I really need to get round to finishing Memory's Prison, but this idea just refused to get out of my head. So now you're getting a distant sequel to Misha the Giant, which will be pre-emptively M-rated, as at some point it'll get very dark, very quickly. Enjoy.
Two figures sat each side of a table. One was an urchin with grey-tipped red spines wearing a guard's uniform. The other was an Inkling wearing a suit, flecks of green glittering in his golden eyes. His crimson tentacles were tied behind his head. The guard met his gaze and let out a deep sigh.
"You want to talk to her."
"Yes."
"You are aware that she isn't who she was, given what happened a year ago?"
"I'm aware."
"And what exactly do you hope to achieve by talking to her?"
"Truth as to what happened before, and what's happening now. You've heard of the latest string of missing person reports?"
"Yes."
"Well, I believe she can help, if she still has knowledge of the events that transpired last year."
"I need you to read this then."
The urchin slid a piece of paper across the table, and the suited Inkling signed it, sliding it back over. Sighing again, the guard stood up.
"Follow me."
The urchin led the Inkling into a circular room with a glass wall leaving about a meter of space between it and the outer wall. A door was set into the glass, and the urchin unlocked it. They stepped into another glass corridor, the next door diametrically opposite to where they just came in. The urchin slid the key into the next one and pushed it open. As the inkling stepped inside, he grabbed his shoulder.
"Don't let her talk her way into her head. She has a habit of tormenting people."
"Got it. Thank you, officer."
The Inkling stepped inside and saw another glass wall. This time, the space behind was filled with mist. The guard shut the door behind the Inkling as he approached the glass cage. He tried to look through the glass, but found that the mist blocked his view.
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
Silence. The Inkling paced around the cage, seeing nothing but white inside all the way around. Then, a distinctly female voice rang out.
"You're new... I haven't smelled you before."
The officer's voice range out.
"We keep her in water vapour so she doesn't get too feisty between visits."
"Officer Hizo, this is not my normal visitor."
"Be quiet, Gemini."
"Hizo, can you remove the mist? I want to see her. Let me see Gemini."
"One moment."
A hissing filled the cage as the mist began to dissipate, the visibility slowly raising as the mist vanished. A pair of feet, bound to the centre of the cage became visible, followed by legs. A straight jacket came into view followed by the bottom of a muzzle. Gemini stood, and the Inkling gasped. Placing his hands on the glass. The last of the mist cleared, and "Gemini" looked at him with a neutral expression.
"Tell me your name."
"I'm not going to-"
"Tell me your name."
He looked at the camera in the room, and got no response. He turned to "Gemini".
"My name is Vytus, but you already knew that, Marie."
The golden eyes he had fallen in love with were no longer the same colour. They had tarnished, and appeared dull, clear strands of black trailing from the edge of her eyes to her cross-shaped pupils.
"Vytus..." She inhaled again, closing her eyes as she did so. "With the mist gone... I do recognise your smell."
"You remember me?" Vytus leant on the glass, tears threatening to overcome him. Marie leant her head on the glass, her tarnished eyes staring into his.
"You smell delicious."
Vytus' hope evaporated in an instant, and tears dropped to the ground.
"You don't remember, do you?"
"Yes. I would never forget something as delectable as you."
Vytus ran a finger over his arm, shuddering at a memory. Marie returned to the centre of her cage, sitting on the single chair that occupied the room with her. Vytus remained standing.
"Marie, have you heard the news?"
"Do you see a screen in here, Vytus?"
He winced. Her tongue was as sharp as ever.
"Never mind. In short, there's been a series of disappearances that match the descriptions of the disappearances that occurred last year. Signs of a struggle, no remains of the victim or the assailant. I understand that you were a victim, in one instance. Can you tell us about it?"
"You may want to sit down, Vytus." Hizo opened the door and carried a chair in before leaving. Vytus eyed Marie with suspicion before sitting. "This is a long story."
