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custardcove · 4 months

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First Memories

Chapter One - Custard Cove

Roaring shoreline. Lapping waves. Warm sun, salty air, chirping seagulls. Drifting in and out of consciousness, these were the sounds and senses Alice recognised.

Movement was impossible, her limbs felt like they were full of cement—or perhaps sand, as plenty lay beneath her. Somehow, she wasn’t damp. Perhaps the sun had dried her out. She didn’t feel sunburnt. All she wanted to do was sleep, though the pull of the sea was a real threat. In this state, it was difficult to feel strongly about anything.

“Alice?”

Was someone there? There was a blurry, indistinct shape peering over her. Yes, it was probably a person. It was too much of a strain to keep her eyes open, so they fluttered shut.

“Can you hear me? Alice!"

***

Alice awoke in a warm house, surrounded by cushions. A large stuffed owl sat nearby, presumably for her comfort. There was sand in her hair, and she felt like she needed a wash, but the blanket she’d been covered with was still clean. Something about the room she was in was familiar, but she wasn’t sure what it was. It wasn’t just the floral-patterned wallpaper, or the lavender and earthy wood scents, or the comforting babble of voices from beyond the door. The familiarity came from a combination of all three.

Pansy’s.

This wasn’t the same house she knew. Or was it? Moving her limbs was still somewhat strenuous, but Alice forced herself off the guest-bed, inching forward with the hope of confirming her suspicions. She didn’t want to make a fuss. Poking her head around the bedroom door, she saw a hallway, some few doors on her left and the banister and stairs to her right. This was the furthest room upstairs, then. Feeling nosy, she shuffled out and opened the first door to her left, which was revealed to be a bathroom. To decide on how to proceed, Alice glanced back over to the stairwell. There was nothing she wanted to do more than take a bath right now. It didn’t seem like anyone was coming, so she entered, locking the door behind her.

The bath did well to ease her exhaustion. Soap, shampoo, and conditioner were conveniently available, and there was enough in the containers that she didn’t feel guilty about using them. Midway through her wash, there was a tap on the door, making her freeze. A familiar voice brought her relief again.

“You in there?”

“Having a bath,” Alice replied with haste.

“Oh, sorry—that’s alright. I’ll see if I can find you somethin’ to wear. I’ll put it outside the door, okay?”

“Okay.”

Footsteps that had to belong to Pansy tromped down the hallway as Alice resumed her bath. She hoped she wasn’t being a bad guest; she hadn’t even spoken to her host face-to-face, but Pansy didn’t sound like she minded. Besides, the circumstances were already unusual. Alice borrowed a towel from the cupboard to dry herself, though remained in the bathroom until she was sure Pansy dropped clean clothes by the door.

Once Alice slid the clothes through the door and put them on, she was ready to go downstairs. Her host had provided a pair of pyjamas and a dressing gown to cover herself with, both of which were slightly too large, but clothes were clothes. Alice tied the gown’s belt tightly around her waist so that nothing would fall down, then carried her sandy outfit to the living room. She was surprised by what she saw. Her deduction had been correct, this was indeed Pansy’s house and the pyrokinetic pseuman was sat on one of the living room’s sofas. What Alice hadn’t accounted for was the infant settled on Pansy’s lap.

Before she could think to say anything, Pansy noticed her. “Alice! I’m so glad you’re okay. Seein’ you lying on the beach like that frightened me something awful.”

“Oh, um…” Alice shuffled further into the room and sat on the adjacent sofa, putting the clothing-load beside her. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault—I’ll wash those for you when I’m done with Prim here.” She nodded, adjusting her hold on the child. “How’d you end up there?”

Alice frowned, trying her best to recall. How did she end up on the shoreline? What was she doing before that? The more she thought, the less she understood. She didn’t want to admit how patchy her memory was. “I don’t … remember.” Before Pansy could express concern, Alice directed her attention to the baby and asked, “Where’d you get that?”

Pansy’s troubled frown morphed into a grin. “My daughter? Gave birth.”

“You married?” Alice prompted.

“No, unfortunately. I’ll tell you the whole story sometime, but for now let’s just say I, er, found Mr Wrong.”

“Ah, um, okay.” She rubbed her neck. “Her name’s Prim?”

“Yeah! Short for Primrose. She’s a psychic.”

“But I thought—” Alice paused, blinking, thankful that she could still remember facts she’d picked up about pseumans. “—that your kind didn’t develop powers until you were twelve.”

