"She's trying hard, but not many of the Matriarchs are listening. Too many have already chosen their side and most of the others are too timid to speak up."

Matron Bluegrass looked despondent. Her grim report of the ongoing discussions happening with the Assembly's members didn't do much to inspire confidence in their present situation. Her anger seemed to be fueling her enough that she didn't lack energy however.

Three sat with her arms crossed, constantly reminding herself not to slouch in the uncomfortable wooden chair. Hani stood silently behind her, watching the proceedings with a critical eye.

Matron Vengrere stared at her hands, endlessly flipping a small card end over end. "I wish she had spoken up sooner. Matriarch Sansea usually isn't afraid to stand her ground. That's what got her so much respect in the Assembly. Now, it might be too little too late."

"Not entirely." Matron Mender lifted her hand in a holding gesture and looked around the table before she continued. "Many of the other matrons are being moved and started to question the decisions of their matriarchs. She has a point that making war against the Octarians would divide the country. She even called Keeper a warmonger. Publicly."

"He is," Syclla said bitterly. "For an old soldier, you'd think he'd know the cost of war first hand."

"He was an intelligence officer," Three amended. It was the first time she'd been able to contribute to the conversation since the meeting had begun. "He did do some combat, from what I learned, but he was mostly working behind the lines. It's an important job and it should not be looked down upon, obviously, but Captain Cuttlefish once told me that intelligence officers are scared for a living." Three frowned at herself. Hedging her words like that, she was starting to sound like a politician. These meetings needed to stop soon or she risked becoming some jabbering idiot.

"Fear does seem to be what is driving him." Jellifer looked like a deflated balloon, his body draped over the chair more than sitting in it. The news that Calachora would almost certainly abandon Bellchora to its fate had shocked and deeply wounded the jellyfish community in the country.

"He's obsessed," Pearl scoffed. "That has to be obvious to anyone, but he can't be so stupid as to try and take this route without some kind of ace in his pocket, right?"

"It's not the militia from what my people 'ave been tellin' me." Scylla shook her head. "The trainin' the Guard's been gettin' is leagues ahead, even with Cuttlefish bein' more experienced. They might do okay but I don't think they'll be able to win a war by themselves."

"None of us will." Marina idly tugged on her tentacle, her expression as sober as Three had ever seen her wear, yet there remained a cautious optimism in her eyes. "Peace between Octarians and Calachora is the only thing that can guarantee peace. Could the Consortium be backing him?"

Vengrere flashed red. "Not impossible but unlikely. Just because he hates Octarians with a passion doesn't mean he'll sacrifice the country just to get at them. She folded her hands on the table and her eyes became distant. "The Assembly is made up of people who experienced the war and its aftermath. I think almost all of them are afraid of the Octarians because they were made to be afraid of them. It's the same for many matrons."

"But most of them have never even met an Octarian," Peal protested.

Bluegrass's mantle turned burgundy. "I think they prefer it that way. Heaven forbid their conscience give them second thoughts."

Molter rapped his small claw on the tabletop. "We can talk all day about the problems, what we need is a solution. Whatever her reasons, the Monarch resigning gives us time to act."

Lavaridge rubbed his hands anxiously. "We're so close to finding their base. We've just started tracking their supplies through the city. We need time to track them to their final destination." His hands tightened into fists. "So close."

"'Ow long do we 'ave?"

He spread his hands. "To find it, I think it would be within the week. To scout it, maybe another one or two. To actually fight and deal with them… well, judging by the amount of food they're shipping, that is definitely going to take longer. We're still calculating amounts but we're looking at thousands of crabs here, maybe twice as many as there were during the Liberation."

Looks of alarm appeared on the faces of everyone else at the table. Three had expected those kinds of numbers, though. The crabs would need to have at least triple the numbers of the Bastion Guard to have a chance of beating them in a direct fight.

Captain Hooker spoke up. "How long do we have before they might attack?"

Lavaridge flashed red. "It could be any time, but I imagine they'd wait until we were occupied with something else. Depending on their own situation, they might wait until we're busy with the Octarians, if it comes to that. What I'm hoping is that the current situation will give them a false sense of security. The sloppier they are, the better it is for us."

