Tephy was awakened by the sound of rapidly shuffling feet over her head and raised voices. She cracked one eyelid open and looked upwards as if trying to see through the ceiling. Someone was upstairs rousing all of the octolings awake.

Turning her head again, the small digital clock that Vella had fixed and given to them indicated 05:00. The Octarians used the 24-hour clock, forcing her and Mia to get used to the same.

Shifting aside her covers, Tephy leaned over her bunk to peer down at the one below her. Mia was still sound asleep, but that wasn't surprising. Mia had grown up around rowdy people and not in a traditional household. She didn't rouse until a moment later when someone started rousing everyone on their own floor.

"What's goin' on?" she asked sleepily.

Tephy hopped down to the floor and turned on the small reading lamp in the corner. "I don't know. The Octarians are all getting woken up."

Mia's eyes snapped open and she threw her covers off as she all but launched herself from her bed and began searching for her clothes.

"Are we being attacked?"

"I don't know, but we should get ready to–," She was cut off as there was a knock at their apartment door. Tephy hurried to answer it.

"Who is it?"

"It's me," Tani's voice came back. "Can we talk for a bit?"

Tephy threw open the door and stepped aside to let Tani, and the noise of the hustle outside in. She shut the door and turned on the hallway light. It was dimmer than the others, making it less painful for her eyes to adjust.

"What's happening?"

"A lot," Tani answered. She sat at the small box in their living room that passed as a table and let out a sigh. She looked tired, her eyes were bleary and her eyelids heavy. "It's nothing bad, yet, but let's just say there's a lot to do in a short amount of time. Everyone else is going to Work Detail where everything will be explained, but right now I need to talk to you, Tephy."

"Me?"

She approached the box as Mia emerged from the bedroom, still putting on her shirt.

"What d'ya 'ave to talk tah 'er for you can't tell 'er at Work Detail?"

"Because we've never asked this much of an inkling before outside the old NSS."

Even in the dim light, Tephy could see the reluctance and fear in Tani's mantle, as though she were afraid of the very subject that brought her here, or at least afraid to bring it up to them.

Mia sat down between them. "But you wouldn' be afraid tah ask one of the octolings?"

Four sighed. "Even if it's something they don't want to do they'll do it anyway because they know it's necessary and then they'll do it to the best of their abilities. It's the same with Three. She never asked to be a company commander, but that's what Callie and Marie needed her to do so she did it. I didn't want to be a splatoon commander, but that's what I had to be and I did it."

"Don't start that again," Mia chided gently.

"Sorry. Anyway, Tephy, there's something…" Tani paused and then shifted her posture into something more professional. It was a subtle courtesy that Tephy appreciated but she was all too aware that meant whatever Four was going to ask of her would be significant.

"Okay, I'm just gonna' come out and say it. Tephy, we need you to be Callie's personal caretaker."

Tephy blinked in surprise. That wasn't at all what she expected; it didn't sound bad at all, in fact, it sounded like an honour.

"Personal caretaker?" Mia sounded equally puzzled.

"It's a little more involved than it sounds. You see, Callie isn't just Callie Cuttlefish anymore. As it turns out, Callie is Octarian nobility, a kravah, which is just one rank below royalty."

Tephy and Mia gaped and went stiff. Tani smiled wryly, "Yeah, probably not what you were expecting either, right?"

"You're not kiddin'. "Ow is Callie Octarian nobility? Wasn't she born in Calamari County."

"She wasn't born with it, she earned it, basically. Octavio gave it to her when he kidnapped and hypnotised her. Since she did such a good job, the current government let her keep it, but they're not gonna' let Calachora keep one of their nobles in lockdown so they're strong-arming the government into letting her go back to the domes. Anyway, the point is that she'll have a bunch of Octarian attendants with her but she needs at least one inkling to help her take care of… particular inkling stuff, know what I mean?"

Tephy turned her mantle green. She understood. "Right, the octarians wouldn't know how to apply mantle gloss or deal with yun'brennen, assuming Callie's still going through it."

"Hit her like a meteor, but yeah, stuff like that. It would also be helpful if she had someone else to use tuk'yan with. Never know when that might come in handy, and it wouldn't be good for her to run out of practice. Basically self-care stuff that octolings might not know about. Since you did such a good job looking after the injured I thought of you first and Callie seemed to like the idea."

