....


    Spiritme was born with a weak body and was discarded at birth by his Monster Emperor dad before he eventually wed his way to the top.


    Whereas Ayh was born into amon monsterkind family on a Crocofinch.


    And it was only through tooth and nail that he was able to cement his position as one of the strongest Monster Kings.


    However, their tragic backstories were a topic for another time, so let''s get back to Calista and her sorrowful moments coping with her sister''s reappearance.


    ****


    *Drip Drip*


    Tears never stopped falling from the poor catkin girl as she clung onto her big sister''s cheongsam with a crestfallen look on her face.


    However, such depressing moments by herself were soon interrupted by a certain fallen-immortal-like man.


    FWIP!


    Azmond and Boundless appeared inside the ck dome, and the first thing they did was head over to where Calista and wdia were.


    *Pat Pat*


    Azmond tenderly petted the sobbing catkin girl; his expression was nothing but gentle and kind.


    "...?" With tear-stained cheeks, Calista looked behind her, only to see that familiar face she had grown to love.


    And that was when the dams truly broke loose, as her eyes bubbled up before she screamed, "Azmond!"


    Following the sound of her hoarse voice, she leaped up from her kneeling position andnded in his arms.


    Azmond looked at the anguished look on his little cinnamon roll''s face before he murmured, "It''ll be okay, Calista. I made sure she was fine before I left."


    *Drip Drip* The tears stopped for a second as Calsista turned her moist eyes up to his face before she mumbled, "...Mhmm"


    "..." A small smile formed on Azmond''s face as he coddled the saddened girl in his arms.


    That was the only conversation exchanged between the two of them, as Calista got lost in his embrace.


    -


    A few minutes passed by like that, until all of a sudden...


    "...Mhmm?" wdia awoke with a hand rubbing her eyes.


    She looked around and saw the unfamiliar scenery. However, when she saw a certain girl in a handsome man''s arms, she recalled exactly what had happened before she passed out.


    wdia remembered everything that had happened before she abruptly came out of her stupor and noticed the distraught countenance of a young catkin girl.


    "... Calista" She mumbled with a heartbroken look on her face.


    "???" Calista turned her head in the direction of the melodic voice and saw the overwhelmed expression on her big sister''s beautiful face.


    And that was all it took for her to fall off Azmond''s chest before she stared at her big sister with an indecipherable look on her face.


    wdia gave the same look as they both stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.


    Until


    "Big Sister!!" Calista screamed out as she jumped toward her sister.


    *Umph!*


    Shended on her sister''s body as she hugged her like there''d be no tomorrow.


    "..." wdia gazed down at the state of her baby sister and couldn''t help but think of all the things she had been through after their fight with the Overseers.


    *Sigh*


    She let out a sigh full of many different emotions before she reciprocated the hug with a tight embrace.


    wdia may have med herself for what happened to her sister; however, that wouldn''t stop her from giving her little Calista what she wanted.


    Which at that moment, was nothing more than affection from her big sister


    Calista and wdia stayed in that position for nearly half an hour.


    Calista mumbled her sister''s name, while wdia simply took everything she had to give.


    However, it wasn''t long before wdia spoke for the first time since their hugging session had begun, as she asked, "So, are you going to tell me what happened while me and father were away?"


    Her question came out in apassionate and slightly interested tone as she rubbed her little sister''s cheeks.


    "..." Calista tilted her wet face up to wdia''s before she wiped her eyes and muttered, "Mhmm"


    Following such a meek response, she went on to narrate the entire experience she had had since being left on the Anglerfant.


    She told her of her life in the slums on the Anglerfant, the moment she met Azmond, and then her life after meeting Azmond.


    After hearing Calista''s story, the only thing wdia had to say was, "I''m sorry"


    The expression on her face was devastated, as she realized that she had inadvertently let her baby sister rot in an unknown world with no one beside her...


    She was all alone for over a year


    "..." Calista looked at the face her big sister was making as she decided something.


    She pointed her hand up in the air before she said, "Not everything was so bad, Big Sister. After all, I was able to meet him."


    Her finger went into the air before she pointed right at Azmond''s stalwart figure.


    wdia heard her sister''s reassuring words as her eyes followed her sister''s finger.


    What she saw was the most divinely beautiful person she had borne witness to. But more than that, she saw the man who had helped her sister. who had saved her sister''s life


    who had given her a life that she and her father could never give her


    And it was through that moment, when her eyes made contact with those profound blue''s of his, that wdia understood what she had to do to repay the favor to him.


    "Wou-"


    However, just as she was about to speak up, Calista interjected with a soft voice as she murmured, "After all, if you and father never left me on the Anglerfant, then I never would''ve met my mate"


    She mumbled thest part with a deep blush on her face as she took furtive nces at Azmond''s otherworldly countenance.


    "Pfft!" Azmond spit out his non-existent coffee as he nearly fell on his face upon hearing such a promation.


    He wasn''t an idiot! He knew what the nce she was giving meant. And in this context, there was nothing else that she could be referring to!