[Octo Valley]
[8:00 PM]
[POV: Third person]
Drake and Otome were making their way through the forest from which they came from the day before, watching their surroundings in case anything happened.
"So... I guess you're coming to my city now, right?" the octoling asked in an attempt to start a conversation.
"Yup, though I first have to go to my vault to check on something. But I'll be ready to go tomorrow" Drake asked, fully sure of himself.
"I see..." said Otome, slightly smiling at the idea of her people finally finding the solution to their problems. But she was pulled out of her thoughts upon hearing the human's voice once again.
"You know... I noticed something about you" Drake said, glancing over at Otome as they kept walking.
"Me...? And what is it?" she asked, looking up to him.
"Ever since we left Nary's apartment, you've never put your goggles on" Drake commented, giving her a smile.
Upon hearing that, the octoling looked to her hip and saw said goggles hooked to her belt.
"Any problem with that?" Otome asked, raising an eyebrow.
"None at all, it's just... You look better without 'em" Drake replied, letting out a chuckle, which didn't last long after a blushing Otome punched him in the arm.
"Ow! Alright, stop!" He said, rubbing his arm while still chuckling a little.
"Then don't make fun of me!" Otome quickly said before crossing her arms.
"I'm not making fun of you, it's true!" the human continued, returning to look in front of him, keeping a smile on his face.
Silence made itself present once again, the only sounds the two could hear was their footsteps. And although Otome usually wasn't bothered by moments like these, she didn't know why being silent next to Drake made her feel uneasy.
"Come on, say something!" She thought to herself, trying to find a way to break the ice. But upon not getting any topic of conversation, she glanced at the human, taking a close look at him. Until she stopped at a barely visible bulge coming out of the rear side of his hip, making her remember how she saw Drake hiding something last night.
"Ahem... What kind of weapon is that?" she asked, catching the human off guard.
"Eh? Weapon? I don't know what you're talking about" Drake said, trying to laugh it off.
"You know what I mean, that weapon you brought with you" Otome insisted, surprised at the human's behavior.
"Ohh, you mean the one I used when I first met you? I didn't take it with me, I left it at my vault's armory" Drake said, in an attempt to dissuade her.
"No, not that one... I'm talking about this one!" Otome followed up, lifting Drake's T-shirt and exposing the gun's grip.
"Hey! What are you doing!?" he exclaimed, instantly taking her hands off him before stopping to look at her.
Otome looked at the human with her arms crossed and a smug smile, which made him try to find a way out of this, but upon not finding anything, he just sighed in defeat and looked down.
"Since when did you know?" Drake asked, taking his hands to his pockets and refusing to make eye contact with the octoling.
"Last night, when I put your patch on you, I noticed that you were hiding something under your arms" Otome replied, trying not to get flustered at the memory of climbing on top of the human.
Letting out another sigh, Drake took a hand behind him and took out the intimidating looking pistol. Otome took a closer look at it, noticing its odd 'square' look, which also gave it a touch of elegance.
"I thought you promised to come unarmed" she commented in a serious tone, taking a step closer to Drake.
"I know... I was just... Afraid... And now I see that I didn't even need to bring it with me. Such a stupid idea..." Drake whispered that last part to himself, feeling somewhat guilty about having broken his deal with the Squid Sisters.
"Well, I can't blame you" Otome declared, giving him a smirk.
"What?" asked the human in confusion.
The octoling then crouched down in response, taking a hand to one of her boots and pulling out a hidden dagger from the inside.
"Heh... I guess we both messed up" said Drake, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, guess you're right... Hey, can I see it?" Otome asked.
"The gun? I'm... not too sure about that" Drake said, lowering the gun and bringing it to his back.
"Don't worry, I won't do any stupid moves" Otome tried to calm the human down, which made him consider it for a moment.
"Hmm... Fine, but no hostages this time, alright?" he joked as he handed the gun to Otome, only to take it back at the last second.
"Sorry, I forgot to switch the safety on" Drake continued, making a click sound come out of the weapon before finally handing it to Otome.
"Safety?" she asked.
"It's something that will avoid you or me causing an... 'Accident'" Drake replied, letting go of the Desert Eagle on top of Otome's hands, who was surprised at how heavy it was.
"Wow, it's heavier than I expected" she commented, inspecting every detail of the gun, even the barrel, which was one of the things that caught her attention the most.
"It's called a 'Desert Eagle', or just 'Deagle' for short" Drake added, earning a curious look from the octoling.
"I guess you've already fired it before, right?" Otome asked, holding it and aiming around with it like she thought it should be done.
"Well, I won't lie... I did fire it a few times when I was serving... Look, this is how you should hold it" the human said, unexpectedly placing himself behind Otome and placing his hands on hers.
Otome couldn't help but feel flustered in response, while a blush ran across her entire face as she felt Drake take her hands.
The octoling gulped as she let the human teach her how to properly use a firearm, her hearts racing Drake pressed his chest onto her.
"There. Your hands' position are also a key factor when using a firearm, it'll help you balance the weight of it, aim more accurately and control the recoil" Drake explained, leaning away from Otome.
"What's next, 'sir'?" she joked, keeping the same position Drake had left her in, and getting a chuckle out of him.
"Now... Take a deep breath, put a foot in front of the other, aim, focus, and slowly pull the trigger" the human instructed her. Following his orders and taking a on shooting stance, Otome slowly pulled the trigger, but she only received a dry click in response, as opposed to the loud bang that she expected.
