#marinakin

The battle had been going so well.

You’d taken out the enemies closest to you with a couple of quick shots, your trusty N-ZAP ‘85 proving itself useful as you easily wiped out your opponents. You could hear the jeering of your true foe, commanding his fleet from farther back. What a coward, to make the others do his dirty work. He was no better than Octavio, in that sense or any other; though you had to begrudgingly admit his take on sanitization was a new type of threat. The monster claimed he’d mobilized the procedure, speeding it up enough that a single attack from a weapon full of sanitizing goo could wash the mind from any cephaloperson. Still, the blows were almost painfully easy to dodge as his undertrained army challenged you; seeming blissfully unaware of how skilled you and the other agents had become over the years.

It was so simple, so easy, it was easy to get cocky. No enemy had gotten close, no shot had come near to landing; and even in this chaos your friends were behind you cheering and congratulating one another on successful shots and slick moves. Flashing a subtle grin, you turn to face them; unable to resist the urge to glance at your companions. Your sight settles on your wife, watching her roll with gusto and fire with her much-beloved dualies. Her golden eyes glinted when she noticed you watching, a proud smile spreading across her features and her movements becoming even more exaggerated in an effort to show off.

“Reena, watch this!”

And so watch you did, enamored as she dodged nearly too quickly to be seen and took out two enemies with a quick shot of her twin guns. Even after all these years she didn’t fail to impress you with her savvy tricks; always done with such flair that it was very nearly a performance.

You were still entranced by her when you heard the charger fire, only subconsciously registering the sound as it echoed through the air. For a split second you saw Callie’s horrified face, Agent 8’s eyes widening as she also saw what was about to happen; and then the blast collided with the side of your head, knocking you down, and for a moment you don’t really notice anything else.

At first it was just painful and annoying. A single charger shot wasn’t enough to splat you these days, much less kill you. Instinctively you lift one hand to the throbbing contact point on your head, feeling the spatter of cool ink over your tentacles and pulling it away to investigate it. Your ears begin to ring as you take in its sickly, familiar green color and everything that entails, and all at once you realize just how invasive the pain from the hit is. Still sitting on the ground you lift your gaze,your stomach dropping as the terrible reality of what was about to happen crashed into you. For the fist time in years you find yourself frozen, unable to move  even as you watched your friends scramble to get close to you. They’re taking down every enemy within the area, no longer playing around with the mission. You see Marie- no, no, that’s Callie, rushing to help you.

And then you see Pearl.

She runs to you, skidding to a stop in front of you and grabbing for your hand. You see the tears welling in her eyes and it makes your heart feel like it could shatter on the spot. Suddenly you become aware that you’re crying too, trembling and whimpering as a cold numbness begins to spread through your thoughts. You can already feel it gnawing at the edges of your memories, unraveling you like spun thread, and you desperately grip the hand of the squid in front of you. You can hear again now, and you almost wish you couldn’t; as the desperation in her voice is almost too much.

“Marina I’m sorry! Stay with me okay? Just focus, focus on everything and don’t forget. Please don’t forget. Remember our wedding, with Judd as the ring bearer? Remember when you told me you liked me and I just stuttered for ages? Remember when you came to inkopolis and you bumped into me? The first night you stayed with me, I told you you were my first sleepover. We made Off the Hook, don’t forget. Please, please Reena don’t forget..”

She’s babbling and you do remember it. You can recall every last thing, but even as she pulls those thoughts to mind you can feel them beginning to haze over and crumble away into nothingness. You can’t quite remember the name of the octoling behind her; one with fuschia hair and wide eyes who you feel you’re supposed to know. You think you might recall the inkling nearby with the long green tentacles on both sides, but you’re not entirely sure. Your breathing speeds up and you lock eyes with the girl in front of you, trying to clutch her name tight in the deepest part of your mind where it can’t be taken away. Your voice comes out higher than intended, unsteady as the unnatural Novocain works its way through your mind.

“Pearlie please, I don’t want to forget. I love you, I don’t want to forget please don’t let me please..”

You murmur it like a prayer, knowing that she can’t do anything. She’s just as powerless as you are to keep your feelings, your thoughts, your self from turning to dust and emptiness. All she can do is hold your hand and lean her forehead against yours, sobbing. You cry too, trying not to wail as you feel everything slipping away; leaving a sickening hollowness that tell you you’re losing something important. You’re certain you’re meant to know this girl in front of you, with her heartbroken golden eyes and her short white and pink tentacles. A name echoes somewhere in your subconscious, but it’s too far away for you to reach. Your head is pounding, and for a reason you can’t really remember your heart carries a misery so thick you feel you could drown in it; though even that is being dulled by a staticky nothingness even as the green and pink pair of squids start trying to pick you up and lead you away; their own faces masks of grief and fear.

And then, mercifully, something in you flips a switch and unconsciousness swallows you up before you can even think to fight it.

When you wake the first thing you see is the weak sunlight streaming through the window by your bed. The second thing you see is your wife, your Pearlie, fast asleep with her head on your hospital bed. Her cheeks are flushed and tear-streaked, her tense shoulders twitching as though she were currently trapped in a bad dream. For a moment you don’t have any idea why you’re here and not warm and cozy at home, but then a flicker of recent events stirs in your mind, reminding you of why your head still aches, and all of a sudden the only thing you can think about is that you still remember. Callie, Marie, Agents 3, 4, 8, Capn’ Cuttlefish, Pearlie, Pearlie, Pearlie.

You put a hand on her head, smoothing back her tentacles, and she jolts awake with a start. Almost immediately her gaze fixates on you, wide and scared and vulnerable and filled to the brim with an unspoken question. You try your best to smile, though you aren’t sure how well it turns out- it seems some small things are still a bit lost- and you begin to whisper to her.

“I remember the wedding,” you begin softly, voice hoarse with sleep and tears, “I remember when I confessed to you and I was so scared you’d say no. I remember when i came to inkopolis, and the first sleepover, and Off the Hook. I remember everyone, I remember you. I didn’t forget, I didn’t forget.”

The kiss she gives you then speaks volumes that all her lyrics would have coveted.

You carry the scar from that shot for the rest of your life- an odd, pale green and black patch that spreads across the thick of your tentacle and onto the skin of your cheek. A few things are lost; minor things, memories that you miss but could stand to be without. You are thoroughly aware that the loss could have been far worse, you felt how that emptiness crept through you and shudder at the thought of it having been permanent. But it isn’t, and you remember.