Chapter Text
You stepped out of your room, yawning as you tried to beat off the sleepiness from the night before. After everything that happened, you practically collapsed onto your bed and fell asleep right away.
Being down in the metro for so long, meant that you had not been sleeping properly at all. Now that you were out, you easily could've spent the whole day lazing around in bed, since there was nothing to get up for.
But you didn't want to be lazy. Plus, there was a lot of catching up for you to do. Not just with Pearl and Marina, but with other friends that had been worried sick about you.
"I wonder if Echo is home...I didn't bump into her at all when we got back yesterday. I hope she isn't too pissed off at me." You thought, knowing that she would indeed, be VERY pissed off with you.
As you walked down the hall, you saw Pearl emerge from her room with the same tired look on her face that must have been on yours. She blinked and looked over at you when she heard your footsteps approaching.
"Oh...hey dude. Good to see I wasn't dreaming about you coming back..." She said, yawning as you smiled a little and rubbed her head.
Her voice still sounded very croaky and quiet. Not that you were surprised given how much she put into her yelling yesterday.
"Morning Pearl. Don't worry, I'm here in the flesh. You don't have to worry about me disappearing." You said.
Pearl nodded and gently put her arms around you, burying her face in your shirt.
"Can you carry me downstairs? I'm still tired." She said, her voice muffled.
"Sure I can. That voice of yours is gonna take some time to come back." You said as you gently picked her up and started carrying her downstairs.
"Yeah well...a small price to pay, for the greater good." She said, grinning at you.
"True. Your voice helped save the world! You should be proud." You said, gently poking her nose which made her giggle.
When you got downstairs, Marina was sat on the couch in front of the television which was turned off. She was too busy scrolling through her phone to notice you and Pearl.
"What do you want for breakfast today, Pearl? I'll make it for you." You said, not wanting to disturb Marina.
"Mmm...just the usual...Y'know." Pearl replied, still half asleep as you put her in her chair.
"The usual. Gotcha." You said.
By now, you knew your way around the kitchen and quickly got to work on Pearl's breakfast. Said inkling had her head down on the table, drifting in and out of sleep.
While you were busy, you felt a set of arms wrap around you and an added weight to your shoulder.
"Hey Marina." You said, immediately knowing it was her.
"Morning." She said as she planted a gentle kiss to your cheek.
"Did you sleep okay?" She asked.
"I did. Though I'm not surprised at all after everything that happened." You said.
"That doesn't surprise me. I'm surprised that you're even up and about. I expected you to sleep in a lot longer." Marina replied.
"I would've, but there is a lot of time that I need to make up for, and people to apologise." You said.
Marina knew exactly who you meant when you said that. She sighed and nodded, gently nuzzling your cheek with hers.
"Indeed...I heard Echo come back home late last night. I did go and greet her and she looked...pretty tired and sad if I'm being honest." Marina said.
You felt your heart clench as your gaze dropped to the counter top. Knowing how all this affected Echo really made it hard for you to feel happy.
"But I did tell her that you were back and she immediately perked up again. She asked all sorts of questions and wanted to see you, but I managed to calm her down and said you'd explain everything today." Marina said.
You nodded and lifted your gaze up again, refocusing your attention on making Pearl's breakfast.
"I'll make Pearl her breakfast, then I'll go and take Echo some. I owe her that and much more." You said.
"Mhm...much more." Marina said, giving you another kiss on the cheek before she let you go, allowing you to focus on your cooking.
You quickly managed to finish making Pearl's breakfast, placing it down on the table in front of her and having to gently poke her cheek since she had fallen asleep.
"Wake up Pearl. I don't want your breakfast getting cold." You said.
"Yeah I know..." Pearl grumbled and lifted her head up, clumsily picking up her cutlery and starting to eat her food.
Satisfied, you resumed with your work and started on Echo's breakfast. It didn't take you long and as soon as you were done, you made your way through the mansion to Echo's room.
"Come to think of it, won't Eight be wanting some breakfast too? I'm sure Marina will have that covered anyway." You thought as you passed by the door to Eight's room.
You would've checked on her, if you weren't carrying the plate of food in your hand. Making a note to check when you were done talking to Echo, you carried on until you got to her room.
The door was shut and as far as you could tell, she was not awake yet either. It sounded absolutely silent on the other side of the door. Taking a deep breath, you gently knocked on the door by kicking it with your foot.
"Hey...Echo? I've...got some breakfast for you. I wanna-."
You couldn't even finish your sentence before the door flew open and you were grabbed and dragged inside of the room. The door was immediately shut behind you before the grip on your shirt was released.
It was a miracle that you didn't drop any of the food in the process.
Once you had regained your bearings, you saw Echo stood in front of you. The yellow inkling had a smile on her face and tears brimming at the edge of her eyes.
"...hi...Echo." You said as you swallowed a lump in your throat, feeling extremely guilty and nervous.
"I have...breakfast...?" You continued, holding the plate up.
"It's...my peace offering..." You said, falling silent as you weren't sure if this was doing much to help the situation.
"You can put it down on the table over there. I...don't want it just yet." Echo finally said.
You immediately nodded and walked over to said table, placing the plate on it before turning back to your friend. The distance between you both had expanded, but it quickly shrunk again as Echo launched herself at you.
She torpedoed herself into a hug, burying her head in your chest as she squeezed you tightly.
"...Echo. I'm so sorry...for going missing like that..." You said.
