Since Miranda didn't want to see Circe for a few days, a great deal of work got done between Circe and Heisenberg.

The factory was brimming with traps and locks. Circe felt safer there than she did anywhere else. It was the only place she felt like she could let her guard down. There were so many alarms in place that they would be notified at every turn.

Circe did a lot of training when they weren't working on the factory, especially during the nights she wasn't sleeping. She didn't want to waste any time. They had no clue when Miranda would announce the grand meeting.

She worked on her strength and would sword fight with Heisenberg to get better at her reflexes, but she mostly focused on trying to focus on her blasting ability. She set up a few empty soda cans in an open space, sat on the ground, and tried to pour all of her energy into pushing them away from her.

No matter how many times she tried, however, she couldn't budge them.

Then the day came when Cynthia sent her message. A dove flew over Circe and Heisenberg as they were enjoying a picnic outside, and landed next to them. Circe barely managed to get the rolled-up note untied from its leg before it tried to eat their food and Heisenberg angrily shooed it away. She opened it up carefully.

Midnight. The willow tree. -C

That night, Circe and Heisenberg went on a little adventure into the woods and to the great willow tree. Hopefully, this place was as safe as Cynthia believed it to be. It would be rather awkward if they walked right into Mother Miranda.

Alas, when they arrived, it was indeed Cynthia who was waiting for them underneath the swaying branches. Circe nearly ran up to hug her but she didn't know how Cynthia would feel about that, so she simply waved enthusiastically when they were in her sights.

"Lady Circe. Lord Heisenberg," she made her signature bow, low and slow. "Pleasure to be in your presence once again. It is rather refreshing," Circe noticed Cynthia was in a seemingly better mood than when they had met last.

"It's a pleasure to see you, too," Circe returned. "We made a surprise for you."

One of her eyebrows raised but only slightly. "A surprise for me? From the Lord and Lady?"

"Don't feel so special," Heisenberg interjected, his arms crossing tightly over his chest. "It helps us just as much as it helps you."

Circe sighed in Heisenberg's direction, then turned back to Cynthia with a soft smile on her lips. "How do you feel about secret passageways?" she whispered.

"Oh, how useful," Cynthia said. "I am assuming it leads to a safe space."

"Which you tell no one about," Heisenberg grumbled under his breath.

Cynthia didn't respond.

Circe took this time to go ahead and show Cynthia where the entrance was to the tunnels. All three of them went through together and made it to the sub-basement under the factory in no time at all. Cynthia seemed impressed by how much security they had added.

"Have you heard anything about the meeting coming up?" Circe asked once they locked up the tunnel behind them. "Any idea when it will happen?"

Cynthia walked over to the table in the middle of the room and set down the folder full of paper she had brought. "I do not know any details, but I do know Miranda has been preparing various things."

"What kind of 'things'?" Heisenberg asked as he sat on one of the chairs at the table.

Cynthia sat across from him. "I am fairly certain she is preparing to take a leave of some kind. She has been packing some of her belongings."

Circe sat next to Heisenberg. "A Leave? Do you know where she's going?"

Cynthia shook her head. "I was not able to find out. All I know is that she has been packing."

"Well, what the fuck else is she planning, other than a stupid vacation?" Heisenberg leaned forward in his chair, pulled out a cigar, and lit it.

Cynthia's nose wrinkled up slightly but she mentioned nothing of the cigar. "I am not sure of that either, except she has gotten these rectangular glass flasks. I have not found why."

None of this information gave them any clue as to what Mother Miranda was going to do. Heisenberg said it was rare for her to leave the village, but that wasn't much to go on. They would simply have to wait.

Cynthia left soon after giving this information, not wanting anyone to have any suspicions being placed on her for being gone for too long, but before she did, Heisenberg gave her a small pager. A small little machine that would make things easier for communication, and he made sure Circe and himself had one, as well.

Circe couldn't stop herself from reading over the documents as they made their way back to the factory through the tunnels. It had become easier for her to separate herself from the documents like she was reading notes on someone else. She wouldn't be able to function if she allowed her emotions to take over.

These notes only covered about five years, from ages 13 to 18, but held a lot more information than the previous batch. She was going to have to take notes in her journal to make sense of it all.

"Anything interesting?" Heisenberg asked over his shoulder, pulling Circe away from the notes long enough to look up at him.

She shrugged lightly, walking a bit faster to catch up with him. "Things I have already guessed. The blasts seem to be emotion-based. They reset me a lot during this time, and sometimes I would go into hibernation for a few weeks up to a few months."

Heisenberg let out a snort in disgust. "Why did they keep fucking mind wipe you?"

