Scalpel had anticipated my arrival, it seemed. Since I was Nem’s current daughter, he saw me as someone who could get him close to her, but I stayed silent on the topic.

I sat in a chair across the desk from him while he looked down at his paperwork, his glasses being adjusted every so often. “You’re not here because of Safaia,” he said. “Intriguing. Why else would you come here?”

“There’s this… girl,” I answered. “She might be of interest to you, considering your research into human history…”

His gray eyes tore from his reading to look at me. “Explain,” he demanded.

Staring back uncomfortably, I replied, “She’s been dissecting live humans and she’s… possibly transferring their minds into her head.”

“How old is she…?” he asked.

“I think probably sixteen…?” I replied.

As Scalpel looked back down at his paperwork, he only muttered, “Fascinating. To go into such experiments at such a young age is impressive.”

Impressive wouldn’t have been the word I’d use. “More like disturbing…”

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand, Amelia,” he said. “Science requires sacrifice.”

“She’s hurting people!” I countered. “I need you to change her back! She’s gone mad because of all the minds inside her head!”

After a long silence, he took a sip from his coffee cup, and as he set it back down, he replied, “Suppose I did decide to help you. Suppose I was successful in extracting the consciousness of every human being within her brain. Where exactly am I going to store them? A machine wouldn’t be suited to it. A human’s mind require’s a human’s brain. I’d be surprised if they were even still intact.”

“Y-You were able to get that information from Tartar, right? That machine?” I asked. “Couldn’t it help us?”

“I was…” he said. “Thanks to young Dimitri. He gave me a sample of human DNA, which allowed me to bypass the AI’s security system.”

“Why don’t you use it to make a human brain?” I questioned.

“I could,” he answered, looking at me with a smirk. “But you’d need to offer me something. Why should I do any of this for free, hm?”

What could I give Scalpel? He had all the info he needed from Tartar, so studying me wouldn’t give him anything.

…Or would it? He was a scientist, after all, so…

“Aren’t you… the least bit curious about what the octarian serum is doing to me?” I asked him, starting to sweat with nervousness.

Watching me with a steel gaze, he replied, “Perhaps…”

“It… sure would be a waste if I were to just turn into an octoling without giving you a chance to see how the serum did its job,” I shakily said.

Tapping his fingers together, he looked up at the ceiling as he leaned back further in his chair. “Well, it would allow me to replicate it and use it to, say, improve the lives of the undead inklings. Octarian science is… always a rare find. A serum that perfectly changes one species into another…? That’s not something you come across every day.”

Hook, line, and sinker. “If you can extract the human minds from Ana, I’ll let you study me. Without David supervising you.”

"Do you realize this would include... a potential dissection?" he asked me, making me shiver.

"D-Dissection?" I repeated.

"Don't worry..." he said. "It won't kill you... I'll be sure to patch you back up. All I require is that you let me look at how the serum is affecting you. This would include looking at your vital organs. It would greatly help my research and would give me a better insight into how the serum works."

Yeah, I know. It sounded suspicious and it sounded stupid, but... I needed to do this. If I didn't, then Ana would keep hurting more and more people. "Y-Yeah," I said. "I'll allow that."

“Then it's a deal,” he replied. “When can this all take place?”

“After the Splatfest,” I answered. “I plan to bring her down myself. After that, I’ll meet you here.”

“Acceptable,” he said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me… I have to prepare for my speech tonight. I’ll be taking over as head of Enperry.”

“Oh, uh… c-congratulations,” I said, forcing a smile. I wasn’t really interested. Didn’t mean I had to be rude, though. As long as he was helping me, I’d tolerate him.

“Thank you,” he replied. “Now, on your way.”

Leaving his office, I wiped the sweat from my forehead. That was over and done with. Now I just needed to meet with Bryson for training. I was really committed to improving. If I didn’t, then Ana would continue to hurt what little of humanity was left.

Looking down at my phone, I texted Bryson that I’d be on my way. I was eager to learn more from him about melee weapons. He had promised that he’d teach me how to stand my ground against them. This would be essential if I were to go up against Ana, who was willing to yank my arm like I was a rag doll. Anything physical, I’d have to prepare for. Ink was nothing, but a physical fight was basically out of the question unless I was truly ready.

It was time to go. As I was just about to leave the Enperry company building, however, an undead stepped out in front of me, her eyes glaring at me.

“C-Can I help you?” I asked, but then I realized her skin was slightly bluer instead of green. Her tentacle hair was more like an anemone’s than an inkling’s as well.