"...you big dummy..." Came Echo with a muffled response.
"Going and getting lost...you forget that everything has changed now. You can't just adventure around anywhere and everywhere!" She said, pouting slightly.
"...without me." She said, lifting her head up to meet your gaze.
"Without...you...?" You questioned.
"Yes without me!!!" She exclaimed.
"Are you kidding me?! You're like my best friend, Y/N! Of course I'd wanna go on all sorts of adventures with you!! Who else is meant to keep you safe?!" The yellow inkling ranted, pouting the whole way through.
"W-well...Bobble managed to keep me safe! We actually kept each other safe! And Eight was there too so...we had a pretty good team!" You tried reassuring her.
"That's not the point!" Echo said.
"I've...never really had any friends before I met you. And to hear you went missing...really scared me. I thought I lost you." She said, tightening her grip on you more.
"It made me wonder if...maybe I was there...you wouldn't have gotten into trouble. On our missions, we bailed each other out many times! We defeated DJ Octavio together! With you I...feel like I'm invincible!" Echo said, proudly.
"But...you went ahead and had a big adventure without me...that makes me feel so jealous and left out you know?! You...big jerk!" She pouted some more, puffing out her cheeks as she did so.
"Okay...so while she technically does seem a bit pissed, it's not exactly for the reason I thought." You thought, looking down at her pouty face which made you smile.
"But she was still worried about me. So I suppose it's a mixture." You said as you lifted your hand up and gently pat the inklings head.
"I'm sorry Echo. Believe me when I say, I didn't do it on purpose." You said.
"Me and Bobble just got a little too curious. We never intended on getting roped into such an...extravagant adventure." You continued.
"I promise that next time, you have first dibs on coming on any kind of adventure I stumble into." You said.
Echo beamed at the promise you had made, nodding her head ecstatically as she rested her head against your chest.
"Awesome! You'd better keep that promise of yours, Y/N!" She said.
You nodded as the two of you fell silent for a few moments, just enjoying each other's company. The only thing that broke the silence was the sound of something dropping gently onto the floor.
Then the sound came again. And again. You looked down and saw the tears that had been brimming around Echo's eyes, were now dripping onto the ground.
"Echo...?" You were concerned about her, but knew exactly why she was crying before she even had a chance to say.
"You...have no idea how scared I was. After all we went through...I thought you were gone. Without even saying 'Goodbye' or 'See you later'!" She said.
"It was only when Marina and Pearl said they had miraculously managed to get into contact with you, I started hoping. Just knowing that you were alive was...enough for me." She said.
"You could've spoken to me. How come you didn't?" You asked her.
Her first response was to hold you tighter. She took a shaky breath before adding to her response.
"I...didn't know how I would be. Whether I would scream at you...or cry hysterically...I just...wanted you back home. So I could hug you like this..." She said, her words adding to the tender moment the two of you were having.
"Echo..." You trailed off.
It made you feel all warm on the inside hearing her say all these things. Being the last of your species in a world where everything had changed, seemed to be a difficult prospect when you first stumbled upon Inkopolis.
The inhabitants however, made this world feel just the way it was. In fact, you thought they arguably made it feel better.
"Now, I wanna hear all of the stories you have to tell! Sure I'll get jealous, but I'm sure it was all exciting!" Echo beamed, her tears and sadness seemed to dry up in an instant as she let go of you and hurried over to pick up her breakfast.
She brought it over and sat on her bed, before digging in. As she ate, she smiled and pat the space on the bed next to her.
"Sit!" She said.
You obliged and sat down next to her, watching her eat for a few moments before she swallowed so she could speak.
"Come on! What went on down that metro?! Can we still get down there?! Who did you fight?!" She bombarded you with questions, not giving you any time to answer any of them.
"O-One at a time please Echo." You sweat dropped at her enthusiasm, but ended up smiling along with her.
"We can't exactly get down there anymore. Me and Bobble ended up on a train that fell down a hole. The crash we got into was what caused this." You said, pointing to the wound on your forehead.
"O-Oh...that's...a nasty looking wound. So much different to when we get hurt. What's going on with it?" She asked.
"It's scabbing over. When we get a cut, we bleed and the blood that comes out covers the wound and eventually dries. This is to protect the body from infection while the skin heals underneath. Though I didn't get a chance to treat it properly, so I'm pretty sure it's gonna scar." You said, sighing.
"Humans are so much more...complicated. It's...kinda cool actually." Echo said.
"Anyway, what else happened?!" She asked, quickly getting back on topic.
"We had to replicate a statue out of a bunch of wooden boxes. Oh, and we also fought against a homicidal telephone that was hellbent on destroying the world. It even took control of my mind." You said.
"You what?! How...did a telephone manage to do that?!" Echo exclaimed.
"It...managed to create this special kind of ink that scrambled my brain and took control of it. I don't really understand how it managed to make that ink, but I'm just glad that we managed to defeat it." You said.
"A good thing you did! I still wish I was there! It all sounds like it was so much fun!!" Echo said, her voice dripping with jealousy.
"Believe me, it might've been a little fun, but I am so glad to be home now. I don't wanna go through something like that again." You said.
"Of course. We can have all sorts of adventures, without getting into too much trouble." Echo said, grinning as she finished off her food.
"Yeah...that would be nice." You said, already racking your brain to see what kind of adventure you could take Echo on.
After all, you had to make this up to her.
[To Be Continued]