The battle between the Eden's Zero and the Fiertia came to a close. Homura was rescued; the Black Moon Star piece that they obtained from Iceberg was safely in their possession once again. Now, everyone was resting and recovering from that battle…they also had a temporary addition to the ship in the form of Blair, who decided not to return to the Fiertia after learning that Jigan tried to have her killed. Despite the government's attempt to capture them, they were able to escape. A few hours passed since they escaped the Aoi Cosmos and returned to the Kaede Cosmos.
"We're finally in the clear." Hermit said while letting out a sigh. What a stressful few hours that was. After doing a quick diagnostics of the ship, aside from some exterior damage that could easily be repaired, there was nothing wrong with the ship. So Hermit was going to deal with that, then relax and play some games.
Rebecca was in the infirmary with Sister, looking over the unconscious Homura. "Is she going to be okay?" She asked Sister.
"Yeah." Sister said. "I fixed her right up, so she just needs to rest now. There are no lasting injuries. She held out pretty good."
"Thank goodness…" Rebecca let out a relieved sigh. She was so happy to see that Homura was alright. "Now we just have one more thing to worry about."
The elephant in the room: Blair. She was lingering by the door in the infirmary, arms crossed and eyes closed as she listened to Rebecca and Sister talk. Naturally, she couldn't be trusted, so they were opting to keep her under strict watch. "Just so you know, I only hit her because I was told to."
"Do you always do what other people tell you to do?" Sister lifted a brow.
"Until earlier today, I was a maid. It kinda comes with the job description, even if I wanted to tell almost everyone on that ship to piss off." Blair said with a causal shrug. "I think I'm unemployed now….but it's not like I was even getting paid to begin with."
"Why were you even on that ship to begin?" Rebecca asked.
"Doesn't the guy in charge here wanna know that too?" Blair waved her bandaged arm dismissively. Sister already did the deed and healed her, at the exchange of not being a threat to those on the ship. All they had was Blair's word… "I don't know my way around this ship, so take me to the meeting room already." After she said that, she left the infirmary.
"She's pretty demanding, huh?" Rebecca said with a sweat drop.
"I like it. But if she oversteps her bounds, I'll take care of her." Sister said with a smile. "She's a tough one, so I'll have fun with that."
"R-Right…." Rebecca was sweating even more now.
.
With the exception of Homura, the crew of the Eden's Zero gathered in the meeting room. Blair was escorted by Rebecca and Sister, and she took note of all the eyes trained on her. "You don't have to look at me like I'm going to attack." Blair said. "The nun…nurse…whatever, I let her take my weapons. Whatever makes the rest of you feel comfortable." Her yellow eyes glanced between everyone, their expressions unchanged despite this information.
"Your arm is still a threat." Shiki got the details from Weisz. "So we can't be too trusting of you…especially since we don't have a way to stop you from using it." Blair was willing nearly break her own right arm in exchange for using the left one, so binding her was off the table.
"If it were anyone else but me, the binding would work." Blair replied while staring at her own arm. "But I suppose you have a few questions about what happened…so I'll answer them. My employment with Jigan has been terminated on account of him being an asshole."
"I can't believe that guy landed a maid like you…" Weisz grumbled. Jigan was so old now! It still freaked him out. As much as Weisz wished had a chance to talk to his former colleague, the situation just didn't allow it. Maybe another time…
"Okay, let's start from the beginning." Shiki said while crossing his arms. "How did you know about the engine?"
"Simple. It was a trap from the very beginning." Blair took a seat, crossing one leg over the other. Since she was still in her maid outfit, she didn't want anyone seeing things they shouldn't be. "The battle we carried out with this ship is a Jigan specialty. Weavel sneaks into a ship and messes with the engine. This only happens with crew's that may be a bit of trouble to take on directly…and so most of the crew pretends to lose their fights. When our targets start to leave, their engines fail, and we come back and take them by surprise."
"What a dirty trick." Laguna shook his head.
Blair turned to Sister. "You didn't actually stop Weavel from reaching the engine room. You caught him coming back…and that's what he wanted. If you think you stopped him from getting to his destination, you wouldn't think to check, would you?"
