Princess Callie

Chapter 24: Rescue

"Ow! You're hurting me!" I cried as the guard opened a door.

"Quiet!" he replied coldly. He quickly pulled me inside.

Once we entered the mysterious room, the guard glanced at the hallway before closing the door behind him. He let me go after closing the door. "Sorry about that Princess. Just had to put on a show." he said in a more relaxed tone.

I looked around. There were various weapons lining the walls. It looked more like an armory than a courtroom. I slowly started to reach for one of the nearby weapons preferably a roller. Hopefully he wouldn't notice me. "So... who are you?" I asked hoping to buy myself some more time.

"Huh? Oh the uniform!" That was when he took off a mask covering his face revealing a familiar octoling. "It's me Sebastian. I'm here to rescue you."

"Sebastian? Oh my gosh I'm so glad to see you." I was shocked. I didn't think I would ever see him again. I quickly hugged him, happy to see a familiar face. He didn't return the affection and went straight to business.

"It's too dangerous to get you out of here through the entrance so here's the plan, the army is going to storm the base. When that happens the guards are going to rush here for weapons. We need to guard this armory while the troops clear the place." Sebastian explained while he kept an eye on the door.

I picked up a splat roller, strapped on an ink tank, and took a few bombs of various types. "Okay I understand."

Sebastian peeked out the door. "Let me know when you're ready."

"Listen. About what happened earlier..." I thought carefully about my next choice of words. "I thought about what you said..." Sebastian didn't react. "I made a rash decision when I broke up with you. I'm sorry... thank you for coming for me."

"Uh huh." was Sebastian's reply. He clearly wasn't listening to me and was more focused on some kind of earpiece he was wearing. "This is the Royal Bodyguard. The Princess is secured and we're holed up in the armory." I felt my heart sink at the fact that my words seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

I could hear some voices coming from his earpiece. It was too quiet to understand. A few seconds later, an explosion rocked the whole place. I almost fell as a result but managed to catch myself using a nearby bench. There were people yelling outside. I readied my roller for the upcoming battle. I noticed Sebastian had his splattershot pointed at the door as well.

The door flew open and I immediately swung at the first person entering. The octoling was splatted immediately. Sebastian immediately threw a splatbomb out the door and immediately slammed it shut. They certainly knew we were here.

Someone on the other side forced the door open again and threw a curlingbomb. It slid forward past Sebastian and I. Then I noticed someone was swimming in the ink trail caused by the curlingbomb. I charged forward and crushed him with my roller. Sebastian immediately started to cover the ground in pink ink matching my ink color. I quickly turned my attention back to the door and threw an autobomb outside which locked onto someone and started running away from the door. Then I closed the door once again.

I could hear more of people gathering outside for a massive assault. A few moments later the door swung open again and Sebastian started blindly shooting at anyone standing outside. He managed to splat someone. Then a splatbrella was launched and went in first through the door followed by a splatbomb. Sebastian and I backed up to avoid getting hit which gave our enemies enough time to swim inside. One of them grabbed a slosher but was instantly splatted by Sebastian. I quickly moved to cover the door and prevent anyone else from getting inside. Once I closed the door I saw an inkling. Chekhov himself was in the room. Chekhov dived for a splattershot and began to duel with Sebastian.

I couldn't just charge him because I had to make sure nobody else got through the door. Then another idea came to me. I grabbed a nearby special, an autobomb launcher. I activated it and began to throw as many bombs at Chekhov as possible. Chekhov noticed the autobombs and started to run but he was running out of space because Sebastian was aggressively charging at him. Chekhov knew he couldn't defeat Sebastian while I was bomb rushing him. In an attempt to get away Chekhov backed himself into a corner and was hit by an autobomb. The attack itself wasn't fatal but he seemed to have been knocked unconscious as a result.

The door flew open once again and I turned my attention to see another wave of octolings charging in. I threw the last of my autobombs at the door which locked onto them. This forced them to back out and slam the door shut to avoid getting hit.

Luckily activating that special had also instantly refilled my inktank. I was ready for whatever they sent next. For some reason it was extremely quiet. Then I heard a series of explosions outside and it was silent once again.

A few moments later there was a knock on the door. "Hello? This is the extraction team!" then the door open. I panicked and immediately swung which hit an octoling elite. Luckily she was using the same color Sebastian and I had so she barely noticed my attack.

"I'm sorry!" I yelped and dropped my roller.

Suddenly I heard some coughing. It was Chekhov. "Callie... Callie... must tell you something... please... come closer..." he coughed. I looked around and nobody seemed to have noticed Chekhov was still alive.

I wasn't sure what to do but I was curious about what he would say. He may also be trying to lure me over to him. In the end curiosity ultimately won out. I decided to approach him and hear what he had to say. Meanwhile Sebastian started to talk with the elite octoling.

Once I reached Chekhov I leaned in to hear him. He spoke in a quiet and low voice while coughing between sentences. "I don't know why you're working with the Octarians but you seemed confused. The truth is you were once a famous pop singer back in Inkopolis. Whatever you believed about being the Princess was a lie. I don't know what happened between you and Marie but I'm glad you two are separated. I've always hated you two. I'm glad you lost the final splatfest." he paused and watched my reaction. I was surprised. Why didn't I remember any of this? Satisfied with what he saw, he pulled out a usb. "If you want evidence I have it right here."

"Why are you telling me this? Why didn't you say anything earlier?" I asked with confusion on my face.

Instead of answering he laughed. "You didn't know did you? Ha-ha-ha. Remember... Remember my dying words. Remember them whenever... whenever you look at those you thought were your friends." then Chekhov exploded into a puddle of pink ink.

First Sebastian and now Chekhov? Was Sebastian telling the truth? I thought back on everything that's happened since I woke up. Kevin may have been my best friend but ever since I woke up in the hospital he never acted like he cared about me. He even threw me at a bunch of assassins. Sebastian on the other hand. We only knew each other for a few days yet I wanted to be his girlfriend. How did Marie fit into all this? Was she in on this? That didn't make sense. Why would she want me to hate her? Maybe the evidence on the usb will give me all the answers I need.

I felt a hand on my shoulder causing me to jump. I looked up and saw Sebastian. "We have a helicopter ready to take you back to the palace. Are you ready to go Princess?" he said in a serious and professional tone.

I quickly hid the usb. "Yeah... I'd like to get out of here."

Sebastian escorted me out. I could see more Octarian soldiers were roaming the hallways. While we were walking I tried to sneak my hand up to his. He didn't react to me trying to hold his hand. I really did break his heart didn't I?