[Inside the vault]
[Drake's POV]
"TWO WEEKS!?" yelled Otome, visibly freaked out by what I told her.
"Well... One week, five days and twenty-one hours" I replied to her, a little calmer now, even with all her yelling.
Otome had asked me if I could let them out of the vault on one occasion.
But obviously I told her that when I closed it I activated an emergency lock, and it wouldn't open until two weeks later.
I turned to look at the inkling, who didn't look any better.
"B-but... Can't you tell your floating friend to help you with the doors?" Otome asked, still a bit unsettled.
"Don't think so... Time has affected these doors pretty bad... I could try to do something... With a few tools and some time, I could probably make them open a few days earlier... But I can't promise anything... There's also the possibility that they may never open again" I replied to her, making the octopus girl hang her head low while letting out a sigh.
[POV: Third Person]
"Octavio must have put 'presumed killed in action' on my name by then... Or think I deserted..." Otome whispered without even lifting her head.
"Said something?" asked Drake, not having heard what the octoling said.
"N-no, nothing... Can we continue with the questions?" Otome returned the question to him.
"Uhh... Sure..." the human replied, not too convinced by her reply.
"So, this is something that's been on my head since the moment I arrived... Are you... An ancient one?" asked Otome, paying close attention to Drake's answer.
"I... Have no idea what an 'ancient one' is... But if there's one thing I can tell you, it's that I'm a human" he replied, leaving Otome completely speechless.
The room was now completely silent, with a petrified octoling, a confused inkling and a human just as confused as the squid girl.
"Human, human, human, a human" those words were endlessly repeating themselves in Otome's head while she tried her best to not pass out in front of him.
"It's impossible... It's just impossible... They're supposed to... The ancient ones have been extinct for centuries, but there's one right in front of me, so maybe there's more like him, or maybe he's the last one... Whatever the case may be, maybe he could help my people!" She thought, her green eyes still glued onto Drake.
"Are... Are you okay?" he asked, making the red tentacled girl finally react.
"Huh? Oh! No, nothing... I was just thinking... Hey, are there more of your kind?" Otome asked, trying to sound as relaxed as possible.
"I'd like to know that too..." Drake answered, looking away from the octoling, making her give him a confused look.
"Umm... I haven't seen more people like him, and I've been here all night" Nary intervened, catching Otome's attention.
"All night...? How long have I been out for?" she asked to herself, standing up a few moments later.
"Hey... Can we get out of here? I don't feel too comfortable talking to you in this bubble" Otome proposed, looking down at the human who was still sitting.
"Hmmm... Maybe... But how can I be sure that you won't try to attack me once again?" The human returned the question to her with a frown, doubting if he could trust her or not.
"I won't do it this time, I promise... Now that I know you have no ill intention... And what you are..." the octoling whispered that last sentence to herself to avoid being heard by Drake.
The human just looked at her in the eye, trying to see if she was lying through her expression.
Otome looked at him the same way in response, having a staring contest with the human's dark brown eyes. But after a minute that felt like an hour to her, she finally gave up and looked away from him while a slight blush showed up on her face.
Drake only sighed and lowered his head a little upon seeing that.
"Okay... But I'm warning you, any sudden moves and you will stay here until those doors open... Alright?" he threatened her.
Otome gulped and nodded in response, before seeing the sphere's hidden door open behind Drake.
The human stood up and left through the door while Otome just stared at him while he walked out.
Once he got out, both him and the inkling looked at the octoling, waiting for her to also step out.
Otome calmly stepped out of her prison and walked away from it before stopping in front of Drake, lifting her head up to look at his face, while he looked down to see hers.
They were once again having a staring contest, now with an awkward silence surrounding them.
And after what seemed like an eternity, the squid girl finally decided to break the silence between them.
"Well... Why don't we show her around the vault, Drake?" Nary proposed, nervously scratching the back of her head.
