Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Preppy music echoed over the massive crowd of cheering fans. From the stage, the angle of the lighting made it hard to make out any individual person, but the crowd's deafening roar did more than enough to remind Marie about just how many people were below. This is by far our biggest turnout. (Oh, my cod. I'm going to die up here.)

Outwardly, Marie was the shining example of a perfect idol. She danced on beat, sung without mistake, and smiled at the crowd exactly on cue. Internally, things weren't so neat. It was only thanks to several years of rigorous training was she able to hide that fact. Marie cast her mind outwards, shifting her focus between any and every little thing she could to distract herself from the all-consuming pit of anxiety in her stomach.

She could occasionally catch glimpses of herself displayed on one of the giant screens staged around the arena they were performing in. She watched her mantle bounce slightly as she danced. Her already motion-prone right parted bangs were only further pushed to move by the two longer tentacles she wore tied into a large bow on the right of her head. Small spots dotted along the length of the silver tentacles, many of which were glowing a warm yellow-green color. The lime-green tips of her tentacles also glowed, though this coloration was due to her ink.

The stage lighting reflected off her light peach skin, emphasizing the freckles dotted along her upper body, many glowing like the ones on her mantle. Despite all of this, the brightest thing about her had to be her golden eyes, with their dark cross shaped pupils. They seemed to shine on their own, independent of the stage lighting and makeup, the effect only emphasized by the black, down-turned eye mask that surrounded them.

Marie wore her iconic outfit (not that I've ever performed in anything else.) She was dressed in a black, strapless romper covered in reflective sequins, with a tight corset to hold it in place. Horizontal highlights in the front of the dress revealed a lime green highlight layer below, the same lime green as her tights. On her head, she wore her iconic headpiece, which vaguely resembled a calamari ring, and large, clunky hoop earrings hung off her pointed ears. White gloves and black boots with lime green heels completed the outfit.

She continued to dance as the other person on stage, her cousin Callie, began to sing. Callie's dance, much like her outfit, was designed to mirror Marie's, though her cousin's was pink. Marie continued to dance on beat, almost unconsciously, as they had practiced this performance at least a hundred times in the past month. She gave it practically no thought when she joined her cousin in song, the rehearsed harmony easily mixing with the music. Her mind continued to wander as she sang, the entire show was routine after all. This was their biggest tour yet, but barring the few designated variables, they always performed the same show again and again. They were two months in with two more to go before they were done for a while. Well, save for the news. But that's not that bad. (I really need some time off.)

Both performers jumped and cheered in rhythm, before a short instrumental break played. The girls were supposed to engage with the crowd some during these sections. Beside her, Callie leaned forward and waved eagerly, encouraging the crowd to cheer. Sure, that'll do. Marie mirrored her cousin, though she kept her back straight and tilted her head with a smirk. Have to keep up appearances, I have a character to maintain after all. (Ignore the massive knot in my stomach.) The witty, sarcastic, aloof and beautiful Marie Kensaki. (Keep it together, you're almost done.)

As the song wound down, the two struck the song's final pose as the crowd cheered. Marie stepped back while Callie handled the bulk of the crowd work. She chatted easily, like she was talking to a friend rather than a crowd of over 10,000 people. Marie threw some snarky comments in when Callie paused, and based on the crowd's reaction they landed. That was good, that meant her inner turmoil was still hidden underneath her careful acting. At least I got something out of those years.

As the instrumental for Ink Me Up started, Marie cast her mind back into space as muscle memory again took over. It was genuinely challenging to keep her thoughts from the enormous crowd before her. It truly is massive, our biggest turnout yet. Despite the blinding stage lights, she could make out the shapes of several different species below.

There were inklings of course, (Some of our fans would follow us into the sun,) but that was to be expected. There were a few smaller clusters of species dotted around as well. Some Jellyfish had taken over a section of the stands. Collections of urchins, prawns, and sharks dotted the middling space, as well as a dozen other species she couldn't properly see. There were probably some horseshoe crabs and anemones mixed in as well, though she couldn't tell them apart from the bulk of the crowd: the octolings.

It wasn't a surprise that the Squid Sisters were performing in Octolis City. It was easily their second largest fanbase, which made sense as most of the population could speak Inklish. Whenever she had the chance, Marie gazed out into the city's skyline. She couldn't see much, on account of the glances being, well, glances, and the massive stands filled with fans, but what little she could see reminded her of Gramps' stories. Buildings rose far into the distance, going back further than Inkopolis' skyline ever did. She had managed to spot the tip of the Civil War memorial she and Callie were planning to visit before they left.

