Chapter Text
Marina’s grip tightened on the railing as she took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air. Mist was rising from the valley, tinted yellow by the rising sun peeking over the mountain. No matter how many times she’d seen it, it still took her breath away. She hummed the Calamari Inkantation under her breath as she walked back inside. Her girlfriend was still fast asleep, drooling on her pillow, the covers long forgotten and thrown to the side.
“Pearlie”, she whispered, tracing her features with her green-tipped fingers. Pearl still slept on, snoring loudly. “Today’s the day, Pearlie”.
Pearl grunted, her snoring stopping. “Huh?”.
“It’s our anniversary”, She said. “Two years since we met”.
Marina sat down on the bed, putting Pearl on her lap. Pearl looked up at her, golden eyes shining.
“Mornin’, Reena”, she said groggily. “Wha wazzat?”.
“It’s our anniversary”, she said softly. “Two years since I met you”.
Pearl sat up straight, a blush rising in her face. She gave a little chuckle. “Oh yeah”.
Marina nudged her. “Don’t tell me you forgot”.
“Of course not”, she said, though it was unconvincing. They stared at each other, little smiles in their eyes, before dissolving into laughter.
“Here, I’ll go make us some breakfast, you go get dressed”, Marina said, kissing her girlfriend on the forehead. Pearl blushed again.
“Love you, Reena”, she said.
“I love you, too”, Marina replied. “Now, how do pancakes sound?”
Pearl nodded as Marina got up, the mattress sighing in appreciation as her 6’2 frame was removed. She walked through the sunlight-filled house and into the kitchen. Rifling through the cabinets, she was able to locate some pancake mix.
The griddle clicked on, while she hummed a melody echoing through her head. She scooped the pancake batter out and onto the griddle. Pearl emerged from their room, yawning.
“Pancakes almost ready?”she asked, stretching out her arms. Marina nodded. “Can I flip them?”
Marina rolled her eyes, handing her the spatula. Pearl slid it under the pancake, and flipped it. A bit of the batter spilled out, but it still looked alright. Marina wrapped her arms around Pearl, kissing her on the cheek.
“ Dimimo ”, she whispered in Octarian. Pearl grinned.
“God, I love it when you talk like that”, she said. “That means ‘my love’,right?”.
“See, you’re learning”, Marina said. “ Sai Goru ”.
Pearl chucked. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re saying”.
“I wish they actually taught Octarian in schools”, Marina sighed.
“Up until a year ago I thought Octarians were extinct, I don’t think they’ll start lessons any time soon”, Pearl laughed, though there was a hint of chagrin.
“It’s not your fault, Dimimo ”, Marina smiled at her, as Pearl flipped another miserable pancake.
“Reena, did you make sure to clear our schedule for today?” Pearl asked as she started to plate the pancakes.
“Yeah, I did it before you got up”, Marina said. “We headed out after breakfast?”.
“Yeah”, Pearl replied.
For the past two years, Pearl and Marina had celebrated this day. February 23rd, the day they first met. When Marina had first come to the surface. When they had first started Off the hook.
The gateway, as it was called, was an ancient human structure, often signifying a doorway between phases of your life. According to Pearl, it was a longstanding tradition for misguided and down on their luck inklings to come there to seek guidance.
Marina could remember it like it was yesterday.
It had been days, and she’d hardly had anything to eat. She was completely lost, and snow was starting to fall. And Octarian armor wasn’t exactly built for the cold.
Then she heard the voice.
So powerful that she could hear it in her cartilage.
Someone was screaming in a language she couldn’t understand. Just like the Inkantation . Well, the inkantation was a lot less… screamy, but she could tell it was the same language.
She maneuvered through the brush, falling onto her knees, and into a clearing. She looked up, blinking at the furious white sky. There was a red gate, standing atop the peak. And underneath it was a girl, an inkling, singing. Next to her was a bodyguard, glancing awkwardly around themselves.
