An Octoling's Tale

Chapter 7

Desti, Meggy, and Sam were over at the Galleria shopping for clothes.

"What do you think about this?" Desti asked as she grabbed a light blue tank top.

"Maybe you should try it on," Meggy responded. "There's a changing room right over there. You can try these on as well," Meggy added as she handed Desti a pair of shorts with a blue stripe on them.

Desti walked into the changing room and came out a couple seconds later wearing the tank top and shorts.

"Well, what do you think?" Desti asked as she brushed back a tentacle.

"You look great Desti," Meggy replied with a giggle.

"You…You look gorgeous," Sam said while bushing a little.

"Awww. Thank you." Desti returned to the changing room and came out with the clothes in her arms.

"We should probably get you some pants. It gets really cold here in the winter."

"I know. My sister forced me to stay up here during the winter a couple times."

"Oh."

"With nothing on."

"Just how bad is your sister?" Sam asked.

"She would uh...she would often beat me for the smallest of things," Desti replied. "She would also send me to bed with nothing to eat, hang me by my feet completely naked over a pit of piranhas, or even threaten to kill me."

"How could you live like that?"

"I didn't really have an option. She was the only family I had left. My parents were both killed when I was young, about four or five I think."

"Damn. That's so sad."

"I don't really like to talk about it."

"I can see why. You lost your parents when you were at a young age and were forced to live with an abusive older sibling," Meggy said. "Come on, let's get these clothes paid for."

They picked out the rest of the clothes and paid for them. They walked outside and back to their place when Desti stopped in front of an alleyway.

Meggy stopped and turned around. "Desti? What's wrong?"

"This alleyway, it seems familiar." Desti started to walk down the alleyway.

Sam and Meggy followed Desti until they came across a headless body lying on the ground that was starting to decompose. The body didn't have any clothes on it, so they could tell it belonged to a female.

"Desti?" Meggy asked. "Do you recognize who this body belongs to?"

"Unfortunately yes," Desti answered. "It belonged to your sister."

"You mean that's Starla's body?" Sam questioned. Desti nods in confirmation. "If that's her body, then where's her head?"

"There isn't one," Desti replied, "at least not any more. My sister...she…" Desti couldn't bring herself to say it as tears rolled down her cheek.

"Was this why you tried to save inklings?"

"No, actually, I had snuck up to the surface with a couple friends and we saw a family of inklings," Desti said. "They were playing in a park. They looked so happy together. Then, my sister and her troops showed up and…"

"It must've been hard to watch that."

"I was only five when I witnessed that. Since then, my friends and I decided to form a rebellion to bring an end to the killings," Desti recalled. "Over the years I had lost some close friends to the Octarian troopers. It wasn't until five days ago that I had lost my closest and oldest friend, who just so happened to have also been my boyfriend. Now, I'm all that's left of the rebellion. Come on, let's get out of here."

Desti grabbed a roll of cloth that was in the alleyway and wrapped what was left of the body in it. They carried the body back to their place and buried it in the backyard. That night, Desti snuck out and returned to the underground city. She had her hood over her head to hide the tentacles and a mask to cover her face. She snuck into Stacy's apartment and into her room.

Stacy was sleeping in her bed with an arm around her high powered plasma rifle. Desti removed her boots and tip-toed on the hardwood floor to the dresser. She carefully opened one of the drawers and pulled out a box. She opened the box and found bundles of Octopons. She pocketed the money, returned the box, and snuck out of the room. She entered the living room and found Roland looking at her.

"Lil' D?" Roland whispered.

"Uh…"

Roland approached Desti and gave her a hug. "I've missed you lil' D."

"But Roland…"

"I know." Roland released the hug and pulled some Octopons out of his pocket, handing them to Desti. "Be careful."

"Thanks," Desti said as she pocketed the Octopons. She left the apartment and went down to level twelve. She went up to the building that her and Ben used to live in and entered it, finding that most everything was still there. She walked to her room and found her suitcase hidden away behind a dresser. She pulled it out and set it on the bed. Upon opening it, she found her .50 gaus plasma rifle in it.

Desti searched the room and found some of her belongings and packed them into the suitcase. She opened a closet door and found her old ink tank sitting in a corner. "Looks like they took the splattershot that was with this," Desti thought as she put on the ink tank. She then grabbed her suitcase and left the building. She decided to head even lower into the city and came across the rundown store she knew as OctoMart. She entered the building and made her way to the office and knocked on the door.

"Enter." Desti removed her mask and entered the office. "Desti? Desti Octari?"

"Hey Gus! Long time no see," Desti said as she looked at the aging Octoling.

"My my. Look at you. You've grown," Gus said as he leaned forward in his chair. "You shouldn't be here. You're a wanted fugitive now. If the Nightwatch catches you down here, you're gonna end up wishing you hadn't come. So, what brings you to my store."

"I was wondering if you still had the items I sold you a while back."

"Yeah, I still have them," Gus said as he grabbed a bin full of stuff. "I haven't been able to sell any of it. They're yours if you want 'em."

"Thank you." Desti opened the suitcase and put the items in it while also pulling out her clothes. "I was wondering if you would like to buy these off of me."

"Let me guess, you found a place on the surface and someone bought you some new clothes." Desti nods. "Let's see what we have here. Hmmm. I would say for all of this, about two fifty."

Desti accepts the offer and pockets the two hundred and fifty Octopons. "So, how's business been going for you?"

"Eh, same old same old. Business actually started booming since you became a fugitive."

"Maybe I should've become a fugitive much sooner," Desti said with a chuckle.

Gus chuckled. "Yeah. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too Gus."

"Come give me a hug," Gus said with his arms extended. Desti walked around the desk and gave Gus a hug. "You were always like a daughter to me."

"I know Gus. I know." Desti broke away from the hug. "I should probably get going. The inklings I'm living with are probably worried about me."

"Yeah. Oh, I almost forgot. I got you something," Gus said as he started rummaging through the bins. "Now where did I put it? Aha!" Gus pulled out a box and handed it to Desti. "Happy early Birthday kid."

"Thanks Gus. You didn't have to do this you know."

"I know, but still, go ahead and open it."

Desti opened the box and pulled out a picture. The picture was of her and her family before her parents died.

"Thank you Gus. I love it," Desti said as she carefully placed it in her suitcase.

"No problem kid. I had that thing sitting on my shelf for quite a while now. I figured you would want it. Now go before they find you."

Desti replaced her mask and left the store.