Alga ==> Talk
Lili ==> Talk
As Brutus gave the tour of the hallway, Alga noticed something amiss. "H-Hey, um..." She began, feebly tapping Brutus' shoulder. "Uh...Is that...L-Lili over there? Behind the bars...?"
"Alga! Brutus!" Lili called out, accidentally verifying her statement.
Brutus lit up like a lightbulb. "Lili!" Hastily, he ran over to the bars, excited and asked "how are ya? Why are ya in there? Do ya know where Aelia is?"
The inklings face brightened considerably as she spotted the familiar faces, "Brutus! Alga, what are you doing here?" She questioned, relieved to see the duo.
"I have no idea where Aelia is; she went missing." Lili crossed her arms, "Aelia headed off and told me to look for her if she didn't return, which I did, and then I wound up locked in here. Apparently I'm suspect, but, I have no idea where Aelia is!" She furrowed her brows a sigh escaping her lips.
Well, at least Brutus and Alga were confirmed safe? she thought.
Alga gave Lili a look of mild concern and stared back down towards the floor, twiddling her thumbs and trying to think of what to do. Aelia was missing? She'd gone off and never come back...
"Where were you guys...?"
"Yea!" Brutus asked. "Maybe we could, uh, retrace yer steps?"
"Where?" Lili crossed her arms trying to remember where her and Aelia had landed, "It was mostly dark.... a cave? Underground? Sewers? Something along that? It was really hard to see though - I could barely see Aelia when I found her," she admitted before shaking her head.
In the meantime, Brutus seemed to be playing with the door to the jail, jiggling the handle. Whether it was a nervous habit or not, no one could tell, but Germana grumbled, "ya don' 'ave ta break the lock again . Oy can just open it."
"Oh!" Brutus jumped. "Oy, uh..."
"Don' bother lyin'" Germana sighed, unlocking the door. "yer bad at it. An' anyway, Oy doubt ya'd let me keep yer friend behind bars."
Nonetheless, Germana continued to give Lili a dirty look, even as she pulled the key from the now open door.
"To be frank I don't even know how I got here," Lili continued. "But Aelia didn't tell me a single thing, so..."
Slowly, Lili pushed open the door and stepped outside of the jail... resisting the urge to bounce around, it was nice to be free, even if it could be temporary. She seemed oblivious to Germana's dirty look or did she ignore it? "Alga, Brutus? Which direction did you guys come from?"
"Maybe we should try to retrace our steps?" Lili suggested - she really wanted a few answers herself, it wasn't as if Aelia could just vanish into thin air - and besides after being stuck in that jail cell for a while the young inkling really wanted to move around.
"We might be able to find some clues - or at the most - Aelia?" Teal eyes focused on Alga, Germana and Brutus. "Unless we have other suggestions...?"
"Oy would say tha's a good plan, but tha's what Felix is doin' already," Germana noted, rolling her eyes.
"We ain't dumb," she went on. "When ya said that the two o' ya were together there, 'e went ahead an' sent out a search. If she's in the sewers, then we'll find 'er. The worry is that none o' 'em 'r back yet."
"Oh? Really? I didn't know that." The inkling scratched her head before speaking once more, "Alright, well, why don't we go looking for them?"
Lili insisted, "I mean if they've been gone for a while, isn't it a bit worrying? Unless Felix is the kind that likes to get lost... or go for a stroll which I highly doubt. It doesn't hurt does it?" She chimed placing the palms of hands against the back of her head. "It's better than just sitting here and not doing anything."
"Ain't that 'ow everyone else got lost!?" Germana snapped. "Nice plan, pinkie."
Brutus frowned. "Germa! Why 're ya bein' so mean ta Lili!"
"It's fine, Brutus, don't worry about it,” Lili admitted. “I think everyone's just a bit on edge."
Germana didn't say anything back, simply continuing to frown.
Alga took the conversation in quietly, brow furrowing just the barest bit as she listened to the rest of her companions shoot back and forth with arguments and ideas. Aelia was lost now, too? Was it...related to the missing Squid Sisters? It seemed to be the case, as far as she could tell, but she didn't want to assume and then have her idea come out wrong.
Things were just complicated, and she didn't know what to make of it.
Lili frowned slightly at Germana's response, "But what if they're waiting for us to find them? Or if they're hurt somewhere and they need our help? Even if we do get lost it's a lot better than standing here and twiddling our thumbs, Germana. If you don't want to look what do you suggest we do? Besides stand here, of course," she finished, shaking her head.
"What if, what if, what if!" Germana retorted. "What if, someone raids the base while i's totally open? What if, they get back an' don' know where we are? Even if we split up, i's not as if we now know where you all wen' so then yer as good as lost too!"
Germana did hav valid points, that was for sure, "... I mean what're you going to do?" Lili questioned. "What is there to do? I feel uneasy just waiting around for them...."
The inkling walked around in circles, "You have no way to contact them at all? How well do you know this place? Is there a map?" She fired off a few questions. "...well, we could leave them a note... or something? Maybe? As for someone raiding the base... I have no idea." Although - Lili had to wonder - how many people knew this place anyways? And how often do Inklings and Octolings spend underground? Or even wander down here for the mater?
"Sometimes, and it makes me sick to say tha' Felix might be right, but as 'e says..."
And with that, Brutus seemed to pick up on where she was going and they spoke, in unison, "sometimes, the most productive thing ya can do is nothin' at all."
"...believe me, Oy don' like it either, and 'e's said that it can 'elp to do somethin' totally unrelated to get yer mind off it," Germana continued ruefully, "but Oy don' think anything we'd do ta try ta 'elp the situation would make it better."
"I don't like it though." Lili softly admited before letting out a exasperated sigh, "Is there anything we can do from here? How long does Felix usually take to return?" Lili found it strange that they had no ways of communication.... especially in an area like this, "...Did he say anything about where he was going?"
She questioned before crouching down and poking the floor. "This entire situation is unfortunate though." If all she could do was wait... then, she may as well hope they returned soon, enough people had already gone missing.
"If it helps," Germana mumbled, "we could called Felix. Assuming he hasn't lost his communication device, too."
"Is that so?" Her attention turned to Germana looking up at the Octoling guard, "Why don't we give it a shot then? It doesn't hurt, right? Besides, it'd be reassuring to know they're okay, and they might have information about Aelia." Lili nodded her head - her pink tentacles pressed against the ground.
