A dive bar, hidden in the fringes at the far edge of Mitakihara. The only other shop of note nearby is a karaoke parlor in a stripmall a block or two away. This place was in an alley tucked down another alley. The perfect place for those who needed a bottle to clear their heads without being found. Two or three people were sitting at the bar in the dead of night, no one speaking to anyone, including the bartender. One woman in particular sat as inconspicuously as possible in the farthest corner from the door.

The door opened. And it didn’t. 

The woman didn’t look up from her drink.

Diana: “You can’t get lost in your own little world…”

Melati sits down beside her, removing a clip from her hair and shaking her head. 

Melati: Hm? Oh… “if you keep thinking about how it ends.” I tried to find a record of that song once. Don’t think it was ever printed. 

Diana: And here I am, surprised you remember. And more that I was surprised at all.

Diana takes a drink, holding a quarter in her hand.

Diana: Don’t worry, I’m not here. Neither are you. We can talk freely.

Melati: Don’t say that. I’m here. I just don’t think Aisha will mind if I speak to you first. I think she’d accept that as the cost of hiring me to do this particular job. 

Diana: …Aisha ever fill you in on what my power does in detail? I was cagey up ‘til I left. …Always did mean to come clean, y’know. About a lot of things. After the… Boston job, I was gonna come back. Didn’t work out that way, though. (She shakes her head) Anyway, what I meant was, no one in the bar knows we’re here. I rerolled our presence.

Melati: No need to mince words then. That’s nice, at least. (She turns out to face the bar, cupping her hand around her mouth) Magic!! (When nobody reacts, she turns back with an amused smile) It’s nice. 

Diana: (She tries— and quickly fails— to maintain her composure. No sense in rerolling her laughter, either, since she’s already using the power to conceal the pair. After a moment, she sighs, shaking her head) I swear to god, Melati… whew. …Alright, bandage ripping time. …I kind of freaked out a little when you showed up. 

Melati: Are you saying you shouldn’t have? Odds are you’re the one violent assignment I might actually be asked to do. 

Diana: Oh, no, I absolutely should have. I’ve been running from you for about a century. Doesn’t change the fact that I feel really goddamn stupid for doing it, though. I mean… it was only a matter of time, right? (She finishes her glass, then sets it down, where it sits, completely full again)

Melati: I guess so. Really, I don’t think us humans were meant to think of things occurring on the scale of a century. Like a mayfly that only lives a week trying to keep track of a year. 

Diana: Damn, that’s a good line. I should’ve used that one on Yui somewhere. (Another drink) …Classy of you to not give me shit for it, at least. So uh, thanks, I guess.

Melati: It’s just something I have to do. No sense being nasty or mean about it. That’ll just hurt me later. (She pulls over a small plate of bar snacks, carefully picking out the nuts she likes out of the mixed snacks) 

Diana: I figured out pretty quick you weren’t here for me. You never took the killing kinda jobs if you could help it. Still, figured me leaving the way I did had to make you feel pretty raw about it, right? …I never knew how you’d take it, and I figured time only made that worse. That, and Aisha has it out for me, given… well.

Melati: (Shakes her head) Wouldn’t say she has it out for you. Just that she has to do it, considering. You haven’t made it any easier, either, with these killing sprees you go on. … What’s happened to you, that you do this? 

Diana: …Something broke in me after the Boston job went wrong. I could sit here and say that Kyubey’s influence in making me take Erasure jobs had something to do with it. I’m not sure you’d buy that, though. Maybe trying to buy into that whole “Three Musketeers” shtick back then was another form of denial. I dunno… 

Melati: Sigh… Fiora again? I don’t know what happened with her after I stopped working with her. Committing more murders seems a poor way to paper over her death. Don’t tell me there’s not a cheaper thrill to find in this wide world of ours.  

Diana: Cheaper? Yeah, tons. …Don’t tell me magic by itself still holds whimsy for you after all these years, Mel.

Melati: Never has, you know that. I prefer to see the results of what people can do without it; you know that. Since coming here, I found a restaurant we once visited is still going, under the owner’s great great grandson. I had a lovely meal, just like back then. 

Diana: That place is still going?! Even after the Erasure attempt?! God damn it, how did I miss that?! I’ve just been bar hopping. …The food here isn’t bad, by the way. In my top 3 for Japan, in terms of bar food.

Melati: I didn’t expect a spicy coat on a gummy. (She picks one of them up) Goes together much better than I would have thought. 

