Life's Lessons
A Sailor Moon fanfic by Kristin Renee Taylor



Chapter 16 -

<You're not human.>

The words echoed through Terri's mind, heard but not understood. Aware of her body's weakness, she levered herself up, staring at Rei. "What?"

Rei closed her eyes, the fitful light from the dying fire overpowered by the bright aura burning steadily around her. Her voice, when she spoke again in Terri's mind, was soft but clear. <You are not human. Not entirely. Your mother was human, your father... something else. He was human in appearance only, and even then he looked like no man I had ever seen.>

Scenes of battle flooded Terri's mind, scenes from Rei's memory:

In the blink of an eye, Terri lived all those battles and more. And, throughout it all, there was one man: tall, sharp facial features, pale hair and eyes so like her own. He reminded her of a wolf: cold, proud, and utterly ruthless. She saw herself in him, and why shouldn't she? She had, after all, inherited his power as well as his looks.

He was, after all, her father.

Terri realized she was jamming the heels of her hands into her eyes in a vain attempt to block out the mental images. She forced herself to relax, to let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding. She felt sick, and dirty. And tainted. Forever tainted by what she had seen and felt her father did countless years ago. She wanted, very badly, to go stand outside in the rain and stay there until she felt clean again. But that would never happen; the taint was inside her, part of her. She had been born with it.

But, Rei wasn't done yet.

"That bastard..." Rei's voiced snaked through the air, coiled with ill-concealed hatred. When she opened her eyes to glare at Terri, rage burned in those dark depths, hotter than anything Terri had ever known. And, with horror, Terri realized that rage was directed at her, as if somehow Rei saw her foe in Terri... which she probably did.

Rei fought with herself, hands tightly clenched. But her voice was calm when she said, <He raped your mother, that's how he got her pregnant with you. He did it for revenge against us, just to hurt us. As if turning Katarina into a youma wasn't enough. As if pitting her against Minako-chan wasn't enough! No, Kunzite had to kill her from the inside out.

<You were a parasite. Like some leech, you took Katarina's strength while you grew. Everyone thought she was weak from the difficult labor. But, I knew. Back then, I knew, even though I didn't know what you were. But I couldn't do anything about it because nobody would have ever believed me. You were just too innocent. So, I watched you.>

The dying fire caught Rei's heat and flared back into life. Rei stood, her relaxed posture belying the tension Terri could sense within her. She spread her hands, lifted them to the sky. The aura around Rei blazed, filling the room with light.

Lost, shielding her eyes, Terri heard Rei. <And then Jedite came back...>

Terri's world burst into flames.

Pain. Unspeakable pain.

I screamed as my body twisted and stretched. Bones snapped and reformed. Muscles tore. Blood boiled. The distant part of me not consumed with white-hot agony cried out for a death that refused to come.

I was convince that this was what Hell is like; never-ending pain without the promise of release.

The thought nearly drove me mad.

An eternity or a second later, the pain stopped as abruptly as it had started. I collapsed, falling face-first onto hard stone, body twitching uncontrollably. Hot tears of relief streamed down my face while I gasped in great draughts of air.

"There now... that wasn't so bad, was it?"

I barely heard the voice. Every twitch of my muscles sent needles of pain along my nerves. My heart labored, I could hear it pounding erratically in my ears. I was vaguely amazed that I hadn't passed out.

"Hm... you aged little bit short of the target year, but I guess that's okay. A first-year transfer student is just believable as a third-year. That means a two year gap between you and those Three, but I'll find a way to make it work." A slightly hysterical, high-pitched giggle. "I always find a way to make things work."

My body was slowly coming back under my conscious control. Already, the memory of the intense pain I had just suffered was beginning to fade. I risked opening my eyes, but saw nothing but blurred colors and the suggestion of shapes.

"Now, I know you don't look anything like your old self, but that's because I had to make a few minor changes to your genetic makeup. Oh, don't fret; I only did some cosmetic changes, so that nobody that knew you before would recognize you now. And I cleaned out your head of a bunch of stuff; you wouldn't believe the amount of crap your parents managed to shove inside you. None of it would help you serve me. None of it. I'll have to teach you everything you need to know myself. But, don't worry about your power, my dear. I left that quite intact."

