Great Turf War

Day 9

Shio was the first to awaken that day. He wandered the halls aimlessly before going back to his room and slowly becoming the jester.

Waiting is the worst. I just wanna do something. Shio thought. A few minutes later, an announcement blared from the loudspeakers.

"Please report to the cafeteria. I repeat, please report to the cafeteria," the voice stated.

The hallway was filled with the gradually increasing sound of Inklings rummaging about and getting ready for the day. Shio and Callie led the charge while Sairento and Marie hung out in the back. After roll call, Captain Cuttlefish had a word with everyone.

"Hey everyone! For today, we got a history lesson!" Cuttlefish exclaimed. The group of young Inklings seemed unamused at this proclamation.

Really? Shio thought.

"Yeah, we will visit the historical museum of the Great Turf War! Except I'm not going," Cuttlefish declared.

"Today, you will be going to the museum with my friend, Wahoo!"

He's that excited? Shio thought. After Cuttlefish's message, they were met with an old man in a wheelchair. Once the senior Inkling appeared, the Inkling recruits filled the room with whispers. They could not believe that a living Inkling on this very planet would be named, "Wahoo."

What they saying about my man Wahoo? Cuttlefish thought.

"Attention!" the Inkling named Wahoo exclaimed. He had a pretty serious demeanour and the presence of a stern old man.

"Today, I'm going to take you guys to the Great Turf war museum. It has some interesting stuff so follow me," Wahoo explained.

After his brief explanation, he and the young Inklings moved to the warehouse. The room was stockpiled with many boxes and the old man shoved through the boxes to find the center of the room. He then sweeped off the boxes to find a very, very huge manhole cover. He asked some young Inklings to open it, leading to an underground passageway. The Inklings, including Wahoo, turned into their squid forms and swam into the passageway.

After a short while, they arrived at the museum. To the contrast of the dim lighting of the passageway, it was very bright. There were many portraits, weapons stored in glass cases, and statues.

"I may be your guide, but you guys can go anywhere you like. Just don't try to harm anything here," Wahoo cautioned.

Right after Wahoo said that, he crawled over to the right side of the room to find another wheelchair. He wheeled over to look at a certain picture. The exhibitions displayed past events of great importance, like the scientific revolution a certain scientist caused, improving the Inklings' weapons, or the Inklings' first victory against the Octolings.

The gang ventured into the weapon exhibit, where they found an ancient stick. Clearly, it was not as it seemed, for its label read, "Bamboozler Mk I."

"This is a weapon?" Callie murmured.

"There's no way," Shio remarked. "This has to be a joke."

"Well, they wouldn't care if a certain stick parted with them," Sairento said sarcastically.

"I trust that you will not touch this relic?" Marie questioned.

"I do not intend to trifle with such an unfashionable weapon," Sairento assured.

They walked past a few more prototypes, with their wielder's name and rank inscribed on gold plates. After the group browsed the artifacts, they encountered an eccentric weapon. It was a sickle, though no ordinary Inkling had ever seen such a thing. Its blade was gleaming, either with honor, or with bloodlust. There was no name or rank on the weapon. Just a tool of war.

"Why isn't there anything on the description?" Shio inquired.

"Fool, it is He Who Shall Not Be Named in this grand museum," Sairento declared.

"Ah! Due to this insight, I can now sense the villainous aura from this pointy thing," Shio said in his revelation.

"I believe we should move on to a different weapon! There are more pleasantries elsewhere," Sairento suggested.

"Alright then," Shio replied. The four moved on to other weapons; the sickle, while mysterious, did not hold any value. They saw many weapons on their self-proclaimed museum tour, from rustic weapons to outright bizarre ones. As the Inklings spent their time looking at the antiques displayed, Wahoo looked at the exhibit of a major event.

It displayed a giant painting of Arowana Castle. There were Inklings and Octolings fighting, with the portrayal of the siege being very grievous. However, that did not compare to experiencing the real event. History may see the siege as a victory, but the ones who lived through it only see tragedy.

As he stared at the replication, he heard footsteps. He looked to the left to see Cuttlefish, in an obvious disguise but the Inkling recruits were focused more on the weapons or portraits instead of looking at some random dude.

"Looking here, huh?" Cuttlefish questioned.

"Yeah," Wahoo responded.

"It sure was something. Although it was years ago, the moments leading up to it and the battle are still fresh in my memory," Cuttlefish remarked.

"Looks like we can't move on," Wahoo said sadly.

"Not until this war is over. We just gotta keep waiting until the young generation is ready," Cuttlefish replied, maintaining positive energy in the conversation.

"When will that day come?"

"We won't know until it happens," Cuttlefish said with uncertainty. A look of resignation overcame Wahoo's face.

"Well, at least stick around until the recruits prove themselves," Cuttlefish suggested.

"I can't say wahoo to that, but I'll try my best," Wahoo sighed. Cuttlefish then pushed Wahoo's wheelchair away from the exhibit.

"Don't sulk here for too long. If we can't leave this event behind in our minds, let's at least get away from this thing," Cuttlefish solemnly said.

Cuttlefish dragged Wahoo's wheelchair back to near the entrance. To hide that he was here, Cuttlefish turned into squid form, and slipped out of the museum. Wahoo decided it would be a good time to end the event here.

"All Inklings, the museum visit is now over. I repeat, the museum visit is now over," Wahoo announced. The young Inklings sighed as they transformed into squids and entered the passageway. Once they made their way out and made the passageway hidden once again, the Inklings were free to do whatever they wanted. Meanwhile, Cuttlefish headed back to his Captain's dorm, a much more spacious room than the others.

The Arowana Siege. The event that kick started my career, that gave me power. But power can't make up for the things I've lost. Cuttlefish thought. There was this abyss that ate up all of the thoughts in Captain Cuttlefish's consciousness. As he sat there, a thought suddenly came to mind.

Have I served my purpose here?

As Cuttlefish sat down in his room, he thought about the events of the Arowana Siege, from beginning to end.