Chapter Text
Who would have thought that the daughter of a grim reaper and an immortal phoenix will turn out to be human? No one did. Everyone expected the young Clara to be a phoenix like Kiara, or a grim reaper like Calli – but in reality, she is neither of the two. How is that possible? How can Clara be human when her mothers are both mythical beings? Isn’t it only natural for her to inherit their abilities and nature?
Kiara and Call decided to keep their discovery a secret from their child, and keep the information stay within their circle.
“So, she is human?” Gura asks. Currently, the young Atlantean is with Kiara at the park. Clara playing with Jenma and Gura's familiar: Bloop. “That is weird.”
“Indeed, it is.” Kiara releases a sigh. “There is nothing wrong with Clara being human, it's just that I am baffled and worried. How can my daughter be human? That doesn’t make any sense. And I am worried since (unlike us) Clara is prone to danger. She cannot heal herself, nor resurrect, or even—”
“I get it, I get it.” The latter grabs a slice of pizza from the pizza box sitting on the bench between the two. She takes a bite and says, "Ame mentioned nothing major happens in the future so we shouldn’t worry too much. If Clara gets injured, Ina is there to cast something, right? And Calli is the overprotective mother—she’d go berserk if something happens to Clara."
"Right. Sorry, I just…" Kiara places her elbows on her thighs, her fingers locking each other; and rests her forehead on her knuckles. "Knowing that my daughter’s life can be taken away any moment is hitting up my paranoia. I'm sorry Gura…"
Gura pats Kiara’s back, "It's fine. You don’t have to apologize. It's only natural for a mother to worry about her child."
Kiara is scared – a natural thing coming from a mother. She is an immortal being while her daughter is not. Even though she doesn’t want to, she cannot stop thinking about the chance of losing Clara. Her daughter will grow and age, and eventually die. She doesn’t want to lose her only daughter.
If only I knew this would happen, Calli and I shouldn’t have— The phoenix shakes her head from left and right to remove the thought away. —No. I shouldn’t be thinking negatively. I need to trust Amelia's words. All we have to do is put Calli's scythe away, right? Yeah, Calli can do that. She can do that.
"Mom! Mom! Mom!" Clara's voice disturbed Kiara from her thoughts. When Kiara looked up, she saw her daughter standing from the sandbox with a broken sandcastle beside her. The young child looked triumphant and proud of her work. "I made Gura-nee's Atlantis using sand!"
Kiara smiled, seeing her daughter enjoying her time. Right. I shouldn’t worry. Clara is still here. Nothing bad will happen.
"By the way," Gura grabs her phone and checks her notification and message, "Ina isn't coming today?"
Kiara replies, "I have no idea. Sorry for having you watch over Clara today, Gura."
"It's fine~ I love playing with her." The young shark taps her fingers on the screen. "Ina said she won't be able to come. She's having a… ritual? Oh well, since you found your answer there's no need for me to go to the library; I can spend more time with Clara."
Jenma and Clara walked towards the two. The moment Clara reached her mother, she sat on her lap. Then placed a flower crown on her mother's head.
"For me?" Kiara asks. She hugs Clara tight while rubbing her cheeks on Clara's, "Aww~ Thank you, Clara!"
"I love you, mommy! I want to be with you and mama forever and ever!"
Kiara faintly smiles. "Yeah… me too…"
~ ~ ~
Lightning clashed in the sky and thunder roared – shaking the ground. The flashing of light continued minute after minute. The rain looked like it won't cease, and water continued to pour down from heaven to earth.
Kiara stood in front of the sliding doors – watching the view of the sky. The tapping sounds of raindrops against the window (alongside with the thunder) were the only ones that made the noise.
"Please come home soon, Calli." Kiara insinuates, before turning her back and proceeds to her daughter's room to check on her.
While Calli is out for work, Kiara stays at home to take care of Clara whilst managing her fast-food business. It has always been like that – Calli and Kiara working whilst taking care of Clara; although there are special times they leave Clara with their friends.
She heard a tap on the window when she went back to the living room. Calli opened the sliding doors of the balcony (as usual) and immediately went in – tired, shivering and wet because of the rain. She released a sneeze which made Kiara smile. Calli placed her scythe away and immediately went towards Kiara for a hug.
"You're wet," Kiara says.
Calli didn’t remove her contact. "I know."
