Chapter 14: Absolution
Inkopolis Outskirts (Cass' POV)
I sat against the wall of a tall building on the Inkopolis Outskirts, watching the sun rise.
It was a cold autumn day, and I had nothing but my boots, shorts, and armor to cover me. I was shivering, slowly beginning to freeze over.
Why… Why… Why...
A single tear rolled down my face, freezing on the concrete under me.
I'm going to die up here before I can make it to them… what's the point of trying?
The wind picked up, howling as if it were laughing right at my dumbass.
Why did that squidheaded half-blood have to find my squad?
He called me to his office, how was it my fault?
The sun slowly began to rise over the frigid horizon.
I shouldn't have sent the guards away… why am I so damn stupid?
Why did I trust them? Elise would never change her schedule that quick…
And I'm the clever one…
I really am just the runt of the litter, aren't I?
Tears flowed down my face, and the chill in the air bit at my wet cheeks. I covered my face, half in shame, half in pain from the frigid wind. I sat there for a while, half frozen on the frigid streets of outer Inkopolis, a soon to be frozen river flowing out of me and on to the concrete. The runt would wither away in the freezing cold, with not even a mother to care for her.
But as I sat there, on the brink of death, I heard something. Two voices. Voices of the only two people I ever truly cared for. My two close friends, who stayed with me through thick and thin. One long gone, and one still living. They both had one question:
"How would a runt have made it this far?"
I raised my head, despite the sting in the air.
I sniffled, and gazed at the light over the horizon.
I stood up, and wiped the tears away.
I quietly thanked the only two friends I ever had, and made them a promise I would never break:
"Amanda, Jacqui, I'll make it, just for you two."
…
I silently made my way through Inkopolis, making sure to stay out of the light. The place was slowly starting to get warmer, so I guess the sun was helpful in that regard.
"youreamonster..."
"Huh?" I whipped around, but there was no one behind me. The entire place was silent. A chill ran down my spine.
It's just the wind Cass. Nothing to worry about.
I kept moving, checking behind my shoulder after every couple of minutes.
"You manipulated us…"
I stopped dead in my tracks. I knew that voice. I froze, paralyzed by memories turned nightmares. I knew what I'd been hearing now. My past had come to haunt me.
No, please oh Octo no… not them, please damnit! Octo help me...
"I thought we were friends!"
I turned around. I'd expected the worst, but I was nowhere near it. My eyes went wide at what I saw.
I dropped to the ground and threw up.
I tried to recollect myself, but I couldn't, the tears kept on flowing, even after the bile had stopped. I crawled away, my mind in a frenzy of regret.
Oh Octo, I'm sorry. I'm sorry to have ever known you, I'm so damn sorry... You were beautiful…
(An Hour Later)
Eventually, I collected enough fragments of myself to make it to the spot where the Hybrid had said the Splatoon HQ was located. I had to be quick, because in an hour the raid would start.
I tried to open the door, and surprise to say, it was unlocked. But, it was abandoned. I walked around for a bit, checking if anyone was home, but after a while I just decided to search for clues where they went.
I checked each of the rooms, none having anything noteworthy, but ironically, just as I was giving up hope, I found a crumpled sticky note in a box labeled "Leo's Stuff". I straightened out, and thanked Octo that I'd taught myself Inkish back in my recruit years.
If I remember it right, the note read "New HQ: Squidbeaks HQ is the building near Flounder Heights".
Ugh, this is gonna be a pain...
I left the building with the note in my pocket. Eventually, I found my way to Flounder Heights. A large, abandoned storehouse sat just next to it.
Looks like the place…
This time, I wasn't so lucky with the door, so I had to spend a bit of time to pick the lock. After a minute or two, I got it. It wasn't easy to pick a lock when you're a few minutes away from becoming a extra salty octosicle.
I entered and thought I might as well catch some sleep while I still could. I sat down in the nearest corner, slowly drifting off into sleep.
...
(Two Hours Later…)
"Holy Crab Cakes!" Someone shouted.
I woke with a start, faced with Cuttlefish and a couple of familiar faces, but scanning the group, I realized I hadn't seen one of them before.
He was a tall guy, probably another Hybrid, who was wearing some unique black, gold, and grey clothes.
I snapped back to full awareness, just as a familiar face walked in to the room.
"Cass, what are you doing here?" Beth growled, her shot pointed right at me.
"Avoiding being slaughtered by angry mobs." I said with a glare.
"Aww, did someone have a run in with the authorities?" Sarah remarked.
Huh, looks like the gang's all here.
"Nah, but actually... yeah… Not yours though…" I replied.
"The shell do you mean by that?" Beth asked.
