Authors note: This has nothing to do with the current series; it's just something for Halloween.
Disclaimer: The plot is mine, along with my Chibi scouts. We all know who Angel Raye's Chibi scouts are, so please give her credit for them. For those who may not know who they are Annika, Ariel, Daisy, Gloria, Hope, Faith, Madelyn, and Maggie Please read and review. I don't own Sailor moon or Chibi Moon. Everyone will go by they're English names in this story.
Happy Halloween
By: MiniSaturnJess
It was late October, as the Halloween festivals were approaching. There so much to do during the holidays. The queen was bound to throw a party in the palace hall. Queen Serenity had allowed the children to help do the planning so that way it'd be more fun for the children. Today was the children last day of school, before they were let off for festival purposes, yet there was a dance going on at the school; Maggie, Rini, and Daisy would be attending that. They're week was super busy.
Gloria walked home sluggishly, that afternoon after school. Annika walked beside her best friend, not saying a word. She already knew why Gloria was gloomy; she had gotten another letter sent home. Mina had threatened her that if she got one more note sent home she wouldn't be allowed to celebrate in any of the celebrations of that week. She'd be confined to her room and whenever a celebration of some sort was going on Ves was going to be watching her so that way the rest of the family could enjoy they're time.
Today the children were going to go out and pick out they're costumes to wear. Gloria knew she wouldn't be going, and even if she did, it'd be torture to watch Mina, Asai, and Erin pick something out.
Annika watched her friend struggle inside; she knew too well of Mina. Mina wasn't going to give Gloria a chance this Halloween because she had already warned her and Gloria had gotten double the amount of notes sent home this week alone.
The children came to find their parents waiting on them. Gloria watched as Annika ran over to her mother and jumped up into her arms, kissing her on the cheek. Julia quickly gave her mother a hug and then just stood there.
Ariel walked uneasily to her mother, as seeing she was holding Maia in her arms, Ariel was afraid that maybe Ami had decided to love Maia more than her. Even though Ami explained that she loved both her daughters equally, Ariel just didn't seem to understand it. Ariel's eyes lit up when she saw her mother put Maia down and extend her arms out toward her. Ariel quickly ran to her mother and gave her a big giant big hug. Ami laughed at this.
Gloria watched as both sets of twins embraced each other with a group hug. Amara picked Jordan up and put her on her shoulder's and spun her around. After Amara was finished with her, Isabella wanted at turn, so Amara did the same with her. Gloria suddenly felt herself envious of the two little twins, they got to do so much with their family, and they weren't always getting trouble.
Gloria watched as Chloe took off toward her mother. She squealed in delight as she wrapped her arms around her mother's waist. Chloe was the child that got off with just about everything, not that she could be too angry with the child. She did get Gloria out of trouble, just too bad she wouldn't be able to help Gloria this time.
Madelyn and Emily went over to their mother. Emily yawned, indicating she was sleepy. Hotaru instantaneously picked the little girl up; Emily laid her head on Hotaru's shoulder.
Hailey saw her mother waiting for her and excitedly ran over to her, telling her all about what happened in school. Lita wondered how much candy the child had, had already.
Lydia stood there looking around for her mother; she wasn't surprised when she didn't see her. She sighed. A hand was placed on her shoulder; she turned around and saw that it was her mother. She smiled grimly and gave her a huge hug. Trista saw this as a good sign to having a good holiday.
Gloria's shoulders wilted, she knew she was in for it now. Mina came up to her child and demanded the note. Everyone watched as Mina took the note and read it to herself.
"You glued a kid to his seat?" Mina questioned, shocked. Gloria nodded, tears were trying to seep through her eyes, but she couldn't cry in front of everybody.
"How could you do this Gloria?" Mina asked irritated. "Is it too much to ask for you to be good in school for just once?"
"We better go honey." Rei said to Annika. Raye grabbed a hold of Julia's hand, Annika was still being held, the family walked back toward their quarters. Annika watched as Gloria sulked, she wished she could do something for her. Soon everyone else had departed. Mina, Erin, and Gloria were still outside. Mina was lecturing Gloria on how she just wanted her to be good for once, and that she was going to have tripled the chores this week and she wasn't going to be able to attend any of the palace parties or festivals.
Later on that night, while Raye was putting Annika to bed, Annika had not said a word to her mother that day. Raye decided to talk with Annika and see what was bothering the little girl. Raye moved Annika's beautiful hair out of her face.
"What is it darling?" Raye asked her daughter.
Annika turned to her mother, "Gloria's going to be in trouble throughout this holiday and it's going to be boring without her."
"Sweetie, there's nothing I can do about that. Gloria asked for the trouble. What she did was no mistake. She glued a boy to his chair." Raye explained. "I know it may be boring without Gloria, but please try to have some fun. Play with the twins."
"But mama, Gloria was so sad. Halloween's her favorite time of year." Annika said.
"Right along with April fools." Raye mentioned. "Now Annika, don't worry your little head about it, I want you to get some sleep. Tomorrow morning were going to the costume store with everyone."
"Okay mama." Annika said, finally giving in. She was worried about her friend. She knew why Gloria had glued the boy to his chair, and Annika thought he deserved it. Raye tucked her daughter in and gave her a hug and kiss. She turned out the light as she went to go tuck in Julia.
