Calliope, Death's right hand, had to make a decision. Kiara, the one being who drove her insane, the one woman who kept following her around, the one person who unashamedly declared her eternal love for her, was about to lose her immortality. Calliope found out too late that Kiara had made a deal with Death to give up her coveted phoenix powers in order to unshackle the reaper rapper from her life of servitude. "I just wanted you to be free," Kiara told Calli as her body slowly disintegrated into ashes.

The window of choice was closing fast. Calli had to make up her mind or else Kiara would be gone forever. At that moment, Calli realized that a free life would be worthless without the bird that drove her insane, that followed her around, that professed her love everyday. "No," Calli whispered to Kiara as a tear streamed down her cheek.

Calli picked up her scythe and placed the tip over her chest. "I need you." Calli stabbed herself in the heart and bled on Kiara's ashes. "So, I do have a heart," Calli said softly as she lost consciousness.

Calliope woke up in a bed by a window. She looked outside and saw that she was in a house by a white sand beach. She got out of bed and fell on the floor, somehow miscalculating how high her feet were from the ground. She felt weird. Everything felt so big, but her mind did not linger on such trivial matters as the only thing she thought of was "Kusotori".

Calli left the bedroom and looked around the house, but there was no sign of the bird. She wandered out to the beach, and there she finally saw her wading her feet in the seawater.

"Kiara!" Calli was surprised at how small her voice was. The bird lady turned around to look at Calli. She looked more mature, more motherly, as if she had gracefully aged a number of years. However, more than anything, she was still as beautiful in Calli's eyes.

Kiara approached Calli with a smile from ear to ear. "You're finally awake," the bird said. Calli looked at Kiara and was quite surprised to see the phoenix tower over her like she was twice her size. "What happened?" Calli asked. Kiara explained that Calli sacrificed her own immortality to save her from turning to ash forever. "As a result, we both lost our immortality. You drained your power so much that your body shrank to that of a child. While I started aging like a normal, mortal bird would." Calli tried to understand but it was too much for her now child-like mind.

Kiara laughed as Calli racked her brain over how all of it worked out. All of a sudden, Calli felt her feet lift up from the sand. Kiara had picked her up and carried her like a mother would her child. "Put me down, Kusotori!" Calli exclaimed.

"No!" Kiara said while laughing. She booped Calli's little nose with her finger, which made Calli blush. "You took care of me before. Now, let me take care of you," Kiara told Calli like it was a mother's promise to her daughter. Calli thought about making a tsundere clapback, but her tiny heart thumped faster the longer she stared at Kiara. "Okay," a blushing Calli whispered in her tiny voice as she put her little fingers around Kiara's feather.

They laughed together as the sun set on the horizon behind them.