Callisto's mother, Adela, was against her youngest daughter going through the Mutated DNA Fusion not only because it failed to save Leona.
Not even Raymond or Phillip who performed the MDF on Leona were certain what could they have possibly overlooked to let things turn out the way it did back then. However, the one thing Adela was sure of was that the operation did something much worse than death itself on Leona. Something that scarred the mother for life.
That was the reason why Adela was feeling a mix of anger, sadness and betrayal when she found out that Raymond and Phillip performed the operation on Callisto behind her back.
"Callisto and Leona are the same," Raymond said in response to his wife, standing his ground. "They know their situation like the back of their hands, and yet they refused to go without putting up a fight. They took the risk because they wanted to live."
"So you don't think I want the same for them?"
"That's not... ah—"
The atmosphere grew heavy as Raymond retracted his words upon seeing his wife breaking into tears. He had been with Adela since they were young, and Raymond knew she would never break down so easily. But when she does, it would always be one of the most painful sight for Raymond to behold.
"I want them to live. I don't wanna give up on them. But I don't want them to cling so desperately to false hopes either. Because it hurts to see them so determined to live, knowing that the odds is never in their favor."
Amidst the crushing air surrounding them, Raymond and Phillip also felt the incredible weight behind Adela's words. Their long faces met the tiled floor at the same time.
"I get what you're saying, Adela, I really do," Raymond admitted. "But I couldn't just give up on them either, not when neither of them did."
Raymond lifted his head up, facing his sobbing wife.
"Who do you think... is the one putting up with all of you three's stubborness after all this time?"
Adela's trembling lips and her tears running down her crimson cheeks as it dampened her dress elicited Raymond to stand right in front of his wife.
"I'm sorry, Adela."
"It's too late for that now, dumbass."
"I know, but I owe you that very much."
Phillip found himself silently nodding from behind the husband and wife. Though he wished he could also offer Adela his own apology, the friend thought it would be best to leave the talking to Raymond.
"I know I cannot change the past and I know that saying sorry now isn't going to absolve me of making you put up with my and our daughters' stubborness."
Raymond's hand reached for Adela's small white face, gently brushing the tears off her smooth skin with his fingers. Adela accepted her husband's comforting touch with a slight nuzzle on his palm. The doctor's caress was like a magic spell to Adela, specifically made to calm his wife down.
"Calli will wake up. She's gonna live," Raymond assured his wife with confidence.
He then elicited Adela to continue going onward to the door not far from them. Phillip wordlessly followed the two.
Before long, the three of them were standing in front of the door to Callisto's room.
As Raymond's fingers wrap around the door knob, he twisted it until he heard the sound of the latch retracting and pushed the door open.
Right in that moment, they found themselves frozen and speechless before the sight of a young girl whose face had been smeared with tears. Her eyes met theirs.
"Mama, Papa, Uncle Phillip," The girl uttered, the silver tail and cat ears seemed to have regained vigor after a drought.
"Calli..."
The father went from a slow walk to gaining the pace to run straight at the fruit of all the blood, sweat and tears he shed since the last decade and a half.
Raymond put his daughter in a tight embrace.
"You're awake! I'm so glad. I'm so glad, really!"
"Papa..."
Callisto fondly nuzzled onto her father's chest in response. She thought she already cried enough tears before they came to her room, but the warmth of Raymond's fatherly embrace managed to draw out more from her sky-blue eyes.
Meanwhile, standing in the background, a pleased sigh came out of Phillip's lips.
"We knew it was only a matter of time the moment her body showed signs similar to the successful tests we made on some animals," Phillip said to himself, a contented smile spread all over his face. "But to see her actually awake and alive is still rather surprising."
Seeing his and Raymond's efforts being repaid lifted a heavy burden Phillip had been carrying since Leona's death off his shoulder.
However, soon after catching a glance at Adela, Phillip realized that this moment of respite wasn't going to last very long.
Adela's expression did not tell of the same elation Phillip and Raymond were feeling just now. It was of pure fear.
"Adela..."
A sense of concern crawls within Phillip's mind. There was a storm brewing and only he had noticed it so far.
Raymond finally released Callisto from his embrace, unaware that a disaster was underway.
"How are you, Calli? Do you feel any discomfort, at all?"
"I'm all right, but..." Callisto paused for a brief moment to wipe off what remained of the tears she shed after getting most of it on her father's attire. "My butt's feeling kinda weird since I woke up. I don't feel like going to the bathroom though."
Raymond stole a quick glance right behind Callisto's drawstring pants. There, the reason behind the discomfort was wagging rather gleefully. Shifting his gaze back towards his daughter's marbles, the peculiar pair of furry cups atop her head were standing upright like scarecrows.
"Seems like she's not aware of it yet," the father thought to himself.
Placing a hand on her left shoulder, Raymond assured his daughter that there was nothing to worry about.
"Well, if it's Papa who said it, then I don't need to worry," a toothy smile contorted Callisto's face.
Just like with Leona back then, Raymond and Phillip explained everything about the MDF to Callisto except the way they expected a successful operation on her would turn out. The reason behind it was that they weren't certain that a successful MDF on a human would produce the same result as that of a successful MDF on an animal. At least until Callisto showed signs that proved their expectations to be correct.
Now that they know a successful operation on a human worked the same as the ones they performed on their test subjects, all that was left was to let Callisto know everything.
Raymond was certain that having Callisto learn about her natural black hair turning silver, the cat ears and the tail would give her a shock, though to what extent remained unknown.
Nevertheless, there was no reason not to tell Callisto that she was no longer an ordinary human. Not doing so would just delay the inevitable.
And so, with a serious yet reassuring tone in his voice, Raymond spoke to his daughter.
"About that discomfort. To tell you the truth, the MDF did more-"
"Who is she?"
Just when the father was about to give his daughter the shock of her life, their attention was drawn by Adela behind Raymond.
"Why are you calling her Calli?"
Sweating profusely, footfalls going in reverse, a terrified expression manifested on Adela's face as she sought answer from her husband.
"Who is she?!"
"Huh?"
Callisto was understandably confused. On the other hand, Raymond kept a calm demeanor similar to Phillip who remained silent in the background, only because he knew this was coming.
"I'll answer your question, Adela. But first, you need to calm down."
"Why? So you can lie to me again?!"
Phillip and Raymond only told Adela about the MDF just as much as they explained it to Leona and Callisto because they knew the mother would immediately try to shut down the attempt no matter what. Coming to Callisto's room, Raymond intended to explain and help Adela understand the changes their daughter underwent. But he had to put his initial plan aside as soon as he found Callisto standing on her two feet, alive and well.
"Those animals you showed me back then... they're not real test subjects aren't they? I mean, if they were, they would also have parts from other creatures, right?"
"Yeah, you're right. I lied. But does it matter anymore? She might not look like her old self, but at least she's alive! Callisto is alive!"
This conversation between Raymond and Adela had Callisto feeling even more confused.
"Why is Mama asking who I am," Callisto thought to herself. "What does Mama mean about having parts from other creatures? Wait, why did Papa say I don't look like my older self? What happened to me?"
Right as she asked herself that last question, a thick strand of her long hair took her notice.
"Huh?" She uttered in confusion as she grabbed her hair. "Why is my hair... silver?"
"Pfft."
All of a sudden, Adela's laughter drew Callisto's attention back at her mother.
"Out of all the dumbest things you said, what you said just now definitely takes the cake," She said towards her husband as her laughter disappeared, her smile soon turned cold and emotionless. "Let me get it straight for you, Raymond. Leona and Callisto are dead. You failed."