"I don't get it..." Jesse said as Justice's ship flew through space, following the path of the Eden's Zero. "Are you sure they went this way?"

"They had to." Justice said firmly. "Although this is a rather dead stretch of space."

"You can say that again." Victory nodded. "I've never been to this area of the Sakura Cosmos. It really doesn't look like there's much out here."

"..." Hanabi was on the ship as well, but she was mostly silent as they passed through space. "This looks familiar..."

'Have you been here before?" Jesse turned to Hanabi.

"I might've." Hanabi replied while tapping her chin. "It's just, this area seems familiar. I know a lot of space just looks the same, but something about this quiet stretch reminds me of something. "But more importantly, the Eden's Zero did come through here. I can feel Blair close by..."

"She's part of their crew. You know we can't take it easy on her." Justice reminded Hanabi.

"...Please?" Hanabi looked towards Justice. "She's my friend. She's a good person. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't even be here right now."

"...If we trust her, then we can believe that Blair hasn't even done anything wrong." Victory stated.

"We can't let the Eden's Zero get away, though." Jesse added. He was still nervous at the prospect of being around them. There was always the chance the truth about Creed's death would be exposed. He had to avoid that.

"We'll apprehend the Eden's Zero. I know the Eclipse Ark must nearby as well, and we will capture them as well." Justice wasn't backing down on this. Anyone with a Black Moon Shard was a danger. "After that, we can focus on the Galactic Fleet."

"Ain't Lluvi on the Eclipse Ark?" Victory asked.

"...She made her decision." Justice crossed his arms, staring out ahead into space. They were on route to Mercurius as well, but curiously enough...there was no fog cloud for them.

"WAIT!" Hanabi suddenly sprang up with wide eyes. She checked the coordinates and it all made sense. "I know exactly where we are! And if that's the case...this can't be good...!"

.

.

Blair stared up at Raven with wide eyes. Rebecca, Kleene, Happy, Cynthia, Pino, and Laguna watched with a curious stare. "What?" Raven tilted his head, giving his sister a smile. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"You...you're not real..." Blair mumbled.

"What?" Raven blinked.

"I SAID YOU'RE NOT REAL!" Blair shouted, rejecting what she was seeing immediately. "I saw you die!"

Raven's expression faltered a bit. "...Blair. I knew you'd say that. But if I'm not real, then how can I do this?" He reached down, grasping Blair's right hand with his own to tug her onto her feet. That was proof of his existence.

"I..." Blair was slack jawed. She felt him. He didn't faze through her or anything...

"Who is this guy...?" Happy whispered to the others. They were just as clueless as he was.

While Blair was in shock, Raven looked over to the group. "You must be Blair's friends. Thanks for taking care of my sister. I know she can be a handful sometimes."

'O-Oh, no! Blair is..." Rebecca was sweating. She can't lie and say Blair isn't a handful.

"I'm Raven Crow Elfin, Blair's younger brother." Raven introduced himself to the others.

"Oh, we're...!" Kleene was about to introduce herself and the others.

"Wait," Laguna stopped her. "What were you doing out here, Raven?"

"Oh, I was doing some hunting." Raven replied, gesturing to the bow on his back. "Which reminds me! I had a good haul and I should be getting back soon. Hey, Blair! I'll head back to Ram Village ahead of you. I gotta break the news to everyone!"

"W-Wha...I...I..." Blair was at a loss.

"I know this is a lot for you right now. But try to hold it all in until you're home, okay?" Raven gave Blair a smile, a quick hug, and then scurried off.

"...That's your brother? He seems nice." Cynthia said with a faint smile.

"...This has to be some kind of illusion." Blair shook her head. She refused to buy into it. "I know what I saw that that. I bet Vanessa is here and she's just messing with me! I know how to snap myself out of it!" She then brandished the blade on her right arm and pointed it to her left leg.

"H-Hey, Blair, what are you doing?!" Rebecca's eyes widened.

"She's going to hurt something!" Pino gasped.

"Don't stop me, Rebecca." Blair said as the blade pressed into her skin. "I've been through this sequence before. Vanessa tries to tempt me with sweet dreams of home, dreams of being able to taste food again, only to rip them away from me. This has to be no different...I always snapped out of it by injuring myself." She wasted no time, to everyone's horror, in cutting her leg hard enough to draw blood. Everyone gasped and she was waiting for something to change; for the scenery to be warped in some way, but...nothing happened.

"Blair, what are you doing!?" Rebecca's eyes were wide in horror.

"You can fight against pain, but you cant' fight pleasure that easily." Blair grit her teeth.

