I felt like I was drowning and no matter what I did I couldn't get out of the water. I opened my eyes; everything was really bright and blurry.
"Hey! Its wake!" a voice startled me. I blinked a couple of times to see two octolings right in front of me. I swam back into a wall.
"Aww, don't be scared. I'm a doctor! My name's Connie." She tried to grab me, but I swam away. She trapped me into the corner and picked me up. I struggled to get away. She started scratching the back of my left fin. I instantly become calmer, for some reason it felt so inking good. I leaned into her hand as she scratched it.
"There's that a good boy!" Connie smiled, "you were right! He really likes this!"
"You aren't going to kill me?" I asked.
"No, of course not! You're our new pet! A talking squid!" She began examining me.
"Errr... most inklings can speak... wait, you..." I looked at the other Octoling, "You! You're Aliv-"
She quickly held my beak shut.
"SHHH!"
"So Sleeping Beauty decides to wake up after all..." Chomp walked into the room with some other Octolings, "Well, your friends aren't here yet... So that makes you our prisoner..."
"And if they never come?" I asked, "What's going to happen to me?"
"Well, we can always eat you..." Jet replied, "I hear Squids are actually tasty..."
"That's not funny!" Connie hugged me, "He's our pet! We don't eat pets!"
"Aww, not even if we cut off his tentacle?" Jet licked her lips. I started to shake, as she got closer.
"Relax, squid, we are ladies of our words. We said we wouldn't harm you so we won't." The Octoling in the mask replied, "Still you will be staying here in a cell."
"Ummm, actually I wanted to know something... What's your deal?" Chomp asked playing with her tentacle, "Why doesn't-"
"Anyone care that about a inkling getting taken?" I finished her sentence, kinda knew this was coming, "Well, honestly I guess, you chose me out of all the others."
"You?"
"I am called one of most pathetic Inkling who has ever lived. I can't play turf war or rank battles. I can only brought others despair and misfortunes. Everyone tells me this, everyday, whenever possible. I am not welcomed into the city. Even my family hates me..."
"Wait, that's not possible..." Connie replied, "Families' love each other no matter what... isn't that right, Aria?"
Aria stayed quiet. As all the Octolings looked at each other.
"You are lucky... If your family has taught you that, then I guess I have no family. I only have Nana and Cuddlefish. We aren't family though. Nana takes good care of me, but only so Callie and Marie's careers don't get ruined. Cuddlefish sometimes can't be there for me. I have live without knowing what "family love" is, but I guess that is not really an issue. I gotten this far..."
"Then why?" Chomp crossed her arms, " You could have easily let us destroy everything, and go along with our plans. Why did you save them if they brought so much pain to you?"
"Yes, why did I? I am not sure myself. All I can tell you is I made a promise, a long time, and I plan to keep that promise."
"A promise? Huh, you sure are weird, squid." The surfer rubbed her head.
"OH!" Connie suddenly exclaimed, "Tillie you promised to tell me what was the differences between males and females."
"eh?" I stared at Connie blankly, "but aren't you a doctor? Shouldn't you know?"
"Well, the octarian race are mainly all female, there was only one male our father. I have never had to check him. He said it would be weird... So are you gonna tell me, now?"
All of the Octoling except for Aria looked awkwardly at each other.
"Males have shorter tentacles, thicker eyebrows, and a different reproductive organ..." Aria bluntly answered, "I believe their squid or octopus forms are slightly smaller than the female's."
"ARIAA!" the others cried and she tilted her head.
"A different reproductive organ, huh?" her eyes twinkled with curiosity, "Hey, Squiddie, you are a male right? Can I see it?"
"WHAT NO!" I turned red, as I tried to escape her, "I-I CAN'T!"
"Oh, because you're in squid form? Here, I'll fix that!" She placed me down and quickly threw soapy water at me. I instantly changed back.
"Wha- HOW?"
"Nevermind that, Show me! It's for science! Please, Squiddie!"
"NO!" I ran around the room and she chased after me.
"COME ON SQUIDDIE! IT'S FOR SCIENCE!"
"What are you trying to do to our baby sister!?" Tillie glared at Aria, "She's too young for this!"
"Well, she asked and I answered. She was bound to learn about this sooner or later..."
"GOTCHA!" She jumped on to my back, "Aria, where is it supposed to be?"
"Same location as the female's"
"ARIIIAAAA!" They scrambled to Connie and separated us.
They dragged me into a room and threw me in. The whole room was cover with glass. One of the walls showed the other room, where they could watch me. There was a small bed, a table, and a door, probably to the bathroom. I sat there in relief as Connie whined on the other side of the glass.
"That's not fair..." Connie complained, "This was for science and medical purposes..."
"Connie, you are too young for stuff like that!" Chomp rubbed her temples.
"But SCIENCE..."
"You're not old enough..."
"But I'm a doctor... what if he broke it? How will I fix it?"
"Don't worry about it, I'll just chop it off!" Jet smirked at me.
I gulped and backed up into the bed. She held a very sharp knife, and got closer. I jumped under the bed shaking. Tillie sighed and sat down in a chair.
"Look, you will have to wait until your older, okay? All of us are female anyways, so we don't need to worry about it." She suggested.
"It shouldn't break anyways... I mean it not like they have bones anyways..." Wavie replied.
"But I know what they are used for... I just have no idea what it looks like... You guys drew all over my medical books about it..." Connie puffed up her cheeks, "But fine, have it your way."
"Hey, let's drown him!" Jet pushed on a button and water started to fill my room. I started to freak out and tried to climb on the tallest thing in the room, which happened to be the bed. When the water filled my room I changed into a squid and was totally fine.