"Tch…" Sister had no defense for that. "I should've kicked his ass a bit more."
"And Homura's injuries?" Shiki stared at Blair.
"Those? Well…" Blair started, but the woman in question arrived.
"Hold a moment…" Homura appeared in the meeting room.
"Hey, you should be resting." Jinn said, but Homura shook her head.
"Before anything, I should just make it known that I have Blair to thank for my survival while aboard that ship." Homura said with a few quick nods. "They had no intention of feeding me, yet she provided me with food…"
"I didn't exactly ask for you to vouch for my character." Blair was a little annoyed that Homura came out of nowhere just to say these things. It was too late. Homura's word carried weight, so the skeptical expressions aimed at Blair lessened just a little bit.
"If Homura is certain you're not all bad, I'm willing to trust her." Shiki said.
"I will also accept full responsibility if I am proven wrong." Homura said with a slight bow.
"I should take some as well. After all, I was the one who told Weisz to bring her here." Rebecca nodded.
"Stop assuming responsibility for me when I haven't even agreed to anything yet!" Blair said with a tick mark on her forehead. Homura and Rebecca gave sheepish smiles before backing off.
"Why don't we start with the beginning?" Jinn suggested. "We don't really know anything about you…and if you intend on staying on this ship for the foreseeable future…"
"Yeah! Let's get to know you!" Couchpo made her remark, while eating a burger.
That was the first time Blair heard Couchpo speak. She turned in the direction of the woman and raised a brow. "…Who are you?"
"Couchpo!" She introduced herself.
"…Huh. I've heard that name before…" Blair shook her head. It would come to her eventually. More importantly, she had to share information about herself. "I won't bore you with the details…but…My name is Blair Elfin. Just over two years ago, my planet was attacked by a Therion, controlled by a woman with red hair…it killed just about everyone on the planet as far as I know. I tried to fight it off, and I did…but as you can see…" Blair held up her bandaged arm. "I lost my left arm…and that woman ended up capturing me and experimented with me as a makeshift Therion."
"Whoa, slow down." Weisz said while holding a hand up. "I think we need to understand what a Therion even is, before we can understand who you are."
"Agh…" Blair pinched the bridge of her nose.
"A Therion is an extinct species." Hermit explained. "I've been looking up all known records of Therions and this is what I've managed to find. Therions and Chronophages are similar in the fact that both of them target planets. Whereas as Chronophage eats a planet's time…a Therion consumes a planet's Ether, leaving it and everything on that planet dry."
"What!?" That kind of information came as a surprise.
"I've never heard of anything like that before." Rebecca tilted her head. "If something that dangerous was around, I'm sure…"
"Well, like I said. They're extinct now." Hermit said. "Therions were dangerous creatures…but it appears that they died out for that fact that they were unable to satiate their own hunger. They require a massive amount of ether at all times. Sometimes a planet wouldn't be enough. They couldn't keep up with their own appetite. Nobody knows when the last known Therion went extinct, but it's been for a while. But if it has ether, a Therion will eat it."
"If that's the case, it's no wonder we've never heard of them." Kleene nodded slowly. "But wait. How could a Therion have attacked Blair's planet if they were all extinct?"
"The Planet Guilst." Blair said. "Did you all know a Chronophage attacked that planet?"
"…Oh boy, do we." Rebecca scratched her cheek.
"That was fun." Sister grinned.
"We were there, saving Rebecca and other B-cubers." Homura said.
"…Yeah, I was sure there." Jinn mumbled. That fake Sister tricked him…but that was all in the past now.
Blair just stared at everyone and ultimately shook her head. "Right, well…I don't know how much time the Chronophage ate, but there was a Therion on that planet. So…the woman who attacked my planet took the Therion from there."
"She controlled a Therion?" Hermit looked to Blair.
"You can manipulate anything if you give it what it wants." Blair said. "It was less control, and more so goading it to a planet where it could eat. My planet was just a test run…"
"Oh, that's horrible…" Pino frowned.
"But you fought it off?" Weisz asked.