“Prim’s kinda like Mom,” Pansy explained. “Got her powers early. Gonna be some effort to train her, but I couldn’t be more proud.”

“I see. I’m not the biggest baby enthusiast, but she’s cute. Eyes like yours.”

“Aww, thanks.” She smiled warmly, before returning to an interrogative stare. “But hey, this isn’t about me. Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you said just now. You can’t remember how you washed up here?”

“I can’t.” Alice recoiled in her seat. “If you don’t mind me asking, where exactly is ‘here’ anyway?”

“This place? Erryton.” Pansy nodded. “Costal town near Glimmer City, moved here only recently m’self. And while I’ll admit I’m concerned about you, hon, that bout of amnesia isn’t uncommon for folks here.”

The human’s eyes widened. “It’s … common? Isn’t that worrying for the townspeople?!”

“Well… nah. It’s not big stuff usually, it’s more or less a memory-gap. Only what they were doing before they got here—not where they came from or how to get back home. Some folks can remember how they arrived, but not how long they’ve been here. And apart from that, it’s the ideal neighbourhood.”

“You’re taking this very calmly, Pansy,” Alice squeaked, nearly standing until her exhaustion dragged her back down. “If everyone is forgetting, I’d want to leave before it gets any worse—”

“Well, that’s the thing—it doesn’t get worse.” Pansy shrugged her shoulders. Primrose squirmed in her arms, but she was only stretching. “Nobody forgets any more ‘n that.”

“I just think it’s something someone should be looking into,” Alice huffed, shaking her head. “But anyway, there’s one small thing I do remember.”

“What’s that?”

“I think I’ve lost something. Or that I was looking for something. Not always the same thing.” She scratched behind her ear, glancing over at one of Pansy’s many potted plants. “But I don’t know what it is.”

“Hmm…” Pansy thought for a moment, before snapping her fingers with inspiration. Her daughter stared at her hand in surprise. “Actually, I think Queenie found something of yours! I haven’t seen you around for ages, so I didn’t think much of it at the time, but she was showin’ it off and stuff.”

“Queenie?” Alice searched her memory banks for the name. Yes, she knew Queenie. Somehow. Rich, lived in a mansion, part dragon, had an affinity for blue roses, was … dead? Evidently not. “What’s the something?”

“A necklace. A sort of, you know, one of those heart lockets?” Pansy gestured at nothing. “Can’t prove it is yours or nothin’, but I remember you had one, ‘cause it was enchanted for your HP. And it doesn’t look like you got it no more.”

Alice pondered this. It wasn’t leaping out at her as the thing she’d been looking for—there was no ‘aha!’ moment. But there was no question about it, she’d lost her locket too. “It could be. Maybe she even knows what happened to me.” Or, heaven forbid, she was what happened. “What should I do? I can’t just walk into her house, can I?”

“Nah, you’re right about that. Queenie’s villa isn’t someplace you can just waltz into. But you could always write her a letter? I know she reads ‘em.”

“A letter.” So they were playing the long game. “Better than nothing, I suppose. Ugh…”

“You okay?”

“I’m just exhausted.”

Pansy stood up, carrying Prim over her shoulder. “A’ight, I think it’s about time I made you something to eat. I’ll wash those clothes for you, and you can rest here as long as you need. Though I reckon we should call your parents sometime soon, let ‘em know you’re here.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Alice hesitated before adding, “I’m glad you’re the one that found me.”

“Me too!”

---

|| Next ||

#Hello! I will be posting this prequel day-by-day (All being well)#my plotposts are usually interactable but this one is quite literally in the past so characters will still remember it but it's not current #Drabble #Pansy #Custard #Primrose

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octowussabi · 2 years

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What’s been happening?

The About and Muse pages have finally been updated! The last thing to do is cover the recent story developments.

After Tay went through his identity crisis, there was still a lot to take care of.

Octarian Politics:

Some members of the Royal Octarian Council (R.O.C.) had been deliberately excluding Tay from their meetings. Some were following his father’s last orders, some were in the dark, and others were attempting to usurp the system.

In what I’m sure would’ve been a really cool and interesting arc, Tay and Sabi rooted out an old friend of their father—Rock Finbar—a member of the council that was responsible for putting Tay on the throne. He had been using his authority as the late Octavio’s ‘trusted friend’ to take over. Finbar threatened to out Tay as a fake as a final act of sabotage, but Tay did it first, revealing his identity as a clone to the underground.