Three flashed green in agreement. "And we have to maintain secrecy. At this point, not even our own superiors can know what we're up to."

Lavardidge smirked. "At least in my case I, unofficially, have orders not to tell him." He shifted his eyes to Nari Vost'yan, who flashed green.

"He knows, but he won't give us away. He's doing everything he can to support us. He isn't worried about his career at this point."

"Aye, that ship's sailed," Hooker agreed. "But even if we get rid of the crabs, we still might end up facing war with the Octarians. What's our solution there?"

Pearl threw up her hands. "Keeper hasn't given any good reasons for going to war. Sure they might have raided us but they never hurt anyone doing it. Besides, it's not like we desperately need it. Not like they do."

Three's mantle flared with alarm. "The zapfish!" Everyone looked at her with concern. Three placed both hands on the table. "The Crab Gangs weren't going to Inkopolis Plaza just to kill the kids there, their main goal was the zapfish!"

Everyone jerked in surprise and Lavaridge held his chin thoughtfully. She could practically see his brain working rapidly behind his eyes.

"You may be right. As a resource, the Great Zapfish and even the baby zapfish would be invaluable. That would make their base independent and probably give them a huge surplus of electricity. Electricity isn't as widely available in the Consortium as it is here either." He frowned more deeply. "Doesn't explain what the rest of them would have been up to though."

Pearl pulsed blue, her mantle rippling with annoyance and frustration. "It could be anything! Let's focus, huh? From the sounds of it, we might need the Octarians' help to stand a chance against the Consortium, and the way things are now, we won't be able to give them any kind of guarantee. Doesn't our priority have to be peace then?"

"Lot of things have'ta happen at once, sounds like." Hooker scratched his head. "Thing is, we know that most of us do want peace with the Octarians. We sure as the sea is blue don't wanna' fight 'em, considering they saved us. Makes us seem pretty cursed ungrateful."

"So maybe we should help them somehow," Mender suggested. "The ones in the domes I mean. Callie isn't enough, we have to show them more support and we have to show the people here that we aren't afraid to. Our timidity is what's helped Keeper gain so much political ground."

"Not a bad idea," Vengrere agreed. "But what can we do? Given all that's happened, having that many inklings near or in their territory is bound to make them anxious."

Three's turned her mantle a soothing blue. "Callie is technically second in command of the guard. If we use the guard and have Callie's authorization, there shouldn't be any problem. I doubt they would complain about inklings helping to rebuild something, as long as it was under close watch. Besides, I think it's time the Guard did something other than training. They need a real mission. I'm sure Callie can find something for us to do."

"They'd probably give you something on the surface to do," Marina said. "I doubt, even now, they'd ever let you in the domes."

Pearl pulsed grey. "I'm sure Marie can think of something to let the rest of us help. It's just too bad she can't join these meetings."

Three did everything she could to keep any emotion from showing. Marie had been unusually morose and unresponsive the past couple of days. When she'd delivered hers and Callie's reports, it felt like she was barely listening, lost in a dark swirl of her own thoughts.

Three wondered if she was just discouraged by everything that was going on. It was understandable, everyone was discouraged. Maybe she just felt more responsible for how bad things were going. Stuck in the Vasilika most of the time, there didn't seem to be much she could do besides getting her body in shape.

Captain Cuttlefish had once taught her that being kept in isolation or even just being stuck in a single closed environment for a long time, like on a ship, affected people mentally. Was she succumbing to those effects?

"I'll ask her," was all she could really say. She could promise nothing else.

Three felt her phone vibrate and she hurried to check the message. It was from Cuttlefish Cabin, and its contents stirred fresh anxiety in her.

"More good news?" Pearl asked wearily.

Three replied in tuk'yan: ["I don't know. I'll be back."]

Three went into an adjacent room and called the number.

"HQ" Came the reply in Octese.

"Is Tephilla still there? Let me talk to her." There was a moment's pause as the phone was transferred over.

"Hello?"

"Tephilla, the message says you have a message for Marie. What is it? I'm in a meeting with the Committee and if there's news it would be good to know it now, especially if it's good news."

