Divine Venus
Sailor Moon and company aren't mine and belong to the respective authors and companies. The Chibi Senshi with the exception of Rini belong to Angel Raye. Miyaki also belongs to Angel Raye. However this plot is mine.
To see Annika come home crying was not anything new but when Raye and the others saw her today, it was a sight that made their heart melt. She was sobbing hysterically, calling, "Mommy!"
Annika always called Raye 'Mama.'
Raye stepped forward through the other adults who were waiting for their children and opened her arms.
"Oh Baby, what happened?"
"Miyaki."
Raye's blood boiled at that name.
"Does that child ever ease up?"
Mina sighed but then turned to Gloria.
"I know you have it young lady, give it to me."
Gloria growled but handed her mother the note.
"Young lady, let's go!"
Gloria sighed and then winced as she was dragged off by her ear. Annika spoke to Raye,
"Mama, she was just trying to help me."
"I know baby."
"Then why-"
"I know she cares about you, baby. But she shouldn't resort to fighting."
Annika sighed. Only the other children and now even Rini understood.
Fighting was the only way to get through to Miyaki.
* * *
"But Mom-"
"No buts! You've lost your stereo for two weeks and I don't want to get another note or you lose it until next month, understood?"
Gloria jumped up. "But Mom…Miyaki makes me so mad!"
Mina's eyes softened a bit.
"I know Darling but you can't go fighting her every-"
"No, Mom." Gloria interrupted. "You adults don't get it. Miyaki can't be reached any other way than fighting! It's the only way to get through her thick head."
Mina sat by her daughter, "We can't always think that of people, sweetie."
Gloria sighed; there was no use arguing with her mother…she never won.
* * *
"Look who's here. The palace Crybaby!"
Annika fought tears at Miyaki's sneering voice.
"Leave me alone."
Miyaki ran after Annika and pushed her into the ground, "Come on baby, show me some tears."
Annika fought against this as much as she could. She knew this was exactly what Miyaki wanted. But as hard as she tried, the tears came.
"Crybaby. You shouldn't be here in grade school. You should still be in the palace nursery, getting your diapers changed."
Annika made no reply but the tears came faster. Miyaki laughed, but then found herself flung to the ground.
Gloria leapt in front of Annika, shielding her friend's body with her own.
"Well, well, the crybaby's protector's here."
Annika looked up and stayed behind Gloria, barely moving. She heard scratches of their conversation.
"If you wanna fight me, go ahead, but leave my friend outta it!"
"If she wasn't such a crybaby, she'd stick up for herself instead of depending on you all the time."
"And if you weren't such a creep you wouldn't try to provoke her. Apparently you're lacking in hobbies."
"Irritating her is my hobby. It's easy, fun and always successful."
Something inside of Gloria snapped.
Even Annika gasped when Gloria hit Miyaki right between her eyes and the bridge of her nose snapped.
* * *
"I do not want to hear about another fight young lady!"
Gloria sighed. Her mother had lectured her last night, and the previous three nights and now as she got ready for school, she said it again,
"Young Lady, you're very lucky you did not get suspended for long this time. But your principal told me that one more incident like that and you're suspended for three weeks. I do not hear about another fight or your father and I may do something desperate, is that understood?"
Gloria nodded. She hated disappointing her parents but Miyaki was, to her, the spawn of the devil. Gloria was out of ideas of how to keep Miyaki off of Annika and with the threat of three weeks suspension she couldn't get into another fight.
She feared for Annika and prayed for Miyaki to be absent.
* * *
"Rock a bye Annika in the treetop. When the wind blows the cradle with rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle with fall and down will come baby, cradle and all."
Annika turned deep red and started to cry. Their teacher had stepped out for the moment and the moment she left, Miyaki attacked Annika. She tried to read and ignore the girl but it was no use.
Some children nearby snickered.
Gloria stepped in front of Annika and told Miyaki, with a sneer,
"Bye-Bye Miyaki, go far away. When the bell rings, school's over today. And when we all leave, I pray you that fall and break every bone, both big ones and small."
Miyaki was unprepared for a rhyme directed back at her and noted a few children snickered at the comeback. Miyaki turned to Gloria.
"So Crybaby's knight is here to save her again."
"Leave her alone, Miyaki."
"Who's gonna make me? You?"
Gloria ground her hands into fists. Her face turned red and for a moment she felt the mark of Venus on her forehead.
"That's right," Miyaki said, fingering the cast over her nose, "You can't do a thing. You'll get suspended."
Gloria ground her teeth and Miyaki gasped for a moment.
The mark of Venus lit up on her forehead although it was so bright she could not make out the design. Miyaki was about to say more when the bell rang.
Gloria wrapped her arm around Annika; picked up her friend's sack and her own and walked out, saying, "Come on Annika."