Diana: Heh. …If I were a few decades younger, I might be naive enough to think that nothing really changed between us. 

Melati: But we’re not that young anymore, are we? 

Diana: Semantically speaking, we are. Forever. …Even if I’m not the same Diana you knew back then, and I imagine you’re not quite the same Melati. 

Melati: Am I the real Melati? Or just one you left behind in another world some rerolls ago? … I wonder that sometimes. 

Diana: …You either figured it out on your own, or Aisha told you, huh? …’Cause if you know, then there shouldn’t be any wonder as to why I really ran away from you.

Melati: (She looks at Diana curiously) Just because I know what it does doesn’t mean I know everything you did with it. I don’t think anyone knows that but you. 

Diana: …Yeah. But living with it is heavy. I couldn’t stand it. Both Incubators I worked for… (She shakes her head and takes another drink)

Melati: We stopped a lot of abuse of power, you and I. I wouldn’t feel bad about that. 

Diana: A lot of innocent people also died because of us. All three of us. 

Melati: Well… not intentionally. (She looks to the barkeep, then back) It occurs to me hiding our presence also means we can’t order a drink.

Diana: …We can’t. And we can. (A fruity, blue drink appears at the bar where Melati is sitting, in a half-full martini glass complete with paper umbrella)

Melati: (She picks up her drink, examining its blue hue) They sure couldn’t produce such a bright color last time we were in these parts. 

Diana: Heh… the booze has gotten a major upgrade since we last drank together, that’s for sure. If we weren’t basically liches, I’d say this would get us drunk in a hurry.

Melati: Hm. Better liches than witches. (She raises her glass) 

Diana: Sometimes I wonder. (Despite saying this, she raises her glass as well, clinking gently against Melati’s) 

Melati: (She takes a substantial drink from her glass, though not all) … Where’s your drink budget come from these days? Or do you reroll out of paying? 

Diana: It depends. Sometimes I just reroll my presence out of the bar. Sometimes I steal drinks. Sometimes, I play my game with the bartender. …I stuck to the homeless mostly this time, at least.

Melati: Being homeless doesn’t make them less human. Why do it at all? 

Diana: I kept telling myself I was staving off Puella Vacua. Or maybe that’s just what I was after I failed to Balance Fiora. Nothing could really spark me, outside of rare happenstance in one place or another. You could, but… I couldn’t face you. I wanted to play my game with Firestarter, but she kicked the bucket before I could. …If I’d known about Yui Arashi when I got here, I probably wouldn’t have killed anyone, truth be told.

Melati: … Surely there are some cheaper thrills than this or tangling with a dangerous Puella ringleader. 

Diana: Nothing sparks me like someone who can keep up with my power, Mel. You know that by now.

Melati: Perhaps you could mentor someone suitable yourself. As a former mother, I can say there are worse ways to spend your time.

Diana: (She’s silent for what feels like forever, then lets her glass rest on the bar) <…I was a mother. And I wasn’t.> …I get what you mean, though. If Yui doesn’t kill me, that might be an idea. Or the girl that caught me.

Melati: (She looks at Diana strangely) Little Koharu’s not a Puella. If you decided to get violent, there’d be nothing she could do. 

Diana: More to bein’ a mentor than teachin’ someone how to fight, Mel.

Melati: Ideally, fighting should come after the other things. 

Diana: Well… ideally fighting wouldn’t be necessary. But that’s not the world we live in. And I’m too far gone to consider that option. …I think. 

Melati: Yes, you probably are. I don’t think I can say you aren’t in good conscience. When it might end up being me who comes after you. (She finishes her drink quickly) 

Diana: The other part of why I ran for so long, yeah. Figured Aisha was gonna sic you on me right away, actually. …Imagine my shock when we can still talk like this. …Call me selfish, but I’m gonna enjoy this while I can. (She finishes her own drink, not using her power to see them refilled this time) The fact that you’re not here for me is a mind-fuck.

Melati: I came to this town for something else, but consider me sicced. I just think I can get away with a little before she’ll get too suspicious. (She looks behind, towards the door) Speaking of… I don’t know if you can still tell, but she’s coming this way. Aisha. 

Diana: …Yeah, I felt as much about a minute ago. Don’t worry, by the time she gets here, I will never have been here at all. (She slides the quarter towards Melati) Now that you found me once, you’ll probably have no trouble finding me again. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving town yet. …God knows why, though. …Hey, if I figure anything out about Kyubey, maybe I’ll help you out. …Or maybe I won’t.