A calmness spread through Velare Ambrosi’s restored Opera House, the Maestro’s personal corner of the Dreamscape once more. An audience of the town’s residents, and a slight fog to give the auditorium more of a dreamlike feel. The orchestra had begun to play a soft, quiet melody, and on stage, the singer, a faceless, featureless heavy-set man would let out the first note. An opening salvo in what was clearly an epilogue to a tragic tale, but the details lost in the haze of Mitakihara’s first, proper dream in far too long. In the balcony seats, typically reserved for VIPs stood the Maestro in person. A calm, satisfied smile lit his face. He either did not notice the footsteps approaching behind him, or he simply did not care. His guest stood at his side, also without a word, staring at the scene below, though not at anything in particular. Eventually, however, the guest would make her presence known.

Yui: Yo, Maestro. …I see you got this place back, somehow.

Velare: (The Maestro pointedly ignored her latter quip) I did not expect you here, Yui, though on a night like this, I cannot possibly complain.

Yui: Yeah… you always were one to bask in a victory. ‘Specially one you orchestrated.

Velare: Orchestrated? (Velare gives a somewhat exaggerated gesture with his hands, though chuckling afterwards, knowing Yui wasn’t buying the fake shock.) Hardly. I merely gave our proprietress the knowledge she needed to do that which she always needed to do, and that which she wanted to do all along. 

Yui: Niko’s a lot like me, y’know. She took to a role thrust upon her without her knowledge or consent, but said ‘fuck it’ and made the most of it. …She’s a good kid.

Velare: The same can be said of you and yours, Yui. 

Yui: (Yui closes her eyes, taking a few deep, calculated breaths to calm herself) …How is she, Vel? How is Mei… down here? I-I know I saw her, she kinda… saved everyone’s ass, but like… how is she?

Velare: You would not ask her yourself yet, would you, Yui? (Silence. Yui had, as expected, ignored the question. The Maestro’s expression softens, appearing genuine for the briefest of moments) The Cadenza insists on her title now. She claims she has ‘earned her wings’. But otherwise, she is intending to serve as an active guardian down here. She seems in good spirits, you know. I could theorize as to why, but I fear I would not survive your ‘rebuttal’ in this condition.

Yui: …No. (Yui sighs, leaning on the banister over the stage, her arms folded and her head briefly resting atop them before she stands upright, turning to look at Velare) No, Vel, I know. …She really was ready to die when we first met. I always knew that, y’know? But I trained her anyway. I wanted her to live. I… I thought she was just gonna somehow tough out those feelings, but in the end, she… used it as fuel, motivating her to do things I just… couldn’t.

Velare: And in so doing, Yui, she helped to save the lives you hold most dear, as you said. What’s more, she found a purpose beyond her slated fate. She can protect souls on this side, while you protect them in the waking reality. …Truly, you have surpassed me, Yui. I could not be more proud.

Yui: …I wasn’t tryin’ to follow in your footsteps, Maestro. Even if we’re givin’ you your way in the end. Incubator is Public Enemy Number One, just like you wanted.

Velare: Would it help if I said I did not foresee this outcome, and that I did not plan even this, all those years ago?

Yui: …I’ve bought shittier lies, Maestro. I’m… way too fuckin’ tired to pretend anymore.

The two stood in silence, listening to the first song finish to light applause. Neither the Forte nor the Maestro were looking at one another anymore. The scene reset, another song in the opera’s finale made ready and beginning. Yui idly glanced down at the peaceful expressions on Mitakihara’s residents, then folded her arms along the banister, resting her head down upon them yet again.

Yui: …So as far as this place is concerned, all is well, right?

Velare: I cannot speak to whether the city’s inhabitants will continue to visit this place, or whether the Diva has the power to set them free. That is for her to decide and discover, now with the luxury of time. But just in case they never visit this impossible place again, I wanted to send them off with a grand finale. Something they can enjoy, and feel at peace when they wake, for the first time in many, many nightmare filled nights. (Velare’s arms opened wide, as if to embrace the scene below, wearing one last, calm, satisfied grin.)

Yui: Then… isn’t it about time you dropped the facade… Cecilia?

The Maestro’s arms slowly lowered as the music swelled to a sudden crescendo. Another beat of silence, and Velare’s expression softened, then darkened completely. Sullen eyes masked by glasses that were slowly pulled from the Maestro’s face, held loosely in a trembling right hand. Soon, the figure of Velare Ambrosi faded into a familiar blue fog, swirling around until eventually clearing, leaving the Conductors’ Oracle standing in the place the Maestro once stood. She lowered her hood, taking an even more calculated breath to steady herself. Eventually, she would speak, struggling to maintain her composure.

Cecilia: …How long have you known, Yui?

Yui: …The radio silence ever since Mei died was a pretty big clue. You tend to duck me when you’re hiding shit. (Yui hesitates as her eyes close, and she lets out a pained, yet resigned sigh, bringing herself back upright.) I just… I had a feeling. A lot of things didn’t add up. But talking to you here, now that Worldeater’s gone, I just… I knew it wasn’t really him. (Yui waited for a reply that never came, so she continued) …It was Katherine’s Witch, wasn’t it?

Cecilia: …An ordinary human being never stood a chance in a fight with a Witch. My brother most certainly knew that. But…

Yui: Velare Ambrosi wasn’t exactly an ordinary guy, Sis. Still… I guess even the Maestro wasn’t so extraordinary as to survive a fight with that Witch.

