It had been just another day in the base at first when an alert came. Over the past months, they, quite often, end up getting deployed together; to the point that higher-ups decided that they made a good enough team and officially paired them up for deployment. However, things got a bit hairy near the end and though they both survived, he landed straight in the medical bay— and she felt upset and angry because she felt it was her responsibility to protect him. He was an idiot, but in a good way more often than not…

"I don't need nor want you to watch over me all the time! I'm a fighter too, and you know I'm more than capable right?!"

"Of course I do, but that doesn't make it hurt any less to see you like this; not when I'm there to do something about it."

He was always so headstrong in that— believing he needed to protect her too. She should not feel touched for that; not when they're on the frontlines where every move meant life or death… yet she did. She never told him though, he didn't need any more reason to throw himself in front of her.

After the Tragedy of Binding, she always wondered how he died. They never managed to find his body and it was eventually concluded he was incinerated into nothing by Kevin during the battle— they could only hope he was already dead by then…

Either way, the previously sleepy Senti was now restless as Ritsuka was out alone. Well, out alone in one of the safest places on Earth with one of the greatest warriors in all of history. Yet, Senti couldn't hold still the longer they were gone.

"...Having withdrawal symptoms already?"

"Shut it." Worst of all, she was left with the white-haired bit— err… Servant. Kama seemed to enjoy watching her pace around the room. "Don't act all high and mighty. You're just as worried about him as I am."

"Yes, I won't deny that but unlike you, I trust him to take care of himself." He has gone through enough to know what to do; of course, Kama would still be there in a heartbeat if something were to happen. "And what about you? Can't you trust in him or that sister of yours to protect him if he gets into trouble?"

"Of course I trust them!" It offended Senti that someone would think otherwise. "It's just—"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Kama dismissively waved as she rolled her eyes. "They're already back anyway."

"Wha—?"

Knock knock

The door creaked open before Ritsuka poked his head in. "Come on guys, let's go for breakfast," he smiled.

"About time," Xu Fu cheered as she immediately shot up and out the door.

"…How did you…?"

"It's our special connection," Kama snarked before following Ritsuka outside.

"Theresa? Are you awake?" Mei called out as she entered the headmistress's home. She had been previously given a key in case of emergencies or, as more recent events would have it, wake up the tired Theresa when she oversleeps. A part of Mei did feel terrible for disturbing Theresa's rest but it had to be done.

Surprisingly, she found the small headmistress already up and trudging out of her bedroom. "Mmmning, Mei," she yawned out.

"Good morning, Theresa. Did you… sleep well?"

"As good as I usually do nowadays," she replied while stifling another yawn. That sounded good enough; hopefully, Mei could help by cooking her breakfast.

As she borrowed Theresa's kitchen, the headmistress was already working on her tasks from last night. She was checking for any new messages from the investigation team or anyone else she attached to the new mission; there was nothing out of the ordinary yet. "Normally, I'd be happy that is the case but…" She muttered to herself. "Mei, you already contacted Bronya, right?"

"Mhmm, she said she'll catch the first plane back. She should be here by evening," Mei smiled, thinking about the third member of their trio. Bronya was putting a pause on everything she was working on to come here and Mei could not be any more grateful she was willing to do that. "Have we decided where we'll be moving Fujimaru? Are we actually moving him?"

"Still figuring it out," answered Theresa with a sigh. "It's safer to move him to an isolated location but we don't know the depths of the enemy's intel. The only communication about Ritsuka was between us yet somehow they've learned about him." That was the most worrying thing about all this— a person with a resume like Ritsuka's (though they didn't know how long it was) was worrying enough, but he had an unknown existence and was still being targeted.

Ring ring~

Theresa immediately picked up the call on speaker. "What is it, Tesla?"

"Something's up." The researcher went straight to the point. "We detected an energy signature similar to that of the Sea of Quanta. It was brief but chances are a path to it had opened and closed."

The piece of information woke Theresa up; if what Kama had told them was true, the rest of Ritsuka's Servants were stuck in the Sea of Quanta. There is a chance they might have found a way through. If it isn't them, however…

She quickly got up and was ready to leave when she halted.

"Mei, can you pack all that to go?"

"Stop it already, Master!"

"No."

"Nghhh, fine then!"

Fu Hua could only sigh in exasperation and slight amusement at the display in front of her. While he was explaining what was happening within his dream, Ritsuka had been stealing from Xu Fu's plate. When he refused to stop what he was doing, the Servant retaliated by stealing from his plate. It was cute and showed how comfortable they were with each other.

…But it annoyed her deep down for reasons unknown to Fu Hua. Well… at least that was what she was telling herself; she tried not to dwell too deeply on that feeling.

Regardless, there were more pressing matters at the moment— namely, Elysia and the current situation within Ritsuka's dream. Senti was naturally the most reactive out of everyone. "Elysia… As in that Elysia?! Miss Pink Elf Elysia?!"

"Miss Pink Elf?"

"Yes, it was undoubtedly 'that' Elysia," Fu Hua confirmed while Ritsuka was briefly confused at the nickname. However, that led to Senti narrowing her eyes at her in suspicion.

"And why exactly have you been peeking in on Ritsuka's dream?" Her Herrscher counterpart questioned while crossing her arms. "I thought you didn't do the "forcing yourself into other's mind" thing anymore."

"I'm not doing that intentionally," Fu Hua sighed; she had expected Senti to have an issue with her appearing in Ritsuka's dream.

"Could have still told me the first time it happened, you know?" scoffed Senti before dropping the topic for now. "So why is someone who has been dead for fifty thousand years showing up in your dream?"

"Dead people appearing in Master's mind is actually a regular thing," Xu Fu interjected as she munched on her (read: Ritsuka's) breakfast. "I mean Servants, not the normal type of dead people… I think."