"Huh? It didn't do anything" Otome said in confusion, inspecting the gun to see if she did something wrong.
"Haha, that's the safety switch I mentioned before. It will prevent the gun from firing unless I switch it off" Drake explained, extending his hand for Otome to give the gun back to him.
"And why did you left it on if you wanted me to fire it?" Otome asked, feeling a bit upset about not getting to fire the human's weapon, and giving it back to him.
"I think the recoil on this thing would've been too much for you. And I also wanted to see how you would act with it in your hands" Drake said with a smile, holstering the gun once again.
"Are you calling me a weakling?" Otome complained, crossing her arms.
"Not at all. I just think that maybe we should start with something a bit less... 'powerful'" Drake replied, turning around to resume their walk through the forest.
"Let me remind you that I'm a lieutenant in the octarian army, I know how to handle a weapon!" Otome countered, following behind Drake but still feeling upset.
"But not a firearm" he emphasized, taking a glance at her with a smirk on his face.
The octoling was about to keep arguing, but upon seeing that Drake was right, she just kept silent, crossing her arms and pouting.
"Let's just go back to my vault, your gun and ink tank are still there after all" Drake said, placing a hand above the octoling and gently caressing her head,
"Would you stop doing that!?" she exclaimed, lifting her head to the human with a blush running across her face.
Drake just let out a soft chuckle in response, making Otome feel even more flustered.
"And stop laughing!" she continued, turning the human's chuckle into a cackle.
[Inkopolis]
[Nary's apartment]
Unlocking the door of her apartment, Nary went in with her head hanging low, her eyes barely visible below her bangs. She lazily closed the door and headed to her bedroom just as unmotivated, not even bothering to turn the lights on.
The moment she walked into her room, she just dropped face-first onto the bed. After a few seconds, she started kicking her legs and screamed into her pillow.
"Levin you stupid, nosy, zapfish-faced piece of-... Argh!" she started to curse at her team leader, calling him plenty of other names while throwing a tantrum, until she finally turned around and stared at the ceiling, exhausted after yelling so much without even stopping to breathe.
"Couldn't you have waited just a second longer...?" Nary kept complaining, remembering just how close she was from kissing Drake, and the embarrassment she felt after she got caught.
Also remembering the human's warm breath on her face, her hearts almost beat out of her chest. She also couldn't stop thinking about what would've happened if Levin hadn't suddenly appeared, what would Drake's reaction have been like? Would he have gotten mad at her? Would he have pulled away and look at her in discomfort? Would he have accepted it? Or in the best case, returned the kiss to her.
Nary well knew that they were both from different species, but did that even matter? Was that really an obstacle? It's not like interspecies relationships were a foreign concept to her society, but even still, the inkling just kept trying to convince herself that what she was feeling was just a phase. But deep down, she knew that she caught feelings for the human, which only gave Nary even more doubts about herself.
But what else could she do about that? She could only accept the fact that she had fallen in love with Drake. But the question that kept going around her was 'does he also feel the same way?'
And with that, Nary sat up with a determined look on her face and clenched her fists.
"Even if he doesn't, I will do everything to make him feel something for me, even if it costs me my life!" she exclaimed, full of herself.
"Heh, though there's no point in doing that if I actually die" she said to her nonexistent audience, playfully sticking out her tongue and winking while scratching the back of her head.
But then, she remembered what Drake said right before leaving, which gave her a spark of hope, as well as making her blush up to her nose.
"Don't cause your friends too much trouble, okay?" those were the last words the human had spoken to her. Taking a hand to where he had previously caressed her, Nary reminded herself of his warm touch on her head before lowering her hand to her chest, clenching onto her T-shirt as her hearts were racing.
"バカ。。。"
(T/N: whoops! How did that get there?)
"You dummy..." Nary said, now referring to Drake, and and glimmer of affection showing up on her cute orange eyes.
[Back to Drake and Otome]
The duo had finally arrived at the vault, which was just like how they left it. Although they noticed a few empty tents, which made Drake assume that the scientists came back to it while he was gone.
"I just hope they didn't touch anything" he commented to himself, while Otome glanced at him.
Heading deeper into the old facility, Bruce instantly turned the lights on, briefly illuminating the entire place before some of the lights malfunctioned and exploded.
"And I forgot I had so much work to do here..." Drake said with a forced smile, concerning the octoling next to him.
"You know, my people are pretty good with technology. We could help you fix this place if you'd like... You scratch my back I scratch yours" Otome proposed, only getting a sigh from the human in response.
"Thanks for the offer, but... I think I can handle this on my own. I'll keep that in mind though" he said with a reassuring smile.
Otome just nodded, knowing that her people first had to earn the ancient one's respect before he could let them rummage around his bunker.
"Wait for me here, I'll go look for your stuff" Drake ordered Otome before walking to the lab where he had previously imprisoned her and Nary.
"Sure, I'll just... Stay here..." replied the octoling, remembering that she had to go home as well. And although she didn't like the idea all that much, she knew that she had to go back sooner or later.
After about 10 minutes, Otome, who was lost in thought while leaning against a wall, heard Drake's voice calling for her from afar, which made her instantly turn to where the sound came from.
"You gotta see this!" Drake shouted, gesturing Otome to come to him.
"What's up?" she asked after running up to him, to which the human just turned around and began walking down a hallway.
