A beautiful day of cruising around the Sea of Serenity is over, and a new morning begins. Just when I woke up, I heard the sound of someone knocking on the door of my room.

I said, "Come in."

It was Princess Mars in her vermillion dress. I wondered, what did she have to share with me about the future?

"Mars!"

I then noticed that she doesn't look as glad as she was in the previous days.

Concerned, I asked, "You seem unsettled, are you alright?"

The sad truth was that she was not.

In a worrying tone, Mars delivered these words: "Aurora, I have a serious premonition about what is going to happen in the next days."

Her voice brought a sense of foreboding to me. I knew that what she said is highly likely to be an omen of an undesirable event, but since it was bound to happen anyway, I asked her, "What is that?"

Mars spoke out the premonition she had, in a distressed voice.

"Nehelenia is about to return!"

Shocked by this news, I reacted. "Seriously?"

Nehelenia.

The self-proclaimed "rightful queen" of the Moon, who I had never met. I never knew of her appearance, nor her personality, I did not even know the reason why she hates Selene that much. I had only one memory of her. Serenity once told me that she was the one who cursed him, that he will never be alive to ascend the throne.

That alone already proves that she is no different from Maleficent. And hence, she is my enemy.

Mars confirmed her warning. "Yes. That woman who I saw in my premonitions... Her dress, her hairstyle, her eyes... Every detail of her matches the image of Nehelenia, which our mother Queen Selene described years ago. And if my premonitions are so clear that it's her, then that means..."

I continued, knowing what Mars is going to say next, "... her threat is imminent. We should now come up with a plan to counter her."

Mars responded, "I have called my sisters and Serenity to gather in the common room to discuss this. I think it would be good if you could join, Aurora. You are the one who our brother loves, after all."

I calmly accepted her request. "Sure, Mars. I will do anything to break Serenity's curse, and I think, that the best way to break his curse, is to use our combined power."

I then elaborated, "Nehelenia may seem to be quite powerful, but I don't think she is as powerful as you might think. Fourteen years ago, you were still infants. Nehelenia took advantage of that and attacked your brother at a time when you could not use your powers. But now, I am impressed by how sharp your predictions of the future are, and how proficient Venus is with her sword. Jupiter is also very strong, and I got to witness how mighty she is with her arms. And Mercury always come up with the best strategies."

I reached my hand out to Mars, saying with much optimism, "defeating Nehelenia is not impossible. Me, you, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter... The five of us will give that pretender a surprise!"

"And to plan that surprise, we'll go to the common room to discuss our strategy."

Mars seemed to have more confidence, after I have cheered her up. I could see a smile, being briefly restored on her face.

"Great, Aurora!"

We then stepped out of my room, making our way to the couches of the common room.

At the common room, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and Serenity have already sat down on the couches. The couches, though comfortable, still could not offset the uncertainty and fear Nehelenia's potential revenge wrings upon us.

Mars and I then took the seats opposite to Jupiter and Mercury, ready to discuss a strategy with them.

"So, sisters, I shall speak about my latest premonition."

She then began to remember and recount the details of her latest meditation session. "I was meditating in my chamber, as usual. Then I saw a premonition that within a few days, Nehelenia will be broken free of her seal and take revenge on us!"

I could see that everyone were concerned. Jupiter said, "This is a serious situation that you speak of, Mars! If you could clearly see that she's Nehelenia, then that is a real and imminent threat that we will have to deal with! We'd better think of what to do now."

With a calm expression contrary to the others, Mercury expressed her initiative, "We should discuss our strategy to defeat her."

She then thought for a while, presumably calculating her strategies, before telling her brother, "Serenity, you will stay here in the Sailor Guardians' Tower, where you will be safe from Nehelenia's attacks. Do not go out. The Moon Kingdom cannot afford to lose you."

Serenity nodded, "Understood, sister."

She then looked at Venus and me, and gave the following suggestion. "Venus, Aurora, the both of you wield swords. The two of you would be at the forefront of the formation, where you would physically defend the rest of the team from Nehelenia while we prepare our attacks."

For the first time in my life, I have been bestowed such a daunting task. I remembered, that just two months ago, I was a mere girl living in a forest, dreaming about how life would have been better if I grew up in the castle as a "proper" and privileged princess instead. I would have been eating much nicer food instead, been sleeping on a bed more cozy and comfortable than anyone could dream of, been attending all those fancy events and more...

