Two days ago, I was given my own sword, as a present from Prince Serenity. In fact, it was the second tangible gift that Serenity has given to me, the first one being the Star Locket, which was presented to me in the forests of Kultajärvi as a communication device between the Earth and the Moon. If the locket allowed me to keep in touch with Serenity wherever I go, the sword allowed me to protect myself and Serenity with the magic of the Northern Lights - my namesake.

Later on the day, I finally found the courage to seek an audience with the supreme sovereign of the Moon Kingdom, Queen Selene. Stepping on the bridge between the Sailor Guardians' Tower and the Queen's Tower, I took the elevator up to the Queen's office, located on the penultimate floor of the tower. It was there, where I finally got to have a sight of her beauty and majesty, and where she decided to grant me yet another gift - a royal birthday party for me at the Moon Palace.

On the Moon, I started to dream about the future I would have once my curse is broken. I could see myself rowing a boat together with Serenity and his sisters, over the surface of Lake Kultajärvi, and let them explore the bright summers of my kingdom. We'd pick berries (lots of berries, actually) and have picnic together by the shore of the lake, and have a walk in the town disguised as commoners just for fun's sake!

Sunlight shone into my room and onto my visage, as I awakened, having perhaps overslept last night. I stood up, and with a simple spell, I changed into my green gown. Looking into the reflection of my figure at my room's mirror, I carefully noticed the intricate details of the gown that Princess Venus gifted me. It is without doubt, that my gown, presented to me by the most beautiful princess of the Moon Kingdom, would be suiting me well for all kinds of fancy events.

If I wore this gown on Earth and showed it to the fairies, a great argument among them over what color to make this gown into would be sparked in no time. I could imagine Flora insisting on making it pink, but Merryweather would instantly make it blue if Flora ever dared doing so. I wonder if Fauna, being the quiet one, would restore its true color - green, because that is the true and beautiful color of the Northern Lights, the natural phenomenon that I am named after.

Pushing the button, I opened the doors of my room, intending to have some breakfast at the common room. Normally, Serenity or any of his sisters should present, chilling, relaxing or doing things in the common room, but surprisingly, there was no one at the moment. I looked around, having observed that doors to all the rooms of the Sailor Guardians are closed. The white and gold doors of Serenity's room, the azure doors of Mercury's room, the orange-golden doors of Venus's room, the sunrise-colored doors of Mars's room, and even the grass-colored doors of Jupiter's room... all of them, closed, fully showing each of the doors' unique patterns. The common room was devoid of any sound, other than the echoing steps of my silver shoes.

This kind of silence had some eeriness to it. Where is Serenity? Where are his sisters?

Anyway, I should look for my breakfast.

I paid not too much mind to the absence of the Moon siblings, and went straight for the dining table.

And at last, I spotted something!

I could see a plate of breakfast, with a green holographic message displaying on top of the plate:

"Aurora,

I've made this breakfast for you. Enjoy it!
When you have finished savoring this breakfast, go back to your room for a surprise.

- Princess Jupiter of the Moon Kingdom"

I savored the breakfast, bite by bite. It came to my realization, that it was really Jupiter, who prepared this tasty breakfast for me. But why isn't anyone else in the common room? Where are they? Are they really planning a surprise, as the message says? And what kind of surprise is it?

Having finished the breakfast all alone in the common room, I took the plate to the sink, washing and cleaning it while I contemplated these questions.

Right after putting the plate on the drying rack, I made my steps back into my room. It was then, when I discovered another holographic message, this time in azure. I took some time to read it, wondering what it is, and who sent it.

"Dear Aurora,

It's me, Mercury.
If you want the surprise we've prepared for you,
solve this equation and take the elevator to the floor indicated by the answer!"

Another clue. Are they trying to play some kind of a hide-and-seek game with me?

Below her message, a rather long equation with various sorts of mathematical symbols could be seen. Fortunately, my mathematical skills developed during my years of reading books in the forest house was possibly sufficient upon first glance. This seemed to be a question of definite integration.

I solved the question by heart, step by step.

"Now, I substitute the bounds to the integrated expessions, and..."

