The fallout after her mentor turning into a Herrscher lasted a long time. She became an outcast— being treated as if she had a hand in what happened because she wasn't killed as well. A part of her wondered what she did to deserve such treatment; another part of her decided it was a moot point to question. All that mattered was continuing the duty she placed on herself. And besides, it wasn't all that bad… he still believed in her no matter what…

"Still, it's terrifying to think about…"

"About what?"

"How anyone could be one…"

Looking back, it was eerie how prophetic that conversation eventually became. The entire time, there had been Herrschers among them; a few of the Herrscher of Domination were Fire Moth members; the Herrscher of Corruption ended up being the young innocent RIN.

And of course, there was herself.

'I wonder what you'd think of me now…' Senti couldn't help but wonder. Ritsuka had been accepting of her true identity— but he had no experience with Herrschers. He had fought something similar and they were now among his allies, assuming that pain in the neck was not bluffing. RITSUKA, on the other hand, never knew any good Herrschers. Well, it was more accurate to say he wasn't aware of any good Herrscher, but that's besides the point.

He was always on her side no matter what back then; would he still do the same now?

"Now I'm just overthinking things," she shook her head. There was little use actually wondering, and it was unfair to judge either Ritsukas based on how the other acted. "...Hey, Xu Fu."

"Hmm? What is it?" The Servant responded.

"You mentioned you tried to kill Ritsuka before, right?"

Xu Fu let out an indignant scoff at the oversimplification. "I wasn't trying to kill him; I was trying to kill Gu-sama and he kept getting in the way."

"Gu-sama? You mean that uptight-sounding woman with Bronya?" Senti already knew it sounded like a long story, but now even more so. Either way—"And he lets you hang around in Chaldea?"

"Yup, Master rarely holds grudges against anyone, especially if they no longer want to cause trouble. It wouldn't be an understatement to say about half of all Servants were standing opposed to him at one point or another," Xu Fu shared. "Though most were different versions summoned than the ones in Chaldea… Complicated Servant stuff."

Frankly, Senti barely paid any attention past the first statement. She was more focused on how forgiving Ritsuka was. It sounded rather stupid… until she realized that she had witnessed the same thing on this side. She had nearly killed her friends as well and yet they still welcomed her afterwards. Another oversimplification to be sure, but one that made Senti reconsider.

…Nah, Ritsuka was still a fool for letting people like them around. Speaking of, where the hell did he and Fu Hua go?!

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Someone's following us," Fu Hua finally addressed the elephant in the room. Ritsuka did notice it earlier; he's long since picked up the ability to sense when someone was watching him. He did his best to ignore it to let Fu Hua clear her mind, but now that she's calling it out, there's no way around it.

"Any idea who?" Ritsuka replied casually, keeping a calm pace so as to not alert their voyeur. Granted, it would be pointless if whoever it was could hear them, but better to try and fail he reckoned. It couldn't be Senti or Kama; they'd have no reason to and would definitely announce their presence. So it had to be someone else... Oh. "It's Miss Theresa, isn't it?" Ritsuka sighed in a mix of exasperation and amusement.

"Likely, yes." She shared the same feeling from her tone.

"Should we say something?" Ritsuka had no issue with Theresa hiding in the bushes; she probably needed something fun to do with how stressed she seemed in the few days he knew her.

…Unless it was a habit of hers to eavesdrop on her guests. Now that would be an issue.

Fu Hua simply nodded at his question before she turned her head towards the bushes and just stared. A few moments of silence passed before the leaves rustledas the innocent smile of St. Freya's headmistress emerged out of the green. "Oh heyyy, Fu Hua. Fancy bumping into you two here. I was just... inspecting the groundskeeper's work."

Her attempt to bluff was met with Ritsuka and Fu Hua's unamused faces as Mei also emerged. "Sorry, but Theresa wanted to have a little fun."

"Meiii!" Theresa whined at being thrown under the bus.

"Though the timing couldn't be any better. Mr. Yang and Dr. Tesla are on their way to the landing port; Bronya should be arriving soon." This news was enough to distract them from Theresa's little mischief. They started to make their way when Fu Hua glanced at Ritsuka and nodded.

