When she came to, Fu Hua found herself in what she believed was the school's gym. It took a few moments for her to fully realize what she was doing; she had to wonder if it was a coincidence she was overseeing a club. Unless Senti mentioned it to him behind her back again, Ritsuka shouldn't know she took in disciples in the past. Regardless, as much as she would like to sneak off to look for Ritsuka, she found her body not obeying her and continuing with the club activities.

…Even as she felt a strange chill go down her spine. 'Elysia,' she easily concluded with a short sigh. Who else could it be?

Time ticked away ever so slowly, but eventually the club session came to a close. Her body still continued to move on its own and positioned herself by the exit, saying goodbye to each member of the club as they left. When the last person went through the door, Fu Hua did what felt like her usual routine as she moved to turn off the lights.

However, her languid movements were interrupted by something tapping her leg. "Fou! Fou fou!" Finally, she regained control of her body and looked down at a familiar white bundle of fur.

"Fou… I should've expected to see you in here," she smiled as she squatted down to pet him. "Although, I expected you to be with Ritsuka. Where is he?"

"Fou fou!"

"...I don't know a word you're saying," she sighed after a moment. Fou audibly hmphed before dashing in between her legs toward the doors. "Huh? Wait up!"

Taking a quick moment to shut off the lights anyways, Fu Hua chased after the ball of fluff. Fou would occasionally pause to check if she was still following but was otherwise swift on his paws. He led her out of the school, passing through several streets with Fu Hua wondering where they were going. Finally— "Fou fou!" —they presumably arrived at their destination.

"Whose house is this?" She asked though she already had an idea. Fou only cried his name (again) before climbing up the side of the house and vanished into one of the windows. "...Fine then," Fu Hua sighed after a second and approached the front door. She used the doorbell, hearing the muted sound from the other side, and waited.

When the door opened— "Oh, Hua! Why am I not surprised to see you?" The teasing smile of Elysia greeted her. For a second, Fu Hua thought she was mistaken in believing it was Ritsuka's house.

"Hua? Oh, then you're big bro's new girlfriend." A voice behind Elysia erased those doubts.

Fu Hua peeked over her formally deceased friend to see a young woman with flowing white hair and pink eyes dressed in a sailor outfit. Several thoughts ran through her mind: why did she have a face unlike the others? If she was Ritsuka's sister, why did she not look anything like him? If anything, she seems more similar to the pink elf next to her. And lastly— "I'm not Ritsuka's girlfriend."

"Huh… was sure I was right this time." Ritsuka's sister crossed her arms as a contemplative look spread across her face. "Guess he really would only go for girls with white hair."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fu Hua raised an eyebrow.

"Oh don't worry, she can turn it white as well." "Is that so~?" The shared grins on their faces only irritated Fu Hua further. "In any case, come in, come in. It was Hua, right?"

"Fu Hua," she bluntly introduced herself. There was something… off about Ritsuka's sister and it was not just due to her earlier observations. Regardless, she stepped inside the Fujimaru residence and closed the door behind her. "Where's Ritsuka?"

"Oh, he ran up into his room. I may have teased him a little too much," his sister snickered as she led them to the living room. "He should be down soon once he figures out a few things."

"And what would those be?"

"Oh just a minor thing really," the white-haired girl smiled. "Like I'm not actually his sister."

"...What?"

"Guess I'm introducing myself again. Ahem. I am a Servant contracted to the Master of Chaldea and Merlin's adorable little sister— the Pretender, Lady Avalon~ It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." The Servant finished her intro with a playful giggle that only served to unnerve Fu Hua. Something about her… just set off alarms in her head.

Ritsuka did not know how long he spent looking in the mirror. It was like he was looking at a stranger…

He was only pulled away when he heard the familiar cry trying to get his attention. "Huh? Oh, hey Fou. How did you get in here?"

"Fou!"

"Oh," Ritsuka blushed as Fou pointed his paw at his open window. "Where were you then?"

"Fou fou!" The small beast continued to cry his name before scratching at his door. "Fou!"