“You’re Amelia?” she asked me with a cold voice.

Shaking, I answered, “Y-Yes?”

She walked up to me, holding her hand out, scary eyes staring into my soul. “Safaia.”

!!!

This was Safaia? She was… pretty. Her hair was just like Nem’s, faintly glowing a bluish-green color. I stared at her, nervous. I didn’t expect to run into her today of all days, and I was supposed to be training with Bryson.

When I settled my nerves as best I could, I reached out and gripped her cold hand, shaking it in greeting. “Nice to meet you,” I said, trying not to act scared in front of her. When she let go, I faked a smile, trying to stay on her good side. She was Nem’s daughter, after all. “I… I’m sorry for what happened to you.”

Did I seriously just say that…? Why was the first thing to come to my mind was to bring up her death?! What was wrong with me?!

“It’s fine,” she replied. She looked like she had something she wanted to ask, and I could probably guess what it was. She confirmed my suspicions. “How’s… M-Mom?”

“She’s doing okay,” I replied. “Maybe we could hang out sometime? The three of us?”

The moment I said that, her nose twitched seemingly in anger, but she replied, “Yeah… Just the three of us.”

…

“Look, I just want to make this clear,” I said, stepping closer to her. “I’m not trying to replace you. I could never replace you… In fact, I’m hoping we could… maybe become sisters?”

She tilted her head a bit. “Sisters…?”

I smiled, holding out my hand. “Yeah! Sisters! P-Please? I… I don’t want to fight! I want to hang out with you!”

She looked at my hand for what felt like a very long time, the silence feeling awkward, but she inevitably took my hand, grasping it tightly, and while it was cold, I felt something else there. There was a kind of unexplainable warmth in her grip.

“Take me to Mom…?” she asked.

“T-Take you to Mom?” I repeated.

She gripped my hand a little tighter, slowly nodding. Was this a good idea? How would Nem react? Would she even see this Safaia as the same one? What if she reacted badly towards seeing her? I didn’t want to hurt either of them…

But seeing Safaia's eyes, I saw something akin to desperation in them...

“I… Y-Yeah,” I replied. “I’ll take you to see Nem, but… we might not be able to stay long. I have to train with my friends.”

“Train with…?” she questioned.

It took me a while to understand what she had meant. “You mean… you want to train with m-me?”

Her hand gripped even tighter, making me a little uncomfortable. I nodded, and she lightened up on it. This was going to be a long day…

She held my hand the entire way home. Inklings would stop and stare as they saw me holding hands with her, likely because, well, she was considered undead, and because of this, there was a lot of wariness from inklings.

Society seemed to have a better grip on it as a collective, but individual inklings had their own variety of opinions, each one being drastically different from one another. Some approved it, some rejected it, some even made conspiracy theories about mass mind control.

Overall, I think Scalpel’s decision was made with the best of intentions, even if he was… unhinged. I just think it could’ve been thought through a bit more. It was hard to imagine something like this in literally any era, even one that was technologically advanced enough to make spawn points because this was an experiment that brought back those who were dead for far longer than just a few seconds.

As we arrived, I opened the door and slipped inside the apartment with her. I could hear Nem in the kitchen, her rolling pin audible as she prepared dough for something possibly sweet. The moment Safaia heard her, she stepped forward, but I put a hand in front of her, looking at her with worry.

“J-Just a moment,” I whispered. “It’s been a while since she’s seen you. Need to let her know… Understand?”

Safaia glared angrily, but she stepped back and allowed me to walk into the kitchen on my own. I then greeted, “H-Hey, Nem-Nem!”

Nem turned around to face me, eyes wide. “Oh, Amelia! You almost gave me a panic attack! I didn’t think you’d be home so soon! Guess I’ve been watching too many zombie movies!”

…

Oh boy.

“Y-Yeah,” I said with a nervous chuckle, which got her attention.

“...Alright, what’s with that laugh?” she asked, not looking amused as she crossed her arms. “What’s going on?”

“O-Oh, nothing too bad,” I replied.

“Something really bad,” she translated. “What did you do? Did you break the picture frame again? You know that’s all I have of Grandpa Nema.”

I put a finger to my lips and walked up to her. “N-Nem… I… You know I’d never do anything to intentionally give you a hard time…”

“Amelia, what did you do…?” she asked, glaring.