"Huh...? Oh, right, you'll be staying here for a while so you might as well know your way around so you don't get lost" said Drake, letting out a little chuckle.
"He's going to... Show me his base?" Otome asked to herself somewhat impressed.
"Come on... We'll eat something along the way" the human continued, walking away from the octoling and heading for the lab's door while being followed by Nary.
"You coming?" asked the inkling, turning to look at her and waiting by the door.
Otome just took a deep breath before going along with them.
[Octo Valley]
[Cuttlefish's hideout]
[One hour later]
Two squids were seen coming out of a grate before they took on their humanoid forms, revealing that they were none other than Callie and Marie.
And right after they came out, another three squids came out of the same place, before taking their humanoid forms as well and showing that they were Nary's friends.
"Welcome everyone to our hideout!" Callie exclaimed raising her arms, while her three companions were looking around, seeing nothing but a few signs, crates and a shed not too far away from them.
"Pretty fresh isn't it?" asked Callie, waiting for the group's answer with a smile on her face.
"Well... It looks..." Levin tried to find words to describe his thoughts in the nicest way possible.
"It's so... Umm..." now replied Shara, also trying to think of an answer.
"I expected something better..." Nayls commented, completely ignoring them while he looked around.
"NAYLS!" Shara and Levin scolded him, making him instantly turn around and realize what he just said.
"I-I mean... It looks so cool and fresh... In fact, I think-..." the dark-skinned inkling quickly tried to make up for his mistake, before being cut off by Marie.
"It's boring, we know" she said with a smirk.
"We even tried to refurbish it to make it look more like an actual hideout several times, but gramps insists in leaving things as is" added Callie, putting a hand on her hip and smiling.
"Wait, gramps?" the three friends asked, surprised at what the black tentacled idol just said.
The old inkling calmly approached the group, stopping right in front of them.
"Guys... Let us introduce you to the war veteran, hero of Inkopolis and our granddad... The great captain Cuttlefish" Marie introduced him while he just made a peace sign.
"War veteran!?" Levin asked astonished.
"Hero of Inkopolis!?" Shara asked, reacting the same was as her friend.
"Granddad!?" finished Nayls, just as surprised as his friend and his friend.
"Greetings, young aspiring agents!" the veteran inkling greeted them with a warm smile, even though it was hidden behind his beard.
"So... Are these the recruits you've talked to me so much about?" Cuttlefish continued, eyeing each one of them.
"Wait... Recruits!?" Levin asked while he and his two friends were absolutely speechless by what the captain said.
"Exactly... You see... Before meeting you guys, we talked with gramps about your potential and your current situation. So we chose to let you be part of our organization, as agents" Callie replied with a radiant smile.
"Well, that is if you want to join" continued Marie with a little smirk.
"Of course we want to join!" Nayls answered for both of his friends, before being grabbed by his sister and pulled towards her and Levin.
"Can we... Think about it for a second?" Levin asked nervously, to which the cousins answered nodding their heads.
The trio took a few steps away from the other group and formed a circle between them.
"Alright guys, what do you think?" Levin started.
"I think it's a great idea, being secret agents along the Squid Sisters isn't something that would happen to anyone!" replied Nayls with starry eyes, making his sister glare at him.
"You idiot, you forgot that we're here for Nary... Though thinking about it, it's not that bad of an idea" said Shara, looking at Levin.
"And with their help, maybe we can save Nary once and for all" Levin continued, earning a big smile from the siblings.
"Well, it's decided!" he finished.
"We knew you would join us!" exclaimed Callie, who had snuck into the circle.
"Huh!?" Levin, Shara and Nayls turned to look at her in surprise.
"Though we would've helped you anyways even if you didn't join" commented Marie, who did the same thing as her cousin.
"HUH!?" the three friends now turned to look at Marie, wondering when did the two sneak into their circle.
"Let's go back onto the subject... Girls... I have a question I'd like you to answer" said Cuttlefish, running a hand through his beard.