This … went surprisingly well! Many of the underground’s inhabitants were born from tentacuts already, so finding out that their Emperor had been succeeded by one was A-OK. For the most part.

Because Finbar was under fire as the one keeping this from the public, it was easy to remove him from the R.O.C. board. There was a re-election for council members, but the newest additions and a few others were voted to stay.

Splatoon 3:

While octarians had been going steadily missing for years due to Tartar’s interference, a large section of the octarian military disappeared all at once during an investigation. They’d been looking into some fuzzy growths taking over a kettle in a broken-down district.

Back on his feet and officially in charge, Tay built a cool new Vacuum Octobot in his plan to find and rescue the missing soldiers. Unfortunately, this mission went poorly when a misunderstanding led him to being beaten up by a 12-year-old.

That said, Octavio came in clutch during the final showdown with Grizz, aiding Molly and Deep Cut to stop the rocket before it took off. After the incident, Ribbon told him a cool dream she had about him building a Vacuum Spaceship. He’s considered making it.

Even though he found the troops scattered around Alterna, they’re fuzzy amnesiacs now—he’s not sure what to do about it yet.

Sabi is also here!!! Moral support!! After Deep Cut chilled out, he got to discuss music with them.

Misc.:

Tay is looking to appoint a new Shogun, because having both titles doesn’t seem right when he doesn’t ‘remember’ any of his father’s wartime feats.

The fact that the Great Octoweapons are filled with failed clones hasn’t come to Tay or Sabi’s attention yet. The weapon pilots have caretakers, who would possibly have made this known … if Tay hadn’t left the palace and rushed headfirst into the Splatlands.

Reed was adopted by one of Tay’s housekeepers, but still has him visit sometimes. In Tay’s then depressed and inexperienced state, he didn’t think he would be a good parent for the tiny octotrooper.

#YES SPOILERS FOR SPLATOON 3.#plotpost #Octwovio #Wussabi

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hitherto-and-henceforth · 1 year

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if i drew the next pages you would have more context for this comment but. Manon “Child Welfare” Delaforêt: cannot stop arguing with this teenager

#htah #htah manon #manon delaforêt #htah vixie #vixie grace #plotpost

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rozecrest · 1 year

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25!

25. did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? describe one.

I DID DO THIS!! for my advanced fiction class i had to start on a novel concept and i made a world called mycelia i’ve been chipping at sincezzz one of the characters in that world is meraki, the secret protagonist, the brother of my main girl* kariko, who’s dead* before the story begins ! he was an experimental electrical innovator in a world that’s just harnessing the uses of electricity, and a boy who loves legends, and believed in them more than he maybe ought have… it just enough :)

#for more vague plotposting check out my #mycelia #tag #THANK U FOR THIS ASK i Love to think about them #asks

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eemasu · 1 year

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gee, that must have been a really difficult decision to make after already having multiple Japanese friends and mentors to practice with

#bitterposting #envyposting #grudgeposting #seetheposting #plotposting

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luobingmeis · 2 years

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me: i wanna put julian devorak in a jar and shake him around for a while

julia: yes bestie give us nothing

#there is a very uneven ratio of arcana shitposts to arcana plotposts that i have made #anyways this blog is officially dedicated to julia #i don’t even need to tag her i just know she’ll show up #like red velvet :) for me of course

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ask-the-evermore-syndicate · 7 years

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Arc 1 - Chp 5 - Fallen Star (Part 2)

It did not take long at all for Teiden and company to reach. Serenade was able to easily teleport all of them, Jack, Teiden, and Traizey as well as himself, to Seika’s team near instantly without much hassle. When they got to the other team’s camp, they were in for quite the sight. Seika, Mesa, and Refi were all huddled around Stellon’s side. Seika looked to be quite annoyed about what happened, Mesa seemed a bit confused, but Refi was the most concerned however, the zoroark really was hoping he could have done something for his boss.

“So... tell me what happened.” Said Teiden as he approached the four, causing them all except for Stellon to give him attention (As he was just aimlessly looking around confused.)

“Well, we encountered your old pal Alexandrite. The weavile got him right in the face with that weird paint.” Seika explained, holding her hands behind her back. “I feel stupid not going out with him, I should have figured out that the Gang Leader was going to be in the area. Now looks like he’s going to be confused for awhile...”

“So what do we do now Teiden?” Jack asked, moving over to get a closer look at the Hawlucha and his messed up stained face. Serenade moved in closer as well, lightly pushing Mesa and Refi aside so he could examine Stellon’s condition.

