A/N: Hi! Here's another short story! I've got a couple more in the works, and then a new big Coroika project! But for now, enjoy this story about two Octoling sisters and Agent 3! I must say, it was very strange for me to write Agent 3 as a male, I can only see Agent 3 as a female. But I managed, and it turned out interesting! I hope you can enjoy this, and stay fresh!
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Mmm?" Kara responded, not looking up from the Octobrush she was vigorously cleaning. Her hands worked swiftly, wiping away every stray spot of ink.
Aleah took that as a yes, and continued. "I... I have a child."
Kara freaked out. She dropped the brush, letting it get covered in dirt, and even lifted her goggles to look her in the eye. "Aleah! You're fourteen! You can't properly reproduce until you're at least sixteen!"
"No no no! He's not my own! I, uh, adopted."
"Oh? That's allowed?"
"Well, I don't know. I just kinda... found him. I think his parents... were killed."
"Curse those Inklings." Kara spat, making Aleah flinch.
She continued after a moment of staring into the artificial sky. "At least the squid scum didn't get the male child. You did good, Aleah, rescuing him like that."
"Oh... yeah, thanks."
She couldn't tell her. Not even her own sister. But she wanted to. She wanted to tell her so badly. She couldn't keep this hidden forever. But she'd have to.
Kara fitted her goggles back on and adjusted her kelp. "Aleah... you should probably present him to the General. You know how rare male children are, and I know you feel personal attachment, but he needs to be protected."
It was getting harder to breathe. Was she showing her nerves? She couldn't. She had to manage words. She had to keep up the lie, or at least, a half-truth.
"Well, he's quite... shy. Probably traumatized. I don't know if that's such a good idea, so soon."
"Oh, well then! Can I meet him? It might help, to see another Octoling. And technically, I'm his auntie!"
Seeing another Octoling. That was the last thing he needed.
"Kara. I don't think I can show him to you yet. I don't think I can show him to you... ever."
Kara's face fell, and she gave Aleah an incredulous look. "Why not?"
"Well, uh..."
"Aleah, tell the truth. That's an order, from your superior."
Kara had two modes. Big sister, and Elite. Aleah sighed. What had she done?
"Ah, uh... well, maybe it is better if you just meet him. But... promise me you won't do anything drastic."
Kara raised an eyebrow, but didn't disagree. "Hm. Alright, fine."
Aleah hated herself. Stupid girl, this is why you'll never be an Elite. You can't keep your stupid mouth shut, she silently scolded.
She returned to their dorm. A cry came from a small crate under her bunk, startled by the sound of the door.
"Shh, it's okay. It's only me." Aleah soothed, reaching for the crate and removing the lid. She didn't like keeping him in there, but it was the only safe hiding place. Inside was her pillow, a clean sock to serve as a blanket, and... a squid. A young Inkling child. With ten tiny limbs instead of eight, those peculiar black markings surrounding two bright ocean blue eyes, and a more rigid, angular body.
Aleah smiled at him. She removed her goggles so he could see her eyes. The goggles always seemed to disturb him. But once he saw her soft green eyes, he giggled.
He was so cute. "Big sis is gonna love you! How could she not?"
Aleah fitted the top back on the crate, and carried it outside, comfortable with her choice.
"Aleah, this is a living, breathing child. You need to take better care of him than putting him in a box."
She just smiled at her sister, and set the crate down. "He's adorable. I think you'll really like him!"
She removed the lid.
Kara screamed.
"ALEAH! YOU RESCUED AN INKLING?!"
She immediately regretted everything. This was it, she was going to get caught. "Shhh! Please! Not so loud!"
"Do you know what this is, Aleah?! Treason! It's treason, that's what! Inklings are the enemy! If anyone finds out about this, you'd be discharged from the Military with disgrace on your name and our family! You'd be exiled to the outer domes! You might even be tortured!"
"But he was all alone, helpless. He's just a child, Kara! Just a child."
"A child that will grow into a vicious killer! A child of the enemy!"
Kara took a breath. She was so, so mad. Even her goggles were fogging up.
"Aleah. You're very lucky I'm your sister. No one must know about this."
"Oh thank you Kara! I knew you'd understand!"
Kara said nothing, her face blank. She simply fetched a freshly cleaned Octoshot, and pointed it at the crate. Aleah's spark of hope was crushed.
"No!" She screamed, scooping the young squid to her chest in one swift motion. He started to cry. Aleah choked back tears as well.
Kara's grip on the Octoshot quivered. "Please try to understand, this is mercy! This is so you aren't punished like a criminal! Please Aleah, you're only fourteen. Don't throw your life away for something as stupid as a squid!"
Aleah's tentacles flashed green, the same shade as the baby Inkling. Taking a deep breath, she accepted this change.
"Put it down, Kara. If you shoot, you kill both of us."
"You don't order me around!"
"Then take the shot."
Kara was stunned. Had her little sister gone insane? Protecting a squid?!
She dropped the Octoshot. A squid, she could kill, but her sister? No. They all just needed to calm down.
"Thank you." Aleah breathed, doing her best to calm the child, with her own nerves completely wrecked.
Kara paced around a bit. "You're not keeping it. You can't."
"Kara, this is a living, breathing child. Also a boy. You don't have to be so rude."
She twitched, but let her sister's disrespect go. What was more important was how they would get rid of this thing without killing it.
"We will bring him as close as possible to the surface, and then let him go. Got it? You're not keeping him."
Aleah looked down at the little Inkling. He seemed so content in her arms.
"But what if we-"
"No."
"What if we disguised him as an Octoling?"
"No!"
"And raised him to be like us!"