"What is it, gramps" Marie asked as she approached him.
"Didn't you tell me there were four inklings?" asked the old man.
"That's what we wanted to tell you... You see, one of them was kidnapped by-..." Callie tried to explain but was interrupted by her grandfather.
"A strange being?" asked Cuttlefish, finishing his granddaughter's sentence.
"Y-yeah... How-...?" Callie tried to return the question, but was once again cut off by the captain.
"Remember that our job is to watch over Octo Valley for the octarians' moves and plan ahead of them. And Inkopolis is no exception" Cuttlefish replied with a smile on his face.
"So... Are we agents now?" asked Levin, trying to get the attention of the two cousins and the captain.
"Almost... You just have to make an oath before you officially become agents" answered Callie, approaching the group along Marie.
"Come close, and stand firm" ordered Marie while the three friends obediently followed her orders.
Cuttlefish stood in front of them with the squid sisters at his side, while he cleared his throat.
After an incredibly long oath, they finally made it to the part they were anxiously waiting for.
"As the leader of the squidbeak Splatoon, I name you agents 3, 4 and 5... Welcome to the team" Cuttlefish finally finished his speech, but before Callie and Marie could welcome them as well, Levin interrupted them.
"Sorry... But I'd like to be agent 4" Levin said with a smile.
"And I wanna be agent 5" commented Shara with a frown, though she was also smirking.
"And I wanna be agent 6!" Nayls exclaimed enthusiastically, raising his fist.
"But... Why is everyone refusing the title of agent 3" asked Marie, a little surprised by the decision the three new agents took.
"We want to leave that title for Nary, you wanted the four of us, right..? So once we save her, you can assign it to her... Also, the number 3 was always her favorite" Shara answered, making the old inkling let out a hearty laugh.
"Fine by me" he replied between laughs.
[Excavation zone]
[Vault]
[Otome's POV]
[30 minutes later]
We've been walking around this vault for quite some time, it's way bigger than I thought it was.
But the thing that kept catching my attention was the ancient one in front of me.
How did he survive for all these centuries? His entire race was supposed to have gone extinct during the great flood.
But here he is, alive, an ancient one, a live human right in front of me. I definitely couldn't let this opportunity pass up.
"Hey... Something wrong? You're falling behind" I heard that so called 'Drake' guy talk to me, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"No, nothing" I replied to him while picking up the pace to catch up with them.
Our tour through this endless facility just kept going, until we arrived to what appeared to be a cafeteria, very similar to the ones we have in Octomburg, except this one was rather unkempt.
"And this is the cafeteria, just... Don't mind how dirty it is... I'll probably clean it later" the ancient one said as he stepped inside of it.
Trust me when I say I tried my hardest to ignore that fact, since the whole place dirtier than a dumpster, especially the tables, being covered in dust and some debris.
With the exception of one of them, which was the one the human was approaching.
"You can wait for me here... I'll be back in a minute" Drake asked us to stay there as he left, I then saw the inkling grabbing a chair and sitting down in front of it.
Instead of sitting down, I just leaned against one side of the table with my arms crossed, looking at every corner of the place.
Though the fact that I was in a relatively well-preserved facility that once belonged to the ancient ones, along with a live one, was making my head spin like crazy.
I already know they're called humans, not because he told me... But because us octarians have studied their race more profoundly than inklings. To the point where we discovered their true name.
But even then, we've been calling them 'ancient ones' for so long that it's basically a habit now.
I have to have a talk with him as soon as possible and convince him to go to Octomburg with me before the inklings take him with them.
After about fifteen minutes, my nose felt the mouth-watering smell of nicely cooked meat, making my stomach roar with hunger.
I saw Drake approaching with two dishes in hand that had what I hoped would be our lunch on them.
"Bon appétit" he said as he placed both dishes on the table.
I was so hungry that I didn't even look at what I was actually eating, I just sat in front of the inkling and started eating immediately.
