Three tried not to let her emotions show in her mantle as she stared at the disturbing literature she held in her hand. She couldn't stop it from rippling though.
She stood in a convenience store just outside of Calamari Castle, the gated community Callie and Marie lived in. In her hands she held one of the many gossip magazines that occupied the shelves. She'd simply grabbed the one with the most scandalous headline - one about band members getting into a brawl, and scanned through it.
Pearl and Marina's words and advice were like a friendly spectre riding her shoulders. The first section of the magazine was filled with random pictures taken of celebrities in their day to day lives with brief commentary about what they were wearing or what they might have been up to. Three felt contaminated just seeing the page. Some of the things she read about some of the people pictured were just too outlandish for Three to believe, even for a second.
But some people are stupid enough to believe it; or sad enough to want to believe it.
She spotted one image of a person she recognized; a colleague of Callie and Marie's- a personal friend of the former, and a fellow idol. Three recalled meeting her on several occasions and even had one of her albums. Three read the small blurb underneath the picture.
"Gloris Redderling post- 'retirement'. Unable to stand the pressures of idoldom, she's doing her best to camouflage herself among the common populace. Maybe try losing the oversized sunglasses, Gloris."
Gloris, as best Three could recall, was just a year older than Callie and Marie, so she would have already lost the protection of child privacy protection. It seemed retirement wasn't enough to get the tabloid piranhas to leave her alone.
Three turned the page in disgust and breezed through the rest until she got to the cover feature. Apparently, a popular band had now broken up as the result of a vicious brawl, a brawl shown in blurry photos on the page.
The text made it sound like a bloodbath but Three doubted things got that bad. The blurriness of the image allowed one's imagination to run wild, but as best Three could tell, they just looked like they were tripping over each other, probably drunk.
Three flashed grey and put the magazine back on the shelf. She had seen enough to put everything Pearl and Marina had told her into fresh context, now she needed to make use of it.
Three exited the convenience store and clenched her jaw as the chill hit her. Cold ocean air blowing in from Inkopolis Bay pushed the warm air from the afternoon away, probably for the last time until Spring. It wasn't cold enough that Three needed a jacket but it probably would be tomorrow.
Three forced the discomfort aside and headed across the street to the guard station. She hadn't brought her pass so she had to get taken inside, present her personal ID and the guard had to check to make sure she was still on the list of people allowed in. Fortunately, the guards knew her well enough that the process took mere moments, and she was soon through the gate and on her way.
She shivered as another gust of cold air blew on her back. The light of the moon was filtered through a thin layer of clouds but it still provided enough illumination for her to see.
Because Calamari Castle was technically not public, the city was not responsible for building or maintaining the infrastructure inside, including the street lights. To save money, the owners had installed relatively few streetlights, creating plenty of dark areas between houses. Dark areas people could use to sneak around.
Soon, Three found herself standing at the door of a familiar bungalow. Over the past two years it had become like a second home. The route was so familiar she could walk it in her sleep, she knew the layout by heart, and was even familiar with the unique sounds it made when it settled or the peculiar squeak the furnace made on occasion.
She was usually welcome to come in as she pleased, especially since Callie and Marie were frequently in their soundproof studio where they couldn't be reached, but it was always polite to knock or ring first regardless.
She pressed her finger on the doorbell button and heard the chime from inside. Depending on where the girls were or what they were doing, it could take a full minute before either of them could answer the door, assuming they heard it at all. Three always waited at least that long before she ever tried ringing again. This time, the door opened barely ten seconds later, with Callie on the other side.
"Hey Three!" She greeted brightly. Despite being dressed in sweatpants and a plain magenta t-shirt, she still looked stunning.
Inside, Three spotted Marie in the kitchen. She appeared to be making herself some ice tea - real ice tea, not just ordinary tea with ice in it. Callie invited her to sit at the kitchen table. There were several scraps of paper on its surface. The girls had probably been discussing song titles and lyrics again.
