The classroom was filled with the usual chatter of students. As they all waited for Prof. Stein to arrive to begin class, Maka sat reading one of her favorite books. It had a truly captivating plot, and was a great read, but she couldn't help but think that the hero was just a little bit whiny. She was so caught up in her book that Stein had to call out to her specifically in order to get her attention, making some of the class laugh at her expense.

"That's enough, class," Stein said as he cranked the screw in his head. He looked around and raised an eyebrow. "It appears that Crona is absent. Oh, well. I guess we'll just have to start without him. Today, we'll be dissecting…"

That was about where Maka lost interest. The last thing she wanted was to see some poor animal's innards. She got enough gore in her dreams lately. She held her head in her hand, not even paying attention as Stein prepared to cut open what looked like a large tortoise of some type. Her mind wandered in her head. Then, for reasons she couldn't explain, she felt… tired. She didn't know why. She had a good night's sleep just last night. Maybe it was just boredom. But she suddenly felt the need to sleep. It was impossible to resist, she found, and she soon drifted off to sleep.

-o-

She stood in what looked like a nighttime desert covered in gray sand. The moon floated overhead, but there was something disturbing about it. Normally, the moon held a mad grin on its face, no matter what. If a situation was troubling, blood would poor out from its mouth. The moon above her was still a crescent at least, but it lacked that strange grin. It now held a look of complete despair, with tears streaming from its eyes. It was one of the few things she had ever seen that truly unnerved her.

"Isn't it beautiful?" said a woman's voice behind her. She spun around to face the speaker. The one behind her was nothing more than a silhouette in the shape of a woman. The shadow's eyes glowed an eerie green. "The moon is such a simple thing. In reality, it's nothing more than a chunk of rock floating through space, endlessly circling the Earth, but thanks to Death's magic, it holds a madman's smile." The shadow looked up at the moon. "Personally, I think that this version of the moon is much better. Don't you agree, Maka?"

"Who are you?" Maka asked immediately. "How did you know my name? Where am I?"

The shadow chuckled. "So eager for answers. You must realize by now that information is a commodity. I'll answer your questions. For a small fee."

"What fee?"

"That one I'll answer for free," the shadow said jokingly. "All you have to pay is a tiny bit of your own sanity. A fair trade, no?"

"What!?" Maka shouted in shock. "No! There's no way I'll give into madness!"

The silhouette chuckled again. "Eventually, we all have to. But I didn't bring you here to drive you crazy. I pulled you into your inner realm to warn you about something."

"Inner realm?"

"Do you want me to answer that? It'll cost you."

"Never mind. What did you want to warn me about?"

"Another freebie," the shadow said with a sigh and a shrug. "Oh, well. I just need to tell you a little story. Trust me, it'll be worth your time."

"Then tell me."

The figure cleared its throat. "Eons ago, before true humans existed, the only sentient being was Lord Death. You know about that, right?" Maka nodded. "Good. That makes things simpler. You see, there's a part of this story that wasn't told. Only Death knows about it." Maka narrowed her eyes. "You're learning not to ask questions. Smart girl. Anyway, the hidden portion of this story revolves around a certain pair of witches named Hecate and Circe. These two were created by Death to act as his first enforcers in the early days of human existence."

"Lord Death created the witches?"

"I'll you figure that one out on your own," the shadow replied. "Anyway, the twins Hecate and Circe served as Death's greatest followers. They invented many of the spells that modern witches use to this very day, and some spells that are so powerful, only Death could ever hope to counter them. Hecate was a master of defensive spells and techniques used to confuse the opponent. Circe specialized in all-out combat, having created spells that would make a human hydrogen bomb look like a firecracker. As you can probably tell, Circe preferred action before diplomacy. Eventually, Circe became fed up with Death and Hecate's peaceful solutions to dicey situations."

"I'm going to guess that she decided to rebel," Maka theorized.

"That's right. Needless to say, she failed, but she came dangerously close to killing the Grim Reaper." Maka's eyes widened at that revelation. "As I said, Hecate and Circe were incredibly powerful. The battle lasted for ten full days and nights, but between Death's attacks and Hecate's impenetrable defense, Circe was eventually defeated and finally put down."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"That's the last free question I'll ever give you," the silhouette warned the young meister. "I'm telling you this because there is a cult that seeks to resurrect Circe, and you and your friends are a key in their plot. Especially you, young weapon-meister hybrid."

"Wh-?" Maka quickly stopped herself. She didn't want to be reminded about the price of the shadow's answers.

The shadow looked up at the frowning, crying moon. "It's about time you got back. I don't think your friends would like it if you slept through it."

Maka wanted to ask what the shadow meant, but couldn't. She had so many questions that desperately needed answering, but couldn't because of the shadow's price. Soon, darkness once again clouded her vision.

-o-

"Maka!" called a familiar male voice. "Maka! Wake up!" The young meister picked her head up off the desk. She must have really fallen asleep. She looked in the direction of the voice that had woken her up. Soul was standing over her, a manic look on his face.

"Soul?" she asked as she wiped her eye with a gloved hand. "What's wrong?" She was answered by the sound of an explosion.

"The academy's under attack!" Soul shouted as he began transforming into a scythe. Fully awakened by the explosion's ruckus, Maka took hold of the scythe that had once been a young man and rushed to help fight off whoever was bold enough or stupid enough to attack her school.