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Chapter 10

The Next Day…

I sat down, eating cereal again. Liz had joined, but she was glaring at me. Oh carp…did she see me? I hope she didn't find out…

"Were you spying on us last night?" She finally asked.

Carp!

"What?" I raised an eyebrow. "No. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I swear I closed the door, but I found it was open a crack." She explained. "I also swear I heard breathing on the other side."

"You heard breathing?" I tilted my head. "How?!"

"So you were peeking!" She accused me.

"I was asking because of all the noise last night!" I responded. "How could you hear breathing?!"

"Noise?" She seemed confused. "What noise?"

"You know exactly what noise…" I shot her a dirty look.

"R-right…" She looked away from me. "Sorry I accused you of spying on us…"

"It's fine…" I sighed.

Wow…I'm getting good at lying my ass off.

"So I've been seeing a bunch of weird decorations outside." I noted. "What's that about?"

"Oh, Splatoween's coming this week!" She got excited. "It's a holiday where you celebrate the spooky stuff. Kids dress up to get candy and adults dress up and go to parties!"

"Huh, so it's a holiday." I remarked.

"Yeah." She confirmed. "What holidays do Octarians celebrate?"

"Eh, no places outside of Octo Valley and Octo Canyon really do holidays." I told her.

"Why not?" She seemed confused. "Holidays are times to celebrate."

"We can't afford to celebrate." I explained. "Most settlements don't have the resources to spare for holidays. Actually, we've been ditching a lot of our old cultural traditions for the sake of survival. I've seen old pictures of our society way back when and it's almost unrecognizable."

"That's sad…" She whined. "I hope that can change…"

"Probably won't." I lamented. "At least not for the better."

"Awww, Cassie…" She walked over and hugged me.

"Gaaaahhhh…again…" I tensed up.

"I just had an idea!" She told me.

"What?" I could tell there this was going.

"We can have Splatoween be your first holiday!" She told me. "I'll buy you a costume and everything!"

"Well that's uh…" Stupid. "Nice…"

"Oh, you'll love it!" She assured me. "When Greg's ready, we'll head straight to a Splatoween store!"

"Ooookay…" I wasn't sure.

Later…Phantom Splatoween…

This is an interesting store. Lots of creepy decorations and costumes. If I had a choice, I think I would browse a place like this every year just to look at everything. Liz and Greg took me to the costumes. Scott came to help out too.

"So what do you want?" Liz asked.

"Not sure." I had no idea what most of this stuff was.

"Well, there's Anglerfish, Hockey mask killer, police officer," She began listing.

"How about I try different stuff on to see what works?" I suggested.

"Great idea!" She agreed. "Okay guys, we'll have her try stuff on and see what we all think!"

"Kay." Greg and Scott said in unison.

Liz then picked out a few random costumes and gave them to me to try on.

A minute later, I came out in an anglerfish costume.

"I think I hate this." I said.

"Agreed." Liz said as she and the others nodded their heads.

Another minute later, I came out with the hockey mask killer outfit.

"Wait…Scott, didn't you say this mask was spots equipment?" I asked. "Why's a killer wearing it?"

"No idea." He shrugged.

"Too creepy!" Liz squealed. "Next!"

Another minute later, I came out in some in some kind of devil costume.

"This said…Hot Devil?" I told them.

Greg and Scott's eyes widened.

"That looks fine." Scott said.

"Yeah, go with that one." Greg agreed.

"Greg, do I have to teach you another lesson?" Liz glared at him.

"Next costume…" Greg whimpered.

A minute later, I came out with a witch costume on.

"That looks nice." Scott said.

"Shows off some leg, but keeps it tasteful." Greg added.

"You also look adorable!" Liz added.

"Well, I guess I'll wear this then." I agreed.

"So what now?" I asked.

"Well, we already have party plans, so you can be our +1." Greg told me. "For now, we can keep looking for your way home."

"R-right…" I nodded my head.

We bought the costume, a broom prop, and left the store.

"So what're you guys dressing as?" I wondered.

"I'm going as a vampire." Scott replied.

"I decided to go as a police officer." Greg told me.

"And I'm gonna wear a striped shirt, mask, and be the bank robber who just got caught." Liz said.

"Well, I know what you guys are gonna do when you get home on Splatoween night." Scott remarked.

"W-well, I may have to do research on witches." I said. "Get into character y'know?"

"Oh, I'll take you to the library!" Scott volunteered!

"That sounds good." I agreed.

Later…Inkopolis Public Library…

Huh…this place is very quiet. A lot of books here. Barely anyone here too. I guess most squids don't care for information.

"So basically witches cast magical spells." Scott explained. "They usually act evil, but some witches are good. They ride on flying brooms too."

"Well that's…" Boring. "Interesting…"

"You seem a little out of it." He noticed. "What's wrong?"

"This place is boring." I admitted.

"Heh, yeah." He nodded. "Honestly, I only come here when I need things I can't just find online."

"Like what?" I wondered.

"Well, it's nice to sit down and read a chapter book sometimes." He told me. "Also there's a nice novelty to libraries."

"Right…" I guess.

"…Are you thinking about home?" He wondered.

No, I'm thinking about where some Zapfish are.

"Yes." I answered. "It's kind of a dump, but it's the only one I've got."

"Maybe it won't be a dump someday." He suggested.

"It'll stay a dump forever." I told him. "Our leaders barely do anything and the Inklings'll never help us. Apparently Octarians have tried three times to get help, but to no avail."

"Maybe that can change." He tried remaining hopeful.

"The last time was around three years ago." I told him. "And it was a big one."

"What happened?" He was curious.

"We don't talk about it." I told him.

"…Well, I'll just borrow a couple books and movies to help you find a character to get into." He told me. "Feel free to browse the library."

"I think I'll just walk around the street for a bit." I told him. "This place is kinds boring."

"R-right…" He agreed. "Well, I'll meet you back at Greg's apartment."

"Kay." I waved him goodbye.

I started walking the streets for a bit. You'd think that all this walking around we've been doing would lead me to at least one…one…

Bingo.

It has light coming from it, it has a fence, and it has "Danger, High Voltage" written on it. This has to be the place.

Let's see…I remember the way to the park. And from the city map I've seen, where I am isn't too far. Darn it, I don't have my things with me. Luckily I've hidden the bag and rope. I'll wait for the perfect chance to take the Zapfish. They'll get too suspicious if I suddenly leave with all my things, so I'll wait until I can sneak out unnoticed.

Well, back to the apartment. I'll continue to play the lost little Octoling role for now.