After a minute of endless thinking and deductions, I have finally got the answer, and it is 8. I shall take the elevator to the eighth floor of the tower.

Having solved Mercury's question, I walked out of my room quickly, and took the elevator, making sure that I press the button for the eighth floor.

I then stepped outside the elevator, as its doors revealed what looked like a practice room for archery. The lights were turned off in the room, having only natural lights propagating through, and it was where I discovered a holographic message in red.

"Aurora,

If you can see this, that means you have successfully solved my sister's integration question.
You should be able to see a bow and an arrow on the floor.
If you hit the moving target successfully, the next clue will appear.
If you are not successful, don't worry. Pick up the arrow, reload it, and shoot it again!

- Princess Mars"

Looking around me, I found a bow and an arrow hanging on the wall, and a target, quite distant from me, but moving in a sinusoidal motion.

I loaded the arrow into the bow, in an attempt to shoot the arrow to the target. I anticipated for the right moment to launch the arrow, calculating in my heart the time needed for the arrow to travel to the target.

Having stretched the bow and calculated for quite a while, I noticed the target moving to the right and downwards, though the rate it moves downwards begins to slow. I pictured the spot where the target would be when it meets the arrow and concentrated on it, releasing the arrow at a time I deemed was right.

I watched the arrow travelling fast, dashing across the room. And yet, it missed the target - only by a close margin, as the target was already moving away when the arrow was approaching. Being slightly disappointed in the beginning, I then remembered, that Mars told me about having more than one chance to hit the target. My resolve was reinforced, and I rushed forward to pick up the arrow, going back to the marked position afterwards to try for another shot.

I then stretched the bow again, and aimed at a spot, ready to shoot the arrow at a more accurate moment. I observed the target moving to the right in the form of sinusoidal waves. As the target crossed a certain point, I released my bow again, hoping that it would finally hit the target.

Watching the arrow fly forward and the target moving closer, I am already calculating whether the arrow would hit the target or not. And at last, the arrow...

Did land on the target.

The room then lit up with golden lights around the ceiling, with a holographic message appearing.

"Congratulations, Aurora!

You have successfully hit the target. There is one last part of the game, though.
Go to the fifth floor, and I'll tell you more!

- Princess Venus"

This is the fourth holographic message I've got so far. Venus is right, it's clearly a game. I know that Serenity and his sisters are definitely here in the palace grounds, they are just playing a game with me and letting me play through all those "stages" on the day when I'm supposed to have a birthday celebration. But guess what? I'll just play along, it's fun.

I took the elevator down to the fifth floor, returning to the sword training hall where I regularly practise my sword skills with Venus. The training hall appeared as usual, except that Venus wasn't personally there. Instead, what I saw was a set of neatly-arranged, medium-height mirrors, and the second part of Venus's message.

"There are 16 mirrors in the room. Their positions are fixed, but you can rotate them as you want.
There is a ray of light shooting from the wall, and a circle on the other side of the wall.
Can you rotate the mirrors such that all of the circle gets illuminated by the light ray without being blocked by the shadow of the mirrors?"

I then walked around the training hall, trying to conceptualize the layout of the light source, the destination and the mirrors in my mind. Compared to a ray reflection game on paper, the hall is life-sized and it might take more effort for me to clear this round of the game.

It took me a few moments to figure out, that for the ray to get to the other side of the wall, the first mirror the light ray reaches should be rotated such that the ray is incident at 45 degrees, reflecting it in a perfect right angle. Using both of my hands, I carefully adjusted the orientation of the first mirror, until the reflected ray aligns with the imaginary line I had in my mind, between the first and second mirrors of the first column.

Then I also thought, if what I thought about the orientations of the first two mirrors was true, then it should also be true for the last two mirrors! Realizing this, I rushed to the last two mirrors in the other side of the hall, adjusting their orientations so that they are also parallel to the first two.

Now, I could picture the light ray undergoing two right-angle reflections before reaching its third mirror, and two more on its way from the third last mirror to the destination. But what happens in the middle? How do I get the light ray go from the third mirror to the third last?

