Within the bizarre chamber called the Death Room, Maka, Soul, Black Star, Tsubaki, and Crona and Ragnarok stood gathered before Lord Death, Spirit, Stein, and Marie Mjolnir. Spirit checked his watch, looking impatient. "What's taking Kid and Liz and Patty so long? They should be here by now."
Right on cue, the Thompson sisters came into the room, Death the Kid passed out on Liz's back, blood leaking out of his mouth. "Sorry!" Liz called out. "When Kid saw that the school's symmetry had been ruined, he coughed up blood and blacked out. Not to mention that the initial explosion tore his clothes and threw off his own symmetry."
Death sighed at that. Kid was pretty much hopeless when it came to symmetry versus asymmetry. "I suppose we should wake him up," he said.
"Allow me," Soul said with a smirk. He walked over to where Liz set Kid and said, "Hey, Kid, if you don't wake up, we'll take one of the chairs out of your house's dining room."
"NO!" Kid screamed as he shot up, eyes wide. "You can't do that! It'll ruin the symmetry!" He glared at Soul, who was still smirking. "I'll kill you if you do!"
The Grim Reaper cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "Now that everyone is here and awake, I guess I should start. First, does anyone have any questions?"
"Who were those people who attacked?" Maka asked immediately.
Death was silent for several seconds before answering. "The man is named Bishop Irving. The girl is Lillian Sonorous. They are two of a group of five extremely dangerous assassins. I have faced most of them in battle before. I was only able to kill one of them, but he didn't stay dead."
"What?" asked Marie, with a confused look. "How is that possible? Did he become a zombi, like Sid?"
"Not quite," Death said with a shake of his head. "He did die. However, his soul refused to leave his body, and sustains it to this very day. But even he isn't our biggest concern."
"Then who is?" Tsubaki inquired.
"One of the original two witches." When Death said that, Maka's eyes went wide.
"Circe," she said without thinking. All eyes immediately fell on her.
Death cocked his head curiously. "How did you know about Circe, Maka?"
"I…" She hesitated. She looked over at Soul. All he did was give a single nod. She sighed and said, "Lately, I've been having strange dreams. And just this morning, during Professor Stein's lecture, I kind of… fell asleep… I think."
"You think?" Spirit said worriedly.
"I don't know. It's hard to explain. I was in a strange desert with a frowning moon, and there was this shadow creature there. By its voice and general shape, I guess it was woman. She told me about the story of Hecate and Circe the original two witches. She also said that you were one who created witches, Lord Death."
Everyone's eyes widened at that revelation, and they all stared at Death in shock. The Grim Reaper sighed and said, "It's true. I did create the first witches. The world was growing heavily populated, so I eventually required aid. I found to young girls who had very powerful souls and taught them how to use the energy of their souls. They developed quickly, and created every spell that witches use today. Unfortunately, Circe, the younger of the two twins, became dark and twisted, and soon built an army of wicked witches. When the elder sister, Hecate, and I defeated Circe, that army scattered around the world. Many of them swore vengeance against us, and some even vowed to one day resurrect Circe, and return the world to the very threshold of madness."
"So basically," Stein spoke up, "Circe was the first evil witch. And just about every witch after has been a villain."
"Basically." Death returned his attention to Maka and the others. "If Circe is resurrected, then it could very well be the end of everything that we've worked towards. I want all of you to go and prepare for whatever may come our way." Everyone nodded and made to leave. "Maka, I'm going to have to ask you to stay."
"What? Why?"
"I wish to speak with you in private. Everyone else, you may go." All but Maka then left the room, with Soul and Spirit giving the young scythe meister worried looks. When Maka and Death were the only ones in the room, the Grim Reaper said, "Tell me everything that the stranger from your vision told you."
"Not much," Maka admitted. "She… or it… just told me the story of Hecate and Circe, and that someone was trying to bring Circe back."
"What did she look like?"
"She was just a silhouette. But she did have this weird pair of glowing green eyes."
Death sighed. "I was afraid of that." Maka gave him a confused look. "That's Circe's favorite look when meeting with new people."
The meister-weapon hybrid's eyes went wide at that. "Wh-what?"
"I'm going to guess that the desert-like realm that you met her in was actually your inner world. Your soulscape."
"My soulscape?" Maka asked. She had read about those. They were supposedly only accessible to their owners, but could be broken into with the right method. "But how did she get there in the first place?"
"She's most likely inhabiting you until she is reawakened," Death theorized. "You do bear a striking resemblance to her from when she was about your age. It's likely that you're a reincarnated variant of her."
Her eyes were wide with horror now. "I'm… I'm her reincarnation?"
"It's a definite possibility. But this doesn't make you the same person. Just know this…" He leaned forward, his mask contorting into a serious appearance. "Don't let her tempt you, no matter what. If you let her have her way, you will most certainly either die or become the greatest threat the world has ever seen. You could become something whose power dwarfs that of Asura."