A/N: This is no April Fool's joke-this is the real Chapter 15! Now, enjoy!
People were always whispering about something at the orphanage. The older Tori got, the more she seemed to overhear.
She overheard the whispers about her. She knew the other children didn't really like her. She didn't understand why, but she had a feeling it was because something was wrong with her. She didn't know how to ask them what exactly was wrong with her, so she only listened in silence.
She overheard the whispers at school, too. They always called her "the robot." Was she really a super-advanced robot? How could someone be a robot and not even know it?
But the children at school didn't care. They called her "the robot," and nothing more. No matter how hard Tori tried not to be a robot, they still called her "the robot."
At least the children of the orphanage didn't call her a robot. Given some of her classmates were from the orphanage, though, she wondered how long it would be before the people at the orphanage started to call her "the robot" too.
Eventually, she couldn't stand it any longer. She asked Lady Squall about it.
"Lady Squall?" Tori sat cross-legged, rolling her ball around in her hands. "Am I a robot?"
"No," she simply said, her pen stopping mid-paper. "Why do you ask?"
"People at school call me a robot," she replied, standing up. "I was wondering if it was true."
She scoffed, continuing to write. "Don't listen to them. Those children only cause chaos. The children of the orphanage do not."
"Okay." Tori went silent, rolling the ball around in her hands. Lady Squall didn't even look up at her. She knew she was busy, but normally, she would look up at Tori when she spoke, even when she was in the middle of doing something.
"...Lady Squall?" she eventually asked.
She set down her pen and lifted her head. "What is it, Tori?"
She dropped the ball, her hands going to her braids. She didn't think about what she would say next! Now that she had Lady Squall's attention, though, she had to say something.
"Um…" She drew out the word, thinking about what to say. Eventually, stilted words left her mouth. "Are you busy?"
"Yes." She picked her pen back up. "If you have nothing else to say, then go back to your living quarters."
Tori lowered her arms, crestfallen. "Okay."
Clutching the ball close to her chest, she left Lady Squall's office, making sure to close the door behind her. She was silent as she walked down the hall, rubbing a thumb over the surface of the ball. She wished she could be with Lady Squall for longer, but if she was busy, so be it.
Hearing someone talking, she stopped and looked over towards the source. Two older children whispered amongst themselves, huddled against the wall. They didn't seem to notice her, so she decided to listen in.
"...about what happened in Inkopolis?"
"No, what happened?"
"Well, the Great Zapfish went missing."
"What?!" Tori blurted out without thinking. The children froze, eyes falling on the little inkling as she padded up to them. "The Great Zapfish went missing?"
The taller one, a cod, furrowed his eyebrows. "When did you get here?"
Tori held up the ball in front of her face. Did she break a hidden rule again? If she did, then she shouldn't do that again.
"She won't answer," the other child, a mackerel, said. "That's how she always is."
"Well, you should answer," the cod argued, turning his attention back to Tori. "When did you get here?"
Tori's legs shook. "Um…"
"Whatever." The mackerel crossed her arms. "This is Inkopolis's problem, not ours."
She backed away. They wanted nothing to do with her, and they wouldn't tell her anything, either.
But what did they mean the Great Zapfish in Inkopolis was missing? It couldn't just disappear, right?
If she wanted to learn more, she had to hear it from someone else. Maybe, though, if she left and came back, they would still be talking about the Great Zapfish in Inkopolis.
So, that's what she did. She ducked into a nearby room for a few seconds before bursting outside and running back over towards them.
"...back?"
"Yeah. That's what my friend said."
Tori frowned. They weren't talking about the Great Zapfish anymore. She would have to ask someone else about it.
She started to search for one of the helpers. If the Great Zapfish of Inkopolis truly was missing, then she was sure they would know about it.
As she walked through the hallway, towards the nursery, another conversation touched her ears.
"I saw a gang the other day."
Tori stopped in her tracks and turned to face the speaker. Two young urchins gathered around a teenaged inkling, a smile on his face.
Gangs? Why were they talking about gangs? If the inkling joined one, she had to tell Lady Squall or one of the helpers!
"What gang?" replied one urchin.
"The one that keeps spraying graffiti outside," he explained. "One of them talked to me."
"What?!" exclaimed the second urchin in disbelief. "Doesn't someone watch you when you're outside?"
Tori thought about intervening, but after what happened last time, she decided against it. Instead, she put a braid in her mouth, biting down on it to ignore the nagging feeling.
"Yeah, but, well, he tried to recruit me." He crossed his arms. "He said I could have all the things I could ever want with them."
"And you said no!" the first urchin exclaimed. "Right?"
"Nah, Miss Luna chased him away. But I would've said no either way."
