SPLATOON: The Octarian Race

Chapter 6- Lost Memories

Eliana and Naoto ran to lab room 6 and Oliver was just found unconscious on the ground. "O-Oliver…!" Eliana said as she and Naoto ran towards him. Yuka arrived with her medical bag. "Stand back, both of you. I'll handle it. Go chase after the intruder. He couldn't have gone far." Yuka said to the two of them. "Right. Let's go." Naoto said as he and Eliana exited the room. "...Okay…" SHe said as the two of them kept running. As they were running, Naoto looked back at Eliana. “Hey, uh, sorry for what I said earlier. You just helped me realize something I thought I would forget long ago. I thank you for that.” He said to her. Eliana looked at him and shook his head. “...It’s no problem…it seems natural an individual in this race would forget something so important to them long ago.” She said back to him. “That’s true. Anyways, what was it like in your childhood?” He asked. Eliana slowed down and stopped. Naoto stopped as well. “What’s wrong?” “...I…don’t know. I don’t have any memories of my childhood. I only remember being part of this race.” She said.
…What was my childhood like? How come I can’t remember…?
Naoto stared at her with pity. “...As member 3 of this race, I’m afraid I don’t know what or how she became number 8. That day, last month, Master, Yuka and Oliver brought her in and told all of us she’s member 8. I wonder…did she have a concussion of some sort?” Naoto wondered. Eliana looked at Naoto’s frustrated face. “I’m alright…I’m sure I’ll remember soon. I was unconscious the previous month up until now I guess…no need to worry about me. Eventually I’ll remember it.” She said back to him. Naoto looked back up at her and pointed ahead. “...Alright, if you say so. C’mon. Let’s keep going. Gotta catch the intruder.” He said. “Yeah..!” She said as the two of them continued running. However, Naoto kept thinking of the female inkling. “...Master specifically chose Yuka and Oliver to bring her in. It’s funny. Yuka is a doctor and Oliver is a scientist. Hmm…I wonder…what exactly is Eliana’s purpose in our race?” He thought.

The male inkling was outside the octoling base holding the test papers. “...Hmm. So that’s their purpose…and that Master of theirs…he’s up to no good. I gotta find a way…” He said to himself. “Hold it, intruder! I’ve got you now!” A female octoling said as she pointed her octobrush at the male inkling who had no weapons in his hand. “Kira! Sorry we’re late…!” Naoto said as he and Eliana ran towards them. The male inkling looked at the three of them. Eliana recognized that it was the inkling that she battled in the morning. “About time-” Kira was cut off by Eliana.
That inkling that attacked me earlier!
 “That’s…the inkling that hurt Flynn earlier! And the one who was after me as well…!” Eliana said as she had a serious face. Naoto and Kira looked at the male inkling. “That’s him…?! We gotta kill him!” Kira said. Naoto shook his head. “A reasonable choice, but Master said we need to bring him in. So no KILLING, got it?” Naoto asked the two girls. Kira pouted. “Aww…! But he deserves to die!” She said back to Naoto. Eliana put on her hood and her dualies appeared in her hands. Naoto and Kira looked at her dualies. “The legendary hero…dualies?!” They both gasped. The male inkling had a surprised look as he saw the dualies appeared in Eliana’s hands. “Hey…! Just focus!” She told the two of them.  The three of them focused their attention back at the male inkling. Naoto took out his explosher. The male inkling made an annoyed face. “...I don’t have time for this. If you hand her over, you won’t get hurt.” The male inkling said to the three of them as he pointed at Eliana. “You won’t get your disgusting fingers on her!” Kira said. “Yeah. We won’t let you get away with what you did to Flynn too!” Naoto added. The male inkling sighed and folded the test papers as he put them in his pocket. “...I'm tired of this. Wrong choice…come at me.” He told them. “Ooh! Cocky squid boy here sure is confident! Well, if you say so, take this!” Kira said as she rushed up to the male inkling. Eliana did as well with her dualies. Naoto started throwing ink from afar with his explosher. Kira waved her octobrush at the inkling, but he dodged it by jumping. Eliana tried shooting him from above with her dualies, but he dodged them quickly in the sky too. “You’re no match against us without a weapon! Hah!” Kira laughed as she tried swinging her brush at him. The male inkling kept dodging every single swing quickly. Naoto couldn’t get him with his explosher. Eliana tried attacking with her dualies, but still no luck in getting the swift inkling. He stopped as he stood on top of the entrance. The male inkling raised his hand towards them. The three of them just stopped and everything to them seemed different. They saw visions of different things. Kira stopped and dropped her octobrush. “N-No…that can’t be true…!” She said shakily. Naoto looked at her. “H-Hey! Snap out of it! These are his illusions…! He’s making us show our weaknesses!” He said as her was shaking the female octoling.

