The car cruised along the lonely bridge, the sun just barely peeking out from below the watery horizon. However, the peace was interrupted when the headlights of the car reflected against something, someone kneeled down on the pacement. The driver slammed on the brakes after realizing it was an Inkling. He got out and investigated, and saw that she wasn't too much older than his daughter, and her clothes were tattered. It looked like she was wearing some kind of construction jacket over a hoodie, which explained the reflected lights. Even stranger still, some glowing ink dripped from parts of her body.

"Are you alright, kid?"

No response. The Inkling exhaled sharply, then turned into a squid and blasted off into the sky, leaving some yellow-green ink behind. The man got back in the car, a puzzled look on his face. He scratched his tentacles before taking the wheel again, making a small splash in the ink as he drove.

Lux was jolted awake by this sequence of events, and wondered what happened. How long had it been since they left to return to Inkopolis? Where were they right now?

"What was that, dad?"

The man in the front seat shrugged. "I have no idea. Some kid was sitting in the middle of the road, wearing some kind of construction getup. Looked like she'd been in a fight of some kind. When I asked if she needed help, she just super-jumped away."

Lux didn't quite understand what was said, but he didn't really think it mattered, either.

"Where are we?"

"Hammerhead Bridge."

"That's only a few miles away from Inkopolis," Lux pieced together.

"Yep, see? Back before your birthday. Nothing to worry about."

Lux looked to his left. Miraculously, Aurora was still asleep. She still had on the Krak-On tee she'd been wearing during yesterday's travels, but one of her shoes had come untied and fallen off. Her headphones still rested around her neck, but her blue tentacles were a mess. Lux felt his and realized they were, too. Just the way he liked them.

He noticed that the sun was coming out, slowly but surely. A few gulls flew by in an arrow formation. It was a wonder that they'd been around for so long, they were almost inspirational. Thinking about them woke Lux up a bit more, allowing him to see the soft glow his body gave off. It always comforted him, knowing he would never completely be in the dark.

But tomorrow, he would be fourteen years old. He would be able to light up the dark. This brought up a few questions, though. Lux had heard from other Luxlings online that depending on your teammates, they would either think more highly of you or wish you weren't on their team. The latter was far more common in Inkopolis, so he wasn't exactly looking forward to that part of Turf Wars. Luckily, Lux would be starting out with people he knew. His dad was once a professional player, so he'd be helping him out a lot. Aurora would usually be going into battles with him regardless of whether or not their father was present, just to look out for her little brother.

The skyline of Inkopolis was slowly becoming visible, and the rest of the family had woken up, too.

"Sleep well?" Lux asked Aurora. She shrugged, still groggy.

Now that everyone was awake, Lux's mother began surfing the radio. Most of what was on was either Squid Squad or Off the Hook. The Squid Sisters were less popular nowadays, making it harder to find their music on the radio. The only thing they were really relevant for was the drama. Lux wasn't too involved online, so he didn't know the details, but he knew the duo was experiencing a lot of strain. It was sad to see, because he really liked them. They seemed really close, too, from what he'd seen in interviews and performances. What could have driven them apart? There's no way the Splatfest from a few weeks ago was the only thing going on.

But it wasn't like this had anything to do with Lux, or anyone else in the Aozora family, so he shrugged it off and just gazed out the window. Some traditional Inkling music played as he stared off at the river. He'd learned in school that rivers during the Primate Era were much smaller than in the Mollusc Era, which was crazy to think about. So much more land to live on, and less reason to fight over it. The Great Turf War likely wouldn't have needed to happen, which made Lux wonder what else humans fought for before. It looked like many of them were just motivated by power, or maybe it was over some genetic difference like what motivated many to abuse him over the years.

Sometimes Lux thought maybe, Inkling society wasn't so different from what came before it at all. It kept him up on most nights, when he didn't have any homework or family activities to do that for him. A few hours passed as the family navigated the streets of Inkopolis, and Lux's mind continued to wander while Vera and his parents talked about other things. Occasionally, they would ask him a question, and he would answer, but he kept going back to his aimless thinking. The cycle continued.

Marie walked out of her and Callie's apartment wanting to pull her tentacles out of her head. Why would she say that? There was no way she could save their relationship after that. Callie was never angry about the Splatfest, and Marie knew that. She must be in tears right now, and she couldn't even face her cousin anymore. Maybe Gramps would have somewhere for her to stay in the meantime, but he didn't have a phone, so it would be hard to get ahold of him. That only left one other person, but Marie was unsure whether or not she would even be in town. Or if her place was even reasonably tidy.

Nonetheless, it was her only option if she wanted to have a roof over her head. She dialed the number 117-252-3 into her phone and placed it to her ear. The answer was almost immediate.

"Hey, Marie! Or, sorry, Agent 2. Is this a Squidbeak thing?"

Marie sighed. "No, Saria. Wait, weren't you just being attacked a few hours ago?"