"Yeah!" he cheered. "You're so cool Tom!"
Tori let out a sigh of relief, the braid falling from her mouth. No one was falling to Chaos today.
She decided to move on, marching down the hallway. When she reached the nursery at last, she peeked inside, scanning the room for a helper. But there were none.
Pouting, she left before the babies could cry and continued to wander through the orphanage. Where else could they be? Maybe they were playing with the children or watching TV?
Watching TV…she had a new idea.
She made her next destination the play room–the one with the TV in it. Tori didn't like going there because it was too loud, but she liked playing by herself anyways. Her toys never failed to entertain her.
Still though, one of the helpers had to be there, right? There was always a helper there when the TV was on.
Sure enough, as soon as she entered the play room, she spotted Miss Ella with a gaggle of kids, huddled around the boxy television in the corner of the room. With her thin stature and yellow stripes, she easily stood out from the crowd.
Tori walked over to the crowd, standing a foot away from them. A superhero show was playing on the TV, featuring a muscular squid in a skin-tight suit punching through whatever was thrown at him. Eventually, he reached the villain, a similarly muscular octopus, and engaged him in a ferocious battle. The children began cheering the hero's name as they fought, but the episode ended before their battle could finish.
A commercial for bright, mismatching clothing began to play in its place, and Miss Ella promptly scrambled for the remote and changed the channel. The children groaned as she stepped in front of the television, tapping her claws together.
"Y-you should never wear clothes like that," she explained. "It's the antithesis of Order."
None of the children tried to argue against her. Everyone knew the importance of Order. If Miss Ella said something was bad, then it must be true.
While Miss Ella searched for another channel to put on, the crowd of children began to dissolve. They must've noticed Tori by now, but they didn't say anything to her. Instead, they slowly blinked at her, shivers running down her back.
"Miss Ella," Tori finally said, grabbing the crab's attention.
"T-Tori!" She whipped around. "What is it?"
"Um…" She took a few moments to remember what she wanted to say before asking, "Is the Great Zapfish in Inkopolis missing?"
"M-missing?" Surprise crossed her face. "Where did you hear that?"
"I heard someone say it."
"Well, you shouldn't believe in every rumor you hear." She paused, her eyes darting around. When they returned to Tori, she concluded, "You never know who might be listening."
Tori stared at her. "Which ones should I believe?"
She waved her claws. "I didn't mean it like that!"
Tori frowned. What did she mean? She didn't get it.
She grabbed Tori's hand and started to drag her away. "D-don't you want to play with your toys? They're all in your room, aren't they? You should go get them and bring them here."
She winced. "But I don't want to play with them here."
"W-well, I guess you don't have to…"
Tori waited for Miss Ella to finish her thought. But she didn't. Was Miss Ella really not going to yell at her for wanting to play by herself?
She took her out into the hallway and pushed her away. "See you later, Tori."
She gave a curt nod. "Okay."
Miss Ella disappeared into the play room, and Tori decided to march onward. If the Great Zapfish of Inkopolis being missing wasn't true, then why did those two kids talk about it? She didn't understand.
Another idea popped into her head. If the Great Zapfish of Inkopolis was missing, then it must be in the paper! She knew there were newspapers in the orphanage, so if she could find one, then she could find out if the Great Zapfish truly was missing or not.
The problem was finding a newspaper. She had no idea where they could be!
She usually saw the adults with newspapers, so she figured she could ask one of them. She didn't want to talk to Miss Ella again, so she had to find another adult.
Lady Squall was busy, and Miss Ginger was probably busy, too. Miss Aurora didn't like to be bothered, so that left her with three other options: Miss Swallow, Miss Pacifica, and Miss Luna. She would rather not talk to Miss Luna, but if she saw her first, she will.
So, with renewed purpose, she continued marching down the halls, holding her ball close to her chest all the same. The helpers could be anywhere. If she wanted to find one of them, then she had to keep walking.
Soon enough, she spotted silver tentacles peek through the doorway. She came to a halt, feeling the ball in her hands. Based on the way they tapered, there was only one person it could be.
"Miss Pacifica!" She burst into the room, a smile on her face. "Miss Pacifica!"
But no answer came, and Tori's smile fell.
Standing in front of her were two similar-looking teenaged octolings. They had the same brown skin, the same grey eyes, and the same full faces, but one had silver hair tied into a ponytail, while the other had loose golden hair.
Neither of them were Miss Pacifica.
"You need your eyes checked," said the silver-haired octoling.
The golden-haired octoling elbowed her. "Hey, that's the squid Lady Squall likes, ain't it?"
Tori lowered her head. "Sorry."
She turned around to leave, only to find a hagfish blocking the doorway. "Now, you don't get to leave. Yet."