-One Year Ago, Two Years After Atra's Imprisonment-
-Flounder Heights-
Callie walked through the apartment she shared with Marie, taking a deep breath before opening the door. Inside, Marie was lying on her bed, her eyes red with tears and an empty box of tissues next to her. She was lying in the foetal position, her arms clutching her knees to her chest. A beautifully written letter lay on the desk. Stepping around the plates and cups strewn across the floor, Callie sat on the bed, gently stroking Marie's head. The latter's suit was stained with inky tears.
"I miss them too."
The pair sat there for a while, sobbing into each other's arms. Captain Cuttlefish and Misha the giant had both been taken from them in a callous attack from the leftover remnants of the Blue Ring- the final two operatives had poisoned Cuttlefish and dismembered Misha before freezing the remains and shattering them, snatching them away from the sisters forever. The two operatives had not left the apartment alive; their insides had taken hours to clean away. However, today had been the funeral. Callie and Marie had kept it together through the service and had been the ones to light the match for each burial boat. One the way back, however, Marie had totally lost it, retreating to her room and very audibly crying her eyes out. She was beyond consolation, so Callie had simply left her to it, bringing her the occasional plate of food and drink. Marie's sobs had grown quiet as Callie continued to stroke her head, reduced to sniffing and shaking.
"Hey, if you don't feel up to it, I can do the news report myself for the next few days."
She was met with a few whimpers in response. Callie leant down, listening.
"S... Sure..."
"I'll be back soon."
Callie left the room, taking a deep, shuddering breath before getting changed out of her funeral attire and putting on a more cheery dress. She left the apartment, making sure to lock the door behind her before she super jumped to Inkopolis, walking into the studio and sprucing up before standing in front of the camera. The anemone behind the camera counted her in. Callie plastered a fake smile onto her face.
"Hold onto your tentacles, it's Inkopolis news time! Now, you may notice that Marie isn't here. We've had a bit of a personal problem that she's having a little trouble dealing with. Please give her some space for the time being."
She waited for the audio cue that was the screen behind her before talking through the stages. When she was cleared, she stepped outside, buying some essentials before jumping back to the apartment. She immediately went back into Marie's room, sitting down with her and embracing her.
"We can get through this. We can get through this."
She never told her cousin, but when Callie was off doing her news reports, Marie left the apartment, strolling around the parks surrounding Flounder Heights. She found it easier to think on her own in the cold air, her breath condensing into mist in front of her. She followed a less trodden path into a clearing and sat on the bench there- her own personal area, where she couldn't be touched. She closed her eyes and shivered slightly, allowing the cold to numb her fingers slightly before she crammed her hands in her pockets, warming them up again before repeating the process. It was almost therapeutic, much like meditation for her as she played her memories of Cuttlefish and Misha over in her head, the tears coming again as the cold truth hit her again- she would never hear their voices again, never hear them laugh, or argue or boast about their exploits in the field. They were both completely insane, but they were family. Marie's sobs filled the clearing, tiny plumes of mist floating from her tears as they ran down her face. Her head shot up when she heard a twig snap, two pale hands held above a mass of tentacles. Marie's eyes widened as an Octoling stumbled into the clearing, collapsing onto her knees while keeping her hands in the air.
"Please..." She said. "Help us."
The Octoling collapsed, and Marie still sat there, wide-eyed and on the brink o catatonia as another hand entered the clearing, checking the vitals of the one who had collapsed. With shaking hands, Marie had called Callie, almost screaming when her cousin landed next to her, unsure as to what to make of the scene before her. With a sigh, she had held out a hand to them, offering to help carry the unconscious Octoling into Inkopolis' hospital.
The refugees had trickled in after that, Octarians who had been forced into service now free of the Blue Ring's tyranny, all because of a chance encounter in a clearing. Needless to say, Callie had ensured Marie either stayed inside of went with her when she went out.