“I… Look, it just happened,” I replied. “She wanted to follow me…”

“Who wanted to follow you?” Nem questioned. “What’s going on?”

Looking up at her, I whispered the dreaded name. “S-Safaia…”

Nem’s face turned pale, her hand gripping her chest. “Amelia, why?!”

“Sh-She just wanted to see you again!” I replied in defense.

“Amelia, do you know how I feel about this?” Nem asked me, her voice a little more hushed to keep Safaia from hearing. “You know what I said about her! It might not even be the same Safaia!”

“J-Just give her a chance? She followed me just to see you…” I replied. “You kn-know she misses you. M-Maybe it could turn out for the better!”

We exchanged glances. I knew what I’d done. This was putting so much stress on Nem, but Safaia had seemed so intent on seeing her. I knew how long I’d been away from Mom. I knew that if I was in Safaia’s position, I’d want the same thing, to see my mother again.

“P-Please…?” I whispered.

Nem closed her eyes and let out a pained sigh, a tear dripping down her cheek. “Amelia… Even if it was the same Safaia, I’d been staying away from her for three months. She’d absolutely hate me for that. She probably thinks I replaced her…”

“I assured her you didn’t,” I said back to Nem, looking up at her and taking her hand. “Right now, all that matters is that she missed you and didn’t give up on seeing you. The moment she saw me, she asked about you.

The amount of tears streaming down her cheeks had increased, and I could’ve sworn I’d heard her swear under her breath. Looking at me, she said, “Fine… You’re right. I should’ve at least attempted to talk to her…”

She slowly began to walk out of the kitchen, and the moment her eyes laid on Safaia, she almost broke down, watching with a held breath. I wasn’t sure what Nem was going to say. I could only stare in suspense. Instead of saying anything at all, she held out her arms and Safaia took the cue, running into them and hugging Nem tightly. Nem returned the hug, sobbing. Even my heart was shaking at this point, hot tears flowing down my face.

“I thought… it wouldn’t be you…” she said in between sobs, tightening the hug on Safaia. “I thought it wasn’t possible… I stayed away and I’m sorry…”

Safaia looked over Nem’s shoulder, eyes looking at me, tears dripping from them. “Missed… you…”

I couldn’t help but remember what Ace had said earlier.

“They may be… different, but they’re still inklings.”

Maybe these undead weren’t as scary as I’d initially thought. Maybe I had been wrong about them. From what I could tell just by interacting with Taiyo and now Safaia, they only had trouble communicating. I realized I had been very biased, and I felt shame from feeling that.

I left Nem and Safaia alone to catch up. Sitting in my room, I scrolled through my phone. I’d almost forgotten the links Ace had sent me, so I downloaded them immediately. One of them seemed to be a channel app that would allow me to look at the news on the go, so that was fairly useful. It’d allow me to see what the current available areas were for a Turf War.

Watching the channel, I could see Marina’s smiling face as she and Pearl announced the current hotspots for the hour in Inkopolis. Was Marina alright outside of the studio? How much progress had she achieved regarding Ezra’s new body?

There were a lot of questions, but hardly any answers.

Ezra appeared besides me, looking down at my phone screen. “Don’t forget Bryson’s sessions,” she said.

“I won’t,” I replied. “I’m just waiting for Safaia to be ready to join me.”

Ezra was silent for a bit there… “Don’t forget that she’s now a competitor.”

“Competitor?” I questioned, eyes still glued to the screen.

“For Nem’s affection…” Ezra clarified.

This made me put my phone into sleep mode, staring at my reflection on the black, inactive screen. “Please, don’t…” I stated. “I don’t want you to fill my head with more nonsense.”

“Do you really think you could ever really replace Safaia, or even Nemmi?” asked Ezra, her hand on my shoulder. It felt… colder than usual. She whispered into my ear, “She’s going to take Nem away from you if you don’t make Nem proud.”

…

N-Nem wouldn’t do that…

Right?

I shook my head and stood up. “Nope. Nope nope nope. Ezra, quit it. I know you’re trying to help, but… I’m fine. Safaia and I will likely be sisters and… and Nem will love us both equally.”

“Will she?” questioned Ezra.

“Of course!” I shouted. “She saved me from Ana!”

“Because Safaia wasn’t in her life at that moment,” Ezra pointed out.

Shaking my head again, I left my bedroom and saw Nem and Safaia sitting on the couch, where they were talking.

“What have you been doing lately?” asked Nem, trying to catch up with Safaia.