But I was sure of one thing, it was delicious... So I just kept on eating without a care about manners, I wanted to kill my hunger before it killed me.
After finally satiating my hunger... After asking for seconds... What? I was hungry.
Anyways, after eating, the ancient one sat down besides the inkling and asked me some more questions, which I answered until he asked me something in particular.
"So... You haven't told me... Why your race and hers are in conflict" he asked me.
"Well... It's because-..." I couldn't even finish my sentence before that meddling inkling put her tentacles where they didn't belong.
"It's because octarians are thieves" she said.
"That's not true! It's because inklings are greedy!" I protested, pointing my finger at the inkling.
"We're not greedy, we just came here before you did!" that annoying midget refuted while standing up.
"And we're not thieves! We just don't have any other option!" I argued, also standing up and putting my hands on the table.
[POV: Third person]
Now the inkling and the octoling were both fighting once again, to the point where they stood up from the table and were facing each other.
"LIAR!" yelled the orange tentacled girl, showing her teeth.
"I know you are, but what am I!?" the lieutenant replied, touching the inkling's forehead with her index finger and then pointing at herself with her thumb.
Upon seeing that, Drake also stood up to try and calm down both of them, who were now insulting and shoving each other.
"Alright you two! That's enough!" he exclaimed trying to separate them, but then Nary tripped on one of Drake's feet, making him fall along the two cephalopods in a very suggestive position.
The human as well as both girls were now on the floor, the girls resting on his chest while he had both hands on the girls' butt cheeks, holding them firmly.
"Ahh~" "Hnngh!~" they exclaimed as they felt Drake's hands on their butts, making the two of them get completely red in the face, as well as the human.
Drake unconsciously squeezed the girls' big and soft cheeks, earning a gasp from them in response.
"Am I... Interrupting something?" Bruce asked out of nowhere, appearing out of thin air and making the three of them look at it in surprise.
And rumor says: The only thing heard afterwards were two loud slaps that reverberated through the whole vault, putting an end to the life of poor Drake, the last human.
After half an hour, the three of them were walking down the hallway leading to the dorms, while the human was rubbing both of his cheeks, which were bruised in the shape of a hand on each side.
On the other hand, the girls were walking in front of Drake, with their arms crossed and a very annoyed expression on their faces.
Moments later they turned to look at him keeping the same expression.
"I already told you it was an accident..." he said, still rubbing his bruised cheeks.
They simply looked away, exclaiming 'Hmph!" at the same time to emphasize that they were still angry at him.
Now arriving at Nary's room, the human opened the door and let the two cephalopods in, Otome didn't take long before she started looking around the whole room.
"And here's where you'll sleep... You two are going to be roommates until the doors open" Drake clarified. And just as he expected, the girls weren't too fond of the idea of sleeping in the same room.
"I know it's still to early for bedtime... I just wanted to show the dorms to our new guest" he continued, making Otome turn to look at him.
There was just silence in the room afterwards, but before it turned awkward, the inkling spoke up.
"So what do we do now?" Nary asked with a bored expression.
"Well... I'm gonna see what I can do with the doors, you... You can just walk around the vault... Just don't touch anything, ok?" Drake replied putting a hand on his hip.
"Fine by me..." said Otome, still having her arms crossed.
"Hey, wait... I'm not just gonna walk around this place until I get tired, I want to do something else!" Nary complained, crossing her arms and pouting.
Upon seeing her face, Drake thought it was too adorable to argue against her, so he just sighed and shook his head.
"Alright... Let me think of something" he said as he left the room.
Drake called Bruce, who instantly materialized in front of him, not without mentioning that he also took the patch off from his forehead.
On the other hand, the two girls peeked through the door to see what they were talking about, but once they heard the human speaking in his language, they went back in.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Nary asked, scratching the back of her head.
"I don't speak ancient..." replied Otome, still keeping her eyes on the door.
"Ancient? He's not an ancient one, didn't you hear? He said he was a human or something like that" the inkling replied while the octopus girl just looked at her and sighed.
