Lycoris lead her fellow students on what amounted to a wild goose chase, going from place to place, revealing shortcuts new and old alike as she made her way to the tapestry depicting the attempt of Barnabas the Barmy to teach trolls ballet.

“Lycoris, all there is down that way the bloody astrology tower, will you finally tell us where we’re going?” Pansy said panting, her hand on her knees, when Lycoris had finally stopped running around, letting the rest of them catch up and take a breath.

“Well, I do suppose we’re here” She playfully said, a curled finger over her mouth that covered her smile as she walked back and forth three times with a twirl at the end.

“Do you have any idea what she’s doing?” Blaise whispered to Draco, who shook his head no.

“Lycoris, please tell me what you’re up to?” Draco calmly asked, trying to muster up the confidence and suave manner of his father during meeting with people.

*Giggle*

It was at this moment that the wall to her right decided to change, slowly it morphed, a door appearing from the stone, leaving all of them slack jawed at the intricately carved words placed into the very wooden frame of the doors.

“If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, you need only ask.”

The door swung open to a small hallway with a small lip that had 3 pairs of shoes in front of it, Lycoris gestured for the rest to follow her in, stopping in front of the lip she pulls off her shoes and pulled out some slippers from a nearby cabinet.

“C’mon then? We haven’t got all day, lunch is starting soon.” Lycoris turned to her fellow students with a raised brow, the all looked at each other and followed her in, the doors closing behind them.

Draco moved to step past the Genkan without putting on a pair of slippers nor taking his shoes off, she was right in front of him with a dangerous smile on her face right before he put his foot on the ground.

“Are you sure you want to do that, Malfoy.” Lycoris’s eyes were closed, her face was directly in Draco's and looming over him with an oppressive feeling, yet he couldn’t do anything yet admire her beauty while Blaise and Pansy sweat.

It was only Blaise pulling Draco back that caused the pressure to end and Pansy to sigh in relief.

“We should follow your example, right?” Blaise asked, sweat trailing down his back, when he got a nod he took off his shows and reached into the slipper cabinet pulling out a pair of Aqua slippers.

He put them on and step up the lip, getting a nod of approval.

“This is called a ‘Genkan’, it’s recessed into the floor, to contain any dirt that is tracked in from the outside. Think of it like a mud room, Ne?” She explained as Draco and Pansy joined them to walk down the hallway.

“Would you care to elaborate?” Asked pansy as she quickly caught up to walk side by side with her, getting a nod. “I can tell you more on our way back to classes after lunch.

They passed by a couple of rooms on the way to the end of the hallway, one with the picture of animals, one with the picture of a coffin, one with the picture of a flower mid-bloom, one with a picture of crossed swords and one with the picture of a crown.

The hallway was a bit on the small side, but they could at least walk shoulder to shoulder comfortably.

They arrived to a door with the picture of a tree on it, opening the door and inviting her guests in brought them to a perfect replica of the Emiya estate living room and kitchen.

“Ah hello Lycoris” Fou spoke up, he was sat on a plush pillow fiddling with some paper and had a tiny pair of glasses on his face. The rest of the inhabitants looked up to see the squad at the door.

Shirou was in the middle of cooking and gave them nothing more than a dispassionate glance, Artoria and merlin were sat at the table with a set of UNO cards.

Merlin gave them a wave hello before returning to the game, Artoria gave them a single nod before placing a +4 and changing the colour to blue.

“Fou, Mother, Father, Uncle.” Lycoris greeted them, getting a small smile and nod from Shirou who paused in his cooking, Artoria gave them a nod before playing UNO and finishing their round while merlin sulked.

“What is this place?” Pansy, looking back into the hallway and then into what was, presumably, the dining room with awe as the tower didn’t have nearly the room to have this much space shoved into it.

“Ah, I had forgotten that you’ve not been here before!” Lycoris said perking up.

“Welcome, to the Room of Requirement!” Merlin yelled from behind them, the version of him at the table disappearing into a swarm of flowers.

“Ah!” “What the Fuck!?” “SHIT!” Draco, Blaise, Pansy all yelled, with Pansy turning around and throwing a haymaker into Merlin’s crotch.

“Ah shit, I can't believe you’ve done that.” Merlin quietly gasped out as he held his jewels and face planted into the tatami mat floor.

“Maybe don’t sneak up on a lady like that!” Pansy yelled, still in a ready position to knock someone the fuck out with a devastating amount of skill for an 11-year-old.

“Sorry about Uncle Merlin, he’s, as my dear companion would put it, just quirky like that.” Lycoris spoke up, said companion was on the floor by Merlin poking him with a wooden stick as his body lightly twitched.