Three and Callie sat down across from each other and then Marie brought them some of the ice tea to drink. Three gulped it down immediately. Despite the chill outside, it still felt refreshing.
"You're not too cold, Three?" Marie asked. Three's outfit wasn't exactly what one wore with the coming of winter. Three flashed green.
Callie let out a small whine. "Come on, Marie. Aren't you going to ask?" Callie leaned across the table towards Three, her eyes wide and glowing. "Tell us how the date went!"
Marie's mantle turned earthen red in disapproval but Callie ignored her. Three's own mantle turned an apprehensive dark yellow. Even so, she did need to talk about the date in order to reach the ultimate topic of conversation. It could be a decent way to break the ice too.
She started with Eight's arrival and the first series of rides they went on and Eight's exciting first time on a roller coaster. Callie and Marie listened intently, smiling with a mix of pride and nostalgia. Then, Three got to the less pleasant but most important part: the incident with the octoling girl.
Callie and Marie's facial expressions were almost unreadable as she spoke about what happened on the Ferris wheel but subtle concern did show in their mantles. For Three, it took a lot of effort to push through the retelling of the incident. It was not only embarrassing talking about the date as a whole but admitting to such a large moment of weakness was hard on its own. It was extra difficult to speak when it came to Eight coming to bail her out of the situation with the other cotoling girl. Callie and Marie knew she hated the idea of needing to be rescued.
As she neared the end, Callie came over and hugged her, wrapping one tentacle around her torso in a comforting gesture. Three then trailed off, deciding she didn't need to tell them precisely what happened between her and Eight after that incident, so she simply glossed over it."
"-And then Eight went overboard with all the rides and wouldn't listen to me when I said to take a break. She got Wahoo Flu."
Marie smiled sympathetically. "Well, it happens. Although, it also sounds like she was trying to get your mind off what happened and that's why she didn't listen. Otherwise, she's normally pretty attentive when you tell her things, right?"
Three flushed slightly. She hadn't thought of that. Had Eight really pushed herself so far for her sake? She would have to consider it later. For the moment, there were more pressing matters.
"So, it sounds like everything else went great!" Callie gave Three a friendly squeeze. "I'm sure Eight will be more cautious in the future anyway."
Three nodded. "But it made me realize something." There came the inevitable raised eyebrows from the other two girls, along with the slight yellowish tint in their mantles. "I'm too immature. I'm too weak outside of doing my job."
Callie and Marie's mantles turned solid yellow and they looked at each other, then back at her.
"So?" Marie asked. "What is it you think you're missing? What do you think you can do to improve yourself?"
"I need to grow up more, I think." Three let that sink in for a second. "I think I've become too reliant on other people for dealing with… other people. I don't really deal with a lot of people in my job and I don't deal with people at home much either. What happens when I have to live on my own?"
The girls hummed together and shared a look between them that communicated something only they knew.
"Kinda' know how you feel," Callie said. "We started out on our own pretty young. Living by yourself in a big city trying to fulfill a big dream while keeping a roof over your head isn't easy, physically or mentally."
"But now that you've identified an issue-," Marie chimed in, "what are you going to do about it?"
Three avoiding fidgeting or averting her gaze, but she wasn't able to spare the necessary discipline to keep her mantle under control, and it turned pale. Her jaw clenched briefly but she forced it to relax and blinked her eyes as they watered up from the effort of it all.
"I thought I should maybe try to be a little more independant or at least force myself to go out more and experience more things. Step outside my comfort zone, I think they call it."
Marie tapped her finger on the table, her mantle rippling with anticipation. "So…."
Three pulsed blue. "So, I figured that since I'm not so good with a lot of stuff, I wouldn't be much use to Iya and Dad at home so-."
Callie shattered the relative peace of the house with a high-pitched squeal. "Does this mean you accept? You'll be our bodyguard?"
Three bit her bottom lip. Callie's eyes were huge and bright. Her face was practically glowing.
"I want to," she said slowly. "And if I can, I will; but I'm still only sixteen."
