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[orbitaldeathwoomy]

[A few days later...]

"Hey, Urs... Are you feeling alright? You've seemed kind of off since the other day."

"It's nothing. I just thought I saw someone following me when I was on my way home from the Turf War lobby."

"Ugh, that's so creepy. If it happens again, let me know okay? I'll make sure whoever it was stops."

"Thank you for your concern, but--"

[Suddenly, there's a knock at their door. Ursula gets up to answer it, looking through the eyehole on the door... And immediately takes a few steps back, eyes wide and heart pounding.]

「N-No... It can't be...」

「Ursula? What's wrong?」

「It's my... my parents...」

「What? Really?」

[Kori gently moves between Ursula and the door and looks through the eyehole. Sure enough, there are two older Octolings standing outside -- a woman with hot pink tentacles and a beautiful face, and a man with blue rings spotting his deep purple tentacles. She can definitely see the resemblance between them and Ursula. Her voice then lowers to a whisper.]

「Okay... Okay. Let's just. Not answer it. Maybe they'll leave if they think we're not home.」

[She then moves to lead the terrified Ursula to her bedroom.. Until their door is literally kicked open.]

「Hey! The hell do you think you're doing?!」

[The two ignore Kori completely, their focus on Ursula as they approach her.]

「So this is where you've been.」

[Ursula nervously nods.]

「And your brother?」

[Ursula remains silent, much to the ire of her father. He forcefully grabs her, digging his venomous claws into her arm.]

「Answer me when I'm talking to you, traitor!」

[He slaps Ursula across the face hard, before pushing her to the floor.]

"U-Ursula!"

「Now tell me where your brother is.」

「I... I haven't seen him since I last visited Inkopolis.」

「And where exactly did you see him?」

「Like that's any of your--」

[Ursula shakes her head at Kori, effectively silencing the yellow Octoling before she hangs her head a little.]

「There's... a sweets shop he frequents, near the plaza...」

「Good girl.」

[Ursula's mother then gestures for her husband to follow her out the door, only looking back to give Ursula a wicked smile.]

「Don't get too comfortable. Once we've given him his just desserts, we're coming back for you.」

[Ursula's parents exit the apartment, leaving Ursula and Kori stunned in their wake. After a moment, Ursula shakily stands up and makes her way to the table where she left her cell phone.]

"Wait, you're father's a blue-ringed, right? We need to get you to a hospital!"

"I'll be fine. But I... I need to warn my brother..."

[orbitaldeathwoomy]

[Ruby leads Cerrin back to the front door. After a few seconds of silence, she looks over to him.]

"You ready?"

"As I'll ever be..."

[She sighs, before opening the door and gesturing for Tsukuyo and Susano to enter.]

「Please, come in.」

[The two soldiers do so, their gazes focused on Cerrin as they turn to him.]

「You've grown, Cyren.」

「Yeah. No thanks to you.」

[Susano glares at Cerrin, anger beginning to burn in his deep blue eyes.]

「I see living on the surface has taught you nothing but disrespect.」

[Cerrin falls silent. This only pisses his father off further, but before he can lash out Tsukuyo puts her arm in front of him to stop him. She then closes the space between her and Cerrin a bit and moves to touch him, but he immediately takes a step back.]

「Keep your hands off of me.」

[Tsukuyo slaps Cerrin hard across the face.]

「Hey, there's no need for—」

「You've forgotten when to hold your tongue, Cyren.」

[Cerrin glares at her, but remains silent.]

「Now, to the matter at hand... Why did you never return? We thought you were dead.」

「Don't act like you care.」

「You disgrace our family, disgrace the army, then have the nerve to speak to us like that? Your treachery knows no bounds.」

[Cerrin sighs softly.]

「Just tell me why you came here, or leave.」

「Then I'll make this simple, for your sake – Leave this frivolous life and come back underground, or face the consequences of your actions.」

「Like I'd ever let that happen.」

[Tsukuyo and Susano shift their gazes to Ruby.]

「What makes you think you have any say in this, Inktoling?」

[Ruby folds her arms.]

「Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that you tried to kill him when he decided to get away from your abuse, assumed he was dead when he never came back, and didn't bother to confirm that "death" until now?」

「Cyren is our son. You have no right to dictate—」

「And you have no right to make him leave! He may have been a kid when he came to the surface, but now he's over eighteen and you have no legal control over him anymore! I won't let you take him away!」

[A cruel smile then covers Tsukuyo's face as she moves aside, just enough for Susano to lunge toward Ruby.]

「Know your place, insolent half-breed!」

[Ruby flinches, bracing herself for the inevitable pain of the blue-ringed Octoling's assault... But it never comes. When she opens her eyes, she sees Cerrin standing between them, his father's claws deep in his left shoulder.]

"CERRIN—!"

[Susano rips his fingers out of Cerrin, causing him to stumble back. He's already bleeding badly, blue venom oozing out of his wounds.]

「We look forward to bringing you home, Cyren... So don't die, alright?」

[The two soldiers take their leave, satisfied with the conversation and the damage they'd done. Ruby immediately begins to panic, standing next to him and letting him use her as a crutch.]

"Oh cod, Cerrin, your shoulder...!"

[Cerrin's breathing is labored, his vision blurred slightly as he looks to her.]

"Ruby, you..." [Cue a strained breath.] 「...Are you okay...?」

"Why are you worried about me?? I’m—Oh, never mind, we have to get you to a hospital!"

[She quickly leads him outside to her car, being careful as she helps him into the front passenger seat before hurriedly taking the driver's seat. After a few panicked turns of the key in the ignition the car starts, and she doesn't even acknowledge his parents walking up the street as she speeds past them.]

[orbitaldeathwoomy]

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[orbitaldeathwoomy]

[After a few subway train rides and a short walk, Ruby and Cerrin arrive at her home. She unlocks the door and quickly ushers him inside, then hastily re-locks it behind them. She sighs heavily.]

"Okay... We should be good for now."

[Cerrin goes to the kitchen to put all the cake he bought away, with Ruby following close behind. When he's finished, he takes a cupcake out of the box he left on the counter and turns to her.]

"So... I guess you saw my parents while we were out?"

"Yeah, I did! Ursula sounded so worried when she called, too, so I had to get you out of there before they saw you!"

[Cerrin takes a bite out of his cupcake, one brow arched at her.]

"How are you so unconcerned about this??"

"I'm not, but I doubt they'd do something to me out in broad daylight. Too many potential witnesses, y'know?"

"I mean, I guess??"

"And besides, they didn't see me or where we went, right? That means I'm pretty much safe, and we don't have to worry too much."

"Somehow, I'm not so sure about that..."

[Meanwhile, in the shadows a decent distance up the private street Ruby's home is at the end of...]

「Hm. To think he's been hiding somewhere like this... It's almost impressive.」

「Living in the lap of luxury... How unfitting for a traitor. I should go in there right now and--」

「Calm yourself. Acting rashly will only draw attention, and we don't want that.」

「We just need some time to prepare...」

「Tch... Fine.」

[orbitaldeathwoomy]

[A few hours later, in Inkopolis...]

"Cerrin, do you really need all that cake?"

[Cerrin follows Ruby down the street, carrying a short stack of cupcake boxes and a whole cake with one arm.]

"Of course! I'm not the only one in the house who eats them, and if I want them to last longer then a day or two I have to get a lot!"

"Haha, I guess you're right."

[Cerrin moves to fish his phone out of his pocket, turning it off "Do Not Disturb" mode... Only to be bombarded my "missed call" alerts from his sister.]

"...Guess I should have left my phone on..."

[He quickly dials Ursula's number, laughing a little when she picks up.]

"Hey, Ursula! What's--"

"Where are you right now?"

"Uh... Ruby and I just left Sweetfish Bakery, why--"

"Our parents are here on the surface, and you need to get somewhere safe. Now."

"Wait, what? Are you su--"

[Ruby, having heard Ursula, suddenly takes Cerrin by his shoulders and starts leading him away. When he looks to her, confused, she takes his phone and starts talking.]

