Sidestory Beryl

“Well, Beryl, here we are. Please let me know if you need anything, okay?” Marina says gently as she opens the door to one of the many guest rooms in the mansion she and Pearl call home.

“Wait, just like that?” Beryl asks, a dumbfounded look on her face. “This is just… my room, now? After everything that happened today?” 

Marina tilts her head as she gently places a bag of Beryl’s things - far and few between as they are - on the floor just inside the room, her tentacles twirling thoughtfully. “Um, yeah. You’ve had a long day, and Pearlie already said you could stay, you know? Unless you don’t--” 

“Ah, no! I do want to stay here, I just, uh…” Beryl’s hair wobbles guiltily as she looks down at her feet, eyes focused on the comfortable trail boots that were lent to her. “I dunno. Maybe I’m just tired.” 

“Do you… want to talk about it, maybe?” Marina asks, her pink eyes watching her. 

...Do I? Beryl asks herself, trying to think as a small headache settles in. It’s just a side effect of being under the iron grip of strong hypnoshades for two years - but it hurts anyway. 

“I… I don’t know,” Beryl finally says, pinching the pressure point between her eyebrows as she does so. “My head hurts and I know it’s just ‘cause of the shades, but like, I attacked you, Iida. I did. Even if it wasn’t me, I did that. I don’t know if I even deserve to be here, in your home.” 

There’s a brief silence as Marina leans against the doorway, her eyes looking forlorn. 

“Shizuka, I…”

Shizuka?

Oh. Right, Shizuka is my last name. 

It’s been so hard even remembering that about herself.

“I really thought that I lost both you and Ahato, you know?” Iida says, clasping her hands together over her chest. “When you pushed me so we would both get away, I wanted to get back in there so bad. You didn’t deserve to just… be on your own, alone in that place for two years.” 

Beryl’s head swivels up. “But--” 

“That’s how I feel. I don’t blame you for any of it, Shizuka. I mean that.” 

Beryl’s words die in her throat. She guesses she can’t argue with that, but just how is she supposed to move on from all of this? From the heavy brainwashing, the two years of isolation, the two dreadfully long years of waiting and being forced to do the Octarian army’s bidding? She doesn’t even know where the missing member of their trio is, and she’s supposed to just… live her life like normal? 

I have no idea how the hell Iida could handle it when she was on her own… 

Oh, but she wasn’t alone, that’s right. Even in this muddied mental state, Beryl can see the pint sized rapper that Marina called her partner further down the hall waiting with a tray and three mugs of a hot drink of some kind. Maybe that was meant for when she settled in, but now Beryl just wants a break and to lie down. 

“Sorry,” Beryl mumbles, dragging her hands down her face. “You get heavily brainwashed for two years and it’s like you forget how to act like a person.” 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Marina says, gently reaching to touch Beryl’s shoulder. “There’s nothing to apologize for, Shizuka. Why don’t you go get some rest? You deserve it.” 

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m gonna try. I’ll go do that.” 

“Good.” Marina looks back down the hall, locking eyes with Pearl and tilting her head invitingly towards them. “I know it’s late, but Pearlie thought you’d want some hot cocoa? Just before bed?” 

“Ah, yeah. Y’know, just to like, welcome you into the fold,” Pearl mumbles, holding the tray out to Beryl. Her voice is still raspy at the edges, the sound of it filling Beryl with guilt yet again. “Go on, pick one. It’s all the same, marshmallows and whipped cream, so don’t worry.” 

“Oh. Uh, thanks…” Feeling shy, Beryl picks a mug at random. Pearl and Marina nod as they pick their own. 

“Don’t worry about bringing it down later, you can drink it in your room,” Pearl says with her voice crackling from the strain. “Oh, uh, house rules… No working on music stuff after midnight, that double goes for Marina. She’s got a habit of hyperfixating on it. No pets without clearing it with your roomies first. Uh… Oh! We have a chauffeur that drives us places, so we don’t really have a car, per se? But you just gotta text them if you wanna go somewhere. I’ll give you the number in the morning.” 

“Ah, right…” Beryl half sighs, not quite catching up with everything the rapper is saying. She thinks maybe the exhaustion is visible on her face because one of Marina’s tentacles gently nudges Pearl’s elbow. 

“Let’s give Beryl some time to sleep, okay, Pearlie?” Marina says, smiling as she takes a sip of her drink. “It’s been a long day. We can give her the rundown tomorrow morning.” 

“Oh. Oh! Yeah, no problem. Night, Ber’.” 

“Bona nokto, Shizuka! Sleep well!” 

Before Beryl can even say good night back, the two of them have walked off down the hall, mugs and tray in hand. The DJ stares as they turn the corner, disappearing from sight. 

Well… guess I better settle in? 

Beryl sets down the mug of hot cocoa - whatever hot cocoa is, anyway - on the bedside table, dragging her backpack of meager things to the bed. Clawed hands unzip the biggest pocket as the Octoling tosses out the things onto the bedsheets to take stock of what she has left. 

Two uniforms, one for her duties as Turquoise October, the other her old standard military issued one. Shizuka grimaces as she puts the helmet of her Turquoise October outfit aside, not willing to look at the red visor of it for too long.

Sure, Iida and Jeanne removed the hypnosis transmitters, but I don’t want to see it right now… 

Two sets of kelp - one for her old goggles, the other for her helmet - tumble out of her bag in neatly wrapped bundles. An old flash drive sits beside the kelp, full of music that she made while she served as Turquoise October. 

The last thing at the very bottom of the bag was an old portable synthesizer that she had made her first songs on, when she was still figuring out what being a part of Turquoise October meant. Beryl runs a hand over the keys, noting the wear and tear that will need to be fixed up if she ever wants to use this old thing again. 

It’s… really not much, huh? There’s just clothes, my music, and this old synth left. 

Her whole identity feels like it was uprooted entirely by the Octarian army. Hell, Beryl’s even having a hard time remembering her whole legal name. Beryl was just a nickname the three of them came up with after becoming a trio - she couldn’t even remember what her real first name was. 

Beryl sighs as she undoes her ponytail, flopping onto the admittedly very comfortable bed. The ceiling light greets her with a somewhat comforting pale yellow glow. 

What… do I even do now? 

She couldn’t even remember what any non-army related interests of hers were. Sure, music was a hobby, but it was weaponized by the army. Strategy was an army interest. The more she thinks on it, the more Beryl feels like she’s just a puppet that was used purely to control the army. 

And thinking on that further, she really was. She was a puppet, and so were Ahato and Iida. 

Cod, Ahato. 

Beryl grabs the bundle of kelp that was attached to her helmet, holding it close to her chest. 

She didn’t even know if Mizuta was still alive. Anything could’ve happened during those ten minutes when Marina went back to the dome in vain. Just how was Beryl supposed to move on from that? Was she just supposed to act like one of her only friends going missing was fine and dandy? 

If she was, she’d almost prefer the hypnotization. 

Beryl’s eyes close as she thinks. 

The only real thing I know now is… military stuff. Music. I really had no other interests in the domes. And I’m just supposed to sit around waiting for any sign of what’s probably a cold case..? 

Can I really be satisfied with that? 

Her hands tighten around the bundle of kelp. 

No. I can’t. 

Hell, if she was expected to just sit on her ass while Marina was risking her life in the New Squidbeak Splatoon, she might die of boredom. How would she even react if the only other friend she made in the domes got hurt or went missing because she was fighting with that organization? 

Not good, that’s for sure. 

In the morning… I”ll ask Iida if I can join the NSS, then. I want to look for Mizuta too. 

If something were to happen to either of them because I was complacent…

I don’t think I could ever forgive myself.