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"Kusotori? Kusotori? Kiara?" Calli calls out. Kiara had called her in a panic a few minutes prior, confused as to why she was already going up in flames so quickly after last time. Calli didn't have an answer, so she decided she'd just go and check on the phoenix to make sure she would be ok. But for some reason the damn bird just wouldn't respond to her.
She knew for a fact that Kiara had revived, the small pile of still smouldering ashes situated in the living room was a testimony for that.
"Where is this f-wording bird?" Calli hissed, carefully closing the closet door where Kiara's cat was huddled, probably scared from Kiara's fire. The reaper had spent the better part of 15 minutes riffling through Kiara's house, trying to find the phoenix, but other than the pile of ashes Calli was in the middle of cleaning up and whatever was there before this whole situation, there was no sight of the phoenix.
Calli paused, resting against the kitchen countertop thinking of all the places a newly reborn phoenix could hide in an apartment. She'd checked every nook and cranny of both the kitchen and the living room, and she'd scoured through the closets (to an extent, no need to be too snoopy), but even after that, she'd come up empty handed.
Then it clicked. The reaper hadn't even gone close to the bedroom, probably some instinct so she wouldn't get jump scared by a certain phoenix. Calli glanced nervously towards it. The door had a sign on it, like the ones you could flip over. It was decorated in all sorts of stickers and a few doodles (courtesy of Ina) that framed the words 'Not Streaming~♡'.
Calli's mind flickered back to the somewhat threatening discord message EnMa had sent her earlier. As soon as their manager noticed that Kiara hadn't showed up to one of her stream, she'd messaged Calli since she was closest to Kiara.
The phoenix's room mirrored Kiara's personality to a t. Brightly coloured carpets, blankets and pillows, along with custom plushes of all their mascots lined up on Kiara's bed.
"Hang on a fucking second" Calli cursed under her breath, walking towards the open wardrobe opposite of the bed. In it, the reaper pulled out one of her old sweaters she thought she lost long ago. It wasn't one of her favourites, but Calli didn't have that many sweaters to begin with, and it was always cold down in the underworld. She'd never tell anyone, but she always loved when Kiara came over to her old apartment considering the phoenix could heat up her living space quite easily.
Calli snapped out of her thoughts when she heard some scuffling sounds coming from under the bed, along with some German words the she didn't understand, although... the voice sounded off, like it was much higher.
She watched the bed, waiting for any signs of movement or any more sounds to break the silence, but there was nothing. Cautiously, Calli moved closer, leaning down on her hands and knees. She lifted the blankets covering the sides of the bed, almost jumping back in surprise when she was met with a very familiar set of eyes.
Both of them jumped back, and Calli winced, hearing an audible thump followed by Kiara hissing in pain.
Calli quickly thought through a few things quickly. She knew Kiara forgot things about her past life every time she was reborn, so she'd have to approach this situation with care.
"H-Hallo? Wer bist du?" Small hands pushed away the comforter. Too small to be Kiara's, but it was definitely her voice, albeit in a higher pitch.
"Uhm.. What was it again- ah! K-kein Deutsch, uh, Englisch" Calli winced inwardly. She knew her German was shitty at best, but Kiara had insisted on teaching her a few phrases in case something like this happened. There was a moment of silence.
"Who are you? Why do I feel like I know you?" Kiara asked, in English this time. Calli sat down, feeling her legs starting to ache from squatting for so long.
"I'm Calliope Mori, uh, but you can call me Calli" Silence again. Kiara still hadn't come out from under the bed, and it was at this point Calli started wondering how the phoenix managed to get under the bed in the first place.
"C-Calli? I'm scared... Can I have a hug?" Kiara's voice was trembling at this point. Calli paused. Usually she wasn't one for affection, but the phoenix just sounded so scared, so she obliged.
"Well, if you come out from under the bed, then of course you can" Calli said gently, not wanting to scare Kiara any more than she already was. Silence.
Then the blankets started moving, and a Kiara that was much smaller crawled out from under the bed, wiping a few tears off her face. Calli's brain short circuited seeing what happened to her beloved phoenix. 'Why is she so small? I'm glad I wore casual clothes, my reaper getup probably would've scared her more... Wait, I should be hugging her, I said I would' Calli quickly returned the embrace the small phoenix gave her.
Small arms tightly squeezed around her neck in fear. It suddenly struck Calli that something probably went wrong when Kiara was reborn, keeping her stuck as a child.
"You ok now?" Calli asked softly as small Kiara finally stopped hugging her. Small Kiara wiped any remaining tears away. She gave the reaper a smile and nodded cheerfully. Calli sighed and stood up, stretching her legs after crouching for so long.
"This is probably a long shot, but how much do you remember" Calli asked, looking down at small Kiara. The phoenix was much shorter now, especially after Calli stood up completely. If the reaper had to guess, Kiara probably came up to Gura's shoulders now.
"I remember both of our names... I also know we have three close friends, but I can't remember their names... Oh! I run a successful fast food business called Kiara Fried Phoenix and I'm going to marry you one day!" Calli felt Kiara hug her waist tightly, looking up at her with big eyes.
'Ok, this feels wrong. Like, regular Kiara, I can handle no problem. Tiny Kiara, feels illegal. I mean, she looks like a child, and considering she was reborn today, she technically is a child? I guess?' Calli gently pried Kiara's hands off of her, hoping the phoenix would just see it as another one of her tsundere moments.
'I should probably tell Jenma I've found Kiara, she's probably worried sick over all of this' Calli chewed her lips anxiously, wondering how to deal with this whole ordeal.
calliopemori
I found Kiara
Jenmmmma
Something tells me this situation isn't normal
calliopemori
You got some sort've 6th sense for knowing smth is wrong?
Jenmmmma
You could say that
What happened?
calliopemori
Smth went wrong with Kiara's rebirth and now she has the body of a child
Jenmmmma
...
Fuck
calliopemori
Yeah
Text back when you get an idea on how to fix this
Bye :}
"Who are you talking to?" A small voice piped up behind her. Calli turned around to see Kiara standing directly behind her. The phoenix still had a smile on her face, though this time she had a curious sparkle in her eye.
"Uhm, Jenma. You know how you said you know we have a friend group?" Kiara nodded, not perturbed by the sudden change of topic.
"Well, we all work together and play video games and such for our fans, and we have managers to help us keep track of our schedules. Jenma is your manager" Kiara continued to nod along, though a sudden frown appeared on her face.
"Why can't you be my manager? You sound responsible, I trust you!" Calli felt herself sweat drop at the though of not only keeping track of her own shit schedule, but Kiara's too. She scratched the back of her neck awkwardly.
"Ah- Well.. m-guh! I'm already so busy, that I don't think I'd have the time" Calli explained. Kiara, although she was still frowning, took that as an answer. Calli just gave Kiara a few headpats, which the phoenix happily leaned into.
Before Calli could fully retract her hand, Kiara grasped it excitedly with hers, holding on to the reaper's hand tightly.
'This is gonna be a long day...' Calli smiled softly as she squeezed Kiara's hand a little tighter.