She flipped through a few pages. "Non-compliance. There were a few times I woke up with enough of my memory to fight back earlier. There were a few times I tried to escape..." she sighed and closed the papers. Her vision was blurring at the edges.

He glanced at her before wrapping an arm around her, pulling her flush to his side. "Don't rush into it," he said softly. He must have seen it on her face.

She put the papers back in the folder, leaning into his touch. He was so warm. It pulled her back into the present. It was a sleep night for her, so she was already feeling more out of it than usual. She was surprised she had made it this long. "You're right."

"'Course I am," he said smugly, giving her a hard kiss on the top of her head.

They went back to Heisenberg's room and made some leftover soup, then Circe got her things ready for the next day. The second she woke up in the morning she planned on getting started with reading the new documents thoroughly.

After passionate kisses and mindless caresses, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Three days passed. Circe went through all of the notes several times, finding out more about herself. To her dismay, there was no mention of her ever being able to control her blasting ability, something they started to call a Telekinetic Blow. It manifested a lot more while she was going through puberty. Doctor Mason, the man who replaced Doctor Kramer, would often write about how difficult Circe became, especially after Doctor Kramer's death.

Mason wrote about how she would refuse to do testing and would thrash out violently, sometimes killing some of his coworkers and guards. Circe would almost feel bad, but then Heisenberg would remind her that they were there to experiment on her, and each time she would feel less and less bad.

The other information was just about the basic things, only talk of how she had gotten stronger and faster. The only new information was about the hibernations she would go into. At first, they had thought she was in a coma, but they noted there was a difference, so they began to call it a hibernation instead. Circe didn't care which it was, she just hoped it never happened again.

Circe also trained every day as she tried to focus only trying to harness her telekinetic blow, but she was never able to bring it out willingly. Every day she would lose hope, every day she would get angrier. She felt like she was going in circles, even going back to trying to resurface her memories. But the ones that came never gave her any results.

Then the day came when Mother Miranda set up a meeting for all of the Lords and Ladies, including Circe, who woke up that morning with knots in her stomach. It had been so long since she had seen Miranda, and she hadn't been able to enjoy that time the way she wanted to. She knew Miranda would question her about her progress, and she couldn't just keep acting like she hadn't found anything out.

"Maybe I should just tell her that I found out I'm strong and fast," Circe was saying to Heisenberg, trying to pick out what she was going to wear for the meeting.

"That sounds like the best bet, for ya," Heisenberg was sitting on the bed, smoking a cigar, very much unbothered. At this point, he was convinced that Circe could take on Miranda right now if she wanted. He tried to convince her that it would be the best for a surprise attack, but Circe knew she wasn't ready. She felt like there was a missing piece, something she hadn't found out about herself, yet.

Circe made herself take deep breaths, picking out a gray wool sweater to cover the black thermal she was wearing. It was going to be covered by a thick coat, anyhow. It had gotten a lot colder these past days, and she liked layering up.

"Don't worry too much, buttercup," Heisenberg put out his cigar and got up. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. They had grown even closer to one another. They had spent every moment Circe wasn't training or reading together. They were each other's anchors.

"I worry all the time," she told him, brushing some of his gray hair from his eyes so she could see their golden glow. They held the softness that only appeared towards her. "You help a lot, though."

"You help me take breaks," he said, raising a hand to stroke her jaw. "I forgot what it was like to take time for myself," he said, though he had admitted this to her before. It made her feel good. She was glad he felt like he could let go for a bit when he was with her.

"Good. One day we won't have to worry about anything," Circe said, leaning up to brush her lips against his.

He didn't want the moment to be over so instead of letting her pull away, he backed up so he was sitting on the bed and yanked her into his lap. Circe couldn't help but laugh while she let him do so. If she really wanted to she could get away from him in an instant, but she didn't want to. She wished she could stay like this all day.

But the meeting was soon, and she had to break her lips from his. It was her turn to stroke his face, using both hands to smooth out his beard. "I wish we didn't have to worry about all of this," she said.

He didn't say anything for a moment, a sad, distant look entering his eyes. "Me too, buttercup. Me too," he said finally.

Circe could tell that the more they had to work for their goal to destroy Miranda, the more he was being drained. All the years spent on revenge were catching up with him, though Circe knew he wouldn't really admit that, at least not right now. His eyes were still on the prize, no matter how tired he seemed.

Circe stood up from Heisenberg's lap and booped him on the nose with her index finger. "Let's get this over with. It shouldn't take that long."

They were the last ones to arrive, except for Miranda, and walked in on the other Ladies and the other Lord of these areas. Lady Dimitrescu was sitting in the same chair she was when they had first met, tugging at a stick with a cigarette. Cynthia was here this time. She did not stop from staring straight ahead of her, no emotion on her face, hands behind her back.

