Miranda gradually woke up. She felt groggy, like she had been drugged or slept for far too long. The last thing she remembered was facing the white haired Exorcist and losing. He had looked so sad just before he knocked her out. She couldn't figure out why.

"I see you're awake."

Miranda looked over and saw the two Exorcists from before as well as someone new. A man with dark purple hair, glasses, dressed in white with a white hat. She then looked around and noticed she was chained to a hospital bed.

I'm caught. It's all over.

"I am Komui Lee, the Chief of the Black Order. These two are Exorcists who work for me," the man said as he gestured to both of them. "Kanda Yuu, and Allen Walker."

Miranda sighed. "I suppose you're only being friendly so that you don't appear scary and on my side?" Miranda looked up at the ceiling and tried to keep her emotions in check, but it was hard. She wouldn't receive her money from the Earl, he would find out the Order captured her, he would kill Angelo, and she would never see her little brother happy and healthy ever again. She could never return to her parents even after the Order was finished with her. They didn't want to see her again, and even if they did, Miranda didn't know if the Order would ever let her go. It was painful.

"Not entirely. We could like answers more than anything at this point," Komui said as he sat down in a chair beside Miranda's bed along with the two Exorcists. "The Science Division examined a bottle Kanda found in a café. Turns out that bottle had a single drop left of poison inside of it, but it wasn't any kind of poison. It's a kind of poison that contains Akuma blood."

Allen and Kanda both stared at Komui, but then to Miranda.

"How did you get a hold of something like that?" Allen demanded as he stood up.

Miranda smiled as tears filled her eyes. "Years ago, my little brother Angelo was diagnosed with a severe illness. It was curable, but the price for the medicine needed to heal him was too expensive for my family to afford."

"What does this have to do with the poison?" Kanda asked. He was getting impatient with all this babbling.

Miranda looked back over to the men. "It has everything to do with it."

A tear slipped down her cheek as she took a deep breath and focused her gaze on the ceiling again. Miranda couldn't control herself too much longer.

"I was out gathering flowers for my little brother, Angelo, so that he would cheer up. Before the illness, he was so happy… He would smile all the time, and he and I got along like peas in a pod. I wanted to see that smile again… That's all I wanted at the time. Then the Earl approached me."

"Wait… the Millennium Earl?" Allen asked as he sat back down.

"Yes, the Millennium Earl. I didn't know who he was at the time, and he wasn't surprised by that. He offered to help me and my brother if I helped him in return. He would pay me money if I could offer up souls to him to make Akuma out of. I didn't ask questions. I just did what he asked because I needed the money to save my little brother." Miranda tried to sit up, but she wasn't able to. The chains on her wrists and ankles kept her from doing so. She sighed, but continued her story. "My first victims were people from my village. It wasn't the smartest idea because my family and I were banished from our village because of it, but it was a good start since I received cash right away."

"You're also the same girl who belonged to the family who was banished?" Allen asked, completely taken aback.

"Yes," Miranda answered. "It was entirely my fault, but because the villagers blamed my brother's illness, he was the one who felt responsible. I tried to tell him otherwise without exposing what I was doing, but nothing I said made any difference. I locked away my emotions so I wouldn't feel affected after killing people, and I would come back home with as much medicine as I could purchase for my brother so that he would always have medicine even when I wasn't there. My parents thought that I was sleeping with rich men so that I could get the money for Angelo… They've hated seeing me since they made that conclusion even though I made up a believable enough story that explained the money."

"Did the Earl give you the poison?" Komui asked.

"Yes. He provided the means and the money. I just gave him what he wanted," Miranda answered.

"What about the Innocence? Where did you get it from?" Komui asked.

Miranda closed her eyes. She so desperately wanted to cover her face and cry this all away. She wanted to go back; back before the Exorcists, the killings, the Earl… back before Angelo got sick, but there was no way that she could.

"Before Angelo became ill, a traveller came to town and gave me this pendant. He said it would come in handy during dark times. It wasn't until I met the Earl when I learned of Innocence. After that, I tried to figure out how to use it during the times when I wasn't travelling or killing others. I got the hang of it eventually, but obviously it wasn't good enough since I got caught," she answered. Miranda looked over at Komui and said with tears streaming down her face, "If you keep me here, then my brother is going to die, and it won't be from his illness. The Earl will kill him himself, and I don't want him to die."

Komui stood up and sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, but we can't let you go. You've committed crimes, and you're also someone who can use Innocence, an accommodator. We can't let you go so easily."

Miranda squeezed her eyes shut before turning her face to the ceiling again. "Can't you do something to protect him? Just… please… I need him to stay alive."

"How long have you been providing him medicine?" Kanda asked.

"What?"

"How long have you been providing him medicine?" he repeated irritably.

"He's ten years old now so… four years? The Earl didn't approach me until a year after his diagnosis. Why?"

Kanda sighed. "You probably don't want to hear this, but he isn't worth saving. If the medicine hasn't cured him by now, then it isn't working. He'll die no matter what anyone does."

"No… no, no, no… He has to get better. He can't die… If he dies, that means that everything I've done was for nothing, and that the Earl just used me!" Miranda exclaimed angrily.

"It wouldn't be anything he hasn't done before," Allen said in a very even tone. "He manipulated me a very long time ago as well."

Miranda stared at Allen. "Did you turn someone you loved into an Akuma?"

Allen nodded.

"The Earl convinced you to… didn't he?" Miranda asked.

"Yeah, he did," Allen answered.

Miranda sighed. "If my brother is going to die, I don't want him to die by the Earl's hands. That's all ask, so please," she looked from Allen to Kanda and then to Komui, "keep my brother safe."

Komui sighed and then nodded. "I'll send two Exorcists down to where you live. All you have to do is give me the address."

Miranda smiled. "I'll write it down for you."

"Alright, I'll get some paper," Komui said before turning around. "You two stay here."

"Yes sir," Allen and Kanda both replied.