"Yeah, but he got away. What do you need?"

"Roll that back. You said 'he'. As in, a single individual? Did you get the chance to figure out who?" Marie quickly asked.

Saria seemed to be thinking about the question. Finally, she replied with a flat "No."

Marie shook her head. So now there was a rogue Octoling on the loose. At least, she thought it was an Octoling. If it were anything else, there was a much bigger problem. But there wasn't any point in theorizing.

"I need somewhere to stay. Things haven't been going with Callie."

"Gotcha. I have a spare mattress I can pull out. Just don't be here later than 8 because the landlord doesn't like any activity past that," Saria informed her.

Marie exhaled sharply. "Thank you."

"It's nothing, really. I've been getting lonely up here."

Lonely. Like Callie must be. And this was all her fault...

"But anyway, I've gotta go. See ya!"

Marie barely had the chance to say 'bye' before Saria hung up, leaving her with her thoughts once again. How could she fix this?

The best thing Marie could do was try to wait for things to calm down and then apologize. Until then, she would have to stay with the notoriously unhygienic Agent 3. The way to her apartment was quite void of activity, so she wouldn't have to worry about invasive fans or any other hindrances.

"Are you from the Squid Sisters?"

Of course. It was a teenage girl, likely just barely of age to participate in Turf Wars.

"Yes..." Marie groaned.

The girl's face seemed to flush. "Oh, I'm sorry if this is a bad time."

Marie shook her head. "No, it's fine. I'm just... tired."

"Yeah, I totally understand. If you don't want to take a picture, it's fi-"

"No, it's okay, really."

The girl took out her phone and opened the camera, then Marie got in close and struck a half-hearted pose. As she pulled away, she saw the girl looking at the photo with this glow in her eyes Marie had never seen before, even from the most devoted of fans. As Marie walked away, the girl thanked her profusely. But she soon left Marie's mind as she continued on her way to Saria's. It was 7:30, not long before the curfew, so she would need to make haste.

It didn't take long to reach the building from there, probably just over twenty minutes. Marie opened the door, and was welcomed by a "Hi, Marie!" followed by an enthusiastic hug from Saria.

Awww.

Marie gently pushed Saria away and asked where she lived, prompting the green-haired Inkling to lead her up the stairs to her apartment. When she unlocked the door, Marie waited for her worst fears to come true, but to her visible surprise, the place was not nearly as much of a mess as she thought it would be, even considering the small space.

"I don't really own that much stuff, so it was really easy to clean up before you got here."

Marie looked at the small twin bed. Saria seemed to have caught on.

"Oh, that. Sorry. I'm not usually expecting anyone to stay the night, so that's all I have. I promise I don't snore that loudly, though," she assured her.

"It's fine," Marie said flatly.

Saria tapped her foot a few times, occasionally looking around the room.

"So what exactly happened in the apartment?" she finally asked.

Marie sighed. "I said things I really regret. I wouldn't want to repeat them."

Saria's expression darkened. "Oh... but this whole thing can be fixed, right? You're cousins, you can't just give up."

"I don't want to give up on her, Saria. But I'm scared that I might have taken away every other option." Marie sat on the edge of the bed, Saria did the same.

"But..."

Marie could tell Saria wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words. Suddenly, she felt her friend's arms wrapped around her tightly. Saria always was better with actions than with words. Marie just hadn't realized she was so affectionate.

"It's been a long day. Let's just go to sleep," Saria demanded softly.

Marie simply nodded without hesitation. Saria released her from her embrace and got under the covers, Marie following her. Maybe Saria was right. Maybe Marie hadn't yet exhausted all of her choices. But maybe she was wrong, and Marie had destroyed her relationship with her cousin forever. Gramps might have some advice, some childhood memory to fix things, but it wouldn't be that simple.

Marie was pulled from her thoughts by the muffled sound of something falling, likely from the apartment next door. When she looked over at Saria to say goodnight, the girl had already fallen fast asleep. She thought it best to try to do so as well, but everything was still stirring her mind. It was hard to even focus on anything. Marie felt Saria's arm wrap around her, which was not nearly as endearing as it was when she was awake. And it once again gave credit to her poor hygiene. Then came the snoring. It was much louder than Callie's, which said quite a lot. Just another reason to miss her...

The golden-orange light filtered through the curtains as Lux slowly opened his eyes. The room around him was a blur and he could barely sit up. When he rubbed his eyes, however, he noticed something very different about his hands. They were much smoother and the webbing between his fingers had almost entirely disappeared. He ran his left hand through his tentacles for the first time, the individual limbs slipping through the new gaps in his fingers and returning to their previous state. On his nightstand was the band that held his tentacles in a topknot, which he eagerly reached for and put on.

He had turned fourteen years old today, and he finally could maintain full control over his form. Most importantly, Lux was finally of age to compete in Turf Wars. The dreams of excitement and accomplishment that plagued him over the years were no longer dreams. Today, he would make them a reality.