Yui: Breathe, Hanako. Nice an’ easy, now. 

Yui’s voice is uncharacteristically calm, the mask of indifference and self-burden completely off. The worry on her face is obvious as she sat with Hanako on the bench presses. Seia and Shinju were nearby, Shinju much closer to Hanako, and Yosuke was there as well, keeping watch from near the front doors. She gives the younger girl space, time, and more importantly, grace. More than Hanako was giving herself.

Hanako: …F-From the top, then.

Hanako takes a deep breath, then coughs. Nowhere near as severe as the night before, but she’s as steady as she’s going to get.

Hanako: …To start with, Niko and the others now know about Aoi’s abduction. I-I am not sure why I assumed they would not, but I suppose, in my hubris, I thought to not add to their burden. Niko has… taken over the search for Diana and now, Melati in my stead. Sh-she had some, um, choice words for me, for the risk I took. Thankfully, Kotori was there…

Yui: (She nods) I didn’t intend on keepin’ this from her, anyway. Um… so, about what you saw…

Hanako: …Right. (She takes another deep breath, managing it without a coughing fit for the first time in twelve hours) …As Niko had seen and experienced when Anisa’s knowledge came to inhabit the Dreamscape, I found myself in Diana Caelum’s memory. Her body, her very being… i-it was as if I was her. It was the night before Aoi was abducted, and Diana and Melati were talking. …It was as if they really were, truly, old friends. For one, Diana Caelum is in possession of the Soul Lantern, and intends to revive her other friend, a woman named Fiora with it. Both she and Melati know this to be a fruitless endeavor. 

At this, Yui tenses and looks away.

Hanako: They then discussed Melati’s Incubator, Aisha. Aisha… honestly, she seemed to have good enough intentions, but Diana seemed very hesitant. She left, using her Reroll power before Aisha arrived. I had thought it due to Aisha wanting to Balance Diana, but that was not her thought process at the time. Aisha wanted Aoi because of her power. To heal a “patient” of some kind. An alien species, the first Puella of her kind. 

Shinju: Alien species? Like, from space?? 

Seia: Incubators are also aliens in the first place, you know… 

Yosuke: Well yeah, but isn’t Kyubey’s whole thing that he specifically wants humans because of our emotions and all that? A-Are you sure about this?

Yui: Any soul is capable of emotion, and any Incubator can work that into a Soul Gem, I think.

Yosuke: Guess there must be other species out there who make for easy targets, too… I mean, the universe is infinite and all that.

Yui: And I guess when Incubators make contact initially, that first Puella has no Witches to fight, and would become the first Witch of their species, necessitating another contract. I bet those first few contracts are super messy… 

Yosuke: Wait a second, don’t the Incubators want you Puella Magi to become Witches? Why would this Incubator need Hikarizaka to heal a Puella? That’s, like, a good thing, no?

Hanako: I… don’t remember what the reason was. I’m sure they must have said it, but… 

Yui: …So, why not just ask her for help, then? Instead of just kidnapping her.

Hanako: It was… disorienting. Diana smokes cigarettes, and drinks quite a bit of alcohol. Despite me only riding in her memory, it… somehow got to me. That race of Aisha’s “patient” has some kind of… power. If we knew what it was, we could use it against them.

Yui: …Man, that Melati chick was reasonable enough, she could’ve left stuff out, yeah? Not told me about some alien Puella’s power and I’d have gone with, just to make sure. 

Hanako: What I did not get was where they were. …I’m sorry, Yui.

Yui: …Are you alright, though?

Hanako: …I cannot explain how disorienting it is, Yui… t-to be in the frame of mind when Diana is using Reroll. It’s… it’s existentially dizzying. I do not know how she does it so frequently. That… that is what shook me, more than anything else. More than their plan, more than that Diana has the Lantern… Witnessing her power in real time, from the other side of it. Two realities simultaneously, woven and chosen and altered, and also not…

As Hanako shudders again, Yui places her hand on Hanako’s shoulder, which stops her right away.

Yui: You did more than enough, Hanako. Take it easy for a little bit. Go home, play that game with your friend Ueno, and recover. When it’s go time, I’ll hit you up, if you’re ready. Okay?

Hanako: …Mm.

Yui: …Shinju. (She glances over) …Niko got a plan for getting the Lantern back? Or uh, do you? Or do y’all need help?

Shinju: Well… with everyone’s permission, I was going to focus on that for now and leave finding Aoi to you all. Of course, I’ll still come along when you all need someone to fight or to go rescue her, but for now… 

Yui: Honestly? That’s kinda what I was hoping to hear. With you, Niko and the Dreamscape people on it, that’s more than enough.

Hanako: (She sputters) A-Against Diana?!

Yui: Yeah. Shinju’s tougher than I am, and she’s fought Diana before already. Remember?

Hanako: R-Right, but—

Yui: I trust Shinju in a fight. And I trust Niko in a mindgame. She’s a hell of a lot smarter than anyone, herself included, gives her credit. 

Shinju: Sorry, but I don’t want to leave Niko alone to it anymore. And I don’t think throwing me at looking for Aoi is gonna… you know, since I don’t have any special skills to help find her or anything. 

Yui: We got things covered on our end, too. Don’t worry. I got Seia and Hanako with me, bare minimum. And probably no less than half a dozen others, if I can get a hold of ‘em. Don’t be afraid to reach out to them, either, if you need help or get stuck, a’ight?

Shinju: Yeah, you too. If only poppin’ out of every sink in Mitakihara would guarantee I’d find her, huh? 

Yui: Heh. If only. Well, we’re all on the same page now. Any ideas?

Yosuke: What exactly is stopping us from just, like, tracking down this Melati woman and asking her what she’s up to, if we’re sure that she took Hikarizaka? Don’t you literally have her phone number, Arashi?

Yui: I— (She stops for a moment) …I mean, there’s no reason for me to believe she’ll even pick up the phone now, let alone tell me where she took Aoi. Like… no, she’s not that stupid, I imagine.

Seia: I assume we’d have to put her at gunpoint for an answer… if you still have your gun. 

Yui: Anisa has it. She needed a way to protect herself against Ikana, and I never thought to get it back.

Seia: Mm. (She raises her hand again even though she’s already speaking) … What do we do if they already put Aoi on a starship back to the Incubator planet? Even with all our Puellae powers, I don’t think we can catch a spaceship… 

Yui: …I don’t wanna think about that right now. Given the urgency of Aoi’s capture, I imagine they haven’t left the planet. We still have time. …Calling Melati might be our best lead. We need to plan, and I need time for that.

Yosuke: Hey, if Koharu has taught me anything, it’s that sometimes the blunt approach works best.