"Just follow me" he replied, making Otome just follow after him, wondering why he called her.
Turning around a corner, the octoling remembered the hallway they were walking in, and how it was the same one that led to the aforementioned lab.
"Drake, what do you even want me to see?" Otome asked, now feeling a bit nervous.
"You see... When I got here, I found something that you'll probably find quite interesting" Drake said, opening the lab's door to let the octoling inside, and following after her.
Once inside, she noticed that nothing had changed at all, except for a monitor that had been turned on, and a still image of a few people showing up on the screen.
"Bruce told me the security cameras had caught something while we were gone, they recorded a group of unexpected... 'guests'. I think you may know 'em" the human explained, pointing at the screen. Otome stepped closer to it and got surprised upon seeing who they were.
It was an octoling squad, and not just any squad, HER squad, the same one that came with her when they first discovered the vault. She recognized everyone's faced, especially one in particular, who now had a pair of kelp sprouts coming out of her goggles.
"Who would've thought...? Seems like they were looking for you" Drake said with a smile, while the octoling was trying to contain her laugh for some reason.
"I guess that's another reasons to... To go back" she said while still trying to avoid cracking up.
Without speaking another word, the human walked up to a nearby locker, opening it and taking the octoling's weapon, as well as her ink tank.
But as he did that, he noticed another weapon and ink tank, except that these ones belonged to Nary, letting him know that she had forgotten about them.
"Well... I can do that tomorrow" he said to himself, implying that he was going to return Nary's stuff to her.
"Here you go, if you don't return with all your stuff you'll probably rank down to private" Drake joked, letting out a chuckle while handing Otome's equipment to her.
"Alright, I'm ready" she said after securing the ink tank on her back.
"Come on, I'll get you to the exit" the ex-commander offered, the both of them walking out of the lab shortly after.
The whole time Otome just stayed silent with her head hanging low, making the human grow confused because she wouldn't even try to make a conversation, but also feeling a bit dumb for not starting one himself.
"So... I guess this is goodbye..." said Otome with a clearly sad tone, her head still hanging how. Drake took a few steps closer to her in response, and placed a hand on her head, making her flinch a little.
"I-I told you to stop doing that!" Otome quickly changed her attitude, lifting her head and looking at Drake with a frown, while her face was growing redder by the minute. Which made her look cute rather than upset.
Drake only gave her a warm smile and a playful giggle before she finally pulled away from him and began going on her way back home.
[Octo Valley Forest]
[An hour later]
[Otome's POV]
Lost in thought, I kept making my way through the forest back to Octomburg, this time wearing my goggles for night vision. With my weapon at the ready, I was more than prepared to shoot at whatever came at me.
But I also couldn't stop thinking about what would happen the moment I returned home after such a long time, not to mention that I was also a bit bummed out about having to say goodbye to drake. I know we'll meet again, but I would've preferred just staying with him.
"W-what are you thinking about!? There's so much to be done!" I reprimended myself while shaking my head to clear those thoughts.
"It's like you're in lo-... With him... Or something..." I tried to keep arguing with myself, but stopped right as I realized what I was about to say, followed by shaking my head once again and pick up the pace.
After about an hour, I finally saw the hill that would lead me to Octomburg's main doors. But before I could take even one step, a bright light shined on me, blinding me for a moment since I couldn't turn off my goggles' night vision in time.
I covered my eyes with one arm while taking off my goggles with the other, but as I did that, I heard what to me was the most obnoxious voice on earth, and to make matters worse, it was coming out of a megaphone.
"Well, well, well... Looks like our missing lieutenant has finally found her way home! Tell me, what took you so long? Did you lose your goggles? Fell down a cliff? Got lost? Or did you simply want some 'you' time?" the voice mocked me.
"Of all octarians... Why her?" I complained under my breath, focusing on who was standing behind the spotlight.
Of course, I knew that this was just an outpost, but I had so much going on in my head that I completely forgot about it, but what I didn't expect was her being the one in charge.
It wasn't that big of an outpost, but it was enough to fend off any small army that wanted to attack us, with two lookout towers at the sides where a pair of octosnipers were positioned, ready to splat anyone that dared to come close.
There was also a great number of octotroopers and octolings guarding the place, but the most interesting part about the outpost was that it was mostly made from ancient ship hulls. Probably an idea from the octoling in charge.
"Yeah, glad to see you too... Orianna... Now, if you excuse me, I got something important to tell Octavio" I said before walking up to the entrance, but the moment I took a step forward, an octosnipers shot at my feet to stop me.
"Don't you dare move a single muscle..." I heard the octoling say through the megaphone, followed by hearing the drawbridge of the outpost being lowered. I just stood in place, but not out of fear, in fact, I found it quite funny that the colonel had the decency to lower the bridge for me.
I looked at her and her group with a confident smile as they approached me, colonel Orianna leading two octolings with three octotroopers behind them.
The colonel had the same build and height as me, with the only difference being that she was quite... flat... I swear even Nary's would look big if she stood next to her, maybe that's another reason for why she doesn't like me, not like I care anyways. She also had purple tentacles and a scar on her left eye.
"First of all, it's Colonel Orianna to you. Second, it's Emperor Octavio. And third... Did you really think I would let you through just like that? After all the time you've been gone, you just appear out of nowhere and say you have 'something important' to tell him? I don't know if I should laugh or feel sorry for you!" she said while walking circles around me, laughing right on my face, but I just ignored her taunts.
