course. Let's enjoy ourselves tonight ladies." Countess Rose merrily raised her hands in excitement and everybody cheered in anticipation. Gureepo and Housenka were watching invisibly as they always were. The Countess and her servants were putty in their hands. When the dance was over they would spring their trap and get the Silver Crystal using their brainwashed victims.

When the dance commenced almost all the girls danced gracefully and appropriately, including Amy and Lita. But the three exceptions were Raye, Mina and Serena. Serena was a total clutz and every five minutes she either did one of two things. Stumble over her own two feet and fall flat on her face or stomp upon the foot of the poor fellow who was trying to dance with her.
"Aaaaarrrgh!" he was moaning and groaning. "The wages they pay me are only just barely worth this."
"I'm so very sorry," Serena meekly apologized. Then she stomped his foot once more.
"Yeeeooooow!"
Serena whimpered, "Ballroom dancing's too difficult for me. Why can't we just go back to throwing the discus?"
As for the other two, Raye suddenly muttered in disdain, "This ballroom style of dancing is so boring. Why don't we pick up the pace a little?"
Mina agreed, "Yeah. Let's make up our own steps."
Then the two of them went wild and to the surprise of their partners, began to drag and jerk them back and forth in quick, spasmodic movements. But the next thing they knew they were bumping themselves and their partners into the other dancing couples. They apologized but many faces were glaring at them in annoyance and the poor men felt very embarrassed.

After an hour and twenty minutes Countess Rose walked around and touched the shoulders of every girl congratulating her on passing. But not Raye, Mina or Serena.
"Okay," she said. "Everybody who passed may come with me into the drawing room where I will present the certificates." All the men applauded and the Countess led the girls towards the big doors of the drawing room. Lita and Amy smiled and waved at the other three who were left behind.
Raye and Mina sighed, "It's not fair just because we danced a little differently."
But Serena was 10 times as upset and actually started crying. "I wanted to become a qualified princess more than anything else."
But the men who had been their dancing partners were completely unsympathetic. Especially Serena's who was sitting on a chair and had taken his shoes off massaging his sore feet through their socks.

When the doors were closed the girls saw that all the various servant staff were waiting for them.
"Oh look Amy," exclaimed Lita, "Everybody is here to observe the presentation ceremony."
But then something frightening happened. When Countess Rose walked up towards her servants they all approached her as well. Then before the startled eyes of the girls they all mystically fused together into a creepy looking giant figure just like the people at the Beauty Salon had done. Amy was shocked.
"What's going on?"
Before anybody else could speak Gureepo and Housenka materialized beside the big monster. "Please excuse us," Gureepo guffawed, "But there is a change of plans in your graduation ceremony."
With that the monster created from Countess Rose and her servants held its arms straight out at the by now very frightened crowd of girls. Before even Lita or Amy could react and do anything a thick candlewax like gell shot out of the monster's palms and just as they all tried to scream, they were coated in the substance and became as if they were all just wax dummies in a museum. Their faces all frozen in masks of horror and dismay.

Meanwhile outside in the dancing area Serena, Raye, Mina and all the young men were terrified half to death when the doors unexpectedly flew open and the two Negaverse soldiers walked out followed by the monster. Wax was dripping from its palms even then and as the men all screamed and ran away Housenka commanded, "Never mind about them! We must quickly deal with these three girls. But don't squirt them until we tell you to do so."
The monster grunted and dropped its arms by its sides as they approached them. Serena was trembling. "I have a very bad feeling about this."
Gureepo spoke to them, "How sad that you didn't pass the course. But that means one of you must really be Sailor Moon."
Serena became very defensive upon hearing this and asked, "Um. Whatever do you mean by that?"
Housenka answered her, "Well that Sailor Moon is such a clumsy, wimpy, scatter-brained dimwit who had no chance of ever gaining what it takes to be a real, well-refined lady right from the get-go."
Mina retorted, "So she's clumsy."
Raye added, "And she's not always so scatter-brained."
"Hey!" Serena waved her arms in great indignation. "I know I'm not always perfect but you two are supposed to be my friends!"
"Ah-ha! Thank you for telling us which one of you is Sailor Moon." Gureepo pointed at her and shouted, "Get her and take the Silver Crystal off her. Turn the other two into wax figures."
As the huge monster raised its arms the waxy substance flew out. Mina was hit before she could react but Raye dodged and yelled at Serena to run for it. Serena hitched up her dress and tried to run but stumbled falling flat on her face. Turning her head she beheld Raye getting smeared immobile as she reacted with concern to her fall.
Housenka pointed to her. "Don't coat her in wax. Just seize her so we can make her give us the Silver Crystal."

Just then a rose flew through the air and stuck in the floor at the foot of the monster distracting it and the two members of the Plant Trio. "Huh?"
"Where did this come from?"
Serena took advantage of this to scramble to her feet and desperately lunging for a nearby open window she jumped out of it calling out, "Moon Prism Power!"
Meanwhile Gureepo and Housenka looked up to see Tuxedo Mask looking down at them from an upper balcony before turning tail and running out of sight.
"What is HE doing here?" Gureepo spluttered.
"Do you suppose he is in his right frame of mind? Has Queen Beryl's mind control proved faulty?" Housenka exclaimed as they looked at the rose. It was bright red, though it was flashing briefly dark black in varying shades. Gureepo and Housenka looked at each other in consternation and worry. Prince Darien was actually trying to fight against Beryl's Nega-influence.