“Reading… Fighting… Searching…”

Approaching and sitting next to Safaia, I asked, “Searching for what?”

Safaia glared at me, sending shivers down my spine as she replied, “Murderer…”

Nem and I exchanged worried glances. Nem gripped Safaia’s shoulder more tightly. “Uh, could you explain that a little?”

“My death wasn’t an accident,” said Safaia. “Spawn point was sabotaged… I remember her face. Can’t find her. Must find her, will find her.”

“Someone intentionally made sure you didn’t respawn?” I questioned.

Safaia slowly nodded. “Can’t remember… her name. I’ve been stuck in the void for too long.”

The void…? She must’ve been referring to… that long period of darkness after death. I remembered it from my dreams and I could see why she’d forget. “But you remember her face?” I asked.

She nodded. “Too well…”

I felt the familiar urge to be useful, and so I took her hand, surprising her. “I’ll help you find her. We can bring her to the authorities together.”

Safaia watched me with sad eyes, then she suddenly latched onto me in a big, cold hug. Although she was freezing, the hug itself had sincerity to it. The way she tightly clung to me let me know she was grateful. I returned the hug, my arms wrapped tightly around her.

“Thought… you would replace me…” she whispered. “Why would you help me?”

Ezra appeared behind Nem, staring at me. I stared back, determined to ignore her warnings. “Because we’re… sisters. Forever and ever, right?”

“Sisters…” Safaia repeated. “Yes. Forever and ever.”

Nem had tears going down her cheeks as she smiled at the display of affection. I smiled back, looking up at her in admiration. The moment she stood up, she clapped her hands together. “Okay, girls! Since Safaia is back, I think we should celebrate!”

“Oh, um… I-I need to train with Bryson,” I said, taking my phone out of my pocket. “When do we begin celebrating?”

“Tonight,” Nem answered. “I’m going to make a few sweets and we’ll pile up some DVDs. It’ll be a family movie night!”

Safaia let go of me and looked at Nem with concern. “Dad won’t let me…”

Nem looked back at her with confusion. “Won’t let you? Oh, no… Not this again…”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Well, remember when I told you Bram and I had our differences?” Nem responded. “He wanted Safaia to attend universities and all that. I wanted her to follow her own path.”

“He shouldn’t get to have a say!” I said standing up and clenching my fists.

“I’m actually not sure how the law works with… deceased inklings, especially those who’ve been brought back,” said Nem with a nervous look.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“Well, I mean… if you’re declared dead, do you still have rights?” Nem pointed out. “I… I might need to do some research because if Bram brought her back, I’m wondering if I’d still have legal custody of her.”

That was concerning. I had no idea how the law would work in this case…

“Scalpel assumed I was there to talk to him about Safaia,” I said to Nem.

She looked back at me with worry. “That’s not good… He probably thinks I go to him just to get her back. I haven't exactly been happy with him lately…”

“Please…?” asked Safaia, gripping Nem’s hand tightly.

Nem looked at her phone and, with a sigh, nodded. “I’ll call him and talk to him about this… Hopefully Safaia can stay over. He has another thing coming, though, if he thinks he can take my daughter away from me.”

My phone suddenly vibrated and upon taking it out of my pocket, I saw an angry text from Bryson. I groaned and said, “In the meanwhile, I have to go train with Bryson. Safaia, are you coming?”

With a nod, she followed me out the door, both of us leaving Nem to talk with Scalpel on the phone. I had to say I didn’t expect any of this to happen today of all days. I just wanted to train with Bryson. I just hoped he didn’t treat Safaia with any disrespect.

Actually, speaking of disrespect…

I did remember how Safaia had acted in my dream before she died, but was I really going to use that as firsthand evidence for anything? She seemed hateful towards inklings the most, but… did she think I was an inkling or did her father tell her I was a human?

I looked back at her, seeing her expression. Was she really the same Safaia or… had she changed since the resurrection? If anything, her speech seemed limited, so maybe I wasn’t just hearing everything from her because of that.

Ugh, I hated overthinking things…

As I burst through the warehouse door, I stopped, panting and apologizing with a heavy, “I’M SORRY!”

Bryson and the Barazushi Twins all stared at me, along with Liv and Ace. Ace seemed to notice Safaia’s presence, his gaze narrowing at her as if he were suspicious of her. Since Scalpel was his father, too… then he’d have to be very aware of Safaia, right?

“Hey, uh, what’s she doing here?” asked Ace.

