The sunlight shined through the window and into Char's eyes. She flopped onto her stomach and hid her face in her puffy pillow. "Maritime Memory" started to loudly play as she tried to go back to sleep. She lazily reached for her phone, and checked the screen to see who was calling.

"Hey, Leon what's up?" She answered groggily.

"DON'T 'WHAT'S UP' ME! CHAR, WHERE THE INK DID YOU GO?!" Leon shouted.

"What? Why are you yelling?!"

"Char… did you forget about yesterday?"

"Yesterday, what about it? We were going to go the Turf War tournament today, right?"

"Char, we entered yesterday… You had to leave for some reason AND NEVER CAME BACK! WE CALLED AND CALLED YOUR SPLATTING PHONE, BUT YOU NEVER SPLATTING ANSWERED!"

Char froze up when she heard that.

"You mean… that wasn't a dream?" she squeaked.

"What the ink?! Char, are you feeling alright?"

Char stayed quiet as she tried to understand what happened yesterday. She suddenly remembered about the kid and the scientists, the turf wars, and everything she thought was a dream.

"Nonononoononono! Why did I fall asleep?! STUPID STUPID! Don't tell me it died!"

"Leon, I got to go! I'll call you back! I promise!" she hung up her phone before he could say anything and jumped out of bed. Her Agent 3 uniform was still on. She quickly changed into her usual outfit, a white hairclip, a lime green short-sleeved hoodie with a white T shirt underneath, a white skirt with green lining, and green sneakers. She dashed out her door, skidded to a stop, and ran back to lock her dorm.

It was a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Char ran past the tall building in Inkopolis. The sun was brightly shining through the tall buildings of Inkopolis. The smell of the ocean was very strong, since her apartment was pretty close to the beach. She finally got to the train station, and tapped her train card on the scanner to board the incoming train. She got on the train and watched the city pass by. She rushed out when the train stopped at Inkopolis' Research Institution. She ran into the building and the Information desk squid smiled as she welcomed her.

"Hello Char. Ho-" Char interrupted her

"Where's *pant* Marigo?!" Char asked out of breath

"Marigo? She's in the lab. I think..."

"OKAYTHANKSBYE!" she dashed off towards the lab

"Um, kay, see you later Char!" the lady called out after her.

She kicked down the door, and ran into the room. Marigo was drinking some orange blossom tea with the kid still wearing their patient's gown. Marigo smirked when she saw Char, she began laughing as she put down her cup.

"Good *snicker* morning Char, you look like you just got up-"

"YOU!" she ran up to the kid and grabbed their face, "Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?! Did the scientist hurt you?!"

"Char, he's just fine, a few scrapes and bruises, but other than that totally fine."

"He? You're a guy?! You checked?!"

"Yes, he is a male, and he has a name, you know?"

"Oh, uh, right." she became flustered, "Oppsies..."

"Char, can you please let go of his face? That's kinda rude to hold a person's face like that"

She looked at him and he stared back frighten. She quickly released him and started bowing.

"OH MY GOSH! I'M SO SORRY!" She began overly apologizing.

"It's uh, okay?" he rubbed his cheeks, "You are that squid girl from yesterday, right?"

"Huh? Oh, that's right. I met you yesterday. Um, well this is awkward now…" Char started to fidget with her tentacle, "I know, um, can we start over?"

"Hey, I'm Chartreuse, but a lot of people call me Char. Nice to meet you." she held out her hand.

"Dylan, um, likewise." He awkwardly shook her hand "So what are you going to do to me?"

"Wait what?" Char tilted her head

"Oh, he's talking about me," Marigo sipped her tea and put it down, "Well, we just want to know a couple of things."

Dylan's expression got a bit more serious, as he gripped on to his white patient gown. Char took a step back from him.

"First off, what are you?" Marigo continued.

"I am what is considered a human being. What are YOU suppose to be?"

"We are inklings or I guess squids like beings. How old are you?"

"How the HELL am I supposed to answer that? I was frozen so I could live… So… I-I wouldn't… d-die in the flood..." he suddenly grasped his mouth and started to sobbed, "My family… My friends…"

Char felt her heart get squeezed watching him breaking down. She felt so bad for him, but she didn't know what to do. He stood up and rushed over toward Marigo. He got on his hands and knees.

"PLEASE, DO YOU WHAT HAPPEN TO THEM?! PLEASE TELL ME!" he begged, "I CAN'T BE THE ONLY HUMAN! I HAVE TO KNOW IF THERE ARE OTHER HUMANS! I don't want to be alone..."

Char bit her lip, she could feel his sorrow and it shattered her heart. Marigo sighed and took another sip before speaking.

"I'm sorry, Dylan… We have only found skeletons, you are the first and only human we have ever seen alive." She looked away.

"No… THAT'S A LIE! THEY CAN'T BE GONE! THEY, they didn't leave me... all alone..." He looked over at Char, "please, they must be alive somewhere… I don't want to be alone…"

Char ran over and hugged him. She tried to comfort him the best she could. He tightly hugged her as he madly sobbed. She tried to think of something to say. She wanted to give him some sort of hope, but she kept drawing blanks. She became more and more frustrated with herself. Finally, it hit her. They didn't find him, the Octarians did.

"The Octarians found you…" Char muttered to herself, "That's it! We didn't look under the sea. They must be underwater!"

She smiled widely and hugged Dylan with so much happiness. Dylan was confused as Char spun around with him.

"What are you saying?" he asked when she released him.

"Your people must be frozen, like you were, underwater! There is still hope!"

Dylan's face instantly lit up and a huge smile replaced his despair. He tightly hugged her, and the two jumped for joy for a while.

"I hate to be the joy killer here, but if that is true Char, we will have to go into deeper Octarian territory. That would be pretty dangerous."

"I can deal with it!" Char claimed, "I mean I did defeat them before, right?"

"Char, we haven't seen them in a very long time. We have no idea if they are preparing death machines or anything like that!"

"We don't know that until we try!"

"Oh, Char… You never change, do you? Very well, I will see if I can get the scientists to support you."

"Really?!" Char hugged Marigo, "THANK YOU! See? There is hope, Dylan!"

"Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me!" Dylan wiped his tears.

"Well, it is going to take a while anyways, kiddies" Marigo cleaned the small table, and started walking out the room, "It wouldn't be tomorrow either"

"So uh, how long are we talking?" Char crossed her arms.

"Well, to be honest I haven't a clue… a week? a month?"

"Oh… what's he supposed to do? I mean you guys can't just let him rot in his room..."

"Well, we can't have something that isn't an inkling walking around Inkopolis. Everyone will flip out if they saw Dylan."

"I guess you do have a point… still that's kinda unfair..." Char's ears lowered as she rubbed her arm.

"Heh, you're a good kid, Char. But there isn't anything we can do about this now" Marigo patted her head, "For now. I'll make sure he's not bored and is taken care for properly. So just run along, okay? Your friends are probably worried"

"My… Friends?... OH! MY FRIENDS!"

Char rushed out the door as Marigo chuckled at her. Dylan looked at Marigo hoping for an explanation.

"She never changes. She's always trying her best to help everyone, but sometimes she can be such an airhead." Marigo leaned against the doorway, "She means well, but will it kill her to not overdo it every time?"

-Author's Notes-

Yes I know I used "they", "them", and "their". I know I could have used other words. Would you really call another human being "it"? I don't know to me it just doesn't feel right. I didn't really like "he or she" only because it is three words to describe one human. Maybe I'm just being nit picky... Meh, still, I'm not changing the previous chapter. So like before, how am I doing? Should I change anything? Thanks for reading!