She watched quietly as the Inkling sang. She had this funny way of singing, where she would say words really fast, almost making a sort of pseudo melody. Marina studied the Inkling. She was unusually short, looking almost like a child. Her clothing was dark, almost gothic in nature, save for the coppery crown on her head.
Marina tried to step closer, but under her foot, a twig snapped. The girl stopped singing, looking around for the source of the noise.
They can help you , Marina thought. Without realizing it, she held her arms up, walking away from the bush. The bodyguard’s gun was trained on her, their eyes hidden behind sunglasses.
“I am no arms”, she said, trying to remember the little Inklish she had tried to teach herself from an ancient booklet she’d found. “Don’t hurt me”.
The girl signaled to her bodyguard to put the weapon away, and jumped down to Marina.
“Are you ok? Are you lost?” she said, a surprising softness in her voice.
Her ears were still ringing from the girl’s singing. She was powerful.
All she needed was a good backing.
“I am Marina”, she said, holding out a hand. She felt a snowflake melt on her arm.
“Pearl Houzuki”, she said.
“Let’s start a band”.
Pearl looked at her with confusion, as Marina produced her laptop from her backpack. She had saved one of her demos, Ebb and Flow. She pressed play.
“Am a DJ”, she said, internally cringing at her broken Inklish. Pearl bopped her head along to the music.
“This is good, You make this yourself?”.
Marina nodded.
“You’ve got a deal. Also, here”, Pearl slipped off her coat, handing it to Marina. She put it on. It was tiny, but it was warmer than her simple armor.
“ Sanahai ”, she said in Octarian
“Gazuntite”.
Pearl was wearing that same exact coat that day as they hiked through the woods, her and Marina singing. Pearl’s voice echoed through the trees, scaring the birds.
“Are we there yet?” Pearl asked, stopping singing to catch her breath.
“Yeah, Pearlie”, Marina replied, pulling her coat tighter.
A high pitched noise caught their attention. They went still.
“Do you…hear that?”.
Marina nodded. It was almost like a wailing noise, a horrific cry. She hesitantly stepped forward.
“What do you think it is?” she whispered.
“Could be an animal”, Pearl replied.
“Should we turn back?”.
“Oh, c’mon, Reena, are we gonna let a little animal stop our fun?”.
Marina sighed. They kept walking forward, hearing the sound get closer. It got so loud to the point where Marina thought she was going to have a panic attack.
Somewhere, deep within her, memories stirred.
Children being torn from their parents, drafted into the military.
She could still heat her own cries.
Pearl grabbed her hand, squeezing it for comfort. “Reena, if you want to turn back-”.
“No, no, it’s fine”.
They stepped out into the clearing, the red wooden gate high above them.
And on the stone steps, there was a tiny, inky baby in a basket.
“Oh my goodness”.
Marina raced up the stairs, eyes on the basket. Her hands shook as she studied the magenta colored toddler.
She could tell it was a girl, hardly older than four. Her tentacles bore suckers on the top of her hair.
“ KARA!!! ” she sobbed in octarian. Mother .
“Shh, shh, Guru Ri, Guru Ri ” she hushed.
“Is that a baby?” Pearl asked. Marina nodded. Pearl stumbled up the steps, staring wide eyed at the child.
“She’s an Octoling”, Marina said, rocking the kid in her arms. Her sobs started to relax a little, turning into quiet snuffles. “Poor baby, must be so cold”.
“What’s an Octarian baby doing all the way up on Mount Nantai?”.
“I’m not sure”, Marina said, surprised by the shakiness in her voice. She peered down at the octoling. “She’s got something around her neck”.
It was a tag. Marina pulled it off. The text was Octarian, something she hadn’t seen in years.
Her name is Hachi
Please keep her safe.
“Hachi, is that your name?” she cooed. The girl burbled.
“ Ki! Damadi Hachi ”, she responded through her tears.
“ Hachi guru su dama ”, she said softly, brushing her tentacles out of her face. “ Damadi Marina. Damara Pearl ”.
Hachi glanced over to Pearl, and held closer to Marina.