If he didn't already know what she was thinking, all he had to do was wait a little. "Theresa, there's something we need to discuss."

"Uh…"

"It's not about just now."

"Oh, then sure." She immediately perked up before giving Mei a knowing glance. Theresa walked on further ahead, motioning for Fu Hua to follow, leaving the remaining two with an awkward silence. Ritsuka had to wonder what Theresa wanted him and Mei to do, but he would give it a moment to find out.

The silence continued as the two walked some distance behind the discussing adults. Ritsuka can see that Mei wanted to say something but didn't know how to start the conversation. "So... how exactly did you meet Elysia?" Since that was the topic Fu Hua wanted to discuss with Theresa, he might as well do the same.

Mei, however, let out a nervous, "Uh, it's a long story."

'Of course it is.' He had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the statement. She must have sensed his minute frustration though and quickly gave a short explanation.

"I don't know how much you've learned of the Previous Era from Fu Hua, but their technological feats far surpass what we have in the present," she began explaining. "One of their— or to be more accurate —Fire Moth's greatest creations was something called the Elysian Realm."

"Named after Elysia?" Why though? He didn't get the vibe of a scientist from her; Hua only mentioned she was a fellow soldier. Then again, there's very little he actually knew about Elysia.

But back to the conversation at hand, Mei nodded. "The Elysian Realm was in essence a simulated reality with copies of the Flamechasers. The sims within them had been uploaded with their real-world counterpart's memories… up to a certain point at least." It went unspoken, but Ritsuka already knew what she meant by that. "It was in the Elysian Realm that I met her and the other Flamechasers."

"I see… but what happened in the end?"

"...It was destroyed; that's all you need to know." Despite her calmer tone, her blunt answer carried an obvious melancholy to it. Ritsuka wanted to say something to cheer her up, but Mei had already moved on. "That does remind me, and I've been meaning to bring it up with you for a while. Ritsuka… Are you aware of the version of you that existed here?"

"Yes, Senti already told me about him." And even if she hadn't, he'd have found out from Elysia which he assumed was how Mei knew. "He was a part of Fire Moth, right?"

"From what I've been told," Mei nodded. "He was… a kind person who had no business being a soldier according to the Flamechasers, yet he still fought as one until his final battle."

As she spoke, Ritsuka became aware of how little he knew about this world's version of him. "How strange," he remarked with a distant smile, closing his eyes.

"A strange person… like you. I'm sorry, but I need to get this off my chest," she suddenly halted to turn to him. He followed suit as she continued, "I don't want to go as far as to say you're untrustworthy, but I have trouble fully trusting you."

"If you think I have a problem with that, don't worry. I understand how outlandish my whole existence must be," Ritsuka chuckled much to Mei's surprise. "Coming from another universe, meeting up with someone who just happened to know this world's me, and summoning dead people? I'm more surprised you guys didn't throw me in a cell, much less believe me, so I think it's okay to be wary. All the same, I'm thankful that you're still willing to help despite that."

"Really?"

"Mhmm. Truth be told, I do feel bad that I haven't really done anything to earn the trust of you and the others; all you have to go off of is Fu Hua's account. So, if the opportunity presents itself—" and it likely will, knowing his luck, "—I hope that I will be able to put your worries to rest," Ritsuka promised with a reassuring smile.

Mei stared at him in silence for a few moments before— "You really are a strange person, Fujimaru Ritsuka." A small smile cracked on her face as a small giggle escaped her. "No offense."

"People tell me that a lot, including my friends, so I'll take that as a compliment." With the air now clearing a little bit, they started walking again. Speaking of alternate selves… "Oh yeah, Elysia keeps mentioning another MEI. Any connections?"

"Not directly, no. I would have known by now if I'm related to the House of Kaslana," Mei answered; he assumed that meant the MEI of the Previous Era belonged to such a house. "At the moment, all I know that we have in common is our appearances, connection to the Kaslanas, and fighting against the Honkai. Beyond that, we're nothing alike."