I wonder how much the city's changed since Gramps was here. It's been 100 years since he was here. Inkopolis changed so much in just the 5 years I've been there, I can't imagine how different things are.

Marie continued to gaze when she got the chance until the song ended. Both girls struck their final poses as the crowd roared their approval. A moment later, Callie 'broke character' to jump and wave excitedly to the crowd. Marie gave her cousin a good natured eye roll as she grabbed a microphone off its stand. She held the mic in her hands for just a moment before speaking. Holding on to something solid was grounding, offering a slight relief to her increasingly skittish mind. With reluctance she played off as being aloof, she brought the microphone up near her mouth and again let practice take over.

"Thank you all for coming out tonight! We've been dreaming of coming to Octolis City for so long, I can't tell you how happy we are." The crowd tried their best to deafen the performers with their cheers. It was loud enough to hurt a little bit, even through the noise canceling earpiece she wore.

The show must go on. Marie turned to Callie with a look of slight disappointment, offering a lazy eye roll over any words. Callie just laughed, before she motioned to the crowd to cheer louder. A request which they happily obliged. Marie scoffed and rolled her head around on her shoulders, maintaining her performance despite the newfound ringing in her ears.

Marie brought the microphone back to her mouth once the cheers began to subside. "Yes yes, thank you all for all of your excitement!" She turned her head away from the mic as she quickly 'muttered a thought to herself'. "And thanks for the tinnitus too." Marie let the crowd laugh before she continued. "Now, if you all would please file out quickly and orderly, I can go to my hotel and take a nap."

Beside her, now holding her own microphone, Callie let out an over dramatic gasp. "Marie! We can't just leave like that!"

"Sure we can!" Came Marie's too-excited answer. "All we gotta do is walk this way!" Marie emphasized by pointing off stage. She took an exaggerated step in that same direction, before she was stopped by Callie playfully grabbing her other arm. (Her cousin is very careful not to squeeze her).

"No!!! One more song Marie! Please??" Callie asked, playing up the performance's campiness to a ridiculous degree. The subsequent pleas of several thousand fans shook the air.

Marie hung her shoulders in mock defeat, making a show of turning back around to face the crowd and stepping back to her place on stage. A moment later, the thumping of a drum beat echoed across the stadium. And the crowd went ballistic. It's not the loudest they've been, but it's certainly the most active. Callie jumped in place, excited, before quickly running back to her spot on stage.

Their hands rose in unison as the song's buildup reached its peak, and Marie, for the final time that night, let her practice again take the wheel as her thoughts turned inwards. That's gotta be the most direct encore bait we've written. Looking out over the crowd, it seems to have worked wonderfully though, sometimes simpler is better. It had to be one of the things Marie was most proud of, if only for how useful it consistently was. They hijacked the want for an encore by letting the crowd join one of them in begging the other for a final song. With one of the Squid Sisters on their side, it felt like they were part of the show, and their wants were being heard. There must have been dozens of variations at this point. Typically, it was Marie threatening some of form disinterest, but Callie had a few stand out moments herself. Like the time she 'was just so excited to get ice cream' she nearly ran off the stage.

As the song reached its end, the Squid Sisters struck their ending pose. The crowd's cheer was loud enough to shake the stage decorations. The volume paled in comparison to the overwhelming pit in Marie's stomach. It always seemed to get worse near the end of a performance, as if it knew she was done and would let it out soon. Moving felt like she was fighting through mud, but she squared her shoulders and smiled out at the crowd all the same.

Each girl grabbed a microphone to give their closing remarks. As they had agreed all those years ago, Callie took the lead with crowd work. "You guys are freakin' AWESOME!!!" She shouted into the mic, her excitement somehow pushing the crowd's spirits even higher. The very stage they were on shook with the force of the cry from the hundred thousand fans below. "We have to call it there though, quite frankly I'm tired."

Marie raised her mic and picked up right after Callie. She worked as much sincerity and warmth into her voice as she could (it really wasn't much), "Please be safe getting home! You've all been great!"

The pair share a glance, nod to an unspoken agreement, and set their microphones down. The crowd leaned forward in anticipation. Callie and Marie turned to the mass, and struck their iconic pose, hands dangling as they both shouted "Stay Fresh!"

Callie was practically bounding as she walked off stage. She handled the nervous energy much better than her cousin. I'm just used to being energetic! It was mostly adrenaline though, so it was only a matter of time until she crashed.