"But I've hardly met her."

"I know, but you'll get to know each other pretty quick and Callie's easy to warm up to. Heck, when I first met her, she tried to kill me, and now she's my sister."

Mia snorted with laughter. "That is kinda' funny." Suddenly, Mia's smile vanished. "Wait does that mean Tephy will 'ave tah go live in the domes with Callie?"

Tani nodded solemnly, as if delivering a grim prognosis. "Yeah, and it's risky. A lot of Octarians still won't like us and there's no guarantee the octotroopers won't shoot you, or even Callie, on sight. They're conditioned that way. There's also a good chance the Loyalists will try to attack you. Heck, just being in the dome is dangerous. I'm sure you've both heard stories."

They flashed green. Tephy had no desire to be crushed by falling debris or some other accident. The living conditions in the domes were also deplorable. But, in spite of all that…

"I'll go," she said softly.

Mia stared at her. "What? Tephy, you know what she's askin' yah tah do, right, 'ow dangerous it is?"

"It's dangerous here too, not knowing when the Consortium is going to come after us, and they will. Besides, how could I look any of our friends in the eye again if I refused?"

Mia winced and Tani smiled ruefully. "Yeah, those expectations, right? Everyone from Marie and Callie down to us, we've all got people we don't want to disappoint."

Mia still looked upset but Tephy gave her a reassuring smile and patted her arm. "You'd be disappointed if I didn't go too, right, Mia? Mia uttered a soft groan and reluctantly flashed green.

Tani caught on to Mia's feelings and turned her head to look at her. "I still need you here, Mia. In fact, with the way things are goin' to be changing in the Ward, Scylla and I will need you more than ever. And don't worry about Tephy's safety, the guards will look after her."

"And if you're that busy, you won't be lonely," Tephy added.

"I wasn't worried about bein' lonely," Mia pouted.

Tani laughed. "Don't worry, I'll keep you company. So, you sure about this, Tephy?"

"I'll do it. I don't know how good a job I'll do but I'll try."

Tani grinned again, but this time with a sadistic gleam in her eyes. "Oh, don't worry about that, you're going to be takin' a bit of a crash course with Eight and the other attendants that'll be goin'."

Tephy swallowed nervously. "A crash course? With Eight?"

"In proper etiquette, decorum, and all that fancy stuff. She's a professional maid, after all, and she's fully certified in one of the best schools in the country."

Mia grimaced. "So, she's like the Three of maids?"

Tani burst out laughing. "No, no. She's good but that's not really the right kind of comparison to make. Still, she's gonna' drive you girls hard to learn all you'll need to know, so it's not gonna' be easy."

Tephy winced. "Let me guess, Three's going to be training the bodyguards?"

Now it was Tani's turn to grimace. "Worse, Silvie, Marie's mom. She's the one who trained Three."

Tephy made a silent prayer for those poor girls. Which reminded her of one last piece of business she would have to take care of before leaving.

"I need to talk with High-Priestess Gallora before I can do anything. I need her permission."

"Whatever you need, Tephy, just ask." She grinned and added. "We're all in this little panic together."

—-

"You need to do something! They're going completely out of control and it's making us look like a laughing stock internationally! They're taking a bad situation and lighting it on fire!"

Reina did her best to maintain a calm exterior. It helped that she felt more weary than angry. Dragged from her home in Arrowhead County having just returned after her investigation, she'd hoped for a week of peace before having to go back to the capital. Apparently, that had been too much to hope for. Now, she was sitting in the Monarch's office again, listening to more yelling.

"Because our reputation was doing so well already," she replied dryly. "This whole thing could have been avoided if you'd just released her when they asked. It would have certainly proved our own desire for peace, an opportunity she gave you but you didn't pick up."

Halmir Brenutk glared angrily at her. "Don't tell me how to do my job, Matriarch. I am prioritising the greater threat of the Consortium over the more dubious threat of the Octarians. This whole mess is because you can't control members of your own shoal!"

"It's not my job to control anyone in my shoal," she snapped. "A matriarch is a representative and a guide, first and foremost."

"She is blatantly compromising the security of the nation!"

"By bringing tailors into her house to get her measurements taken?"