"Well, my green haired friend, I'd love to tell you, but that shooter aimed straight at my forehead is making me a bit uncomfy." I told her.
She lowered her heroshot, murmuring under her breath.
"Much better." I said with a joking grin.
"Well, since you asked, what happened was your freak of nature over there escaped on my watch, thanks to you and your two pwecious widdle traitors over dere," I pointed to the two Octoling agents.
"so, the Hybrid escaped. And of course, since I basically handed her over to you, I got in big trouble. I got exiled out of the Octarian Military, and at this point, heading back into any Dome whatsoever is basically a death sentence, as I'd probably get gutted by an angry mob for borderline committing treason."
The room went silent for a while, but Beth then quietly said -with a venom I'd never seen from her before- :
"So, what's to stop us from handing you over and watching it happen?"
The big one looked at her in what I could only imagine to be disgust, before taking off his gas mas-Holy Octo above, is that a human?!
He looked at Beth, and furiously asked her:
"Are you playing with me right now? Is this all just a big goddamn joke to you, or are you being serious?"
He looked over at me, and began to walk over to me.
I think I'm gonna faint…
He reached a hand up to help me off the ground, and I accepted it.
"Let her speak, or I'll ensure they rip out your guts instead." He said as he looked back to Beth.
Well damn, if he insists...
"Well, if you must know, Beth, I do tend to give you guys a hard time in combat, armed or unarmed. And that's to put it lightly. Besides that, I'm sneaky, and clever enough to outshine most of you squidheads, not to mention I'm in the inner circle of a Province Commander."
"Was." She said with a roll of her eyes.
"Regardless," I said, "I think you guys would get a lot out of me joining the Splatoon. Plus, I'm an elite. I won't need training."
"Hmm," Cuttlefish was deep in thought. "You know what? Might as well. I don't see why not, so long as ya aren't going to start any trouble."
"And if you do," Beth said, "I'll personally strangle you with that rope of yours."
I grinned at that.
"What's so funny?" She asked.
"You remind me of a friend." I replied.
Cuttlefish finished the conversation.
"All right Cassandra, you're officially part of the New Squidbeak Splatoon! Head back to Flounder Heights with Jackson over here, you'll stay with him. I guess all missions planned on happening today will just go along as planned tomorrow... Have fun with yer free day, Splatoon."
Everyone left the building, either go enjoy a game or movie with friends, or to go shopping. I on the other hand, went to Flounder Heights to chat with a human.
(20 Minutes Later, Flounder Heights...)
"Hey, thanks for the help with Beth." I said to him after a long period of silence.
He looked up from his mask, sighed, and turned to face me.
"No problem. I'm just sorry for giving off a bad first impression."
"Eh, no worries." I moved a tentacle away from my eye.
"Life kicking me while I'm down isn't anything new… But, well… You on the other hand..."
"Heh, I'm quite a sight to behold, aren't I?" He flexed jokingly.
"Ha, yeah… How long have ya been here?" I asked.
"About a year and a half, but not much has happened. I'm not out and about all that often." He said.
Well that would explain why I haven't seen him at all…
"Have you been done anything during all that time?" I questioned.
He paused for a moment to think.
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Yeah…" I said, confused.
"Well, I'm kinda working on something that'll help your kind out, a lot."
"I'm interested…" I said.
"We have a group of engineers working on building fusion generators. Rough estimates would put them at enough energy to power an entire Octarian Dome -if not more-, and their scheduled release is a year and a half from now." He said.
Wait... the Inklings are helping us?
"Why are you guys trying to help us?" I asked.
"Well, me and the Splatoon are kinda the only ones who know about it, so public opinion isn't quite an issue yet... On a personal level though, I don't know. Maybe my heart of gold is starting to come back…"
He looked longingly out the window.
"I lost so much during that flood. My friends, my family, my people… all gone. Except for a few of us… I don't want you guys to just fade away like we did… You guys deserve so much more than what I can give you. You've resurrected hope for the future. The very least I can give you all, is peace."
A tear rolled down my cheek, and a genuine smile formed on my face.
"Thank you… you don't know how much this means…"
I gave him a hug, and let go. He went back to inspecting his mask, and as I layed in my bed, a thought snapped into my head.
" I can help, ya know..." I said to the Human.
"How so?" He seemed intrigued.
"Ok, I used to be part of the squad of a Province Commander. If you can help me get my squad on our side, we can help convince the Octarians that this is the right path, and on a side note, I'll get to see my friends again." I said.
"Alright, I'll talk to Cuttlefish and the Splatoon, and we'll see what we can do."
I gave him a huge hug, and while crying into his chest, all I could say was:
"Thank you… Thank you… Thank you…"