Several members of the crew offered congratulations and thanks as they walked backstage, which both cousins lightly returned while unsubtly trying to push their way to their dressing room. The crew understood, the girls were past their limits after performing for such a massive crowd. Both she and her cousin would make sure to seek them out sometime in the following days to thank them for their work. They deserve it after all, we couldn't do this without them! It didn't escape Callie's notice when Marie's shoulders pulled ever so slightly closer inward. As much as she wanted to comfort her cousin, words wouldn't do any good right now, not with the night's final trial coming up. She settled for a gentle squeeze on the shoulder instead. Hang in there Marie, we're almost done!

There was always one final obstacle after their shows, waiting for them just a few hallways ahead. The production team always had to have a word with the pair after a show. It's like they don't care that we're practically dead on our feet!

Just before they came into view of a set of double doors, Marie stopped walking. "Ready?"

Callie laughed, but there wasn't much humor behind it.

Marie stepped forward without another word. It was time to enact their two part plan, one they've used after every single show, save for the first. As they strode towards the doors, Marie peered through their windows. She held her hand against her back and signed a few choice words to Callie.

"Big crowd. Big. Half Good mood. Split groups. Out on my sign."

In short, Marie told Callie what to expect. Callie struggled to read the room, or really any tone that well. She'd learned a lot over her years, but in times like this, with so many different people who all want different things, having even just some of it spelled out was a major boon. One she was infinitely thankful to her cousin for.

Callie nodded as they opened the door. The room fell silent at their entrance. All eyes in the room fell to the pair. Oh my cod, she wasn't joking. That's a lot of people. The silence lasted just a moment, before every person but the Squid Sisters exploded in conversation. Each person had something different to say, some useless fact or statistic that they just NEEDED to share, regardless of the girl's condition or interest. And so begins step 2. As the crowd pressed inward, the girls split apart, each intent to court a different half of the mass.

Callie met the people who wanted the excitement and energy that Marie couldn't provide. She intercepted their marketing director's hug and eagerly caught their publicist's ear. She pulled their costuming director into the conversation, and managed to get their choreographer, merchandise director, and a surprisingly large cluster of interns in a few moments later.

Marie instead hooked the people who absolutely needed to talk numbers and business. The double and triple meanings of their legalese were something Callie struggled to keep up with while also juggling the sheer volume of other things the conversations demanded. Marie nabbed the eye of their manager and agent immediately, pulling the two across the room. Their lawyer, producer, and a representative from their record company, as well as several other people in suits all flocked to her moments later.

Callie kept her cousin in the corner of her eye, even as she talked to all the people around her. She had the easy job. All I gotta do is stand here and be excited with these people. Callie saw when Marie's hand clenched into a fist. That wasn't the sign, but it was a sign that Marie was near her limit. I can't imagine being bombarded with their veiled insults and demands like she is. Most of it would fly over my head and I'd still leave pissed.

The conversations continued for about a minute and a half longer, Callie easily kept up her energy, despite the exhaustion clawing at her mind. She didn't miss it when Marie leaned to the side and swiped at her mantle twice. That was the signal she was waiting on. Callie quickly excused herself from the conversation, sliding over to the exit door right as Marie stepped in beside her. They were out a moment later, closing the door behind them and letting out sighs of relief.

Anyone watching the pair would clock their ability to coordinate things like that as some kind of sisterly bond. They're not... wrong per se, we did grow up together. Really though, it was all extensive nonverbal communication, some intuited and the rest learned. They each had a lot of experience with reading people, as different as our reasons may be, and Gramps had been sure to drill them so thoroughly they could

Gramps had been sure to drill them to the point they could sign in their sleep. As much as they hated it back then, not a day goes by where the two forget to thank that old geezer for what he taught them.

When they arrived at their dressing room, Callie strode forward and opened the door. She watched as her cousin abandoned all sense of decorum and scramble into the nearly pitch black room. Callie stepped in a moment later, gently pulling the door behind her. Darkness momentarily swallowed the room as it closed.

After a moment, the only light in the room came from Marie. She was curled into herself on the couch, holding her head against her knees and shaking slightly. Typically, the pale spots dotted all along her body weren't visible, save for the ones on her mantle. Now, though they were all slowing a bright lime-yellow color. Callie could even see a few shining through the fabric of her cousin's leggings. The surge of light revealed how Marie's mantle had flushed from its typical silver and lime coloring to the sheer white of adrenaline and fear.

