As she is catapulted back to the Dreamscape, Fei lands in a pile of books, scattered across the floor next to a dominoes’ row of toppled bookshelves. The fighting appears to have ceased. The enemy has been driven off. But the weapons are still unsheathed, and they are pointed at her. Most of them, anyway.

Mei: Just say the word, ‘Tori. (The tip of her spear, usually the Valkyrie’s weapon, is pointed at Fei’s throat)

Kotori: (Her weapons, however, are lowered) I am a dealer of information, not death. I would know why, first.

Mei: We know goddamn good and well why, ‘Tori! She’s a Balancer, and she saw her window! What more do you need?!

Fei: (she merely gazes at Mei’s spear, her face impossible to read as ever) You won’t be able to drive it into my throat when you hold it like that.

Mei: Wanna test that theory, Punisher?

Fei: Not a theory. (she stands up, slowly pushing Mei’s spear to the side with the back of her hand, as if knowing Mei won’t push through on her threat) And if it’s Balancers walking around you’re scared of, you should be with me on this, not against me. 

Mei: Why the FUCK would I stand with a Balancer?! (She raises her spear again)

Fei: Because you’re standing here alongside the woman you once swore to kill (she gazes at Kotori). People can change. I have changed. But in order to prove that, I needed to test my theory.

Kotori: That Mei and I were once enemies is irrelevant, compared to what you tried to do to us. (She stands opposite Fei, leaving the former Balancer between herself and Mei) Or, am I supposed to forget how I lost my life trying to save everyone from you?

Fei: (as if she didn’t hear Kotori’s question, she continues) Killing Divider is the only way to put these lost souls to rest. But to do so, I have to return to the world of the living. My theory was proven right. Magic is tied to the soul exclusively, not the body. That is why we can still use our powers in here. With the Lantern, I was able to borrow the Diva’s body. If I can do it again, I can atone for my sins.

Mei: Too bad that ain’t happening again. Think we’re just gonna roll over and let you have Niko’s body, free and clear? She didn’t exactly give you permission.

Fei: — There was no time —

Mei: What if Divider killed Niko out there, huh? What do you think happens to the wayward souls down here then?

Kotori: (Color swirls around her, her hair seeming to come to life not unlike a wildfire) Leave the worries of the living to the living. Let Yui handle Divider. Or, if you must have a hand in it, coordinate with her, as you have been doing down here. 

Fei: Spare yourself. You know how this went down the last time.

Kotori: What makes you think you alone can succeed where she failed, with help, no less? Especially when you couldn’t even beat Yui before?

Mei: …I know how to test that theory. (The Valkyrie splits from Mei, spear in hand, until the spear’s tip retracts, leaving the weapon nothing more than a bronze staff as the construct rolls its neck and assumes an all too familiar stance)

Fei: She has been unable to track Divider down for days. I found her within the hour.

Kotori: And you went alone. In Niko’s body.

Mei: Instead of calling in backup from Yui or Shinju or even Kiwa-chan. You put us all at risk just for your grand vision of atonement.

Fei: Calling for backup would have put even more people at risk. I do not get you people at all. You look for a grand design behind everything others do, but are blind to how your own ideologies cloud your judgement. (she solemnly lowers her head) No, I…

Kotori: Consider this. Because of your reckless actions, Niko’s body is still where you left it. With Divider.

Fei: … And for this… you’ll have me marked for death?

Mei: You can either die here, or with the rest of us when Diana Caelum inevitably kills Niko. Because of you.

Fei: The Diva is not a target for Balancing.

Kotori: Neither were all those homeless people Divider killed. She isn’t Balancing Mitakihara. She’s destroying it. As a game.

Fei: You are wasting my time. (she holds out her hand, summoning a replica of the Soul Lantern in a flash of light) Divider will die by my hand. Do not get in my way.

Mei: Please! Like you can beat someone Yui couldn’t? Shinju had her Magia, Hanako and Kiwa-chan were there too, but you’re somehow more powerful? In a body that’s not yours? As if. Tori, Valkyrie, let’s show her.

But before any of them can make a strike, the space around the library warps and distorts, the floor around Fei specifically pulls away, leading her rapidly out of the domain, much to Mei’s protests. Before long, the library’s space returns to normal, Fei nowhere to be seen.