“Sh-She followed me home and wanted to train with me, too,” I replied. “She’s chill, I promise!”

Bryson walked over to me and asked, “How are the bruises?”

“Healed,” I responded. “I think it might be the serum that’s been changing me.”

Bryson nodded, then looked towards the twins. “So, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but… you’re gonna have to fight Tsuki. No dualies.”

Shocked, I stared at Bryson. “What?! Why?!”

“Because I like to see newbies like you squirm!” shouted Tsuki, pointing her splatana at me. “You’re going up against a physical fighter, right? Ana knows your weaknesses, so we’re gonna pretend I’m her and you’re gonna run and scream!”

“Th-This is ridiculous!” I spouted. “You can’t honestly expect me to fight her already?!”

Bryson shot an angry glare. “You asked for me to train you, so I’m training you! You need to take big steps if you’re going to improve!”

Liv then stepped forward. “Uh, I also have to participate…”

“E-Excuse me?” I questioned.

“I have to use my blaster on you at the same time while you’re fighting Tsuki,” she explained.

“And I’ve gotta use my Hydra,” said Ace, looking regretful as he revved up his weapon. “Look, Bryson’s not joking. This is what he’s put through almost every day. We’ll try to go easy on you, alright?”

“I can’t do this!” I shouted. “I’ll be slaughtered!”

“You’re lucky I’m not letting Taiyo fight you!” shouted Bryson. “DO YOU WANNA BE AN INKLING OR DO YOU WANNA BE A WEAKLING?!”

“I wanna be an inkling!” I screamed back at him.

“THEN FIGHT TSUKI!” Bryson commanded.

Tsuki and I moved out to the very center of the warehouse. Ace and Liv were both side by side with her and this greatly convinced me that I needed to ignore all distraction from their ink. I needed to only focus on Tsuki…

The moment Bryson blew the whistle, Tsuki charged me at near-lightning speeds, forcing me to jump out of the way and roll just to dodge her swing! I growled and was reminded that I needed to fight her with my own bare hands. This was so… stupid! I rushed her and Ace struck me with rapid-fire ink from his Hydra, the ink stinging way more than usual.

It… It felt like it was burning my skin!

“St-Stop the training!” I shouted.

“No stopping!” Bryson screamed. “A warrior ignores pain and keeps going!”

No, no, no! This wasn’t good! Ugh, if it had to be this way, then… fine! I simply began screaming, gurgling pouring out from my throat in a warcry just so I could try and ignore the pain. I’m not sure why, but screaming somehow dampened the pain for me. With this going on, I went in for a punch to Tsuki’s stomach, but she grabbed my fist and flipped me over her onto my back. As I stood back up, I felt Liv’s blaster hitting me full force, making me scream again.

If Tsuki was going to expect punches and kicks, then maybe I had to do something else…

She zoomed in, her splatana ready to hit me. Looking at her weapon, I noticed the ink on the wiper portion of it, and as much as I didn’t want to, I knew I needed to. I reached up and grabbed it, the ink burning my palm and making me scream even louder. I yanked hard on the splatana, pulling Tsuki towards me as I kneed her stomach, then kicked her away, keeping ahold of her splatana.

Her weapon was mine now.

I flipped the splatana and grabbed onto the ink-free handle, relieved. I needed this advantage, and so I was going to take it! I began swinging the splatana in her direction, surprisingly finding that I could fling ink just as easily without getting in close!

And so, I did just that, flinging ink at her and hitting her each time. On the second hit, Bryson blew the whistle, smirking. “Alright! Match over! Good job!”

I dropped the splatana and dropped onto my hands and knees, my skin still burning from the ink on it. “Ghh… It h-hurts…”

Ace, noticing what I’d said, walked over to me and held out his hand. “Does it burn?”

I looked at him with fearful eyes, taking his hand. “Yeah…?”

“Looks like you’re becoming more and more like an inkling…” he said, looking a little worried. “For us, we usually get splatted before the pain becomes too much to bear, but… it must be a nightmare for you.”

I nodded and leaned against him, the ink on my skin slowly evaporating, the burning pain eventually ceasing. “I’m still competing…”

Bryson, watching Ace and I, adjusted his shades, biting his lower lip. As Safaia walked up to him, he glared at her. “What do you want?” he asked with an annoyed tone.

“Train me…?” she asked, a piercing gaze on her face.

“Why would I train you?” he questioned. “Get away from me!”

“Bry…” Ace called out. “Don’t. C’mon. Be nice to her.”

