For the first time, Circe had dreams.

They all melded together in some strange concoction of events. First, it started off with Heisenberg making her a sandwich, but instead of actually making it he was juggling all of the ingredients in the air. He just kept laughing and saying, "It'll be done in a jiffy, sweetheart!"

Then it shifted to a scene like the meeting, but instead of Circe being the topic of discussion, it was Cynthia. Cynthia with her lavender hair messily framing her face. Her expression wasn't like the one Circe had known her to hold. Her eyes weren't dead, they were round and wide. She was absolutely terrified.

Then her mouth opened up like she was screaming.

A swarm of flies emerged from her throat, filling Circe's vision completely. She had expected Cassandra or Daniela to show themselves when the flies began to disperse, but it was actually Mother Miranda who smiled evilly from ear to ear.

"All mine! You're all mine!" She cackled, then grabbed Circe by her face.

"Lady Zero."

Her eyes opened with urgency. Someone was actually touching her face, and she couldn't help but flail for a moment before she looked up into the calm eyes of Cynthia.

"You were tossing about in your sleep. I thought you were experiencing something unpleasant," Cynthia had taken a step back so she wouldn't get hit. "Perhaps I should not have woken you."

Circe lifted herself up in a sitting position and tried to gather in her breathing. "No, no. It-it's okay. I'm glad you did," she took in a few more ragged breaths before she continued. "You're right about an unpleasant experience. I was having a nightmare."

"Would you like to talk about it?" Cynthia asked.

Circe shook her head. She liked Cynthia, but she didn't think she could trust her just yet. Sharing her fears about Mother Miranda would probably cause Cynthia to question things a little too much.

"Not really. It was just some silly stuff," that seemed like a good response.

The corner of Cynthia's mouth turned up, but only by a fraction. "Of course. I will not press you," she turned to the nightstand and poured a fresh glass of water, handing it over to Circe.

She took it and began with tiny sips. "How early is it?"

"Very. You'll have time to spare after you've eaten breakfast," Cynthia glided over to the dresser and opened the drawers. "What would you like for breakfast?"

Circe flipped over the cover and swung her legs off the side of the bed. "Some toast and eggs would be fine," she answered, stretching out her calves and rotating her ankles.

Cynthia faced Circe now, hands behind her back. "Splendid choice, Lady Zero. While I prepare your food, you can get ready for your day. Feel free to use any clothes, as I said last night," and with that, she bowed deeply and exited the room.

Circe stood up and went over to look through the clothes in the opened drawers. She picked something black and dressy. She wanted to look good for Mother Miranda. Maybe it would make her think she wanted to make an impression.

After she had changed into the outfit, Circe went to the bed and grabbed the book she was reading. She read until Cynthia came back with a tray holding her breakfast.

Cynthia put the tray on the bed beside Circe. "Enjoy."

Circe put down the book and began eating. She had to admit that it was superb cooking. The eggs were just runny enough to dip the toast in.

"This is delicious, Cynthia," she commented, only after a while of being totally engrossed in the meal. It almost made her want seconds, and she wasn't even done with the first serving.

"I am glad You think so, Lady Zero," the corner of her mouth twitched up a fraction and she bowed slightly. "Only the best for our Lords and Ladies."

Circe finished eating rather quickly. It was so good she couldn't stop herself from stuffing her face. Cynthia had to remind her to breathe and take sips of water every now and then. She probably would have choked otherwise.

Cynthia insisted that "Lady Zero" should continue reading her book while she packed her things. She was even told that she could bring quite a collection of novels of all kinds from the library. This helped Circe not think too much about having to meet Mother Miranda. She would not only be looking forward to her reunion with Heisenberg but also to read the books later.

Alas, time went by much faster while she was reading, and soon she was alerted by Cynthia that it was time to say farewells to the hosts of the castle.

It was briefly done, a quick kiss on the cheek by Lady Dimitrescu, a hug from Bela, and glares from the ones who hated her. Then Cynthia guided her out of the castle, rolling two large suitcases behind her.

"Are you taking me all the way to Mother Miranda?" Circe asked.

"Yes."

She suppressed a shiver.

"I believe it is only natural to be apprehensive. There is no need to hide your fear any longer."

The words Cynthia had uttered caused Circe to stop in her tracks, and stare at her with her mouth slightly agape.

