Chapter 42: Octo Explanation

Ari looked at the ceiling trying to catch the stars she saw from being dazed. She was sat in a chair in the living room, Bryan and Terrace sitting on the arms of the chair, with Monty sitting on the floor.

Adstrum stood above her with a cup of water in his hand. "Should I give it to her or throw it in her face?"

Callie pinched the bridge of her nose as she paced in front of the couch, her mom and aunt sitting on it.

"Why you so shiny? Can I be shiny too?" Arisara wiggled her tentacles.

"I don't know, Addie. Whichever you think would be best." Callie sighed.

He looked at the glass in his hand and tossed the water into Ari's face. "Wake up."

Arisara jumped onto his face. The twins screamed from her sudden action.

"Did it work?" Adstrum's muffled voice asked.

"Where am I?! I'll be good!" Arisara yelled instinctively.

"Yep." He patted the Octoling and gently pulled her off.

"Thank you, Addie." Callie looked at her mother and aunt.

"Oh… hi Adstrum. " She released her suction cups on his face.

"Mom… Aunt Sonata...this is Marie's friend and my friend, Arisara."

"Arisara?" Marie woke up finally, "Huh, I thought I heard her..."

"Oh, thank goodness you are awake, cousin. Please tell your mom and my mom about her. They attacked her with their sandals."

"Ouch…."

"She was loopy for half an hour." Adstrum snickered.

"She got bruises on her head, too" Monty pointed at her mantle.

"Mom, Aunt Melody…. Arisara is my therapist." Marie gently picked up the octopus, "She's been there for me through that dark time. She also helped gramps and his agent."

"Dad?" The moms looked at each other puzzled, "Seriously?"

"Apparently Jack wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for her. I think…" Callie thought for a moment. "Did Gramps say that? Or Jack?"

"Technically that should be flipped. If he didn't headbutt that giant blender I would be a salty smoothie" Arisara admitted.

"Oh…" Callie blinked and her eyes widened.

"How did you get into a blender?" Adstrum asked.

"Well… we thought it was a way out… Me and the old man got stuck in it..."

"Well, it technically is...but not in the way you thought." He replied.

"Gramps…" Callie sighed.

"So you admit you almost killed him?" Sonata asked.

"Y-yes?" Arisara tried to shrink.

"I doubt it was on purpose, right?" Callie asked.

"No… I just wanted to get out before I lost my mind… the virus they have down there. They sanitize people."

"They clean them?" Adstrum raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, they clean memories. Once you forget everything you will be a mindless zombie that obeys that AI…"

"Ah. Gotcha." He clenched his fangs.

"AI?" Callie raised an eyebrow.

"...Um... It was left over from the humans long ago…"

"Um...okay?"

"So how do we know if you aren't a mindless zombie?" Melody asked.

"Would a mindless zombie have aided Marie by being her therapist?" Adstrum asked.

"I would be pale and blue-ish on my skin and tentacles with greenish tips." Arisara replied.

"Good to know. And she doesn't look that color to me." Callie looked at her mother and aunt.

"Jack was infected… but I guess he got over it."

"Wh-what!?" She turned and looked at Ari.

"Should we call him and ask him things?" Adstrum asked.

"I honestly think he won't remember anything. But I don't know if he still has that virus. Doubt it since he's functioning like a normal person."

"Good to know." Callie smiled nervously and looked at her cousin.

"Should we call him anyways? I mean, now I'm kinda scared about him." Marie asked.

"Maybe call Cuttlefish as well." Adstrum suggested.

"Okay, you get gramps, I'll get Jack" Marie pointed to Callie before she dialed on her phone.

"And I'll keep an eye on these two so they don't try to attack Ari again." Adstrum said.

"I'm scared…" Arisara replied.


The phone was bouncing around as Cici's giggles came from it.

"Cici, give it back!" Jack's voice could be heard.

She slowed down before she sat down, "Mine…"

"Give it back." He paused. "Cici…"

"Hehe… I can't move…" She watched Jack take the phone back as she leaned on the wall.

"Hello?" Jack's face lit up on the screen.

The doctor clapped and petted Cici, "Good, almost to the main door."

"Hey Jack, so you know how Arisara's an octo, right? Can you verify she's harmless? Before my mom decides to have octopus stew today."

"Oh, of course I can. I have her to thank for helping keep Cici alive as long as she has been. And Ari's saved my life a couple of times." He replied over the phone.

"I want stew!" Cici cheered from her tiredness.

