The Cat's Tail-Chapter 36: The Table’s Turned

They found the cat. Thanks to Callisto's strange ability, they've found Macaron. But now, another problem rose up.

Meow, meow! Meow!

"Oh, thank god, Ben is here," was what the cat said that only Callisto could understand. "I'm saved!"

Callisto wished she could ask what Macaron meant with their words, but she didn't want to make it seem like she was a weird person talking to an animal as if having a normal conversation with the boy next to her.

The boy tugged on the young lady's hoodie, panic settling in his gaze. "Please help her! She doesn't know how to climb down a tree!"

Meow!

"Yes," the cat added.

"I see," Callisto replied, her gaze never leaving the cat. "Let me think..."

This was when the problem struck Callisto.

She could hear sounds, pick up scents, feel things. But climbing up a tree to save a cat that doesn't have any clue how to climb down?

No.

Either way, she had to do something else other than let the boy climb the tree and endanger himself instead.

"Macaron," she called, raising her arms towards the cat from below. "Jump down. I'll catch you."

Meow! Meoow!

The cat's ears flattened in fear. "No! I'm scared!"

"Of course, you are," Callisto thought to herself. "At least I tried."

Callisto's arms fell back to her sides as she rethink things through.

"Climbing a tree then go back down is easier said than done," she said in thought as her sky-blue marbles darted from the tree trunk back to the cat. "If only..."

At that moment, she thought about jumping and snatching the cat off the branch.

Before she knew it, she was already hitting a jumping stance.

Gleam!

In the instant that golden glow in her eyes returned for the fourth time, Callisto pushed herself off the ground.

The sudden surge of sounds, varying smells, and vibrations through the air was overshadowed by a single thought.

To get Macaron off the tree.

Time seemed to have slowed down as the distance between Callisto and the cat gradually shorten, extending her arms forward.

"Huh?"

But instead of grabbing the cat, the distance between them seem to have started widening once again. Not because she was being pulled back down by gravity.

Rather, it was because she continued moving higher. Before she realized it...

Bang!

"Ack!"

Callisto's head struck a thick tree branch, one higher than where Macaron was. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

And not only did she hurt herself, the collision seemed to be powerful enough to shake the tree and startle the cat, causing Macaron to lose their balance.

"What?!"

The boy, who watched the entire sequence was left in shock, both from Callisto making an unbelievably high jump and then hitting her head against the tree, and his pet cat on the verge of falling.

Time resumed to its natural flow as Callisto found herself about to hit the ground back first. But then, as if she did it purely on instinct, she twist and turned her body to land on all fours instead.

Meow!

Just then, the cat that was barely hanging on to the branch, finally lost its grip and fell.

"Macaron!" The boy called in desperation, panic settled in inside him as he watched the scene unfold before his very own eyes.

"..."

Hearing the boy's voice, the sense of horror in every syllable he uttered, Callisto's golden eyes zeroed in on the cat still in mid-air.

With efficient speed and timing, she propelled herself forward and caught Macaron into her arms.

"Ah!" The boy was left speechless at the quick save.

Callisto looked down at the cat, her golden eyes reverting to their normal color. "You're okay."

Meeoow!

"Thank you!" Was what the cat said in reply to the young lady.

"Macaron!" The boy shouted, relief wash across his features as he took his pet cat from Callisto's arms. "Thank god! Thank you, Miss!"

A tender smile tug the corners of Callisto's lips. "No worries."

As soon as the boy averted his gaze from the young lady, Callisto turned her attention towards that particular tree branch, running the palm of her hand on the part of her head that collided with the tree.

"What in the world was that?" She asked herself the question before guiding the boy back to where they met the first time.

*

*

*

Callisto was unsure of what just happened back then. She couldn't help but ask herself if she really just jumped at a height that was double hers, if not more. Or maybe it was just a fluke?

Maybe the tree wasn't as tall as she thought it was.

The young lady thought that the golden glow in her eyes must have altered her perspective of things as a side-effect.

She returned to that empty lot the following day, only to find her initial thought to be false.

To reach that exact thick tree branch she collided with, it would take jumping at a height that doubles her own.

How?

Callisto was well aware of the answer to that simple question. And after that bike riding with Hinata and Elesis, there was no denying it.

*

*

*

A couple strong arms caught her before she fell down. Her gaze met Hinata's who caught her, concern etched on the young man's face.

"Are you all right?" He asked. "You stopped all of a sudden."

A nervous chuckle escaped Callisto's lips. "I'm sorry. Something entered my eye, but it's gone now."

Relief washed over the young man, but there was still a lingering concern on his face. "We can stop now if you want. You don't need to force yourself."

The young lady shook her head in response. "No, it's fine. I think I can do it now."

"Are you sure?" Elesis appeared beside Callisto, guilt etched on her features. "I'm sorry if I forced you into it."

"You didn't," Callisto replied, a confident smile tugging her lips. "I can do it."

During this entire conversation with Hinata and Elesis, Callisto never took her hands off the handlebar because she didn't want them to see it. She didn't want them to question what she just did.

Some time after she learned to ride the bike properly, after finding that moment when Hinata and Elesis was on their own rental bikes some distance away from her, Callisto stopped to look at the bike's handlebar.

The young lady's forehead crease with unease at the sight.

Both ends of the handlebar was crushed with enough force that Callisto left a vivid impression of her palms on it.

Since she realized what she had done, Callisto could only hope that the rental shop owner wouldn't notice it and suspect her.

Fortunately, things went the way Callisto had hoped. But there was no denying it.

The Mutated DNA Fusion worked a little too well, granting the young lady more than what she asked for.

Callisto, once a bedridden girl facing death's door, now stands with a mysterious power hidden within her.