Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

"It's my fault! I shouldn't have left her." Raye sobbed into Chad's shoulder. Gloria walked over and put her hands on Raye's. The black haired priestess looked at her.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Raye. I tried to save her, please believe me."

Raye nodded. "I know you did, Gloria and I thank you for that."

Gloria felt her mother's hands place on her shoulders. She nodded and walked away without being asked. The other Chibi Scouts were devastated, only Faith and Daisy weren't crying or didn't have wet eyes. Rini tried to be strong but she felt terrible. She was supposed to protect people and she couldn't protect a member of her own team.

Gloria hadn't told anyone that she was Senshi of Loyalty. They believed Annika was.

Raye growled, "If they harm one hair on Annika's head then I swear I'll hunt them through time and space. I don't care if their leader's the King of Hell they'll regret this!"

Serenity walked over to her friend and wrapped her arms around her. Raye hugged her best friend close, crying.

Amy finally broke the silence by saying, "Ariel, time for bed. We can't think without sleep."

"But Mommy," Ariel protested, "I was hoping I could find Annika with my mini computer."

Rini walked over. "Ariel, why don't you give it to me? I'll try to see what I can find."

Ariel looked at her mother for permission. Amy nodded and her daughter handed the small compact case to her leader. That done, she left and went with Greg back to their quarters.

The rest gradually went off to bed as well, except Rini. She went to her room and started typing furiously at Ariel's computer.

Nothing.

"Damn it, give me something."

This continued long into the night. Finally Diana got up and leapt over to Rini's desk. Yawning, she said,

"Small Lady, it's two in the morning. You need to sleep."

"Can't." Rini protested. "I lost a member of my team. I have to find her."

"Rini, even Raye's asleep."

"Only because Amy pumped her with a sedative that'll knock her into next week."

Diana sighed, "Maybe she should have stuck you with a needle too."

Rini kept typing until finally her cat jumped from her desk and trotted out the door. A few minutes later, her door reopened and someone closed the computer. Rini turned.

Her mother smiled at her.

"Rini, baby, I know you want to find Annika. We all do. But you'll never be able to do anything if you don't get some sleep."

"I can't sleep Mom. I.. I should have been there."

"You weren't Rini. It wasn't your fault, or Gloria's or Raye's. When something like this happens, we look for someone to blame. You, Raye and Gloria are blaming yourselves."

Rini looked at her mother. It was hard to believe that she was the same woman who had been the clumsy Serena in the twentieth century. Neo-Queen Serenity sat down by her only child and hugged her.

"We'll find her. I promise. But you need to sleep."

Rini sighed and leaned against her mother.

"Momma?"

The queen glanced at Rini. Rini looked at her, tears in her eyes, which she had hidden in front of the younger girls.

"I miss her already, Momma."

The queen looked at her daughter with sympathy and opened her arms, "Oh baby."

Rini fell into her mother's arms and she cried.

* * *

Gloria's dreams were haunted by Annika's face when the youma took her.

She screamed in her sleep,

"I thought I was a senshi…but I still failed."

She saw Annika's tear stained cheeks; her fear filled eyes flooded her memory.

"My job is to protect but I couldn't save my best friend."

Gloria saw more now, that scream when Annika fell through the ice.

Her heart squeezed at the memory. She would never stop wishing she could reverse that.

And she had run, that made it even more painful, more guilt rising.

Memory of her best friend's howl when Ms. Ito had stuck her in that dark closet.

Her inability to do anything stung her harder than anything else.

Now as she dreamed, she saw her home planet, Venus. Annika's face swirled into view, her violet colored hair flowing into her same colored eyes. She said in a strange tongue that Gloria oddly could understand,

"Venus, the answers lie on Venus, Sailor Chibi Venus."

Then, a dark woman grabbed Annika and she let out an ear-piercing scream and faded away.

Blood spilled.

Gloria screamed and sat up, heart pounding. Thankfully, Artemis had spent the night with her parents. Her scream had not been loud. She felt her hand touch something soft. It was the stuffed Artemis that Annika had given her. She held it close to her heart.

Suddenly, she threw the cat down and hissed in a voice so cold it could have frozen Raye's fire,

"Lady Phobia, whoever the hell you are, you're going down."

She looked up,

"Annika, I failed you with the ice, I failed you when you fell, I failed you with Ms. Ito. I won't fail you this time."

She grabbed her henshin pen and left her chamber, determination burning in her bright blue eyes.