Miyaki growled and ran after them. She hated being ignored. She hated it!
Gloria sped up but Miyaki was taller and had longer legs. She grabbed Annika's skirt and ripped off the backside. It was a new skirt but she only ripped the part over Annika's underwear. With a howl, she stated,
"You need diapers crybaby, not angel underwear."
Annika tried desperately to cover herself but children had already gathered and were laughing and pointing, some were taunting her along with Miyaki. Gloria took off her jacket and tied it around Annika's waist as the tears began to flow.
Gloria almost attacked Miyaki but the girl had vanished. Gloria pushed Annika ahead and growled.
Turning to the group behind them who were taunting, she hissed,
"Shut up!"
Daisy and Faith who had now caught up with the rest of girls trailing made defensive stances, as if saying,
"Try us, just try us."
As Gloria whisked her friend away as swiftly as she could, an idea formed in her mind, cruel and crazy. It was desperate and unheard of. She thought herself a fool for even considering it….
Until she looked at Annika's face.
Her deep violet eyes were clouded over with tears as strangled sobs escaped her throat. Red stains marked her cheeks. She was trying to stop the tears but to no avail. Gloria drew Annika to her, letting her cry into her shoulder.
As the two walked towards the palace, Gloria hissed,
"That's it. You can insult Annika, tease her after multiple warnings…but embarrassing her like that is the straw that broke the camel's back!"
She stopped, released what she'd said, and shook her head.
"I've been hanging around Grandma too much."
* * *
When Annika came through the door, Gloria near, a hand around her friend's shoulders, Raye quickly opened her arms. Annika fell into them. Raye turned to Gloria, with questioning eyes.
Gloria growled and Raye's mouth dropped as the mark of Venus lit up on her forehead as she hissed through clenched teeth,
"Miyaki tore off the back of Annika's skirt. I gave her my jacket to cover it."
Raye's face turned red as a blind fury shot through every piece of her heart and soul. "She did what?"
Annika was sobbing into her mother's priestess outfit. Raye started to smooth her hair as she said,
"Thank you Gloria. I'm going to talk to that girl's mother again."
Gloria nodded and said,
"Put your foot down, Aunt Raye! I'm tired of seeing Annika in so much pain."
Raye was again reminded how, despite the girl's jokes and teasing, she truly loved her daughter. She looked at Gloria, whose deep blue eyes were practically smothering with fury and at the bright image on the Venus sign that had made its way onto the girl's forehead. Raye could not remember a time when any of the girls, with the exception of Rini, had been made angry enough to force their planet sign to appear. She nodded as Gloria ran out the door.
Annika cried, "Why does she hate me so much Mama?"
Raye had no answer and instead just held her baby girl as tight as she could.
"I don't know, angel. But I'm gonna talk to her mother again. We are going to get this to stop. This isn't teasing or even bullying. This is plain cruel."
* * *
Gloria was debating whether or not to act on her plan when she heard voices from Aunt Amy's quarters. She stopped and pressed her ear to the door. She could make up Aunt Raye and Aunt Amy. They were talking about Annika so Gloria stayed to listen.
"I cannot believe that girl's mother does not care what her daughter does!"
"Did you lose your temper, Raye?"
"What do you think? If you could have seen Annika's face…."
"I understand your anger Raye but you're doing everything you can. I think this calls for higher authority."
"What?"
"Raye, I'm her doctor and as I've told you before, Annika's making success, although it's slow. But every time we make it to a milestone, Miyaki does something like this."
"Are you saying that these teasing, these acts, are holding my daughter back?"
Amy must have nodded because Raye exploded,
"That's psychological torture!"
Amy answered, "I know and I'm considering approaching Miyaki's mother with a restraining order. Usually it's used for divorces and such but in this case I think it would be necessary, otherwise Annika isn't going to get anywhere. If I can get her to build up her confidence she'll eventually be able to handle Miyaki but as of right now, her psyche does not have the strength it needs."
Gloria pulled away.
"Poor Annika!" she ran outside to the palace gardens.
"I know what you're planning small one," a tender voice said.
Gloria turned, "Aunt Setsuna."
The green haired woman smiled gently as she sat on a stone bench. Gloria sat beside her as the Senshi of time went on, in her sweet voice.
"I also know why you're debating. I cannot tell you what to do but I can tell you this much…follow the impulse your heart tells you and everything will be fine."
Gloria said softly,
"I…I…want to make Miyaki leave Annika alone."
"And such an act may very well achieve that."
"Aunt Setsuna, please…tell me, am I supposed to do this?"
"I cannot reveal that, little one. However, I can say that if you truly believe with all your heart and you have the bravery to face the consequences then what you do will be for the best."
That said, she rose and walked off. Gloria sighed,
"Why do you always have to talk in riddles, Aunt Setsuna?"