Cynthia looked like she had put on something much nicer than what she normally wore, not that Circe was thinking she was unfashionable. No, most of the time, Cynthia wore dresses made from cotton and lace, but at the moment she was adorning a dress that looked like it was made from velvet or even suede.

Regardless, it fit her perfectly, falling about her in all of the perfect places. Circe half wondered if Cynthia had made the dress herself. She hadn't seen anything like it in any of the period fashion books she had read through.

"Ah, Lady Zero, it is good to see you once more," Lady Dimitrescu said, mistaking her staring at Cynthia as actually staring at her. The woman waved her over.

Circe came over, Heisenberg shadowing closely behind, and bowed slightly before the other Lady. "It is good to see you, as well, Lady Dimitrescu," she said, trying her best to put on a smile. It was much easier now, knowing that she could defend herself if she really needed to.

At least, she knew she could against Lady Dimitrescu...

Lady Dimitrescu didn't stand, but she did bow her head slightly in response, showing that she respected other women in power. It made Circe almost feel proud before she remembered that Cynthia probably didn't like her for a reason.

"Lady Zero! Lady Zero!" Angie, Donna's doll, scurried up to Circe and began fiddling with the fabric of her long coat. "You might be getting your gift tonight!" She said shrilly.

Circe blinked a few times, managing to hide any other emotions that had risen within her stomach. "Gift?" She repeated.

"Shut up! Don't ruin a surprise. It's rude," Lady Dimitrescu said, leaning over to shoo the doll away.

Angie cackled and ran to Donna, hopping into her lap comfortably. Donna simply petted her dress, making sure it was nicely displayed.

Circe gave a nervous smile to Dimitrescu, then turned around to give Heisenberg wide eyes before turning back around. "I'll pretend I didn't hear anything."

"Do not worry, darling," Dimitrescu reached over to brush a stray piece of hair from Circe's face, making it look nice and neat. "It was probably just hearsay. I heard differently last time I spoke with her."

Circe could hear Heisenberg grunt behind her, realizing that he probably didn't like Dimitrescu putting her hands on her. After a glance, Cynthia didn't seem to like it either.

To Circe it was fine. She felt like she could play the game now.

"Whatever happens, I'm ready for it," she said, giving Lady Dimitrescu a warm smile.

"Attention everyone."

Miranda's icy voice entered the chapel the moment she did, gliding past everyone without so much as a second glance. Circe didn't know if this was a good thing, but she didn't react.

"Fucking finally," Heisenberg said under his breath, going over to sit down on a pew.

Circe followed him and sat down on the same pew, but she made sure to keep a good distance away from him. Even though it was skilling her to create a space between them, she had to make sure no one thought of the extent of their relationship.

She looked at the front, trying her best to ignore the fish man. The way he was fawning over Miranda made Circe feel sick to her stomach.

Miranda looked over at everyone as she laced her fingers loosely in front of her. "I have a few important announcements to make," she began. "First, I would like to formally introduce Zero as a Lady of these lands," she said with a small, cold smile, raising her hands in Circe's direction. "Please stand, child."

Circe stood, dipping her head slightly.

"You will be rewarded with your own space soon. I am having it built as we speak. This leads me to the second announcement. It should be done by the time I get back from a trip I need to take."

There it was. The confirmation that she was going to leave for a while.

"Lovely M-mother Miranda," the fish man spoke, garbled and broken. "For how long will you leave us?"

"Not long," she said quickly, irritated even, not even giving him the grace of eye contact. She seemed impatient.

Like she wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.

"Mother Miranda, may I ask when you are leaving?" Lady Dimitrescu asked.

"Very soon after the meeting," Miranda did look at Dimitrescu, but it was brief and then she moved on. "When I come back there will be a very important meeting we will have. I want you all to be ready."

Circe gave Heisenberg a quick glance, making sure to scan the room of everyone else to make sure no one thought anything of it. He looked annoyed, disgusted, even though the small, forced smile he had on his face.

She could tell he was bristling with anger, and if Miranda noticed it she never acknowledged it.

She also took note that Cynthia was no longer staring forward, and was staring only at Donna?

"Is there anything you would like us to do?" Heisenberg asked, tipping his glasses to look at her with his natural sight, pulling Circe's thoughts away from Cynthia's strange behavior.

Miranda shook her head. "Nothing of note, except your usual duties," and with that, she looked over everyone once more before stepping down from her ledge. "That is all. You may go," she flitted in front of Circe and Heisenberg in the span of a second.

"Except for you two," she said, giving them both a sickly sweet smile. "I need to speak with the both of you."