Tori yelped, dropping her ball. It rolled around on the ground, and the silver-haired octoling picked it up. She turned back towards her and reached towards it, but she only lifted it away from her.
"You can have this when you can leave," she explained.
Her hands went to her braids, looking around the room. There had to be another way to leave, right? She started to run towards the other end of the room, but the golden-haired octoling jumped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. Dismayed, Tori stumbled to the ground, waving her hands around.
She couldn't leave. Now that she had stumbled into their living quarters, the teenagers wouldn't let her leave.
"What are you doing?" the hagfish scolded.
Tori grabbed her hands and crossed her legs. She needed to stop doing that, no matter how much her body didn't want her to.
"Well, let me make this clear." The silver-haired octoling joined her twin, throwing an arm around her. "My name is Ari. And this is Ali. Got it?"
"If we're doing introductions, then my name is Minnie," the hagfish said. She circled around the inkfish, stretching her head towards the little inkling. "Your name's Tori, right?"
She nodded.
Ali spoke next. "Why were you looking for Miss Pacifica?"
Tori gulped. "N-newspaper," she managed to say.
Ari raised an eyebrow. "Why do you need the newspaper?"
She got to her feet. "The Great Zapfish in Inkopolis is missing!"
"Oh, that." She rubbed her forehead, frowning. "It's not missing anymore."
So it was true! But… "'Anymore?'" she repeated.
"It came back a couple months ago," Ali explained. "Our friend spent the summer in Inkopolis, so she was telling us all about it when school started up."
Minnie blinked, her eyes boring into Tori. "And then they told me about it."
She turned away from the hagfish's piercing gaze. "Oh."
Ari sighed. "Why does Lady Squall even like you…"
Tori winced at her words. Teenagers really were mean.
"Well, if you want to know anything else, we can tell you," Ali offered.
"Anything?" she repeated.
"Yes, anything," Minnie assured her. "Even things the adults won't tell you."
The teenagers could tell her anything she wanted… She searched her brain for something to ask them. She couldn't say nothing to them, after all. Just like how she couldn't say nothing to Lady Squall.
Then, it hit her.
"The summer festival!" she exclaimed, snapping her head towards them.
Ari raised a silver eyebrow. "But it's fall."
She shook her head. "What happened at the summer festival eleven years ago?"
"We were little kids eleven years ago," she argued. "How do you expect us to remember?"
"We remember some things from eleven years ago," Ali pointed out. "Like the girl that always brought us candy when she came home."
"Oh, yeah," remarked Minnie. "She didn't like me, though. She always said I was 'super slimy.'"
"You're always slimy," Ali giggled. "You're probably twice as slimy as you were back then."
Tori tilted her head. "What was her name?"
"Uh..." She looked over at her twin. "Do you know?"
She didn't answer, placing a hand on her chin. "...Olivia, I think."
"'Olivia?' That doesn't sound right."
"Well, let's just call her Olivia," Minnie concluded, poking her head between the two.
Ali shooed her away. "Yeah, yeah. So, anyways, everyone loved her. Ari and I always got the same flavor of lollipop from her. Like an idol, now that I think about it. But not, since idols sing and dance all the time."
Tori grabbed her braids. "Aren't idols bad?" Lady Squall said as such.
"Yeah, they are," Ari replied, glaring at her twin. "Olivia was the only good 'idol,' if you're going to call her that."
"Speaking of idols..." Minnie leaned towards Ali, scrutinizing her. "Didn't you come home with a Squid Sisters charm the other day?"
Beads of sweat formed on her face. "N-no!"
Ari furrowed her eyebrows. "You literally showed me it yesterday."
"Hey!" She glanced over at Tori. "Don't tell Lady Squall about that, okay?"
Tori lowered her head. She should tell Lady Squall. She said idols only led to Chaos, after all. So why did part of her tell her to keep it a secret, like Ali asked? Ali wasn't an adult; Lady Squall was.
"Anyways, back to Olivia," Ali proclaimed, raising her voice. "She disappeared one day. My sister burst into tears when we found out."
Her twin huffed and crossed her arms at her comment.
Minnie slithered over towards Tori, her body growing stiff as slime brushed her clothes. "We eventually figured out it was because she turned eighteen. When you turn eighteen, you can't stay in the orphanage anymore."
Ali's voice grew more solemn. "We're seventeen, so we'll have to leave after the school year ends."
The room grew still as the words sunk in, a frown touching Tori's lips. When she turned eighteen, she would have to leave. She wouldn't have a home. She wouldn't get to see Lady Squall anymore.
"I don't want to leave," she muttered.
Ari leaned towards her. "What?"
"I don't want to leave," she repeated, louder. She hoped they heard it this time.
