The next destination for the crew of the Eden's Zero was the planet of Seven, by advice of Noah. On the planet, Cynthia Viscard was supposed to be there. The daughter of the traitor, Aiden, and the mad scientist, Vanessa. The crew was admittedly wondering what kind of person Cynthia would turn out to be. That was a question for later. For now, as the ship made way to the planet, Rebecca was currently playing a racing game with Geno, Weisz, and Hermit. It was an extremely intense race that was getting down to the wire as well. "I'm not gonna let you win...!" Rebecca grunted.
"Says you! I'm home free!" Weisz said with a victorious grin.
"I won't let you!" Geno pressed a button on his controller. Whatever happened, it caused Weisz to cry out in agony as his first place was robbed from him.
"I hate that item!" Weisz groaned. "I was winning!"
"And now you're losing." Hermit grinned. Whatever was happening, Weisz went from the top of the world to the bottom of the hill.
Blair was lingering at the entrance. Her arms were crossed as she watched the four of them play a game and get so into it. "...Idiots..." She grumbled. She heard footsteps approaching and turned, only to see Laguna standing nearby. "...What do you want?"
"I'm just passing through." Laguna said while looking over Blair. "...You look like you've gotten used to being on the ship."
"Not the worst place I've been on." Blair admitted, eyes drifting back towards the four playing the game. "The last few years of my life have been pretty shitty. This isn't a terrible change of pace." She was slowly growing accustomed to being on the Eden's Zero. Compared to the Fiertia, it was extremely nice.
"But not enough for you to relax?" Laguna asked.
"No. Not when there's too much to do." Blair shook her head while looking at her bandaged arm. "I can't afford to relax."
"...And your hunger?" Laguna did have to ask. Blair did consume a black hole very recently. Even for a Therion, he had to assume that this was a filling meal.
"I'm fine." Blair said bluntly. She wasn't so interested in the small talk.
"Just making sure. And lastly...you tensed quite a bit concerning this Cynthia girl's parents." Specifically Aiden. Whenever he was mentioned, Blair did stiffen up a little for some reason.
"I don't have a good experience with either of that girl's parents. Like I said before, I wouldn't be surprised if that apple didn't fall far from the tree." Blair grunted in response, turning her head away. "...Talking to you annoys me." She said with that blunt tone. She had no reason to even try sugarcoating how she felt. Laguna didn't seem to take offense to her cutting words, however.
"I am an actor, so I've gotten good at discerning when someone is putting on a performance." Laguna said calmly. He could see through Blair sometimes, and he knew that's what annoyed her about it. He could tell that something was gnawing away at her since they left Delta Ridge, but he wasn't the person to drag it out of her. If she had something to say, she'd have to say it herself. So without saying another word, Laguna walked past Blair.
"Tch..." Blair sucked her teeth.
"Oh, Blair!" Rebecca noticed Blair and waved at her, motioning for her to come inside and join the rest of them. "Do you wanna join us? I have an extra controller!"
"...I'll pass. I don't play video games." Blair shook her head adamantly.
"Oh, I get it. She's just afraid she'll lose." Hermit said with a taunting smile. The annoying part is that one could see Blair's expression sour from the challenge.
"Shut it, Hermit! I'll eat you!" Blair threatened...before storming in and snatching Weisz's controller.
"WH-...hey!?" Weisz was surprised.
"She took the bait so easily..." Geno blinked.
"Sometimes I don't know what she thinks or how she thinks..." Happy said.
"I think she's really prideful." Weisz said, putting it lightly.
"But I really do think she'll try to eat us if she loses..." Rebecca said with a nervous smile. "Hermit. If this goes poorly, we're blaming you."
"She's harmless." Hermit was confident in this. She called Blair their resident vampire and nothing happened. ...Yet, at least. Admittedly, she was pushing her luck a little bit.
.
.
While the others were enjoying the down time, Shiki was on the bridge, staring out into space. The information Noah left them with made him feel a bit heavy. Noticing this, Kleene and Homura approached. "Shiki, are you alright?" Kleene was the first one to speak.
"Yeah, I'm alright." Shiki nodded. "I was just thinking about that stuff Noah told us."
"You still don't like him much, do you?"Homura asked.
"I won't forgive him for putting Rebecca in danger." Shiki was never going to let that go. But at this point in time, that didn't matter at the moment. "But he did let us know about the danger that was coming..."
"The Galactic Fleet, right?" Sister pretty much just walked right on in, overhearing the conversation. "Can't say I've heard of 'em before...nothing that large anyway."
"I did some research." Pino spoke up. "From the information that was released publicly following the incident on Blue Garden, it appears that the Galactic Fleet is composed of multiple people with large criminal profiles..." As she spoke, she pulled up the profiles of the Galactic Fleet with the footage leftover from Blue Garden: Alexei, Vanessa, Hubert, Marshall, Julia, and Nina. Those were the high profile members of the Galactic Fleet.