Cynthia stopped, as well, and turned to her. "You do not have to pretend to not be afraid anymore."

"Was it really that obvious?"

"Though you have been fairly good at keeping a blank expression, I have noticed a few breaks through the mask," Cynthia answered with a casualness that Circe could not explain. "I will not speak of your fears."

Circe could hardly believe what she was hearing. This was the Head Maid. Wasn't she supposed to tell the Countess everything? Why would she be any sort of confidant?

Circe looked down at the ground for a moment to collect her thoughts. Though Cynthia had been nice and civil towards her, she didn't know if she could fully trust her with her fears. At least not all of them. Not all at once.

She looked up at Cynthia once more and gave her a slight smile. "Yeah, I'm afraid. I just don't know what to expect; that's all."

Cynthia lifted the corners of her mouth into an awkward smile. "You have every right. Do not worry. Everything should go smoothly. From the talk I hear, Mother Miranda has great plans for you."

Circe's smile faltered a bit, but she managed to turn it sheepish. "Thank you, Cynthia. Your words mean a lot."

Cynthia bowed her head respectfully. "Of course, Lady Zero," she then stretched out an arm to the path ahead. "Let us continue. Mother Miranda awaits."

Cynthia had luckily taken them down a path that did not require them to walk over that scary rope bridge. Circe was extremely grateful.

That didn't mean that the pit in Circe's stomach wasn't getting any deeper, however, and by the time Cynthia had told her they were nearly there, her throat had almost closed completely from fright.

Cynthia said that Miranda had a house that was set up specifically for her time with Circe. Apparently, Miranda wanted to keep Circe away from her other experiments. Maybe she didn't want to frighten her anymore to get on her good side.

Cynthia pointed out a building up ahead, a place that was hidden mostly by trees. It wasn't too big, at least not as big as Heisenberg's factory.

Mother Miranda was standing in front of the door. As they got closer, she could see that she was trying to smile warmly, but there was something off about it. Like she was trying too hard.

"This is our parting, Lady Zero," Cynthia's voice made Circe look over. "I must return to Castle Dimitrescu."

"Ah, yes-" Circe turned her whole body towards Cynthia now. "Thank you for taking care of me and walking me here."

"I am only the Head Maid. I simply do what I'm told," she raised a hand to her chest and did her signature slow bow. "I look forward to your return to Castle Dimitrescu, Lady Zero. Farewell."

She then straightened herself up and headed back to go do maid things.

"Goodbye…" Circe trailed, watching her walk away for a moment before turning around and facing her fears.

Mother Miranda was still smiling, and when she saw Circe look at her once more, her hand raised slightly. Almost like she was welcoming Circe in for a hug.

Circe took a deep breath. She couldn't wait much longer; hesitation could tip her off that something was wrong. Perhaps she could play the timid card like she chose to with Cynthia. It felt less genuine when she thought about using it against Miranda.

She only allowed herself to think of that for a second before she made her legs move. Cynthia had left the two rolling suitcases, and now she had to roll them herself. Gravity helped. She was walking downhill.

"Zero!" Mother Miranda said. "How lovely to see you. Let me get a good look at you."

By the time Miranda had finished speaking, Circe was standing only a few feet away from her. She tried her best to look as shy and clueless as possible. "It's lovely to see you, too, Mother Miranda," she said.

Mother Miranda closed the distance between them so she could get a good look at Circe's face. "You're much cleaner than our last meeting, hmm?"

Circe was struggling against the ice that was creeping through her veins, threatening to freeze her right where she stood. She just kept her expression the same. "Yeah, I learned how to use a shower."

"That's good. We'll discuss the other things you've learned inside," Miranda turned around and opened the door.

The room they entered wasn't set up to be a living space. It was extra clean and there was an operating table in the middle of it. There were all kinds of various contraptions that she couldn't even describe for herself. There were some chairs and tables. Stacks of paper. It looked like Miranda had some of the walls taken out to make this room bigger than it was supposed to be.

"Take a seat. We don't be doing much today, just some frivolous testing to get a baseline," Miranda told her, featuring towards the operating table.

Circe rolled her things in the room and left them by the door. Then she obeyed and sat down. She was starting to get a strange feeling in her chest that she couldn't identify.