Callie blinked in confusion but Marie pulsed green with understanding.
"She still needs her parent's permission. She might be old enough to work but a live-in job would require parental consent."
Callie tilted her head. "I thought that wouldn't be an issue. Three always seemed to be on good terms with her parents."
"I am," Three insisted. "And a few months ago it wouldn't have been too hard, but now Iya is eggnant so…."
"So she'll instinctively be more wary and protective of her family," Marie sighed. "Not to mention Three will be asking to live with and protect two people they will have never heard about from her."
Callie grimaced. "I guess it would be a bit of a shock for them to find out we're anu eelae despite knowing each other for only two years."
"And the fact that we're two of the worlds biggest celebrities." Marie added with a smirk.
Callie smirked back. "I didn't think I needed to state the obvious."
"Not to mention we're both in the midst of second puberty and suddenly we want a cute, young bodyguard. That's not going to sound suspicious at all."
Three flinched and her mantle rippled like a puddle in a rainstorm. She hadn't thought about it from that angle, but the idea that Callie and Marie would even think of having her for such a purpose was anathema to her. The tabloids she had been reading earlier flashed in the forefront of her memory as if in mockery.
"Some people would call that a perk," Callie said with a grin. Marie responded with a disapproving scowl.
"I'm sure her parents would not."
Callie groaned, her mantle turning maroon. "Then what are we supposed to do? We want Three, Three wants to be with us and we both get something out of it, non-scandalous things."
"I'm sure the tabloids will see it that way," Marie said, her voice syrupy with sarcasm. "In any case, we're going to have to convince her parents that we're trustworthy."
"Three's word has to be good for something."
Marie pulsed red. "Three is young and she'll appear to have been seduced by our glamour, magnanimity, charisma, and charm. It'll just look to them like the trappings of most teenagers."
Callie snorted, her mantle turning burgundy. "Three's never been one to follow all the other fish. Why would she start now?"
"First time for everything. I'm sure it'll come up, even if there's really no precedence for it. No matter what happens, Three isn't going to have an easy time convincing them, especially not on her own. We'll have to think of some way to help out."
Callie tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "Maybe if she sorta' tests the waters and asks cautiously at first? Just so it isn't a huge shock all at once."
Marie frowned. "Maybe… I suppose it really depends what kind of people they are. Sometimes a shock works best."
"With an eggnant inkyora? Not a chance."
"Ultimately, it's up to Three how we go about this. It's her life and it's her family."
Three swallowed hard. "Conversation and arguing." Her eyes fell. "Things I'm not good at."
Callie chuckled. "Just think of this as a chance for you to grow. It's what you wanted, isn't it?"
"It might also help to explain your own reasons for wanting to accept the job," Marie suggested.
"You mean besides being with and protecting my family?" Three smiled and Callie and Marie smiled too.
"Nice to know it wasn't all ulterior motives." Callie gave Three a big hug. "You don't know what this means to us, Cortina."
"I guess not," Three admitted. "But I want to help. No matter which way this turns out, I promise I will."
Marie's mantle turned yellow with passionate pink spots. Callie's changed a second later to match.
"A promise from you is worth more than gold," Marie said. "Thank you, Cortina."
Three changed her mantle to match theirs. She wasn't too embarrassed to say "I love you" to her two best friends, to her family. Come the eternal fires or the ancient floods, she would protect them.
Author's Notes:
A short chapter but one showing real progress at least.
Inkling society does a better job of protecting it's younger generation than our own with their privacy being well protected by law (though that still doesn't stop some people), and prevents people from slandering them too heavily in media lest it be considered child abuse. Of course, those same laws prevent Three from getting a job without her parent's permission as long as she lives at home, whereas someone in Four's position, living on her own, would be able to get a job without her parent's permission because she's been granted greater legal autonomy in order to live on her own. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to take certain jobs until she's Three's age and even Three now needs parental permission in order to take any kind of live-in job, for obvious reasons.