Out of Time

Chapter Thirteen: Where the Hell is She?

AN: Another chapter has passed through the works and been published! I'm so glad that my brain is still working on some level…

Earth, A Few Hours after Serena Disappeared, The Shrine

"It was that new kid from Bangladesh," Amara snarled. "I knew there was something fishy about him!"

"We don't know that for sure," Amy protested half-heartedly. Amara shot her a glare, and the blue-haired girl dropped her eyes.

"I can't believe this…" Amara muttered. "How did we miss someone kidnapping our Princess right under our noses? I mean, she was home, and she spoke with Darien on the phone minutes before Luna got there and discovered she was missing…her father was downstairs, and Sammy was in his room, which is a few yards away…how did this happen?"

"We don't know for sure that she was kidnapped," Mina pointed out. "I mean, there was no sign of a struggle, and for all we know, Helios pulled her into Elysion for whatever reason," she said hopefully.

"It's possible, but very unlikely," Trista replied. "What reason would he have to do so?"

"Besides, she'd never leave without telling us," Rae replied. "And I've tried to call her. She's not picking up. She never does that!"

"I'm telling you, it was that kid from Bangladesh!" Amara burst out. "It's too much of a coincidence that he turns up a few days before our Princess disappears, and the fact that he's gone too is very suspicious."

"I know it's strange, but Wolf doesn't seem like the type. I mean, he looks kind of dangerous, but if you saw the way he looked at her, you'd know it wasn't him!" Mina piped up.

Everyone stared at the hyperactive blonde in confusion. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Michelle inquired.

"It's really hard to explain," Mina mumbled, blushing. "I mean, he wasn't looking at her the way Darien looks at her, or the way Seiya looked at her for that matter, but it was sort of similar…" she rambled. "I guess the best way to describe it is that he sort of just seemed to be watching over her, kind of like a guardian angel or something. I mean, he just seemed to be wanting to protect her, as crazy as that sounds."

"What in the cosmos are you talking about, Mina?" Lita asked. "Did you see something the rest of us didn't?"

"I thought it was obvious," the goddess of love replied. "I mean, I am the Senshi of love and beauty! He loves her, just not in the way that Darien and Seiya do. It's more like how a knight feels about a lady…you know how ladies back then had champions who fought to the death for their honor and all that? That's how he looks at her. If he has anything to do with this, I'd feel safer betting that he's trying to protect her."

"What the hell…" Amara shook her head. "That's just crazy."

"I know what I saw," Mina insisted.

"As fascinating as this concept is, we still have a problem. We need to find Serena and bring her back home safely," Trista broke in. "As long as she has her locket, we can find her."

"She doesn't have it, though," Luna pointed out worriedly. "It's in her room."

"Can't Trista check the Time Gate?" Rae asked with an edge of desperation.

"The Time Gate has been tampered with," Trista said grimly. "Something is altering the timeline, and no matter how hard I try, I can't pinpoint the source."

"Why do I feel like I've had this conversation before?" Mina asked. "I'm experiencing a major case of déjà vu right now."

"Yeah…it's weird," Lita agreed. "But Serena's never disappeared like this. Yeah, there was that time when Diamond kidnapped her, but we could still find her. But it still feels like this has happened before…"

"Maybe there's a connection between the force that is tampering with the timeline and Serena's disappearance," Amy suggested.

"But who'd do something like that?" Mina asked.

"Let's see; Wiseman is dead, Chaos is banished, Diamond died to save Serena, the Dead Moon circus is long gone, Serena healed Nehelenia with the Crystal, Kisenian is destroyed, Galaxia was brainwashed by Chaos but Serena saved her…we can rule out our enemies," Rae mused, counting them off on her fingers.

"You forgot Queen Beryl and that crowd," Lita pointed out.

"They're dead, too," Rae murmured absently, adding them to her mental list.

"So who've we got left?"

"Right now? No one. The only suspect we have is Wolf."

"Or Seiya," Amara muttered.

"We haven't seen them since they left, Amara," Mina pointed out exasperatedly.

"Where the hell is she?!"