“I agree with Jack this time Pops, if we know where that creep is what are we doing still stickin’ in teams eh?” Trailblazer questioned, pacing around a bit sorta nervously. Teiden stopped her however by placing a hand on her shoulder to attempt to reassure the vixen of what was going on.

“Well, It’s a bit dangerous to be all alone, Seika i think you should always be together when searching these those marks out.” The blue bisharp reminded the taller one. “Why on earth would you send him out to do this alone hmmm?” He was looking at her quite sternly with his hands behind his back, Seika was never that thoughtless enough to send a lone man out to search out these marks on their own, so he was honestly rather curious as to why Stellon was out doing that by himself without at least taking Mesa or Refi along.

“Teiden, Stellon insisted that he go out on his own. Saying he needed some time to think about performances? I don’t know why but he just walked off before i could say anything.” The tall woman responded with a light sigh under her breath. “I should have done more yeah...” That thought REALLY made her disappointed in herself.

“...Its alright, at least you got there when you did.” Teiden reassured Seika, before walking past her to check on Stellon. “Doc, how’s he doing?”

“...Well he’s not dying, those wounds are pretty bad, but with a bit of care here he should be able to walk it off in a few days. However he appears to be stuck in some sort of trance, likely induced from inhaling that paint... this is like what happened with Minuet.” The Gallade explained. “The best we can do is let him rest it off and hopefully. He’ll be babbling on for awhile and might try to get up... I wouldn’t try to keep him in bed, but I would be mindful of what he’s doing while he’s in this state. Unfortunately that means we’re going to have to make sure he keeps up with some of the necessities while he’s like this.”

“So making sure he eats and drinks?” Mesa chimed in, looking at the other mon with a concerned look.

“Preetty much yeah.” Serenade said, taking the wrapped coat off of stellon and replacing it with actual bandages. “There...” He finished wrapping him in bandages around the wounded area, but not before putting some medicine on those wounds.

“Alright, I need to think of what to do next.” Teiden announced starting to walk a bit. “Why don’t you all talk about plans maybe while I think about what to do next. Its been awhile since all of us Alphas have been around and I’m sure Mesa and Refi would love to speak with some of you as well.” With that last thing, Teiden walked away.

Night fell rather fast upon the forest, despite the shakeup with Stellon it was quite peaceful, until Teiden arrived back and announced a pretty big change that was about to occur.

“What?!?!?!?!?”

The same word rang throughout the six others. Stellon was asleep when this happened

“I think It’d be best to merge our teams. From what happened to Stellon today it had me thinking. Maybe we aren’t even safe in groups of four. It would be much better to stick as one large squad and split up temporarily when the time comes.” Teiden explained to the group, his hands in his lab coat’s pockets once again as he looked out among everyone there. “To add to it, we also have the concern of Stellon now, who we might need to keep an eye on as we travel until he returns to his senses... Stellon is strong but I don’t feel very comfortable leaving this guy alone for the time being. From tonight onward we travel all together and search for Xander and his gang, destroying marks as we pick up the trail.”

“...That’s a plan I guess I can get behind.” Jack shrugged, looking up to the starry sky through the trees.

“But what if he’s moved on, Dad?” Traizey brought up, sort of concerned. “He could have left the area today.”

“That might not be true though Traizey, which is why we move in a larger group and split up to search a larger area. Now that we know where he is... we can finally begin closing in on the truth.” Teiden responded, starting to pace a little bit. “This event shook me too, so we need to stay vigilant and tenacious to these guys. I understand all of you are super concerned that we’ll miss some marks, but the faster we snag that spiky haired guy, the quicker this will stop happening. Now... enough questions fellas, we have to get some rest, everything is all set up?” He looked around the camp and nodded. seeing everyone’s sleeping bags all set up as well as some small tents.

“Good... now get some rest all of you. We got work to do tomorrow.” Teiden concluded, smiling a bit at everyone.

((They groups have merged, now anyone may show up durring another’s ask)) ((Stellon has been drugged and may not respond very intelligently when asked a question))

#arc 1 #plotpost #teidenthebisharp #serenadethegallade #trailblazerthedelphox #jacktheriolu #seikathebisharp #stellonthehawlucha #reficulthezoroark #mesathemarowak

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tragicquartet · 2 years

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((ngl I’m really happy with how this most recent plotpost turned out and the symbology and fun stuff I’ve worked into it/the wider plot for Mallew’s character going forward.

