WARNING: This chapter's flashbacks are GRAPHIC and VIOLENT
"Ceru, Quartz is only 14. He didn't know any better." said Haru, sitting next to his boyfriend in his room. "I don't care that he reminded me of everything, I just hate myself for what I did." sighed Cerulean.
The inkling put the photo of his sister down. "It's my fault she's gone and never got to see how strong I became." he said. "It's all my fault…"
His heartbreaking shriek of his sister's name flashed back in his mind, with a mental image of her bleeding corpse.
"Cod Haru, can I be left alone?" Cerulean asked in a harsh tone. Haru was only concerned. "Ceru, you're about to have an anxiety attack."
"I'M FINE!" he shouted, hiding the tears streaming down his face. "YOU AREN'T FINE!" Haru shouted back. "SHE COULD BE HERE WITH US! BUT I GOT HER FUCKING KILLED!" cried the inkling.
"You didn't get her killed." said Haru as he began to calm down.
"I decided to go on a dangerous mission and she sacrificed herself for me, HOW DID I NOT DO ANYTHING?"
"Ceru." whispered Haru. "She sacrificed herself to save you because she cared so much about you."
"If I wasn't careless, then she-" Ceru was silenced by Haru placing his finger on his lips.
"She died because she loved you enough to put her own life on the line for you. In other words, she didn't die because of you, she died for you." whispered Haru, softly.
"I still did terrible things after she died though, because I didn't know how to live without her. She wouldn't be proud of me." replied Cerulean.
"But you've grown so much since then, and you've found all these inkfish who care about you, just like she did." smiled the octoling. "She would be so proud of you."
Cerulean began to cry again. "Don't cry!" said Haru in a slight panic. The New Squidbeak's captain took his face and pulled him onto the bed into a kiss. "I'm so damn blessed to have you." smiled the inkling.
A few minutes later, Haru left the room while Quartz was still sitting next to Cerulean's door in the hallway. The door opened again, with Cerulean peeking out from it.
"Come back in, Quartz." he said softly. "I should tell you."
The inkling made a spot for his son on the bed and sat down next to him. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, I'm feeling better now." he said. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"Are you sure?" asked a concerned Quartz.
"Yes." nodded the inkling, who sat in silence for a moment before continuing. "Before she was gone, I was agent 3.2."
Quartz gasped. "Two agent 3s?"
"Yup. Agent 3.1 was my older sister, Vermillion. She was not only very tough, but she was also my best friend." The inkling then sighed. "I remember we would go watch Ash's turf war matches every weekend."
"Who's Ash?" asked Quartz.
"Oh, he's my older brother." replied Cerulean. "He was Vermillion's twin, but he's kind of another story."
Quartz said nothing and continued listening.
"One fateful day, Cuttlefish recruited Milli and I. It was clear she was the stronger one, I bet she would have been captain." chuckled Cerulean, softly. "We worked together to retrieve zapfish and fight the octarians, until the incident…"
Flashback…
8 years ago…
"Great work, agent 3.1!" praised then-captain Cuttlefish. The older inkling looked over at a 14 year-old Cerulean and gave him a less enthusiastic smile. "You too, agent 3.2."
Present day…
"Wait, I should fast forward a bit. I don't like long stories." said Cerulean. "In short there, she would always get praised while I felt…useless." he added. "But one day, I had to do things on my own, and I actually won against Haru in a fight!"
"HARU?!"
"We…Kinda didn't like each other before we and Akari reunited in the Deepsea Metro." shrugged the inkling. "Anyways, she came back later that day, but on another day she ran off when we beat the area 4 boss, and-"
"Get on with it." sighed Quartz.
"I'm almost done!" groaned Cerulean. "I decided to head to area 5 alone…"
Flashback
8 years ago…
"I've done this without Milli before, I can totally do it again!" exclaimed a younger Cerulean, hyping himself up.
"Come on kid, there's probably octarians lurking in the shadows." sighed Marie. "GO AGENT 3.2!" cheered Callie.
The young inkling proudly went ahead into the most dangerous depths of Octo Valley, thinking he could take on anything. "I'll wreck em' up Callie!" he shouted in excitement. He didn't care for his surroundings, unless an octarian jumped out at him. So far, no one has.
"Callie." murmured Marie. "There's something in the air." This confused her cheerful cousin. "What do you mean?" she asked, also in a voice too quiet for agent 3.2 to hear. "Nevermind." said Marie.
The blue inkling screamed as he suddenly felt two pairs of arms grab him and pull him into the shadows. He couldn't hear the friendly voices of Callie and Marie anymore, they were drowned out by maniacal laughter coming from the octolings, who sounded as young as he was.
Everything went black for Cerulean. The amount of time he was knocked out for will forever be a mystery, but he eventually woke up in a dark room.
"Those useless kids finally did something good…" sneered an octoling, holding a knife to Cerulean's neck. "They got you, so I can END YOU!" she cackled, violently slashing the boy's arm. "Move your arm out of the way, kid." grinned the octoling, crookedly. "I'm going to chop your head off!" She forced his arm out of the way so she could do something worse to him.
"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH HIM!" shouted a familiar voice, taking the knife and slashing the octoling's arm off.
"Mili!" cried Cerulean!