There was hesitation on the other side. Three didn't like it one bit.

"Well… the last assassination attempt on Callie failed."

Three could almost hear her professional facade crack. "That is good news." She tried and failed to sound sincere. It wasn't Tephilla's fault. Fortunately, the instructor and executrix persona she had been developing for almost two months kicked in. "But your Octese has also improved a lot."

"Oh… yes, I suppose it has."

Three reassembled her thoughts, switching to inklish. "Alright, give me the bad news then." There was another pause. Three wondered how long it had been since Tephy had spoken inklish.

"They tried to assassinate Callie on her way back from the outer domes. We lost three guards and two injured. I'm here to retrieve their replacements too."

Three clenched her free hand into a first and fought off the sense of loss washing over her. "Understood, I'll get that started. Anything else? Actually, why did Callie send you?"

"She wanted me to personally deliver a message to Marie. Maybe she was worried an Octarian would get arrested with the way things are going?"

"Things aren't that bad. After I finish here I'll drive you to the Vasilika. You can wait at the base if you like. You know where it is?"

"I… think so. It's just a few blocks from my apartment. right?"

"Miazama might like to see you."

"O-oh… yes, I… that would be nice. If I could."

"Just make sure you're ready to leave when I get there. If you have a message for Marie directly from Callie then it has to be important."

"It is." She paused. "You're not going to ask?"

"I'm aware it's probably a more private message or she wouldn't be delivering it in this way."

There was another pause before Tephilla responded, "you sure know them well."

"I've had to. Just watch yourself on your way there. I'll try to finish this meeting when I can."

"Understood. Good luck."

Three ended the call and grunted. Unfortunately, she would have nothing good to tell the committee and no new insights. She put her phone away and headed back into the boardroom. She hoped Callie's message would do something to lift them out of their rut.

—-

Tephy was only somewhat familiar with the former Coast Guard facility. Eight had used one of the buildings for their training as Callie's attendants. It had been too intense for her to even think about the facility. Now, she stood in Building 9, watching as some of the guard trainees went through some kind of drills with their weapons. She had seen Octarian soldiers in the domes do much the same, though, seeing inklings do it was a little disorienting.

She barely recognized Mia when she saw her among their number. She looked so serious as she moved with the others in almost perfect synchronisation between the barriers, coating everything in front of them in dark-grey ink on the way to the other end of the course. Occasionally, one of their octoling instructors would burst out of hiding and shoot at them, sometimes taking them down, but they failed to obstruct the trainees momentum for more than a second or two.

Eventually they got to the end, with Mia being one of the first to reach and ring the bell dangling from a frame at the end of the course. It seemed that, like her, she had adapted to their new circumstances and duties. Maybe once they achieved peace, they would be able to correspond more easily.

"Yeah, she's really comin' along."

Tephy jumped and spun around. Tani laughed and patted her head when she'd barely had a chance to recover.

"Jumpy today?"

"Everyone's jumpy," she replied, bringing her voice down low. "Callie's suffered two assasination attempts and three of her guards were killed."

"I heard." Tani maintained her smile but it seemed forced now. "Did you know them?"

"I got to know everyone a little bit. It's… odd how I noticed they're missing more than I ever noticed their presence when they were alive."

"That's how it always is, I guess. You sorta feel the same thing when you go to live on your own. Though I guess, depending on your family, it might be a good feeling." She pulsed grey. "Anyway, the sooner this peace happens, the sooner people will stop dying. You wanna talk to Mia? How long can you stay?"

"I'm only here until Three picks me up and takes me to Marie. After that I'll probably head back with the replacement guards."

"Just long enough to catch some fresh air, huh?"

"As odd as that might sound for Inkopolis." She pulsed blue. "It was nice to see the sky and feel the wind again though, even if it was cold."

Tani grinned. "Well, I'll get Mia for ya'."

Four crossed the floor over to the gathering trainees. One of the instructors was shouting when she got her attention and spoke quietly to her for a moment. Mia was asked to fall out and follow Tani. They'd walked for only a few seconds before Mia's face and mantle lit up and she broke formation to run to her.