"I see," he nodded in somewhat understanding. He got the gist of it at least. "Is that common though? Having counterparts with no obvious connections?"

"From what little I know, that seems to be the case. There are some parallels here and there but beyond that, there's no reason for them beyond "just because." She answered with a small shrug. "Is there a particular reason you're asking?"

"I was curious, since we were talking about the Previous Era version of me and…" Ritsuka trailed off, trusting Mei could fill in the blanks on her own.

"Hmm… I see what you're getting at," Mei nodded. "Perhaps you can ask Theresa about it? She could help look for him if you want." That would be a smart idea. A small part of Ritsuka was worried that since he was being targeted, the Ritsuka of this Era might get caught in the crossfire too. Hopefully not; the attack on him was too specific for someone to mistakenly go after the other him.

If he even exists, anyway. There's no evidence for or against that.

'Are they done talking yet?' Ritsuka glanced back up at the other two to see them still in the midst of their discussion. Did their idea of bringing Elysia back to reality necessitate that long a conversation? Unless they got sidetracked and ended up talking about something else now which wouldn't be out of the question.

"Oh, where's Senti? I would have thought she'd be with you two."

"She was busy trying to argue with Kama when we left them," Ritsuka answered without missing a beat. They probably still were but so long as it doesn't end in a smoldering crater, he felt it was fine to leave them be.

…Well, he would have— "There you all are!" —if they didn't hear Senti shouting.

Xu Fu and the still-invisible Kama were with Senti as the group made their way to the landing port to join the remaining two of their group. "Anything I need to know about Bronya?" Ritsuka asked while they waited for the arrivals.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. Just be yourself and you'll get along swimmingly," Fu Hua assured him. "I believe you two would actually share some interests." Saying he'd get along with someone was like saying the sun was hot; he'd find it stranger if he met someone he'd actually have problems with from the get-go. "Frankly, I'd like to know what this Yu Mei-ren is like. Judging from her name, she's also from Shenzhou?"

Ritsuka was drawing a blank on what she meant before remembering what he learned earlier. China was named the Shenzhou on this Earth for reasons that escaped his understanding, but that tidbit was ultimately a footnote. "Sort of? She lived there for a long time so she might as well have, though I think she's old enough to predate the nation." And she identified as one anyway, if for no other reason than her husband being one, so there was no point in debating.

Anything else he wanted to say though was cut off as Xu Fu interjected herself into their talk. "You wish to know more about Gu-sama? Of course you do. This is Gu-sama after all!" The wide energetic grin on her face would be cute if Ritsuka didn't know that they'd be here all day hearing about Paisen. "Gu-sama is what's known as a Xian and is unfathomably old. She was born during the Age of Gods and have—"

"Alright, alright. There's no need to recite her file, Xu Fu," Ritsuka interrupted, knowing there were many terms that'd only serve to confuse the others even more. Xu Fu rounded a glare at him that just came off as a cute pout. "The gist of it is that she's an old, Chinese, pseudo vampire that once posed as my senior, and spent years mourning… Wait."

Oh. Oh no. 'She can not find out.' Ritsuka could already imagine the look Paisen would give him if she learned about Fu Hua. He already suffered the constant reminders during that one summer camp about how she's "only interested in Lord Xiang Yu" and other such comments. If she finds out he has gotten close to someone like her… 'But wait, we're only friends,' Ritsuka had to remind himself to calm down.

"Is something wrong?" Fu Hua asked in concern to which Ritsuka shook his head.

"No, everything's fine," he answered a little too fast. She raised an eyebrow at him but didn't press it any further since they could hear the ship in the distance now. It was almost time for Ritsuka to explain what the situation was for the umpteenth time…

A/N: Finally got around to talking about CE Ritsuka. Someone already brought him up a bit back in the comments but now he's finally gets mentioned. Idk when he'd get mentioned next or appear, but now he has... Yeah, that's basically the main thing of this chapter. Ritsuka is also drawing parallels between Hua and Paisen and we'll finally get to see Bronya again... next chapter.

See you all next time!