I have

many fun things planned))

#muntalk #tbd #((I finally have a long-term plot nailed down for him hell yeaaaaaa))#((it's gonna be fun as Hell))#((and filled with all sorts of beautiful and terrifying things))#((i am excite))

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askthepaldeanpassenger · 10 months

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Cyrus: "With a glance at our surroundings... We should arrive at Madame Sylvania's castle by noon. It seems Maria traveled further than originally anticipated.”

The Espeon reaches down and carefully picks up the sleeping Sprigatito. They move slower yet more precise than that of Maria previously. After placing Prince on their back, the Espeon glances out to the morning sun before turning to face forward.

Cyrus: "Come now, young Master. We haven't a moment to waste."

((Cyrus has been added to the Character Page and is now available for asks! Maria, on the other hand, is currently unavailable for asks.))

((Also, help with the posing and framing of much of this comic goes to my partner, @splotchi / @ask-enchantingdelights !! They helped suggest some things as well with how this turned out!))

#pokeask blog #plotposts #comic #Maria #umbreon #Cyrus #espeon #WEEHEE #and just cause Maria is gone and Prince is asleep I'll still do any outstanding interactions w/ them!#im also sooo proud of these comic pages this is the first comic ive EVER done

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splattales · 15 days

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[Previous]

By the time Finn had joined the group, the sun was at its highest point in the sky – a very bad time to go out into the desert. Instead, he and Marina spent some time practicing as Queenie paced around with her thoughts. Getting paint on a human wasn’t going to do much good as retaliation, but she supposed it made it harder to move, and if nothing else the weapons could be used for bludgeoning. There wasn’t any guarantee things would get hostile, but the dread that had settled in her gut wasn’t budging. She felt for the cold metal inside her jacket’s inner pocket.

Finn wasn’t as rusty with his Herobrush as he claimed, and soon felt prepped enough to head out. After a quick meal, the group set out into the desert, carrying enough supplies for an emergency. The coordinates led them a little ways out, but with a clear destination it only took twenty minutes for them to arrive on foot. The human ship had come to rest behind an outcrop of rock, visible only by its fin and what appeared to be a laser canon.

“Do you think this is it?” Marina asked, her mouth agape.

“No, I think it must be some other human ship abandoned in the desert,” Queenie snipped. “Of course this is it.”

“Hey now,” Finn cautioned, though with nothing to back it up. “Let’s go.”

None of them really knew where the entrance was, so they sidled around the ship until they discovered a door.

Finn looked over his shoulder at the others. “Should we knock?”

His question was met with shrugs and eyerolls, so he opted to ta-pa-tap on the metal door. There was no answer. Unable to cope with the suspense, Marina pulled on the handle instead – it wasn’t locked, and the door came open with a tug and a chunk sound. Casting a glance at the others, the octoling motioned for them to follow.

Brightly lit, electricity was already running onboard the ship, and there was a zesty chemical smell as if someone had recently cleaned the floors. The door had opened out into an airlock, though this too was open, allowing easy passage to the rest of the ship. A figure was standing by the exit. Whoever it was caught sight of the newcomers, and they bolted further into the spacecraft.

“Wait!!” Marina called out.

Queenie put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s no use. They won’t understand you anyway.”

“If we follow now, we might catch up.” Finn gestured ahead, before taking his own suggestion and hurrying through the next door. The others followed suit.

It was hard to navigate the interior of the ship without a map. There seemed to be doors everywhere; ones with handles, ones that opened diagonally, ones with windows...

“If you think about the shape outside,” Marina noted, “the front of the ship should be in that direction.” She pointed to their right, at one of the larger diagonal sliding doors.

“Do you think that’s where they went?” Asked Finn, wishing he’d acted fast enough to catch them leaving.

“If not, it should at least be where the control room is. I figure the captain would be around there.”

Marina was correct about the ship’s layout, as the next area was a long corridor. Queenie peered through a window on one of the doors off to the side. It was wall to wall with cryo pods. She pulled away quickly, following the others.

“Hang on,” Marina held up one arm to stop her friends, clutching her Octoshot. A small white robot on wheels, about knee-height, had rolled out of a panel on the wall. It turned its singular camera lens at the visitors before continuing to trundle down the hall.

“Well … it seemed harmless.” Finn, who had reached for the Herobrush strapped to his back, lowered his hand. “Wonder where it’s going…”

“It’s probably for cleanup or some other menial task.” Queenie shrugged. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get on with this.”