Going through my mind and calculating multiple paths, I still could not find a solution. Adjusting the second and third mirrors of the second column's orientations to be parallel to the first two of the first column would not work, since the third mirror in the third column would cast a shadow in the light ray, when it travels between the second and the last mirror in the third row.

Being slightly frustrated, I turned one of the mirrors around in a full rotation. It was then, I realized another important thing.

The rules never said the reflections have to be in the form of right angles.

Knowing this, my mind opened up to a new and straightforward solution: reflect the light ray directly from the third mirror to the third last mirror, with an incident angle of 135 divided by 2, which is 67.5 degrees. I then adjusted the mirrors for the last time, hoping that the ray would travel to the destination as intended...

And as soon as I precisely adjusted the angle of the third last mirror, the room lit up, with a message congratulating me appearing before my eyes.

"You're brilliant, Aurora!

Come to the Palace Garden, we have a surprise for you!"

Being excited, I immediately took the elevator down to the ground floor, and rushed my way towards the Palace Garden. I ran past all the white marble pillars like a northerly wind, and as the garden gets closer to my sight, I decelerated, gradually into a normal walking pace.

From a distance, I could already see Serenity, his sisters and his mother already waiting for me out there in the garden. All of them were smiling, seemingly anticipating me to receive their surprise. As I came out of the shadow of the palace building, Venus congratulated me excitedly, "Happy birthday, Aurora!"

I smiled and said playfully, "that was a fun game that you all have planned. I know very well that you are all here, playing games with me while I'm having a birthday, huh?"

Mars said, "Yes, Aurora! I hope you've enjoyed it."

Brushing off my hair confidently, I responded, "I did. I really had fun."

Mercury then looked around, before asking her mother, "now that all of us are here, shall we have the celebration begin now?"

Selene said, "Sure." She then pointed at the chairs, inviting us kindly, "please be seated."

We then sat accordingly around the table. As the birthday star, I get to sit in the middle, with Serenity and Venus by my sides. Opposite to us are Mercury, Jupiter and Venus, with the prime seat reserved for Selene at the end of the table.

After that, Selene, still standing, held up her crescent moon scepter and proclaimed, "Today, we shall celebrate the coming sixteenth birthday of Princess Aurora from Earth. May Aurora live in joy for a hundred years and beyond! She lives!"

Serenity and his sisters then responded in unison, "Hurra! Hurra! Hurra! Hurra!"

With this blessing, the small but fancy outdoor lunch began.

Selene uncovered the dishes of the first course, which are seafood of the highest quality, fished near the Kepler atoll in the Ocean of Storms.

Holding up our utensils, we savored the dish, and enjoyed the fresh and delicious taste of Lunarian aquatic cuisine. The taste of Kepler fish is reminiscent of cods fished from the Kingdom of Aanaar, the northern neighbors of the Kingdom of Kultajärvi which had access to the Arctic Sea, and one of our most important trade partners.

As Jupiter finished around half of the dish, she asked me, "Aurora, do you like the Kepler fish?"

Upon finishing my small yet savory morsel of this Lunarian dish, I happily responded, "I like it! Its taste is so fresh, it reminds me of a fish species named the cod, which we import from a kingdom neighboring us in the north."

I looked around the table, noticing how delicious this dish Serenity and his sisters find. They seem to be enjoying and appreciating the food in delight!

A moment after we have finished our dishes, a group of drones flew out from the castle, and hovered above the table, holographically displaying the message "put your plates here". We put our plates onto the tray, and with the push of a button, they flew away as a flock, presumably back to the main kitchen.

We conversed in bliss for a while, enjoying the moment and the atmosphere of the outdoor lunch party in the garden.

"Serenity, how often do you have such grand garden lunches like this?"

"It rarely happens in a private context. Every year, the Queen would invite some of the kingdom's brightest students of various backgrounds to a garden lunch like this. She hoped to fulfill their dreams and motivate them further, by inviting them to have a fairytale-like lunch with us. On the other hand, the Queen wants us to know more about the citizens that are the foundation of our kingdom, especially young citizens of our age who would steer the future of our kingdom together with us."

