I removed the siblings backstory cuz a: it was messing with the chapter ordering and b: I actually plan to properly explain it in the story in the future (stay tuned!) You can still read it on my deviantart tho! The next few chapters are gonna give us some agent lore!
Warning: There is some fucked up stuff in the chapter's flashbacks…
Quartz and the agents of The New Squidbeak Splatoon were on their way to Haru's vacation house for the week. Haru drove and Cerulean was next to him in the front, while the others were all in the back of the car. "Dad Haru, what's the countryside like?" asked Quartz. Haru smiled. "There's a lot of nature, and-"
"There's a ton of old snobs living in their mansions." added Cerulean, rolling his eyes. Haru chuckled. "Oh, be quiet! You always end up enjoying the trip!" he laughed. "We're staying by the lake, and there's a forest nearby that you can go in!" Celeste began to explain. She was really excited. "It's fun until the monster finds you." snickered Ember. "Monster?" asked Quartz, pretending to not be scared. "That's right!" smirked Ember. "They say a very big and scary-"
"Don't scare him!" Haru cut in. "Fine!" sighed Ember. "Look Quartz!" exclaimed Celeste. A perfect view of the lake could be seen through both windows. A beautiful view of water never fails to amaze Quartz. "Man, if only Marie and I could come here alone…" sighed Ember. "Too bad your precious queen was too busy this week." snickered Cerulean. "HEY!" shouted Ember.
Five minutes later, Haru parked the car behind the house. Quartz stepped out first, and ran toward the large body of water in front of him. He dipped his hand in it, and swished it around a bit. He felt a level of pure wonder that no average cephalopod would feel about something so simple.
I already explained my water headcanon in chapter 3 so don't comment stuff like "nOo wAtEr iS lEtHaL!1!"
Cerulean and Haru saw him, and they couldn't help but smile. Just around 2 months ago, he was timid and would often cry when he remembered a past memory. After they took him in, it didn't take long for Quartz to slowly begin blooming into someone strong and even a bit curious.
Everyone helped to unpack the car and take stuff inside. Haru spent over an hour cleaning and dusting the place, since it hadn't been touched in a year. He also managed to drag his two favorite inklings into helping him. Celeste and Quartz were sitting on the edge of the dock on the water, talking.
"What do you think?" asked Celeste. "It's nice." answered Quartz. "It reminds me of the train. I guess the train we took to Wahoo World counts, but I'm referring to the train I hitched a ride on two months ago." he added. A thought came into Celeste's head, and she asked her brother about it the moment she thought about it. "Quartz…What do you think our mother was like?"
"What was our birth father like?" asked Quartz. "You knew him."
"He was really nice. Dad would always spend his time fixing things in his garage, and I would help him." smiled Celeste. "He packed candy in my lunchbox for school, and always wrote something nice on the packaging." She held back her tears. "There was one message I remembered in particular…"
"The people who love your authentic self are the ones you must hold the closest to you. I love you Cel, keep fighting out there!"
"Hey." uttered Quartz, noticing that she spaced out. "When I was 13, I came home to see him dead on the living room floor, and I guess we learned that Octavia did it." finished Celeste.
The two sat in silence for a moment. It was only broken by a large and sudden wave crashing onto the edge of the dock, completely soaking the two. "Crap, we're soaked!" yelped Quartz. "Well, this just gives us an excuse to change out of our sweaters." sighed Celeste. "We shouldn't be wearing layers when it's so hot anyway."
Quartz was a bit worried about wearing short sleeves but Celeste used some foundation to cover them up, just like when he had to wear a splatfest tee. Quartz wore a hula punk shirt and Celeste put on her chili octo aloha shirt. "Now we're ready to serve!" exclaimed the octoling girl.
"Hey guys, wanna hear a scary story?" asked Ember, who was practically cackling. "That goody two-shoes Haru isn't around to stop me! MUAHAHAHA!" Celeste got excited. "Spill it!" she responded while Quartz hid how scared he is of this kind of stuff.
Ember closed the curtains and turned off the lights in the kitchen. She shone a flashlight over her face. "I can finally tell you about BLOODY CALAMARY!"
The inkling smirked. "You know the forest near this very vacation house? They say that Bloody Calamary lurks in it at three in the morning…THE DEVIL'S HOUR!"
Quartz was shaking in his shoes. "Lame!" he scoffed, acting unfazed. "You foolish child…" snickered Ember. "You think I'm lying?" she asked. "First of all, who the hell names their child that? Second of all, it's obviously not real." Then, Ember made a little declaration. "Well then, tonight we'll see if she's real or not! There is a ritual we have to do in order to see her, you know."
"What's the ritual?!" asked Celeste eagerly. "You have to go into the forest and chant Bloody Calamary's name six times!" explained the inkling girl. "This must be done at 3AM, and specifically on a…" she paused. "Uh, what day is it?" she mumbled to Quartz. "Saturday."
"This must be done at 3AM on a SATURDAY night!" continued Ember. "Then, she will appear in front of you and cut you up into seafood!"