I felt a hand lift my hair, running the strands through fingers. The voice said pensively, "I just wish your hair wasn't white. You look too much like... like..." Suddenly the hand grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked hard. "GET UP!"

Yelping, I jerked upwards, mostly pulled by that angry fist. Fresh tears tracked down my face. I blinked my eyes clear, the thought never crossed my mind to use my hands to brush at my face.

Hot, fetid breath blew into my face. My eyes focused on two points of blue, cold as steel and filled with rage and, below that, the dangerous gleam of insanity.

"You," he said very softly. Even in my fear-addled mind I knew he was a 'he.' "If you ever so much as dare to think of crossing me, I'll slit your pretty little throat. In fact, if you even dare to think I'll kill you. Never forget what you are: Property. My property. And property don't have minds to think with, got that?" I whimpered wordlessly. He shook me so hard that, this time, I thought I really would pass out. Instead, I managed to nod, which seemed to satisfy him.

He released me and turned away, leaving me to stand there shivering. I was naked, my only protection was my hair, which flowed down to my waist. I looked down at my hair, and then the rest of my body, in slight puzzlement. In my limited memory, I never recalled being this tall. I frowned. 'What happened-'

The thought died abruptly.

Standing silently, I watched as he paced back and forth, simply because I had nothing better to do until he told me otherwise. He was thin, this man. Almost gaunt. And very pale, his skin was a shocking contrast to his vivid eyes. He muttered to himself a lot. And he had a habit of twitching his head about, as though he was constantly looking for unseen watchers. I almost started to think he looked like a bird, but then I remembered that I wasn't supposed to be thinking.

So, I watched him. And I waited.

Eventually, he stopped and faced me. "I've decided to give you a name. How does 'Terri' sound?" I blinked slowly. He grinned. "Pretty normal, I know, but it will help you blend in. And I need you to blend in, Terri. Because I can't. I see all those humans, all that raw energy trapped inside those disgusting husks and I just want to kill them, kill them all. But, if I do, They'll come and get me." He looked around quickly, as if he expected the dreaded 'Them' to show up any minute. He shrank away from me, as the insanity swept to the forefront of his visage. He whispered, "They'll kill me. I know They will. They'll track me down and burn me or freeze me or slice me to ribbons. And all because They can, Terri. They can.

"You have to protect me. You must protect me from Them. You'll kill Them for me: Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. But especially the first Three."

His eyes focused intently on me and I straightened, somehow aware that what he was about to say was vitally important, that it was more than words. It was a Command.

"Kill them, Terri. Kill the Senshi.

Terri slammed back into the present. She doubled over, then rolled onto her side, retching. It hadn't been real. She had been sick, feverish even. She had just hallucinated, that was all. There was no way what she had just seen had been real.

So why couldn't she remember anything between the ages of three and twenty?

Her mind recoiled. 'No! I have a childhood!'

<Tools don't have a childhood,> Rei said.

Terri lifted her head and glared balefully at Rei. "I am not a tool! I just..." Her voice faltered. 'I'm...' She shook her head fiercely. "You did this to me! Yoko was right; you're the person that took my memory!"

<I can't take something you didn't have.>

Terri pushed herself to her feet. Power surged through her, giving her strength. Blackness rolled off her arms, pooling at her feet, absorbing the light from the fire. "Liar! I had a life and you took it from me. You and Minako. Why?!"

Rei folded her arms, unafraid and not intimidated by Terri's power. <What will you do if I refuse to tell you?>

Screaming with frustration, Terri lashed out.

Rei lifted a finger.

Something inside Terri snapped and crumbled. She staggered-

"It was so easy to influence people, once I figured out how. And believe me, I had plenty of time to think things through. Because all I could do was think. It was the only thing she left me with. Do you have any idea how that feels? To know you have a body, to be aware of what's going on around you, but unable to do anything but *think?*" He laughed loudly.

It was then that I realized that I was conscious; the youma hadn't killed me after all. And, for some reason, that realization terrified me. I stood, grunting painfully as my body protested, and took in the scene before me.

I was in a dead-end alley, half-propped against the wall of a building. Near the entrance, partially blocked from my view, stood two women. Mars and Venus. And, standing in front of me, was...