A few days later, Marie was back on-set, giving her usual snappish retorts to Callie's comments. She was by no means recovered, but she was at least functioning with some degree of normality. The next few reports, however, had Callie worried. She wasn't sure how her cousin would react to the news of kidnappings.
"Five minutes."
"Got it."
Callie walked over to Marie, reports in hand. She was staring into her drink, lost in thought again. She sat across from her, placing her hands around hers.
"Hey, are you sure you want to do these reports? There's some pretty distressing stuff here."
Looking up from her drink, she read the papers.
"I'll be fine."
"You sure? I know you're still a bit... Iffy with stuff like this."
"I'll be fine, Callie."
"Alright, if you say so. We're on in..." She checked her phone. "Four minutes."
After doing some breathing exercises to make sure she didn't hyperventilate on-screen, Marie stepped in front of the camera and nodded. Their opening theme played.
"Hold onto your tentacles..." Callie started.
"It's Inkopolis news time!" Marie finished.
"Before we announce the stage rotation, we have an important piece of news."
Marie took a deep breath, the screen behind her lighting up with the faces of six missing Inklings.
"These Inklings are missing. There is a kidnapper on the loose."
"If you have any sort of useful information, don't hesitate to inform the authorities."
They finished the rest of their report, Marie rushing outside once the camera had switched off. Callie trailed behind her.
"You okay?"
"I... I almost lost it there."
She sniffed, and Callie embraced her.
"Hey, come on. You're better than this."
"M-miss Marie?"
The sisters' heads shot up, Callie directing an absolutely filthy glare at the Octoling who had approached. The poor creature faltered, fear evident in her neon eyes. Callie noticed the CD in her hands, recognising the cover art to be their own.
"I-I'm sorry, I-I-I really shouldn't have come here..."
Marie looked up, saw the CD, and softened.
"N-no, it's fine. Come on, come closer."
The Octoling looked between the friendly look Marie was giving her and the hard glare of Callie before taking a small step forward, holding the CD forward.
"I was hoping you could sign this..."
"Hey, we'd be happy to... Right Callie?"
Marie gave her cousin a warning glance. The latter patted herself down and produced a marker pen, handing it to Marie. The Octoling's eyes lit up when she saw it. Marie took hold of the CD.
"Who am I making this out to?"
"Oh! Uh, Mira..."
"To... Mira..." Marie spoke unconsciously as she wrote. "Enjoy... We hope... You always... Enjoy our music."
Marie signed it, Callie following suit before the former handed it back to Mira, who clutched the box to her chest and gave a quick bow.
"Thank you s-so much" she stuttered before running off, Marie's smile persisting even as thoughts of the recent kidnappings sprung to mind.
I'm sure we'll solve that problem soon.
The sisters decided to walk back the Flounder Heights, the hundreds of Inklings that hung around the plaza keeping a respectful distance away, to Callie's confusion and satisfaction. They carried on walking even as the snow began to fall, the flakes causing a slight tingle of pain where they hit exposed flesh. They walked in silence, Callie not willing to distract Marie from her thoughts- the latter was clutched onto Callie's arm, her eyes closed and a small smile on her face. Callie smiled too; she was fairly sure this was the first time she had seen her cousin smile since the funeral.
The silence was shattered when Marie's phone burst into life, the shrill tone carrying through the frigid air. Her eyes opened, and she dug the device from her pocket, checking the name before holding it up to her ear, immediately moving her head away when an excited voice crackled through.
"Marie? Where are you? I'm stood outside your apartment!"
With barely a second's hesitation, Marie super jumped, Callie rolling her eyes and following after her. Inside, outside the door to their apartment, was a green-haired girl in a suit and trench coat restlessly pacing up and down the corridor, an enormous gun sat by the wall. Her eyes lit up when she saw the sisters, and she ran forward, trapping Marie in a crushing hug. She laughed.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't stay around after the funeral, I was just so busy." She released Marie, ignored Callie's protests and embraced her too. "How are you both?"
