A calm routine over the last few days had settled with Divider’s new normal. The shack was by a creek. Less for sustenance, more for calm. The sound of flowing water— when not in a torrential rush, at least— calmed her. An idle thought. Maybe, if things had turned out different, that umbrella girl on the Path could be a source of meditation on demand. 

Nah. She’d likely kill Divider long before that came to pass, regardless of the timeline or circumstance. And she’d deserve it, too. Not just for all the lives she took in her line of work, but the one that haunted her more than any other. 

The very first life she ever took also came at the urging of an Incubator, though she had no way of knowing at the time what would happen. Anyone else would’ve been immediately sent across the event horizon into their own imploding soul. But not Diana. She carried it, but she fueled herself with it.

“I was a mother.”

“And I wasn’t.”

Her sense of nostalgia and the absolute pinnacle of the unknown had brought a lot to the surface, a lot that Diana Caelum spent a century and more burying. She could live with this feeling, with enough time. 

Diana: (In American English) <If you don’t take the shot you have lined up with that gun you don’t have, I will. Or you can come out from behind my shack and talk to me. Your call.>

She could live with it. …Or she couldn’t. Time was no longer on her side.

Unfortunately, no one comes out and not a word is said. Instead, the assailant crashes through the wood and corrugated sheet of the shack’s makeshift roof, brandishing a pair of shimmering hookblades. Wearing a faux-silk pink pyjama shirt and assorted shorts, the dainty girl looks completely out of place in this grimey, run-down setting — but her cold stare means business. Without hesitation, she strikes.

And misses. By a wide berth. As if the target was never there to begin with. Or she was. Wasn’t she?

Diana: (In Japanese this time, and several feet to the side in the same position she was sitting in before) Are you here for Yui, Kiwako, or Kyubey? Just want to know who’s trying to assassinate me, that’s all. (A quarter lands near the assailant’s feet, though Diana’s hands remain in the pockets of her beige, faded trench coat) Of course, if you’re not the talkative type, this game will get boring for me real quick.

Niko: As if I care about entertaining you. (she raises an eyebrow, seemingly surprised at her own ability to speak Japanese, she trades in her tiger blades for a rope dart, swinging it it a wide arch in front of her)

Diana: (A soft clang echoes, the dart seemingly colliding with nothing in midair as the woman stands, turning to face her) You should. The better you play my game, the longer you live. Or did you somehow not know who I am before coming for me? 

Niko?: It is not hard to recognize the arrogance of a Balancer. (quickly dismissing the rope dart, she instead opts for a replica of the twin guns Chiemi wielded in her Magia form)

Diana: (She tilts her head, staring at the guns. Not in panic, but in curiosity) …That’s not your magic. Or… it is. Interesting… (And just as she had done for Yui, she let this version of herself visibly draw her sword and pistol) …Very interesting.

Before Diana can properly finish her sentence, Punisher has already disappeared. Within the bat of an eye, she reappears in her target’s blind spot, opening fire. Two shots landing around Diana’s shoulder, another in her temple. Three shots ring out from nowhere in return as Diana stumbles, clearly not the visible source of these shots.

Punisher manages to block the shots with a shield that appears onto her right arm before teleporting away again — seeking to counterbalance Diana’s abilities through sheer confusion. Yet, the inconvenience is quickly apparent; this isn’t a Puella Magi’s body, and getting it injured could have disastrous repercussions for the entire Dreamscape. Equipping the military woman’s armor is the obvious solution, but she needs these guns in order to catch up with this Balancer making cause and effect dance to her whims. All the more reason to kill the wretch as quickly as she can.

The problem for Punisher, however, is only being able to follow half of the woman’s offenses. The longer the fight goes on, the more she risks this elder Balancer catching on and reading her tricks. Until then, shots from nowhere while the visible Diana stumbles, taking hits that both combatants know will never last. 

This cannot continue. Overwhelmed, the woman in the trenchcoat takes a step back, but her being overwhelmed doesn’t mean anything if Punisher gives her the mere split second she needs to recover. There are only so many blind spots she can take advantage of. This will be the last one. The woman averts her eyes in annoyance for just a moment. Punisher seizes the opportunity, teleports herself onto the woman’s back, and without hesitation, drives a knife into her jugular.

The woman falls, face down into a pool of blood. No more shots ring out. And for a while, it’s silent. Eerily silent. And it isn’t.

Diana: Points for trying. But I really hope you’re not so naive as to think cutting a Puella’s throat is enough to kill her. So what’s your plan now? Go for the Soul Gem, right?

The voice came from somewhere behind her, but Diana’s body remained where Punisher left it.

Fei: A wise lesson I’ve learned… a Balancer should never believe herself to be invincible.

She turns around. This isn’t over. Punisher can still serve her purpose, but the Diva’s body is not used to fighting. In the end, it is just a bag of flesh — dead meat, dragging her down. She is being called back to where she belongs. The flesh collapses, as her consciousness fades. And before Divider’s hidden attack connects, reality catches up. 

Diana’s body is gone. Her blood is gone. It was there, and it isn’t. But her blade stops a centimeter from her target’s neck, and instead of following through, she watches her would-be assassin slump to the ground. A curious object is seen beside her, but not one Diana recognizes.

Diana: What is that…? <That’s not some primordial Soul Gem, is it…?> (She examines the Soul Lantern as she kneels down, then checks for a pulse on the body beside it. Still alive, just unconscious) <…Interesting. The game is set, then.>