As they headed for Theresa's office, Ritsuka contemplated the best way to break the news of the (new) girl inside his dream. It was easy to explain to his Servants and Senti only took issue with not telling her from the beginning. While he has already told them some fantastical things already, Ritsuka still wasn't sure if "Oh, I met this woman who has been dead for thousands of years in my head." is a bit much.

He was given a bit more time as Tesla—on video call from the clinic—immediately filled them in. "We've yet to determine if it's a threat or another of Fujimaru's companions; however, the disturbance was in the middle of a city and some brave individuals have uploaded onto social media about it."

She then showed some posts of a mechanical steed and its master wandering an airport terminal. Naturally, Ritsuka immediately recognized who they were… but Xu Fu beat him to the punch—"KYAAAAAA! IT'S GU-SAMA!"

"I think you blew out my eardrums again…" mumbled Ritsuka as he (and basically everyone else) rubbed their ringing ears.

"I take it she is one of your companions then?" Tesla asked for confirmation once she recovered. "At least that saves us some trouble. Now all we need to do is—"

"I VOLUNTEER TO GO GET THEM!"

"Xu Fu, down."

"Ack!" cried the Alter Ego as she was pulled back down into her seat. "Oh come on! Gu-sama is out there by herself… and Lord Xiang Yu, but we have to find her!"

Ritsuka could only sigh; while he understood her feelings, she was a bit overexcited about it. There was still one thing that needed addressing. He was about to ask it only for Theresa to interject. "Tesla, any sightings of Quantum Shadows?" The last two times someone escaped from the Sea of Quanta, the strange monsters were not too far behind.

"So far, there's been no reports," replied the scientist. "Our first order of business is to contact Fujimaru's—"

Ring ring. Ring ring.

They were interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing which Mei quickly apologized for. "Oh, it's Bronya," she said upon checking the caller ID. Ritsuka didn't recognize the name but assumed it was a close friend of hers. "Hello, Bronya," Mei greeted after picking it up. "Hmm? Yes. I'm with Theresa and the others right now. Hang on, let me put you on speaker."

"Hello, everyone," a slightly monotonous voice spoke. "As I've told Mei, I've come across a matter that requires your attention."

Before Bronya could continue, another voice more recognizable to Ritsuka came through too. "Just tell them who we're looking for and—" "KYAAAAAAAAA! GU-SAMA!"

And just like that, everyone was nursing their ears again.

"That screech… Xu Fu, is that you?" Yu Mei-ren grumbled/asked. "Wait, don't say anything else. Have you found Kouhai yet?"

"Yeah… I'm here too," Ritsuka chimed in once his ears stopped ringing. He swears he'd gotten used to it by now. "Are you guys alright though?"

"We should be asking you that. You lot were the ones that suddenly vanished on us," she audibly scoffed before the calmer Xiang Yu joined.

"Master, we are unharmed and I believe the same to be the case for you. How fortunate for Lady Xu Fu and Kama to find you so quickly."

"Eh… I'm fine for the most part," Ritsuka replied with a nervous laugh. "We should probably talk about it in person."

"Ah right, that's another reason she called."

Yu let Bronya speak again. "Theresa, we need a transport large enough for all of us."

"No problem but… who else is with you?" asked Theresa. It took a moment for Ritsuka to realize why she was confused; they'd seen a picture of Paisen and Xiang Yu but might not have put two and two and realized the latter was more than a simple steed.

'This might take some explaining…'

After informing the others that Xiang Yu was in fact the robot centaur, Theresa dispatched someone to pick the three up. Ritsuka wanted to come along but as expected, he was barred from doing so: "You're being targeted and the last time we took you somewhere, you nearly got killed." So that left them (including Xu Fu who was very vocal about not being able to go) still stuck in St. Freya. Now she was just curled into a ball in the corner of the room sobbing.

At least Welt who was in a similar boat was also disappointed that he couldn't meet the mechanical Berserker yet.

With the first matter settled, Ritsuka could not dally any longer. "So… another thing. There's been something… strange happening the last couple of nights," Ritsuka began, getting everyone's attention. "I'll understand if you don't believe me right away but…"

It took a little longer to fully relay how he and Hua had been having the same dream and their meeting with Elysia. There was naturally some initial hesitancy but they ultimately believed him, especially with Fu Hua corroborating it. As expected, the first question was the same as theirs— why? While they could assume she was "alive" again to help them, it was just that— an assumption.

"Your dreams are just as confusing as you are, Fujimaru."

"Honestly, this is one of the more tame ones," shrugged Ritsuka at Tesla's comment. "You'd be surprised how normal this sort of stuff is for me."

"And what isn't normal for you?"

"...Normal things," Ritsuka timidly admitted with a small chuckle; he quickly moved things along before anyone could probe into his response. "Back to the topic, I take it that all of you know who Elysia is then?"

"A couple of us more so than others, but yes," nodded Theresa, making not-so-subtle glances at Fu Hua and—more oddly—Mei. "One of the Flamechasers of the Previous Era, much like Fu Hua here."

Flamechasers? He didn't recognize the term but assumed Fu Hua had just not gotten to that part yet. There was still so much they didn't know about each other with everything they'd been through, Fu Hua more so. However, that was for later, he was more curious about Mei's familiarity with the supposedly ancient woman inside his dream. He was about to ask when something Elysia said popped into his mind: "So MEI's idea of an era after ours came true, and thanks to everyone's efforts, the Honkai has been defeated at last."

…That only confused him further.

"Mei, how do you know her? She mentioned your name," he shared with Mei reacting with confusion of her own.

"That can't be right; the Elysia I met was…" she muttered.

