It was like staring at a ghost… which wasn't that far from the truth. Despite suspecting that she is in a dream, Fu Hua still did not expect to see the long-deceased Flamechaser here. Who would have?

"Elysia… how…?" She muttered out in shock.

"You tell me, Hua. The last thing I remember is dying and then poof, I'm here," Elysia shrugged with a confused face. Her eyes then went down towards her own clothes and she gave a small twirl. "I have to say though, this uniform is pretty cute. This isn't where I thought I'd end up but I can't say I'm complaining. But enough about that, what's going on with you two?" A devious grin spread across her face as she glanced back up at Fu Hua and Ritsuka.

While a part of her wanted to tell Elysia there was nothing going on, Fu Hua was not going to skirt around the topic. "Elysia, is it really you? You're actually here?"

"Yup, at least I think so," she answered with another shrug. "I know for sure I'm dead but I don't think this is that place. Why would you two be here if that was the case… unless this is all just a trick to stop me." Elysia's eyes narrowed at them, trying to figure out if this was all just an illusion. However, there was something contradicting that idea. "But why is he here? No offense, Ritsuka, but I don't think you were as close to me as some of the others… unless this is a test for Hua."

"Uh… none taken…" Ritsuka muttered, still confused by Elysia. "Can we back up a second? You're Elysia? As in one of the Flamechasers that Fu Hua fought alongside?"

"Yes…? You really don't remember me?" It was minor but there was a hint of distraught in Elysia's voice; however, it was quickly replaced with confusion too as she realized what Ritsuka said. "Hang on, how do you know about the Flamechasers? How long have you two been here? And Fu Hua?"

Okay, they all needed to pause for a moment to understand where they were all standing. From what Ritsuka asked though, Fu Hua could confirm one thing— "So you are the real Ritsuka? This is not a dream?"

"Yes but it could still be a dream… This sort of thing happens to me rather often," Ritsuka sighed, clearly exhausted by the prospect. He then turned back to address Elysia, "Sorry to tell you this, but I'm not the Ritsuka you know. It's nice to meet you though; I heard some stories about you from Fu Hua."

Elysia clearly did not know what he was talking about but still thanked him regardless. "It's a pleasure to meet you too. So… where exactly are we? I thought I'd end up back in the Cocoon of Finality but I don't think it looks like this. I doubt this is the afterlife either…" Fu Hua had the same question too; she did not recognise this school, not even a hint of nostalgia or familiarity.

Ritsuka, however— "This is my old high school. At least, I'm pretty sure it is. I don't know why we'd be here though," he shrugged before a light bulb appeared over his head. "Oh wait, if this is a dream then… Count? Are you here?" Whoever Ritsuka was calling out to did not respond, making him sigh. "Well, at least that means we're not in any danger. He'd show up if we were."

"I… see? I'll take your word for it, Ritsuka," sighed Elysia. Fu Hua couldn't help but feel even more empathetic towards her for getting dragged from the grave into another complicated situation.

"Elysia, can you start from the beginning? How did you end up here?" Fu Hua asked.

"Hmm… As I said, the last thing I remembered was the banquet with everyone. Well, nearly everyone." Elysia closed her eyes as the slightest hint of melancholy broke through her cheerful voice. "I died, but instead of returning to Finality, I woke up in one of the classrooms here. I was walking around for a little while before spotting you two." She let another sigh, a rare moment of her showing how down she was. "Looks like my little scheme didn't work out. It was worth a shot but—"

"No, it did work." Fu Hua was not going to let her think otherwise. Elysia had to know— they were only standing here thanks to what she did. "Your death… your sacrifice gave us a fighting chance and we did it— we won."

"Re… really?" While it was far from rare to see Elysia smile, this was different. It was like a weight had been taken off her shoulders, and she beamed at them with pure elation. "That's amazing to hear. I was right in having faith in you all. I knew you, Kevin and the others could have done it." Fu Hua tried her best to keep her own smile from faltering at the mention of their old leader, especially with how delighted Elysia was.

"Yes, we did it in the end," she could only affirm that fact again.

Elysia continued beaming at them, relieved that her plan for humanity's future had worked. However, once she realized the implication of Fu Hua's words, her smile tipped down slightly as she asked with a curious tone. "Wait, doesn't that mean you're…"

Fu Hua only nodded, confirming Elysia's thoughts.

"So MEI's idea of another era after ours came true, and thanks to everyone's efforts, the Honkai has been defeated at last. Truly the best we could have hoped for… but then what about him?" Elysia's attention turned towards Ritsuka and she tilted her head. "You're not the one we know, yet you're still with Hua?"

"It's a wholly separate and long story," he chuckled under his breath. "My name is Fujimaru Ritsuka. I happened to bump into her not too long ago and now…" Well, they were now standing in the middle of his old school; he could believe Fu Hua was here considering that was just how things normally went… but now with Elysia here, it was no longer that simple.