"I'm surprised you still haven't noticed" commented the octoling, leaving Nary slightly confused.
"Noticed what?" she asked, leaning her head to the side.
"Everything... Him, his friend, this place, the reason why our ink doesn't affect him... And the fact that we've never seen anyone like him before" Otome replied with a serious tone, while the inkling was analyzing what she just told her.
"But... That's impossible, I may not have been the smartest in my school, but even I know that the ancient ones have been extinct for 12 thousand years, because of the great flood" Nary replied just as seriously as the lieutenant.
"What if not all of them were gone, or at least one of them saved themselves?" asked Otome, returning to look at the door.
"Wait, wait, wait... Assuming that what you're saying is true, and that Drake is one of them... How did he survive all these years?" Nary returned the question, now somewhat convinced.
"I don't know... But judging by what he told me, and the questions he answered me... I have two theories... One, he somehow found a way to survive all these millennia... And the other, he came here from somewhere else, looking for survivors" Otome replied with a hand on her chin.
Nary thought about what Otome said, but just then, the memories from last night suddenly rushed into her head, making her face flush.
If Drake actually was what Otome said, then that meant that she had oral sex with an ancient one, although it was her first time. And just thinking about that made her feel two ways: Completely and utterly embarrassed, but also... Lucky... In a strange way.
But they were both pulled out of their thoughts upon seeing the human coming back into the room, now wearing the patch on his forehead once again.
"Well... I think I found a solution to Nary's problem" Drake said while the two girls stared at him.
"But before that, I want to ask you something... Do you know what a videogame is?" he continued, scratching the back of his head.
And just as he finished asking, he was pushed against a wall while someone grabbed him by the shirt.
"YOU HAVE VIDEOGAMES!?" Nary yelled with her eyes wide open as she pinned Drake against the wall with a strength that he didn't think she had.
"Y-yeah... I have a few of them" he replied, a bit scared and surprised at the inkling's reaction. Even Otome looked surprised.
"Take me to your leader..." Nary said with an emotionless face, making Drake even more nervous.
The group were now walking through a zone that the human hadn't shown them before, since he thought it wouldn't be necessary, while Nary was just behaving like a little kid, giggling and skipping around.
Otome on the other hand, decided to go with them out of curiosity, but upon seeing the squid girl's behavior, she was starting to regret it.
Now arriving to their destination, they could see several arcade machines and tables in a pretty rough shape, whether it was due to corrosion, rust, the passage of time, etcetera.
And taking a good look at them, Nary could identify that some of them looked really similar to the arcade machines in Inkopolis, but unfortunately, none of them gave any signs of life.
"Come on, it's right around the corner" the human said, pointing somewhere in the room. But just before they got there, a very familiar tone was suddenly heard, and echoed through the whole room.
"Huh...? What is that?" Otome asked as she searched everywhere for the source of the sound, Drake following her actions as well.
"Could it be... My SquidPhone?" Nary asked rather puzzled, but her eyes instantly grew as wide as they could upon noticing something.
[*Cough* *cough* bonus content *cough*]
And as if he was waiting for them to ask that, an old inkling using a horned green mushroom cap and sporting a skull mask as well as a star shaped badge with an iconic character on it stepped out of the shed, catching everyone's attention.
The old inkling calmly approached the group, stopping right in front of them.
"Guys... Let us introduce you to former wrestler, Squiden's local ghostbuster and our granddad... The great Vargskelethor Joel" Marie introduced him while he just made a peace sign.
"GRAND DAD!?" Nayls was the first to react, completely astonished.
"FLINTSTONES!?" Shara added, recognizing the character on his badge from an ancient cartoon.
"AAUUUGH..." finished Levin, somewhat disappointed at the reveal.
"Oh hello how you doing?" the old inkling greeted them with a warm smile, even though it was hidden behind his mask.
(T/N: I'm sorry)