"HAHAHA... Oh my god, you shoulda seen your face, Hahaha..."
I glared at her as I swam closer to the glass wall separating us. I head-butted the glass because I couldn't see it. Jet continued to laugh at me. Connie tapped on the glass and I swam down to her level.
"It's invisible ink mixed with distilled water, you won't drown if you turn into a squid." She explained, "Oh, are you hungry?"
"Yeah, I actually am," I gurgled.
"Okay! I heard you guys are more predator-like so, here!"
She released live fishes into my room. I stared at them dumbfounded as they swam around me. I mean I like fish, but this is pushing it quite a bit.
"Go on! Go get'em!" She stared at me with such cute eyes. I couldn't tell her no. I chased after one and caught it. I held it in my mouth. The way it squirmed and swam in my mouth, made me feel sick. I just released it... I couldn't do it...
"Hey, what wrong?" Connie asked.
"I- I like fish, but I don't eat it like swimming around me. Sorry, but do you have any cooked food..."
"OH! Huh, it says here that inklings were more predatorial... I thought you guys hunted your foods. I guess that information was wrong... opps. I guess you didn't have to go out and catch all these fishes, Wavie."
"Nah, fishing's relaxing, no skin off my back... Still, surfing's much better" Wavie replied watching the fishes swim around me.
"Hey, you squid.." Till looked at me.
"I have a name, you know..." I replied, "Corol is my name."
"Yes, well Corol. Umm did you actually mean it back there?"
"Mean what?"
"You know about how other inklings, well, hate you."
"Well, I don't expect you to believe me... After all I can only image what on earth they did you guys to make you guys so angry..."
"So, you don't know what happened two years ago?"
"Two years ago, huh? Well, the Great Zapfish disappeared for awhile but then it magically came back. My whole life was pretty much in the toilet by then."
"You don't know how the Zapfish disappeared?" Chomp asked coming closer to the glass.
"No, I just saw the news about it, but nobody seemed to really worry too much about it."
"What? But why not? That fish seemed to be pretty important..." Wave suggested.
"Well, everyone was getting ready for the Inkopolis Great Ink Tournament. It was so big, because it was gonna be the first one to be broadcasted world-wide. Everyone was training, playing Turf War, and Rank Battles like no tomorrow. I guessing nobody really noticed, since a lot of the fish's energy was stored already."
"Wait, so what about you? Were you going to play too?" Connie asked.
"I-I was... I was training so hard... I even had Cuddlefish's help before she disappeared... I wanted to make him proud of me. Even a smallest smile would have been enough. I was an idiot to think it would have been easy for me..." I sunk to the floor and sat down.
"But why?"
"That night before the tournament, my father confronted me about it. He proceeded to laugh at me, and told me it was a waste of time. He broke down my spirit, but I was so determined to make him proud that I stood my ground. He got so fed up with me that he locked me into the basement. It was so cold, and I wasn't able to sleep. He released me in the morning, but I wasn't able to full heartedly fight. As a result, no matter whose side I was on, I brought them down. All of them lost because of me."
"But, that's horrible... That wasn't your fault!"
"Wasn't it? He always told me, "It's all your fault, everything..." so it must be true..." I curled up into a ball, "Soon everyone, acted like him. I was the problem, the flaw, the ugliness of Inkopolis. Nobody wanted anything to do with me. I had to learn the hard way that I was supposed to be alone. I can't rely on others; they will all just leave one day. Now, I guess probably wait for you guys to leave too, once you get what you want from me."
"But... that's..." Tillie was lost for words.
"That's true. It's sad but true." Aria replied, "You have nothing to do with our mission."
"Aria..."
"I'm sorry, Till. There isn't anything we can do for him." Chomp replied, "He will be here until we get father back, after that he will not longer be necessary."
Till bit her lip, and looked sadly at me. Everyone left the room except for Till and Connie. Connie walked up to the glass putting her hand on the glass.
"There is something, I mean to ask you..." She began, "What are you going to do after we let you go? You aren't going to... kill yourself... are you?"
"I considered it... It would be one less flaw to Inkling kind wouldn't it? Maybe everyone would be better off-"
"SHUT UP!" Till suddenly yelled at me, "Nobody would be better off! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here! You saved me even though I was the enemy! You never told me why! Why were you so sure?"
"..." I uncurled myself and looked at her, "I just couldn't let you die... I just- I don't know... that song... was a promise you needed to keep, right? I just wanted to you to keep that promise."
"You are stupid..." she leaned back on the chair.
"I said I considered it, I wasn't going to kill myself. I have a promise to keep too..."
"That still doesn't answer, my question..."
"I told you I don't know! I just, can't explain it..."
"Until you tell me... I won't leave you..."
"Huh?"
"I won't leave you alone until you tell me. That's my promise to you."
I didn't know what to say or how to react to her. She looked up and away from me. There was an awkward silence between us. Connie giggled and broke the silence.
"You guys... like each other don't you?" She asked.
"WHAT HIM?! HECK NO!" Till denied, "I would rather live with sea urchins in a tight bottle!"
"But you're both turning red! Hehehehe..."
"I barely know her!" I puffed up my body.
"Connie, we are just...uhh..."
"Friends?"
"Yes, we are just friends..."
"Sure, Sure, you guys are just, friends..." Connie giggled and ran off.
Till sped walked after her. I sat there in my room filled with invisible ink. I decided to chase after the fishes. I wasn't going to eat them, so might as well play with them.
"So you will stay with me until I tell you something I don't know either. Is that another way of saying you will be always there for me?"
It made me smile. I felt warm inside and I guess I am a bit embarrassed. I still had my doubts, but they can't bring me down now. I just wanted to see how it played out... Your promise...