“ Okododa su ra” , she said. Marina glared at her.
“What are you guys saying?” Pearl stared at them in confusion.
“She’s scared of you because you’re an inkling”, Marina translated.
“Aw, c’mon, I’m not bad”, she said to Hachi.
“I don’t think she understands Inklish”, Marina said. They stood in silence for a moment, taking in the strangeness of the situation.
“Should we take her to the city, to Family services?”.
“They might not understand her…no, no, scratch that, they won’t understand her”, Marina said. “But it might be for the best. I can translate Octarian”.
“I’ll call up one of my dad’s helicopters”, Pearl said, pulling out her phone. “Shell yes, I’ve got service!”.
“Pearl, not in front of Hachi”.
“It’s not like she understands me”.
“Shell”, Hachi snickered. Marina sighed.
Family services was a small building, tucked away in the corner of the city. Marina held the little octoling by the hand as they walked down the street. Hachi seemed quite wary of Pearl, staying as far away from her as possible.
“We’re here”, Marina sing-songed.
The cephalopods stepped into the building, and were greeted by a young caseworker, who was engrossed in her paperwork.
“Hello, ma’am”, Marina said. “We have a…slight predicament”.
“We found a random toddler on Mount Nantai”, Pearl blurted.
Marina lifted up Hachi, who giggled.
“Oh, and she can’t understand Inklish”, She added.
The caseworker peered at them through her glasses. They backed up to the wall, sitting down.
“So what you’re saying is ‘you found an abandoned child on Mount Nantai, and she can’t speak a lick of Inklish?’” the caseworker said.
Pearl and Marina nodded, Hachi sitting on Marina’s lap. Hachi whispered something into Marina’s ear.
“She says she’s scared”, She translated. “ Guru ri ”
“Tell her that its okay, we’re going to take very good care of her, and find her a nice family. A lot of people are just waiting to adopt a kid her age”.
She translated it to her. Marina could tell Hachi was on the verge of crying again. It made Marina want to cry as well.
“Pearl, can we talk?”.
Pearl nodded, grabbing her hand as they stepped out of the building, leaving Hachi with the caseworker at the desk.
“I think…I think we should take Hachi in”.
Marina half expected Pearl to argue, but instead, she just sighed.
“I mean, you’re right, you’re prolly like, the only Octoling in the city”, she said. “But-”
“Since when have you been the one to say ‘but’?”.
“ But …I don’t know the first thing about raising a kid”.
“So we use the internet, we use resources and…please, I think we’re the best shot Hachi has”, Marina said. “Listen, I’ve done research about the foster care system in Inkadia. It’s one of the worst organized in the world-”
“Why were you researching the foster care system?”
“Because if we ever got married and wanted kids we’d have to adopt!” Marina shouted, her hands flapping wildly in distress.
“Reena, calm down, calm down”, Pearl said, grabbing her arms. “Do you think you’re ready to raise a child?”.
Marina took a deep breath. “We’re responsible, I know we are”.
Pearl sighed, knowing there was no way she could change her girlfriend’s mind.
“I’ll go in and talk with her, you should stay out here and, uh…take deep breaths”, Pearl offered.
“Okay, just…just make sure that Hachi is okay”, Marina said.
“I will, Reena”, she said, kissing her on the cheek. “Love you, honey”.
“Love you, too”.
Half an hour later, Pearl came back.
“Okay, so, they said they need to hold on to her for a few days just to make sure she’s, y’know, vaccinated and all that, so we have a few days to prepare”.
Marina sighed.
“Thank you, Pearlie”, she said, patting the sidewalk. Pearl sat down next to her.
“So”, she said. “This has been one shell of an anniversary”.
“You got that right”.
They sat in silence, Marina’s head replaying the moment they found Hachi over and over.
“We’re in this together, Reena, you know that?” Pearl said.
“Yeah, I know”.
Wherever the flow of fate took them, they would be ready for it.
Unless it was parenthood, they were not ready for that.