Annika sighed, she really wanted Gloria to have a wonderful holiday, but what Gloria had done made her look bad, and she wasn't going to tell her mother why she had done it. There was one thing Annika was sure of; at least Gloria was safe for now and she was going to try to spend as much time as possible with Gloria.
Meanwhile, at the twin's quarters, Amara was having a difficult time getting the children off to bed. Faith was extremely bouncy and therefore it made the other kids hyper. Faith and Jordan were jumping on Faith's bed, while Hope and Isabella were in the music room jamming out. Hope was singing while Isabella was playing the piano.
Michelle laughed as Amara came back into the living room and just dropped onto the couch. She cuddled up next to Amara and whispered, "They'll be fine, just let them stay up a little bit longer, and they'll eventually wear themselves out."
Amara hoped this were true. It was about ten thirty before the noise had died down. The little twins were fast asleep on Faith's bed, while Faith and Hope stayed up just talking.
"Faith, you know, I don't think it's fair that Gloria has to be punished this holiday." Hope brought up.
"I know." Faith sighed. "But she made us promise not to tell anyone, so we won't."
"But Faith, what if she gets hurt?" Hope questioned.
"Gloria's a strong girl, nothing will happen to her. Especially with her tricks." Faith reminded her.
Hope wasn't too sure about that. Gloria may play tricks a lot, but what would happen when she didn't have any tricks to play? Hope gave her sister a hug and told her she was going to bed.
The next morning everyone was awoken by their parents at a pretty early time. The girls were quick to get ready, as they wanted to get to the costume store as quickly as possible. Gloria had been dragged along, Mina thought it would be a good idea to show Gloria how all the others were having fun because they did not misbehave. Even Daisy and Faith had been extra good this week, they hadn't gotten a single note home, and they had been given the same threat as Gloria had. Gloria watched as everyone excitedly picked out their costumes.
Queen Serenity came up to Mina and Asai. "When you are checking in people tonight for the Halloween dance tonight, be sure you let the little children in, as they are being apart of our guest tonight." She was referring to Asai, as he and the other Knights would be helping out with security before the party began.
"Queen Serenity did you invite my whole class?" Gloria asked, nervously.
"Yes I did. And by the many phone calls I got, it seems they'll all be showing up." Queen Serenity turned back to Mina and Asai, Gloria had gone sickly pale. That evil little boy was going to be at the party while Gloria was stuck in her room. It was a good thing that she was stuck in her room, but what happened if he chose to pick on Annika or Ariel? Gloria wouldn't be able to defend them.
Gloria sighed and left her mother's side. She hadn't said she had to stand right next to her, thought she suspected that Mina wanted her too, Gloria no longer cared. She found Ariel and Maia trying on a costume. Gloria giggled as seeing Ariel's was too big for her. Maia looked adorable in the ducky costume. Ami looked up at Gloria and gave her a gentle wave.
Ariel decided to let her mother roam through the other costumes while she went and chatted away with Gloria. Gloria listened to Ariel as she told her about how fun the dance was going to be tonight. Ariel stopped and frowned, "You're not going, are you?"
Gloria shook her head and decided that she'd go and see one of the younger children. Madelyn and Emily were playing between the clothes racks. Madelyn seemed to be looking for Emily. Emily giggled as she hid inside one of the clothes racks. Madelyn pushed some of the costumes back and found a very giggly Emily.
"Come on Madelyn and Emily." Hotaru called out, she had several costumes to pick out of.
Someone tripped over Gloria. Both of them went crashing down to the ground. Gloria looked up and saw that it was Daisy, she rubbed her aching head. Daisy got up off of Gloria and then helped her up.
"I heard you're grounded." Daisy mentioned. Gloria rolled her eyes. "Why do you have to do such stupid things on the holidays? You could be enjoying yourself, but now you'll be sulking in your room tonight as we all are going to be in the palace ballroom having a blast."
"I'll have my own party at my house, and it'll be much more fun then some stupid dance. I don't like dancing anyways." Gloria lied, for she knew she was going to be sulking.
"Who did you glue to their chair anyways?" Daisy asked, amused.
"Roger Paul." Gloria replied.
"His brother is in my class." Daisy mentioned.
"His brother?" Gloria asked, shocked. Her heart was pumping fast. "Is he coming too?"
"Yea, both him and his little brother." Daisy explained.
Gloria turned around and walked off. Daisy gave Gloria a funny look. Daisy shook her head and then went off to find her mother and tell her she had gotten her costume picked out. Gloria was looking for Trista, but when she found her she was really busy and couldn't talk to Gloria. Gloria went back to her mother and wrapped her arms around her.
Mina looked down at her daughter oddly. She had noticed that Gloria had been awfully quiet at home this past week, even though she had gotten several notes sent home. She wasn't playing pranks on any of the palace children, just that one boy in particular. When she was home she was quiet and always seemed to be off in another world. Mina didn't really think nothing much of it, she was glad that Gloria wasn't causing problems at the dinners, but she had made up for it at school.
--------------
Later on that night, Gloria sat in her sister's room as she watched her mother get her dressed up in her costume. Erin had decided to be a gymnast, although she already was one, she wanted to show her outfit off at the dance that night. When Mina had gotten herself ready, she came in to talk to Gloria.
"I'm sorry you have to miss out on this dance, but you should have listened to me. Ves won't be able to make it tonight, but I suspect you'll be good?" Mina waited for Gloria's response.