Rebecca was about to use a Rewind, but Laguna placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "I can fix it. You save you power in case we need it later." Rebecca nodded slowly in response.

"What...are you going to do?" Blair looked at Laguna with a pained scowl.

Laguna focused on Blair's expression for a bit. Even after inflicting such a wound like that upon herself, no tears. So he did the next best thing and pulled an Odeo onion from his pocket. "Don't brace yourself."

"Wh-?" Before Blair could ask, Laguna peeled the onion in front of her face. It hit her immediately and tears stung her eyes from the reaction it. "Agh-!?" The moment the tears formed, her leg briefly turned into water, and then reformed as if it hadn't been cut. "Ngh..."

"Sorry, you don't shed tears." Laguna said.

Blair's leg still hurt, but it wasn't bleeding. "...Thanks..." She mumbled, aware of why he did that for her.

"Don't be so reckless!" Kleene chided. "Besides, it wouldn't dispel if there was an illusion for us if you hurt yourself! I know you're used to being alone, but you're not right now. You have us."

"..." Blair closed her eyes, sighed, and started to walk forward. She had a little bit of a limp. "...Ram Village is this way. I'll know for sure..."

"...Is she going to be okay?" Cynthia looked to the others worriedly. "This looks like a lot for her to deal with."

"Something like this isn't easy for anyone to deal with." Laguna said in response. "Raven didn't look like he was acting either. I would've noticed straight away if this was some sort of evil trap. It's why I refused to introduce myself at the beginning."

"If anything goes wrong, I'll use my power too." Rebecca said. "Blair...she's putting on a tough front, but I can tell she looks so fragile right now..."

.

Blair was silent as she led the way to Ram Village. The path to the village was filled with some wildlife that glanced their way, but they weren't aggressive. Soon, they approached the gate of Ram Village. Just with a quick glance from the outside, they could see that it was a small and quaint location. Due to its size, everyone in the village knew everyone. Blair stood at the gate to the village. It was wide open. "..."

"We're right here." Rebecca said with a soft smile.

"..." Blair took a deep breath. She then silently walked forward, expecting some kind of trap or anything of the sort. Instead, there was a blast of confetti that rained down on her. She flinched from this and instinctively went to swing, but she stopped as the confetti cleared.

"WELCOME HOME, BLAIR!" Raven, and a bunch of other villagers shouted to Blair with great big smiles on their faces.

"Sweetie, it's so good to see you!" An older blonde woman approached, her blue eyes shimmering with tears. "We were so worried about you!"

"Blair's back! Blair's back!" A few children exclaimed happily, circling around her while cheering.

"It's good to see you again! Your parents were so worried!" Another older man said.

"Hannah would be so happy to hear that you're back..." A blonde man said with a shaky smile. The moment was just peaceful.

"I..." Blair's eyes were wide at the reception she was getting.

"Wow..." Rebecca felt tears welling in her eyes at Blair's warm welcome home. "They really love you..."

"Of course we do!" One of the children exclaimed. "When the big bad monster attacked, Blair saved everyone!"

"Yeah, she fought that thing by herself!" Another child exclaimed.

"She protected the village! No, she saved the planet!" An old looking android said with a nod.

"We were so worried when she vanished after the attack...but I never stopped looking for you." Raven told his older sister.

"I..." Blair felt some of her pent up aggression beginning to wash away. Her bandaged arm was clenched into a fist, but that fist slowly loosened and she could feel some tears stinging her eyes. "You're all...really okay? W-Where's mom and dad?"

"Melissa and Arthur didn't show up?" One of the villagers asked.

"Heh...I didn't tell them yet. They're still at home." Raven said with a sly grin. "I wanted to surprise them. C'mon!" He then looked over at Rebecca and the others. "Hey...you guys come to. I think they'd love to meet the people that brought Blair back home."

"Should we?" Cynthia asked.

"We shouldn't turn down their invitation!" Kleene nodded. "Let's go!"

"Follow me!" Raven said and rushed off, tugging Blair along with him. The others followed at a quick pace so they wouldn't be left behind.

As they walked through Ram Village, they could see how closely knit it was for themselves. Small shops set up, people helping people...humans and androids were living together in harmony here. "This is a really nice place." Pino said with a gentle smile.

"It is." Happy nodded in agreement.

"Everyone here seems very genuine." Laguna couldn't detect a single hint of malice around them. "...It's a shame. Blair grew up in such a nice location, but due to circumstances, she turned out like that..."

"Blair's always been kind." Rebecca said while placing a hand over her chest. "I get why she's so standoffish and angry all the time, but thinking about everything she's done while with us? I think she was just trying to protect herself. Maybe she finally trusted us enough to let her guard down?" That's what she wanted to think, anyway. They continued through until reaching Blair's home. It was a little far in the village, but they made it.

