Princess Callie

Chapter 31: Escaping the Palace

I could feel myself slowly going insane from the isolation. The guards would come to deliver food but would never talk to me. Sometimes they would come in to search me. Although they took my lockpicks, at least I was able to hold onto the outfit I bought from Octopolis. I still had no idea what happened to Marie or what lies they may be feeding her. I just knew they were going to brainwash me again, it was just a matter of when. How long have I been here? Days? Weeks? I lost track of time when I first fell asleep. I was at least sure it was less than a month since I was first kidnapped.

I heard tiny propellor noises. A small drone flew through the vents. It landed in front of me and opened up to reveal its contents. One of the items was a hero roller. The same one I used as Agent 1. The other was a small earpiece for communication. Much smaller than the hero headsets I was used to. I picked up the ear piece and put it on.

A familiar voice came from the other side. "Hello? Is this thing on? Can you hear me? Callie?"

I recognized that voice. "Sheldon? Is that you?"

"It's great to hear from you Callie! I can see you through the drone's camera. Agent 4 said you two disappeared. What happened? Where is Marie?" Sheldon asked.

"The Octarians kidnapped us. They took Marie to brainwash her. That was probably a while ago. They said they were going to brainwash me too but I'm not sure how long ago that was." I explained.

"Alright. First we'll get you out of there. Agent 4 should be coming in shortly. This is just like that spy movie I saw..." Sheldon replied.

A second later he was interrupted by a yellow squid that fell out of the vent. The squid rapidly changed into an inkling. He looked like he was hurt from the fall. "Oww. Agent 4 reporting for duty." He got up and dusted himself off. He then went to the cell door and tried to pull it open but it didn't budge.

He wasn't very bright was he? "The door is locked. The guards in the room out there should have the key." I pointed out the door.

"Oh... right." Agent 4 pulled out a large splatling and made his way out of the room. I wasted no time preparing myself for battle. I could hear the sounds of combat going on in the next room. Then it all went quiet. I wasn't sure who won but was pleasantly surprised when Agent 4 came back with a keychain. He tried each key and unlocked the door for me. "There we go. Finally got it."

"Thank you. I hope you have a plan." I said.

"Step one. Free the Squid Sisters." Agent 4 answered. He didn't say anymore.

"What's step two?" I asked reluctantly.

"Honestly I didn't think I would make it this far." Agent 4 answered.

"You haven't even completed step one yet!" I complained.

"I'm still waiting with the modified truck. Just stick to the plan. Maybe we'll be able to get Marie on the way out." Sheldon said in the voice comms.

"Alright we'll go to that helipad I saw earlier. I'll just have to figure out how to get there." Agent 4 replied.

I knew exactly what he was referring to. One of the advantages of my fake memories was I had intimate knowledge of the palace. "I know the way. Stay behind me. There's a few places we should look first to find Marie." I told Agent 4.

"Alright, I'll start heading to this helipad right away. Hope to see you there." Sheldon replied.

We left the prison together. My first instinct was to head back to my old room. If Marie wasn't there, I could look for her at some of the unused bedrooms that not even guests used. As we made our way through the halls Agent 4 dispatched any Octarians we encountered. His upgraded splatling was extremely powerful. I wondered how he would fare against Agent 3.

When we arrived at my room, nothing was out of place. It's possible some of the maids came and cleaned up in preparation for my next brainwashing. How close was I to getting brainwashed again? We went to the bedrooms scattered around the palace but they were still mostly empty. Although one room looked like it had been recently used because the bed was undone. The maids were usually quick to clean the rooms. Maybe this was Marie's new room and she had just left. If we had just been here a few minutes earlier we could've caught her.

Agent 4 and I doubled back to the door to the prison to check on the throne room. I hesitated to open the door. Marie could be in there but so could DJ Octavio. It was a risk I had to take. I slowly opened it to peek inside.

It had an entire army of Octarian soldiers waiting for us. Almost as if the entire security staff had been crammed in here. One of the octotroopers looked at us and we immediately realized our mistake. I slammed the door closed but it was too late, we had been spotted and now they were coming after us. I led Agent 4 to the helipad while using my roller to ink the path as we moved. Although they could easily track us with the inked path, it also meant they couldn't move as fast as us.

Once we arrived at the helipad I saw a familiar face. Sebastian was standing guard alone with an octoshot. He looked like he was ready for battle. Agent 4 began charging up his upgraded splatling. He was ready for battle. To him Sebastian must've been like any other octoling. Sebastian on the other hand noticed us come out and prepared for a fight.

I tried to rush forward. I yelled, "Wait!" But it was too late. Sebastian began charging at us and Agent 4 opened fire. I couldn't move at the realization of how this fight will play out. Either my boyfriend Sebastian would get killed or Agent 4 will die. I didn't want either of those things to happen but it seemed like it was beyond my control now.