"I see..."

I then imagined the scene of a young student, having received an invitation from the Queen herself to have lunch of such a luxurious quality with her children, in the Palace Garden. She, a citizen, must have been so happy to see her dedication for studies being paid off with such a grandiose reward.

It didn't take the drones a long time to deliver us the second course of the menu, which Jupiter introduced as the Eratosthenean fish soup. Mercury then described, "the Eratosthenes Atoll is located near the eastern edge of the Ocean of Storms, near the Wolff Mountains which protrude into the Ocean. The region to the southeast of the Eratosthenes Atoll is also called the Seething Bay."

I pictured a landscape in my mind, as Mercury described the geographical location of the atoll and its surrounding features. A bay with peaceful waters, surrounded by hills and mountains by three sides.

Although we were presented with generous portions of the fish soup, we all had an instinct to savor every sip of the soup slowly - after all, such a fine and luxurious lunch to celebrate my sixteenth birthday does not always happen, and it is only right for us to enjoy and immerse ourselves in the ultimate quality and exquisiteness of the food. The taste of the soup was adequately rich, even for a princess from Northern Europe like me.

I asked Mercury, "do the seas of the Moon really exist?"

She responded, as she finishes her sip of the fish soup, "they do. What you see as craters on Earth - they are actually our atolls. Water makes up a large amount of area in the near side of the Moon, so Lunarians often go out to the seas and the oceans to hunt fish. This is also one of the reasons why Lunarians love seafood."

"It would certainly be interesting to navigate these Lunarian seas!"

"Of course it is. When shall we?"

Her question had me contemplating, and ending up with an answer that I just instinctively said. "Maybe... two days later?"

And apparently, Mercury thought it was a good idea. "That's great!"

We all enjoyed the fish soup, and subsequently sent away the empty bowls with the drones. The final plates were delivered, carrying the dessert of the day: Lunarian rice cakes.

I have never tried a Lunarian rice cake before, but I bet as Lunarians, Serenity and his sisters may find this kind of dessert to be one of their favorites. We enjoyed every bit of these round cakes, and with an adequately sweet taste and a soft and smooth texture, I could say that it has gained a place in my heart as my favorite dessert - it reminds me, of how dream-like everything in the Moon Kingdom is.

I could see Mercury, Jupiter and Mars savoring those Lunarian rice cakes happily, across the table. I have once heard of a folk tale from an archipelago far away, that they believed in a rabbit who pounded these kind of rice cakes on the Moon. I thought, are these the finest Lunarian rice cakes we are having now?

And as everyone of us have finished our last morsel of the cakes, the luxurious garden lunch has came to an end, as the last group of drones flew in to collect our plates.

After we finished our lunch, a dance followed in the garden. For this dance, I paired up with Serenity as my partner, while Mercury paired up with Jupiter, and Mars with Venus.

At the plaza, a harmony of resonating sound waves could be heard, as if an orchestra is tuning their instruments. As soon as the six beats of the metronome goes by, the music started playing, and we begun to dance to the sounds of strings and winds.

Joining hands with Serenity, I made my steps in the garden plaza with my pair of silver shoes. Together, our steps and our movement carried out a rhythm, one that resonates with the waves of music that traverse the palace grounds.

At a distance, I could also see Mercury dancing happily with her sister to the beat of the melody. The flow of their gowns' bright blue and fresh green fabrics reminded me of the natural waves of lakes and seas, and the motion of green leave in breezes, back on Earth.

On the other side, Mars and Venus are also dancing together. Like a dawn in its earliest hours, Mars's dress carries a fiery red aura, which matches with Venus's golden yellow. Together, their colors reminded me of the Sun when it rises above the horizon of dawn. My name is tied to the Sun in two ways; Aurora is the Roman goddess of dawn, calling forth the coming of a new day when the light of the Sun breaks through the night from below the horizon, and the Aurora borealis is formed by the Solar winds interacting with the geomagnetic field and the atmosphere of Earth.

The six of us danced in the garden, amidst flowers of all species, all colors and all kinds of fragrances, and under the light of the Sun.