Marie let out a short sigh. "I'm... Recovering, still. It's been hard."
She unlocked the door to the apartment and waved the smaller girl inside, sitting her down at the table while Callie locked up again.
"Can I get you anything to drink, Corlu?"
"Sure, juice'll be fine."
Marie set a glass of juice down and sat down across from Corlu with a drink of her own.
"So, what've you been doing, Corlu? Have you got a job?"
She smiled.
"Two, actually. In my free time, I'm on-call for across-the-phone counselling for the refugees. But, the rest of the time..." She placed a metallic badge on the table, a stylised "SI" embossed on an octogram of steel. Marie gasped. A wreath surrounded the two letters.
"You became a Senior Investigator in just two years?"
Callie's head popped around the corner.
"She did what?"
She walked over to the table and sat down, gesturing for Corlu to continue.
"Yeah, once all that stuff with Atra had been sorted, I may have applied to the forces to do part-time training. Turns out I'm a bit of a prodigy. They said I only had to pass my final exams to become an investigator, and I got a distinction in both. Since then I've been working in the field."
Marie was shocked. Callie looked shocked. Corlu looked smug.
"That's amazing! Well, well done to you!" Marie leaned forward. "So what's your latest case?"
"We've been on the trail of the kidnapper you mentioned in the news today. It's pretty nasty stuff. Do you want me to continue?"
"Sure, by all means."
"Alright, if you say so. Basically, there have been six kidnappings so far. All happened on the same night, but in opposite parts of town. That means that there must be an organisation at work. In each of the houses, there were signs of a struggle and no trace of the victim. No ink, nothing. But, at each crime scene, there was a weird black liquid. Now, you cannot tell anyone I showed you this."
She reached into her pocket and set down a vial of thick, black liquid. Marie picked it up, arching a brow at how heavy it was before setting it down.
"Do you know what it is?"
"No, but we have picked up traces of Batrachotoxins and Tetrodotoxins in there. It's nasty stuff. We haven't found any bodies yet, so we don't know if this is murder, or a kidnapping. But we're treating it like it could become a mass-murder, since poison is one of the two things we know of that can kill an Inkling permanently, the other being ice."
The trio sat in silence for a few seconds before Callie spoke.
"New subject! Corlu!" She slammed her hand down on the table, leaning forward. "Is there anyone else in your life?"
"No, not at the moment. I've just been too busy. However..." She gave a sidelong glance at Callie. "I've seen you walking around before with quite the sharp-looking man." She wiggled her eyebrows while Callie gasped and blushed.
"He's not my- forget it. Yes, I'm going for him."
Her head hit the table in embarrassment. Corlu and Marie laughed.
"Do we get to hear his name?"
"No!"
"Does it start with a Z?"
"No."
"Y?"
"No."
"X?"
"No."
"W?"
"No.
"V?"
"N-no."
"Ah-ha! It does start with a V!"
"If it tell you his name, will you stop?"
"Oh, of course! We're all girls here."
"Vytus."
"He sounds… exotic."
"He's not from Inkopolis, alright? Can we please stop talking about it now?"
"Sure, sure." Both Marie and Corlu stifled giggles.
It's been too long. Marie thought. Too long since we've sat together like this.
"We should really do this more often. I mean, seriously. We have so much to catch up on right now." Marie explained.
"Well…" Corlu started. "My line of work keeps me very busy, as you know. I don't get a lot of time in Inkopolis. But I'm sure we'll be seeing each other more often now."
"Do you want to stay here for the night, Corlu?"
"Awww, you're too kind! I'll take you up on that. It means we can keep talking." She leaned in close and whispered loudly. "And needle Callie for info on her new boyfriend."
"He's- ugh!"
Callie left the room, and Marie and Corlu burst out laughing again.
And there you have the first chapter. Please let me know your opinion in the Reviews, and if you think something was done badly, please let me know what, so I don't make the same mistake again.
