A New Family

Chapter 2: Trip Home

Agent 4 walked through the darkened streets of Inkopolis, heading towards the countryside with thoughts rushing through her mind. It seemed to be a charming night; the bars were still open, with many inklings celebrating with drinks and cakes. Perhaps it was a team celebrating a successful turf war match, or something else. Some couples could be seen walking not too far away, on the beach's shoal, enjoying their peace together, making use of the romantic setting the night had to offer. The various roads were only illuminated by the few streetlights that stood up tall at the sides of the streets. Unfortunately, they were also the only source of light Four had at that moment. Her phone battery had unfortunately died not too long before, so she was left without her phone's flashlight.

The air was filled with some calming music coming from the locals nearby, slowly becoming less and less audible as the Inkling kept on walking. At one point, silence completely filled the air, as the starry black sky wept over the streets. The hush was only disturbed by a few nearby crickets, Agent 4's quick footsteps and the backpack on her shoulders. Anxiety bested her as she thought about what Marie's reaction would have turned out to be upon seeing her coming back home so late.

Leah loved Marie.

She loved Marie almost as if she was her mother.

She never had a real mom in the first place, and yet that didn't stop her from seeing Marie as a mother figure, with her behavior and all.

But she also knew her angry self. Angry Marie was very... intimidating. Threatening, almost.

But that definitely was not the time to think of that, so she quickly took the thought out of her head, and kept walking at a constant pace. She glanced above, up in the sky. It was even darker than before she had left Tentakeel outpost, but it was beautiful. She had just exited Inkopolis, and was now in Calamary County. The view of the sky there was astonishing, truly.

Sure, Inkopolis had all the coolest shops and attractions, and hosted turf wars. But it definitely did not have the view, or generally, the ambiance Calamari County had. Calamari County was so unique, it was unbeatable. So different from the busy lifestyle Inkopolis had; a completely different feeling. It was submerged between the hills, the trees, and nature. You could smell the odor of wheat in the air. The chirping of the birds in the morning, moving from one tree to another. You could lie down in the grassy plains at night and admire the glow flies flying around.

Inkopolis had none of that. That night in particular, the sky was colored a deep blackish blue. It was full of stars, and they were so many and so small that they seemed like many dots, barely reachable by the eye. The full moon was the true lead of the sky, though, as usual.

Four just could not get her sight off of that view, until she realized she had walked so much that she had already made it home, much to her relief. For being Ex-Idols, Callie and Marie didn't have the house you'd expect them to have. It was considerably bigger than the houses of the other residents of Calamari County, but it wasn't anything too luxurious. Marie and Callie had always been very humble, despite their fame. They didn't have anything that could make anyone think they were pop stars. Four had always appreciated and respected that. In fact, she had so much respect for both the squid sisters. She was glad that she had been given the chance to meet them and even live with them. It was an honor that she didn't always feel like she deserved.

Surprisingly enough, the Agent had arrived home faster than usual. Normally it would take her 25 minutes to arrive here from Tentakeel Outpost, yet this time it had only taken her 15 minutes. Was it the anxiety she had grown over the walk that made her arrive quicker than usual?

Maybe.

Four took a deep breath. As the moon shined in her eyes, she lightly knocked the door, waiting for someone to open it. After the girl took her hand away from the wooden door, it didn't take long to hear the quick footsteps of someone approaching the entrance, and the knob turning. In front of her stood none other than Marie herself, one of her white tentacles covering her left eye. Her look was worried, lost. As soon as she saw who had knocked on her door she let out a gasp and right after, a sigh of relief. She knelt down slightly and hugged the young inkling, wrapping her hands around her back.

"Agent 4... Where were you!? Me and Callie were so worried..."

Leah had not expected that to happen; her main theory was that she would have been grounded on sight. Very grounded. The hug had been unforeseen, therefore. But she returned it very eagerly, nonetheless, sinking her head into Marie's shoulder. 

"Aren't you... angry at me?" She asked, nervously.
"Oh, I am angry at you, Agent Four. You almost gave me a heart attack." Marie said, chuckling. Agent 4 laughed too. At least she was back home now.

"I tried to call you, but you wouldn't answer. So I called Agent 3, and she told me you had just left 10 minutes before. What happened?" Marie questioned. Agent 4 slowly let herself go of the hug ( reluctantly, admittedly), and took out her phone from her right pocket.

"The battery died just as I left Tentakeel Outpost. I was about to call you, but before I could... yeah."

"Well, next time you should make sure to charge it up while you're there. If something happens, how would you contact us? This is important, really. I worry for you." Marie got a little more serious as she said that. The yellow-haired inkling could really feel how much she had worried Marie, and she felt bad for it. She couldn't blame her, either. She was alone at night walking through the streets. She could have tripped and gotten hurt. If something like that happened to any of her friends, she would have worried as well.

"I'm sorry..." she apologized, almost whispering. 
 
"Oh no, don't worry. I'm just glad you're home safe and sound. Next time, try to be more careful though. And try to come home earlier too. Come in now, it's freezing outside!"

Leah did not wait any longer and walked in. She felt like a popsicle out there. She stepped on the entrance's wooden floor and dropped her backpack near the umbrella holder. As soon as Marie closed the door behind her back, a very loud voice behind both hers and Agent 4's back interrupted the silence.

"AGENT FOUR! YOU'RE BAA- WOAH!!" A figure rushed into the living room, ending up falling on the ground face first. That could've only been one squid...

"Callie! Are you okay!?" Asked Four, running towards her and helping her up.

"Oh, yeah, just the excitement, l, Agent 4...as usual, hehe. Glad to see you're fine, though! Marie was about to come looking for you." Answered the clumsy Squid Sister, grabbing four's hand and getting up. She put her hand on her nose as she noticed it was hurting a bit.

"You didn't have to say that, Callie." Said Marie, slightly embarrassed. "Four really didn't need to know that."

"I felt like it though, so I did!" She answered, with her typical joyful attitude.

"Your nose's bleeding, dummy." Marie pointed out, approaching the two, refraining from a laugh.

"Whoopsie! My bad. I'll go grab a pack of ice, be right back!" She blasted off into the kitchen, just like that. Both Marie and Leah started laughing at the scene.

"Callie is definitely something special. She always lightens up my mood."
"Yeah, you're right, Four. She really is something special. And also quite a troublemaker. Hey, why don't you go relax a bit on the couch? You're probably exhausted after all that walking."

Four nodded, and walked towards the couch, dropping on it. She was indeed tired. As she turned on the TV to watch her favorite TV series, she called it a day.