Tephy stood her ground and opened her arms but she was nearly bowled over when Mia leapt at her and was nearly crushed from the force of her hug.

"Bout time you got 'ere. You better not 'ave given 'em any trouble down there."

Tephy grunted but managed to hug her friend back. "Funny, I was about to tell you the same thing."

It felt good to speak to Mia again, to have her here and to hear her voice. Mia was one of the few people she had come to consider family, and perhaps the first family member she had chosen for herself.

"How've ya' been?"

"Alright. Callie has a demanding schedule so it's demanding on the rest of us too. It really is amazing to see what a difference she's making though. Even stuck inside the house most of the time, I could see the change in the mood of the people walking by. What about you?"

Mia released her. "Well, since the Committee got started, I 'aven't 'ad as much to do so I thought I'd join the Guard. Don't worry, I'm still looking after the apartment, but everyone's noticed I get special treatment."

Tani lightly punched her arm. "You live in the same building as some of the officers and you have to look after it. We had to give you some special treatment. Besides, I doubt your comrades would enjoy living among the officers."

Mia smirked. "Probably not. I'll say this much: there's a lot more to being a soldier than I thought. A few days ago the officers ambushed us while we were doing our morning jog, in full pack and gear. That wasn't pleasant. We 'ad to clean our bags after too and everything in 'em."

"I know how you feel. We have to have everything looking a certain way, even our own quarters, just in case we have visitors who want a tour."

They talked back and forth like that for a while until Tani's phone eventually chimed with a message from Three, saying she was on her way.

"I'd better get back to my company, anyway," Mia said. She seemed to be deliberately avoiding her eyes. "I'll see you around soon, right Tephy?"

"One way or another," she agreed.

She watched Mia go, a painful longing in her heart, but she forced it aside. They would see each other again, of course, but…

"When you've been alone so long and you have to part from someone who took away that loneliness, it hurts."

"I know how you feel," Tani said.

Tephy blushed, not realising she'd spoken out loud.

"U-um… anything else I should know before I leave?"

"Hmm… tread carefully and don't speak unless spoken to. Three's a little stressed out and she's not really in the best of moods."

Tephy took that as good advice and headed out the door for her pickup.

—-

Callie's fearful scream reverberated through the cavern. The horrible sound made Marie flinch and caused her lime-green glow to dim for just a second, allowing the cavern walls around her to be swallowed in darkness before she brought it back.

Panic set within her, her hearts raced as she abandoned caution and broke into a run, dodging the various rocks, ledges and stalagmites in her path, until she came upon an open chamber where the two paths merged. A crack in the ceiling allowed a shaft of moonlight to pierce the darkness ahead of her, casting everything in a pale glow. On the edge of a moonbeam she saw Callie's limp form, lying on the cavern floor in a growing pool of her own blood.

Marie froze. She wanted to scream but she couldn't even wheeze. Her hands trembled, her mantle now glowed bright white. Callie was dead.

As painful memories flashed in front of her eyes and regret washed over her like a waterfall, three figures stepped out of the shadows and into the light. Their faces were all horrible, twisted caricatures of some creature or another, none of them inkling. A knife gleamed in one of their hands as they held it out towards them, flashing in the moonlight and it said, "now you're next."

Something in Marie's mind broke that moment. Though fear had weakened it, anger shattered it. The inside of the cavern transformed to resemble the heart of a volcano as Marie's mantle glowed like roiling magma and she let out an unearthly scream that echoed from one end of the cavern to the other and froze Callie's killers in their tracks. All fear and inhibitions melted away. All that was left was desire, a desire to hunt and to kill.

Marie jerked as the sound of a horn jarred her awake. Her hearts were still racing but her mind managed to quickly grasp that she had been dreaming and she was back in the pool, on the bed. The sound of the horn came again, this time followed by the revving of an engine, a very familiar engine.

Marie pushed herself off the mattress and swam to the surface. Once breached she searched around and sure enough, it was there, dirtier than she remembered but its beautiful lines and predatory shape remained unblemished.

The engine's rumbling died and Three exited the car. Marie swam to the edge and propped herself on the edge with her elbows. She couldn't help but smile and stare, memories of taking her car on one of Calachora's twisting mountain roads sending waves of delight through her soul and banishing the unpleasant memories she had been reliving just a moment ago.

