— 𝐄𝐁𝐈 (𝟖)

Ebi began lightly slapping the sides of her face to try and “wake herself up”.

“ You’re not really here. /I’m/ not really back down here. You can’t hurt me. I just need to wake up… “

The octoling tried to reassure herself that none of this was really happening… if only that was the case.

“ Wh-What… “

For a while, Ebi stood frozen in shock as she tried to process the situation that she was in.

“ No… “

She held her head in her hands, closing her eyes tightly. Her breathing gradually becoming heavier and heavier.

“ No, no, this has to be just another stupid nightmare… “

Hearing that definitely didn’t calm Ebi’s nerves… but she held herself together the best she could.

“ …there’s got to be some way. “

She shook her head, as if she was trying to declutter her mind.

“ We’ll figure it out… hopefully sooner rather than later. “

—of the items on the floor for a second, before letting out a sigh. She didn’t want to risk accidentally damaging any of her former captain’s belongings, but what choice did she have?

“ Forgive me, Mr. Cuttlefish… “

With that, she lunged at the mysterious figure, aiming to knock them to the floor.

—plans right now. Between her still trying to recover fully from the flash bang, and the adrenaline pumping through her veins due to the whole situation, she could hardly form a rational thought… but she couldn’t waste any more time. Something needed to be done, and fast.

Ebi glanced around at all—

—what was going on. From what she could tell, the intruder was headed for the door... she couldn’t let them just get away like that. Not without getting some answers first.

But now came the question of /how/ she was going to stop them. Though, she wasn’t exactly in a good condition to be making—

—try and shake it off. The octoling blindly felt around for anything that she could use to pull herself to her feet, and she eventually managed to do just that, albeit slowly and with shaking legs.

Once she was standing again, Ebi finally managed to pry her eyes open just enough to get an idea of—

Ebi landed the ground with a soft thud, being promptly covered in a mini avalanche of falling books and papers. She sat up as soon as she could bring herself to, pushing the fallen items aside.

“ Agh… “

Cod, her head was spinning like crazy. She felt like she was going to be sick… but she had to—

i uh. think i’m gonna go back to the domes for a few days. bye!

—she blindly whipped around in an attempt to grab onto them. Trying to both stop them and stabilize herself.

“ Wait, stop—! “

—let out a yelp of pain — sure, a flash bang would hurt anybody’s eyes, but she was particularly sensitive to light. It almost felt like having her eyes ripped out…

As she tried to recover from the attack, she felt the figure pushing past her, and—

—set foot in the shack recently. She was the only agent who had agreed to help move everything out of here… so if that was the case, then why did it seem like somebody had been here?

Before she could think about it in more depth, Ebi was suddenly blinded by the flash bang. She couldn’t help but—

Upon first entering the hut, Ebi didn’t pay too much mind to the irregularities. Though, as she started packing things away, the realization that something was off slowly began to set in, and she eventually paused what she was doing to look around the room.

As far as she was aware, nobody else had—

—boxes on the ground just outside of the old shack, she took one of the boxes from the pile and went to go open the door to the structure. Time to get to work!

—concerned that they wouldn’t hold up for too much longer… but they were still a home for her. Although, this one felt kind of eerie to be in, as she hadn’t been there before. Not to mention how just how quiet it was… she wouldn’t let any of that stop her, though.

Setting the stack of cardboard—

—anybody, especially not those whom she thought so highly of… so down into the kettle she went, with a stack of empty cardboard boxes in hand.

Now, Ebi had no issue with any of the domes. She grew up in them, and she still regularly visited them. Sure, they had seen better days, and she was—

Ebi was already occupied with so many different things, the poor girl always carried far too much on her shoulders… and yet, when she was asked help clear out the old shack, she still agreed to help.

Sure, it was more added to her plate, but she just couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to disappoint—

For a while, she’s silent again…

“ …what are we going to do? “

She eventually muttered, looking down at her hand. Her breathing gradually becoming more shaky by the second.

“ Surely we have to do /something/, we can’t just sit back and let the place keep running freely… “

“ What a brutal loss… at least we all had fun, hopefully. “

“ The… metro…? “

Almost immediately, her expression drops. There’s not a single trace of calm or warmth on her face anymore.

“ You… mean to tell me that it’s still…? “

She can’t even bring herself to finish the sentence, she’s far too horrified…

“ A few things? “

Ebi certainly wouldn’t like to hear that, given everything that’s already on her plate at the moment… but it’s probably best to rip the bandaid off sooner rather than later.

“ What do you mean by that? If you don’t mind me asking, that is… “

Her loved ones pretty much had to force her to step away from her work so that she could enjoy the Grand Festival… at least she’s having fun!

Not sure if she’s feeling on edge because Zest is being Zest, or if something more sinister is afoot…

“ Fine, I think… working myself to the cuttlebone, though. I don’t think I’ve had a proper night’s sleep in… “

She falls silent for a few moments, counting on her fingers… eventually letting out a quiet sigh.

“ …a while. But I just have so much on my plate, I can’t afford to waste any time… “

“ Ah, good morning, Captain! “

a girl in a kimono is holding a gun to her head ALT: a girl in a kimono is holding a gun to her head

⠀ ✿ ╗
🔮. 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 OF
𝙆𝙐𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉 𝙑𝙄𝙇𝙇𝘼𝙂𝙀 .ᐟ
╚ ⠀ ✿

“ Ah, it’s almost time for the Grand Festival, how exciting!

Of course, I have to go with Team Future. There’s nothing that I want more than a brighter future for all of us… for my people… “