"She's not supposed to be allowed any visitors! We haven't even acknowledged the Octarian's claim yet."

"Sounds like you don't have a choice, Minister. Callie isn't going to wait for you to make up your mind. She's a well brought up girl who doesn't shirk her responsibilities. She's going to do her job as a legate, whatever that actually means, and she's not going to let you or anyone else stand in her way. I don't understand why you're making this more difficult than it needs to be."

"Because of the Consortium! If we simply hand Callie away it'll be an insult to them after they've worked so hard trying to get her themselves."

"To have her executed!"

"Enough, both of you." The monarch's even tone cut through the hostility in the room and brought it once again to silence. She sighed and rubbed her temples, collecting her thoughts.

"Halmir, do you know if the Consortium is aware of the Octarian Ambassador's visit?"

"I can guarantee it. Besides, if he didn't before, he certainly knows now. The only good thing about this whole mess since the Liberation is that the Consortium has become more fixated on us than Bellchora, for the moment. Unfortunately, that also means they're focused on hurting us and they seem determined to do it at this point."

Orevenii's gaze fell on Chief Pein. "What is the security situation?"

Pein, who looked like he hadn't slept in days, rubbed his head. "Well, the militia's starting to get off the ground, but a lot of people quit near the beginning so we have less than half the people we started with."

"Half?" Brentuk asked incredulously. "How?"

"Captain Cuttlefish's training regime doesn't exactly fit with many of their turf war sensibilities. It's a problem we anticipated, of course. The NSF deals with the same problem all the time. The good news is that the rest look like they're in to stay and some of them are Xapheerellites who participated in the Liberation, so they have some combat experience."

"'Liberation' is a term the Consortium really doesn't like, considering they refer to it as a mass murder, and those Xapheerellites are obviously spies, planted there to report the militia's dealings."

Pein pulsed a plum-purple. "If they can fight, I couldn't care less. Besides, weren't we going to try for a non-aggression treaty with the Octarians?"

"That might have been possible before, but not now that they've made Callie, an enemy of the Consortium, a noble and demanded she be released to them. The Consortium now considers the Octarian Empire an enemy, which means a non-aggression treaty with them would be an act of complicity."

"So what? The Consortium has already attacked us once, they're planning on attacking us again at some point. I'd rather be complicit with the Octarians than with the Consortium. The Octarians we might be able to work with, but the Consortium I wouldn't trust to make me a sandwich."

"Unfortunately, Chief, the Consortium has one of the world's largest armies, if not the largest, and the Octarians were beaten back by a bunch of teenagers. No, I'm much more afraid of the Consortium."

"Those are no ordinary teenagers," Reina reminded him. "Arch-Priestess Tanal, did the Temple of Retribution say anything about them?"

Tanal sat on the seat furthest from the group, calmly sipping tea. She hadn't said a word since this informal meeting had begun, merely watching in silence, almost like someone observing an ant colony.

"The temple knows of them. I don't know yet what they might decide to do, but they have acknowledged them as warriors after their little test, and if Callie and Marie were able to fight as well as them, then I imagine they would get similar consideration."

"But surely they can't ignore them being children forced to fight an army by themselves." Brentuk paused, then added, "allegedly."

Tanal's mantle reddened. "They were not forced, Minister, they chose to, out of a sense of duty and obligation to their fellow Calachorans. If blame is to be issued, perhaps it should fall on those who allowed such a situation where children needed to get involved in the first place."

The room fell into silence and Reina couldn't help but smirk to herself. She had a point, after all.

Orvenii broke the silence. "Release her, Chief."

Brentuk looked at her, horrified. "What? But Monarch–."

"We have no choice. If we try to hold her, the situation will only escalate and create problems among our own population."

"And what about Marie? Are we supposed to just carry on as before? If we let Callie go, what justification will we have for holding her?"

"I may have a solution for that, Minister." Tanal said. All eyes suddenly turned to her once again.

"I am all ears, Arch-Priestess."

"The Ecclesiarchy is willing to take the matter out of the government's hands entirely by taking responsibility for Marie ourselves."

Reina frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I was informed that Callie and Marie's doctor has been visiting the temples, asking for advice on their situation. Their house is simply too small for their current size and she is worried about their mental and physical well being. The Vasilika has recently been renovated and the facilities there would be perfect for Marie. Something like a hospital or long-term care facility wouldn't be proper."