Gloria reviewed her options. Her thoughts to turned to Annika and her broken face. Her little psyche had been shattered. Gloria had seen the pain her deep violet eyes. And then the smug look in Miyaki's…
Gloria leapt to her feet, her mind made up. She called,
"Aunt Setsuna?"
The Senshi turned, "yes?"
"Tell…tell Mom I'll be home in an hour."
Setsuna smiled. The timeline was flowing, as it should. She nodded as Gloria ran off.
"End her cruelty Gloria."
* * *
Miyaki had gone to Crystal Tokyo Central Park after school. Her mother didn't care what time she got home so she was just bidding her time. But now as it began to get dark, she headed homeward, simply because she was cold and was not crazy enough to be out in the park when it got dark. The weirdoes came out then.
But as she started to walk, she heard the bushes rustle behind her.
Whirling around, she gasped when she saw nothing. She shrugged it off but then found herself slammed to the ground.
"Miyaki!"
The girl whirled around,
"Who's there?"
"How does it feel to be the victim, Miyaki?"
"Who are you? Where are you?"
"Do you like having fear rush through you?"
The girl found her self knocked down a second time, mud coating her blouse.
"Or perhaps being embarrassed is fun?"
"Where are you?" Miyaki tried not to admit in her voice that she was frightened.
"Up here. In the tree, Miyaki."
Turning, Miyaki gasped and fell to her knees. There, above her, on a thick limb with her orange tresses blowing in the wind stood Sailor Chibi Venus.
"Chibi Venus!"
She loved the Chibi Senshi and Chibi Venus was her favorite but before she could move closer…
"Venus Beautiful Shockwave!"
The attack split, moving on either side of Miyaki but Miyaki still screamed in fear as she tumbled to her knees again. In her fear, she looked up trembling.
"But…but why are you attacking me?"
"Why do you attack those weaker than you?" The Senshi asked as she leapt down and stood in front of the terrified girl.
"It's fun…"
"But do you realize the psychological damage you give them? Especially Mizuno Ariel and Hino Annika?"
"They're crybabies!"
The Senshi drew her Love Arrow. Miyaki shut her mouth. The senshi's voice was cold, scolding.
"No, they're sweet, innocent girls that allow themselves to fall victim to you because their little hearts are so pure. And as for the rest of your victims, they fear you…they suffer pain and agony."
The Senshi paused and was a flip of her hand, the arrow bagn to glow.
"That is what youma do."
Miyaki started to shake and tremble, knowing for a fact that the Senshi spoke the truth. And Senshi killed youma.
The Senshi paused,
"I'm not a murderer. I did not come here to kill, but to warn. Cease your bullying, both with your actions and your words. Apologize to your victims and then leave them alone."
Miyaki nodded. The Senshi pressed her arrow to the girl's neck.
"I didn't hear that Miyaki!"
"I will! I promise!"
The Senshi drew her arrow away and backed up.
"I have ways of watching Miyaki. Every Senshi does."
Miyaki nodded, still not strong enough in her knees to stand.
"I'll figure out if you break that promise. If you do…"
Miyaki trembled and sweat broke out on her forehead.
"If you do," the Senshi continued as she leapt skyward, "I throw down your divine punishment from heaven!"
She vanished from sight, leaving Miyaki petrified and crying.
* * *
The families of the Crystal Palace were gathered in the sitting room when Ves walked in.
"Excuse me, your highnesses, but this girl insists on seeing Annika and Ariel."
Raye and Amy were ready to attack when Miyaki walked in.
But the girl didn't taunt. She fell to her knees in front of the girls and said,
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Daisy stepped forward, fist raised,
"You never cared before, why the hell should you apologize now?"
Miyaki lifted her head and those present were stunned. Her face was completely white and she was shaking.
"Because, Sailor Chibi Venus just told me to."
That said, she leapt up and said, "I'll never touch you again. Never."
Then she turned and ran out.
Just then, Gloria walked in. she was prepared for the assault so she merely waited for it to come. She did not have to wait long.
"Gloria Kathryn Aino! What were you thinking? A Senshi is supposed to protect, not threaten!"
Gloria said nothing.
"You have terrified that girl-"
"Hold on Mina."
It was Neo-Queen Serenity. She walked over to Gloria and knelt down to her level.
"Why don't we let Gloria defend herself?"
Gloria gave her Aunt Serenity a look of thanks. The queen merely nodded and waited.
"Aunt Amy, Aunt Raye I heard you all talking."
The two were surprised but nodded. Gloria went on, oddly calm, not like she usually was when she was in for a major punishment.
"If Miyaki is causing that much damage, I can't see the difference between her and a youma. We don't tolerate youma. Why should we tolerate someone more simply because they don't attack physically. In my opinion, we should deal with bullies first. Mental wounds take longer to heal, don't they Aunt Amy?"