Miranda was walking towards a table with multiple tools on it. She picked one up and put it around her neck. "So, Heisenberg tells me you haven't had any progress with recovering your memories," she was placing more tools on a tray table that had wheels now.

"It's all just blank," Circe replied, letting herself look to the floor. "I don't even dream."

"Hmm…" Miranda was rolling the tray over now. "That's troublesome. Hopefully, your memories will return soon. That would be most helpful," she took the tool around her neck and put two ends in her ears.

"What is that?" Circe asked.

"This is a stethoscope," Miranda held up the end, which had a circle thing on the end. "It will see how fast your heart beats."

"Does it hurt?" Circe questioned, a lot softer this time.

Miranda laughed and Circe suppressed a shiver. "No, child. It won't hurt you," and with that, she held it up and on Circe's chest. "Take a deep breath."

She did so, making sure to fill her lungs as much as possible.

"Good…" Miranda had tilted her head a bit like she was considering something. "Now let it out slowly."

She did so.

"Interesting…" Miranda said, mostly to herself. "Your heart pattern is interesting," she walked over to a table with a notepad on it and was scribbling something down.

"In-interesting?"

"Yes. Your heart rate is considerably faster than that of a normal human," Miranda took off the stethoscope, setting it down on the table. She walked back and ran her fingers over the objects on the tray. "I'm going to take a blood sample from you now."

"B-blood?" If Circe's heartbeat was actually faster than normal, then it was certainly going even faster now, and she could feel it pounding beneath her chest. Miranda picked up what she guessed to be a needle. The thing was long and thick. The funny feeling in her gut started increasing.

Miranda went to her quickly, chilled fingers caressing her cheek. "Do not fear, child," she cooed, stroking her ever so gently. "It will only be a little prick; the pain won't be too bad."

Miranda's attempt to calm her only made Circe feel even worse. She couldn't take her eyes off the needle. "A-are you s-sure?"

"It will be over in a moment, do not fret," she moved her hand away from Circe's face and went to her right arm.

Circe's breath hitched in her throat the moment her arm was grabbed, and her body went frigid. She felt like she could no longer speak, which meant that she couldn't protest what was happening. She was rendered powerless.

Miranda felt around with her thumb in the crook of her arm. When she found a suitable area, she massaged it for a bit before quickly shoving the needle under Circe's skin and into her vein. This caused her to let out a loud yelp, and she closed her eyes as tightly as she could manage.

Flashes of images crossed behind Circe's eyelids. They weren't enough to give her a full scene, and they didn't have any sounds, but she knew that these were memories from her past. They were coming to her in the form of sliced pictures; dim and fragmented.

She tried her best to take note of them as best she could without letting it be known on the surface she was experiencing something, only letting herself scrunch up her face.

They came in rapid succession. A needle, a bag of blood, bloodied instruments of surgery. An operating table that closely resembled the one she was sitting on in the present, and a stack of clean bandages someone was reaching for. Bland colored food on a tray and secret piece of cake.

Miranda spoke to her now, though it sounded distant. "Only a few more vials."

The images had stalled to one picture now. Doctor Kramer's lifeless body and the pool of blood that had puddled beneath him. Cracked glasses covering shocked, dead eyes.

Circe had to bite her tongue from crying out. She didn't want to see this again. She didn't want to deal with this, here of all places. She tried desperately to change the image, but each time she thought it was going to fade away, it would suddenly refocus.

"Open your eyes now, Zero."

Miranda's command worked immediately, and Circe snapped her eyes open, now free of the image of the deceased doctor. She looked down at her arm to find Mother Miranda holding fresh gauze where she had been pricked.

"Do you not like needles?" Miranda prodded, eyeing the one before her closely. She inclined her head, narrowing her eyes to get a better look at Circe's expressions. "Or...did you remember something?"

Circe shook her head, hoping she wasn't answering too frantically. "N-no, no. It j-just hurt a lot," she blinked a few tears she wasn't aware of before.

Miranda said nothing as she took the gauze away and placed a clean bandage on it.

Circe took the time to catch up with her breathing. The images she has just seen were unsettling and confusing, but she couldn't allow it to get to her now. It would be detrimental to her survival, and she wanted nothing more than to just get this over with and go back to Heisenberg.