"That's reassuring..." Sister said with a sarcastic tone. They had to deal with a bunch of criminals now? That sounded like so much fun...
"And just recently...it appears that the man known as Alexei is on a threat level comparable to the Oracion Seis Galactica." Pino said. "So...that would make him as strong as Master."
"Well, if we look at things objectively, probably stronger..." The one who said that was Jinn. He didn't want to say it, but he had to.
"What do you mean, brother?" Kleene looked to Jinn worriedly.
"From what we know, this Alexei and his Fleet have two of the five Black Moon Star shards we're looking for. We only have one." Jinn crossed his arms. "...If we had a full on clash with him, two shards against one...it wouldn't look good for us. We have a shard, so we can probably figure out where they are right now..."
"I tried." Pino frowned. But it seems as if the Black Moon Star frequency is being shrouded by something at the moment. It points in a certain direction within the cosmos, but we cannot detect where it is...
"So even if we tried, we'd be just as lost as the government at the moment." Jinn huffed. So much for that idea.
"If we're all after the same thing, I know it's going to come to blows." Shiki closed his eyes. He really was thinking about this. The Black Moon Star was not something to take lightly. His fight with Jigan and Ziggy's black hole were great examples of how powerful the Star could be, even when fragmented.
"You guys are lucky, I'd say!" Omega appeared, munching on some food. It still weirded people out that the being composed of radio waves could eat. "A powerful source of information telling you about this kinda threat? You can at least start forming some counter ideas."
"Omega has a point!" Homura nodded frantically. "We must train fiercely if we wish to ensure we do not fall victim to the Galactic Fleet!" Homura was always training, but when she had a reason to, she worked that much harder! "Kleene, join me!"
"Of course, Homuran!" Kleene clasped her hands together. She was always eager to train with Homura.
"Whoa, hold on there." Sister pointed ahead. The planet of Seven was slowly coming into view. "We've got a beach incoming!"
"We're here already!?" Homura gasped. So much for training. Well, not quite...she could still train while on the beach, depending on how long they were there.
"Alright guys!" Shiki spoke into the intercom. He knew the others were doing their own things around the ship, but it was time to get them ready for landing. "Seven is coming into view! We'll be landing soon, so get ready!"
.
.
The Eden's Zero landed a bit far off from the docking bay. Seven was a beach planet, the atmosphere unchanging all year around, the tropical air was refreshing as everyone stepped off the ship, clad in swimsuits. "Wow, this is some refreshing air!" Rebecca was grinning while also looking out at the ocean. The shore of Seven had a decent amount of people walking around as well, so the traffic was clearly fair.
"This is a far cry from the atmosphere of Delta Ridge..." Geno was taking in the scenery.
"Oh right, this is your first time off your own planet, isn't it?" Kleene leaned forward and looked at Geno with a smile. "I've gotten so used to going planet to planet that I don't think about it anymore."
"Yeah..." Geno nodded, giving Kleene a sheepish grin. Although he could see Jinn off in the distance, glaring daggers at him for giving Kleene any type of sheepish expression while she was in a swimsuit. He was successfully intimidated. "Delta Ridge suddenly seems so small once I stepped foot on the Eden's Zero..."
"You'll get used to it." Hermit appeared from the ship with her laptop.
Geno's eyes widened ever so slightly when he saw Hermit in a swimsuit. But he quickly cleared his throat. "R-Right, yeah, I'm sure..."
"What's the matter? Feeling a little light headed?" Sister saw Geno's expression and had to tease him.
"...Why are you like this?" Geno groaned.
"Because it's fun. And obvious." Sister smirked. Geno just groaned once again.
"I'm going to go find the nearest food stand!" Couchpo was already running off. New planet meant new food, which she was eager to try and review!
"She's a woman on a mission, and I respect it." Omega said with a few nods.
"...Hey, aren't we missing someone?" Shiki said while looking around.
"Oh, Blair is still getting ready." Homura said while fanning herself a bit. The tropical air was still a little too hot for her. It was bearable at least.
"Getting ready?" Weisz lifted a brow.
"She said she wanted to change for the beach." Rebecca shrugged her shoulders. ""Nothing strange there! She's still a girl, after all. Just a...very scary girl." She was recalling how the video game session ended. Blair was scary.
"Should we start without her?" Laguna asked.
"What? No way." Sister shook her head. "Do you know how much I wanna see her in a swimsuit?"
"You've seen her naked..." Rebecca pointed out.
"Not the same. But it was a damn good view, too." Sister said.
"Um..." Geno wasn't sure how to feel about this conversation.
"...Just try to ignore it." Omega suggested.
A few moments passed and the doors to the ship opened up. "...Did I take too long?" Blair said as she stepped out and the sight shocked everyone. She was in a black two piece, but had a rainbow colored top on that still showed off her bikini. She had ripped shorts on that did very little to hide her bikini bottom as well, and she had her hair tied up in a high pony tail.