However, now I have realized and learned, that being a princess - being the future queen of Kultajärvi - is more than just wearing fancy dresses and attending parties at the castle, and it is definitely not daydreaming about some horse-riding handsome "Prince Charming" to come and propose to you at first sight. I'd say that there's a high probability that he'd see you as some beautiful trophy or is marrying you for political reasons.

Yes, I know that Serenity is a prince. But that alone was not the main reason for me to fall in love with him, back in the forest.

Beyond his royal title, he is a young and empathetic boy who had been given a curse similar to mine. He genuinely cares for me, despite his young age, because he understands how it is to be cursed by a powerful being to eventual demise. I know that he loves and admires me out of a true heart, and that was all it took for me to reciprocate his feelings for me.

Prince Serenity, that little boy in a suit of white and gold, awakened my protective instincts.

And because of that, I have a mission to fulfill. A mission, that I want to fulfill.

I want to protect the one I love. I want to protect the boy who understands my curse, the compassionate boy who cried for my curse in the forest.

And to be able to protect him, I must be strong and courageous.

The battle with Nehelenia would be a trial for my strength and courage, and a test for my chemistry and cohesion with the Sailor Guardians.

I will defeat that evil pretender, who cursed my beloved to eventual death fourteen years ago.

Mercury then focused her attention on Jupiter, and said, "Jupiter, you will be in the middle of the formation, while I and Mars will stay behind. We will use our magic to weaken Nehelenia until she yields."

Mars and Jupiter then nodded in confirmation.

Mercury continued, "Then this will be the initial strategy for our team when we face Nehelenia. However, the situation can change at any time. Be flexible as water and adapt to it!"

Venus agreed. "Mercury is right. We are prepared to finally break our brother's curse!"

She then held up her sword with both of her hands, and I followed suit. Mercury held up her microcomputer, while Mars held a talisman up with her hand.

In unison, we chanted in ultimate determination to break our brother / lover's curse,

"For Prince Serenity, and for the Moon Kingdom!"

During the following days, we have been training hard to be able to confront Nehelenia when she comes. Mars kept updating us with her newest premonitions, with Mercury inferring possible strategies Nehelenia may use from her sister's premonitions through artificial intelligence, and coming up with solutions we may use to counteract accordingly.

I have also learnt a few new martial arts skills with Jupiter, and did some strength training with her as well. The massive amount of weight she is able to lift has always looked impressive and "impossible" to me, but she understood that not everyone has her supernatural strength capabilities. She refrained from ridiculing me for lifting what might seem like an insignificant weight for her, as she continued to encourage me on the tough but rewarding way of strength training. Every day, I have been constantly lifting weights in pursuit of a stronger physique, and as the days go by, I have been more and more confident about myself, knowing that I am becoming a stronger princess with each day of effort I invest in.

Aside from my physical strength, my sword practices with Venus has also been progressing fast. Not a day has passed by in the training hall without the frequent clashing sounds of bamboo swords. Inside the hall, Venus and I have been training on more advanced sword moves.

Jumping up into the mid-air, Venus held her sword up and attempted to slash it down with a furious amount of force, focus and precision. Before she could act, though, I could already predict with the instant of her jump that she would be slamming her sword downwards. Gripping my practice sword tightly with a defensive posture, I prepared for her attack. When the swords collide, I could feel the force of Venus slamming her sword being withstood by my body, as I held the sword to prevent it from being knocked down from my hands. Right after the collision, I swung the sword in an upward arc, and Venus parried accordingly with a fast reaction time. During the practice, we seldom scored a hit on each other, thanks to the high level of concentration making us aware of every move.

Ever since Mars revealed her premonition of Nehelenia's imminent revenge to all of us, Serenity has seldom went out of the top floor of the Sailor Guardians' Tower. Most of his time during those days were never spent without his sisters or me by his side, as if he was wanting to be protected from the imminent threat of the pretender who cursed him to eventual death fourteen years ago. We kept reassuring him that he would be safe, no matter when exactly Nehelenia will be broken free of her seal. As long as he is with us, then he would be safe, protected by the Sailor Guardians with their planetary powers, and me, with the sword he crafted for me.