"No, no you don't, Cici" Marie chuckled at her as she fell over.

"Take a nap, Cici." Jack smiled at her.

"Look, the exit. I almost made it" Cici pointed at the door.

"Yes you did! I'm so proud!" He hugged her gently.

"Yay…" Cici knocked out on him.

"See? Harmless." Callie smirked.

Arisara was being carried by the twins as they played monsters.

"I can walk by myself!" Cici drunkenly waddled into the ER.

"I gotta go now, Marie. But tell your mom and Callie's mom I said 'hi.' See ya." He smiled and hung up.

Callie sighed as she tried calling her grandfather again. "Pick up, Gramps."

"Hello?" Nana picked the his phone up.

"Hi Granny. How are you?" Callie smiled widely.

"Hello, dearie. Your grandfather is playing around with the kiddos on the island."

"We aren't playing! We are scouting!" His voice came from afar.

"Heh. Cute." Callie giggled. "Um, I was hoping to talk to him, though. About Arisara. Um...agent 8."

"Ah, yeah. Hold on" There was a smack sound.

"Owww…. But honey… Hello?"

"Hi Gramps. Was hoping you could tell mom and Aunt Sonata about agent 8 and how she's not a threat."

"Oh yes. Agent 8 is a new member of the new squidbeak splatoon. She's a quite a helpful medic… Did they um… i-is she still alive?"

"They hit her with their sandals." Callie sighed. "But yes, she's alive."

"Ah… good thing it wasn't knives… they are pretty accurate with those."

"Good to know, Gramps." Callie glared at her mother and aunt for a moment.

"Those were in my other purse…" Sonata smiled sheepishly.

"Now girls. Please do not murder agent 8. She's just a hungry grunt."

"...Sir. Let's not talk about that…" Arisara was being brushed by Terrace.

"Talk about what?" Adstrum asked.

"If you talk about it they would pity you and not hit you…. As hard…" Cuttlefish muttered the last part.

"They won't hit her anymore. Right, you two?" Callie looked at Melody and Sonata.

The two smiled sheepishly.

"Thanks, Gramps. Bye for now." Callie replied.

"See ya next time, Squiddo!" He replied before hanging up.

Arisara turned back into her humanoid form and the boys played with her tentacles.

"Good."

"So… um... what do you wanna know?" Arisara asked.

"Um…" Callie thought for a moment. "What...did you do before...um...Octavio?" She shrugged.

"I hatched? Or... um... came out of a test tube… I'm not really all that sure."

"No way. A test tube? Like, are you a monster?" Bryan asked.

"...As far as I can tell, no. Sorry to disappoint you, kid. So whether I'm a clone or a normal octoling I sadly don't remember. The only way to know is basically how fast I age. So if I die young then I would be a clone."

"Okay...Um...were you always a grunt?" Callie raised an eyebrow.

"No, as an octo spawn. I had to learn everything from survival to medicine. At five, I guess, the higher ups saw I was quickly learning about medicines and biotech. They locked me into Bioengineering. I was forced to make things to make octarian forces stronger, faster, smarter, basically superior in every way." She ran her hand through her tentacles, "I couldn't do it without making the subjects lose their minds."

"Jeez. Jerks." Adstrum muttered under his breath.

"When they rampaged I would have to send them to the burner… It was hard… Sometimes, I pretend to give it to them, and give up my rations for that day to feed them."

"That's awful" Melody seemed beside herself.

"I got caught… and was sent to Octavio to be a grunt as cannon fodder. They held me down and put the goggles on. I couldn't move or control my body. They put me into a dark room. I remember hearing something like music… I don't remember anything from before. Not my name, not anything. I was just an empty husk. The only thing I knew was to attack. I even had to fight others to the death to prove my worthiness."

"That's so cruel…" Callie sighed.

"So is Arisara not your real name?" Adstrum asked.

"No… I met an inkling after I came to Inkopolis. She gave me that name. She gave me a purpose then disappeared. I couldn't ever find her again. She had long tentacles like Cici's… but older. It's really fuzzy… " Arisara tried to think about it, "Ouch.. There goes my head again. Everytime I try to remember her, my head hurts…"

"Interesting…" Adstrum nodded.

"Maybe those sandals did a number on your memories…" Sonata suggested.

"She had… crimson tentacles…? Oww… Okay I'll stop…" Arisara rubbed her head.

"Your fault, Aunt." Callie sighed.