Pein nodded. "The Vasilika is much more defensible than a regular medical facility, and it would be much harder for the crabs to sneak up on the Vasilika too."

"I fail to see how that helps us politically, Arch-Priestess."

"Because, like Callie, Marie is being forcibly taken out of your hands, in this case, by Calachora's own laws which allows us to override the government if we feel it is violating or risks violating the tenets of the Ecclesiarchy. In this case it's more of a technicality since it's a situation you've been forced into, so this gives the government an out. We cannot abide someone being forced to endure this, especially not a poor girl in the midst of yun'brennen."

"I doubt Spiraltail will care about the difference," Brentuk said, the name of the Consortium's ambassador came out like a terrible ooze. "But, you're right, it might be the only way out for us, but I can't predict what the Consortium will do. If they don't consider children sacred, I doubt they feel differently about the Ecclesiarchy."

"We can handle ourselves, Minister, don't worry. As for the Octarians, leave them to their own trials for now. I doubt many of them are pleased with this development either."

"No… I imagine not."

Reina didn't like the scheming look that appeared on Brentuk's face, the way his mantle rippled and shifted with contrasting bright and dark colours before he brought it back under control.

"Then it's settled," Orvenii said. "Chief, once the Ecclesiarchy is ready, you may release Marie to them."

"Understood."

"But Arch-Priestess, we cannot release her until Callie has left Inkopolis. The disruption would be too great and it would be too risky."

"Of course, Monarch."

"And Matriarch," Orvenii brought her voice down low. "Please, do something to make those two behave themselves, or they will push too far and I will push back."

With what? A stick? Reina kept those thoughts to herself as she rose and bowed obediently. Then she left the room, bitterness trailing behind her.

Members of the Assembly had always worried what Marie and Callie would do if they were given actual power and authority to go along with their wealth and popularity. Their nightmare had always been the two of them becoming matriarchs after they entered adulthood. Well, they were finding out, and they were obviously all inking themselves scared, especially since Callie had a whole army backing her too, along with the confidence of an entire ward.

Callie looks like she's blundering along, but she's really just trying to get things moving. She knows she can't stay in Inkopolis very long or it'll only cause more trouble. Everyone's so fixated on the Consortium they seem to have forgotten about all the other little details.

Reina arrived on the main floor of The Pinnacle, not in the mood to talk to anyone, but she heard a familiar voice called out to her.

"Matriarch Sansea, it's nice to run into you."

Reina stopped, a little surprised to see Estelle Madrelle, Minister of Culture, walking towards her.

"Minister? Is there something I can do for you?" Reina was surprised she was able to keep any rancour out of her voice. Maybe it was because she'd always liked Madrelle. She was younger than most of the other ministers, and she had a much more cheerful disposition overall.

"I was hoping you could pass along a request. I heard about what was going on with Callie and I was hoping either she or the Ambassador might be able to sit with me a little while."

Reina frowned. "Why?"

Madrelle looked a little embarrassed. "Well, I was hoping to get a chance to learn more about the Octarian nobility and how it works. We haven't had any nobility since Queen Immelina's day and I haven't been able to find many reliable references in the books we have available."

Reina found herself laughing. She almost couldn't believe that she was actually hearing this. The minister was actually curious and trying to learn more about the situation and the culture they were dealing with instead of just making assumptions based on century-old information.

Ignoring Madrelle's somewhat confused look, she said, "I'll be sure to pass along your request, Minister. I'm sure they'd both love a chance to have a friendly, casual conversation, for a change."

So would I, for that matter.

Reina hoped, for Callie's sake, that the Octarians would be as eager to learn about their culture as Madrelle.

—-

"This is an outrage! I can't believe they're doing this! Does nobody in the Ravalda have any sense left?"

Hezrim Glittermine sighed, rubbing his temples with his back two tentacles. He and other members of the informal Loyalist Committee were seated in a secluded room in the Public Security headquarters building. Their bodyguards were all outside, but he was sure they could easily hear Stonefellers loud rantings.