"Yes ma'am." Gloria replied, she wasn't up to pulling pranks or even sneaking out. She just wanted to sleep until the next morning.
"You are welcome to watch some TV if you please. I'll be back around twelve, if you need anything call me, but only if it's an emergency." Mina explained. She kissed Gloria on the forehead and then left with Erin and Asai.
As Mina, Asai, and Erin were walking toward the palace gates, Mina brought up on how Gloria had been awfully quiet. Asai said that Gloria was probably upset that she wasn't able to do anything this week and that Halloween was one of her favorite holidays. Indeed it was, Gloria had been allowed to play some tricks on Halloween and not get into trouble. Unless, of course, someone got seriously injured, then it was an issue, but so far Gloria's tricks had been harmless. Mina was going to miss having Gloria around, but she was determined to get her to behave.
Mina kissed Asai goodbye and then turned around and took Erin to the Halloween dance. Erin was excited, as she was going to be able to see kids from school. When they arrived, Chloe had been waiting on Erin, she immediately took her by the hand and led her away.
Annika, Hope, and Ariel were all in one little corner, dressed in their costumes talking. Faith had gone off to find some of the boys from their class. Madelyn came up to Ariel and asked her if she wanted to play.
"One minute Madelyn, were trying to figure something out." Ariel explained.
"It's going to be impossible to know who he is with al the costumes." Hope declared.
"Well, I don't think he'd go and find Gloria anyways. She is in her quarters." Annika mentioned.
"I know, I just don't like having him here." Hope sighed. She had, had problems with the kid too. She just hadn't told anyone about it.
Little did they know the little boy and his older brother had been listening to them the whole time. They went outside the ballroom and just started cracking up laughing.
"This is going to be too good." The little boy said.
"Now all we have to do is find out where Gloria's quarters are." The older boy said.
"It won't be hard, watch this." Roger walked up toward a woman that wasn't dressed up for Halloween. "Excuse me miss, but I was looking to where Gloria's quarters might be. I really wanted to give her a present," He held up a bag indicating he had something to give her. "I feel really bad that she can't come to the party tonight, do you think you could show me where she's at?"
"I don't see why not, follow me this way." The woman took off down the hall. Roger turned around and snickered at his older brother. His brother gave him a thumbs up, and followed closely behind him.
The woman stopped at a wooden oak door, "This would be Gloria's quarters, I'm sure she's inside, just knock." With that the woman took off.
Roger and Devin came up to the door, grinning. Roger knocked on the door, and then heard footsteps coming toward them. Gloria opened the door, not thinking about asking for who it was first.
Roger and Devin pushed the door opened and let themselves in. Devin shut the door and locked it. Gloria's eyes lit up with instant fear, she had no tricks to play, and she had no way of fighting back. Roger pounded his fist together.
"My little brother wants something from you." Devin said, he took something out of the bag.
"Well, you can't have it!" Gloria said, she wished Artemis hadn't gone out with Luna. Gloria took off running toward her room, but Roger's older brother was on her tail. He pushed her to the ground and then locked the door after Roger was in.
"We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way." Devin laughed.
"Why don't you just leave me alone?" Gloria asked.
"That would be too easy." Devin responded. Gloria tried fighting back, but found herself too weak to fight Devin; he strangled her and then tied her hands up. Gloria couldn't help herself from crying, and she knew that showed even deeper weakness.
Meanwhile, Annika, Hope, and Ariel were finally enjoying themselves. They figured that Roger wouldn't do anything out in public; little did they know that Gloria was in so much trouble right now. The three were hanging out with Madelyn. Mina smiled; there were no fights, or bad pranks going on. Though, she did miss Gloria greatly. She looked at the desserts and got an idea, she would take some to Gloria right now. She talked to the Queen and she agreed. Mina got Gloria's favorite.
The boys had just left Gloria's quarters; she quickly decided she needed to change into something else, before her mother saw the bruises the boys had left on her. She had no desire to tell her mother about this. She changed into a long-sleeved blue shirt, and a pair of blue jeans, she then decided to hide under her bed incase the boys returned. Gloria was shaking violently, she had not been so afraid in her life. Tears seeped through her eyes once more.
Mina walked in the front door, Gloria had not heard her. Mina noticed that the house was really quiet, this worried her. She hoped that Gloria hadn't snuck out of the house. She went into her bedroom, Gloria heard the door open, and she stopped breathing. She was sure that it was one of those boys coming back for more. Mina walked out of the room, and set the cake down.
"Where could Gloria have gone?" Mina asked. She sighed. "I knew I should've gotten her a babysitter." She walked out of the house and back to the ballroom, she sought out Asai, who had arrived after shutting the gates.
Asai was having a wonderful time hanging out with Ken and Chad. Mina didn't want to be the one to ruin his time, but they had to find their daughter.
"Asai, Gloria wasn't home." Mina explained irritated.
"She snuck out?" Asai gathered.
"More than likely." Mina sighed. "I'm sorry."
"With the party going on, it'll be hard to find her." Chad pointed out.
"And if she is as clever as she always is, she would have found a costume and dressed up." Ken mused.
Mina sighed, "Yea you're right. I guess we'll just look for her after the party."