Where Punisher ended up, however, was beside a small stream on a bridge, surrounded by idyllic buildings. Homes, shops and the like, all of Italian design. And on the bridge opposite Liu Fei, a woman in a light blue dress, matching sunhat over her eyes as she looks down at a small boat rowing under the bridges.

Cecilia: You’ll have to forgive the intrusion. But it’s not in my interest to see you killed just yet.

Fei: (she glares at the woman, still ready to strike without warning) No such thing would have happened. The Cadenza will never win a fight as long as she acts… like that.

Cecilia: (She lets out a soft chuckle) You’re not wrong. The Cadenza is headstrong to a fault. But the Phoenix of Clan Fujiwara, she’s a different story. She matched you quite well before her flame burned out. And… she still has her Magia, even in death. And Mei was channeling Yui at a point in time where she would have been a difficult opponent, even for you. And you have yet to reclaim your Magia, correct? I don’t need to spell it out for you, I hope.

Fei: I am no longer as weighed down by… doubts as I used to be in life. (she tilts her head, without breaking her glare) I know you.

Cecilia: I would hope so. I’m not exactly great at being subtle anymore. But as stubborn as you are, you surely have to weigh what they both said, deep down. Think. Those two are mortal enemies, or at least, in life they were. And they were united. Furthermore, you did leave the Diva’s body alone with an elder Balancer. It was… a miscalculation.

Fei: I… did not know. All they said was that this… lantern could return a soul to life.

Cecilia: …That isn’t inaccurate. It’s how I returned to life, after all. More accurately, the Soul Lantern is a guide for souls. It’s most effective for wayward souls, those without a body to anchor them. The good news, at least in your case, is that the Diva remains unharmed. Which means we have time. I can only guess or hope that Niko returned to her body in the window in which you returned here.

Fei: I need the copy I made of that lantern back. I can return, catch Divider off guard, and finish her off, now that I know how to get past that power of hers.

Cecilia: Do you actually believe you can defeat Divider as you are now? Or do you simply feel you need to, to atone?

Fei: It is the only thing I can do.

Cecilia: Diana Caelum’s power is something called “Reroll.” Essentially, she can dance in reality between two outcomes of a binary choice. Yui knows how to read this power. But in a one-on-one fight, Diana is virtually untouchable. Overwhelming her with coordination and numbers is the only way, I’m afraid.

Fei: I just need to hit her Soul Gem the next time. That way of fighting is simply not what I have been trained in, but I can learn. I can change. I must.

Cecilia: But you’ve now fought her. What makes you so certain you can combat her reality warping power? on your own?

Fei: I was able to kill her once. The next time I just need to hit her Soul gem. Stop repeating the same question.

Cecilia: Did you kill her? Or did you not? That’s the kind of binary reality in which Diana Caelum operates. You might hit her Soul Gem… and you might not.

Fei: If that is true, then no one can kill her. No matter who, no matter how many. That is impossible. No Incubator would grant a wish that renders one utterly invincible. You’re wasting my time.

Cecilia: I’m not. My point is, she can control binary outcomes. You can’t kill her alone. Yui figured this out, but she only failed by circumstance. Do you see what I’m getting at, Liu Fei?

Fei: What I see is that you think I should put my faith in Yui Arashi. But if I can’t go at it alone, neither can she. So… practice what you preach.

Cecilia: It is because I lost so thoroughly to Yui, to the point where my vision is gone, my very soul is wounded… It is from this experience that I speak. Had I worked with Yui from the start, I could have potentially altered my vision and saved more lives. My pride as an Oracle bound me. …Do not repeat my mistakes, Liu Fei. You can find your atonement through more than killing your enemies.

Fei: … Why do you care about my atonement?

Cecilia: Because the alternative is death, and I’ve had my fill of people dying needlessly.

Fei: Do you think people can change?

Cecilia: If I didn’t, I would not still be here. (She raises her head, one eye still covered with a silvery eye patch, and gives a gentle smile) If nothing else, take in the sights here and clear your head. Better than some stuffy library, no?

Fei: Hmm. (without another word, she turns to the river, gazing at it as the wind blows through her hair)