Not that anything was simple for him in the first place.

Elysia, however, raised another eyebrow. "Fujimaru? Fujimaru… Hmm…" She closed her eyes, seemingly deep in thought about something before— "Is that a title or something? Is that why you call Hua that too?"

Her question naturally confused Ritsuka, necessitating Fu Hua to explain. "Names have changed in the new era. People tend to have at least two now."

"Huh, weird but if that's the trend now," Elysia shrugged before remembering something. "Oh, I almost forgot! When I woke up, I had this feeling that I was supposed to do something. A name kept repeating in my head."

"A name?"

"Mhmm, something called…" she paused, recalling the name and— "Chaldea. I have to find someone or someplace called Chaldea."

"...What?"

Seeing the shared look of shock on their faces, Elysia couldn't help but giggle. "Judging from your reactions, it's safe to say you two know what Chaldea is."

"Yeah… Chaldea is—" "FOU!"

The sudden warcry was all the warning they had before a white meteor came out of nowhere and struck Ritsuka—

"Gah!"

—waking him up in the process. He quickly sat up, wide awake now thanks to dream Fou's sudden attack. That led to the real Fou, who had returned from his walk late the previous night, being sent tumbling down as he had been on Ritsuka's face and slapping him.

"Master?!" "Ritsuka?! What's wrong?!"

Actually, it was not just Fou as his pained cry woke everyone in the room. "What is it?! An enemy?!" Senti rattled off as she got to her feet, her weapons out, ready to fight an imaginary enemy.

"No, it's nothing. Sorry about that," Ritsuka apologized as he told them he just had a weird dream. While Senti just pouted and grumbled before flopping down on the sleeping mat they brought in, he did miss the pointed looks Kama and Xu Fu were giving him. They knew that there was no such thing as a simple dream when it came to him. And of course…

"...Ritsuka, can we talk for a moment?"

It took a little bit of convincing to stop the others from following, but Ritsuka and Fu Hua managed to step outside with Fou perched on the former's shoulder. The sun was just rising over the horizon as the two walked along the stony paths of St Freya.

Despite being the one to request it, Fu Hua stayed silent. While her face was near-impossible to read, Ritsuka was confident she was trying to figure out what to ask first and waited patiently. At last after a couple of minutes of quiet walking— "Ritsuka… just to be sure… it was not a simple dream, was it?"

"No, I don't think so. I don't really have simple dreams anymore. What about you?" Ritsuka replied, trying to sound light-hearted.

"I wouldn't say I don't have simple dreams either, nor is it the first time I've delved into someone else's dreams or memories, but it's usually by my own will," she hummed before finally glancing at Ritsuka. "So how did I end up in your mind? I doubt it was Senti's doing, she would have been teasing me about it."

"The only people I know who could do something like that are all the way back home… unless…" He will have to try calling out the flower mage next time. It would not be out of character for Merlin to actually be able to contact him, but keeping quiet just for "fun". "So it was actually you the entire time?" Ritsuka asked for confirmation.

"Yes, I had a feeling something was happening while I was sleeping, but it was only just now I was fully aware," nodded Fu Hua before a wistful, nostalgic smile spread across her face. "I never thought I'd see Elysia again. Even with how… strange the situation is, I'm thankful I got the chance to speak with her."

Fu Hua had told him a bit about the Flamechasers and how larger than life most of them were; she just had not told him yet what happened to them. Ritsuka had already assumed most of them did not make it to this 'Current Era' so he never entertained the thought of meeting them.

Admittedly, that was stupid of him considering his line of work— even if the way he met Elysia was unorthodox. Considering she was long dead and a hero of the Previous Era, there was one easy assumption to make especially with her trying to find Chaldea… but they needed to wait and see.

However, there was another thing on Fu Hua's mind; something she had noticed earlier but didn't bring up as Elysia took priority. "…You know about him," she stated, her voice taking on her usual serious tone again. "You were not surprised when Elysia mentioned him. Who told you?"

Despite not mentioning a name, it was obvious who she was talking about. "Senti did. Back at the hotel when you stepped out, I asked her how she knew me already," Ritsuka carefully revealed. "She told me about the other me from back then, but asked that I don't mention it to you."

"Typical. She's always like that." Fu Hua let out an exasperated sigh. Frustrating as it may be, she understood why her counterpart would ask such a thing. "I'm sorry."

"Hm? Why are you apologizing?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't find out," she confessed, "I didn't want you to believe I was only helping you because I knew another version of you." It was an understandable worry for her to have, but it also proved to Ritsuka that she would have done so regardless.

"Nah, I never thought that was your reason," Ritsuka reassured her with a comforting smile. "Senti told me you no longer remember the other me. Even if you had the feeling you knew me, you still helped regardless of that."

His attempt to comfort her made Fu Hua chuckle with a small smile on her face. "You really do know the right words to cheer others up," she complimented, making Ritsuka laugh too.