Lydia and Julia were out on the middle of the dance floor, dancing. Hailey saw that they were out on the dance floor. She skidded across the marble floor and joined in. Lydia, Julia, and Hailey were giggling at each, and with each other, as they looked goofy in their costumes dancing. Trista and Serenity laughed at the sight. Trista was just glad that Lydia was enjoying herself.
Maggie came up to her mother, with Daisy following her. Maggie followed her mother's eyes to see what she was looking at, when she saw the four on the dance floor dancing, she just doubled over with laughter. Daisy gave Maggie a confused look and then glanced over to where Maggie had been previously looking at.
"Come on Maggie! Let's go join them!" Daisy squealed as she took a hold of Maggie's hand and dragged her out on the dance floor.
Ariel was the first one out of Annika, Madelyn, and Hope to see the others out on the dance floor. She tried to suppress her giggles, but couldn't help it. Annika, Madelyn, and Hope all looked up to see what she was laughing about, when they saw them, they also started laughing. Maia, Chloe, Isabella, Jordan, Emily, and Erin went over to the older girls and asked them to join in the fun. Madelyn and Hope couldn't resist their little sisters asking, so they joined right away. Annika and Ariel were a little shy at first, but Emily, Chloe, and Maia pushed them out onto the dance floor. Rini dragged Faith away from her friends at school and forced her to dance. She didn't have to force her much, as Faith quickly saw the excitement in it all.
"It's a shame that Gloria had to miss out on all this." Ariel mentioned.
"Yea, it is." Faith replied. There had been no pranks that night, yet there had been plenty of opportunities. Though, there might not have been a need to have a prank pulled, as seeing the party was full of adventure and giggling.
"I miss my Gloria." Isabella stated.
Annika wrinkled her nose, "She's my Gloria, not yours."
Daisy and Maggie laughed at Annika. Annika turned pink with embarrassment. When the children had tired out, they ended up sitting on the chairs, most of them passing out. The party was beginning to thin out, as parents were taking their children home to put them to bed. Yet, there were still enough people to keep the party going. A slow song came on.
"Raye Hino may I have this dance?" Chad asked, holding his hand out.
Raye blushed and took his hand, "Yes."
"Lita Kino how about me and you dance together?" Ken asked, as he did the cliché thing and held out his hand.
Lita laughed, and took his hand, they followed after Raye and Chad and begin dancing.
"Trista Meiou I would find it another blessing if you and I could dance together out on the dance floor." Gary said, getting on his knees and taking Trista's hand.
"Yes." Trista replied. Gary gently kissed Trista's hand. He stood up and took a hold of her hand and the two walked out onto the dance floor. Maggie, Daisy, Faith, and Hope, who were still up, cringed at the sights.
"Hotaru?" Anthony asked.
Hotaru nodded and placed her hand into his. They walked out together, followed by Amara, Michelle, Ami, and Greg. Asai looked at Mina with a sad look on his face.
"Mina you don't have to dance if you don't want to, but I promise we'll find Gloria after this is all over." Asai said, wrapping his arms around Mina.
"I'll dance." Mina said.
Serenity put her hand on Mina's shoulder, "I'll send out a search party if need be."
Soon all the parents and the King and Queen were dancing out on the dance floor. A bright light shone over the King and Queen.
"Gloria's missing?" Hope asked concerned.
"I guess so." Faith replied.
"That's funny, they're no pranks here tonight, and I'm sure she would have come to us." Daisy commented.
"I wonder if that jerk Roger showed up." Hope muttered.
"Roger Paul?" Daisy asked.
Hope nodded.
"His brother is in my class, and he's really nice. He speaks well of his brother." Daisy explained.
Hope felt she no longer wanted to talk about the boys, she didn't realize that Roger had an older brother, but she knew she wouldn't like him either. Hope curled up in the chair and closed her eyes. Faith could sense that something was bothering Hope.
Eventually, everyone had left, and it was just the scouts, the knights, and their children. The Queen had called out the maids and they had started clean up.
"I have to go find Gloria now." Mina sighed, as she hoisted Erin up.
"Gloria's missing?" Lita asked worriedly.
"Mina, not to make things harder on you, but Gloria didn't show up to the party and there were no pranks played." Maggie mentioned.
"What?" Mina's face went pale. "Where could she have gone?"
"I don't know. I mean I'm pretty sure she didn't show up here. But we all were dressed in costumes and she didn't pay much attention." Daisy brought up.
"So you may be indicating that she might have been here." Mina asked, becoming confused by all this.
"It's possible. But she didn't leave her mark." Maggie explained, "But then again, she might not have wanted to draw attention to herself."
"Alright, I'm getting a search party." The queen finally stated. "I need you and Daisy to take care of the younger children. We'll take them to the palace daycare. They're all sleeping so it shouldn't be a problem."
After the children were tucked away in sleeping bags, the search was on to find Gloria. They had little success, and by this time Mina was bubbling with frustration and worry. What if something bad had happened to Gloria? Or what if this was one of her nasty little pranks, it wouldn't have been the first time she hurt someone. Of course the incident with Annika wasn't on purpose, but Gloria was angry and probably wanted to make her mother think about what she had done. Yet, Gloria had been so quiet throughout the whole week.
The sun was beginning to break through the sky. Everyone met up together and discussed where she could be at.
"Has anyone bothered to check back at her house?" Artemis finally piped up.
"No." Mina admitted.