"Alright, alright. Hold your horses…" He smiled as he opened the door. Fou immediately dashed out into the hallway towards the stairs, leaving Ritsuka to follow. As he was going down the stairs though—

"Huh?! Cath Palug?!"

"DIE MERLIN!"

The following crash and screams of pain only made Ritsuka chuckle. Going into the living room, he was greeted by the sight of his "little sister" trying to wrestle Fou off of her. What was more surprising was seeing Fu Hua already here.

"Big brother! Help!"

"DIE!"

"Don't mind those two; this is normal for them," Ritsuka assured their guests, who were naturally taken off guard by the violent cries of the up-to-this-point innocent Fou. "When did you get here, Fu Hua?"

"Just… now…" she muttered. "Why is Fou…?"

"He gets aggressive whenever Merlin's ar—and his sister are around," he managed to "correct" himself. "It unlocks two more words in his vocabulary."

"I can see that."

"Stop standing around and save me already!" Lady Avalon pleaded as she was quickly losing the battle against Fou. Ritsuka supposed it was his job to help.

"Alright, alright. That's enough, Fou," Ritsuka couldn't hide his amused grin as he carefully grabbed the white beast and put him in air jail.

Lady Avalon immediately got up to her feet and blew a raspberry at Fou. "Take that you ungrateful beast."

"Fou kyu Merlin!"

…Maybe Fou actually had six words in his vocabulary. Regardless though—"Any reason you're pretending to be my little sister, Avalon?"

"Because I am," she replied with the most innocent smile on her face. There was a pause as he stared at Avalon, then he feigned releasing Fou on her again, causing the succubus to jump back.

"So she really is your Servant?" Asked Elysia, making Avalon pout.

"You think I was lying? I thought we were friends!"

"I wouldn't say that, I'm just new to this whole Servant business."

"Oh, so you're the strange presence I detected," Avalon hummed thoughtfully. "Really, Master? Summoning another cute elf lady? Don't you have enough of us back home?"

Her teasing only made Ritsuka roll his eyes. Not dignifying the latter part, he replied, "It wasn't me who summoned her. She just appeared here without any of us understanding why."

"Is that so? You just like attracting the fun sorts of people, don't you?" She giggled before turning towards Elysia. "So what Class might you be?"

"Class?" Elysia blinked at the question before thinking about it for a moment. "It's at the tip of my tongue but…"

"If it's Elysia we're talking about, she should be an Archer," Fu Hua shared before giving it a second thought. "Although we were adept in many forms of combat… She could fit several if I understood the conditions correctly."

"Firstly, I'm assuming she's good with a bow for you to say that. But if being in Chaldea taught me anything…"

"Just being good with a bow doesn't automatically mean you'd be an Archer." And there were Archers who didn't even use bows, Ritsuka silently added.

"Secondly, that'd be in a standard Holy Grail War—"

"A what?"

"—Servants summoned are more likely to fall into the standard Seven Classes." Avalon ignored Fu Hua's question. "Chaldea's summoning system allows Master to summon Servants in the extra Classes like yours truly. Granted, I doubt it was him who summoned her, but knowing Chaldea's history."

Though there was a hint of frustration in her frown, Fu Hua held her tongue and nodded, she will have to ask Rituska later. "Ritsuka mentioned them before but didn't go in-depth about it except for Rulers." They hadn't reached the encounter with the Count yet so there wasn't a need to explain them at the time.

"Oooh, slacking in the exposition, Master?" The Pretender grinned but conceded that there was a lot to cover. "First, you've heard of the Rulers; the goody two-shoes of the bunch for the most part. Then there are Pretenders such as myself whose identities are not what they seem. Though I really am Merlin's little sister."

"Fou kyu!"

"I know, Fou. Just…please behave yourself," Ritsuka attempted to calm Fou down as he tried to escape his grasp again.

"If you're here in this place, then I am assuming you have met the Count?" Fu Hua's and Elysia's nods prompted her to continue. "He is one of the Avengers, known to be driven by an inexhaustible vengeance inside of them that seek retribution from those that wrong them. In other words, try not to get on their bad side. After that, there are the Alter Egos and Moon Cancers. They're… confusing. Master?"