"It's a gift. Really helps me out of sticky situations. Isn't that right, Fou?" Ritsuka turned and smiled at the white furball on his shoulder. "…Oh, that reminds me, why have you been appearing in my dream too?" First was seeing his tail yesterday, then it was Fou slapping him awake. It was still within the realm of being a coincidence, but considering who Fou's original master was…

"Fou fou! Fou kyu!" Fou "answered" though Ritsuka struggled to understand him. Where was Mash when you needed her…? "Fou fou kyu! Fou kyu!"

"He really talks a lot…" muttered Fu Hua as the furball continued crying his name.

"Fou fou, fou kyu Merlin. Fou—"

Okay, now he really needs to check next time if the dream was his doing… or hers. He wouldn't put it past the not-Merlin (even though it was pretty obvious who the Pretender actually was…) to do something like this, but it was more likely Fou was talking about the Caster.

"Merlin… I recognize that name," Fu Hua said. While it could have just been from him mentioning Merlin earlier, Ritsuka caught a strange unease in her voice but only started explaining who he was.

"The court wizard of King Arthur, if you have a version of he—him here," Ritsuka corrected himself. "Fou here used to be taken care of by the Merlin of my world before ending up in Chaldea… He's special, but Merlin never told me how special."

"Fou is Merlin's…" Now she was staring at Fou strangely, her mind trying to process the information. While before it was only a theory, Ritsuka now knew for sure she was fully aware of who Merlin is— or this world's version of him.

"Fou! Fou kyu Merlin!" Fou continued chattering despite neither of them understanding him, making Ritsuka sigh. At the very least, Merlin was involved somehow, and if he is the one behind the dream, he finally might be able to contact Chaldea. Well, first he'd let Fou loose on him for staying quiet.

"He always finds a way to give me a headache…" he shook his head to get rid of the growing migraine. He needed to change the topic; as respectfully as he could, Ritsuka tried approaching the topic of the person they met in their dream. "If I may ask… what happened to Elysia? You two mentioned she sacrificed herself in the end?"

Fu Hua gave a short nod, her expression hardening. "As we have told you, humanity was nearly wiped out by the Honkai. Before the final battle Fire Moth had with them, Elysia revealed to us she had a plan that necessitated her death, and it was thanks to her that this current era is able to overcome the Honkai." It was clearly an oversimplification of events but Ritsuka got the gist of it.

"Sounds like I'll have to thank her next time we see her. It gave us the chance to meet, after all." And if the pattern holds, they'll be seeing her later that night. For now though— "I think it's best we head back before the others get antsy about me being alone with you." Honestly, it was surprising none of the others were secretly following them… that they knew of. Either way, it was time to make their way back and grab breakfast with everyone…

If someone were to ask her about Xu Fu, Yu Mei-ren would tell them her biggest fangirl was a pain in the ass that screams too loudly at her presence. What she wouldn't say was that Xu Fu had grown on her and she didn't mind the alchemist's presence as much as she used to. So when they learned Xu Fu had gone missing from the stranded submarine, Yu Mei-ren grew restless.

That other Servant that went missing too, she didn't care as much… or at all to be frank. Kama had turned her into a floorboard way back when, and Yu did not get over that yet. She was called vengeful for a reason.

"If you are anxious, I am always open to listening." The voice of her beloved snapped her out of her thoughts. The two had been waiting within one of the compartments by themselves when Xiang Yu got tired of her being tormented in silence.

"Pah, me? Anxious?" Yu let out a wry laugh. "I thought you knew me better than that!"

"I do know you better than that, my love. As much as she irks you, you still care for Xu Fu. There is no need to hide it from me," he stated, not fooled by her behavior.

She could only scoff again. "It just worries me that they vanished from inside this hunk of metal. We don't know if they did so willingly or were taken away. Hell, something could be on this ship with us for all we know again."

"While those are valid concerns, my calculations dictate that there is a near-zero percent chance anything has infiltrated our ranks," Xiang Yu assured her. "That is not to say it isn't possible, but do not let paranoia control you… nor use it to hide your real feelings."

This time, she only pouted before getting up and heading for the door. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm going to go check if the Captain has anything new. Those Lancers should be back by now." Xiang Yu also got up to follow her; even if he believed there was little danger, he was not going to let her go alone. As Yu Mei-ren raised her hand to open the door, however— "Wha—?!" —her hand simply passed through and she fell into nothing. Her sudden disappearance spurred an instant reaction from the Berserker and he dived in for her…

A/N: And here you go with the next chapter. Not much to say now since this chapter was centrally dialogue so I'll leave it to y'all to decipher what the hell is going on. Other than that, next up to get stuck in Honkai World are Paisen and Robo-Centaur. This will be fun~ So what's going on with Elysia, what is (maybe) Merlin up to, why is does it look like it's taking place in OC2, and will Paisen ever admit that she likes having Xu Fu around? Stick around to find out.

See y'all next time!