"Well, stay right here, I'll go check." Artemis volunteered and took of toward his quarters. He went through the kitty door and into Gloria's room, sure enough the little girl was lying in bed fast asleep. Artemis shook his head, Mina wouldn't be too happy that she spent the entire night looking for her, she was going to have her head for this. Artemis quickly went back and told them that she was safe in sound in her bed. Mina took off hightailing toward her quarters, she busted through Gloria's door and started shouting.
"You had us worried sick!" Mina yelled.
Gloria sleepily asked her what she was talking about.
"Don't give me that, you know what I'm talking about!" Mina scolded.
Gloria sat up, thinking that her mother had found out about what happened, she asked, "You know?"
"Yes I know." Mina said. "And for that, you'll have another week of being grounded." With that Mina left and headed for bed, she was exhausted and tired and just wanted to sleep.
Gloria fell back onto her bed and started crying. How could she have been so dumb to not ask who was at the door first? Now her mother hated her. Artemis who had been watching the whole time jumped up on the bed and lied down next to Gloria. He watched as she went from crying to back to sleep. Perhaps, Mina had really gotten to her this time.
Asai came home with Erin and he put her down in her bed, as seeing it was still pretty early.
When Ami went to get her daughters, Ariel woke up. She was confused as to why she was in the daycare. Ami seeing her confusion explained to her what happened.
"Gloria had run off, but now she's found and everything's okay." Ami explained. Ariel nodded and laid her head on her mother's shoulder as she carried her to their quarters.
When Hotaru was putting down Madelyn in her bed, she stirred around not really waking up, but she asked her mother about who Roger was. Hotaru didn't know how to reply, she didn't know if her daughter was just having a dream, or if she was sleep talking.
"I don't know sweetie." Hotaru answered and kissed the top of her forehead. She then went into Emily's room; she didn't get any further than Emily's room. She lied down and went to sleep next to her child. The search had made her physically exhausted.
When the children had awoken that morning, they were oblivious as to why their parents were still asleep. Ariel, Maggie, and Daisy were the only ones that knew why.
"Ariel, why mommy sleeping?" Maia asked her sister that morning, as Ariel poured both girls a bowl of cereal.
"Because Gloria had decided to run off last night and everyone was up late looking for her." Ariel explained.
"Oh." Maia responded.
"I just wonder where she went." Ariel said out loud.
Greg came into the kitchen, he had overheard Ariel's question.
"What do you mean sweetie?" Greg asked, as he helped Ariel fix the cereal. He rarely could sleep in past noon.
"If Gloria ran off, where'd she go to and why?" Ariel asked.
"Probably to scare her mother." Greg put his theory in. "I would've done the same thing if my parents grounded me and said I couldn't go to the parties and stuff."
Ariel eyes lit up with shock and disproval of her father. Greg laughed and ruffled Ariel's short blue hair, "But don't you get any ideas."
---
Erin went into her sister's room and sat on her bed. She waited for Gloria to awake. It didn't take long, but Erin wasn't prepared for the reaction she got from Gloria.
"What are you doing in my room?" she asked, her vision hadn't quite come to her yet, and her little sister was blurry. "Get out!" Gloria screamed. She quickly sat up in bed, only to fall off.
Erin looked at her bizarre. "I just wanted to say good morning."
Gloria's eyesight came back to her, "I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else."
Artemis was worried about his mistress. She was acting really funny. He would have to have a talk with Mina about it, when she was feeling up to it.
"Do you think mom will let you go outside today?" Erin asked.
Gloria shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really feel like going outside today. Too cold."
Erin nodded and then said she was going to go make some breakfast. Gloria said she wasn't feeling hungry so not to worry about making her anything. Gloria just lied back down on her bed. She was hurting really bad. Those boys had really done her good.
"Gloria is everything alright?" Artemis asked. "You don't seem to be yourself, and you're very spastic."
Gloria shrugged her shoulders, and didn't bother answering.
----
Raye wasn't able to sleep in very late, as both of her daughters wanted her up. Raye had made them something light to eat and they ate it in the living room, while watching a cartoon. Raye just lied down on the couch and tried going back to sleep.
"Mommy how come we were in the daycare? And how come you're so sleepy?" Julia asked.
"We had a busy night last night. Gloria went missing and we had to find her."
"Gloria went missing?!" Annika said alarmed, as this was the first time she had heard about the incident.
"Yes, but she's found now, and she's fine." Raye explained. She noticed the alarm in her daughter's voice. If Gloria hadn't met Annika up at the party, then where did she go?
"Mommy, I must go see her!" Annika demanded.
"Can mommy get at least another hour of sleep. I'm sure Mina would enjoy sleeping in one more hour."
"Alright." Annika sighed.
----
When Annika and Raye had gone over so that Annika could check up on her friend, Mina said that Gloria wasn't allowed to see anyone, as she was doing some chores. Annika and Gloria just happened to catch a small glimpse of each other; Annika could feel a lot of distress coming for her best friend.
"I'm sorry Annika. Maybe tomorrow after things settle down a little bit, I'll let Gloria have you over." Mina explained. "Hey, isn't Daisy and Maggie's dance tonight?"
"Yes." Raye answered.
"I hope they have a good time." Mina said.