Ritsuka kept quiet at that last part and instead just relayed what Elysia mentioned. "She said she was supposed to be looking for Chaldea. We'd have to ask her ourselves next time but chances are it is as Xu Fu said."

Normally, such a statement would lead to the questions of how and why but there was already a working theory. With her appearance within Ritsuka's dream combined with her mission to find Chaldea— Ritsuka himself —that meant one thing: "She was summoned to help you then?"

"That's the most likely scenario," Ritsuka nodded. "Why her specifically and why she didn't manifest in reality, I don't know. But if she is a Servant, she's here to help us."

"Wonder why, it's not like we have no shortage of help," Kama rolled her eyes. While most of said help was still trapped in that other dimension, they were exactly in desperate need of it and that was not including the people of this world. She didn't say it, but for the World to summon a new Servant on top of everything was… worrying.

"There is another thing. Merlin might be involved," Ritsuka shared. "Fou has been appearing in my dreams too and mentioned his name earlier."

"Mer…lin?" Senti mumbled, her face lighting in familiarity. "Isn't that K—"

"King Arthur's court wizard," Fu Hua nodded as she interrupted her. "Centuries ago, he served within the court of Camelot before it fell and he was sealed away in the realm of Avalon where it is said he still watches over the world from."

"That's right. Merlin is by all accounts still alive but he abused a loophole to become a Servant," Ritsuka nodded. "He has a slight habit of messing with my dreams a bit but he usually doesn't mean any harm."

Kama let out a small cackle at that revelation. "The rat would still try to kill him whether he is involved or not."

"The rat?" Fu Hua raised an eyebrow before realizing who she meant. She glanced at a nearby table where Fou had visited to get some attention from some students who were now all gushing over him. "Is there a particular reason why Fou dislikes him? Was he not originally Merlin's?"

"You don't need a reason to want to wipe the grin on Merlin's face," Kama replied with another scoff. "Merlin is equal parts a pain in the ass and an asset to Chaldea. Although I never get sent on missions with him, he's the type to get on your nerves fast. I have no idea how those knights tolerate his presence."

"Fou goes on a murderous rage in Merlin's presence— any Merlin," Ritsuka added with a small smile. "Well, he tries to anyway. He can't exactly do too much being as small as he is… usually." His mind flashed back to Fou's rescue of Medusa back in Babylonia; it was the first time Fou showed he was a lot more than your typical animal barring his obvious intelligence. Regardless, that brought Ritsuka to what had been nagging at him since earlier. "Did you guys know Merlin? I mean actually met him."

Fu Hua fell silent at his question as did Senti. After a moment of deliberation, she decided to tell the half-truth. "Yes, we did know him, but the Merlin in our memories has long since passed," she told them, hoping that they would not press any further.

Fortunately, they did not. "Oh… Sorry to hear that…" Ritsuka replied with sympathy.

Kama, meanwhile, was less so. "I'm sure a few back in Chaldea would love to hear that. Like that ice quee— ow! Hey!" She pouted at Ritsuka who flicked her forehead for her comment.

" Anyway, when or if we end up in that dream again, we can find out more." And hope Fou doesn't wake him up this time…

Not too long after they finished eating, they received a message from Theresa again— they might have found something but be prepared for bad news. Well… just another day in the office then.

Bronya sighed as she checked the time. Her connecting flight would not be for another half-hour so she had little to do besides wait. 'Maybe I should have asked them to send a pick up…' she thought to herself as she leaned back into her seat. Maybe she had time to get a cup of coff— "Ahhh!" "Monster! Run!"

…or maybe not. "Time to get some practice in," she muttered. Putting her game face on, the Herrscher got up and went to investigate the disturbance.

And what a disturbance it was. Out of everything she expected, a terrifying mechanical centaur with multiple arms and weapons calmly galloping down the terminal was not one of them. The beast's rider was a beautiful woman who had a sour look on her face, probably from all the screaming folks running away from her. "Oh, will you all just shut it already?" She loudly grumbled. "I swear humans can be so stubbornly fearless yet scared of their own shadows at the same time."

"Halt!" Bronya ordered as she stepped forth before them. "Who are you? What are your intentions here?"

" Finally, an example of the former. Good for us," the unknown woman smirked without answering her question. She got off her mount and approached Bronya without a hint of being intimidated by her. "No weapons and willing to throw down; just the sort of person we're looking for. You wouldn't happen to have met a Japanese boy about this tall, messy black hair, blue eyes, and a stupid smile on his face, would you?"

"I'm… sorry?" Now Bronya was more confused than anything at the question. Her confusion was only exacerbated when a third person spoke.

"My love, I believe showing a picture would help."

"What? You think I keep one of him in my pocket?" The woman retorted towards her mount. "Look, we're looking for my junior who got himself lost somewhere around here."

That… did not help at all. Not that she could answer the woman; Bronya was too surprised that the centaur spoke at all and with such an eloquent voice too.

"Allow me to speak instead," the centaur stated before turning its… his? The centaur's attention was now on Bronya. "Young lady, the two of us are in search of an individual named Fujimaru Ritsuka along with several of our companions. As my beloved had said, they have unfortunately gone missing and we have strong reason to believe they are somewhere here."

Well, that was more helpful. And fortunately for them, she did recognize the name— Mei had mentioned it while giving her the briefing of their current situation. In other words… she'd definitely need to wait for Schicksal to send a transport; she doubted a commercial flight would let the centaur on…

A/N: And here's the next chapter~ We have people trying to catch up with each other over what is happening, Bronya is finally here and has to deal with best Paisen, and um... yeah, not much else actually. Things are just slowing down again but hey, surely something big will happen next time nudge nudge wink wink. Other than that, not much else to say so see you all next time~