At Avalon's request, Ritsuka took over. "There are two types of Alter Egos. The first are those whose Core are an amalgamation of others that have gained their own will. The other type are those who are aspects of a specific Heroic Spirit's existence. It gets complicated so the best I can say for now is that you could consider them split personalities of an individual that became their own beings." Now that he thought about it, he wondered if Senti could be considered one. He recalled her mentioning she was born from Fu Hua… "As for Moon Cancers… Sorry, but I don't fully understand them either."

BB was always vague in explaining how they work even when he pestered her for answers.

"Do any of them ring a bell for you?" Avalon asked with Elysia shaking her head.

"No, not really. I mean, I do get what they mean, but none of those names jump out to me," the mysterious Servant replied.

"Fou. Fou fou."

"Right, then it's probably that one." Even without fully understanding Fou, Ritsuka knew what they were talking about.

"A Foreigner?"

At the mention of that name, Elysia's face immediately lit up. "That! Yes, that!" She excitedly cried. "…Wait, you make it sound like that's a bad thing."

"It's… complicated," Ritsuka sighed. "Chaldea also summons Foreigners like the others. But the qualifications are—"

"Beings who draw powers from outside the natural World," Avalon explained. "They are usually connected to the Outer Gods who exist beyond even parallel worlds like mine, Master's, and yours. However, there are exceptions even for that. I assume you're one of them, but regardless—" she turned towards Ritsuka with a teasing smirk. "You're already in enough trouble and now you're harbouring yet another Foreigner in your head?"

"Existing beyond even parallel worlds… Then could that count?" Fu Hua asked Elysia.

"You mean the Cocoon?" Cocoon? Ritsuka recalled them mentioning it before. "Maybe…? There's too much to say for sure, even from me."

"Well, so long as you're not trying to break Master's mind like some of them want, I see no problem with having you around."

"Firstly, don't go deciding things for me, Avalon," Ritsuka sighed. "And if she was here to do something bad, the Count would have gotten rid of her before we ran into her."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence… I think?" Elysia tilted her head in mild confusion.

Fu Hua meanwhile was more concerned about something else. "What do you mean trying to break into his mind?"

"No need to worry about that," Ritsuka quickly said. That tale was for another time. "So if Elysia really is a Foreigner, what does she draw power from? What's the Cocoon you two keep mentioning?"

"The Cocoon… is the Cocoon. The Cocoon of Finality to be more formal. As I said, it's hard to explain what it actually is," Elysia answered. "But if it needs to exist beyond the normal world, then you can check that box. It can go from dimension to dimension and create Herrschers. As a Herrscher, I was born from it and will return to it when I die."

"Well, it doesn't sound like an Outer God so that's fine."

"Again, don't decide things for me." Though Ritsuka had similar thoughts about the Cocoon not being an Outer God. But if it transcends their universes, then maybe it could still allow Elysia to be a Foreigner. Other Servants had gotten into other Classes for stranger reasons anyway. But with the topic of Elysia's class being mostly cleaned up, Ritsuka had his own questions for Avalon. Namely—"So how and why are you here?"

"Oh that's quite the long and fantastical tale, big brother~" She grinned from ear to ear. "You see, it all started with my other older brother. He, I, and a few others tried every method and ritual we can think of searching for you, going as far as to peer into other timelines."

"Was this before or after Kama and the others went into Imaginary Space?"

"After, but before you ran into them," Avalon answered before resuming. "Wouldn't you know it, we didn't find you… but we found someone who might be able to help. He introduced us to another person who then introduced us to someone from this world. Thanks to them, we were able to find you in this world and appear in your dream like this."

"...Wait." Ritsuka's mind fired up with several questions: who were the ones who helped Avalon? How did they find him so quickly? But most importantly— "Merlin's here too?"

"Well duh. It's his idea to bring that woman here," Avalon revealed, pointing at Fu Hua. "Since you seemed to be in no danger, he thought to have a little fun~"

"Now wait just a minute!" A new voice cried out as a figure in white flickered into existence besides Avalon. "Don't pin this on me! That was your idea!"