“Well, Lyra, I do believe you should introduce us to your friends, yes?” Artoria spoke up as she walked over, hand out stretched for a handshake.

“Oh where are my manners, Draco, Blaise, Pansy. Meet my family, this is my Mother, Shirou Emiya.” Lycoris introduced them, one by one, Artoria gave a handshake before Shirou gave a singular nod.

“Good afternoon, I’m just finishing preparations for lunch, you may join us if you like.” Shirou, said, his voice a bit off as he worked to make the perfect sauce for his food.

“This is my father, Artoria Pendgraon, but you would know them better as King Arthur from the Arthurian legends.” Lycoris said nonchalantly, stunning the kids for a moment before Pansy’s brain restarted.

“Wait, What do you mean by that!?” Pansy practically whisper shouted as she dragged Lycoris over to a corner with the boys.

“I, too, would like an answer, ‘Lyra’ this is a very interesting conundrum.” Blaise spoke up, clearly confused, yes Draco’s focus was elsewhere, specifically the white creature staring at him and making gestures toward his own set of jewels with a rusty knife.

“I’m the very same King Arthur from the legends you’ve heard of.” Artoria spoke up from the table, now having pulled a book out to read, specifically on the Hound of Ulster.

“But King Arthur was a guy?” Pansy raised a valid point. “Even then, how are you still alive and looking so young!?” Pansy practically burst, wanting to know the secrets of the woman's youth.

“Do you think they would have let me have my throne if I was a woman in that time period?” Artoria raised a brow, “And on the topic of being alive, the only one of us actually truly still alive would be Merlin.” She returned to her book.

“No, I don’t think they would have.” Blaise had a troubled look on his face, “But that still begs the question, what do you mean?” he rolled his hand with his question as Shirou started to move everything to the table.

“Correct, thus I was forced to hide my gender.” Artoria nodded as she turned the page, “Normally, we’re merely echos of ourselves when summoned like how we are now, no we will not go into that, much too complicated for first years. All you need to know is that we’ve basically been brought back to life but are sustained by magic and magic alone.” Artoria spoke as she continued to read, only for a gust of wind to cary flowers past her and through a door.

“And I’m the very same Merlin from legend!” Merlin yells, now standing on the table, happily smiling.

*SHING*

Merlin leaned back, avoiding the sword that disappeared before hitting the wall.

“Though you may not be aware of my Wife’s Heritage, considering that the British brand of Magus tend to ignore the other type of Magic wielders.” Artoria takes a sip of water from the offered glass Fou gave her.

“I’m the adopted son of the Magus Killer, Kiritsugu Emiya, though he left the public eye of the Moonlit world sometime ago. “ Shirou spoke up as he finished placing food down on the table.

“Why does Lycoris call you mother?” Draco asks, Blaise and Pansy clearly see through his intended smooth move to find out more about said girl. They both had a drop of sweat on their foreheads, with deadpan looks as Lycoris took a seat.

*Ahem* Shirou cleared his throat with an awkward cough, the table stared at him.

“That is not a conversation to be had right now… Please, do not ask that question ever again.” Shirou said with a straight face, a little dusting of red on his cheeks.

“Oh, you see, it’s quite simple! One day, Lyra had walked in on-” Merlin started, going to tell the children of how Lycoris had walked in to find Artoria with a strap on.

“FOU KYUUU!”
(DIE MERLIN!) Fou yelled, spinning as he slapped Merlin to the ground with a single paw.

Merlin groaned, face first in to the ground with pain, the back of his head having a small bump and what appeared to be steam wafting off it as Fou returned to his pile of Papers.

(Fou-ou  Fooou Kyuu!)
“Pay no head to the heathen!” The Trio look to Lycoris, she looks at them.

“Translation please? Not all of us can understand your familiar.” Draco drawls, doing his best to conduct himself in the same manner his godfather would when talking with others.

Lycoris giggled, and he deflated, watching her smile, before Blaise leaned in front of him, yet Draco continued to lean forward wanting to look more at the lady who hath stolen his heart.

“Oh yes, I had forgotten.” *Ahem,* “Pay no head to the heathen.” She said, patting the floor next to her for the rest to sit at.

“Uhh, what do we do?” Pansy asks, before Blaise plopped down to the left of Shirou which got him a raised brow from the tall man.

“What?” Blaise said as if it was normal for him to just do that. Both pansy and Draco looked at him confused before turning to each other, shrugging and sitting down next to Lycoris.

“Now, we’re having barbecue, so help yourself to the meat, the grill is ripping hot I’m warning you now.” Archer said, removing the metal lid with a cloth and setting it down.