Splatoon: The Guild

Chapter 3

Calypso thanked the jelly again and opened the door and walked out of The Shoal.

She was so embarrassed and confused talking to the jelly at the registration counter, she didn't want to make even more of a fool of herself by asking what and why she had registered. She would just have to figure it out another way.

She looked at her Splatphone. It was mostly rectangular, but then at one of the ends, it was triangular, making the whole thing look like an arrow.

She'd seen the arrow around the square. It seemed to represent inklings when in their squid form.

Calypso wasn't sure how she knew all of this, but she did. She new general information on inklings and their culture, but not much recollection of actually being an inkling and being a part of their culture.

She scanned Inkopolis Square, looking at the inklings and shops. Across the street was the Galleria. It had all of the freshest gear one could hope for. Calypso wondered how she knew this too. Everything felt so foreign to her, but the facts were ingrained into her brain.

She decided to go and check out the Galleria. After all, no one seemed to be willing to talk to her while looking like this. She had to get some new threads.

Calypso walked towards one of the white buildings. The sign read "Ye Olde Cloth Shoppe". 

"That's an interesting name for a shop," Calypso thought to herself.

She didn't have any money, but she figured she could at least look at what they had and see the prices.

Calypso approached the clear door, which slide open as she got closer.

Inside the shop were several other inklings browsing shirts and jackets. Behind the counter was a jelly similar to the one that Calypso met in The Shoal.

This jelly, however, seemed much more fashionable. He wore a stylish fedora hat, a black shirt with purple polka dots, and a dashing green bow tie. He was also slightly more purple than the blue jelly from The Shoal.

Calypso approached the counter where the jelly stood.

"Welcome to Ye Old Cloth Shoppe! I'm Jelfonzo, and- Fie! Thou hast all the freshness of a piece of salted cod! Lo! A salted codpiece!" Jelfonzo exclaimed, and put his hands to his face.

Calypso looked at him, very confused. She couldn't tell if he was insulting or complimenting her.

"Um, sorry, but what did you say?" Calypso asked.

"Could I but help thee, I would... but alas I must turn thee hence." said Jelfonzo, shaking his head.

"What do you mean?" asked Calypso.

The jelly shook his head once more.

"Thou hast not the level required of my wares. Shouldst thou reach level 4, mine arms shall be open." said Jelfonzo.

"Level 4? Level 4 of what?" asked Calypso.

By now, the other inklings in the shop had taken notice to their conversation. Some began to giggle.

"Get thee to a Regular Battle, and return hither once thy level hath been raised. I shant speak to thou any longest, for my patrons whilst no longer desire to shop at a place that serves the lower levels. Please, begone! I pray you!" said Jelfonzo, as he turned his head away from Calypso and folded his arms.

Calypso scowled at him and looked at the other inklings, some videoing now with their Splatphones.

Calypso clenched her fists and stormed out of the shop. Her face was red with anger and embarrassment.

"Why was that jelly so rude?" Calypso thought, her fists still clenched in a ball.

She tried the other shops as well, but all had the same result. No one wanted her in their shop until she had reached level 4, except the weapons shop which only required her to be level 2.

She looked around the square angrily, when she noticed someone watching her.

Across the street, leaning against a lamp poll, was an inkling boy. He had blue hair pulled back into a ponytail, with the right side shaved.  His arms were folded, and he seemed to have a smirk on his face.

She wondered how long he had been watching her, and if he'd seen her get kicked out of ever shop in the Galleria.

Calypso looked behind her to see if he was looking at someone else, but no one was behind her. When she turned and looked back at the lamppost, he was gone.

Calypso shrugged it off and walked over to one of the circular tables that were set up around the square. She sat down in one of the chairs, and the inklings sitting across from her immediately left.

Calypso rolled her eyes and put her head in her hands.

All of the sudden, she heard a loud noise, and she jumped out of her seat. She realized it was music of some sort, and the inklings around the square started to cheer.

Calypso looked up at Deca Tower, where the music was coming from.

On top of Deca Tower, there was a screen, and two inkling girls appeared on the screen.

The one on the left was much shorter than the other. She had white hair with some pink tints at the ends, and wore a white dress and crown.

Calypso then looked at the inkling on the right. As she looked closer, she realized she wasn't an inkling at all. She was an octoling!

Calypso was even more confused. She didn't remember what an octoling was until now. All she could remember about octolings and octarians was that they were enemies to the inklings, so what was this one doing here?

"Y'all know what time it is!" Said the inkling girl.

"It's Off The Hook, coming at you LIVE from Inkopolis Square!" said the octoling.

"We are here with BREAKING NEWS!" said the inkling.

"Really what is it Pearl?" Said the Octoling.

So that's what her name was.

"That's right Marina, BREAKING NEWS! A few hours ago, the Great Zapfish was stolen! Again! And what's even worse, pop superstar Callie from the Squid Sisters is missing too!" exclaimed Pearl.

"What is a Zapfish? And who is Callie?" thought Calypso.

The two hosts continued talking about the apparent crisis, and then began announcing new battle stages.

As Calypso was pondering what they had said about the Great Zapfish and Callie, she saw "Regular Battle Stages" flash across the top of the screen. Jelfonzo from the clothing shop mentioned something about Regular Battles.

Calypso furrowed her brow, and continued to watch the screen for more information. It didn't give any detail as to what the Regular Battles were about, but they also mentioned Ranked and League battles as well.

The screen flashed back to black, and the other inklings in the square continued about their business.

Calypso lowered her eyes from the screen to the black doors of Deca Tower. Thats where she would head next. That's where she would go for answers.

Thanks to those who've taken the time to read this! I'm having so much fun writing it, and I can't wait to get to these upcoming chapters. I also can't wait for the Octo Expansion to come out, I would love to incorporate some of that later into the story (without spoilers of course, don't worry) .