"Mercurius!?" Rebecca and Hermit exclaimed at the same time.
"That's what I said." Blair said with narrowed eyes. Staring at her home planet was making a lot of feelings stir about within her. She wasn't sure how to feel about it.
"That can't be right." Hermit shook her head. "I looked up that planet some time ago. There were no records of it anywhere."
"It's right there in front of you. Can you really deny its existence right here and now?" Blair pointed to the planet in front of them.
"W-Well, no..." Rebecca shook her head. "But that's your home? You said it was destroyed."
"It was." Blair replied. "Well, I guess I wasn't accurate in saying how it was destroyed. The planet itself exist, but from what I remember being told, a majority of the population was killed by the Therion that Vanessa brought."
"..." Cynthia remained quiet, awkwardly shuffling about as she heard about the atrocities her mother committed.
"It's been two years since then. I imagine anyone who's left has probably grouped up together." Blair surmised. "I lived in a small village not too far from the biggest city on the planet. Most of the people have more than likely gathered there."
"Can we dock at the city?" Shiki asked.
"Should be able to. It's not like many people come to this side of the Cosmos anyway." Blair shrugged. "Sometimes we got shipments from other planets, but I imagined that's all but stopped by now."
"...Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Sister quirked a brow while looking at Blair. She was talking just fine about the fact she was returning to her destroyed home.
"...We're only here on business. It's not like we're going to be down there long." Blair replied.
"...I guess she plans to bury it all down. That's not good for her." Sister thought to herself. She didn't bother saying it aloud, because she knew Blair would just shut her down.
"So what are we going to do?" Weisz asked Shiki.
"We're going to dock where Blair tells us. The main city will probably be the best place to ask for information. Or even just seeing where the Black Moon Shard is trying to take us." Shiki said.
"Sister, Couchpo, and I will stay on the ship." Hermit said. In case anything happened, they could move the ship as quickly as possible. "We'll let you guys off at the dock, but we'll probably stick to staying in the sky just in case."
"Why don't we just fly towards the location of the last shard with the ship?" Happy suggested.
"Because we might not be the only people here." Omega said. "We could be the first group to get here, the second, or even the last. If we're anything but the first, the chances of us getting ambushed in an unfamiliar location are waaaaay too high. Besides, it won't hurt to hoof it a little. It could be in a place we can't reach by flying after all."
"That's fair..." Happy couldn't deny that.
"So the rest of us are heading down?" Jinn asked and Shiki nodded.
"...Oh, right!" Geno approached Hermit with a small device in hand. "Here."
"What's this?" Hermit asked.
"Weisz helped me make it. It's a radio transceiver." Geno explained. "You never know what might happen. Omega and I are gonna be transformed the whole time. So all you have to do is press the button and we'll head back here to the ship instantly!"
"So you're gonna be our knight in shining armor if something bad happens?" Sister teased.
"Hey, this is serious!" Geno exclaimed.
"It builds a path that lets them ride the radio waves right to the ship's location." Weisz explained. "Since they're the only two that can move that way, we figured it was a good idea to make. We've got a lot of eyes on this planet, who knows what kinda dirty tricks they'll try pulling off."
"Thanks, you guys." Hermit did appreciate that thought. It was probably going to come in handy.
"Shall we prepare to land?" Homura asked. "I hate to rush, but the longer we stay here, the more time we give to our adversaries."
"Homuran is right." Kleene nodded. "We should leave as quickly as possible."
Pino looked up at Blair. She looked so tense. "Blair. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Blair replied without looking at Pino. Her voice was a bit harsh which made everyone back off. They didn't really have a choice but to leave her be.
"Preparing for descent." Hermit told everyone. They were about to land at the location of the final Black Moon Star Shard. The planet Mercurius, Blair's home planet...
.
.
"Welcome to Zaphias." Blair said dully as the ground team landed in the main city of Mercurius. Shiki, Rebecca, Happy, Pino, Weisz, Homura, Jinn, Kleene, Laguna, Cynthia, Geno, and Omega were the ones on the planet, looking at the bustling city once they landed. "This is the biggest place on Mercurius."
"Whoa, it's like Blue Garden!" Rebecca said with a smile. There were so many people! You would never guess that this planet was nearly destroyed with how happy and busy everything looked.