When Haru and Cerulean came back with the groceries, they noticed Quartz on the couch. "Is something wrong?" asked Haru. "Celeste and Ember are going to get cut up into seafood!" Quartz replied. "Say what?" muttered a genuinely confused Cerulean. Quartz explained the story to them.
"That's Ember, don't believe everything she says!" laughed Haru. "Please don't. That woman is crazy." added Cerulean, who was busy carrying the last of the shopping bags inside. "Do you wanna go for a stroll around the neighborhood?" asked the older octoling, hoping that would help him get over it. Quartz nodded.
The neighborhood had many beautiful cottages with gardens full of many different flowers and other wonderful plants. Some of the residents who were outside waved to the two, with most of them being elderly and retired. Before he even knew it, Quartz found himself completely forgetting about Ember's story. "Celeste told me about our biological father today." said Quartz. "She said he was really nice and was great with repairing things." Haru frowned. "That witch is just killing innocent people for her own selfish reasons…It sickens me."
Quartz saw that Haru looked upset. "Quartz, people like her are why my twin sister is in the state she's in." said the older octoling. Quartz gasped a little, Haru kept his serious look. "We promised we'd live a happy life on the surface, but…" Haru looked like he was about to cry. "Akari…"
Flashback…
5 years ago…
"These octoshots will lead us to victory!" cheered Akari. "Not just in here, but in our first turf war too!"
Haru's eyes sparkled. "You just love turf war, don't you!?" laughed Akari. "Well yeah!" replied Haru. "I have to impress that guy." His sister smirked. "That agent 3 boy?" she asked, causing Haru to blush.
They arrived at the next phase in their escape. "Let's do this!" Akari smiled. "For turf war, and love."
"Next, find an energy core! Onward and upward!" called Marina from the speaker. "This doesn't look good…" said Pearl. Marina had a bad feeling herself. The duo of octolings began to find their way around, starting by getting past the series of falling containers holding sanitized octarians.
"WE CAUGHT THE ESCAPING TEST SUBJECTS." an octoling said in a very robotic tone after grabbing Haru. "HEY! THAT'S MY BROTHER YOU'RE HURTING!" shouted Akari. Without thinking, she freed Haru and kicked the octoling soldier to the ground.
Three more octoling began running over to kidnap the two.
"Haru, run." said Akari.
"You can't do this alone! What if they-"
"Don't look back."
The two looked at each other, they nodded as tears fell from Haru's eyes. The octoling boy went ahead, only focusing on what lies ahead.
The only thing he noticed behind him was the shriek of the girl he admired the most.
Present day…
"Dad Haru!" cried Quartz, who watched his father grow extremely emotional. Haru sat in the shade, provided by a large maple tree. "No, sorry Quartz. I guess everything turned out…Somewhat fine." he said.
Flashback…
Five years ago…
"We found her, but-" Cerulean was cut off.
"Thank goodness…" sighed Haru.
"Haru, she's…not herself." said Cerulean, with a very heavy heart.
"What do you mean?" asked Haru, worried.
The two went into the hospital room she was brought to.
Horror filled Haru's face. Akari had green skin, her pink hair was now blue that faded into yellow, her eyes were black with glaring cyan irises. She was…Sanitized.
"We aren't entirely sure what happened to her." said the doctor. "But we will try everything."
"Thank you, sir." replied Cerulean.
"No…" Haru began to sob. "AKARI, PLEASE SNAP OUT OF IT! WE PROMISED WE WOULD PLAY TURF WAR!"
The octoling girl just mumbled "Serve Kamabo…"
"STOP THIS!" screamed Haru. Completely broken down, he kept slamming his fist on the floor and repeatedly denying the reality of the situation.
Present day…
"Sanitized?" asked Quartz. It actually sounded familiar. "A few years ago, octarians began to mysteriously disappear and the ones that were found were all green and like…zombies."
"Please tell me she's doing better…" frowned Quartz. Haru nodded. "Last week, she began to remember a bit from riding in the Deepsea Metro. She's been doing great with regaining control over her mind." he smiled. "The doctor said she could even leave the hospital from time to time now, I asked him if she could maybe visit us here."
With the happier mood, Haru began telling Quartz all of the stories he remembers about Akari. He told him about how she was always looking out for him and pushing him to his full potential. "I hope that someday, she will see how much stronger I became."
The two found themselves back at the house. Haru smiled at Quartz, telling him about Akari felt nice. The older octoling stayed outside, the sun was starting to set and he didn't want to miss the beautiful sight. "Hey sweetie." smiled Cerulean as he stepped outside. "It's peaceful out here." said Haru. "All we need are some good burgers." he winked.
"Fine!" sighed Cerulean, smiling. The inkling pulled out the barbeque. It was quite old, but looked brand-new thanks to a really good cleaning done by…Ember of all cephalopods. Speaking of who, the inkling girl busted out of the front door the moment she heard Cerulean just touch the thing. "COOK SOME FOOD HOUSEWIFE!" she shouted. "A WHAT?" shouted Cerulean. "It's more accurate than you think." whispered Haru, who was quietly laughing to himself. "Fuck you." muttered Cerulean.