Gloria felt tears wanting to escape from her eyes, but she couldn't let them. She had been so weak last night, if she would have known they were coming over she would have been ready. But she didn't realize that the little boy had an older brother. He was twice Gloria's size. Gloria spent the rest of her day sulking.
----
That night Daisy and Maggie went to the school dance. They were each asked by several boys to dance. The accepted each invitation. Maggie's last invitation was Devin. He was very gentle to her, unlike what he was like to Gloria. He even made Maggie giggle plenty of times. When the song was over Maggie went back to Daisy. She was really confused on how someone so gentle, could have such a huge impact on Hope and the other girls. Even though it was his little brother they didn't like for whatever reason. Something just wasn't adding up, he talked perfectly of his brother, yet the girls hated him. Devin was so gentle and kind, Maggie didn't believe he would lie.
Maggie and Daisy were playing around near the exit door, when Devin came up again. Daisy, whom had also been curious about the whole situation decided to ask.
"Hey, your brother, is he like a jerk in any sort of way? My friend Hope doesn't really care for him. She was worried that he was going to show up last night." Daisy asked.
Devin tilted his head and looked at Daisy funny. "Roger is the calmest child I know. It's Gloria that sends him crying often. And I'm not really sure what your friend, Hope, would have against Roger. He's really a sweet kid."
"I was just wondering. Roger probably is a sweet kid, and Hope's just misjudging him." Daisy insisted.
Maggie ended up going and staying the night with Daisy. The two girls stayed up pretty late, and when they did finally fall asleep it was almost morning time.
-----
Gloria had been wakened up by her mother that morning. Since Gloria was grounded, she wanted to make sure she was up early enough to start her chores. Gloria limped around the house doing her chores, when she was finished she spoke to Gloria about her next task.
"Gloria, I think that it'd be fair enough if you went over to Roger's house and helped him out with something. I've already spoke to his mother, and she agrees that the two of you need to make up." Mina explained.
"Mom, I can't go over to that boy's house." Gloria said stunned. Things weren't adding up anymore, she thought she was in trouble because her mother found out that she had let the boys in, but now she wanted her to go make up with him. It just didn't make sense.
"Gloria if you do this for me and his mother I'll let Annika come over for a little bit tonight." Mina suggested.
Gloria did want to see Annika, and if it meant seeing that little boy and his brother again, then she'd do it, just so she could see Annika. Gloria nodded. Mina decided to take her over to his house then. When she asked the older boy where his mother was, he said she had gone in town to get some fruit for Gloria and Roger. Mina smiled and then departed, leaving her daughter there for their pleasure.
"Come on Gloria, you have to do as we say." Devin smirked.
Gloria didn't care about being strong, she started crying right away.
"How did you become so cruel?" Gloria asked through sobs.
"Stupid girl, were foster kids. You really think our mother cares about us? We want to give back to you how we are treated by our foster mother." Devin explained, as he pulled off her shirt. "And as for your friend, Hope, you tell anyone about this and we'll make sure we hurt her greatly."
"I'm sorry that your foster mom treats you bad, but please don't take it out on me again. I wasn't the one who hurt you emotionally." Gloria cried out.
"But you're too strong. And you're always playing pranks, and I hate that." Devin hollered. He slapped Gloria across the face. "Now either you take of your pants or we will."
Gloria didn't move. She wanted this to be over. Artemis, who had been watching from the window, could no longer take it. He started to claw at the window, until he got it opened enough where he could squeeze through. He hissed at Devin and clawed his face. Roger grabbed the cat by his neck and locked him in their closet. Artemis hissed and clawed at the door, but there wasn't much hope for him to get the door opened.
Devin turned back around to Gloria when the cat was dealt with, he started hitting her over and over again screaming, "I hate you! I hate you!"
Roger watched in amazement as his brother took out his frustration on Gloria, he didn't realize that he could be so violent.
"You get to have a perfect life! And I get stuck with a mother that doesn't even love me!" Devin screamed. "I want to show you what it's like to live with her." Roger saw what he was about to do, he also, wanted to take his anger out on Gloria, but he didn't want to do everything their foster mother did to them.
"Devin don't do that. Please don't." Roger begged.
"Why shouldn't I? I want her to know what it feels like to not have any control over your life." Devin snapped.
"But it's not fair to Gloria. I know how you feel Devin, but please don't go too far." Roger said, crying.
Devin sighed and put back on his clothes. He turned to Gloria who had her eyes closed and was crying hysterically.
"You can stop crying now." Devin said irritated. "I'm done with you. I don't want to hurt you anymore. Put your clothes on and go home, tell your parents if you want. I don't care anymore. Nothing is going to make me happy." Devin exited out of the room.
Gloria was shaking severely as she quickly dressed herself. Blood from her mouth was gushing out. She asked the little boy if she could use his bathroom to clean up before she went home. He nodded his head. Gloria quickly washed up; she didn't look too battered in the face. She had to admit the little boy did have some sort of heart; she just wasn't sure what kind it was. Gloria left the house, not thinking about getting Artemis from the closet. Gloria had no where else to go, but home.
Raye had been in the entryway when Gloria had arrived, but Gloria paid no attention to her when she greeted her. She was far from earth; she was more worried about what her mother would say about her walking all the way home and it being earlier then suspected. She figured she wouldn't be allowed to have Annika over. She walked into the house to find her mother sitting on the couch with Erin and Asai watching TV. Mina looked up. She saw Raye appear behind her daughter. She got up to greet the both of them and to ask Gloria why she was home earlier than expected.