"It's about the ancient ones... Something that could benefit our people more than you can imagine" I replied.
"Suuure... Like I haven't heard that before. I remember your team of sorry maggots told me something similar. That you were 'captured' by a strange being, and when they tried to rescue you after the doors of that place were opened, they couldn't find anyone... You think I would believe those blatant lies? I think that you just DESERTED!" Orianna said, shouting that last word but keeping her arrogant grin.
"If I did, then why would I come back to Octomburg?" I asked back, now getting fed up with her attitude.
"Ah, I don't know. Maybe you fear those stupid inklings capturing you, or not being able to survive by yourself, or maybe you just don't want us to hunt after your head" she said in an attempt to intimidate me.
"You can think what you want 'colonel', but like I said; I have something very important to tell Emperor Octavio, and besides... I have proof of that" I told her, now wanting to just leave.
"Well in that case. Good job lieutenant, you can hand me said 'proof'" she said, standing in front of me and waiting for me to hand her something.
"I'm sorry, colonel, but this info will only go to Octavio" I replied with a smirk, well knowing what her reaction would be like.
"That wasn't a question, lieutenant... You better hand it to me..." Orianna ordered, which made me want to tease her even more.
"Once again, I apologize, colonel... But my intentions are to only hand it to the emperor... And refusing to hand it to you" I replied, making her grin instantly vanish, while she stepped closer to me.
"You know I'm your superior, and I could get you detained for failure to comply, or worse..." She whispered into my ear as a threat, but it didn't work on me.
"And you know that I know what you did to get to where you are, how much ink there's on your hands... And that I don't give a slug's ass if I fall into a ditch as long as I drag you with me..." I returned the threat to her, which made her pull away and glare at me, I swear her gaze felt downright venomous.
"So... Would you kindly just let me through, 'colonel'?" I continued, using a tone of false respect.
"If you don't get to Octavio in the next sixty minutes, I will make sure you don't get to eat anything for an entire week" Orianna set her conditions, but I couldn't care less about the consequences.
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" I told her using the same tone and saluting her, followed by watching the colonel as she turned around and headed back into the outpost.
Trying not to laugh in her face, I resumed my way to my destination. But of course, my smile gradually disappeared, thinking about what would happen after I told them about Drake and what Octavio would plan to do with him.
In any case, I had to make sure that they didn't see him as an enemy, since he promised to help us with our electricity problem, and I'm sure that just seeing an ancient one alive would make it easier for me to convince that tyrant into wanting him as an ally.
"I just hope you don't plan on using him against the inklings..." I muttered to myself, still in disbelief about what was happening. Those squids weren't as bad as my people or Octavio described them after all...
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I kept running until reaching Octomburg's main doors.
[Octo Valley]
[Excavation zone]
[Inside the vault]
[Third person POV]
In the bunker's dorms, Drake was seen in his room, lying with his back against the bed while staring at the ceiling, completely lost in thought.
On the one hand, he kept thinking about where his people had gone. And on the other, he was thinking about how he would manage to help Otome and the other octarians with their problem.
Drake wasn't a scientist like his father, or an engineer like those who worked on hydroelectric plants and other facilities. He was a commander, an elite solder trained for combat and combat alone.
Of course he had taken lessons in engineering and mechanics during his training for sabotaging and/or spying on the enemy. As well as some science lesssons from his father, but it wasn't anything out of the basics, and definitely nothing to consider him a genius.
"I still have to try..." Drake said to himself, not realizing that Bruce had entered his room.
"Are you having trouble sleeping, sir?" the robot asked, floating up to the human's side.
"No, it's just... I'm just thinking" Drake replied without looking at it, which made the robot move right in front of him.
"Can I ask why you look so puzzled?" Bruce asked once again, earning a silent chuckle from its owner.
"It's nothing you should worry about... I'm just thinking on how I'll help Otome and her people" Drake replied.
"Well, she said she wanted help to fix her people's energy problems" Bruce stated the obvious, getting only a sigh from the human.
"Yes, I know... And that's what I'm trying to find a solution for!" Drake said, rubbing his eyes as his weariness started to take over.
"Keeping yourself awake will not help you find a solution faster" Bruce adviced him.
"You sound like my mother..." Drake complained.
"You're wrong, sir, your mother would not advice you, she would nag you" the robot joked, getting a laugh out of the human.
"In any case, I don't think I could sleep until I think of something" Drake continued while letting out a sigh.
"If you would like, I could accompany you and lend you some help. My hard drive also counts with a wide variety of options that could help you with energy production" Bruce suggested.
"Hmm... I don't know, Bruce. It was one thing to bring you to Inkopolis, but taking you to another unknown city is something else" Drake said while thinking about his helper's offer.
"Our trip to Inkopolis was quite 'bumpy' as well" Bruce remarked, insisting on going along with the human.
"Yeah, we had a little trouble in there, but I don't think you could compare that to a race that usually causes them, or at least that's what cuttlefish said" Drake said.
"Are you doubting if you should help them?" asked the robot, catching Drake off guard.
"What? No! I never said that! I'm just saying we should be more careful with them starting tomorrow" he explained, sitting up and looking at Bruce.
"Understood... Wait, 'we'?" it asked, making Drake sigh as he laid back down.
"Yeah... I guess I'll need help, and I don't think taking you with me would be that bad of an idea" he said with a confident smile.