"It was the idea of the ever-scheming Merlin~ I am completely innocent," she denied with the most playful smile ever.

With the appearance of the real Merlin and the truth behind what was going on, there was only one response Ritsuka could make. "Alright, get them Fou."

"DIE MERLIN!"

The defeated bodies of Merlin and Lady Avalon laid unmoving on the living room floor. The culprit was still not satisfied however as Fou continued smacking the back of Merlin's head. With their well-deserved beating done, Ritsuka picked up the white ball of fury to end his rampage. "Alright, alright, I think they've learned their lesson, Fou."

The pair probably didn't, but they at least won't forget Fou's punishment for a while.

"So… this is Merlin? The court mage of King Arthur?" Fu Hua asked, her gaze on the Mage of Flowers.

Ritsuka sighed " I would say the one and only but…" He glanced at Avalon. If what Arthur said about his Merlin is true, though it is unconfirmed. "Anyways, is he anything like your Merlin?" He recalled Fu Hua's previous mention of knowing this world's Merlin.

"No." She didn't even take a moment to think about it. "Our Merlin was not the type to commit pranks like this. He was more... colder." A cold Merlin sounded inconceivable to Ritsuka but the incubus has confessed to not having emotions due to his nature before, so it's not out of the realm of possibilities.

Elysia, on the other hand, was naturally confused by the two. "Um… So who's Merlin and why are he and his sister so important?"

"It's… talking about the Merlin in our world would be a long story, Elysia. I'd explain some other time," Fu Hua answered.

As for Ritsuka—"As much as a pain he could be, this Merlin has been one of Chaldea's most loyal and hardworking Servants for a long time now."

"Hardworking is putting it lightly! I was deployed on basically every mission after you summoned me!" Merlin immediately shot up as if he hadn't been beaten up by his familiar. "But thank you for the compliments, Master. I hardly get them nowadays."

"Because everyone's too busy cursing your name for something you did," Ritsuka rolled his eyes at Merlin's pouting. He put Fou down who immediately jumped onto the Caster's shoulder and slapped him lightly.

"Ooh, ooh! Compliment me next!" And just like that, Avalon shot up too with a massive grin. "I do a good job too, right Master?"

"...You're good in your role as an annoying little sister."

"I'll take it!"

Another exasperated sigh escaped Ritsuka at her perky attitude. "Now, you were talking about being responsible for all… this." He gestured all around them.

"Oh, not at all. We're only responsible for her being here," Merlin corrected, pointing at Fu Hua with his staff. "Her though… We have no idea how or why she's here either," he added as he glanced at Elysia. "And with her not even knowing what Class she was, I get the suspicion whatever summoned her is not used to doing so."

"And for what reason did you bring me in here?" Fu Hua had only met them but it was clear these two "siblings" are going to give her a headache from now on.

"Oh, simple really. We wanted to have a little fun with Master while he was stuck here… but then he started running into problems after problems," Avalon explained with a shrug. "We kept up the charade until Miss Elysia here appeared."

"And the Count just let you do all this?" Ritsuka asked in disbelief. There was no way the Avenger would allow such obvious tampering with his mind.

"Oh, it hurts how little you think of us, Master, but we don't need his permission. As good as he is at protecting your mind, we're masters in our own right," Merlin smugly grinned. "Besides, we didn't do anything besides bring you two in here and made sure to cover our tracks—only for Cath Palug here to rat us out to you."

"Fou!"

While Merlin began arguing with Fou again, Ritsuka was focused on what they didn't do. "You're saying this place was already here?" He asked. Merlin and Avalon claimed they didn't construct it but…

"Uh huh, we found this whole world when we entered your mind. It was buried deep—very deep," Avalon explained, letting her "brother" continue.

"I was poking around and it looked like there was a shield protecting this part of your mind. No one was supposed to get in… until someone broke the seal." It was obvious who Merlin thought opened Ritsuka's mind—and Ritsuka was inclined to agree.