Time and time again, Callie was wowed by her cousin's control over her emotions. The glowing, much like the change in ink color, were emotional responses. For her cousin to hold back emotions this strong for their entire multi-hour performance was truly a testament to her capabilities. I just wish she wasn't forced to learn how to do that. In some ways, seeing her cousin like this was a relief. Marie wasn't suppressing those feelings anymore, they weren't bottling up inside of her until she couldn't take it. At least, not long term. It's like having a good cry. It makes you feel so much better after the fact. As much as Callie wanted to run over and comfort her cousin, she knew it wasn't time for that yet. Marie would open up when she was ready.

Callie instead turned to the light switch, which thankfully had a dimmer setting. She slowly raised the light until there was just enough to see by, before making her way to a nearby chair. The moment she hovered over it, she practically fell into the thing. She landed without a sound, limbs dangling off the sides of the chair like she was laying under the world's heaviest blanket. Guess that adrenaline finally wore off. Not really having any reason to move, she lay there for a time letting her mind wander.

Idol work really was tiring. Ignoring the entire 'on stage in front of hundreds of thousands of fans' part, it was just plain busy. Today alone she had a plane ride, work out, vocal practice, performance review, choreography practice, costuming, makeup, and dress rehearsal, all before the actual performance. She had taken to it much easier than Marie did. It wasn't surprising, she was always the more energetic of the two, but that wasn't the entire reason.

Throughout her youth, Callie hadn't quite... fit in. She never seemed to react 'correctly' to things, something her peers noticed a lot sooner than she did. It wasn't ever anything malicious, she just didn't see the cues that everyone else was so insistent were there. Over the years, she'd improved. She learned how to respond 'correctly' in certain situations, even if it didn't make sense. The hard part wasn't what she supposedly should be doing and feeling, it was what she shouldn't. It had been hard, learning to suppress her naturally cheery nature. Marie had helped her learn, when she was able to of course. Things weren't exactly good for either of them back then.

Being an idol though, that came with a book of rules she had to follow. How to talk to fans, how to act in public, in interviews. What to do if a fan is too touchy, how she should act if an interviewer asks an inappropriate question. Almost any scenario she could encounter had some kind of rule tied to it. She knew how she was supposed to act, and why.

Despite the massive workload, being an idol was the easy part. The bigger challenge was being herself. Everybody needed her to be something, specifically something they expected her to figure out on her own. Her parents wanted her to be 'herself', but the larger family wanted her to follow tradition. Students should be obedient but Agents needed to think for themselves. Idols were always happy and bubbly but as a professional entertainer she had to be serious and thoughtful when meeting with her managers. It felt like she had a hundred different versions of 'Callie' she had to permanently switch between.

She looked away from the ceiling, her gaze landing on the bright form of her cousin. Marie was starting to calm down, if the slow dimming of her glow was anything to go by. Callie never thought she had to hide anything from Marie. With her cousin, she was free to let all her discrepancies show. After all, Marie had been there back when she was figuring all this out! In the end, she could always turn to her cousin when she didn't know how she should act. Marie didn't mind.

With a quiet sigh, Callie turned to look the other way, catching her reflection in one of the dressing booth mirrors. Her own eyes stare back at her, their dark, cross shaped pupils only making the golden color of her iris seem brighter. Her upturned eye mask made her seem more awake than she really was. She pulled off her gloves before she reached up and undid the large bow her tentacles were tied into. Two long tentacles unraveled, falling nearly to her mid-calves. She pulled one up into her lap and massaged it while frowning at its less-than-black coloration. The bow was tied too tight again... I'm going to have to talk to Bella about that.

Callie was a hooked squid, so even though her tentacles were spotted like her cousin's, Callie's didn't glow. Instead, much like the octolings slowly shuffling out of the stands outside, she had claws at the end of her fingers. As an Inkling, her claws were a bit shorter and took after tentacle color rather than ink color, leaving them a cool black. She winced as she gently ran a claw along the sore length of the tentacle, and her finger along it on the way back. She turned to look back at Marie, and winced again when her other tentacle bumped into the edge of her chair. She pulled it and set it in her lap, massaging its pink end as she watched Marie's glow continue to subside.

Wait a second. I don't feel my hat. Where's my hat? She turned to look back in the mirror and sure enough, her sashimi-shaped headpiece wasn't there. At that moment, she suddenly became very aware of exactly how uncomfortable her costume was. The black-sequined puffy shorts she wore were bunched up as a result of her aggressive flop into the chair. They pulled on the strapless romper she wore, which caused the corset she wore to squeeze wrong. Like her cousin's, the romper had a three slit design in the middle that exposed a pink layer below.

