Octavia's PoV
"Alexis!" Octavia called, holding two tickets up in the air. "Guess where we're going?"
The younger inkling set down the book she was reading and looked up at her sister. "Where?"
"Shellendorf Institute!" she exclaimed.
"The museum?" Alexis groaned. "Can't we go to Wahoo World or something?"
"We go to Wahoo World every year!" the wavy-haired inkling protested. "Can't I choose the location for once?"
"Fine." She put down her book and put on the sandals next to her bed. Smiling, Via gestured for her sister to follow her, and the two ran down the stairs, out of the house, and into the car. Starting it up, she immediately began driving to the museum once Alexis was in the car.
About thirty minutes later, they arrived at a large, stone building with grand windows. The engraving above the entrance of it read 'Shellendorf Institute'. They parked in the parking lot and walked to it, tickets in hand. The tickets in question were won in a raffle at school, enough that "you and a friend can go visit the Shellendorf Institute!". Octavia had never been here before, so she was interested and signed up for the raffle. She was originally going to go with Bonnie here, but something came up for the blue-haired inkling, so Via had to find someone else to take. That person turned out to be Alexis.
"Tickets?" the shark at the gates requested. The two inklings showed him their tickets, and he tore off the top of them with his teeth. The grand gates opened up, allowing the sisters access to the museum. Giving the smaller tickets back to them, he said, "Go on in."
"Thanks," Octavia replied. They briefly toured the courtyard out in the front of Shellendorf Institute, with beautiful hedges adorning it. When they stepped into the museum proper, the wavy-haired inkling could not believe how much bigger it seemed from the inside. A monstrous skeleton was the main display, its grand bones hanging over the glass ceiling in the middle of the main room. Stairs were present on the sides of the room, leading to other areas of the museum. A huge smile crossed her face. She knew it was the oldest museum in Inkopolis, but she never imagined it to be this big! On the other end of the museum was a gift shop. We're going there after we tour every single bit of the museum!
"Can we check out that skeleton first?" Alexis eagerly asked. "It's huge!"
"Sure," Via responded. She scanned the area for information pertaining to the skeleton. From what she could see, there was a display in the very middle of the museum, where there was a gap in the glass roof. "I bet we'll find something there," she deduced, pointing to it.
"Then, what are we waiting for?" the younger inkling remarked. "Let's go!" Grabbing her sister's hand, she ran towards the middle of Shellendorf Institute. On the way, they were yelled at for running, so they slowed down to a walking, yet quick, pace.
When they arrived at the display, the wavy-haired inkling was a little disappointed to see that its sides depicted a mural displaying inklings and a golden egg. However, the sprint to it was not totally in vain, as there was text on each side of the box, both of them explaining different artifacts.
"'One of the largest creatures of its time, the Temnodontasaurus was a genus of ichthyosaurs—marine reptiles—from the early Jurassic period in Europe. It generally lived in deeper areas of the open ocean,'" Octavia read out loud. Below the text was a picture of a marine animal that reminded her of swordfish. She glanced up at the skeleton hanging above them. "Well, they were right about it being big."
"Not just big, it's huge!" Alexis added. "They aren't exaggerating when they said it was one of the largest creatures of its time!" The short-haired inkling then gasped and excitedly asked her, "Can we go see humans next?"
"Humans? Sure." Looking around for some signs, she soon saw one pointing towards an exhibit regarding the previous era. Tugging on her younger sister's hand, the two started walking towards the exhibit, and soon, they were met with several small cases displaying various artifacts. The majority of them were trapped in stone, though the main display was a large container displaying a human skeleton. One jellyfish in front of the case was imitating the pose it was doing.
"…Interesting," the younger inkling remarked. Alexis walked up to the text next to the human skeleton display and read, "'Humans, or Homo sapiens, were the dominant species on Earth during the late Quaternary period. They, along with many other land-dwelling animals, went extinct as a result of the flooding of the Earth 12,000 years ago. Humans left behind their technology, allowing us sea creatures to evolve as far as we have today.'" Via walked up next to her to look at the reading. Below the text was a picture of two humans, one male, and one female.
"Sometimes I can't believe humans made all this technology," Octavia remarked. "I mean, their skulls are so small, so their brains are probably small, too, right?"
"Yeah, they seem pretty primitive from the looks of it," Alexis agreed.
"Oh! Have you seen that one scroll someone donated to the Museum d'Alfonsino?"
"The Museum d'what now?"
"It was an art museum. Back when the Squid Sisters hosted the news, it was a stage we could play on. Y'know that tsunami that hit Inkopolis earlier this year? It got a direct hit from it, so it had to be closed down for repairs."
"Oh… They saved the stuff in there, right?"
"Oh, yeah. I don't know where they put it, though."
"So… what was on the scroll?"
"It was a picture of a fossilized human and some other things. The notes say it was doing some kind of ritual."
"That seems like history. Why was it donated to an art museum and not here?"
"Who knows?"
"Well, can we look at these human artifacts, now? I don't wanna stand here all day."
"Oh, alright."