In the next moment Gureepo and Housenka had more to be concerned about as Sailor Moon came flying back in through the very same wide open window. "How dare you take advantage of all these innocent young ladies and Countess Rose and her servants? I am Sailor Moon and I will not stand for any of this. In the Name of the Moon I shall right wrongs and triumph over evil and that means you."
Housenka gasped in fright and her gaze went fearfully to the tiara on Sailor Moon's forehead. Gureepo was also deeply terrified and desperately started to shout a command to the monster.
"Hurry and wax her before she," but she was cut off by the form of Tuxedo Mask suddenly appearing in between Sailor Moon and them. He calmly spoke.
"You should let me handle this Gureepo."
"What? What are you doing?" Gureepo demanded but ignoring her he turned to Sailor Moon.
"Sailor Moon. I want the Silver Crystal for Queen Beryl. You don't need to get hurt if you just give it to me."
Sailor Moon was confused and unsure what to make of this. Was Tuxedo Mask acting as her friend or her enemy? But the rose continued to change between red and black while Gureepo and Housenka reacted in dismay.
"You're acting suspicious. Sailor Moon is our greatest enemy."
"Why promise not to hurt her?"
Tuxedo Mask looked behind over his shoulder. "It's the crystal I'm after. Not a battle."
"Gureepo. This is madness. We must act now."
"That's right Housenka." Gureepo finished her command to the monster, "Destroy Sailor Moon or she'll destroy us!"
But Tuxedo Mask cried out, "I have been given magic powers of my own from the Negaforce and I can command that monster you've created. Don't destroy her. Just take the Silver Crystal from her."
The two members of the Plant Trio were by this time extremely fearful for their lives and they screamed together, "NO! Destroy Sailor Moon at once!"
"No! Get the Silver Crystal!"
"No! Sailor Moon!"
"The Crystal!"
"Sailor Moon!"
By now the monster was getting very confused with the obligation to obey two different opposing orders and groaned clutching its head as if it were in pain. Tuxedo Mask pointed and shouted in triumph, "Sailor Moon! Use your wand right now!"
Realizing what was happening Sailor Moon complied, "Yes. MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!"
The magical cleansing energy washed over the monster and in seconds it was gone. The Countess and all her servants collapsed in a heap and Sailor Moon turned her attention to the cowering pair of Negaverse soldiers.
"Thank you dear Tuxedo Mask. I'm glad we're on the same side again. Now there's just two loose ends to tie up."
"NOOOOOO!"
"PLEASE!"
Gureepo and Housenka were desperately begging for mercy but at the same time they were not going to meet their fate without at least trying to put up a fight. They raised their hands ready to use their powers.
Ignoring them Sailor Moon had her tiara in her hand and prepared to throw. "MOON, Yikes! What the?"
Tuxedo Mask had struck her hand sharply with his cane making her drop her weapon.
"Tuxedo Mask. But-but I thought," Sailor Moon was crying as she stared into his cold eyes. The rose had turned black once more and this time it was staying so. She then realized the truth. He had been fighting hard to resist but once more he was fully under Queen Beryl's control.
"Sailor Moon. Give me the crystal."
Gureepo and Housenka could barely believe that they were still alive but Sailor Moon figured there was only one thing to do.
"If you want the crystal I'll give it to you. MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!"
So saying she began to bathe him in the energy and he started to tremble and say, "What's happening to me?"
Gureepo and Housenka knew Queen Beryl would be most wrathful if she lost him. So Housenka reacted very fast and used some of her exploding seed pods to knock Sailor Moon off her feet while Gureepo seized the dazed Tuxedo Mask. "Let's get out of here before he gains all his memory back Housenka."
They vanished before Sailor Moon could pick herself up. She was dreadfully disappointed at not getting her beloved Tuxedo Mask back again.
But she used her Moon Crescent Wand to restore Raye and Mina and then quickly restored Amy, Lita and all the other girls back to live flesh and blood from the open doorway before quickly changing back to Serena.
When everybody asked what had happened she, Raye and Mina explained that the Sailor Scouts had saved them all and while they cheered the young men arrived back with the police who made sure that Countess Rose and the others were okay.
Countess Rose was deeply grateful to the Scouts. "I only wish they were still here now so we could all thank them in a befittingly lady-like way."
Raye said, "We'll be sure to pass on the message if we ever see them sometime Countess," and the other four girls smiled and grinned at each other.

Luna and Artemis were very proud of Sailor Moon when they heard about what she had done to save the day by herself while the others were helpless wax figures but the following Monday Serena woke up with a scream. She was late for regular school once more. She ran out the door clutching a piece of toast and Luna and Artemis watched her run off.
Artemis sighed, "I think she has a long way to go before she's princess material Luna."
"I suppose you're right Artemis." Luna was very disconsolate. "Well she never even passed the seminar in the first place. So she still hasn't left square one."
The two cats bowed their heads and shut their eyes. To think this was what their long lost Princess of the Moon had to offer.