Rei woke up to the same huge, grassy field she always saw in her dreams. She was lying on a small bed of pink flowers, whose waxy petals seemed to glow. The air was filled with silver flower petals, blowing around in the wind. The same golden-brown haired woman stood over her, as always, but she was wearing a long, red, ceremonial gown, not the usual armor. She stared up at the moon, thinking.
Her gaze finally fell upon the girl below her, and she snapped her fingers with a grin. Suddenly the landscape shimmered, and they were floating in the middle of space. The woman pointed to a fading star.
"Your journey is almost over, young one. Now all you have to do is come to Jurai." she stated.
Rei furrowed her brow. "Is that a planet? A moon? What is it? I've never heard of i--"
"Stop asking so many questions!" the older one barked, looking very annoyed. "Jurai is your birthplace. It's a small, uncharted planet, far beyond the Outer Rim planets. A small team of explorers found it, but their ship crashed, and they were kept as prisoners. I saw one of the men, a human, and made him one of my slaves. He was strong, and he gave me seven daughters, you the youngest." she paused, waiting for the girl's reaction.
They sound like Dathomirans, Rei thought. "No, I was genetically engineered." she said, matter-of-factly.
"That's bull." the golden haired woman said calmly. "You were my youngest child, the one destined to succeed me and honor me. But one of the explorers, T'enoh, I believe her name was, kidnapped you and took you to her home planet.....Hapes? Is that the name?" she grinned, seeing the look of confusion on the girl's face.
"Haruka took me....?......and what do you mean by 'succeed'?" she asked, tears starting to well up in her ruby red eyes. No, she thought, this is a damn lie!
But it did answer questions about her past.
"'Succeed'? Don't you know I am a queen? Queen Aeka, of Jurai." she said, bowing mockingly. "The next ruler is always the queen's youngest daughter. You!"
Rei blinked in disbelief. "I'm a princess....?"
"But, I need your help, dear! You can't let your mother die, can you?" she asked, watching her with pleading eyes.
"What do you need me for?"
"I need your body, dear. This one is growing old." she smiled sweetly. "You want to die, don't you? You can die and be with your Brent, and I can have your body. It's a perfect switch!". She sounded like a salesman.
"I don't want to die anymore, and i'm not going to help you."
She sighed. "But don't you want to learn about your past, also?" she asked innocently.
Rei hesitated. Who wouldn't want to know about their home? "No, I don't care."
The woman looked broken. "Do as you wish. But if you change your mind, please come to me, my dear." She snapped her fingers again, and the dream melted away.
Rei lifted her head. A fading star caught her eye through the Nightmare's Dream's viewport.
She reached over, touching Rasha's arm softly. "I know this is a pain, but can we make a little detour?" she asked, pointing to the star.