The two sisters walked over to the smaller display cases and examined the objects inside. They did not look like anything special; they were simply gadgets humans could use. A lot of them, as expected, resembled devices the inklings use in the modern day.
Alexis tapped the glass case of one of them. "Ooh, a toaster," she commented.
"You wanna go somewhere else in here now?" Octavia later asked. "Like, the insect exhibit? Or that one display they have about DNA and music?"
"Wait, DNA and music?" the short-haired inkling suddenly chirped up. "How does that work?"
"We could go look," the wavy-haired inkling offered. She adjusted her hat while waiting for an answer.
"Alright." With a nod, the sisters walked back towards the middle area of the museum, walking up the ramp. Soon, they arrived at a large, black wall depicting three DNA strands. Next to each strand depicted a symbol with headphones and a smartphone on it. On the right side of the mural was a wall of text explaining them.
"'Music is an essential in inkling culture. It has been suggested that some songs have been carved into their DNA, granting powerful effects to those who listen to them. The most well-known song is the customary chorus of Calamari County, which began as a way to both celebrate and respect the bounty of the sea,'" Via started reading. "'To the left are samples of these songs, which can be played by scanning the QR codes with a smartphone. It is recommended to wear headphones, as inklings may start spontaneously dancing without them.'"
"'Spontaneously dancing'?" Alexis tried to suppress a laugh. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard!"
"I mean, you could resist the urge to dance," the wavy-haired inkling pointed out. "It can't be that hard… right?"
"Let's see…" She pulled out her phone and some earbuds. Plugging the earbuds into it, she scanned the code next to one of the DNA strands. A few moments later, a smile came across her face, and her eye began to twitch. "Oh… I really want to dance."
"Let me have a listen." Alexis gave one of the earbuds to Via, and quickly did she hear a familiar tune. She started tapping her foot to the beat. When it was over, the younger inkling put her phone back into the pocket. "Sounds like Calamari Inkantation," she commented.
"Calamari Inkantation?"
"Y'know… the Squid Sisters song. Very popular." She raised an eyebrow. "How have you never heard of it?"
"I don't watch TV, Via. How would I know?"
"Right…" Scratching the back of her head, Via then asked, "You wanna go look at the insects now?"
"Sure." Nodding, the two inklings started heading down the ramp to the right side of the museum, where, as expected, they found cases filled with a variety of insects. None of them were anything noteworthy.
"This is boring," Alexis remarked. "It's just bugs."
"Well, they can have a lot of history, like…" The wavy-haired inkling walked up to the display and looked into it. "…I don't know, actually."
"Exactly! So why are people interested in this?"
Octavia shrugged. "Eh. Maybe people just want to look at bugs."
"Let's move on," the short-haired inkling requested. "…What else is there to see?"
"There's the other parts of the museum, like artifacts from the Great Turf War, stuff related to salmonids, and ancient inkling history," the older inkling recalled. "What do you think about that?"
"Sounds kind of boring."
"Not even salmonids?"
"Salmon Run seems kind of shady, to be honest. I mean, you're stealing the eggs of a race just to be paid? That's low."
"Hey, it's fun! Maybe if I take you on one, you'll like it, too."
"Good luck convincing me." Alexis turned around and started walking towards another part of the museum, causing Octavia to run after her.
"Hey, wait up! Where are you going?!"
"Somewhere else. Maybe I'll find something interesting."
At least you're staying in the museum. "But what if you get lost? Do you know how upset we'll be if we lose you?"
"Who's 'we'?"
"Mom, Dad, the other Rainbow Squids…" Via paused, frowning. "And me. I can't imagine life without you and your constant bickering."
"Funny you mention your friends." Her sister's orange eyes darted away from her. "They like ignoring me."
"Ignoring you? What gave you that idea?"
"They care about each other more than me! Seriously, when the Great Zapfish went missing, you and your friends didn't even care. Don't you care about the future of the city? We could run out of power if we don't get it back!"
"Why do you care about the Great Zapfish so much? It'll come back by itself! That's what happened last time."
"And how long did that take?"
"I dunno… two or three months? It'll be three months since it disappeared the second time later this month, so it should come back soon."
"What if it doesn't? What would happen then?"
Octavia relaxed and started thinking. "…I don't know, actually. But I'm sure it's nothing we should worry about."
"Ugh! Just face it, Via, I'm never going to replace Geneva in the Rainbow Squids, aren't I?"
"I…"
"You'll just ditch me when she comes back." Alexis walked over to a bench and sat down, crossing her arms. "And I'll be lonely again. Because I'm not as good as her."
"Alexis…" The wavy-haired inkling sat down next to her sister and threw an arm around her shoulder. The younger inkling looked up at her, clearly upset. "Even when Geneva comes back…" She smiled. "You've become a true member of the Rainbow Squids. I don't think I can ever imagine us without you ever again."
"You really think that?"
"I do." The two hugged briefly before standing up. "Now, c'mon. Let's finish our trip."
"Alright."
The two resumed their tour of Shellendorf Institute, in hopes for a happy end to the day.