Callie stood up, grunting quietly at the effort, and shifted her outfit so that it wasn't pulling so tight. It took a bit more pulling than she'd like to un-bunch her pink leggings, but before long nothing was pushing or pulling on her uncomfortably anymore. She bent down to pick up her gloves, then spotted and grabbed her headpiece off the floor while she was down there. She quickly crossed the room stopping in front of one of two large wardrobes. She stepped out of her heeled boots, before leaning over and fishing a key from the left one and an uninflated burst bomb from the right. Gramps taught her never to leave herself defenseless if she could help it, and after a few months of having it there, it was more uncomfortable when it was gone. Gramps'd be proud of me for that I bet.

A quick turn of the key later and the wardrobe door was open without a second thought. Callie quickly stowed the parts of her costume that she'd already taken off, and pulled out a set of casual clothes to change into. She took a few moments to swap outfits, being sure to put the rest of her costume away in the wardrobe. She swept the shelves for anything she might have missed, and upon finding nothing, closed the wardrobe and relocked it. She reached over to unlock Marie's wardrobe, so she could change in a little while, when she's feeling better.

She located a small case of disinfectant wipes near the pair of vanities a few steps over, which she used to quickly wipe down the key. She set that on the top of the vanity before turning her attention to the makeup remover wipes she'd put amidst the countless products she had put on for the stage. As nice as the show look is, I need a break from it! She carefully wiped down her face, making sure to go slow so she didn't smudge any of the foundation into her pores.

Now, clean faced and wearing just shorts, a simple tee-shirt with a light jacket, and some basic loafers (with a burst bomb inside) Callie turned back to the couch where Marie had uncurled herself. She noted that her cousin had her palms facing upwards, another one of their signs that meant Marie was ok to talk. Callie casually walks over, before sitting on the couch next to her cousin. Marie visibly relaxed once she sat down.

"Big crowd today, huh?" Callie asked, her voice gentle, with a hint of playfulness mixed in.

"Yeah..." Marie croaked out, her voice a bit raspy. "Biggest crowd we'll probably ever have."

"What!?" Callie asked in mock surprise. "Surely we can do better than that!

Marie cleared her throat. "You know about a bigger arena then?"

Callie laughed. Marie smiled her usual lopsided grin, but Callie knew this was a real one.

Marie took a second to gather her bearings. "Key?" She asked as she slowly stood from the couch. Her mantle had returned to its usual silver color, with lime at the tips.

Her ink's returned to normal then. Callie thought to herself. "Already unlocked."

"Mmm. Thanks." Marie walked towards the back of the room while Callie patiently waited at the front. After the quiet downtime and Marie's recovery, Callie found herself alight with energy again. But for now, she waited in the relative silence. The only sounds were the hum of the HVAC and the very distant sounds of the crowd outside. The silence bristled against her, even with the addition of Marie's clamoring from the back of the room. She hummed the chorus of Ink Me Up just to fill it, bouncing her leg as she waited for time to pass.

"Alright," Marie called as she walked back towards the front of the room. She had changed into a simple pair of leggings and a nice shirt and cardigan pair. She fell into the chair Callie had sat in earlier. "Let's hear it."

Callie took a deep breath. "HHhhooooooly CARP Marie that was insane! There were so many people there I didn't know what I was going to do! I'm glad I didn't freak out though, but I really really wanted to! But, 'an Idol always keeps their cool' so I made sure to smile and wave as we stepped outside! I can't even imagine how you were feeling!"

Callie's consciousness flooded out of her mouth as she decompressed. It was part of their system, the unofficial step three. Marie went first, because it wouldn't be fair to bombard her while she was having a post-show anxiety episode. But, once she had recovered, it was Callie's turn. She needed to talk, to just let her thoughts come out unbridled, there were so many about the performance, how could she ever possibly organize them? So she talked, rambling on and on, jumping to different parts of the show as soon as her mind landed on them. She paced around the room with no real pattern as she raved; it wasn't the destination that mattered, but the movement. Marie would talk when she felt like she had something to add, assuming she could edge in her statement when Callie paused to take a breath. She talked for about 14 straight minutes before she collapsed on the couch in only partially exaggerated exhaustion. A comfortable silence filled the air for a minute as Callie's eyes begin to droop.

"Let's get to the hotel before we both pass out and get kicked out by the cleaning staff again." Marie offered as she stood from her chair.

Callie shook her head to try and wake herself up. "Can we get a pizza?"

"Hell, get two. I'm starving."

"Yay!!"

Getting out of the stadium was much easier than getting backstage. All it took was Marie taking the lead and wielding her death glare like a bludgeon. It had taken a while to distill "If you stop me, someone'd better be dying" into a glare, but if her mother could do it, she could do it better. Marie led Callie by the hand while she was on the phone with their driver. Cod, why can't they just have this guy parked at the back door? (Imagine getting paid to sit in your car for a few hours, not even driving!

