Chapter 9

Another day has come and gone. More inklings come to the city. Old ones leave. New fighters join the ranks. Some of the big timers become champions, moving worldwide for tournaments.

Amber was watching this all with a sharp eye on one of the buildings. It has been over a month since she joined the Agency. She was quickly catching up with the others in skill… or maybe just Callie and Marie. Amber was still NOWHERE close to reaching Ika's level yet.

They had managed to get enough Zapfish back from the Octarians to begin turf wars once more, but there were still many places that needed powering. At least five more districts needed Zapfish before they would be done. Not to mention the Great Zapfish, so they can redistribute the ones currently running the Battle Tower.

Deciding she's been sightseeing long enough, Amber stands up and jumps off the building. She spreads her arms out as she falls, then quickly flips around so she is face up. She lands in a small crate of hay taken from the country, and then quickly jumps out of it. She walks along the street, no one noticing her and no one paying her any mind.

Hands in pockets, Amber was simply walking for now. She was planning to go to the Cabin later, but for now she just wanted to look around. So she does just that, her head moving around and taking in the district she found herself in.

"Excuse me, young miss?" Amber blinks and turns around. She frowns and tilts her head, an eyebrow raising in confusion.

Behind her was an old inkling, VERY old in her opinion. He had pure white hair, along with a long beard and glasses sitting in front of his large eyes. He was wearing an old pair of shorts, along with a basic t-shirt with the Squid Sisters logo on it that looked a little too big for him. He was also using a cane that looked suspiciously like a Bamboozler to walk around.

The old inkling smiles, or it looks like it from the way his eyes close and crinkle. "Excuse me miss, but I am trying to find my way to Inkopolis Square. Could you perhaps help me on my way there?"

Amber blinks, then shrugs. "Sure. I was heading there anyway."

The old man nods in understanding and says "Very convenient then. Thank you very much." Amber just nods, and the two begin walking along the street.

For a while they were silent. Then, the old inkling springs a question out of nowhere. "So, young miss, I saw you do that little hop of your's to get onto the buildings. What's a squiddo like you using a technique like that?"

Amber freezes momentarily, the question completely taking her off guard. She turns to the old man and says "H-How did you see me?"

The old man chuckles, looking forwards like he wasn't even talking to her. "This old man's seen many things. A little one like you trying to sneak around isn't much different. Although, me being a part of the army in my good 'ole days helps."

Amber frowns at the explanation. Ika did say the technique was used by army officials and soldiers, evident by even the octoling grunts knowing the move. If this was true, then it should be no surprise that this old man knows how to do it.

She sighs, knowing she was caught red handed, and says "A friend taught it to me. I can't say much more than that."

The old inkling nods in understanding. "I see. That isn't a move to be taken lightly, so you are naturally wanting to keep it a secret."

Before Amber can even respond, the older inkling suddenly says "Ah! Here we are!"

Amber looks up and blinks in surprise. They were at the Inkopolis Square. When did they get here?

The old man turns to her and says "Thank you very much for bringing me here young miss. Although, I don't think I ever caught your name."

Amber tilts her head, then says "My name is Amber."

The old man smiles and says "What a pleasant name. My name is Craig." He turns around and begins walking away. Amber does so as well, but then she hears something else. "Craig Cuttlefish."

She freezes mid step and turns around quickly. However, she didn't see the old man. She looks around a bit, then turns around slowly. She frowns as her thoughts instantly begin piecing together everything she just found out.

The old man knew of her hopping technique. He saw her when she was using it. He was in the army. He was going to the Square, where the grate to the Cabin is. And, to top it all off, he said his name was Cuttlefish. She had no doubts. This old man was related to the Squid Sisters and Ika somehow.

With this thought in mind, she jumps into the grate that she found herself at. She had some questions to ask Ika now. She certainly hoped he would answer them.

As she goes through the grate, she gets equipped with her agent gear. She is deposited in the lookout, and she is about to go find Ika, when she pauses. She could hear some elevated voices, and it sounded suspiciously like arguing.

Thoughts put to the side, she moves closer to the cabin where the voices originated from. As she got closer, she could hear them more clearly. Luckily, they didn't seem too focused on being quite like the first time she came here.

"She needs to do things on her own Marie! I can't constantly have you trying to baby her on the field!"

"I know this Ika! But… I can't let another agent die! Not after Daniel…"

"Look, I'm sorry, but if you want her to survive, she needs to continue on her own. She needs to become her own agent!"

