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Chapter Two

That night went by, and by the week's end, despite her commitment to continue turfing, Mesonii was still having a bad time in the Turf Wars. Her best solution to the problem- sleep.

On Wednesday, Aunt Pesto came home the same time as before and found Mesonii fast asleep on the couch. Thursday found her on the rug next to a a strategy classic- The Art of Squidbagging. Friday was the worst of the lot; half of her on the kitchen counter and the other lazily slung down near the floor.

Pesto sighed and, even with her old body, slung her niece onto her shoulder and carefully laid her down on the unfinished laundry crowding their bed.

-

Mesonii jolted to a wake feeling especially cold. Her aunt didn't show like her, still snoring away in the bed.

She walked over to the window, pushed aside the curtain, and couldn't even keep her cool for three seconds before cursing in disbelief. Aunt Pesto didn't like it when she woke to obscenities, so Mesonii quickly hesitated and skittered over to her.

Her aunt was still in the same sleepy state as before. Mesonii pondered how she could wake without causing both of them to freak.

It occurred to her, an old memory- her mother used to tap on her shoulder when they had to wake up early. Ready to try, Mesonii's hand came flat onto her aunt's shoulder.

"SON OF A CUTTLEFISH!" Aunt Pesto flew into the air and cast the sheets aside as if she was at a party and had never heard of manners before.

She blinked a couple of times and saw the teen in the fetal position. "W-what's wrong?"

"You fell off the bed."

She blinked again, looked behind her, and yelped. Despite being already sore from the landing, Pesto stood up.

"Dearie! Sorry, sorry, Mesonii, if I startled you, I- why is it so cold?" Pesto stuttered initially, but once realising the reality of the situation, her eyes darted to the window, curtains leaving the outside world ajar.

"What is that?!"

"Exactly." Mesonii leaped onto the bed. "I think the apocalypse is happening again."

"No, no, that's not right. The sisters HAVE to be reporting on this. Let's get back into the bed, it's much warmer there."

As the two huddled together, Aunt Pesto turned on the television and flipped between multiple channels to that of the Squid Sisters'. As well as being Inkopolis' latest and greatest pop duo, they also had roles as newscasters.

Only this time, the duo was down to one. Callie, the black-haired, edgy one stood alone as the camera filmed.

"Let's see. Bluefin Depot? Covered in it. Blackbelly Skatepark? More like 'swimming pool' with how this is turning out. Walleye Warehouse? Pretty sure it's caved in. Well, unfortunately, it looks like all the stages are getting plummeted with this... white stuff. No turfing today."

The camera turned and Marie, the white-haired, sultry one, walked in wearing a parka.

"Gramps says it's just snow. Didn't know it comes down like this."

"Looks like salt up close," Callie said as she inspected the powder on Marie's jacket. "Y'now, it kind of reminds me of something. Your salty disposition."

"Oh, you snark."

As the irrelevant argument tried to escalate, the two of them cut it off and chuckled. Callie continued to talk about the snow.

"Anyway, what should squiddos do to stay safe today? It is quite cold out."

"You gotta bundle up. Stay inside, make some pizza or something. No pineapple, you know. It's not a good idea to use any ink or swim as a squid- you could freeze. Definitely no battling today, much to my dismay."

Aunt Pesto switched off the TV and got out of bed. She dug through the laundry, discovering a puffy coat and throwing it to her niece.

Mesonii, who had been shivering, quickly zipped up the coat. "Where are we going?"

"Restaurant. People are going to be crowding that place up soon, because, well, they're lazy."

"But I've never worked in a restaurant before."

"Oh, it's nothing. You don't even need to cook- I'll teach you about some other things you can do. I know you'll find some fun in it- maybe even the sisters will show up. Let's go."

The two girls walked through the door, took the elevator down to the ground, and found themselves at the foot of Flanker's, ready for a day of change.