That of course led to the question of why? The Count surely had his reasons for breaking open the shield that he no doubt placed himself; they just needed to know what that reason was.

Crackle…

Speak of the devil—"Count? What do you have to say about this?"

"...Mage of Flower, I thought I sensed your presence here." The Count ignored his question and simply glared at Merlin.

"Oh, no need for hostilities, Avenger. I did not tamper with what you've been meticulously constructing in Master's mind," the Caster was unfettered by the Count or his flames.

"...My accomplice, this place has always existed inside you—even before I took upon guarding your mind," he finally turned to face Ritsuka. "This was meant to be a safe space for you, untouched by reality. Circumstances have forced my hand to open it. That is all I will say on this matter." With that final cryptic response, the Count vanished again as if he were never here in the first place

Ritsuka fell silent at the Count's words with everyone glancing at him, waiting for his reaction. Finally… he let out a sigh. "I thought he didn't have Independent Action," he mused to himself before turning towards the others. He was sure whatever the Count's reason was, it was ultimately for his benefit. "Merlin, do Mash and the others know where I am?"

"Nope. We kept the fact that we met someone who could find you a secret from the others. We were planning on informing them when we found you but…"

"But we soon found ourselves unable to return to our own bodies. We're stuck here until you return to Chaldea or if that person decides to come back and check on us."

"Who are these people you've met by the way?" Avalon had mentioned three different individuals had helped them: the one who they saw while looking for him, the one who knew where he was and actually brought them here, and a middleman. Ritsuka assumed they were talking about the second person.

"Well… Let's just say the Lady of the Lake sends his regards." Merlin smiled at Fu Hua and Elysia. "He wished he could be here himself— especially since you're here, Herrscher —but he has his own mission he needs to finish first."

Both Ritsuka and Elysia were naturally confused; the latter for not knowing a Lady of the Lake and the former for wondering what Morgan has to do with anything… and is male. Fu Hua, however, broke into a smile. "That man… he's still looking out for us…" The sense of sentimentality did not go unnoticed by either.

"I really have a lot to catch up on, don't I?" Elysia grinned. She may be behind on the intel, but she has an inkling of who this Lady of the Lake might be. "In any case, you two are also stuck in here until Ritsuka returns home, right?"

"That seems to be the case," Avalon replied. "Though it's not so bad. I was rather curious of Master's past and this place is just—"

"Hey, don't go digging around for my secrets." Avalon only let out a giggle at his warning; she probably saw it as a challenge more than anything. "...I'll let Fou beat you up again."

"Fou! Fou fou!" Ritsuka was ninety percent sure Fou was hoping that she would go poking around his head more.

"Hmm… Maybe I'll just sit around here and chat with Elysia."

The new Servant nodded in agreement, saying how she could use the company. "It's very lonely in your mind, Ritsuka," she remarked thoughtlessly. He was sure Elysia meant nothing by it but Ritsuka didn't need to be told that. "Speaking of, any luck in getting me out of here?"

"I've already spoken to Theresa—I guess you can call her our leader here in the new era. She's put her people to work and if all goes well, it'll be ready in a few days."

"You're as reliable as always, Hua," Elysia cheered as she suddenly pulled her old friend into a hug. "I'll be sure to make it up to you and Ritsuka in the future."

"That's… not necessary." Ritsuka wasn't sure if she meant the hug or having the debt repaid. If the latter, he agreed; he had nothing to do with all this outside of his mind coincidentally being where she woke up… Well, "coincidentally" in quotes. The chances of it actually being a coincidence were slim to none. "Wait, Merlin, Avalon. Did you learn anything about all this?" Ritsuka asked his Servants.

"Actually, we did learn something. One of the people who helped us said he looked into what dragged you out of our world. He couldn't figure out who, but he did trace a trail back to this world."

"According to him, it was this world that stole you away. But for what reason, none of us knows." The usual smirk Merlin has was replaced with a grimace. "He said that if a version of you—especially one who is facing the Ordeal Call—is taken for occasions like this, it's serious." Granted, that was common knowledge at this point, but Ritsuka was still thrown off by what he meant. "Don't worry too much about it, Master. As the man said, you only need to know the gist of it. You'll be able to solve whatever problem you were brought here to face."

