Miranda woke with a start as she heard sudden shouts and people rushing about above her. She could tell something was wrong, but she didn't know what it could be.

Terrified, she climbed out of the uncomfortable bed in her cell and looked out through the bars. There was only one Finder, and he was speaking to someone on a phone that was attached to his backpack. The sight confused Miranda, but she didn't want to stay in the dark about what could possibly be happening. It could be a number of things. The Earl could have come directly to the Black Order to kill her off so she couldn't speak of all of what she knew, though it was unlikely. The Exorcists could be rushing to her brother's rescue because the Earl had been sighted. Maybe it was just Komui's orders for some Exorcists to head to her house, but she doubted that because there wouldn't be such a ruckus. In any case, she had to get that man's attention.

"Hey! Hey, you over there on the phone!" she shouted.

The Finder turned around and pressed his hand to the end of the phone so whomever he was talking to wouldn't hear her. "What do you want?" he asked hesitantly.

She was confused. Why was he being cautious about answering her? Was it because the entire Black Order knew who she was?

"What's going on up there?" she asked.

The Finder turned around so he wasn't facing her again as he mumbled a response into the phone. She couldn't hear what he was saying. It was just small whispered words back and forth before he finally hung up the phone.

Miranda scowled as she thought, well that was rather rude.

He turned around and walked up to Miranda's cell with a forlorn expression. She didn't know what to think when she saw it. What news could he possibly present to her that he found to be so sorrowful? Would she be bothered by it as much as he was?

"I'll send for Kanda and Allen to come fetch you," he said before turning to walk up the stairs and leave.

"Wait!" Miranda replied, but the Finder didn't stop. "What were you talking about on the phone? What's going on? Tell me!"

The door shut with an echoing thume.

(…)

The Earl laughed at the boy's frightened expression. It was worth it to tell him the story of his sister, and to tell him why he had arrived to tell such a tale. To see such a wonderful expression plastered upon the poor 10 year old… that was only part of the reward.

"Your sister's expression will be much better when she witnesses your dead body," the Earl informed Angelo. "She might even beg me to revive you. Do you know what happens when I revive the dead, little boy?"

"N-no, I do-don't…" Angelo replied fearfully as he backed himself into the corner of the room. His body protested as he did so, but he needed to get away. He had to run.

Again, the Earl's glasses slipped a little too far down his nose and his piercing yellow eyes bared down onto Angelo as he crept closer.

"You see, Angelo, I create these demons called Akuma. I need dead human souls in order to make them, and I need a human who desperate wishes for their loved one to be alive again. Without that crucial part, I cannot make an Akuma. Your sister will undoubtedly beg for your life to be given back to her once you're dead, and once that happens, you will become my minion. A tool, if you will, for the world's destruction. Does that sound good to you?" the Earl explained.

Angelo didn't reply. His mouth was open. His eyes were wide.

The Earl smirked. "Probably not."

Angelo began to lean on the wall for support as he tried to stand up. He had not left his bed in about 4 years because of this illness that had befallen him. He was weak. His muscles didn't want to hold him up, and his body was begging him to stop as he tried to move towards the front of the house.

"Oh? Trying to escape are you?" said the Millennium Earl.

Angelo ignored him as he took one step in front of the other. He couldn't focus on what the Earl was trying to say. If he did, he'd be too scared to move. He couldn't do that to himself, to Miranda.

"Miranda…" Angelo began to sob quietly. "I'm so sorry…"

"It's a little late for apologies, boy," said the Earl as he stepped in front of Angelo, preventing him from going any further. "Don't you think?"

(…)

It felt like hours had gone by before Kanda and Allen had arrived with a couple of Finders at their sides. By that point, Miranda was in the fetal position on that uncomfortable bed contemplating all the things that could have gone wrong; each thought bringing more and more tears to her eyes, which in turn flooded down her cheeks.

"Miranda?" Allen said as he stared at her figure.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes before looking up and seeing the pair.

"Oh, you guys finally showed up. What took so long?" she asked.

Kanda and Allen just looked to each other with that same expression the Finder had before looking back to Miranda.

"What is it? You guys are freaking me out," Miranda said as she did a small, unconvincing laugh that would have signified that she was okay.

"It's about Angelo…" Allen replied. "He's… the Earl got to him first." He winced and turned away while Kanda looked to the floor, staring at it intently.

Miranda's blood froze, and she felt cold. "What… did you say?"

Kanda stared into her eyes and answered, "Angelo's dead, Miranda."

If she had been standing, her legs would have given out from under her, but instead her entire body went numb. She couldn't feel her arms falling to her sides, her head hanging down as her eyes faced her lap before her back gave out and she flopped against the bed, her eyes taking in the sights of the ceiling. She couldn't move. She was chilled to the bone.

The Earl got to him first… Angelo is dead…

Suddenly, Miranda shot up from the bed and ran to the door of the cell, furiously trying to rip it open as she screamed, "You're wrong! He can't be dead! Kumoi was going to send Exorcists to protect him! He wasn't going to die by that bastard's hands! He was never supposed to die by his hands!"

Tears were streaming down her face, and her body ached from moving as heated pain thrust itself through her limbs as she collapsed on the cell floor.

"I'm sorry, Miranda…" Allen barely whispered as he kneeled down, gripping the cell bars in his hands as tears slipped down his cheeks as well. "I'm so sorry…"

"It's your fault," Miranda choked out. She slowly sat up and glared first at Kanda whom expression had turned to stone, and then to Allen who stared at Miranda in shock. "It's the Black Order's fault that Angelo is dead!" she spat with every ounce of venom she could muster.

"Miranda-" Allen began as he held out his hand to her.

She slapped it away. "Don't touch me! Just let me rot in this hell…"

Miranda slowly crawled to the other side of the cell where that unbearable bed lay and climbed on top of it, facing the wall as she curled up into a ball on her side. She cried as silently as she could.

(…)

"I see…" Kumoi said as his gaze drifted to the news article on his desk that had been of the key parts in finding Miranda. "So it was as we feared."

Kanda and Allen were both silent.

"There's nothing we can do for her now," Kumoi said as he stood up. "except help her with funeral preparations."

"You mean she's going to be stuck in that cell forever?" Allen asked, as he looked Kumoi in the eyes.

The boy's eyes were red from the tears he shed for Miranda. His expression was the most vulnerable one anyone in the Order had seen. It even startled Kanda, who stared at him completely dumbfounded.

Kumoi turned to face his bookshelves and sighed. "That might very well be her fate," he replied honestly.