"Ursula, its Ruby. Your father is a blue-ringed with dark purple tentacles, and your mom has the same color as Cerrin with two pieces of kelp tied up in her bun, right?"

"Yes."

[Ruby takes a breath.]

"Okay. I promise I'll get Cerrin somewhere safe. Talk to you later."

[Ruby ends the call and shoves Cerrin's phone into her jacket pocket, before quickly guiding him up the sidewalk.]

"Uh... Ruby? What're you doing? What's going on??"

"I'll explain later, okay? Right now, we have to get on a train and go home."

"But, isn't your car parked down the other way??"

[Meanwhile, a certain pair of soldiers are standing outside the train station in the opposite direction.]

「Tsukuyo, I can't make sense of this damned map.」

「.........」

「Are you even listening to me?」

[Tsukuyo continues looking up the street, her gaze focused on Ruby... But, before the Inktoling can disappear into the crowds, Tsukuyo notices something vaguely familiar about the person she seems to be leading away from them.]

「It wouldn’t be so difficult if you could actually read Inklish, Susano. Not that we need that thing.」

「What exactly are you saying?」

「I'm saying forget the map, follow me, and keep quiet.」

[orbitaldeathwoomy]

[Ursula is walking home from Splatsville's Turf War lobby after a few hours of playing. She has her phone playing music through her earbuds, one of which is dangling down so she can hear her surroundings. Upon reaching her apartment building, she hears a noise coming from behind her. She turns around, and catches what seems like a person disappearing from her peripheral vision.]

"Is someone there?"

[No response.]

"Strange..."

[Deciding to ignore it for now, she proceeds into the building and to her apartment. Her roommate isn't home yet, so she puts her gear away and takes a nice, hot shower before relaxing for the rest of the afternoon.]

[A few hours later, in a dimly-lit hotel room in the heart of Splatsville...]

「I found her.」

「And the other one?」

「I've seen no signs he is even alive.」

「Well, I'm confident she would not have stayed in this wretched place if he was dead...」

「I believe an interrogation is in order.」

「Understood.」

[orbitaldeathwoomy]

[A few days pass without much incident. Ruby can't shake the occasional feeling of being watched, but for the most part Cerrin manages to ease her paranoia. Currently, the two are hanging out on the couch, with Ruby doodling in her sketchbook and Cerrin playing video games on the TV. He seems incredibly focused...]

"Hey, Cerrin?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think your parents would give up trying finding you, if we waited long enough?"

[Cerrin pauses his game and turns to her.]

"Well, based on the things Ursula's told me and what little I remember... No, not really".

"And you're still not worried?"

"Not exactly... I just keep telling myself that there's no way they'd find me here when they didn't even see us leave that day."

[Ruby puts her sketchbook down.]

"So you're gaslighting yourself into thinking you're sa--"

[Suddenly, the doorbell rings, interrupting her thought and pulling a sigh out of her.]

"I'll get it."

[Ruby stands up and makes her way to the front door. She takes a breath when she arrives, then opens the door. A certain two Octolings are standing there.]

「Excuse me, are you Miss Ruby Ar--」

[Ruby immediately slams the door, a panicked look on her face.]

[Thinking] 'Okay, Ruby, you need to stay calm... You can't yell or leave to warn Cerrin, your phone's on the kitchen table so you can't text him, and you can't just let them in. C'mon, you gotta think of something...!'

[A few moments pass, before she lets out a sigh and cautiously opens the door.]

「May I speak now?」

「Depends. Who are you?」

「Oh, where are my manners? My name is Tsukuyo Izumi, and this is my husband, Susano.」

[Tsukuyo gestures to Susano, who is standing behind her with his arms folded. He silently gives a small nod.]

「Okay... What do you want?」

「We have reason to believe you're housing our lost son, Cyren.」

[Ruby's eyes widen slightly, which doesn't go unnoticed by the two soldiers.]

「Mhm... You'll take us to him, won't you?」