Bryson and Ace exchanged tense glances, the two of them with conflicting beliefs.

“Want to help her,” said Safaia. “My sister. Only human… Bones like mine…”

So, Scalpel did tell her everything…

“Hmph, really now?” Bryson replied. “Why should I trust you?”

“I relate to her…” Safaia answered. “I want to help her… support her…”

“I don’t trust you. Like, at all,” Bryson responded, pushing her back.

Safaia gave an unnatural kind of gurgling, her teeth bared as she gave an instinctive warning. Taiyo seemed to notice this, walking over and grabbing her shoulder.

“Some won’t understand…” said Taiyo. “Don’t strain yourself.”

After receiving a dirty look from pretty much everyone, Bryson sweated. “Ugh… F-Fine! You can train with her! But I’m putting you through the same treatment! I won’t give mercy!”

Ace shook his head. “Bryson, you and I need to have a talk later.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bryson waved dismissively. “Look, we’ll have both Amelia and… what’s your name?”

“Safaia,” I answered.

“Whatever,” Bryson coldly said. “Amelia and Safaia will both fight Taiyo. All hand-to-hand. Taiyo, no weapons. Specials are allowed.”

Taiyo glared at Bryson for a moment, then looked at Safaia with sympathy. Tsuki, I could handle, but I’d seen how the undead inklings fought. They were often more tenacious, faster than normal inklings. Since I’d have Safaia by my side, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, right…?

As everyone stepped out of the way to make room, Taiyo looked at me, a smirk on his face. He seemed to be slightly taller than me and I could only assume he was probably sixteen. That would mean he had more experience in battle, so I had to take that into account and be cautious. With Safaia by my side, perhaps she could even out the fight. I knew that with my diminishing human biology, I’d be at a disadvantage, so I was grateful to Safaia for offering to fight by my side.

“Get ready,” said Bryson. “The moment I blow the whistle, the fight starts.”

I tensed my stance, prepared to get in close and try to get a few good hits in. “I’m ready,” I said.

The moment the whistle blew, however, I knew I wasn’t ready.

Taiyo was already inches away from me, his hand on my face and gripping it tightly.

Thankfully, Safaia intervened, ramming her shoulder into him and causing him to let me go. As I tried to gather my wits, I saw the two fighting with great speed, both of them snarling and trying to deliver punches that… were very scary.

These weren’t normal punches. They had their limiters off. Each punch was literally just a Splashdown special that caused ink to fly with every collision their fists made with each other. I didn’t like what this would mean for me. Ink to my skin would now burn me, and I was afraid of the pain, but remembering that I just needed to keep screaming, I moved in, attempting to deliver my own punch, but I missed Taiyo entirely as he stepped out of the way and kicked me back.

It seemed Safaia had a better grasp of his movements than I did. Were undead inklings capable of perceiving threats faster than anyone else could? This was something I now needed to consider. If I wanted to take on Taiyo, I needed to wait for the right moment. Safaia was a perfect distraction and I didn’t want to waste it.

While he was occupied with blocking her punches with his own, I ran behind him, waiting. After a few seconds, while Safaia landed a blow to his stomach, I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind and held him tightly while Safaia continued to deliver punches.

Tsuki, seeing that Taiyo couldn’t last much longer, shouted, “Stop the match!”

Taiyo didn’t seem to agree. He elbowed me in the face and sent me onto my back, my head hitting the concrete ground. A jarring pain resonated through my body from my skull, but I wasn’t done yet. Getting up, I thought to myself for a moment.

Ace never gave me a limiter yet.

How did I summon that autobomb launcher again…? Gah… Didn’t I have to be in the zone? I needed adrenaline! “Safaia! Out of the way!” I shouted, and she surprisingly listened. I got in front of Taiyo and tried to swing my own punches. I knew I’d miss. I knew he’d hit me, and he did. My body went through intense pain whenever he’d punch either my head or my chest, the Splashdown special covering my entire body with ink.

I needed this… I knew that if I received some kind of rush, even through the pain, I could perform a special. I just need my autobomb launcher!

It wasn’t long until my head caught aflame in a sandy-blonde coloring. The way it lit up, I could see his face illuminated. I was ready! I pulled together all my willpower and materialized… something that wasn’t an autobomb launcher.

I felt… different. As he knocked me back a few feet with a extra-powerful punch, my body felt more like… jelly. Once I stood back up and looked down at myself, I wanted to scream in fear, unable to comprehend what had happened to me!