Eventually, they met him outside, and quietly piled into the back of the car. Nothing interesting happened during the ride home, they were both just so tired and there wasn't much to say anyway. The driver was a nice guy though, (hope his kids enjoy that picture.) The hotel reception was similarly uneventful, their team had taken care of the booking already so all they had to do was check in and grab their keys. 30 seconds in an elevator and a hallway later, the girls found themselves in a large, open-floor plan hotel suite. A flick of the lights revealed a flood of blues, whites, and golds with all the room's decorations designed around the hotel's sunshine theme. It only made Marie feel more tired.

Hotels like this were (unfortunately) familiar to Marie, she had spent a lot of time traveling with her parents when she was young. I think I've been in a 'normal' hotel room maybe twice in my life. After all, there can be nothing but the best for Mrs. Kensaki. (Like Mama's ego needed any more padding). As nice as the hotel rooms were, they weren't ever anything more than a hollow comfort. A temporary break from her mother's will, nothing more than a place to just barely get a step ahead of her exhaustion. But it's not like that. I'm tired now because I was performing on stage with Callie! It's not the same thing. (Despite what it feels like.) The quiet reassurance did little to dissuade her almost instinctual response to the room.

The pair shuffled their way inside, each with a different mission in mind. They both set their things on the small console table near the door before splitting. Callie wandered into the kitchen, likely looking for more snacks while Marie made her way to one of the two couches in the living room. Leftover anxiety from her earlier attack still lingered in the back of her mind as she sat down. With a quiet groan, she leaned her head against the back of the couch as she massaged her face, trying to relieve the tension in her brain by proxy.

She wasn't born with this anxiety, not that she remembers much about her time without it. Expectations in the Kensaki family were high. (Too high.) Over several generations, members of the Kensaki family have earned their place in the histories of dozens of different specialties. Between the arts, sciences, business, culture, and beyond, it's hard to find any profession that someone in the family hadn't at some point been a notable part of. She wasn't ever given the chance to choose how she wanted to contribute to that legacy, or if she even wanted to. Mama insisted she learn how to take over the family business, so Marie was being trained to read sales charts and profit projections before she could properly read books. As daunting as it was, the early education was necessary, Mama claimed. After all, The Kensaki corporation was one of the largest in Inkadia. At only six years old, Marie was held to the standards of the most high-class, cutthroat business environments imaginable. She had to be perfect, any mistake she made reflected on her parents and the corporation at large. I had no choice but to learn to suppress everything. Boredom, fear, concern, pain, joy, all of it. A tentacle out of place could set the company back thousands of G, if not more.

She would be forever thankful to her aunt for getting her away from that.

An unsure amount of time later, Marie was awoken by Callie chanting "Snacks!" repeatedly as she paraded into the living room. She was carrying something Marie couldn't quite make out through her half-closed eyes. Guess I dozed off. (I should do that again.)

"Don't we have a pizza coming?" She asked, her voice sounding much groggier than she thought it would.

"Yeah, but we didn't have any drinks." Callie defended with a playful tone.

"Mmm." Marie half-heartedly answered, her eyes already closing again. I'll just... rest until it gets here.

Her ingenious plan was interrupted by a dull whump and a very cold sensation against her left shoulder. "Gah!" Marie instinctively rolled her shoulder away from the back of the couch, but this just caused the cold object to slide and press against her neck. Now, thoroughly awake, Marie leaned away from the couch while making some indescribable noises. Hanging halfway off the couch, Marie turned to look at her icy assailant. A can of Smash Cola rested right where she had been. Callie's snickering told her all she needed to know.

"Keep your head up Marie! Just a bit longer!" Callie called to her as she walked towards the room's front door. She exchanged a smile, a quick word, and a handful of G with presumably the delivery driver, before turning back to Marie with two boxes of pizza in hand. She skipped back to their seats while Marie lazily pulled the room's coffee table closer to the couch. Callie set one of the boxes on a small side table near her chair, before setting the other on Marie's table. Marie cracked open her can of soda and took a drink, hoping the psychosomatic effects of the caffeine would keep her going for just a little bit longer.