"Indoor voice, please," Narven Ida said cooly. His naturally dark skin helped him blend more easily into the dark room, despite his teal tentacles and eyes, making him seem almost like a disembodied spirit. Fitting for someone who considered himself the conscience of the group. "We came here to discuss recent developments, not to hear more ranting."

Brath Stonefeller glared at him, but otherwise said nothing further, which was a relief.

Viletta Skywatcher, the Ministry of Providence's representative in the Ravalda, placed her hand on the table and leaned towards Stonefeller, though her head swivelled back and forth to look at everyone around the table. "We can't complain too loudly, can we? Lord Octavio himself appointed her as a legate and as a kravah."

"Not for the purpose of peace with the inklings," Glittermine countered. "He wanted to use her as a weapon against the inklings, and it was working brilliantly."

"Right up until the moment it didn't," Ida said bitterly. "It's a shame too, she made a lot of civil reforms that have improved life in the domes. Unfortunately, her proposed changes to the army were… more difficult to implement. At least we know they work against crabs."

"Whom we didn't have to make enemies of," Stonefeller snapped, now making an effort to keep his voice down. "It was completely unnecessary to help the inklings, and what has it gotten us?"

"Some scientific equipment I've desperately been wanting, to be fair," Ida said.

"You already received it?" Glittermine was surprised.

"Indeed; although, transporting such delicate equipment was no easy task, and a piece of debris almost fell on it too. That was too close. We still haven't used it for anything other than a few tests and calibrations, but it should make a lot of our eugenics work much faster and more accurate."

"Don't be swayed by trinkets," Stonefeller grumbled. "With the purchases we've made, we're almost out of the 'credit' Octarians spent lives and blood for. Just like that, all the effort and risk for almost no reward."

Skywatcher pressed her back against her crude, patchwork metal chair and nodded. "I agree, it doesn't seem like it was worth what we got out of it. It certainly didn't benefit our ministry."

"Nor did it benefit the army aside from a modest morale boost. I have heard from many of our people still in the army that there is a lot of disapproval regarding the operation from many of the upper echelons, even that traitor, Sever."

Gabralla Sever had once been firmly in Octavio's camp before she traded her loyalty for an appointment as Lady of War. True, part of it had been to get Octavia into power as opposed to some worse candidates, but that wasn't turning out very well given Octavia's surprising support of a peaceful resolution to the conflict. She was hardly a traitor but he wouldn't exactly cry if the position of Lady of War was made vacant.

Ida leaned forward, his tentacles twisting. "While I may agree with you on that front in some aspects, I prefer to think of it as a way of showing Calachora that we are far from beaten. I can't say I dislike how the Ambassador strong-armed Calachora into getting our way. It's important everyone knows that we aren't simply rolling over because of a few setbacks."

"She says," Stonefeller countered, but Ida shook his head.

"Betanuss is a soldier to the core. It's not in her to overimbelish things like that or gather glory for herself. Her report was sufficiently direct and to the point. I just wish we knew how the inklings were going to actually react."

Glittermine nodded. "This… inkling, being taken out of their grasp is something we can certainly consider a victory. We shouldn't stop her from coming. The question is, what do we do after she gets here?"

Now it was Stonefeller who leaned forward, his voice brought to its lowest yet. "My informants tell me that they're looking for a suitable building to modify into her accommodations. I could arrange for some… unfortunate occurrences after she arrives."

Skywatcher looked offended. "I don't like the idea of simply killing her off for the sake of it. Shouldn't we give her a chance to contribute?"

"What can an inkling contribute to our actual cause without tearing us apart?"

"I don't know, but if she can continue to make the sorts of improvements she was able to before, I'd love to shove it in Calachora's face. It would demoralise them."

Glittermine nodded thoughtfully. "That does have a certain appeal. I can't imagine she's feeling particularly loyal to her government right now either. Perhaps there are certain… cracks we can exploit. Still, no reason we can't plan for the future. She's bound to be a nuisance for a while, at the very least. The moment she becomes a real problem…" He shrugged. "Well then, we'll just do what the army never seems capable of doing. We'll kill an inkling."

Autor's Notes:

Sorry for the wait. I had a busy weekend. This chapter covers some of the preparations and leads up to Callie moving to the domes. As you can imagine, Callie's unique condition requires some accommodation. One thing's for sure, the domes will never be the same again.