"I thought seeing it might make you happy."

Marie reached over with one of her tentacles and gently nuzzled it against Three. "It does. Thank you, elvi-li.

Three beamed at the especially affectionate version of "little sister", her mantle displaying warm colours of love and affection in return, pinks and luscious reds. Marie was so engrossed with Three and her car that she almost missed seeing Tephilla.

Marie blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Tephilla bit her lip, wisps of anxiety in her mantle. "I… I have a personal message from Callie that she insisted I deliver to you in person."

Marie swallowed. Callie would only do this sort of thing if it was serious, too critical to be trusted to a mere sheet of paper or a text message. The implications were terrible to imagine.

"What is it?"

Tephilla paused to take a breath, her mantle turning white for a second before regaining its natural dark blue. She stepped forward and spoke.

"Get your funnel in gear and do something or it's all over."

Marie and Three both blinked even while Tephy's face flushed slightly in embarrassment.

Floa, who appeared seemingly from nowhere, laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like Callie alright." She walked up to rub Tephilla's head and gave Marie a sly smile. "Somehow she always knew whenever either of us were moping. Even during my training she knew when I'd be down." She looked over at Three. "She's counting on us."

Three flashed green. Marie found her certainty and the resolute look in her eyes to be almost heartbreaking, and now all eyes rested on her.

Marie released her hold on the pool edge and floated away from it, staring up at the ceiling high above, trying to fight the sense of vertigo it gave her.

What was Callie going through right now, what kind of month had she? How terrible would things get for her if open conflict began between the Octarians and Calachora? It wouldn't be pleasant and there was no way Marie was going to fight her. Neither would Three.

Three.

Ever since Three had come into their lives, Marie had suffered a feeling of expectation that even legions of fans could not elicit. It was the expectation and responsibility of being an older sister, someone to set an example, someone…

Who has to do the right thing…

Determination grabbed her at last, hardening her nerves to steel. Forget about being queen, she would do whatever she thought was necessary. Three's expectations mattered more to her than the Ecclesiarchy's.

She swam back to the pool's edge where everyone was waiting for her. "Alright, give me an update."

So Marie listened as Tephilla told her about the latest assasination attempt on Callie and the loss of the three guards. That was painful but it could have been worse. On the bright side, Callie's reforms were clearly having a positive effect on the Octarians. They were getting more clean water and fresh air than before and their prospects for trade in the new year were looking up.

Three told her about the latest developments on Calachora's side, about the efforts her grandmother was making to try and sway whoever she could, but it was like shooting ink into the wind. Only a handful of matriarchs seemed to be listening to her, but a surprisingly large number of matrons were also listening.

"The matrons in the committee think they're all waiting for a leader who might actually be able to challenge the Patriarch. A lot of them are from the country."

"Why's that?" Tephilla asked.

"Not as many crabs in the rest of the country as there are in Inkopolis," Marie explained. "They don't have to be afraid of being suddenly attacked like they do here so they aren't as easily swayed by fear. But, because Inkopolis has such a disproportionate percentage of Calachora's population, country matrons and matriarchs have always relied on the support of the ones in the city to support their arguments and grievances; and I bet those same city matriarchs are cashing in those favours right now, which is probably why the Assembly seems so one-sided."

She tapped her fingers on the pool's edge and thought. "Who stands to lose most from Keeper becoming Monarch? Personally, I mean."

Floa pulsed grey. "I guess everyone who works for the current Monarch. No way any of them are going to be able to keep their jobs after the mess we've ended up in."

Three flashed red. "Apparently, the foreign minister is keeping his job. Nana said that he's basically abandoned the monarch and is working for Keeper already."

"Which means peace is out the window as long as he's there." Marie let out a hissing noise and rubbed her head. "Fine, we don't need him."

Three frowned. "We don't?"

"No. Instead, we'll appeal to the other ministers. They'll be hung out as scapegoats the minute Keeper becomes monarch and they know it. We might not be able to save their careers but we can at least help save them from disgrace and let them bow out honourably. Nana should be able to help with that. She'll know what we need to do with them."