Blair stood in front of the doors to her house, biting her lower lip. "..."

"C'mon. It's your home." Raven said while gently nudging Blair forward.

For some reason, Blair felt nervous. She glanced off to the side. "N-No, I...I can't. What if they don't look at me the same? I'm a monster. I've killed people...I..."

"Blair." Raven looked his sister dead in the eyes. "You're not a monster. It's because of you, that everyone in this village is even here. You're a hero. No matter what you've had to go through while you were gone, you should always know that we're here for you. Me, Mom, and Dad. So..." He then walked behind Blair, and then forcefully shoved her through the door. "Say hello!"

The doors crashed open. Melissa, a tall woman with short black hair and yellow eyes, was in the kitchen when it happened. The noise made her turn. "Raven, you know we don't-!" When she turned, she dropped the plate in her hand, causing it to shatter in a loud crash. "...!"

"What happened?!" Arthur rushed downstairs. He was an older man with blonde hair and hazel eyes. But his jaw dropped when he saw Blair, standing sheepishly in the middle of the house, with Raven standing behind her.

Blair shyly glanced at her parents. She then looked away, rubbing her left arm nervously. "H-Hi Mom...hi Dad..."

"BLAIR!" Melissa and Arthur dropped everything they were doing, rushing to their lost daughter and pulling her into a hug. They both began sobbing. "W-We thought we lost you!"

"Don't scare us like that again, young lady!" Arthur wept.

Raven felt the tears welling up in his eyes, and then he decided to walk over and join the family hug. The crew of Eden's watched this happened from the outside. Everyone was tearing up from such an affectionate display of love before them. "WELCOME HOME, BLAIR!"

And then there was Blair...

Who openly began to sob, for the first time, in a long time, in her family's warm and loving embrace. "I'm home..."

.

.

Shiki's team was approaching the Temple of the Ancients. It was a hard to miss building, tall, old, but it was their destination. It looked like it would collaspe at any second if things got too hectic. "There it is." Shiki said while crossing his arms. "Hermit, we've arrived at the location of the final shard."

"Perfect. According to the readings, you'll have to go down into the depths of the temple. It would be easier if it was at the top..." Hermit mumbled. But of course, they'd have to do things the hard way.

"Tis quite alright. If we hurry, we needn't worry about a thing." Homura nodded. She was the first one to step forward, but she stopped, eyes widening. "Hold...someone is here."

"What?" Weisz took a closer look. To their surprise, there was, in fact, another person present. The sole person guarding the front door to the temple was none other than...Percival of the Eclipse Ark.

"Isn't that Percival?" Jinn lifted a brow. "What is she doing here?"

Percival yawned, laying on her back lackadaisically. "Man...sure is boring out here..."

"She's not even taking her job seriously..." Geno said with a heavy sigh.

"Think we can sneak her?" Weisz asked.

"...I doubt it." Jinn shook his head. "We didn't see much of her in action on Delta Ridge, but the fact she's out here means she has something planned. Plus, she's a little careless. Maybe we can get some answers out of her."

"Hey!" Shiki was already walking forward before they came to a consensus.

"Oh. Hey." Percival wasn't surprised to see them at all. She turned her head, giving a lazy wave as Shiki and the others approached. "I was wondering when you guys were gonna show up. Why are there only half of you?"

"That is what we were going to ask you." Homura said while pointing at Percival. "Where is the rest of your crew?"

"Already inside." Percival pointed behind her. "We thought you might've beaten us here, but we got lucky. That was some really funky fog though..."

"You saw that fog too...?" Shiki tilted his head.

"Yeah! It was crazy. Fog in space? I mean, not impossible." Percival shrug, brushing her green locks out of her face. "But like, does anyone else feel something wrong about this whole planet? I can't put my finger on it. I've got a good green thumb. These trees look healthy, and feel it, too. But something just feels...wrong..."

"You think something's amiss as well?" Homura asked.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Weisz stepped up to interrupt this conversation. "She's trying to sidetrack and stall us! Don't pay attention to her."

"Oh, right!" Homura nodded.

"Ah, well...that was only half of it." Percival admitted. "I was pretty curious. But I am here to stop you."

"Do you really think you can hold us all off?" Jinn asked.

To that, the opposing woman shook her head. "Hold you off? No." Suddenly, multiple plants began to spawn from the ground, all of them enormous in size. Several of these plants blocked the only entrance into the temple, while Percival had to give off her most serious stare yet. "I'm going to stop you. Right here. Right now."