I was made entirely out of ink!

“Is that a ZIPCASTER?!” shouted Liv in shock.

“No way!” Ace shouted with enthusiasm. “AMELIA! YOUR ARMS CAN STRETCH NOW! YOU’RE LITERALLY A FULLBLOWN SQUINJA!”

Thinking about what Ace had said, I looked at my hand with realization.

Oh, yeah, I’m gonna do some major damage with this…

I pushed my arm forward, feeling it stretch out as if it were made of super-stretchy springs, and as I grabbed onto Taiyo’s shoulder, I propelled myself towards him, hitting him with a large splash of sand-colored ink and sending him flying!

I was surprised when he stood back up with no problem. He was strong, and this scared me a little, but with adrenaline pumping through my body, I felt certainty as I grabbed onto his arm and zipped towards him once again!

Once I was in reach, though, he gripped my face directly and slammed into the ground, a Splashdown being delivered point blank. The pain of both hitting the concrete and the burning ink, was enough to knock me out of my special, reverting me back into just another human ragdoll. That wasn’t as much damage as I’d thought I’d be able to dish out…

Before Taiyo could do anything else, Bryson blew the whistle. “Alright! That’s enough!”

Taiyo immediately let go of my face, the undead inkling walking back over to Tsuki. Safaia ran over to me, helping me up and asking, “Broken bones…?”

“N-None yet,” I answered, rubbing my forehead. “Hurts, though…”

“Amelia. C’mere,” Bryson instructed. “We’re going for a walk. I need to talk to you.”

“Think you can make it back to the apartment?” I asked Safaia. She nodded and gave one last glance to Taiyo before proceeding to leave the warehouse.

“You want Liv and I to come with?” asked Ace.

“Nah,” said Bryson. “This is important.”

“Suit yourself,” said Ace. “I’m headin’ home.”

“Same…” said Liv.

The twins didn’t say a word. They simply left the warehouse without so much as looking at me. I was a little worried a while ago. Taiyo was insanely strong. Was it because he was undead or was Tsuki just as strong as well?”

I pushed aside those thoughts and walked with Bryson. We seemed to be heading in the direction of the docks, where I’d see Guava sitting on the edge of a pier. As we approached, Guava noticed us without even looking.

“You’re so stupid, you know that?” Guava said to me. “Too innocent, too naive.”

“She’s learning,” said Bryson. Turning to me, he told me, “The plan was… a success.”

“What plan…?” I questioned, confused.

“You idiot!” shouted Guava as she stood up and faced me, a look of anger on her face. “Bryson, how do you put up with her?!”

“Guava, chill…” said Bryson. Looking at me, he explained, “We were able to successfully fake Guava’s death while you were in stuck in Splatsville.”

“S-So she’s not going to be chased by the Annakis anymore?” I asked.

“Not entirely true…” said a voice I could just barely recognize.

Walking onto the pier was a familiar face, back when I’d first visited Bryson’s home. It was Edward Annaki, his older brother, wearing a black suit and looking at me with his piercing orange eyes. His hairstyle was hidden underneath a beret that was almost identical to Bryson’s.

Looking at Guava, Edward smiled. “It’s been a while, little sis.”

“Step off, jerk!” Guava shouted.

“I’m not here to harm anyone,” Edward clarified. “Father still thinks your death has been faked. I’ve never been one to be so easily fooled. I’m here to congratulate you.”

“For what…?” I questioned.

“For actually leaving the Annaki family,” said Edward.

Guava walked over to Edward, the two of them swapping intense glares. It felt like there was a fight about to go down, but nothing happened. All Guava did was push Edward back and walk away. Bryson put a hand on my shoulder and sighed.

“Edward and Guava could never get along, but not for the reasons you might think,” he said.

As Edward approached Bryson and I, he looked at me with an indifferent expression. “Pfft… Bryson. You know what Father will do when he finds out.”

“If he finds out,” said Bryson. “I know you won’t tell. You care about Guava, too.”

“You underestimate his influence,” Edward warned. “If Father finds out you faked Guava’s death instead of actually doing the job, he will send me after you. You know I don’t want that…”

Bryson avoided looking at Edward. “Don’t…”

“Bry… Please,” said Edward. “Your reputation is on the line…”

“I know,” Bryson almost shouted. I could see the angst in his voice. He didn’t want to argue with a brother he looked up to. “Just… pretend you didn’t know, okay? If Dad sends you to come after me, then… you come after me. That’s it. I don’t care.”