Senti fortunately was there to clear up any misunderstanding. "If she mentioned MEI, then she was definitely talking about that woman. There was a MEI who lived in the Previous Era too." As she spoke, there was an undeniable tone of disdain in her voice. Ritsuka could only assume there was yet another story behind that.

"Oh… right, her," sighed the Mei with them. "Yes, as Senti said, Elysia was likely talking about her rather than me. But… what was she like? Elysia, I mean. The one I met is technically different from the one that you met."

"She was… cheery. Very cheery." That was the best way he could describe her. "According to her, she woke up in a completely unknown place yet was still taking everything in stride even when she ran into us. Elysia was just… a joy to be around is the best way to say it."

"That sounds like her," nodded Mei in agreement. A small smile adorned her face, likely recalling her own experiences with whichever Elysia she met— yet another story Ritsuka wanted to hear about. "That's for a later time. Right now, there's something else I wanted to ask… what exactly is a Servant?"

He blinked a few times before turning to the others."…You guys didn't tell her?"

As it turned out, they had not. Apparently, they thought it'd be better for him to have explained it because of how deep and… strange the topic was—especially when it came to the titles used. Either way, once that little wrinkle was smoothed out, they finished addressing everything they needed to. At least… with Theresa.

"Hmm? Alright…" Tesla nodded as Ritsuka and the others were about to leave. "Fujimaru, could you stay here for a bit? Welt wants to speak to you in person." For some reason, the older man wished to talk with Ritsuka alone. The only way to figure out why was to do as he asked and soon enough, they arrived at the clinic. The others waited outside as promised and as soon as he reached Welt's bed, Tesla left to give them some privacy.

"Am I in trouble, sir?" Ritsuka joked to lighten the mood and fortunately, Welt let out a small chuckle.

"No, you are not," he replied before taking on a more solemn look. "…Remind me again, how old are you?"

"Uh… nineteen?" Thereabout, at the very least; it was 2019 already if Sion's calculations were correct and his birthday has yet to pass. "Is there a reason you're asking?"

"Hmm… I must apologize; it didn't quite click in my head until earlier." Ritsuka was initially confused by Welt's apology. "You… really have been through a lot, haven't you?"

…Ah, so that was it. "You don't need to worry about that, Mr. Yang. I know what you're going to say and—"

"And you'll hear it again; you don't need to keep everything to yourself, there's always someone who'll listen to you and I can tell the people from Chaldea trust you without question," Welt reassured with a calming tone. "I understand you just met us all but I hope you believe me when I say we're always willing to hear you out too."

"...Thank you, really." It meant something to hear that from the older man; for someone to say that despite them logically being strangers would also warm his heart. However… "…But I'm fine. I haven't broken before and I won't anytime soon," he told Welt with the most reassuring smile he could muster, hoping to ease and convince him that he was fine. They were already worrying over his safety; they didn't need to worry about his mental health either.

Whether he was successful, Ritsuka couldn't say for sure. "And if I do need someone to talk to, I know where to look. After all, one of those two always wants to keep me in their sights," he added with a small laugh to lighten the mood again. Kama had told him that Senti had been rather antsy when he went off with Fu Hua alone earlier when the others were not listening.

"…Just know that you're not alone, Ritsuka," Welt reminded him again.

"I know," Ritsuka replied with a smile. "From the second I stepped into Chaldea, I'm rarely alone even in my thoughts… but every day I am grateful for that fact."

The transport ship soon arrived and before long, Bronya and her new plus-two were on their way to St. Freya. She reminisces back to the last time she visited her alma mater; while she wished this would have been under better circumstances, it couldn't be helped and she had to make do with the current situation. Speaking of…

"May I ask how your AI works… sir?" What was the proper way to address a machine capable of thinking for itself? Still, Bronya could not keep her curiosity regarding Xiang Yu to herself. While her main role in the company was to run it, she still had a strong interest in programming— and even if she didn't, she wouldn't pass up the opportunity to look into someone like him.

Fortunately, the mechanical centaur was more than willing to share some secrets. Did she fully understand what he was saying? Not completely but she got the gist of it. He explained how he was assembled by an ancient empire and was used by an Emperor as a weapon before his death and subsequent second life in Chaldea.

…She just said she got the gist of it; that didn't mean she didn't have any questions.

"Although this body is due to an… issue that Chaldea dealt with. I can only be revived in this body as it had been impossible previously," Xiang Yu added before his wife chimed in.

"My beloved did have a more humanoid body," the woman named Yu Mei-ren explained, "But as he said, he has this form due to the circumstances behind his summoning. Not that I have a problem with it; Xiang Yu is Xiang Yu no matter what form he takes."

That sounded nice and all; Bronya knew that despite how odd the relationship they had sounded, there was genuine love in it… She was still completely confused about everything else though. At least they had the rest of the ride to figure things out, starting with the reason they were here in the first place—"Can you tell me about this… Fujimaru Ritsuka? Who is he?"

"A happy idiot, that's who. An idiot with a lot of good luck and skill." Well, that sounded familiar…

A/N: And after a lot of procrastination and getting sidetracked writing some other stuff, new chapter is finally up. Sorry about that. Either way, just another small chapter where the characters just talk and catch up with each other. That'll likely continue for a bit longer to be honest. Either way, Ritsuka just continues to bond with everyone and Bronya will soon meet him too. Not much else to say so until next time!

Editor's Note:
Editor here. Sorry this took so long to come out, even though it was written for quite a while now. It's been a hectic period at work, and will continue to be for a while. I'll still try to fit this in my down time whenever I can. I am just as much a fan of this work as you all are. Luckily, Author has caught more brainrots in the meantime, so there'll be side cracks for you to enjoy.