'Jake?!'

With his back to me, my brother swept his insane gaze across the two Senshi that stood, horrified, only a short distance away. "But, Beryl's punishment backfired. You see, I learned. I learned other things, like how to project my thoughts. Invade people's dreams. Their minds." He giggled again, maddeningly. "I listened in Kunzite's mind. I found about Nephrite and Zoicite getting killed. I learned about Beryl's 'precious Prince Endymion.'" He laughed at that, and sobered nearly immediately. "I underestimated you guys before, but, then, listening in on conversations, I knew what nobody else did. I knew you'd win. You'd kill Kunzite. You'd kill Beryl. And then where would I be? Left alone at the D-Point, with no one to listen to!

"So, I planned. Kunzite knew a lot, and I knew what Kunzite knew. But, he didn't know. Because I had been the Brain, and after they got rid of me, nothing went right. Not for them, oh no. But, it would for me." He giggled again. "Because, you see, I knew. I knew your identity, Mars. And I knew how to find out the rest your identities. I searched their minds. All of their minds. And I found out the key to my plan, my way to escape.

"I found out about Katarina."

Venus inhaled sharply. "You..."

"I put the idea in his mind," Jake said proudly. "I told him what to do in order to make a tool, a perfect tool. A tool that I could use against everyone that ever thought to use me.

"And everything went just as I planned. Kunzite found Katarina. And they created my tool. Your princess killed Beryl, freeing me from my prison and, after a couple of years of searching, I managed to reclaim my property."

"No." The sound of my voice surprised me, but it wasn't enough to yank me out of my sudden fear. I couldn't be...

Jake chose that moment to turn and smile at me. I started to back away, but, his eyes, gleaming with insanity, focused intently on my own, freezing me in place. "Hello, Terri," he said calmly. He tilted his head to one side, watching me. "Or, maybe, I should call you 'Elizabeth?'"

Something deep within me, something long buried after I had thought Jake was dead, rose up to the surface.

The Command.

"BASTARD!" Venus screamed. She launched herself at Jake.

He didn't even turn around. "Do it."

I tapped into my power...

-And fell to her hands and knees, rage forgotten in a flood of tears as memories lost flooded back in a rush. "I killed her," she cried hoarsely. "I killed Minako."

"No," Rei said coolly. "But you came close. She was in a coma for nearly two weeks. I wasn't much better, either, and I had a hell of a time coming up with a story that would satisfy the police and Minako-chan's parents."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Terri asked bitterly.

"No."

Terri let her eyes closed, listening to the hiss of the fire and the rain drumming on the roof. She was tired, more than when she had first woken up. Finally, she asked, "Why didn't you kill me?" A dangerous question.

"At one time, I would have killed you without hesitating. Destroying your kind was what I did."

"And now?"

Silence.

Terri looked up. Rei stood by the window. The aura was gone. The fire was dead. She sighed heavily. "I had no right to block out your memory. But I did it because it was the only way to stop you; Minako knew that. I should've removed the block when I learned you weren't in stasis, but I thought we could do it without you. I thought-" She shook her head and barked out a laugh. "Who'm I kidding? Ojii-san was right: I have never thought things through unless they affected me. I didn't remove it because I was too damn stubborn to admit that we needed your help to reunite with the Senshi."

Understanding dawned. Terri sat up. "You are the Senshi. You, Minako, the others. All of you. And you're just using me to get rid of them so you can have your power back." Anger smoldered, sharpening her tone. "Has it ever occurred to you that I might not want to help you?" She rose to her knees. "Do any of you even care about what I think?"

Rei studied her briefly, then turned her attention to the fading storm. "Minako-chan did."

Terri flinched.

She forced herself to stand. She wanted, needed to be alone. More importantly, she wanted to get as far away from Rei as possible.

Rei spoke as she touched the doorknob. "Will you help us, Terri?"

Terri spun, outraged that Rei would ask such a question. Summoned by anger, her power stretched out-

And halted as Terri struggled to regain control of it. She could sense that Rei's barriers were down; the slightest touch from Terri's power would destroy Rei utterly.

Rei turned to look at her. Her expression was unreadable. "You had your chance to be free. Why didn't you take it?"