"But… she's so young! She can't go out on her own!"

"It's been a MONTH Marie! A MONTH! Just let her go already!"

"I… I just CAN'T!"

"My Kami, why can't you just FUCKING AGREE WITH ME FOR ONCE?!"

Amber gasps quietly in surprise. Ika never cursed like that. He only did it when making a mistake or he was REALLY angry. Evident by the sudden lack of voices, Marie knew this as well.

"..."

"M-Marie… I-I…"

"Don't. I know. Another nightmare?"

"..."

"What caused it this time?"

"...Just a mission. It's nothing big."

"Ika… let's ignore this for now. Please. You need to rest."

"I… fine. We will continue this conversation later though."

"That's fine. Just… go cool yourself off."

Amber hears the door open, and she quickly backs up from the cabin. Ika walks out, breathing in and out deeply, obviously from his unintended outburst and frustration. He turns to her, raises an eyebrow, and says "You heard that?"

Amber just nods. She knew better than to lie to Ika. He was the espionage expert for a reason. Ika sighs, then says "Go talk to Marie. I… need to rest." And without another word, he walks to the grate and leaves to Inkopolis.

The younger inkling looks at the direction he went in worry, and then she turns to the cabin. She walks slowly to the cabin, then tentatively opens the door. Inside she sees Marie, mask down, and looking very worried and deep in thought.

"M-Marie? Is everything alright?" Marie jumps slightly in surprise, then looks at the door. There she sees Amber, frowning in worry and looking at her shyly. "Just like the child she is."

Marie sighs and says "Everything is fine. But… you heard everything, didn't you?"

Amber once more found herself amazed at her superiors' observation skills. She was certain she was hidden. But for now, that wasn't important. "I heard you arguing with Ika. I heard something about nightmares. Is he alright?"

Marie's body slumps and she says "He… just has some issues with a past event. It gives him nightmares. But if you want the details, you have to ask him. It isn't my place to say anything."

Amber frowns, then nods slowly. She could understand that. But with that out of the way, she only had one other thing on her mind. "Why don't you trust me?"

Marie looks up at her in confusion. "Don't trust you?"

Amber fidgets a bit, then walks into the cabin completely. "I heard you arguing with Ika. Why don't you trust me with my abilities?"

Marie eyes the younger inkling, then sighs in exhaustion. "It isn't like that Amber."

Amber frowns and seems to look at her accusingly. "But it is, isn't it? Just because I'm younger, you think I can't do things on my own!"

Marie looks up and tries to respond, but Amber's anger was rising. "I CAN do things on my own! I don't need help! I don't need you to baby me!"

Marie looks at her in surprise, wondering where this outburst came from. She tries once more to answer, but Amber was gone now in her rage. "Just STOP! I try my hardest! Just give me a chance, please!"

"A-Amber… I-I… um…" Amber glares at her and says "If it's that hard to agree, then I am leaving."

With that, Amber storms out of the room. Marie is left looking at the door, dumbfounded. She puts her head in her hands and shakes her head in worry. "Marie, just what have you done this time?"

Amber reenters the square and begins running. Tears were falling, and she was sniffling quite a bit.

The citizens look at her in confusion and slight worry as she passes by. She doesn't care. She didn't care. She didn't care!

She wipes the tears away and runs into a nearby alley, ignoring the looks she was drawing to herself. She doesn't see where she was going in her tear-filled sadness, and ends up tripping on a piece of scrap. She falls onto the ground, but other than a small grunt, she doesn't react.

She curls into a tight ball, still sobbing to herself. She sniffles and says "S-Stupid M-Marie. I-I just w-wanna help."

The young inkling didn't know how long she was there for. Eventually she pushed herself against the wall and simply stared at the wall, her knees pulled up and used as a rest for her head. If she had to guess the time from the light levels though, she'd say she was there for at least an hour.

"Hm? Amber?" Amber looks to the side with bloodshot eyes, and sees Callie there. The older inkling was looking at her in surprise, and worry. Obvious worry.

Amber looks away, wanting Callie to just leave her alone. She makes a small noise of annoyance when she hears Callie move closer.

The pop star sits next to Amber and says "Amber? What's wrong?"

Amber turns her head away more. "It's nothing…"

Callie frowns and says "But it isn't. I can tell. I'd like to help, but I can't if you don't tell me why you are upset."

Amber looks back at Callie and stares, looking for signs of deceit. Any sign of deception in her expression. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't find any.

