The Opening Act (A Splatoon Script)

Part 5 - Only the Start

Juliuz: Little Em, will it be okay with you if Echo and Rosie stay for a while? They need a place to live.

Emerald: Why? What happened? (They talk.)

Juliuz: The place they were staying in got a little... flooded... to say the least. But anyway, you're probably going to like these two. Echo's really nice, and her little sister, Rosie, is just as sweet.

Emerald: Okay. I guess I'm fine. (Conversation.)

Juliuz: Great news! The head of the apartment has given you her consent to stay!

Emerald: Dude...

Echo: Haha! Well, good! Don't worry, we won't be any trouble! (They all talk.)

------------------------------------------

Later...

(Echo pulls some blankets over Rosie, who's asleep on an air mattress in Emerald's room.)

Echo: *yawn*

Juliuz: What, did you have a tiring day or something? (She walks out of the kids' room with Juliuz.)

Echo: How could you ever guess? (She sits down, fidgeting with her charm necklace.)

Juliuz: It was just a lucky guess. Hey, by the way, what's with the charm necklace?

Echo: Oh, this thing? (Juliuz sits by her as Echo pulls her charm necklace out from her shirt.)

Echo: Rosie gave it to me when we first came to the city. She made a charm for it, and I've been putting charms on it when something big in my life happens ever since then. Well, that hasn't been very often, but still, I like adding charms. I don't like to take it off, but I know that charm necklaces aren't really "a thing," so I always keep it hidden inside my shirt. (Echo explains her necklace.)

Juliuz: I like it!

Echo: You do?

Juliuz: Yeah, it's cute! (They talk.)

Juliuz: I've got another question that I've been meaning to ask you for a while. Is Echo your real name?

Echo: Why do you ask?

Juliuz: Well, it- it kinda just seems like a really uncommon name. Like no one really names their kid "Echo".

Echo: Speak for yourself, Julius with a Z.

Juliuz: Touché. [muttered] Though it is a real name, just uncommon... (Echo's a bit humored.)

Echo: Heh, well, you're right. Echo isn't my real name. My real name is actually Evelyn. Evelyn Claire Harmony Oliveri. I've got two first names. I just prefer to go by Echo since Evelyn is an older name, Evelyn Claire is a mouthful, and you get "Echo" if you put all my initials together. (She speaks.)

Juliuz: I understand that, but Evelyn is actually a pretty name.

Echo: Thanks, Juliuz.

Juliuz: You know, you don't have to call me that if you want. You can just call me JZ. We- we're friends now.

Echo: But I like "Juliuz" better! (They smile at each other.)

Juliuz: Seriously? There's no way!

Echo: Seriously! It's totally cool!

Juliuz: Emerald thinks that way, too, for some reason. Oh, well. You can call me Juliuz if you think it's cooler!

Echo: It is cooler! (They laugh.)

(They keep chatting late into the night.)

------------------------------------------

The Next Morning...