The vote of confidence was nice but that answered nothing.

"Who is this person you're talking about anyway?" Fu Hua asked. "It sounds like he's familiar with Ritsuka."

"More so than most. We're literally in Master's mind and we won't even be able to understand him half as well as that person does," Merlin grinned his usual grin, making Ritsuka roll his eyes. "But I think that's enough for now. You should wake up—before that Senti lady and Kama decide to break in here."

"Huh? What do you—"

"Fou?"

"Fou!" Ritsuka's only warning to brace himself was that cry before Fou leaped off of Merlin's shoulder and kicked him in the face.

When Ritsuka opened his eyes again, he was greeted by the unamused face of Senti. "About time you got up. I was beginning to worry."

"'Beginning to?' You were—"

"Shut it," Senti shot a glare at Kama before she could finish talking.

The Assassin rolled her eyes in amusement at her before turning towards Ritsuka. "You were stuck in that dream again, weren't you? We've been trying to get in your head since last night, but the Count's protection kept us out. He even blocked off the paths I usually use."

"Last night?" At that, Ritsuka glanced at the window to see it was indeed morning already.

"So what did you and Miss Punchy over there do in your dream all night?" Kama made a pointed glance at Fu Hua, who was on the bed and just getting up too. "Anything we should know about? And did it include that elf or not?". Ritsuka did not miss the glint in her eyes.

"Are you really asking that? And no, nothing at all." Ritsuka stared at her in exasperation. He then glanced around and noted the missing presence of a certain three. "Where's Paisen and the others?"

"She was tired of getting cooped up in here and went on a walk with the other two," Senti answered before adding. "Well, she wanted to go with that husband of hers but Xu Fu tagged along."

'Sounds about right,' Ritsuka thought as he got off the couch. "Well, time to get ready for the day." He heard Fu Hua sigh and mutter how he bounces off things too quickly. "I tend to not linger on things. I trust those two to figure things out on their own by next time we return to the dream."

"Those two?" Both Kama and Senti asked in unison.

"Merlin and Avalon."

"Ah… what?"

Ritsuka didn't find their reactions surprising; he opened his mouth to explain but Fu Hua interrupted him. She had a pressing question that she couldn't wait to be answered anymore. "Ritsuka… What is the Ordeal Call?"

A/N: I would say one last chapter for the year but got home later than I thought so instead, first chapter of the year! For me anyway, it'll probably still be 2024 for y'all. Either way, Happy New Years!

And I've also decided that going forward, chapters would be this length if cause why not? So this was meant to be chapter 28 and 29 but is now chapter 27 cause last chapter was also combined. You can probably guess where the chapter was initially meant to end lol.

Like Lady Avalon, Merlin was meant to appear way earlier but Elysia stole the spotlight for a bit. The initial plan was for one of them to be the one behind them being taken into Psuedo-Tokyo but as time passed, I decided to make them both responsible for the fun of it. Another fun fact as well, while writing the Extra Class part, I completely forgotten about the Rulers and tacked them on after the scene was finished.

Another old idea I had was for Su (who is Honkai's version of the Lady of the Lake for those who don't know) to actually appear in a way back when this story was going to be Ritsuka getting caught in more mundane Honkai-related stuff. So now he's just relegated to being someone watching and helping from behind the scenes which definitely fits more for him. And with his role being mentioned, it means all but one Flamechaser has a presence in this little series of fics I've made.

As for that one missing Flamechaser… Well, you can probably guess what I might be planning with him~

Well, that's all that I remember I want to say, so here's to happy 2025!

Editor here, technically I got this done right before new years, but Fire wasn't home to upload, so you're getting this the next year. Anyways, happy new years everyone, here's to another (possibly last) year of FGO.
In other news, some of you may be aware of some of Fire's spicy side content for this FGO x HI3 brainrot of his on AO3. Well, there's a certain pink elf that he's agonizing over but refuses to write about. I and a couple others are working to tip him over the edge. We'll see how long he can hold.