Amber looks down and says "It was Marie."

Callie snorts softly and says "What'd she do this time?"

Amber looks at Callie in slight confusion, but then pushes her thoughts to the side. She looks down again and remembers what happens. "M-Marie said… I couldn't do things on my own. That I-I needed help."

Callie frowns and says "I can understand that being upsetting, but why are you crying about it?" When Amber doesn't respond, Callie says "There's more, isn't there?"

Amber doesn't respond again. Callie is just about to speak up, when Amber decides to say something. "Back before I came to Inkopolis, I was in an orphanage. I didn't know who my mom or dad were, and I never bothered finding out."

"It was a nice orphanage. The caretakers were nice, and I was fed well. But… it never was good for me. All simply because I was different."

Amber seems to curl tighter as tears spring up again. "I-I… had a power. An a-ability. I c-could make specials on will."

Callie's eyes widen in surprise, but she doesn't say anything. Amber doesn't seem to notice, lost in her memories as she was. "I-I couldn't ever c-control it. I-I could hurt others. I-It scared the c-caretakers. I was a-always alone."

She sniffles and says "S-So I vowed to be good w-without specials. W-Without someone h-holding my hand. W-What Marie said… really h-hurt."

She wipes her tears again and falls back into silence. Callie is sitting there, lost in thought. What Amber said explained so much. Her fear of specials. Her want of helping others. Her want of doing things on her own.

The older inkling looks at the younger and says "Well then, let's go tell Marie to leave you alone."

Amber looks at Callie in surprise and says "W-What?"

Callie smiles slightly and says "We'll go to Marie and tell her that you need to be left to your own devices. After all this backlash, I doubt she'll argue much. She's stubborn, not idiotic."

Amber looks at Callie with surprise still, then says "Are you sure?" Callie nods. Amber looks down for a bit, then looks back up. "Alright. I'll go with you."

Callie smiles and gets up, offering a hand to Amber. The young inkling grabs it tentatively and stands up again. She fidgets a bit with her feet, then says "Callie? Can we keep this a secret? I… I'm not ready to tell the others."

Callie looks at her, then nods. Amber smiles a bit and says "Thank you." Callie just flashes a grin, and the two walk out of the alley.

The door to the cabin opens up once more, and Marie looks up to see who entered. In the doorway she sees both Callie and Amber. She frowns and knows exactly what's going on.

Callie looks at her cousin and says "Marie, I think you know why we are here."

Marie sighs and says "You're right. I do know."

She looks at Amber and says "I've thought about this long and hard. Against my better judgement… I'm going to stay to the side Amber. I'm leaving you to your own devices."

Amber's eyes widen immensely in surprise. Callie seemed to be similarly shocked. "Really?!" Marie just nods in response.

Amber's face lights up with joy. She runs over and hugs the older inkling, shocking her. "Thank you Marie."

Marie looks at Amber in shock, but slowly a smile forms on her lips. She rubs Amber's head and says. "Sure thing kid."

Marie then looks up and sees Callie smiling warmly at the scene. Marie smiles back, and the two share a quick and silent conversation. Amber was family. They would protect her with their lives. But she also would become strong enough to go without their protection.

Amber unlatches herself from Marie, grin still wide on her face. She backs up and says once more "Thank you Marie!" before leaving. Callie quickly follows, and the two begin chatting. Marie can't help but listen to them.

"I can't believe how easy that was!"

"Yeah. Normally it takes a bit to convince her, even WITH all the backlash she's been getting!"

"I'm just glad I get freedom now."

"..."

"Hey Amber."

"Yeah?"

"You just hugged Marie of the Squid Sisters."

"..."

"EEEEEEE! I JUST HUGGED MARIE!"

The conversation fumbles into distant mumbles, but Marie couldn't help but giggle at the last statement. That was certainly a good turnaround from earlier.

"Well now, those two certainly make an interesting pair." Marie just nods, still looking at the door.

She smiles warmly and says "They sure do. Now, don't you think it's a bit rude to hide in on my conversations gramps?"

From the corner of the room, an inkling seems to appear from the shadows. An old inkling, with a bamboozler cane and glasses. His eyes crinkle and he says "I just love sneaking around Marie. It's a fun hobby."

Marie grins at the old man and says "I can see that. And I can certainly see where Ika gets it from." Marie's grin turns into a more happy and warm smile. "Welcome home Cap'n."