The doctor nodded. "Much longer, some may not heal at all."
Gloria nodded. "I did what I did because I was not going to let Miyaki torture my friends anymore. I did what I did because I love my friends. No one deserves the pain I've seen Miyaki put Annika through."
She took a breath, unaware that the anger had left her parents and the others' eyes, replaced by pure emotion that was indescribable.
"It's the same reason that I get into fights. To protect. Maybe not physically but mentally. That's just as important isn't it?"
No answer just stunned silence. No one said anything.
"When I saw Annika's face….I knew I had to do something. To see that much hurt and embarrassment…I can't see the justice in letting that go on! I could have not done anything but I could never have face Annika again if I abandoned her like that. Knowing I could do something but didn't is harder to face than any punishment you can dish out at me."
She faced her leaders and her parents,
"So you can punish me, you can scold me, but if you want me to regret what I did, it's never going to happen."
She waited.
Neo-Queen Serenity spoke,
"You may be right but-"
"She is right."
Gloria beamed, "Pluto!"
Maggie ran over to her mother. "Mom! You're away from your post."
The Senshi nodded, "I have to support Gloria."
Mina turned to Senshi of Time. "Pluto?"
The green haired Senshi went on,
"Gloria's action is very significant in the timeline. Amy neglected to tell you Raye that Annika is very close to being permanently scarred by Miyaki. And Ariel is not far behind."
The girls did not completely understand how dangerous that could be but knew it was terrible by their parents' reactions. Pluto continued,
"And Gloria did not play favorites to stop the pain with just Annika and Ariel. She told Miyaki to cease her teasing on all the children. If Miyaki was to continue several children would wind up scarred by her words or in one case, committing suicide. And because Miyaki now fears the punishment of being mean, she will slowly but assuredly change for the better. She will not become a saint by any means but her life was going to be cold and alone now she will possess some happiness."
Pluto took a breath, "I wished I did not have to reveal so much about the future but Gloria's act was for the overall good." She smiled. "But I believe her fate is left up to Small Lady?"
The King and Queen nodded and everyone looked to Rini. The girl took a breath and said,
"On the level of the Royal Court, all her actions are pardoned. I leave her punishment up to Mina and Asai." She took a breath, "The girls and I all know the same as Pluto, this is the only way anyone could have permanently gotten through to Miyaki."
Gloria nodded. She didn't care what punishment she got. Rini was showing tremendous mercy and everyone knew it. She didn't even protest when her mother ordered her to their chambers.
But as she walked off, she spied Annika and Ariel's faces.
Their deep eyes told her simply…
"Thank you."
* * *
"Gloria heads up!"
The girl ducked and caught the ball that Faith had kicked towards her. To her surprise, her parents let her come on the royal picnic although she was technically supposed to be grounded until she turned ten.
Annika smiled at her best friend. Ever since Gloria's threat towards Miyaki a month ago, Annika had not had any problems at school, and neither had Ariel. Miyaki still saw them every day but although the girls sometimes saw her impulse to agitate, it always died now and she turned away.
Annika got up and ran over to her friend,
"Gloria?"
"Yeah?"
"Come with me a minute, Ariel and I wanna ask you something."
Gloria nodded. She tossed the ball to Daisy and walked over to the blanket with Ariel and Annika.
Ariel spoke, "Gloria…thanks fore what you did."
"I already told you that I-"
"But I felt like I should thank you anyway."
Annika looked at her friend. "You could have been stripped of your powers."
Gloria nodded, "I know. But if that's what it took to make you have a chance to believe in yourself, if that's what it would take to let Ariel have fun and not worry about bullies, I'd give it a thousand times."
Annika's eyes filled with tears. Gloria rolled her eyes,
"Are you gonna cry?"
Annika shook her head and wiped at her eyes, "No."
Ariel stared past them. The two turned. Miyaki was over by the swing set and spied them. But as she walked towards them, she stopped and looked at the sky. A look of fear overwhelmed her and she turned away.
Annika was about to say something else when Gloria grabbed her and started to tickle her. Annika laughed out loud. And soon Ariel helped Gloria. The other Chibi Senshi heard the commotion and soon there was a tickle fest among all of them, some being the ticklers, some the ticklees.
Amy watched this with the other adults. A smile crept over all their faces.
"So, gone is this obstacle." Raye smiled at Amy. "Will my Annika be able to conquer the next?"
Amy turned to where she saw that the tables had turned and Annika was now tickling Gloria. Both were laughing, with smiles a mile wide. She looked at Raye and smiled.
"I think she'll be fine."
Annika wrapped her arms around Gloria's neck and the two got up and ran off towards the swing set. Annika did not even make note of Miyaki.
"They're both gonna be just fine."