Miranda had been scribbling some more on her notepad in the meantime. Every now and then it seemed like she was thinking deeply about something. Putting down the notepad, she walked back over to Circe with a small flashlight.

"Let's check your eyes," Miranda turned the light on and shined it directly in Circe's eye, making her blink rapidly. Miranda reached her free hand to hold her eye open, so she could see. "You wouldn't keep anything from me, would you, Zero?"

The question caught Circe off guard that moment, but at least she had been expecting something like this to happen. Don't over-share. Short answers only. "O-of course."

Miranda smiled and went to the next eye. "Good. You wouldn't want to be punished, would you?"

"N-no, Mother Miranda," Circe was trying to keep still now.

"Good," Miranda clicked the flashlight off and took a step back. "We are almost done."

Miranda explained that the worst part (taking blood) was over and now there were only trivial tests that needed to be taken. She took Circe's temperature and blood pressure. She felt around Circe's body, which was rather uncomfortable, but she let her keep her clothes on. Took note of her height and weight, among other measurements.

Miranda made sure to write all of her findings down in her notepad. Circe never asked what she wrote, and Miranda never told her. The small talk was mostly about the "training" Circe had been doing with Heisenberg, and the night she had spent at Castle Dimitrescu.

Circe made sure to keep brief and simple with her words, and given that Miranda had taken quite a few vials of blood from her, it wasn't hard to act distant.

"That is all I need from you. Heisenberg will be here to fetch you soon," Miranda said finally, taking a cotton swab from Circe's mouth and putting it into an empty vial. She placed it with the blood samples, then began cleaning things up. "You can wait outside."

Circe nodded her head and got up from the table to get her things from beside the door. "Thank you, Mother Miranda," she said, then walked out.

Circe let out a breath, one she felt like she had been holding on and off the entire time she was in that house with Miranda. She felt like she could finally relax, even if it was just a little bit. She would feel even better once she was back at the factory.

Circe didn't have to wait long before she saw the top of Heisenberg's hat coming up the hill of the road. It took everything she had not to run up to him. Miranda still could be watching.

Heisenberg smiled when he saw Circe and quickened his pace a bit. It seemed like he was happy to see her, too.

Circe met in the middle of the distance between them. She kept her grip on the handles to the suitcases so she wouldn't be able to hug him. Maybe she could ask for one later.

She quit the thought right there once she realized her face was heating.

"Hey there, sweetheart," he said casually, ruffling the top of her head, which didn't help with the temperature of her cheeks. "Have fun?"

"Uh, yeah. Lots of fun," she wasn't trying to hide her smile, however. She was practically beaming at him.

"Good, good. Let's get you home," he pointed to the suitcases. "You can let go of those. Their insides are made of metal."

Circe collapsed the handles and let them go before they suddenly rose in the air above them.

"Let's get going, sweetheart."

They began walking swiftly. Not much was said, at first. Clearly, they were both still on edge. They still felt so close to Mother Miranda, but eventually, they got far enough to where Heisenberg thought it would be okay to ask more personal things.

"You really okay?" he looked to the side at her, glasses covering his eyes.

"For the most part," she replied, trying to hint that she had a lot to talk about once they entered the safety of the factory.

"Not hurt?" he asked more softly.

She hesitated, but said, "No."

Heisenberg paused for a moment. "Have you eaten today?" he finally asked.

Circe nodded. "Cynthia made me a big breakfast."

"Cynthia? Who the fuck is that?"

"She is the Head Maid at Castle Dimitrescu. She was actually really sweet, and packed all of my books for me," she looked up at him. "I didn't say much to her, but she told me that she was one of Miranda's experiments."

"Just don't tell her shit," Heisenberg ordered. "Can't trust her. Might run her mouth to that bitch, and she'll definitely go to Miranda about it."

"I won't," Circe said, giving him another smile. "But I don't think we have to worry too much about her. She's kind of…odd."

"Odd?"

"Yeah, she doesn't really show that many emotions. I don't think she cares about things all that much."

"Hmph," Heisenberg seemed unconvinced. "Just keep careful. There is no tellin' what any of 'em are planning."

Circe gave him a nod. "Yes, sir."

He smiled at her and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, giving her a good squeeze. "Atta girl. We're almost home. I'll make you some sandwiches."