She snickered. "You can't even change forms yet. You still have a chance at getting adopted."
She shook her head, tugging on her braids. She almost got adopted, but she ruined her chances because she threw a tantrum. The adults had not forgotten that. With how many visitors ignored her, she worried she would never get adopted. She knew, at least, that if someone else tried to adopt her, then she would have to not throw a tantrum.
"Most people don't want teenagers," Ari continued. "We're practically adults already, after all. Who would want that?"
Tori started to flap her hand. "Um..."
"Exactly. No one."
She looked back at the teenagers. "B-but...Lady Squall..."
"Lady Squall doesn't care," Ari hissed, clenching her fists. "No one does."
"That's not true!" she blurted out, lifting her chin. "Lady Squall cares about everyone!"
"You'd have to be stupid to believe that," she retorted. "She only pretends to care because she runs the place."
Tori immediately shrank away. That's not true! That can't be true!
"Ari…" Ali whispered. "What if Lady Squall or one of the helpers heard that?"
She sighed, rubbing her arm. "Sorry."
"Anyways…" Ali returned her attention to Tori, resting her hands on her hips. "It's nice to have some kids stop by every once in a while, right?"
"Right," Minnie agreed. Though she wasn't touching her now, she could still feel the slime on her body, seeping through her clothes. "The helpers don't usually stop by here. It gets lonely without someone to talk to."
"So, it'd be nice if you stopped by here more often," she concluded.
"I don't think she will," Ari whispered. "She's always with Lady Squall or one of the helpers."
It would make the teenagers happy if she visited them more often–Ali said as such. But she wanted to play with her toys and explore the orphanage. She wanted to spend time with the helpers and Lady Squall. She wanted to read those new books she got from the library.
With all of that, she didn't think she could visit them more often.
"Well, is there anything else you want to ask us?" Ali eventually asked.
"Now's your chance…" Minnie crooned, a smile on her lips.
"Um…" What else could she ask them? She could ask them about Lady Squall's daughter, but if they didn't know anything about what happened at the summer festival eleven years ago, she doubted they knew anything about Lady Squall's daughter either.
Before she could say anything, though, Ari grabbed Tori's ball from the top of a bunk bed and handed it back to her. "You can leave now, if you want."
"I believe dinner will be soon," Minnie remarked, "so you'd have to leave either way."
Tori began rolling the ball around in her hands again. "Okay."
She took a few gingerly steps towards the doorway. Could she really leave?
When they didn't try to stop her, she looked back at them. "Bye."
"Bye!" Ali called, waving her arm around. "Remember to come back some time!"
And with that, Tori ran off.
When dinner arrived, she was one of the first people there. She promptly sat down in her seat, playing with her braids to pass the time.
Slowly, but surely, the room began to fill up, children taking their seats around her. While they awaited their room, the room erupted into lively chatter, and Tori dropped her braids, heat rushing to her cheeks.
"Hey, you know Tori?" someone behind her asked.
Tori started to speak, to let him know she was right behind him, but another voice spoke in her place.
"Yeah. That's…uh…"
"The inkling Lady Squall likes so much," the boy elaborated.
"Oh yeah! Her!"
His voice grew low. "Why do you think she likes her so much?"
"Uh…maybe they're related?"
"They wouldn't try to adopt her if she was."
"Oh yeah. Maybe she was friends with her parents? Or she sees herself in her? Oh, what if she feels bad about what happened to her parents?"
"Lady Squall? Feeling bad about something? Forget it."
The second boy let out a huff. "I wished Lady Squall liked us as much as her."
"Yeah. Or the other helpers."
"Yeah, they don't like us at all."
Tori squeezed her hands into fists. Lady Squall loves everyone. Miss Ella said as such. She just doesn't show it.
Then why did she feel sad? Lady Squall loves everyone, doesn't she?
She wished someone would tell her why. But the more she thought about it, the less she seemed to understand.
A/N: Woo, it's out! I went through a lot of ideas for this chapter, and at last, I settled on something I was happy with. I knew I wanted Tori to meet some teenagers from the start, but its the execution that gave me trouble. I even started writing a whole 2000 words where Tori just meets the teenagers, but I felt it was too messy. I did end up repurposing some of the stuff I wrote for this chapter, so it all worked out. I have a feeling a rework is going to be needed for the next chapter too, but we'll see what happens.
Anyways, you may have noticed that I finally put out another chapter of "The Rainbow Squids" on Saturday. I'd like to get back to regular posting for that story, so the update day for this story will probably be moved to Saturday. It'll probably take a few weeks for me to fully settle into that schedule, but like with anything, I'll just have to try it and see what happens! Well, that's all I have to say. Branchwing, out!