"Tis a lovely place." Homura smiled. "How often did you come here?" She looked at Blair.
"...Often enough." Blair replied while crossing her arms, beginning to walk and the others followed. "I came here with my brother and my friend to do errands."
"I didn't know you had a brother." Kleene stepped closer to Blair. "...Were you the older sibling?"
"...Yeah." Blair replied quietly. It was then that it set in for everyone...the chances were high that Blair's family were killed in the attack that destroyed most of the planet. The air was heavy. "...Where's the shard pointing towards?"
"The north." Hermit responded via comm link. They kept the Shard on the ship, since that was the safest place for it.
"Maybe we can ask around and see what people know." Jinn suggested. It was better to know what they might be up against, since there was no information on the planet prior to their arrival.
"I see a person!" Shiki immediately ran over to the first person he saw. "Excuse me! Do you know what's north of this city?"
The man turned around and laughed. "Oh, you must not be from around here! We don't get visitors very often! North of here? There's Ram Village! It's a lively little place. There is also an old temple of sorts at a fork in the road, but not a lot of people go there. It's pretty old."
"...Hold on." Blair stepped forward. "What do you mean Ram Village is lively?"
"Oh, you don't know?" The man tilted his head. "It's small, but the people there live good lives."
"What do you mean by that? Didn't you hear? Ram Village was destroyed two years ago." Blair was holding herself back. It felt like this man was making a mockery of what she lost. But compared to her anger, he just looked at her, confused.
"It was almost destroyed. A strange monster was tearing through the planet...but Ram Village is where is died, the survivors said." The man replied.
"People...survived?" Cynthia tilted her head. Then she glanced at Blair.
"It was a close call. They were all injured, but we were able to send a medical team from here to Ram Village to help everyone. It was a miracle they all survived." The man then paused. "Well, I heard that two people went missing. A boy with black hair came by, asking if we found his sister. I think his name was...Raven?"
"...!" Blair's eyes went wide. No, that...that couldn't be.
Rebecca watched the color drain from Blair's face. Everyone could see her struggling to comprehend the information she was being told right now. "Blair...?"
"So...about this temple you mentioned." Jinn didn't want to lose track of that.
"Oh, yeah. It's called Temple of the Ancients. Supposedly it's been around since this planet's creation. But nobody really knows what it's for." The man shrugged. "It's a little old and nobody goes inside. I don't know what kind of business you'd have there, but be careful."
"Thank you very much." Homura said with a respectful bow. The man simply nodded and left.
"...Strange...that's the second person to ask me about all this..." The man mumbled.
"Ram Village. Is that...?" Cynthia looked to Blair again.
"Let's keep moving." Blair turned and started to lead the way to the city's exit. She wasn't really giving them time to talk about what happened. She didn't want to think about it.
The group followed Blair out of the city and precisely to the fork in the road that was mentioned. On the left side, the path that led to the Temple of the Ancients. On the right...the path to Ram Village. "Hermit...?" Shiki was about to ask.
"It's exactly where you think it is. The Black Moon Star shard is pointing in the direction of the Temple." Hermit reported. That made their destination clear.
"..." Blair was ready to walk to the left, but she did occasionally glance over to the right. The path that led to Ram Village...
It was clear as day that the information Blair was told was bothering her. The idea that her home survived an attack she thought destroyed it. "...Maybe we should split up." Laguna suddenly suggested, causing all eyes to turn to him.
"What do you mean?" Geno asked. "Aren't we better in this large group?"
"We are. But it wouldn't hurt to survey the area." Laguna said. He knew that Blair would deny the idea of wanting to check out Ram Village. But if he posed it like this, the chances were high she'd go with that idea.
Everyone else could see what Laguna was going for. Blair was still half focused, so it was unclear if she was really paying attention to the cues or not. "Okay, that's fine." Shiki nodded. Blair wasn't going to accept their handout, they knew her well enough for that. She would push it all down and focus on the mission instead, but she looked really out of sorts.
"We can go survey the area near Ram Village." Rebecca said while picking up Happy. "Me, Blair, Cynthia, Kleene, Pino, and Laguna can go!"
"Wait, hold on..." Blair shook her head. "I know what you're doing!"