Not too long later, Celeste started a campfire. "Barbeques are for chumps." she smirked, successfully starting a fire with two sticks. "I like roughin' it out." said Celeste to Quartz. "Rayray and I did that a lot before meeting Dad Ceru." Rayray was sitting close to the fire, enjoying the warmth it was providing on a gentle summer night. "For a couple years, it was the only life we knew." Quartz looked a bit surprised by her story.
"That dumb landlord kicked me out when I couldn't pay the rent after our father's death." continued Celeste. "I hated the idea of going to an orphanage, so I let the hot Splatlandian desert take me in." she patted Rayray's head. "His story isn't too different." Quartz shook his head. "You can't talk to salmonids." he said. "And who told you that?" shot back the octoling girl, calmly. "Go on, ask him a question."
"Uh, what's your favorite color?" asked Quartz after failing to think of a better question. Rayray said something that Quartz obviously didn't understand. "Blue." said Celeste. "You didn't just make that up?" asked Quartz, skeptical of the answer. Rayray said a few more words. "You should respect Celeste more, she is so awesome!" smirked Celeste, translating her friend's sentence. "Okay, that was OBVIOUSLY made up." replied Quartz.
Rayray kept talking. "Wow Quartz, are you really going to treat your sister like that? Back with the salmonids, my uncle would have murdered someone who behaved like that!" Celeste translated. "Whatever." scoffed Quartz, who didn't want to argue any further. The octoling girl handed him a stick and a marshmallow. "I used to live on these things!" smiled Celeste. Quartz tried one, and instantly went to toast another. It ended in the two competing for marshmallows.
The gang hung around outside for a long time. "Damn, banger food bro!" Ember sighed in satisfaction. "ALRIGHT KIDS, LET'S GO FIND BLOODY CALAMARY!" she shouted to the siblings. "YEAH!" Celeste ran to catch up with her. Quartz shivered. "Cod, why would they try to summon something that deadly? Should I…I should make sure they don't end up dead." Quartz got up and followed them.
In the woods, the girls stood by the scariest tree in the forest. "I'll do the honors!" exclaimed Ember.
"Bloody Calamary, Bloody Calamary, Bloody Calamary, Bloody Calamary, Bloody Calamary, BLOODY CALAMARY!"
MY COMPUTER JUST GOT A CREEPY ERROR WHEN I TYPED THAT WTF-
Quartz heard the last of the chant as he caught up with them. "Hey man!" waved Ember. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard. "OH SQUIT!" shouted all three of them. While the girls stayed by the tree in excitement, Quartz ran off further into the forest without thinking.
The octoling boy's head was practically empty, the only thing on his mind was getting the fuck away from "Bloody Calamary." He felt himself in an almost similar panic to escaping his octarian dome, even tripping over an uneven tree root in a similar fashion. He looked up, and saw a small bit of light. Quartz looked at it in awe before slowly getting up and walking into it.
"Quartz?" gasped the octoling. The light he saw was coming from her campfire. The light from the flames beautifully reflected on the lake next to her. "H-Hiroko?" asked Quartz. He heard that she helped the agents save him from Octavia a while ago. But more importantly, she's the only octoling from the canyon he remembered fondly. She would sometimes sneak something nice like clean clothes or a first-aid kid into his bedroom.
"Fancy meeting you here." said Hiroko. "I'm taking a short vacation." she added. "I guess we're doing the same thing." replied Quartz. "Carp, I ran off! Bloody Calamary is gonna eat them alive…" This confused Hiroko a bit. "Bloody…Calamary?"
Quartz was confused by her, well, confusion. "Quartz, you know that's just an old folktale right?" asked Hiroko. "The people trying to summon her must be quite stupid."
Meanwhile, Ember and Celeste sensed something horrible…Someone was calling them stupid…
"It's been a while." smiled the elite octoling. "Did I miss much?" Quartz nodded. "I love living with my sister and dads. Celeste told me about our father earlier, but she didn't say much about mother." He frowned. "I can only imagine how I would've always been if she were still around. That witch wouldn't have laid a finger on me."
"It's said that everyone in this world is a hero in another universe." said Hiroko. Quartz was confused again. "Sorry, I began rambling again." laughed Hiroko softly. "But if you lived in the timeline without everything you went through, you wouldn't have met the ones you have now."
The octoling boy never thought of it that way. "She's right, I wouldn't have met…" His first thoughts were Bay and Kai. "Those hooligans yes, but also…" He began to feel a bit of distress while imagining a universe where he never met the New Squidbeak Splatoon. He quickly made an effort to redirect his focus back to the elite octoling.
Hiroko quietly sighed. "The boy might cry, but he should hear about how wonderful she was." she said to herself before looking at the younger octoling. "Hiroko, are you okay?" asked Quartz, concerned for his oldest friend.
"Quartz, I knew your mother…" said Hiroko.
To be continued...
I might cry writing the next chapter cuz there's gonna be some sad stuff ;-;