Meanwhile, Eliana saw a vision of all the members in the race. They were all talking about her.
…What is this…? Why are they talking about me…? N-No…this isn’t true…is it?
“They’ll never accept you. Not as a member or as an inkling.” The male inkling told her as he appeared in her vision. Eliana looked at him with a serious face as she took out her hood. “...You…you're making me show my weakness, aren’t you?” She said as she looked at him face to face. The male inkling’s face was hard to see because of his long sweater covering his face. “...Hmph. Nice guess, but unfortunately, you yourself know that these are true. None of the octoling in that race accepts you.” He repeated. The female inkling had a sad face. The male inkling had a grin on his face. “So? Had enough yet?” He asked her. Eliana closed her eyes but she had a serious face as she stared at him. The male inkling’s grin disappeared and stared back at her as well. “...I know it’s true…you show my greatest fear right now. I have no memories of who I was before, but right now…I’m going to make new memories with the octoling that surrounds my life now after being unconscious. Whether they were nice or if they were mean, I chose to cast aside my fear.” She said back to him. “...Choose what you like. Your fear will always get a hold of you.” He said as he looked into her eyes. The female inkling walked up to him and pulled his arm. “...Your weakness…can change you…into a better person! You learn from it and do your best to overcome it. So…as much as you like let me face my weaknesses and fears.” She said confidently to him.
No matter what my weaknesses or fears are, I decide to put them to a pause. I think…of the better side of things.
The male inkling’s eyes widened as he heard her answer. He shook off her hand and turned around. “...I see. So that is your answer…hmm.” He snapped his fingers and all three of them stopped seeing his hallucinations. Naoto and Kira looked at him and Eliana. The three stared at him. The male inkling quickly turned around and had his legendary hero roller appear in his hands. He jumped and was about to swing it on Eliana. Eliana covered her eyes as he was about to hit her. 

Eliana woke up in a bed. It was morning outside. 
…Huh…? How long was I asleep for? Wait…where’s my jacket…?
She saw her jacket laying on a chair. Her red turtleneck and leggings was what she was wearing. “...So…” A voice said. Eliana looked over and saw a male inkling with white hair. “You’re awake now…” He said. Eliana recognized his voice. She walked over and looked into his eyes. It was deep red like he knew all the harsh judgements in the world.
It’s that inkling who showed my weakness…
 “...You…can’t be…where did you bring me?” She asked him with a serious face as her dualies appeared in her hands again. “I have no intention of fighting you. If you put your weapon away, I’ll tell you.” He said to her. Eliana’s dualies disappeared in her hands. “You’re in my house. In Inkopolis. Your octoling gang is unharmed after I took you.” “Bring me back! You can’t do this to me…!” Eliana said. The male inkling covered his face with his long black sweater. “I’m afraid…that’s not going to happen. For now, you’re going to stick here whether you like it or not.” He replied. Eliana had a scared face.
…This guy wants me to stay in Inkopolis? The city Yuka told me not to go to? I wonder for how long…however…I feel like if I don’t listen to him, he won’t let me go…anyways…Inkopolis? I always wanted to see what it was like here…in that case…
“Okay.” She said. The male inkling looked at her. “I’ll stay here for as long as you like, but in return, promise me you’ll let me go back to Octo Canyon as soon as possible.” the female inkling said. The male inkling huffed. “...No promises, but the answer you seek to your memories lie here in this city.” 
…I see…maybe this is why Inkopolis was calling out to me…it’s most likely the answers from my past are here…maybe I’ll remember more…
The female inkling looked at him with a smile. “What’s that look you’re giving me?” “Oh…it’s a secret!” She said as she put her finger on her lips. The male inkling rolled his eyes and started to walk out of the bedroom. Eliana followed him into the living room. Everything was so neat for a guy. “So…you know my name, right? What’s yours?” the female inkling asked. “...Lenard.” He replied. “What a great name!” She said with a smile. “...” He didn’t respond back to her. “Hey! I’m not gonna forgive you for what you did to me yesterday as well as to Flynn too. I’m gonna annoy you with questions everyday as I start exploring here in Inkopolis.” She said as she stuck out her tongue. Lenard looked at her. “...Let’s see how long your tongue can keep on spitting words out. After all...you can be yourself in this city.” He said as Eliana started to find out what the city of inklings like her are all about.