"Splendid, sir, I will go and prepare a few tools that will help us out" Bruce said, changing its robotic and monotone voice for one that sounded a bit happy, which didn't go unnoticed by the human.
"Ha ha, calm down, Bruce, that's no reason for you to start jumping in joy" Drake commented, making the robot turn around as it was leaving.
"I am not jumping, in fact, I cannot even jump" it replied, going back to its usual tone.
"I mean that you were happy like a kid at a candy store" the human insisted, still smiling about what just happened.
"I do not know what you are talking about, sir..." Bruce excused itself, to which Drake just laughed.
"It's fine, just do your thing" he said while shaking his head, not wanting to bother his helper any longer.
The ball-shaped robot was about to exit its owner's room, but his voice made it instantly stop on its tracks.
"Bruce... Do you think the octarians will treat us well?" Drake asked, staring at the ceiling once again.
"If they are anything like miss Otome... We should not have anything to worry about" Bruce replied.
"Yeah... I guess you're right" Drake added, his smile slowly fading away.
"Good night, sir" The robot said politely.
"See you tomorrow, Bruce" the human finished the conversation, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep, while Bruce went down the hallway on its way to do its job.
The next morning, Drake was preparing to meet with Otome, who would Take him to Octomburg, while Bruce was taking care of the tools they would bring in case they needed them.
"Uhh... Bruce? I don't think we'll need that many" Drake commented while seeing the stacks of boxes that the robot had prepared for their journey.
"They will be needed for the job" it replied, putting a portable welder inside one of the boxes.
"No, really. It'll be better if we just don't take all of these boxes" Drake insisted.
"Do you fear losing them, or someone 'borrowing' them?" Bruce kept questioning, now moving closer to Drake.
"No, it's not that, it's just... How am I gonna take all of this stuff with me?" Drake said, letting out a soft chuckle.
"That will be quite simple. You could easily transport them using a vehicle" Bruce continued, searching its database in case it was forgetting something.
"It's been far too long since they were last used, and I haven't had the time to fix one of them. I thought you'd knew about that" Drake mentioned.
Upon hearing that, Bruce took a look around at the Humvees and other vehicles around the area, seeing that most of them were covered in dust or rusting away, making it feel 'foolish' for being so careless.
"I understand, sir. I will choose the most important tools then" it said, scanning the boxes in search for the most useful tools.
Drake just quietly laughed at the scene, before being interrupted by a voice that he well recognized speaking a language he didn't understand.
He quickly turned around, only to see a familiar octoling standing in front of him.
"Otome!" Drake greeted while walking up to her, who looked up to make eye contact with the human.
The octoling said some other words, but her language wasn't understandable to the human, reminding him that he wasn't wearing his patch.
"Wait, I almost forgot!" Drake said in his language, which Otome obviously didn't understand, but the way he raised a hand to silence her while reaching for his pocket with the other gave her an idea of what he meant, only nodding in response.
Taking out the translator patch, he noticed that it looked different, it was now black with a few red details, showing him that this was an upgraded version of the device.
Said upgrade made the self-learning module faster, as well as removing the painful sting that Drake felt when he put it on, which although lasted for less than a second, it was still pretty annoying to him. It now made him feel a bit dizzy instead, at least until his robotic helper found a way to eliminate those side effects.
"Alright... What were you saying?" Drake asked after putting the patch on, now speaking the same language as the octoling in front of him and rubbing his eyes in an attempt to snap out of the dizziness.
"I said: I can see that you're getting ready to go" Otome repeated herself, giving him a smirk and crossing her arms.
"Well, you gotta be prepared, right?" Drake asked as a joke.
"I don't think you'll need that many tools. If you need something, I'm sure my people can give it to you" Otome said, walking up to the boxes and picking up a drill from one of them.
"Yeah, that's what I told Bruce" Drake mocked the robot and let out a chuckle, making it come out of one of the boxes.
"I am still here, sir..." Bruce complained, making him laugh once again, this time with Otome joining in.
But in that moment, another voice was heard coming from the door, which startled the human, quickly turning to the source of the sound and seeing another octoling shyly enter the bunker, and gulping upon seeing the ancient one standing not too far from her.
"You had company?" Drake asked, looking at the newly arrived octoling.
"Oh, I forgot. I came with my team here, but don't worry, they're only here to escort you" Otome explained, walking towards the octoling at the door.
"Something wrong, soldier?" the lieutenant asked, to which the lower ranking octoling stood firm in front of her.
"N-nothing, ma'am. I just wanted to remind you that we don't have much time to waste" she said, glancing curiously at Drake, who just waved his hand at her.
"Right... Wait for me outside, we'll get out in a second" Otome ordered, but the octoling just kept staring at Drake, she had even lifted her goggles up to see him with her own eyes.
"Soldier!" Otome shouted, making the other octoling flinch and look back at her.
"Y-yes!" she replied, standing firm once again.
"I gave you an order!" Otome said with a more serious tone.
"M-ma'am, yes, ma'am!" and with that, the octoling turned around and quickly ran out of the vault.
Once she was out of sight, Otome let out a sigh and a soft laugh before turning to the human.
"Well, you heard her. We better go now" she said, to which Drake nodded in response.
"Sure, once Bruce is done that is" he replied, crossing his arms and watching the robot as it did its job.
Drake couldn't help but feel uneasy, reason why he kept trying to keep his mind distracted, since the moment they started walking through the forest, every member of Otome's squad wouldn't stop looking him up and down, whispering things among them and sometimes quietly laughing.