At this insistence, they all proceeded down the corridor and entered the next sliding door, which indeed led to the control room.

Two human women in grey coveralls stood conversing in the centre of the room. One was older, with an unshakeable posture, and the other was youthful and frantic. Their outfits were printed with the ship’s logo. The younger of the two must have been the figure they spotted in the airlock, as she pointed fearfully at the group, gesturing as she talked. Looking over, the older woman froze. She locked eyes with the only other human there, losing her reply mid-sentence.

“No,” Queenie was the first to speak. “It’s not possible—of all people—” She took a stumbling step backward as the other human advanced. Unfortunately, the door had automatically locked itself behind them.

With forming tears, the human captain spoke in a language Marina and Finn could not understand. She wrapped her arms around Queenie. “My daughter! After all this time…”

Queenie’s posture was stiff, her face a picture of disgust, pain, and terror. “Don’t—” she got out, speaking her first language, “Don’t touch me.”

Serafina Ono relinquished her grip, forlorn and frowning. “Do you not remember your own mother?”

“I remember you all too well,” Queenie sneered. “Where was this love and desperation when I was a child?”

Marina and Finn exchanged glances, with eachother and with the uninvolved human, who looked just as bewildered.

“You’re right, Queenie. I was young, then, and foolish. But with what little is left of humanity … can you find it in your heart to hear my story?”

Queenie didn’t offer a reply and remained stock still, clutching her folded arms.

“The others can’t understand,” the younger woman piped up. “We can have STORM translating with the file from—”

“Yes, you’d better do that.” Serafina handwaved her. The young woman pulled up a tablet and began typing something in.

A calm, masculine voice spoke from somewhere above, ‘Ready to translate.’

“Very well—as you should know, I’m the new captain of this ship—Serafina Ono.”

As she made pause, STORM relayed her speech in Inklish for the rest of the group.

“Damn, that’s going to be annoying…” she scorned, before continuing, “With me here is Nami Ono, my stepdaughter. I presume this … red octopus creature is Marina Salt? Who’s your third?”

Queenie shot Nami a piercing look, which made her stare down out of fear.

But Marina answers, and STORM translates her speech too. “I’m Marina, yes. I’m, um, a humans expert. This is Finn, he’s here to help. Sorry, I’m not sure I follow—do you know each other after all?”

“Oh, right. You wouldn’t have heard. Queenie is my biological daughter, yes,” Serafina attempted to clarify.

“It’s complicated. I’ll explain later,” Queenie muttered. “I don’t believe it, of everyone in the world…”

“But—the cryo chambers for the rest of your family—they were empty?”

“I wasn’t part of their little family anymore,” Serafina elaborated, a bitterness dripping from that standalone statement, “but let’s not dig up those painful memories… I remarried, and my new husband, Aoto Ono, was the lead developer of this spacecraft and its AI. The ship was designed to keep us away from Earth until it was safe to return.”

“That doesn’t sound like it went exactly to plan.” Finn adjusted his spectacles. “What happened to your husband?”

“During his most recent centurial checkup, he took his own life.”

Nami Ono’s hand flew to her mouth, an audible gasp escaping her. STORM didn’t translate her utterance, “Dad, he—why would he?” But it was clear this was the first she’d heard of how they lost him.

Finn immediately felt awful for prying. “I’m sorry—I didn’t realise.”

“These things happen, unfortunately.” Serafina bowed her head but didn’t seem all too moved by her husband’s passing. “He was a great man. We marked a grave for him not far from here. But his death was the reason STORM decided to wake us up … after his next 100-year interval.”

“One hundred years…” Marina brooded over this information. “We’re very sorry for your loss. Is that why you came back to Earth?”

“In part. But we have the other humans to think about, too—the ones still in stasis.” Serafina nodded slowly. “As the new Captain, I’ve decided it’s best not to wake them up until we have somewhere safe to live, with renewable resources. We have plenty of rations to keep us fed, but the desert isn’t a good place for survival. And from my husband's space observation notes, I understand overpopulation and territory disputes were already an issue before we arrived.”

“So,” Queenie finally spoke up again, deliberately choosing the cephalopod’s language over her mother’s. “What do you need us for?”

With a small crack in her patient façade, Serafina gritted her teeth. “To the point? Very well. We need information about the nearby settlement. Preferably a map—infrastructure. We’ve observed plenty from local television, but only now do we have a means to translate. If it’s safe, an escort would then be useful for surveying the landscape.” She pauses momentarily to let STORM’s translation catch up. “As stated - I don’t want anyone to leave cryostasis until I am certain this city can sustain human life.”