"So me, Jinn, Homura, Weisz, Geno, and Omega will head to the temple." Shiki nodded. "Any objections? No! Okay!"
"Wait, you can't just!" Too late for Blair. Shiki's group was already heading towards the Temple in question, just leaving the others to do their share of field work. "You don't have to do this. I can go fight."
"You look distracted." Cynthia placed her hands behind her back. "Would you really be able to fight with all that doubt in your mind, Blair?"
"Ugh..." Blair could only groan and roll her eyes. Unfortunately for her, Cynthia had her there. The 'what if' was far too strong for her to ignore. "Fine...I'll go look. But when I see nothing there, I'll head to the Temple to fight. Do I make myself clear?"
"If there's nothing there, we'd all be doing that." Laguna pointed out. "How far is Ram Village from here?"
"Ten minutes if we walk." Blair said while taking a deep breath. "But don't expect much." She refused to believe what that man said. There was simply no way anyone from Ram Village could be alive. Not after the horrors of that night.
"We should get going then, right?" Kleene asked. They were all looking to Blair to lead the way.
.
"Are you sure that was a wise idea?" Omega asked Shiki. "I kinda came into this thinking we were gonna storm this place together."
"I know, but it's important to Blair." Shiki replied while glancing at the others. They were making their way to the Temple of the Ancients. "I think she needs to see for herself if that's the truth or not."
"Yeah, I agree. She needs the closure." Weisz nodded.
"I know I would be distracted by it if I were her." Homura added. "When I heard my Teacher, Valkyrie was on Sun Jewel, the only thing I wanted to do was find her. I had to see her for myself. Even though I hated the fate she met, knowing where she was and what happened to her did ultimately ease my heart."
"I guess if it turns out to be nothing in the end, we'll have some pretty strong reinforcements." Geno was looking at the bright side of things. "Speaking of, Omega, let's get ready just in case." And with a nod, Omega merged into Geno's wristwatch so the two of them could become Megaman again.
"Hm..." Jinn had his arms crossed. "Did anyone else hear what that man said before he left? It almost sounded like we weren't the first people to ask him about things."
"Did he say that?" Homura looked to Jinn. "Should we be careful?"
"Yeah..." Jinn nodded. "I don't know who could've beaten us here, or if it was a coincidence. But something tells me we should have our guard up at all time."
.
.
The path to Ram Village took Rebecca's team through a forested area. It was Autumn on this planet, so the path was adorned with fallen golden leaves, and the trees overhead all had a golden color to them. It was a very peaceful path, and there was some wildlife scattered throughout the area, but they weren't hostile. The ones that were got scared away by Rebecca shooting some warning shots with the Happy Blaster. "This is a nice place..." Rebecca said while looking around.
"The scenery is beautiful. Does it always look like this?" Kleene asked. Blair's home world was fascinating.
"...It looks the best in fall and spring." Blair's gaze drifted around. She never thought she'd be walking down this path again.
"There is a peaceful serenity to it." Laguna was taking in the sights. It was hard to imagine that this planet had been destroyed as Blair claimed. They were walking through it right now, and it looked...just fine.
"It's different than Echo Ridge or Seven, but it's not bad. It's really nice!" Cynthia beamed at Blair. She was feeling...a bit happy, but also cautious. Blair said her mother had a hand in destroying this place. It made her feel guilty, but...
"It's been two years. What am I doing here?" Blair closed her eyes. This felt ridiculous. She knew better than anyone than there was nothing left of Ram Village. But it would bother her forever if she didn't at least look for herself.
"Blair, watch your step!" Pino warned.
Too late. Blair wasn't looking where she was going, As such, she failed to notice she was stepping right in the middle of a stream. She tumbled into it. "Gah, shit...!" She cursed as she landed on her rear, soaked from being in the water.
"Are you okay?!" Rebecca asked.
However, before anyone else could reach Blair, there was already someone over her. Blair looked up, her eyes growing wide at the figure standing in front of her. "Blair...?" It was a young man with black hair, identical to Blair's. The young man extended his hand with a familiar smile on his lips. "I've been looking for you for so long..."
"Raven...?" The name came from Blair's lips so easily. She was stunned, staring at her brother's face.
Raven nodded slowly in response. "Long time no see...sister."