"Otome, can I ask you something?" He asked while catching up to Otome, who was leading the group.
"Sure, what's up?" she said, taking a glance at him.
"Well... Can you tell your pals back here to stop staring and whispering things about me?" Drake asked, lowering the volume of his voice just enough for the others to not hear him.
"Just don't think about it. Keep in mind that you're the first ancient one that they've ever seen alive, it should be expected for them to feel curious about you" Otome said, which tempted the human to look back, only to see the other octolings still whispering among them while staring at him.
"I suppose that's understandable" he added, turning back to the lieutenant.
"And another thing, despite the inklings having discovered more of your technology, we've done a deeper research on your kind, to the point where we were the first to discover that 'humans' was the actual name of your race" Otome said with pride.
"But you still call me 'ancient one'..." he commented, reminding her of the 'nickname' they usually called his people.
"Force of habit. Consider it like a... 'nickname' for your people" the lieutenant replied, softly giggling and making the human join in with her while shaking his head.
But then, a familiar black-tentacled octoling caught a glimpse of the scene between Otome and Drake, which made her put on a cheeky smile while approaching the two.
"Permission to speak freely, ma'am!" Irian asked, interrupting Otome and Drake's little chat.
"Uhh... Granted" Otome replied, not so sure about letting her younger sister run her mouth being a good idea.
"I can see that you and the ancient one get along very well. By the way, my name is Irian Garnet, nice to meet you" the octoling introduced herself, giving Drake a nod.
"Drake Forrest... The pleasure is mine" the human introduced himself as well, returning the nod to Irian.
"So... Could you tell me why you two are so close to each other?" Irian asked, making Otome feel a bit flustered while she facepalmed.
"Well, let's just say that we've been through a lot... And she's always been there with me" Drake replied with a slight blush on his face.
"Ohh, I see, I see~" Irian commented with a mischievous giggle, but the lieutenant took this as a tease.
"Are you insinuating something, private?" Otome asked with a serious tone, throwing her sister off, mostly because she called her a private instead of a sergeant.
"Nothing, ma'am, and... I'm a sergeant now" Irian corrected her.
"If you keep sticking your tentacles where they don't belong then someone will end up ranking down back to a rookie" Otome warned her, making the lower ranking octoling gulp in response.
"Come on, Otome... You don't have to be like this... We're family, you know?" Irian said under her breath so the others wouldn't hear her, but since the human was close to them, he did hear what she was saying.
"We may be out of service, but as long as we're out here, you will refer to me as your superior, understood?" the lieutenant said, keeping the same serious tone.
"Yes ma'am..." Irian said reluctantly before going back with the rest of the octolings.
And with that, an awkward silence made itself present between the human and the red-tentacled octoling, to which she just sighed and turned to look at him.
"I'm sorry about that, and I know you probably have some questions about her" Otome said while discretely pointing at her sister.
"I won't deny that I'm getting a bit curious. Even more so when she was 'family'" Drake replied, taking a look at the black-tentacled octoling.
The lieutenant just sighed and rubbed the back of her head.
"She's my younger sister, and my second in command, but she tends to not act according to her rank" Otome said, starting to feel bad for the way she had spoken to her.
"And that's why you were nagging her?" the human asked.
"I don't do it because I'm mad at her, or because I don't love her... I just want to remind her to take some responsibility" Otome replied, lifting her head to look at the human.
"Hmm..." Drake muttered, looking up at the sky.
"Did you have any siblings?" Otome suddenly asked, catching the human's attention.
"No... Though I did have a friend I could consider a brother. He lived off of getting in trouble, and of course, I was always there to save his ass" Drake said, chuckling with nostalgia.
"And what happened to him?" Otome asked, making the human's smile vanish in an instant.
"I... I don't know..." Drake replied, trying to remember what was of the half Mexican, half Russian man, or when was the last time they met, but the only thing he could find was fuzzy fragments of long lost memories.
Noticing how Drake 'wasn't there', Otome tried to get his attention, but he didn't even hear her. He was lost in his memories, hearing desperate voices pleading for salvation, as well as his voice and his father's, and a ringing in his ears that kept getting louder.
"We don't have much time left!"
"Everyone, to the pods! Now!"
"Just stay calm!"
"We're the only ones left!"
"God save us all..."
"We're out of pods!"
"What are you doing!? Carlos! CARLOOOS!"
"Hey! Are you alright?" Otome snapped him out of it, tugging on his arm with a worried expression on her face.
"Y-yeah... I was just... Lost in thought for a moment..." Drake replied after shaking his head.
"Are you sure?" Otome insisted.
"Yes, don't worry, it's nothing" Drake just tried to brush it off, giving the octoling a friendly smile, which just made her even more concerned about him.
But as they were talking, they didn't realize that there was another group of octarians right in front of them. The group being led by colonel Orianna, who wore her usual arrogant grin as she watched the other group approach them, but it was quickly replaced by a dumbfounded expression upon seeing the human with them. Quickly recovering her composure, she started to advance towards them.
In that moment, Otome turned to look in front of her and saw the other group that would freet them, making her and the rest of her group stop walking.
"Hmm? What's up?" Drake asked, seeing how everyone stopped and looked at the newly arrived group, making him focus on them as well.
"I forgot to tell you about the outpost on the way to Octomburg... I guess this is our welcome..." Otome said, confusing the human since she said that with such a cold voice.