"...Oh my..." Homura covered her mouth with her hands. "My heart has skipped a beat once more."
"...I agree with Sister, suddenly." Weisz's eyes were wide. Blair was always attractive, just scary! But when she put effort into her appearance, it was something else! This was a far cry from her usual colors too.
"...Why are you all looking at me like that...?" Blair's eyes narrowed. She was a little nervous with all those eyes on her, but it came out as annoyance and irritation. But the blush on her cheeks was clear as day. She was taking her appearance on the beach seriously and it was showing.
"...What's with the shorts? You know we can still see your swimsuit, right?" Hermit lifted a brow. Blair did look good, but this really was the first question that came to mind.
"It's a fashion choice...!" Blair exclaimed.
"Before you turn around, it's fine! You look really cute, Blair!" Rebecca hastily said.
"...Thanks..." Blair said awkwardly. "...Hey, where's Shiki?"
"What do you mean where's Shiki? He was right here..." Kleene turned around, only to see Shiki bothering some people nearby.
Shiki had his hand extended towards two people, a friendly smile on his face. "Will you be my friends?"
"What the..." Blair stared with wide eyes. "What the hell is he doing?"
"I THOUGHT YOU OUTGREW THAT!" Rebecca shouted, needing to drag Shiki back so they could discuss their plans.
"Anyway..." Jinn cleared his throat. "We're looking for Cynthia, right? Problem is, on the way here, I realized something. We don't know what she looks like."
"...Tis a good point." Homura said. "I haven't the faintest clue what we are looking for."
"Oh, guess it's my turn, then..." Geno said while pulling out his phone. "I haven't seen her in years, but we're about the same age and she hasn't changed much." He showed everyone a picture of Cynthia; she was a little younger than she is now, but it gave them an idea as to what they were looking out for. "As long as she hasn't had any drastic changes, shoulder length black hair and blue eyes are what we're looking for."
"Well, that's better than nothing." Sister shrugged.
"...I think you should stay away from her. You might scare her off." Geno said flatly. Hermit snickered because she agreed.
"I can be normal!" Sister huffed.
"Anyway...let's split up and ask around! If she's been on this planet for a while, surely someone's seen her." Jinn suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"...If we can find her, we can probably get some clues on Vanessa's whereabouts..." Rebecca wondered. She did glance at Blair, who was still a little tense about looking for the child of Aiden and Vanessa.
"I will make a training session out of it!" Homura said while sprinting along the shoreline. She was determined to get her workout one way or another! The battles were only going to get more intense from this point forward and she wouldn't be caught slacking!
"Annnnd there she goes." Weisz sighed. "Hate to see her go...love watching her leave."
"Don't be a pervert." Blair spat. "If I feel your eyes on me I'm going to rip them out."
Weisz stiffened up. And not in the fun way, Blair was just outright frightening with her tone of voice. "Y-Yes ma'am..."
The hunt for Cynthia was on!
.
.
While the others were beginning their search for Cynthia, Couchpo did indeed find the first food stand her eyes spotted and she was a customer! Due to her success as a B-cuber, she was recognized instantly! "Tell me, what kind of food do you serve here?" She asked the man behind the bar.
"Star Mango! It's the talk of the town!" The man said with a smile. "I think you'd really enjoy reviewing it on your channel, too!" He said, handing Couchpo a sample of Star Mango.
"That's what I like to hear!" Couchpo grinned.
"The Star Mango here is delicious!" The voice was unfamiliar to Couchpo, but she wasn't going to ignore a fellow food enthusiast. This voice did belong to Cynthia, ironically. Couchpo was not informed as to what she looked like, so she had no idea this was the woman she was looking for. "
"Is that so? I have to give it a try." Couchpo grinned and took a spoonful of the Star Mango, eyes sparkling as she did so. "Whoa! Now that's some good stuff!"
"Told you that you would like it!" The man behind the counter said.
"You were right!" Couchpo nodded. "I'm gonna need more of this stuff!"
"This place has so much good food." Cynthia said with a bright smile. "I've been working at a food stand lately while my ship is currently down."
"Maybe you can show me around then?" Couchpo asked.
"Sure thing!" Cynthia clasped her hands together. "I was actually just on my way to work now. I help out the locals with any trouble too. There are some weird troublemakers around here, but I can bat them away easily!"
"This planet seems lucky to have you. Oh...but it sounds like you're not from around here?" Couchpo noticed.
"Nah." Cynthia shook her head. "I'm from a different planet in the Kaede Cosmos. I don't mind it here, but going home sure would be nice. I haven't been in a few years...But enough about me! It would be an honor to have the popular Couchpo at our place!"
"After you!" Couchpo grinned. She was going to greatly enjoy her time on Seven! She was too focused on the local delicacies to think about anything else right now. Little did she realize that this nice woman accompanying her was the very one they were looking for.