The girls tore into their respective pizzas with unsurprising vigor. We've had a long day after all. (Cod, I'm so HUNGRY.) Callie flicked through channels on the TV between bites, eventually settling on some over-produced reality show. Marie didn't have the strength, nor the wits to try and convince her cousin to change the channel. She just let the barrage of sounds wash over her mind while she thoughtlessly polished off the last slice of her pizza. The next two days were completely free, no tours, no practice, nothing. It's like a mid-tour break. (Except, almost all the way through instead.) They were planning to go and look through some of the monuments Gramps had told them about when he was here all those years ago. And he wants us to bring him an Octarian history textbook of all things. With the next day being solely theirs to decide, Marie was content to just lay back right there in her chair.

...

Vzzzztt vzzzztt vzzzztt

Vzzzztt vzzzztt vzzzztt

Consciousness slowly filtered back to Marie Mmmm... how long was I down for? (Just go back to sleep.) Unfortunately, once she started to wake up, very rarely could she ever reverse the process, at least not without getting up and stretching her muscles for a few minutes. Before long, she was blearily blinking over the darkened hotel room, squinting through the flashing lights of the TV. It took her sleep-addled brain a few moments to catch itself up with everything that had happened. Callie was passed out in her chair a few paces away, pizza box still in her lap. We should probably make our way to the beds. (Cod, that was so nice.)

Vzzzztt vzzzztt vzzzztt

It took her a few seconds to realize her phone was buzzing deep within her pocket. With an annoyed grunt, she begrudgingly wrestled herself from the couch's warm grasp, before fishing through her pocket to pull out her phone. It stopped buzzing sometime in the process, but she was on a mission now. Finally, she managed to wrench the small flip phone free. The top was flipped up with a practiced motion, causing the screen to automatically light up with the most recent slew of notifications.

That's odd. Marie took a second to rub her eyes, and then started walking over to Callie. "Hey, Cal?" She asked as she approached, her voice surprisingly clear for having just woken up. She gently grabbed her cousin's shoulder and shook it a little. "Cal, look at this..."

It took an annoying amount of time to wake her. "Marie...? Whaz..." Callie's eye's slowly opened, distant and confused as Marie fought to bring her to the land of the waking. Marie could see the exact moment clarity returned to her cousin's eyes. Without a second thought, Marie handed her phone over. Callie took it by instinct, holding it at an angle while she pulled herself out of the intent she had made in the chair. Marie watched as she shook her head to rid the last vestiges of sleep.

"G'mrning." Callie mumbled, before she looked down at the phone in front of her. "That's not like him..." She glanced up at Marie with a frown. "He usually only calls me, cuz your dinosaur of a phone can't take a message." She handed the phone back while reaching for her own.

"He knows I'll call him back when I see it." Marie half-defended with a shrug. "What do you think's up with him? Maybe he just got lonely?

"It has been a few weeks since we got to talk to him." Callie agreed. She powered on her own phone, looking through the lengthy list of notifications from various social media apps and even more games. Marie shook her head, still to this day not understanding why someone needs all that carp on their phone. "Nope! No calls from him to me."

"Weird. Maybe he was trying not to disturb you?"

"Still doesn't explain the number of calls." Callie tossed the pizza box on her lap to the floor and she stood up beside Marie. "It's really late for him to be calling too. Last time we talked to him he was still talking about finding the zapfish." her eyebrows raise. "You don't think—"

"—I don't." Marie cut her cousin off. "They've only just started to scrape onto the surface. We saw first hand how poorly that went for them, before we intervened. That's why we're here now, so we can be there when they do come up eventually. There's no way in hell they managed to steal one of the most valuable things in Inkopolis and remain undetected for this long."

"I'm just saying, Gramps' intuition hasn't been wrong when it comes to that DJ guy. Do you think he tried to do something on his own? Maybe he—"

"Gramps is fine, Callie." Marie insisted. "Look, I'll call him back now, just to be sure. It's only been like 5 minutes so he shouldn't have wandered away quite yet." She quickly clicked through the menus, stopping at Gramps' contact. The numbers quickly typed themself out, the different tones playing their own little discordant song as Marie set the phone to speaker mode. It rang for a good ten seconds before the call finally connected with a click.

"Hey Gramps, everything alright?" Marie asked nonchalantly. "You know you can call Callie's phone if you need to leave a message, right?"

The voice that answered the phone was distinctly not her grandfathers. "You're Agent Two, right?"

Marie froze. Agent Two!? No one else is supposed to know that name! How is he calling from Gramps' phone? (Oh cod, something did go wrong, didn't it?) She looked over to Callie, who seemed just as stunned as she was.

"...Yes," she answered.

The kid on the phone, and he was a kid if she heard his voice right, made a quiet squeak before falling silent again for a moment.

Marie shot a few quick signs to Callie with her free hand. "Kid, young. You know?"
Callie shook her head.