Terri forced herself to relax. "I couldn't kill a friend. Not when they needed me."

"And now?"

The stared at each other in silence. Terri dropped her eyes first. "I can't abandon my friends," she said softly.

Rei nodded and looked out the window. "We leave in the morning. Be ready."

The storm had passed leaving the air fresh and scoured. Rei took a deep moisture-laden breath, savoring the cleanliness. This was likely the last time she'd smell air free from magical taint.

The sun had risen an hour ago. Wisps of mist rose from the grass and spilled over onto the path, wrapping themselves around Rei's legs as she walked. A squirrel paused in the act of gather nuts to chatter at her. She stuck her tongue out at it, and laughed as it scurried up a tree to rage from the safety of the branches.

It was going to be a beautiful day.

And then she neared the top of the hill, and her mood plummeted.

Terri was already there, along with Shouji, Kiyomi, and Hotaru. None of them noticed as Rei approached, deep as they were in their current discussion.

"You want to us what?!" Kiyomi shrilled.

"Stay here," Terri said. She looked remarkably calm for someone who had just discovered that she wasn't entirely human, had no past, and had been created by a madman as a tool for vengeance. Of course looks had nothing to do with how she actually felt, and Rei felt a smattering of guilt at the torrent of emotions she sensed lurking beneath Terri's surface thoughts.

Terri said, "Rei said we might be heading for Crystal Tokyo when we get back, and I don't want you guys to accidentally get hurt in a fight."

Kiyomi scowled. "So why do you get to go?"

"I'm a special case."

Hotaru's eyebrow twitched. Terri looked down at her. "Will that be okay, Hotaru? I mean, I know I'm asking so suddenly-"

Hotaru shrugged. "Hey, it's fine with me, Ganabile-san, and I'm sure Haruka and Michiru won't have any problem with it either."

Shouji shifted his weight and spoke for the first time. "This has something to do with you and the Senshi, doesn't it?" Terri stiffened, but nodded. Shouji sighed and scratched his goatee. "I thought as much. I don't like this, Terri."

"Neither do I, but I've got to do it." She smiled suddenly. "But, hey, it won't be forever. A short trip to Crystal Tokyo, kick some Senshi butt, and then back here. I'll be gone two days, max. You guys won't even know I was gone."

Kiyomi clamped onto Terri's arms, wailing. "I'm gonna miss you!" Terri rolled her eyes in exaggerated annoyance, and froze as she saw Rei. Shouji and Hotaru, puzzled by the sudden blankness on Terri's face, turned and saw her. Even Kiyomi fell silent.

They stood for several long minutes. Finally, Rei said, "Are you ready to go, yet?"

Terri detached herself from Kiyomi's grasp. "Yes." She bent to grab a pack off the ground.

Hotaru sidled closer to Rei. "What'd you tell her?" she whispered.

"None of your business," Rei growled. Louder, "What's in the bag?"

"Hotaru's clothes," Terri said flatly. Rei glared at Hotaru, who smiled innocently. "What? She offered to carry it."

"She's not a packhorse, Hotaru."

Terri's glare was hard as a slap. "No, I'm not. I'm considerably worse than that, aren't I, Rei?"

They stared at each other. Terri dropped her gaze. "If we're gonna go, then let's go." She stalked off towards the center of the hill.

Kiyomi started after her, but Shouji's arm halted her. She looked at him, then at Terri's back, distressed. Rei touched the young woman's shoulder. "Don't worry. She'll be fine. I'll make sure of it." She nodded to Hotaru and they walked towards Terri.

"Making another promise you can't keep, eh, Rei?"

"Shut up, Hotaru."

They stopped, one on either side of Terri. Rei closed her eyes and stretched out her senses -There!- and the world shifted beneath her feet. She exhaled slowly, surprised that she wasn't suffering any ill- effects from the long-distance teleport. "Well, Terri-chan, Hotaru, welcome to the D-point." She opened her eyes. And gasped.

A spear hovered just over her left eye. She jerked away and felt another jab into her lower back. The cat-men surrounding them growled threateningly.

"Perhaps," Hotaru said slowly, watching as another spear dipped towards her throat. "I should have stayed home."

This has been a production of Blueberry Enterprises.