"Aleah!"
Her sister was right. She knew it. She'd never get away with it. If he could stay, Kara would splat him some night, and if she didn't, someone else would. But she wanted him. To protect him, and raise him, and maybe show the world that not all Inklings are bad.
Or...
She could go to the outer domes willingly. She could leave the Military. And she could take him with her.
No. No, that was ridiculous. She was fourteen. She had her whole life ahead of her. And it's not like Kara would let her, anyway.
In truth, the motherly instinct that had been activated inside her wanted the best for this child. And back on the surface was where he could live his best life. It was where he belonged.
"Let's go." Aleah decided, finally.
Sector 1. The closest to the surface. The closest to the enemy.
"This is far enough."
Aleah stopped, but not because she was told to. Did she just hear fear in her sister's voice?
"Just... leave him somewhere. There, that cabin. One of those bloody squids will find him and take him back up there."
"But what if someone's in there?"
"And this is why you should have let me kill him."
"Kara!"
"Ugh, just go! I'll stay and guard the kettle. And hurry up!"
Aleah did as she was told. But not before saying goodbye.
She placed him gently on the bench outside the cabin, and then took a seat herself.
"I have to go now. I'm sorry."
He blinked those deep blue eyes at her. Just like the ocean, she thought. She had never actually seen the ocean, but she always wanted to. She had heard it was beatiful.
"Maybe one day I can join you up there. Wouldn't that be nice?"
He probably couldn't understand her, but he giggled, and that was enough.
Aleah tried not to notice the tears now dripping down her cheeks. "Please... don't forget me... Three."
She didn't quite know why she called him Three, but she liked it. Perhaps it was because of the three little spots on each of his longer tentacles, or maybe it was the way his angular head had three points, or even because she lived in Sector 3. It didn't matter. It fit. That was him. Three.
"Goodbye, my little Three."
~roughly 12 years later~
26 year old Elite Aleah Kasumi prepared her splatoon for battle. They had received word from headquarters that the Inkling known as Agent 3 was on the move again. Immediately after their successful siege of the Great Zapfish, this disgusting squid rose to resist. And already, within days, he had destroyed what took them years to build, plan, and do. The domes in Sector 1 had already collapsed. Thousands of innocent, helpless Octarians were trapped inside with no power, no warmth, no light.
Not only that, but... last week, her sister, Colonel Kara Kasumi, was sent to the front lines of Sector 2 to stop this threat in its tracks. Last week, her sister was killed in battle. Aleah recieved her remains yesterday. It was hard to properly distinguish remains when all that was left was a puddle of cold, dead ink, but she knew that magenta shade. She knew that kelp, those goggles and uniform. That Octobrush she kept so perfectly cleaned. It was her.
Aleah swore true hatred on the Inklings ever since. She swore to kill Agent 3. No matter what.
The kettle hissed loudly. He was here.
Aleah hid in the ink, expecting to see a well-built young man rise from the kettle. Instead, it was a kid. An actual child. Was this a joke?
Aleah felt some remorse tug at her heart. She didn't want to kill a child, but if this really was the Agent 3 who splatted her sister, then she would show no mercy. He rushed forward, painting rapidly with his green ink.
Green. A soft green. Just like her eyes. Just like... Three.
Three?
No. No, it couldn't be. Just because he's called Agent 3 doesn't mean he's Three, she told herself. And... he would remember, right? He would recognize Kara, he wouldn't kill her... although Kara did try to splat him all those years ago, but she also let him live. Not like either of them had much of a choice, but still.
He would remember.
She still didn't know it was him, though. It could be any random green Inkling. And she would kill him for what he did.
And suddenly, the youngest member of her splatoon decided that now would be a good time to super jump to her. Idiot. Agent 3 saw. Now she had no choice but to fight. She emerged from the ink, her late sister's Octobrush held high.
Immediately, he opened fire. She tossed a bomb to push him back, and charged forward with the brush. That pushed him into their ink, where her young comrade attempted a flank. Agent 3 turned away from Aleah for just one second, and only one, and that was all it took for him to splat the young girl.
No.
She screamed. She wasn't going to let him kill anyone else. She swung the brush a bit like a roller, giving her just enough distance to hit him. He then turned to face her, and those eyes.
An ocean of blue.
Now they was close enough, and she could see everything. He was no older than thirteen or fourteen. His tentacles, held up with a hair tie, green with three dark spots on each one. And bright, deep blue eyes with those strange squid markings.
"Three."
He paused. For a moment, his eyes looked as though they were actually filled with water, oceans ready to rush forth. But only for a moment.
He raised his weapon to her head. Aleah couldn't move.
"Please... don't forget me..." she whispered, shaking, trembling.
A sharp pain struck her head, and everything went black.
She woke up in green ink. It stun, but not as much as her head hurt. She couldn't see... where were her goggles? There was something glowing in front of her. The light? Was it over? Kara...
The light was... the Zapfish. So she was still alive? But there was something else. She blinked a couple times.
Three.
He kneeled in front of her, Zapfish in one hand, her goggles in the other.
"Aleah?" He questioned.
She tried to respond. Nothing came.
"Aleah." He said again, sure this time.
She smiled, despite being in so much pain. She wasn't sure if she hated him. She wanted to, but just... couldn't. It was her child. Three.
He smiled back. Then he stood up, and left. She wanted to stop him. She couldn't decide if it was to kill him, or to take the Zapfish back, or to just simply spend more time with him.
Kara was right. He grew up to be a monster. But Aleah was right, too. Even still, he was just a child. Her child. And he wasn't all bad.
He remembered her. He spared her. And soon, he would save her.