It was several more seconds before the kid started again with a slight tremor in his voice. "I—I'm sorry to call you out of the blue like this! I know there's probably a reason I'm not supposed to call you but The Captain ordered me to contact one of you two directly and your number was the only one I could find on the pin board and I didn't have any other ways to reach out and I just—" The kid cut out as he ran out of breath.

"The Cap'n?" Marie asked, completely caught off guard. "You know — hold on, what?"

"Hey, It's ok!" Callie tried to reassure the kid. She met Marie's eyes and signed. "Tired, distraught, scared."

Marie nodded, and gestured for Callie to continue.

"Take a deep breath, you sound like you're about to pass out! We know the Cap'n, but could you explain what's going on exactly?"

"Explain... right. Yeah, ok. I can do that." The kid agreed. His voice was distant, like he was trying to keep himself in the present. " "I was out on a mission. Regular trip into the domes, update the maps, nab a zapfish if I had the chance, really nothing special."

Mission? Domes? Zapfish? Who is this kid? Why does he know all this? (Why did someone else have to get involved?) Marie saw her own shock and confusion reflected on Callie's face. This wasn't something either of them were prepared for.

The kid continued his talk, pushing through his words like he'd lose them if he stopped. "There wasn't any reason to expect any serious combat, almost half of the soldiers had been pulled to one of the eastern domes for some kind of training. It was the perfect chance to check this place, it hadn't been updated in nearly a year and there was some kind of project happening inside."

"Wait wait, you've been down in the domes?" Marie asked, tense. Why is he mentioning combat— we're not supposed to engage. What happened?

"Let him finish M—" Marie's sharp glare cut Callie off before she could say her name. "Two, let him explain."

"Keep talking," Marie demanded. Kid, what is going on? (Are you alright?)

The kid obliged. "Soldiers appeared, pushing me towards an open area at the side of the barracks where..." he trails off before re-finding his train of thought. "It was an ambush. They were waiting for me to get there. I managed to make it out—" A quiet, choked sound cut him off.

A deep, sinking feeling filled Marie's chest.

The kid's voice broke when he managed to talk again. "But The Captain..."

The only sound Marie could hear was a nearly silent gasp from Callie, and the thundering beating of her hearts in her ears. Gramps? What happened to gramps? (He's dead he's dead he's dead.)

Marie forced herself to ask. "What happened to him?"

"They ambushed him too," the kid whispered.

"They what!?" Callie shouted. Tears pooled under her eyes as she held her hands up to cover her mouth.

"He's gone." The kid declared. The cousins met him with silence. "They took him. Alive, if what he said is true, but he's... he's gone."

The world around Marie fell out of focus. Gone? Took him? Who, the Octavians? She could feel her heart rates picking up, same as her breathing. (He's gone. We weren't there. I wasn't there.) Across from her, Callie didn't seem like she was faring much better. She was breathing heavily as tears slipped from her eyes.

Someone needs to do something. Marie distantly recognized. The situation was spiraling. Callie was a mess and the kid was completely lost, it fell on her to keep this from falling apart.

Without saying a word. Marie turned away from the phone. She took in an incredibly sharp breath, closed her eyes, squared her shoulders, and straightened her back. Internally, she gathered all of her stray thoughts, cinching them down where they can't get in the way. Marie truly hated putting herself into this headspace, but she wasn't a Kensaki for nothing. Her eyes opened, a steel edge gleaming within them. With her emotions now held in an iron grip, she turned back to the conversation.

"I'm going to go save him," the kid announced with quiet determination.

"No!" Callie pleaded, failing to keep the tears out of her voice. "You can't go fighting through the domes! You have no idea what they're capable of! You're just one kid! You can't—"

Enough of this. "One." Marie announced, her voice completely devoid of emotion. "Stand down."

"Mar..." Callie met her eyes, and nodded.

"Kid." Marie called, grabbing his attention. "Listen to me. "You are talking to Agent Two of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Agent One is with me. I tell you this because you are very obviously involved in this mess somehow. We haven't been told about any missions, personnel changes, or even that The Captain was active. You're going to explain yourself, beginning through now, so we know what's going on."

The line was silent. Beside her, Callie leaned closer towards the phone, like she was listening for words that weren't being spoken. Marie matched her gaze, staring intently at the phone like she could urge the kid to speak. A part of her acknowledged her mother made the same face when waiting on her, but she refused to think about that fact right now. There were more important things at stake.

Finally, the kid sucked in a breath before answering. "My name is Quinn Tidesplay, Agent Three of the New Squidbeak Splatoon."