"…I don't really remember what happened. I remember fighting it…it cut off my arm…and then I passed out. The woman said I impressed her with my efforts…and that she decided to fuse the 'remains' of the Therion with me."
"But why would she do that?" Shiki crossed his arms.
"She wants this power for herself, I know that much." Blair replied. "To what end…well, I didn't stick around to find out. She experimented on me for a while and gave me plenty of people…animals, whatever, to eat…but I managed to escape. I took a ship and just fumbled my way out of there."
"And that's how you ended up on Jigan's ship?" Weisz asked. It was pretty clear Blair was skimping out on important details of her backstory, but that was likely because she just didn't want to share…and she didn't remember some things clearly either.
"Jigan saw a ship drifting in space and tried to rob it. I surprised him…but I was also too hungry to really fight back." Blair explained. "But we struck a deal, because I needed a place to stay, and he thought he could use my powers for something. That said…."
"You got stuck as a maid?" Sister snickered.
"…Yeah." Blair sucked her teeth. "With the exception of Hanabi, that crew sucked. But I dealt with it for the sake of my revenge."
"Revenge?" Homura asked.
"Against that woman who attacked my planet and did this to me." Blair said. "Vanessa Viscard. I'll never forget that name. And when I finally find her, I'll wrap this cursed arm round her throat, look her in the eyes, and squeeze every drop of life and ether out of her…I'll make her regret what she's done to me…and then I'll eat her like all the rest." There was a certain coldness to her voice that made the atmosphere in the room heavy.
"Wow…." Sister tried not to snicker, but she couldn't help it. "I like you. You're pretty intense. But if you're gonna be on this ship, you have to dial it down a bit. You're at a 12, and we're gonna need you at a six or a seven."
"Huh?" Blair turned to Sister, a bit confused.
"Unless you want us to just drop you off somewhere, we won't mind having you on this ship." Shiki said. "But while you're here…we don't kill anyone. We don't even hurt people that don't need to be hurt. If you have a revenge plan, that's fine. But we're not going to be the ones to help you with it, especially if that means someone has to die."
Rebecca then gave Blair a slight smile. "If you promise to act good, we'll give you a place to stay for a while until you find out where you want to go. Do you have any clues on Vanessa?"
"…None." Blair grumbled. "And I don't really have anywhere to go…after all, I was working on a bounty hunters' ship. If I step foot anywhere, I'll probably get arrested. Plus, I'm more human than I am Therion…so my appetite shouldn't be planet sized." At least…that's what she hoped.
"Then you shall stay with us!" Homura suddenly exclaimed.
"Huh!?" Blair turned to Homura. "But that's…I literally hurt you?"
"The wounds faded quite easily. So I think nothing of it." Homura gave Blair a slight smile, but that only slightly unnerved the raven haired maid.
"…We're involved in some pretty heavy stuff right now." Shiki said as a forewarning. "We won't make you stay, but you won't be entirely safe if you stay on this ship. On top of searching for the rest of the Black Moon Star, we're trying to stop Ziggy."
"Hold on!" Weisz objected. "Therions eat anything with Ether, right? That means we're on the menu, and we can't stop her from using that arm like we can with someone's Ether gear. We don't know her thoughts about her own appetite!" He made a good point.
Because of that, Shiki glanced at Blair once more. He didn't need to ask if she's eaten people with that arm, because she implied that she has. She had to in order to survive. So there was another question to ask instead. "Do you enjoy eating people?"
Blair stared right back at Shiki. "…What if I do?" A tense stare down occurred. Blair's response wasn't exactly the best one, which kept the tension high.
Laguna's expression shifted ever so slightly at Blair's response. There was something he noticed that the others didn't. "…I see."
"If she proves to be a danger…" Homura began.
"I'll trust you and Rebecca to keep an eye on her." Shiki said with a nod. Honestly, it didn't feel like Blair was a threat, even though she gave off the aura of one. "So for now, you can be a temporary member of the Eden's Zero."
"I'll only stay as long as I need to." Blair said while standing up, dusting herself off. "…I'll clean around. It's what I'm good at." Somehow the tension managed to deflate, although a few of them still weren't too sure about having Blair on the ship…they just had to trust Homura's word that things would be alright. "…Before we get too deep into anything else, what's this Ziggy business? And who are most of you?"