"So you were saying the truth after all, lieutenant Otome" Orianna commented as she kept approaching the group.
"I would never lie, ma'am... And excuse me but... What are you doing outside your outpost?" Otome asked, trying not to sound disgusted by the colonel's presence.
"I just wanted to see it with my own eyes" Orianna replied, getting even closer to Drake with her eyes glued on him, and she wasn't the only one, every single octoling that she had brought with her was also looking at the human with amazement.
"See what, ma'am?" Irian asked, but already having an idea of what she meant.
"The ancient one, of course! You don't get the opportunity to see a male specimen like this every day, now do you?" Orianna replied, now being close enough to take a better look at Drake, followed by walking circles around him and wiggling her hips more than usual as she did, which annoyed Otome even more.
"Tell me, mister ancient one... Can you understand me?" the colonel asked with a hint of seduction in her voice.
Drake just turned to Otome, as if asking her if he should play along, to which she just reluctantly nodded. Noticing how the lieutenant behaved when near the colonel, he deducted that Orianna wasn't someone she got along with.
"Yes... I can understand you..." Drake replied, trying not to sound rude, but still leaving the colonel somewhat impressed about the ancient one really speaking her language, as well as curious because of his accent.
"Fantastic, guess this will make everything easier for us" she said before turning around and gesturing Drake to follow her.
"Please, allow us to escort you to escort you to Octomburg. Lieutenant Otome, you and your team can proceed with your duties" she dismissed Otome, which she already expected, making her step in front of the human.
"With all due respect, colonel Orianna. We were the ones who were ordered to take him to the city, you don't have to do anything for us" Otome said, getting a sigh out of Orianna in response.
"Lieutenant, as your superior-..." the colonel tried to order Otome once again, but she was abruptly interrupted by her.
"And by Emperor Octavio's orders, it is my duty to escort the ancient one to Octomburg, not to mention that your duty is to guard this outpost" Otome said, impressing Drake with how assertive she was.
"Right... I forgot about that..." Orianna said while clenching her teeth, barely hiding her anger towards the lieutenant.
"In that case, we'll continue with our duties. Thank you for your offer anyways" Otome said, now wearing her own arrogant smile, followed by gesturing Drake and her team to follow her.
But the moment she walked past Orianna, she grabbed Otome by the shoulder to stop them.
Wait a minute, lieutenant. Since I bothered in coming all the way here, it's only fair if I escort you to our outpost" she said, refusing to let go of Otome.
She was about to decline her offer, but she was interrupted before even saying a word.
"And you can't refuse, since I would be practically returning to base" Orianna clarified. Upon hearing that, Otome turned to her with the fakest smile in the world.
"It would be... A pleasure..." she said, clenching her teeth.
Drake only sighed as he watched the two octolings argue before finally following them.
As they kept walking, Orianna asked Drake every type of question. She asked if there were others like him, what type of technology they had, what kind of weapons they used, about his apparent "invulnerability" to ink and water, and so on.
The whole thing had gone from simple curiosity questions to an interrogatory, which for some reason, bothered Otome. But the ex-commander would only give a vague answer, not only because he wanted to keep a low profile, but because he was more focused on the other octarians that were with them, and how they looked so odd to the human, they almost looked funny to him. The fact they were only a tentacle and a face with two little legs as limbs made him try to contain his laugh several times.
But fortunately, they arrived at the colonel's outpost, which made Drake and Otome let out a sigh of relief, knowing that Orianna wouldn't bother them anymore.
"You better give me a report about everything the ancient one does in our city, lieutenant..." Orianna said with a cold voice, only to lower her sight to Otome's breasts with a look of evident jealousy, which didn't go unnoticed by Otome, so she got an idea to piss her off even more.
"Yes ma'am!" she said while making an exaggerated salute, moving just enough for her 'assets' to jiggle in front of Orianna, whose expression got even more noticeable before quickly turning around and heading to her outpost, finally leaving Otome's group alone.
"Well, now that there's no distractions, let's get back to our thing. We're almost there" Otome said, getting back on their way to Octomburg.
"Otome, I noticed something and I'd like to ask you about it" Drake said while catching up to Otome.
"Sure, go ahead" she said, looking up to him.
"I noticed that there's only female octolings here... Can I ask why?" Drake asked, glancing at the group of octolings behind him.
"Well... That's because most of the army is composed and led by females" Otome explained.
"Ohh, I see..." Drake said, thinking about what the lieutenant just said.
"Yup, and more specifically, out of ten octolings in the army, only three or four of them are males while the rest is just females" she continued, only for her younger sister to join in.
"In fact, it's said that it gets so boring in the army that some soldiers venture into Inkopolis to seduce male inklings!" she said while her and the rest of the group giggled.
"What? Really?" Drake asked with incredulity, looking at Otome, who also found it quite funny.
"Of course not! Inklings and octolings don't get along that well for that to happen!" she clarified.
"Although... You're not an inkling, and the fact that you're an ancient one will probably get some eyes on you..." the lieutenant continued, confusing the human a little.
"But the seducing part isn't true... Right?" Drake asked, feeling uneasy.
"No, it's not... But still, you should stay close to us and watch for any female octoling that approaches you... And that includes my team" Otome said with a nervous smile on her face.
"Why your team?" asked Drake, starting to fear for his safety in Octomburg, but also finding Otome's statement quite funny.