“Oh—well, we can do that, but do you not need other supplies?” Asked Marina. “Like more food? Or fuel?”

“A water source if anything. STORM is capable of running on solar energy, though fuel is necessary if we are to return to space.”

“You don’t need MY help, then.” Queenie shook her head. “I haven’t lived in this future long. There’s no reason for us to talk.”

“On the contrary, my dear! Humans should stick together. A shrewd, sharp-witted girl like you would be a massive help communicating with these … squidlings.” She opened her arms with a casual shrug. “I know I’m not your favourite person right now. But would you help for the sake of the other hundred humans on board?”

Cold and stiff, Queenie replied, “I’ll think about it.”

“We’ll help you gather information, Miss Captain,” Finn hastily agreed. “If that’s going to help you get your footing. We can bring things as you need them.”

“Yeah, I can send you data through our communication system—through ORCA,” Marina agrees, though with a cautious glance at Queenie. She looks back at Nami, too. The young woman had become even more withdrawn than before.

“Wonderfully kind of you both. We can keep communicating the way we have, yes. I’ll give you time to think, Queenie. You’re always welcome to return to the ship. But the rest of you—I’d appreciate it if you kept quiet about all this for now.”

Finn got the uncomfortable feeling that they were being shooed out. “Right. A bit of a major news story if we didn’t, I understand,” he mumbles, nodding once.

Queenie shook her head. “You’d be surprised how little Splatsville cares about real humans.”

“Yes,” Marina sighed. “But we’ll keep the secret all the same. It’s an honour to be the first to make contact with you! I’ll send across any information sources you might find useful.” She bobs a short bow.

“Much obliged. See them out, will you, Nami?”

The group slowly trudged out of the ship. There was an awkward air of silence—things seemed to have gone well, there were more humans, and they’d agreed to help them. But there was an obvious strain in the way all three humans interacted with each other. What would happen with more of them?

“I’m sorry about your dad.” Marina put her hand on Nami’s arm as they reached the exit.

STORM wasn’t listening anymore, so after a moment’s hesitation, Queenie bothered to translate instead. Spanish didn’t seem to be Nami’s first language, but she understood it well enough. “She’s sorry about what happened with your father.”

“I am alright.” Nami smiled at them all weakly. “But please return soon.”

#(oops sorry it took me a literal month to get to this second bit)#tw suicide mention #long post #plotpost #Finn #Queenie #Marina #Nami #Serafina #STORM

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ncumenia-archived · 4 years

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❊ ✤ ✥ ✢ ✣ ❋ ❆ ❇ uwu

Send Me a symbol for how you feel || accepting

❊ I want to roleplay with you

✤ I want to ship with you

✥ I have roleplayed with you and it was great

✢ I like your characters

✣ I like the way you express your muse(s)

❋ Your blog is one of my favs

❆ I love your art

❇ I love the way you write

// Thank you so much for everything ♥

You already know my dms are ALWAYS OPEN if you want to interact or plotpost with me! And yes: when I’ll feel better, I cannot wait to draw these two with my banana drawing skills™

#the dark side of the moon has spoken (answered!)#vxndictive

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octowussabi · 5 years

Text

Sabi took a deep breath as he stood at the palace’s front entrance. It really was poorly guarded. Two soldiers were stationed outside, but they didn’t even bat an eyelid as he walked by. It seemed the foyer and the east wing were open to the public, but as he stepped over the red velvet rope into the west, nobody attempted to stop him.

Part of him wished someone could’ve come with him for this task. He was still uncomfortable just thinking about speaking to the Emperor, relatives or otherwise. Wasa had been unavailable, though – the call just hadn’t gone through – so he was here on his own. He’d considered contacting Lulu, but he didn’t know her very well either, and Pansy was busy with work . . . he had to do this alone.

It wasn’t particularly difficult to find Octavio (or rather, ‘Tay’) because he was in his bedroom. Sabi had a vague knowledge of the palace’s layout, but this had been more of an educated guess. He was right in thinking Tay wasn’t in any mood to go anywhere.

“Um… he…hello?” Sabi pokes his head around the door after knocking. “Your Majesty…?”

Tay doesn’t budge when addressed. He’s sprawled rather pathetically on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He does, however, respond.

“I thought I’d told you to call me ‘brother’.”

