Better Eight Than Never

Chapter 45: Goodie Horseshoe

"So where to next?" Tanya asked as she got into the driver's side of the car. Like everyone else her tentacles were freshly turned a bright shade of purple, though Bato wasn't used to seeing that color on his stepmother.

"I think we're off to the plaza now." He replied, settling into the passenger side. "Unless we have any other ideas of where to look."

"Wherever we go, it'll have to be old." Simon said as they got into the back seat, Toda close behind. "Around a hundred years old, and the area around the plaza is the oldest part of the city, right?"

Tanya nodded. "I'm pretty sure it was the city's original town square, stretching back through the city's history of a few hundred years."

"Wow, that's old!" Jill said, followed by the click of her seatbelt. "Is Hachi going to be comfortable on the floor?"

"I'll have to be, there aren't enough seats." Hachi huffed as she ducked into the wheel well at Bato's feet and transformed into her octopus form. Something about her seemed off in the past few days. She seemed so much more... hollow. She stood firmer than when he'd first met her, but even though they were no longer enemies he felt as though she'd withdrawn.

"Well, I mean, I could be on the floor..." Jill pointed out, but she didn't make any move from her seat.

"Everyone buckled?" Tanya asked, then started the car.

"I mean... everyone but Hachi." Simon said. "But that's the risk she's going to take."

"You should get a van!" Jill suggested. "Then some days we might not even need to take the train to battles, you could just drive us and all our friends!"

Tanya shook her head with a smile. "Sorry Jill, this is a special case. Run it past me again if Bato gets any brothers or sisters."

"Well, I mean, I'm practically his brother." Toda said jokingly.

"Practically, but not factually." Tanya said firmly, taking a left turn and driving by a park. Despite the fact that it was roughly two blocks long, it seemed mostly deserted, in fact most of the city was still, almost as if everyone around them knew something big was going to happen as well

"Wait!" Toda exclaimed. "Park here!"

Bato slammed against his seatbelt as Tanya stepped on the breaks, looking around for what Toda was panicking about. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"That statue!" He said, unbuckling and hopping out of the car as soon as it was in park, briskly jogging down the path.

He blinked and got out of the car himself, taking in the giant bronze statue in the middle of this park. It was on a base that was easily four feet tall, with the statue itself nearing ten, depicting the celebration of the end of the great turf war. Inklings with bamboozlers held high stood before Judd with a flag flapping in a breeze that was forever immortalized. The lower parts of the statue glinted from being polished over decades of touching. As he drew closer however, this imagery felt more and more grim, especially when he noticed that these soldiers weren't standing on ground and stones, they were standing on fallen octolings. His fists clenched, and he took a deep breath, trying to keep his composure. This statue was obviously meant as a commemoration of the bravery of those who had risked and lost their lives in the war... but only for one side. The side who had won.

"We were looking for something old, right?" Toda asked. "This is old and on theme."

"I think this is a bit far from the plaza though..." Simon murmured. "I suppose we can still investigate while we're here. After all, a statue is a classic thing to cover something up with."