"It doesn’t bother you that you're hugging your wife while you are drenched? Aren't you worried I will get wet as well?"
The latter placed a kiss on Kiara's lips, "I know you won't mind."
After taking a bath and ate her dinner, Calli rested in the living room while playing a game. Kiara’s next to her with her head resting on the latter's shoulders.
The moment reminded them about the past – Kiara and Calli living together for the first time, Calli focusing on her game while her lover is pestering her. Kiara thought she will be satisfied with that kind of life alone, not until she found out that she was pregnant. Calli and Kiara never knew it was possible, and it even almost caused the two to break-up.
"You know…" Calli spoke, "I missed the old days."
"Hmm?"
"Like this for example." Calli paused her game, "Just you and me in silence, or just playing games."
"Do you want to go back to that time?"
Calli placed the controller on the table and pushed Kiara on the sofa. "I am satisfied with the life we have right now. Though, I can say that I missed our alone time together."
Kiara smirks, "Oh my~ Miss Mori. It's rare for you to be this assertive." She wraps her arms around her lover's neck. "Clara might wake up, you know?"
Calli wanted to stop and look away, but it's been so long since she and Kiara had the time alone for themselves. She comes home late because of her job as a reaper, and with Clara around she cannot show to much physical and intimate affection to her lover – thinking it is inappropriate (and embarrassing).
The pink hair reaper grabbed one of Kiara's hand and kissed her palm. "There's a storm—she wouldn’t be able to hear us."
"Ahem, excuse me." A voice disturbed the two. They turned their heads to the direction of the voice, and a group of violet and purple tentacles caught their eyes. A girl is at a corner with flushed cheeks, a magic circle underneath her feet and a levitating purple book with weird symbols on her hand. "No one was answering the door so I presumed you two are in the living room, thus, I welcomed myself in. I believe I came at a wrong time? Should I leave or ...? "
Ina, Calli, and Kiara gathered in the living room. The phoenix’s and the reaper's face are red out of humiliation. Who wouldn’t be embarrassed? To have your friend catch you during an intimate moment will give you a sense of discomfort and shame.
Ninomae Ina'nis – a girl who can control tentacles at will, and has the ability to hear the voices of the Ancient Ones (powerful beings and souls of the old) which allows her to use spells and other mystical abilities. Now, why would a gentle and down-to-earth mythic like Ina be visiting her friends amidst a storm?
"I heard about Clara from Amelia." Ina spoke. "Sorry, I wasn't able to take care of Clara this afternoon, and for barging in your home without proper permission. But I have something important to tell you."
Kiara shakes her hands, "It's alright, Ina."
Calli follows, clearing her throat, "What is it you want to tell us?"
"AO spoke to me whilst doing a ritual this afternoon. They gave me the answer to your question," the look in Ina's eyes changed. Not sinister, more like… deep and serious, " Why Clara is human. "
Back in the old, the gods are always at war against each other. With no interest on fighting ahead on, the gods decided to pick their champions. The other faction of the gods made life, while the other made death. They use what they created as their puppets to see who truly stands above the rest. It went on until they realize there was no end – meaningless. One day, they decided to put life and death together – a vessel who lives and at the same time dies.
The first creation of humanity.
Fascinated with the result, the gods ceased with their groundless argument and decided to produce more of humanity. Soon, humans inhabited and dominated most of their creations.
"Kiara," Ina spoke, "You possess the gift of life and Calli the gift of death. Your love resulted to the creation of Clara—making her human. Mind you that only the gods have the power and ability to make humanity, and you are both women who doesn’t have the right qualities to produce despite being mythic. Yet, here we are."
Calli spats, "So are you telling us that those bastards above made our daughter human?"
Ina shakes her head as a no . "AO and the gods goes way back, and they told AO that what Amelia told you is true—Clara is mortal. Even the gods were surprised with the sudden creation. They couldn’t comprehend how this happened. No one knows how you were able to produce."
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes. You need to watch out for rain like this." Ina turns her head towards the sliding doors. "AO said that it will cause you pain and heartbreak in the future."
Kiara bites her lower lip, "Amelia said the same thing…"
"I don’t know what AO meant by that, and they don’t seem like they want to tell me (you know AO, always the figure-it-out type). If I have more information about it, I will tell you."
Ninomae Ina'nis END - To Be Continued