“Oh … yes. You did,” Sabi shuffles uncertainly through the doorway, gently closing it behind him. Already, he seems lost for words, standing stock-still and staring woefully ahead.

“You obviously came for something,” Tay huffs, sitting up to watch him. “We have much to discuss.”

“We do,” Sabi nods shakily, “but you… how’re you feeling? You look … you don’t look like you’re feeling very good.”

“On the contrary, I’m feeling better than I have for the past three days.”

“…those can’t have been good days.”

“What does it matter?” Tay shrugs, before gesturing for Sabi to sit on the chair by his bedside. He obliges. “Now, tell me the purpose of your visit.”

“I really DID come to see how you are; I was hoping I could, um, help. With questions you might have. Maybe. But … I also need your permission to start on our next steps. For, um, for the future of the Council.”

“Are you sure you don’t need your permission?”

Confused, the older brother tilts his head. Tay sighs irritably, annoyed that he has to explain, despite being so vague.

“We’re both clones of Octavio, yes? And you are my senior.”

“You’re right.”

“Logically, that makes you the rightful heir to the throne.”

“No…” Sabi looks away, frowning as he processes a response. “I’m not, I… I was deemed unfit to rule. I would’ve been killed.”

“I have considered that!” Tay gestures, suddenly animate. “You think I wouldn’t have been killed too, under different circumstances? We both have royal blood; you’re as rightful an heir as I. Our father’s decisions don’t matter – he’s dead, I’m the emperor, and I’m saying you have just as much reason to hold that title.”

Sabi winces at his brother’s sudden outburst; well-intentioned as the words were.

“Ah, but…” he twitches, “I’m really not suitable. I… I don’t have one ounce of charisma. You—I’m sure you can do a much better job. And we’ve got trouble ... what with the Council to sort out first, and ... I… have an Inkopolis citizenship…?”

Tay snorts at his excuses, returning to his lazy lounging posture.

“Fair enough. I won’t force you. But give it some thought. I don’t want to give away my title, but you’re still a royal, and should have royal rights.

…and royal duties, if I can get away with it.

That leads into my next question, anyway – how many more of us are there? You told me the majority were deemed ‘imperfect’ and massacred, but we’re both still alive.”

“Oh… well… I don’t know. Some might’ve escaped, but I have my doubts. If there’s some still left over in the lab…”

“The lab is abandoned.”

“They could have relocated…?”

“Maybe. What’s the point of keeping more clones around, though?”

“Hmm ... oh, if there’s a birth and death record – I still have a very old one back from when I was rescu–”

Sabi is interrupted as there’s another knock at the bedroom door. The two both turn to look; neither one had expected further guests. A green-tentacled Octoling peeps his bespectacled head around the doorframe.

“Excuse me, sir – sirs? After a long and rather difficult process I finally uncovered some data from the encrypted files that you seriously might want to… oh… oh dear…”

“Let me guess, Dr. Haddock,” Tay eyes the scientist dryly, “the files mention a cloning project, tell you that I’m a clone, and you’ve just now realised I’m already speaking with one of the others because you’re late to the party.”

“Yeah, I’ll, uh…” Tech begins to back out of the room, “I’ll come back later. Sorry. Ever so sorry.”

Once he’s gone, Sabi blinks after him, before commenting:

“You know he… he might have some worthwhile information. We should definitely listen to what he has to say.”

“I suppose. But… before we go back into the details – you wanted to help me, didn’t you? Because I have a bigger problem than caring about whatever the Council’s plotting. We… we share some memories,” Tay shuffles, finally sitting with his legs over the edge of the bed. He looks down, fumbling with his hands. “I want to talk about that before we discuss anything else.”

“Of course,” Sabi nods, noticing the sudden shift in his brother’s tone. “I know how you’re feeling. Well, I … I don’t know your exact situation, but I know what it’s like to deal with false memories. And I think … talking about them will help.”

With that said, the two end up in deep discussion for a long time. Over the course of their conversation, Sabi decides that any plans for straightening out the R.O.C. could wait – Tay was still struggling with his very existence. Restoring his spirit certainly felt more important than exposing a corrupt government scheme. Having him deal with any more mayhem so soon might just ruin him.

What Sabi would do, however, was chase down that scientist. Even if this ‘Dr. Haddock’ had no new information, it was certainly news to the public.

Such sensitive data could not be shared.

Not yet.

#(Wat? I actually put my plotpost under a readmore for once??? blasphemy)#long post #plotpost #Wussabi #Octwovio #Tech

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