While Agent 4 was being confused in her home, Marie decided to give her cousin a little talk. She was still angry about why Callie would share that story. Marie didn't remember too many details from it, but it was still somewhat personal.
"Callie, I'm fine with you telling Four," Marie sighed. "But then Four might tell Eight, then Eight might tell Three, then somehow Pearl and Marina will know the story. That okay, too, besides Pearl knowing, she's gonna go crazy. My point is, if gramps finds out that story has been spread, he's gonna share all of the embarrassing parts of it."
"Ohhhh…"
Yeah," Marie continued. "Like the part where you tried to strangle the police guy and claimed he was 'depriving you of your creative rights' or something."
"Uhhh… right. Let's just hope Four doesn't say anything."
"BUT WHAT IF SHE DOE-"
"Marie, you're overthinking it. What if she doesn't?"
"But then… You're right. Agent 4 doesn't talk much, except whenever I showed up in Octo Canyon."
"See? It's fine. Let's just go to bed."
"You're right. G'night, Callie."
The next morning, Captain Cuttlefish had to call yet ANOTHER meeting. Three was able to attend this time, since he had made an oath to only brood in his room alone all day once a week. Uhhhhhhh… Woomy?
Before the meeting even started, both cousins kept giving dirty looks to Four. What were the odds she DID tell the others? Uhhhg. Of course she did, right? Because the first thing the Captain said was "Have I ever told you the story of how this formed?"
Marie gave Four the middle finger. Callie told her cousin to chill, which only caused Marie to just stare at her and mutter "this is your fault". Callie shrugged.
"I don't think you ever told us," Eight said. Three nodded.
"Well, it all started way back when, when these two were only seven. Due to some family struggles they both had to live with this one lady who-"
"THAT'S ENOUGH," Callie and Marie shouted at the same time.
"I swear it wasn't me!", Agent 4 said back.
"What does Four have to do with this," said the Captain. "I just want to tell a story."
"I wanna hear the story," Pearl whined. "Please?"
"This is personal," Marie answered.
"Yeaaaah…", Callie muttered. "Personal. Totally."
Agent 8 was hiding under a chair muttering some sort of religious book. Agent 3 noticed Agent 8 and started doing the same. It looked really weird, and made everyone feel uncomfortable.
"Why can't I tell the story?"
"Please, gramps. Just don't," said Callie.
"Why?"
"BECAUSE NO ONE NEEDS TO HEAR IT," Marie screeched.
By now everyone was hiding under chairs.
Marie exhaled and sighed. "Fine. You can tell it."
Callie looked shocked. Captain Cuttlefish was really happy.
"Well anyway, they had to live with some woman who had married both of their dads. That's legal because a while back a case of pneumonia had struck Callie's unfortunate family, and they were out like mosquitos. Callie was so depressed that she even tried to drink alcohol at some point to cure her pain, even though she was seven."
Callie embraced the pain as everyone stared at her. There was a reason she didn't include that part when telling four. Why did he have to bring it up?!
"A while after that Marie's parents divorced over whether or not to move their daughter up a grade. Her father got custody, and she stayed in second grade, with her father fearing that third graders were all sexist. The same woman that had married Callie's father before he died thought it would be nice to marry her dead husband's brother, so she did. I forgot to mention that this one woman was on a strict vegan diet and would throw vegetables at the girls if they were disobedient. One day after school while Marie's father was on a business trip some weird guys were sent by the girl's step mom to pick them up from school."
Marie knew what part of the story was coming up next. She looked at her cousin and mouthed the word "you good?". Callie mouthed back "nope" and left the room. Everyone else was a little confused (besides Four), but the captain kept going.
"This lady was pretty crazy. When the kids got home she locked Marie in her room in hopes of making the child sick. Meanwhile, apparently the guys that picked the kids up ran a design factory for creative children whose parents didn't want them anymore. The step mom lady had hopes of selling both of the girls to get them out of her tentacles, but when she found out these guys existed using an online forum called 'Sell My Step Children, Fast and Easy!', she decided she could keep Marie as a trophy child or something like that because she thought nobody would want her."
"Grampa…"
"Yes Marie?"
"Nevermind just go on or whatever."
"Yeah anyway Marie was locked in her room. Long story short, she got a really bad fever and started getting some weird hallucinations. She was seeing things and hearing things and claimed there was a pounding feeling on her hands, or nub-things. Whatever. While Marie was busy getting a fever, Callie was sold to the place of her dreams. It was basically a 'Low Budget Art School of Humane Child Labor', as Callie called it."