"Gloria sweetie, you weren't supposed to be home till later, did you finish things up early?" Mina asked gentler than Gloria had expected.
"Yea, I guess so. Where's Annika?" Gloria asked.
"I'm right here." Piped up a little voice from behind Raye.
"Whoa, where did you come from?" Raye asked.
"I was coming to find you mama." Annika explained. "Can Gloria come out for a little bit?"
"I don't see why not." Mina said. Gloria followed Annika outside. She was surprised to see most of the other kids outside. Hope ran up toward Gloria and greeted her.
"Where you been?" Daisy asked as she came up with Maggie.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Gloria explained.
"Hey, where did you go the other night when you ran off?" Maggie brought up.
Gloria gave her friends a stunned look, "I didn't go anywhere's."
"Mina went back to the house to give you something and you were gone." Rini said, as she walked up. "Everyone was really worried about you. Well, all who were awake."
"I promise I didn't go anywhere's." Gloria said almost in tears.
"I believe you." Annika said, and gave Gloria a big giant bear hug.
"Ouch Annika. You're hugs have gotten stronger." Gloria said, trying to keep herself from showing much pain.
"Or you've gotten weaker." Julia giggled from behind Annika.
Gloria suddenly remembered Artemis, "Oh, no. How could I have forgotten about him?" Gloria took off back down the same path she had come from. She went to reach for the palace gates, but everything became blurry. She fell to the ground.
"Gloria. Gloria. Gloria." A voice said worriedly. Gloria opened her eyes to see her cat.
"Artemis…" she replied weakly.
"The little boy let me out. Here comes your mother, don't move, stay put." Artemis demanded, even though he was sure he'd have no difficulties with that one.
Daisy, Maggie, Hope, Faith, and Annika had gathered around Gloria. Gloria was clutching onto her stomach, and her face showed much pain. Annika pushed Gloria's shirt up to reveal her bruised stomach. Faith and Daisy both pounded their fist together.
"Who's the culprit?" Daisy demanded.
"GLORIA!" Mina shrieked almost in tears, she had Ami and Raye right behind her. She scooped her daughter up into her arms.
"Mommy I never ran off that night of the Halloween dance." Gloria explained. "I was in my room under my bed, I thought you were one of the Paul brothers."
"I knew it!" Hope declared. "He did come after all!"
"Hope… Have any of these boys hurt you in anyway?" Ami questioned. Hope went pale, and looked down, she shook her head no, but Ami could clearly see she was lying and so could Faith.
"What'd he do to you?" Faith demanded. "I will twist his wrist till it pops off."
"I don't understand. His brother is always nice to me and I danced with him at the school dance." Maggie said almost in tears.
Daisy gave her friend a hug and told her it was okay.
----
Later on that evening, Daisy's family was eating over with Trista's. Maggie had been awfully quiet, her mother had tried to talked to her several times, but she was still stunned that the little boys were so violent, what had made them be that? Why was Devin so nice to Maggie and Daisy, yet him and his little brother hurt Gloria, and possibly Hope in some way.
"Momma do you think Gloria will be able to come to the festival that's in town tomorrow?" Maggie questioned.
"I don't know sweetie." Trista replied truthfully.
"Mom, why are some kids treated bad?" Lydia asked.
Trista and Lita looked at her confused. Lydia sighed; she knew she'd have to explain herself.
"Roger and me talked a lot. He told me that his foster mother beat him and stuff." Lydia explained. The two had a strong bond, considering they both felt alone at times. Though for Roger he was alone all the time, until he had befriended Lydia, but he still hated Gloria.
"Did you know what went on between him and Gloria?" Trista asked.
"Well, most of us did. But Gloria refused to let anyone else tell or her for that matter. She didn't know what to do, so in order to get the child to quit bothering her, she played pranks on him." Lydia explained.
"Oh." Trista explained. "Well to answer your question from earlier, some people are just mean."
"Okay." Lydia said, as she got up and put her plate away, she then disappeared to her room.
"Mom can me and Daisy go for a walk?" Maggie asked.
"Sure. As long as her mother doesn't mind." Trista answered.
Lita nodded, and the two girls took off outside. Lita gave Trista a funny look. "I still don't understand the whole thing. Roger was friend's with Lydia, yet hated Gloria. And there's a possibility that Roger hurt Hope as well. And there older brother never hurt Maggie or Daisy. So what do Hope and Gloria have that makes Roger hate them?"
"Mommy, I know why." Little Chloe spoke up for the first time. Lita and Trista turned their attention to Chloe.
"Hope and Gloria have everything he doesn't. So does Faith, but she ignored Roger and all what he did. Hope on the other hand showed weakness, and therefore he fed on it. Gloria he found out that by herself she was weak too, yet Gloria wouldn't put up with all of it, so she played pranks on him." Chloe explained to the best of her ability. "Lydia was able to grow a strong bond with the little fellow because she has some of the same emotions as he does loneliness." Chloe looked up at Trista, "She doesn't hate you, she just feels lonely."
"It's okay. I'm aware of this." Trista explained.
Chloe climbed up in her mothers lap, "Mommy, he tried to hurt me and Erin too."
"Oh, sweetie." Lita held her daughter close to her, "It's going to be okay."