"Let's say that... Being an ancient one won't be the only thing they'll be staring at you for" she added, which made Drake look behind him. For but a moment, Drake felt like they looked at him like prey, even though their eyes were hidden behind their goggles.
He couldn't help but gulp while feeling a shiver going down his spine, which made him quickly turn around, only to see a hill that would finally take him to the city.
The human stopped in his tracks upon looking at what was in front of him. Two giant metal doors placed at the edge of a cliff, with several lights decorating its frame. Upon noticing him just standing in place, the other Octolings stopped as well.
"It's just the doors, don't get too amazed yet" Otome snapped him out of it, making him nod and follow her once again.
After using a retinal scanner and pushing some buttons, the doors were opened, the whole place trembling as they slowly revealed what was at the other side.
The octolings didn't waste any time and quickly went through, followed by a cautious Drake, who turned to watch the doors as they closed behind him.
"Hey!" Otome called for him. And still being cautious, Drake walked up to her, and was impressed to see what was in front of him. A great city was seen from beyond the guardrail, one just as big as Inkopolis, and although not as colorful, the lights that decorated the buildings gave it the aspect of a night city that really fit its monotone color scheme.
"Before I forget, remember that we've studied your kind far deeper than others, so your arrival will cause some impact" Otome said, seeing that Drake now had a better reason to be impressed. But she got his attention back on her with a gentle nudge.
"And by the way... Welcome to Octomburg" the lieutenant finished, giving him a smile and gazing at the city below them.
[*Heart monitor beeping* B-bonus... Content... *Heart monitor flatlines*]
Now, you may be wondering 'how did Irian climb up the ranks in just two weeks?', but fret not, my dear reader, for we have an explanation to that.
[Two weeks ago]
After Otome's disappearance, Irian reported back to command and begged them for a way for her to go and try to find her. They initially refused to help her but she ended up convincing them, they told her that there was a way she could climb up the ranks fairly quickly, but that everyone who's tried it ended up leaving the army with a severe trauma.
She gulped upon hearing that, but she knew that she had to do anything to get her sister back. Gathering some valor, she took their offer and headed to her new camp, where her new drill instructor awaited her.
Said drill instructor was a blue ringed octoling with her tentacles arranged in a ponytail, with several scars on her toned body, showing that she knew the ins and outs of being in the army.
"Welcome to camp Narwhal... So you're the new replacement...? You are out of uniform soldier! Where are your Octoleet goggles!" the drill instructor instantly berated Irian, not even introducing herself.
"I... Don't have them..." She lied, trying to cover up the fact that she lost them after being flashbanged back in Drake's vault.
"Don't have any...? You expect me to believe that, maggot!? The truth is you lost an expensive piece of army issue equipment! Those goggles are gonna come out of your pay, and you will remain in this women's army until you are one hundred and eight years old, which is the number of years it will take for you to pay for a Mark I Octoleet Combat Goggles you have lost!" the drill instructor instantly saw through Irian's lie, still berating her for how incompetent she was.
"Report back to the armory and have some new goggles issued to you, then report back to me, private! Dismissed!" the drill instructor kept going, instantly sending Irian running to the armory to follow her orders.
Getting a new pair of goggles, Irian sheepishly returned with the Drill instructor, her eyes still as cold as ever.
"Excellent! You're in uniform now so I'm going to give you a rare opportunity. We are going to start over as if I never met your sorry ass. Would you like that soldier!?" she made an offer that Irian couldn't refuse, so she quickly nodded in response.
"Ahem, welcome to camp Narwhal... So you're the replacement...? What's your name, private?" the drill instructor asked, waiting for Irian to introduce herself.
"I'm Irian" she introduced herself, trying not to sound nervous.
"What was that? Did you forget something, maggot!?" the drill instructor's tone started getting more aggressive, catching Irian off guard.
"My n-name is Irian, ma'am!" She tried her hardest to not stutter in front of the blue ringed octoling.
"I AM NOT A MA'AM! I WORK FOR A LIVING YOU MOOOORON! You will call me sergeant, or sergeant Dana! Do you understand me!?" Dana finally revealed her name to Irian, shouting at her for not using the correct title to refer to the sergeant.
"Y-yes, sarge!" Irian said, fumbling with her weapon after being yelled at.
"If I like you, you can call me sarge. But guess what? I DON'T LIKE YOU! Do you understand!?" Dana expressed her dislike for the private.
"Yes, sergeant..." Irian couldn't help but feel bad at the sergeants words, but she had to pull through it either way.
"Outstanding. Proceed on the double to the hangar where you will stand guard duty. You will do a fine job. Do you understand!?" Dana gave the private her first order, although a vague one.
"What am I guarding there, sergeant?" Irian asked, feeling a bit curious about her orders.
"YOU MOOORON! You are not to question my orders! When I say jump, you jump! When I say fight, you fight! When I tell you to die for your kind, then you will certainly DIE! Have I made myself clear!?" Dana berated Irian, making her flinch as she kept raising the tone of her voice.
"Yes, sergeant!" Irian finished before quickly running to her assigned place, almost tripping in front of the sergeant as she did.
And so began Irian's quick but painful climb through the ranks, her sole motivation for not quitting on the spot being to get back her sister, and fortunately, she made it in the end. Even getting a few words of congratulations from Dana for her outstanding performance.
Irian was now ready to command her own squad and leave Octomburg in search for her missing sister.