For some reason Pearl found this hilarious, and Marina had to gently touch her, the closest thing to punching or nudging Marina could do. That's kinda what you have to do when your friend laughs at inappropriate times, right? Eight and Three glared at Pearl but said nothing. Four was sitting up as straight as possible to not look suspicious, but was clearly failing.
Captain Cuttlefish went on with the story. He mentioned the part where Marie's hallucinations were so bad she was screaming that someone stole her watermelon and that a tree was growing out of her hands…
Note: That is an actual hallucination I got in 2nd grade. I even felt the pressure on my hands the way she does. Just a fun fact.
He mentioned Callie trying to strangle the police guy and Marie thinking the trauma had made her cousin insane, Marie crying for four hours and Callie feeling awkward about it, he mentioned that Callie's teacher in third grade had to talk to her in private when she wrote her personal narrative about the experience and described it as the "best time of her entire life", he mentioned the therapist asking him if he was raising his granddaughter okay, due to the disturbing drawings, he mentioned Marie breaking a window with her charger…
And he mentioned the part at the end.
Marie's face was turning bright green from her anger and the blood rushing to her face or however that works. WHY DID HE HAVE TO BRING THAT UP?! Everyone glanced awkwardly at Marie and she firmly stood up and trudged out of the room to join Callie, who was hiding in a closet.
"Oh. Hey Marie," Callie said timidly.
"Hey Callie."
"Did gramps bring up the end part where…"
"Yup. Now everyone knows. Great!"
"I'm so sorry Marie."
"It's fine. I was young and stupid and thought it would be cool to confess to a crush. Stupid second-grader stuff."
"Yup."
"Callie…"
"Yeah?"
"He managed to find all of the embarrassing parts. So if Four knew the other parts of the story, she now knows the same as everyone else, so I can't really get mad at her anymore, can I?"
"What do you mean embarrassing?"
"All the parts about our mental health. I think he's still going."
"You wanna leave," Callie asked.
"Neh," said Marie. "Let's just stay here. The two of us. If we leave we'll be skipping a meeting, technically."
"Oh, right."
The two sat in the closet talking to each other the rest of the meeting. Eventually it ended. While everyone was leaving, the cousins were approached by the youngest inkling on the team: Agent 4.
"Oh. Hi guys."
"Hi, Four!", greeted Callie.
"Hey," Marie said, trying not to sound suspiciously angry.
"Th-there's something I have to tell you," Four whispered.
"Go ahead," Callie kindly gestured.
"I…"
"It's okay, Four."
"I told your grandfather you told me. I'm sorry."
Callie's ears were turning pink, but she still said "It's fine!"
Marie, on the other hand, was not that positive. "You did WHAT?"
"I-I'm sorry Marie. I just felt guilty that I knew the story and… I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry," said Callie.
"CALLIE, you are too nice. You know she shouldn't have done it. You're always gonna be nice to her, so your opinion doesn't matter. Leave."
Callie was shocked. Her cousin wouldn't say that, would she? "Okay," Callie murmured, and walked away. As Callie left, some of the other Agents sort of stared. Especially Pearl. Marina had to openly walk up to Callie and apologise, since everything Pearl did wrong was apparently her responsibility. Marina was just a little too kind. Infact, Callie was surprised the octoling wasn't hugging her by now.
That night in the Squid Sisters' apartment, Callie was really tired for some reason and decided to go to bed early. Marie kindly said goodnight to her cousin, but she had things to do. Things to keep her up. When Callie finally fell sound asleep, Marie tiptoed to get her laptop from where Callie always kept it, above the microwave (so that Marie wasn't addicted, Callie did the same with her's). Marie logged on and did a bunch of top secret business, then inhaled, exhaled, and searched up "how to get rid of an annoying teenager". She got some pretty dark (and some funny ones) search results, but eventually came upon a result that made her shiver: Sell them.
Marie hit herself hard in the head. What was she doing? She couldn't make Four go through all the trauma she went through. Then again, after the experience all those years ago, Callie was unharmed. But Four's brothers… Nevermind. She couldn't get soft. Business was business, and it must be done. Marie gulped and clicked on the forum.
"I have a teenager. Fourteen years old, female. Responds to the nickname 'Four'. Very emotional, short attention span, likes pineapples, skilled in combat. Fast and agile. She is irrationally afraid of wasabi, just for note."
Marie couldn't think straight anymore and was practically possessed. She couldn't even feel any emotions, and couldn't say anything besides "it had to be done".