Trista watched Chloe as she cried in her mother's arms. It was amazing that this child had befriended her daughter, but hated the other children. Though, Trista could see why he had. He chose to pick the children that were happy all the time and try and bring them down. Annika was terribly shy and cried often at school, which indicated she wasn't always happy. Ariel was away in the gifted class for most of the day.
Later on that night, Mina was giving Erin a bath, when Gloria walked passed.
"Erin can you finish washing up? I'm going to go talk to Gloria." Mina explained, and walked out of the bathroom.
Gloria had went and saw Ami after she collapsed. Ami had to run some test on her to make sure everything was alright. She hadn't been raped, but she was emotionally scarred. The little boys had really put some fear into her.
Mina gathered Gloria up into her arms and rested with her on the couch. Gloria just started crying.
"Mommy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disappoint you." Gloria apologized through sobs.
"Gloria you didn't disappoint me. What happened to you wasn't your fault, and I should have seen that something was wrong from the beginning." Mina explained truthfully.
"But I played pranks on him to get him to go away. That didn't disappoint you?" Gloria asked confused.
Mina hugged her daughter, "I know it looked like you were doing it on purpose and I judged you too quickly without asking why you were doing it, but please understand that you can come and tell me when someone is doing mean things to you."
"Okay mom." Gloria said, closing her eyes.
"Would you like to go to the festival tomorrow?" Mina asked.
Gloria perked up, "I'm off being grounded?"
Mina laughed, "Yes. And I have a lot to make up to you." Mina brought Gloria closer to her and whispered into her ear, "I'm sorry honey. I didn't mean for anything bad to happen to you."
Gloria smiled at her mother, and closed her eyes. The two lied down on the couch for a while, Gloria had gone to sleep. Asai helped Erin get dressed and put her to bed after he fed her something small. She didn't have a very big appetite, but the young girl never did.
Meanwhile, at the Kino residence, Daisy was laying on her bed trying to figure out what exactly she had missed. How was it that a boy so kind and so sweet be mean and violent? He was totally opposite of what he really was. He put up a spectacular act. Daisy sighed. She grabbed the book she was reading off the night stand and started reading it.
------
Michelle and Amara had waited up at the counseling office all day. Hope had to be questioned about the boys. Hope said she knew nothing about the older boy, only the younger one. She pointed out that he had left Ariel and Annika alone, because of Ariel being in the gifted class and Annika being shy. She finally admitted that Roger had been mean toward her. Amara and Faith were both furious when they heard this; they wanted to hurt the little boy. Ami quickly explained that if Amara touched the boy she could be locked up.
Later on, after Ami had finished getting a report written up on the boy, it was just her and Hotaru. Ami sat down taking a deep breath. Hotaru who was already sitting down, looking at a magazine, looked up at Ami.
"A long day?" she inquired.
"Oh, you bet. The whole thing with Roger and the other boy." Ami responded drifting off in conversation.
"Oh, so there really is a Roger?" Hotaru asked.
Ami gave Hotaru a funny look, "Yes."
"Madelyn, when I put her down the other night asked me who Roger was." Hotaru explained.
"Oh, I see. Well, at least she asked you who he was, indicating she doesn't know him. Lita called me today and told me that Chloe had said something about the boy trying to hurt her and Erin. Yet, Erin has shown no emotions in all this. And her sister was hurt pretty bad by the boys." Ami explained to her young friend.
"This must be one crazy case." Hotaru said.
"You bet." Ami replied.
"What about the boys, what are we going to do with them?" Hotaru asked, "I'm sure we don't want them back in school."
"No, we don't want them back in school. Everyone has already said their kids aren't going back until he's gone." Ami said, exhausted. "The boys will be brought here, examined, along with their mother. There is possible abuse going on in the family, which would cause the children to act out. If that being the case, the boys will be sent to a home where they can get better."
Hotaru nodded and glanced down at her watch, "Well, it's time for me to get Madelyn and Emily off to bed. We have a busy day with the festival."
Amy stood up, "You're right. We better get going."
With that the two closed up the palace hospital, except for all those who were working the night shift, stayed in there. Amy and Hotaru went to their quarters.
The next morning, the girls all meet up outside. Annika was glad to see her friend again. And this time Gloria wasn't freaking out. Annika gently, hugged Gloria since she knew she was hurting.
Isabella had decided to dress up in Maia's Ducky costume that Maia had brought out for some odd reason. Jordan, Maia, and Emily were all giggling at her. She was going around barking, instead of quaking. The older girls looked down at the younger children to see what they were all giggling at. When they saw Isabella, they too couldn't help but laugh.
"Good one kid." Gloria said.
"Oh, the festival is today!" Hope exclaimed. "I can't wait!"
"I'm so glad I get to go." Gloria said, smiling.
The rest of the children nodded in agreement. Even though Gloria could be a pain sometimes, she really did have some good in her heart.
Authors Note: Yes, I've ended it like this. You can suspect the girls had a wonderful time at the festival. What happened to the boys will remain unanswered. I have another idea for a one shot, but it will do with Maia and Ariel more than anyone else. Idea's still forming, so please be patient. The story that is based on Isabella, mainly, will be completed shortly. I'm not sure if the last chapter will be long or not, but I promise I'll finish that one when I have the time. Sorry, this story is a day late. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