It was about time for proper introductions. Shiki introduced himself, and the others followed suit. Shiki then explained the situation concerning Ziggy and their crew. "And that's the situation."
"What the hell kinda crew did I just walk in on…" Blair was a bit surprised. "Okay, so I get the gist of the situation. So my only question is…" She pointed at Couchpo. "Why is she here?"
"To protect the Eden's Kitchen!" Couchpo responded without hesitation. "I am the Stomach of Eden's, after all."
"….O…kay." Blair just closed her eyes and shook her head. Now she remembered where she saw Couchpo. "Oh…you're that B-cuber that Hanabi made me watch with her a few times." She whipped around to Rebecca. "And you're that other one she likes watching..! Is this just the ship for B-cubers or something?"
"I can see why you'd think that." Kleene remarked.
"Oh, you've seen my videos?!" Rebecca smiled. "It's always nice to talk to a fan!"
"I'm not your fan." Blair said. Rebecca fell over comically from the bluntness of Blair's words.
"And I've been dubbed the Pig of Eden's!" Mosco said proudly.
"Why are you proud of that? Who even named you that!?" Blair shouted.
"I did!" Sister said smugly. She was quite proud of that. …And then she noticed Mosco's finger slowly drifting to the red button on his stomach: the one that was clearly labeled 'DO NOT TOUCH'. "HOW MANY TIMES TO I HAVE TO TELL YOU!?"
Blair felt regret creeping up really fast. Maybe being arrested was the better option. She at least felt confident of her chances breaking out of prison. "Okay. I see I'm with the circus…but whatever. I have no intentions of getting wrapped up in your fights against Ziggy or whatever…and I won't drag you into my fight either. Now then, it's been one hell of a long day, and I'm tired as hell…so can someone bring me to a room so I can sleep?"
"I will assist you." Pino said while raising a hand, walking in front of Blair to guide her to a spare room.
"…Okay." The tiny android? Okay, sure. Blair closed her eyes, feeling her stomach rumble. "Hungry…" She thought to herself, but slowly followed behind Pino anyway.
Once the two were out of the room, Weisz once again had to voice his objection. "Are we sure about this? It's clear she's hiding some details from us. I don't wanna wake up and find out she bled one of you guys dry overnight."
"We can't force them out of her." Kleene told Weisz. "Although I get the feeling she was only so cooperative because it's been a long day. I won't complain about it, though."
"Therions are dangerous…I would be lying if I said we weren't in inherent danger having her on board…" Hermit muttered. "But she's still a stranger, so I also don't like having her on the ship. Considering her powers, though, it's probably for the best we keep an eye on her."
"I don't think we'll have anything to worry about." Laguna reassured the others. "She may be abrasive, but it may not be her true face." If anyone knew about that, it was the actor himself.
"I do not think she is a bad person." Homura said. "I really do owe my survival over the last few days to her. I want to extend that same kind of hospitality."
"She just seems more angry than horrible." Rebecca added. "Even if she wants to say it was for her own skin, she did save us."
"If she needs Ether, I can do something about that. I don't know how much she's going to need, though." Sister was contemplating something. "It might be risky to find out the depths of her appetite."
"If it's a decision everyone else is fine with, I won't object." Jinn said. He didn't have much to add that the others weren't already covering. "Weisz?"
"…I'm gonna keep an eye on her." Weisz said.
"Just don't be weird about it." Kleene said, causing Weisz to take offense.
"Hey!" Weisz exclaimed.
"I guess that's settled then." Shiki gave the crew a firm nod. "We can talk more about this tomorrow. We've had a long and hard day, but everyone did great. We're going to keep looking for the Black Moon Star, in hopes that the rest of it doesn't fall into the wrong hands." Even though Shiki was ultimately able to defeat Jigan with his Overdrive, the amount of power the bounty hunter obtained from that mere fragment was enormous. They absolutely needed to find the rest of the pieces before anyone else. "We'll deal with Ziggy's skeleton army along the way while we can." If these were the type of encounters they were going to deal with in the future, this was only just the beginning….