“You don’t care for his approval?” questioned Edward.

“I’ve tried for the longest time to get Dad to notice my efforts…” said Bryson. “I don’t want to let him down. I don’t know what I’d do if I were kicked out, or shunned, or even targeted. It’s… starting to hurt. He insulted Ace, he insulted my ability, and I know he hurt you more than he hurt me…”

I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. In all honesty, it made me uncomfortable. Edward’s gaze momentarily aimed towards me, then back to Bryson in less than a second. “That’s the past. I’m training you. Not him. Be thankful about that.”

“Aren’t you sick of it?!” Bryson suddenly shouted, giving Edward the most intense glare I’d ever seen him give.

“Don’t question the Annaki way,” said Edward. “You know why we do what we do. If there ever should be a tyrant, there must be at least one of us alive to take that menace down. The more of us, the better. The stronger, the easier. I was hurt for the sake of the family. I was hurt for your sake! Be glad Father isn’t the one to teach you!”

There was a long silence. What was Bryson’s father really like…? What had happened to Edward? Was Edward protecting Bryson? So many questions, but I was scared to find out the answers. I didn’t want to make it worse, so I stayed quiet.

“It still hurt me…” said Bryson. “Sometimes the training is too much…”

Edward rolled up the sleeve of his right arm to reveal a scar that looked like a splotch of sorts, a patch raised slightly higher than the rest of his skin, a shape that made me question what’d caused it. “At least I’m not leaving you a physical reminder,” he said before rolling it back down.

How bad did a scar have to be that a spawn point couldn’t fix it…?

“I guess…” muttered Bryson.

Edward looked at me, his orange eyes matching the same shade as the sky. There was pain in those eyes and I knew it was irreversible just from seeing it. This was an inkling who was trapped in an older generation’s set ways. To have to bear a burden like that was a scary thought. I could never imagine, or maybe I could, knowing that I was representing humanity.

But, then again, I was just an ordinary girl. This was a warrior.

Edward turned and left, and Bryson stood at the edge of the pier, looking out at the sunset. I stood next to him and watched as the sun went down. The silence was more than what words could say. Bryson was under so much more pressure than I had initially imagined.

I noticed him trembling, his hand gripping the edge of the pier tightly, his cheeks soaked with tears, but his expression kept stoic, simply staring ahead at the sunset. I slowly and gently placed my hand atop his. I wanted to comfort him, knowing Ace wasn’t here to help.

“Thanks…” he whispered, still staring ahead. "I didn't want Ace to see this. You needed to know, though... You got Guava to listen to me."

“I’m here for you,” I whispered back, trying to remain calm. Just seeing him cry moved my heart and made me want to cry as well. When I had first met him, he was the boy who didn’t need anyone else. He was the professional warrior with no weaknesses.

But today, I’d learned…

He was hurting almost constantly.

It proved I could never judge a book by its cover, no matter how strong the binding seemed. I wished there was more I could do to help him, but all I could do was smile and say I was there for him. Was that even enough…?

Later that night, I went home thinking about it. Safaia had been allowed by Bram to stay over for the night. Nem had contacted a lawyer and had a meeting planned for tomorrow. Safaia seemed to notice my blank expression and so she sat very close to me as we all watched movies that night. I wanted to tell her it was fine, but I think she was able to figure me out.

Oddly enough, Safaia wanted to watch a few monster flicks, one of them being about zombies, which surprised us. Although she was cold, she displayed friendliness that warmed the heart, staying nestled close between Nem and I. It was odd to see that she was actually frightened by the scary movies. She’d jump, even at the sight of zombies on the screen, despite being undead herself.

To me, she was more than her label. She was a person. She deserved to be treated as such. I felt it was unfair that I’d been labeling her as undead when she was just as alive as I was. It brought upon feelings of guilt, and I wanted to make up for it.

Later that night, Nem had realized a small problem. My room was actually Safaia’s old room, so there was a bit of complication there. I let her sleep there that night while I slept on the couch. It was the least I could do after making so many assumptions of her.

But…

Late that night, shortly after midnight, I awoke to the sound of footsteps. Standing there in the hallway was Safaia, her eyes glowing in the dark as she stared at me with the most sinister death glare. There was a primal expression of anger on her face, and it traumatized me.

I could only remember what Berry had told me about her.

“She… stares at me when I’m trying to sleep at night. I’ll sometimes see her in the doorway and… her eyes would just watch me.”