Cecilia: (The Oracle was visibly trying to calm herself down, but eventually found enough of a foundation from which to speak again.)  …What else… what else tipped my hand, Yui?

Yui: I mean… I studied this place a long while before Kae woke up. No one can just leave this place willingly. Not even you. But you were gone, and somehow, the Maestro had survived a fight with one of our Witches. Then there was this place. Only a Puella Malefica can even try to manipulate this space without the Masque. I think René was onto it as well. He knew Vel the best, aside from you that is. …But when you took Mei into your arms here after she died, well… it was a blind, instinctual trust that let me let that happen. There’s only one person I’d ever trust on blind faith in a situation like that, no matter how pissed off I get at you. …But I never really wanted to believe he was gone, y’know?

Cecilia: (Silent tears stream down Cecilia’s cheeks, though her voice somehow retains some semblance of composure after she stifles a sob.) …I have no idea how I still retain that right, Yui. …Even if it is pure instinct.

Yui: …I mean, I am pretty pissed off right now. How many… how many of us died, fighting these fuckers? Some of ‘em for good. I never found Chiemi or Kotori down here, y’know. And… I’m supposed to believe that your initial vision was that everything was supposed to be okay? God damn it, Oracle… have you even considered planning with me, instead of around me? I… We killed your brother in the waking world for pulling the strings, so I dunno why you insist on pulling them now.

Cecilia: …I don’t know, Yui. I honestly, truly… have no god damned idea why I’m like this. Perhaps this is just who we were, as Ambrosi siblings. Perhaps omniscience is just… too tempting a power. (Tears stream once more down Cecilia’s cheeks as she trembles against the banister) I’m… I’m trying, Yui… honest to God I am trying my best to make this all right… but… I know that’s not adequate… not with everything gone so far off script…

Yui: (Yui is silent for a long time, contemplating what to say. Eventually, she decides to ignore her original grievance for now and continue her train of thought.) …Only thing I don’t get is… why? Why go to the trouble to make it seem like he was alive down here? Luca didn’t start fuckin’ with this place until long after Kae’d been taken out.

Cecilia: …Too many reasons to count. To maintain my vision of these events… I saw that I needed to be away during Aoi’s machinations. I needed to stay with Kiwako to train myself. I would not adopt her methods, but I needed to experience them. I needed to meet my other half in order to steel myself, even beyond the Balancers, and accept myself. …I saw their arrival, and the events here before I left into Kiwako’s barrier. I saw what Luca Giordano intended to do down here, thanks to his brief visits to the waking world to tip his hand. If he knew he was facing me, he likely would have destroyed this place from the start, knowing that he could never have beaten me. He would have followed Kyubey’s orders without one whit of hesitation. But… a weakened human, one for whom he harbored a deep hatred? A feeble old man, way beyond his prime, yet with a miracle and mystery that would drive the young man mad? It made for a far more alluring target to try and seek his true revenge. But… more than all of that… (Cecilia stifles another sob) I just wanted a world where, even for a moment, my brother was still here. Even if I had to wear his facade to make it real… even if it was fleeting, I… I just wanted my brother back, Yui.

Cecilia buries her face into folded arms, one hand still holding Velare’s now visibly cracked glasses and quietly weeps into them. She’s only stopped once she feels a hand on her left shoulder, looking over at Yui’s equally tear-stained cheeks.

Yui: H-Hey. It’s okay, Sis. That’s normal, yeah? I mean, I wasn’t as close, and I never let go of what he did, but… I dunno. I felt close, ‘specially after I made my wish. …I always saw Vel as a mentor, even if he was a fuckin’ monster about it. …Like it or not, he was important to me.

Cecilia stares at Yui with widened eyes, then throws her arms around Yui’s waist, and after a moment, the composure of the Oracle breaks completely. Yui, in turn, holds the wailing Cecilia close, letting both the Oracle and herself mourn the Maestro’s loss, even after so much time had passed since Velare’s demise. In this moment, there was no trace of the scheming Conductor, only a girl who wished to see the world with her brother, one she traded her very soul and life for. A world now without even the illusion of him in it. And another girl, one touched by Conductor schemes, feeling the confirmation of the loss of yet another mentor. Another who shaped her into the person she was now, no longer around to see the fruits of their labor. A long time would pass in this moment, and it was Yui who would eventually break the silence.

Yui: Heh… this is the most human I’ve ever seen you, y’know.

Cecilia: (She seemingly ignores Yui’s words, pulling herself away and wiping her eyes, not meeting Yui’s gaze) …So, what happens now?

Yui: What else? We finish it. There’s still two Balancers left. We uh… we still on script?

Cecilia: …About as much as we reasonably could be at this point. Despite the… deviations… the events going forward are largely intact. …If we work together, we can take down Punisher.

Yui: And if we’re lucky… save Shiori. Together, this time. (Yui stands upright, extending a hand down towards Cecilia) …You still with me… Sis?

Cecilia: (Cecilia hesitates, but places her hand in Yui’s, pulling herself back up to her feet) …Always, Yui.

The finale to Velare’s opera in this space finished with a triumphant flourish, and the audience rose for a standing ovation as the curtains closed. As it did, they would fade, one by one as dawn broke on Mitakihara.