Three flashed green. "I think Chief Pein will be willing to help. He's already been supporting us through Vost'yan."

"Then maybe he can help us with the others too. Next, I need you to have the Committee's jellyfish representative contact the Bellchoran ambassador. We need to arrange for him to meet with me and Ambassador Betanuss. They're being abandoned and I don't like it. They need hope and we're going to give it to them."

"But how?"

"Later. You've got enough to think about right now. Rope Four in if you need to delegate."

"What about helping the Octarians? The committee thinks that doing something more open to help them would give them some reassurance that peace is still possible. We thought we could offer the Guard to help them with some of Callie's projects, since Callie is technically an officer in the Guard."

"Any and all operations taking place in Octarian territory are under her authority. Even so, I'm not sure the Octarians would appreciate having so many combat trained inklings within even the outer domes. Still, we can send Callie the idea and see if she can make something of it, but we need to give her some good news from our end. The Ravalda will be meeting soon to discuss current events and figure out if they need to change direction. We need to give the Reformists something to help the cause of peace."

Three spread her hands helplessly. "But what?"

"That's what I'm hoping to discuss with the ambassadors. Tephy, have Callie ask if the Ravalda can hold off on the issue until then. I'm sure both Ambassadors will be able to meet with us promptly."

"I doubt they have very full schedules right now. Minister Brentuk is distancing us from Bellchora as much as he can."

Marie let out a soft hiss. "He won't be minister much longer if I have anything to say about it. Regardless, I'm not letting the crabs take Bellchora without a fight. Three, are you confident we can find their base by spring?"

"If Security is right, we should find it within the next two weeks, maybe sooner."

"Then that will work. If we destroy their forces here then they might think twice about invading Bellchora. If not, then hopefully, some of my other ideas will help."

She sighed and finally let go of the pool's edge. "Well, that's a start."

"Sounds more like you ran half the race," Floa commented. The relieved smile on her face was both heartening to see and annoying.

Three and Tephilla were both frantically typing notes on their phones. Marie thought it amusing how these two very different girls were suddenly acting so much alike. Perhaps, had the world been different, Three might have ended up like Tephilla.

"One more thing," she said, leaning closer to Tephilla. "I want you to deliver a personal message to Callie from me."

Tephilla swallowed. "Y-yes?"

"Tell her to hold on tight."

—-

Three and Tephilla had just left when Floa next spoke. "Feeling better?"

Marie gave her a disgruntled look. "Don't act like I've accepted anything just yet."

"C'mon, Marie. You can't not do something in these situations; it's just not in you to ignore them. Becoming Queen Immelina's successor just means you'll have the authority to do what you think you need to. Besides, the Octarians need someone to look out for them."

"I think Callie's been doing a pretty good job on her own. I can help but they don't need me. Right now, I'm just going to do what I have to."

"And what is that?"

Marie began swimming backwards in a slow circle, arranging her thoughts. "Our mistake was playing by the rules once we got caught. We didn't want to give anyone an excuse to throw us in jail anymore than we already had and we wanted to set an example for the Octarians. We underestimated how divisive the issue would be. The Octarian's participation in the Liberation only seemed to create more problems instead of fewer."

"Seems that way. So… what; you're going to start breaking the rules?"

"Not breaking," Marie said, her voice lowering. "Shattering, banishing even. Callie and I set everything up perfectly and even then nobody could do it right. Fine then, we'll do it ourselves. I'm not going to be constrained by events a century ago when I don't need to be. If they don't want to move on, fine, then we'll go without them and they can choke on our dust."

Author's Notes:

After working in the domes for a while, Tephy's Octese is definitely improved, heh heh. So much so that she's completely forgotten that she was speaking it, heh heh. Marie loves her car. Shame she can't even fit in it anymore. Still, at least it's in good hands and it seems both Three and Callie know one or two things to help get Marie out of a bad funk. For Three it's doing something to make her happy, for Callie it's giving her a swift kick up the funnel. So that Marie's been kicked into gear, things are going to start getting very tense very quickly. The difference this time is that Marie doesn't particularly care anymore ;)