"Crimson tentacles? I don't think I have ever seen anyone like that… because crimson isn't possible to make naturally" Marie replied.

"Neither is this color except in my family." Adstrum pointed to his tentacles.

"I wanna see her again and thank her for everything… but I don't remember anything about her. It was that melody she sang… She didn't want me to be sad about something."

"Well, hope you find her again someday." Callie smiled.

"Yeah."

"Maybe ask Cici later? She has a bunch of customers, so maybe?" Marie suggested.

"Maybe you fell onto your head too hard about that person?" Sonata replied, "Crimson is hard to make since it's the color of inks of humans."

"You mean 'blood?'" Adstrum asked.

"Yes."

"Ah, okay."

"So...um...you said you met Jack before?" Callie asked.

"Yeah… we fought before. I wonder whether I even made so much as a dent in him? I just remember feeling fear and hatred."

"Well, Agent 3 is tough." Callie nodded.

"I know. Honestly, I was hoping he would end me back then. I still felt hunger, pain, and fatigue, but I couldn't do anything with the goggles on. I was a prisoner of my own body."

"Good gosh, that's messed up." Adstrum sighed.

"It was the song they played. It controlled our body, but not our minds."

"Really messed up." He added.

"I wonder if Cici felt it too…"

"Um...who knows? We can ask her later. When we see her again." Callie replied. "Just curious, how many times did you fight Jack?"

"I lost count… I would always go back and fight again. I think I almost died once. Maybe twice? The last time I was fighting him I remember being too weak to fight and being in a lot of pain. In a desperate attempt to kill him, I rushed at him. He threw me to the side. I heard your voices… you both cheered him on. Your song started and something released me. In madness and pain, I lost control of myself, lashing out at him. We continued fighting until the commander decided to strike at Thre- I mean Jack. They launched a missile at him. I wonder if I finally came to my senses. The next thing I knew I shielded him and we got blasted into the crevice."

"Woah…"

"It's kinda funny I was supposed to be dying… but I woke up fully healed with Captain poking me."

"Yeah, that sounds like Gramps." Callie giggled.

"I feel like so many memories were taken from me… So many things are missing…"

"Interesting." Adstrum blinked and nodded.

"Wait, Octarians back when we were at war never wore any goggles… How do we know you aren't lying?" Sonata raised her eyebrow.

"..." Arisara seemed upset, "I don't know. I can't make you all believe me. Maybe I am making it up. The problem is I don't really know myself. Maybe my whole life I was asleep only feeling extreme pain and hunger. And I just recently woke up. I don't know!" Arisara pulled her tentacles trying to remember some things.

"Arisara is my friend, Aunt Sonata. I believe her. Especially after what happened to Cici!" Callie glared at her aunt.

"I remember that inkling… or person…. That's all I have. She gave me a purpose..." Arisara deflated a bit as she leaned against a wall, "I'm sorry. I don't have anything else."

Callie pulled Arisara into a hug.

Marie hugged her too.

"Well, the girls are fond of her… Even if she may be Octarian. It doesn't seem like she's lying." Melody looked at her sister.

"I suppose you are right. She even got dad's support."

"...Honey, there's an Octarian in the house… Should I do something?" Riley walked in with some food.

"Um…" Harvey looked at his daughter and niece hugging the octoling. "Did we miss something?"

"I guess I'll get an extra plate. She looks hungry." Riley petted Arisara's head, "Good girl."

"I've been demoted to a pet…" Arisara sighed.

"No...a pet would be Cici." Adstrum chuckled.

"You are not a pet, Ari." Callie smiled. "You are a friend."

"We are best friends. Don't forget that" Marie hugged her a bit tighter.

Arisara smiled.

"So…" Harvey smiled. "Can Riley and I get an explanation?"

Author's Note: Yeah...I took a while, didn't I? I'm sorry guys. Summer classes started...But here's the next chapter, guys.

Thank you The Bowser Monster, Lil Judd, Noodle Doodle, Guest, and Pink Hedgie 74 for leaving reviews. That you guys so much!

Monty's feeling much better now, Lil Judd.

Ari's doing better now, Noodle. She got hugs.

Callie's fine, Guest. She was just a bit mad at her mom and aunt for attacking Arisara.

Well, here's the next chapter, Pink Hedgie. Enjoy more Arisara!

Sorry it took me a month to update again, guys. I kept putting this update off. I hate procrastinating... But I will see you all in the next update. Hopefully next week. But no promises. Bye for now!