Vermillion ran to her younger brother for a hug. "Thank cod you're safe. I'm so happy…" she smiled, tearing up. "I was stupid for going off without you, wasn't I?" frowned Cerulean. To his surprise, Vermillion shook her head.
"I'm so proud of you. You've come a long way, Ceru."
Cerulean hugged her tighter. "You've grown into a very brave young man." she smiled.
These were the exact words the inkling boy needed to hear, ever since their first mission.
The octoling soldier was still behind them though, and she took them by surprise when she grabbed Vermillion into a headlock. "Let's see how brave you've become when you watch me murder the most important person in your life!" snickered the octoling.
Vermillion couldn't escape her grasp, and resorted to begging the octoling and swearing at her. Cerulean was quick to aim his hero shot at the octoling, but she kicked it out of his hands. The weapon cracked as it hit the hard ground. Cerulean froze in shock, unable to think.
The octoling gave him one final crooked smile before holding the knife to Vermillion's throat. "Having a broken family is never fun." said the octoling. "Oh, who am I kidding? I don't even love my own children!" she cackled.
The knife was rammed into the inkling girl's throat.
To the boy, it felt like time had stopped.
Blood dripped from Vermilion's body, her final words blocked by the blood she was vomiting out of her mouth.
"VERMILLION!"
The octoling dropped her corpse, and grinned. "Maybe if you weren't such a stupid kid, she wouldn't have suffered this fate." she snickered. "You're broken enough, so I shouldn't waste my time on you." said the octoling before disappearing.
Cerulean collapsed onto the ground. Vermillion was gone, and he felt like it was all his fault.
Present day...
Cerulean held back his tears. "After I lost her, I found my way out of that room seeing others differently." he said, a bit shakily. "I think she felt the way I did too when our parents were killed, but I didn't because I was too young to understand." He noticed the slightly confused look on Quartz's face, and felt his own expression soften a bit.
"I realized that you can lose the people you love at any time, it's important to truly cherish them while they're still with you. Even if they're young and healthy, you can never tell when they'll be gone."
The inkling hugged his son, finally letting his tears flow. "Promise me you'll be extra nice to your sister today." he said. "I will." Quartz smiled softly, also teary-eyed.
"GUYS! THERE'S FIREWORKS ACROSS THE LAKE!" shouted Celeste, flinging the door open. She took Quartz's hand and led him outside. Cerulean looked at the photo of his own older sister and smiled, packing it into his bag for tomorrow.
Deep into the forest, Hiroko saw the sky illuminate with colorful lights while her soldiers were trying to start a campfire. The elite octoling smiled. "I know Quartz is watching them too."
"Mother! I'm home!" called Sunset as she jogged through the garden at the front of her cottage. "How was your shift?" asked the older inkling, smiling. "I made a friend." said Sunset, as she watched the fireworks from the front yard. "...And I know we're fated to meet again some day."
Quartz sat at the edge of the dock again, watching the lights dance in the sky. Celeste sat next to him, with Rayray sitting on her head. "It sucks that we're going home tomorrow." she pouted. Her younger brother nodded. "I really enjoyed this." said Quartz, smiling softly.
In Splatsville the next day, everyone was fast asleep in Cerulean's living room…Except Cerulean himself. The blue inkling just got off the train to Inkopolis Plaza, and knocked on the door of a small and somewhat run-down house. An older inkling with the hipster haircut and orange tentacles answered it. "How was the trip, lil man?" he asked, smiling.
"Hey Ash." waved Cerulean, before giving him a can of soda. "The countryside's shop had that flavor you wanted." he smiled softly. "YES!" shouted Ash, proudly holding the soda high. The older inkling hugged Cerulean enthusiastically. "YOU'RE THE BEST BROTHER IN THE WORLD BRO!" He broke away smiling. "Dude, come inside and hang out!"
Cerulean shook his head. "I actually came to Inkopolis for something else."
"For what?" asked Ash, but he quickly figured out the answer on his own. "Ah, I see. You know, I've always wondered what sis does in the afterlife." he said, softening his voice. "You think she keeps pictures of us like we keep that picture of her around?"
"Maybe." answered Cerulean. Ash pressed his can of soda against his younger brother. "CHECK OUT HOW COLD THIS IS!" he guffawed as Cerulean jumped back, annoyed. "Just messin' around!" he laughed. The orange inkling softened once again. "Tell her about how awesome you've become." he smiled.
The two waved goodbye to each other, and Cerulean went off to do what he came to his hometown for– The cemetery. While many found cemeteries to be frightening, the blue inkling felt that it was very peaceful. The souls of the departed were here to peacefully rest underground, undisturbed by the city's hustle and bustle.
The inkling approached a gravestone, and lowered himself in front of it. "Mili, I've felt so lonely without you…" A small smile formed on the inkling's face, with tears glittering in his eyes. "But I've come to realize that I'm not alone anymore. The people around me care about me so much…Like you did."
He gently placed a flower in front of it, and his smile grew a bit wider. He stood up, and looked up to the sky to see a flock of orange birds flying up there. "I hope you can see me now."
To be continued...
I rlly hope you liked this chapter! What was supposed to be a chapter about Quartz and his parents turned into a beautiful story about Cerulean :)
If ur interested in the agents backstories then read my fics squidbeak origins and the story of agent 24! i'm working on chapter 2 for both of them!