Darrel

Like everyday before hand, I got up early in the morning. I always hated stereotypes, but I couldn't help that I was a morning person. The joke, "The Early Bird Gets The Worm" was pretty popular to use on me, but luckily it was pretty much the only one they could use. After all, I not only held a position of high power, but also had the protection of KrakenKid. It wasn't like I needed it, but it was nice to have.

The two Illithid guards assigned to me followed me up the stairs and stopped outside of the entrance of my work space. They knew I liked my space.

Quickly as possible, I booted up the computer. Though I hovered over the tax forms, knowing I needed to do it, but in the end checking up on the bank accounts and everything else seemed to be more important.

As I clicked through, something caught my eye. A package, and one coming in soon. CannibalCrab was the one who ordered it, and fortunately had the courtesy to use his own bank account and money to do it. Blooper never had the courtesy to do that. I used to get a ton of "Pranking Supplies" ordered from KrakenKid's bank account, but since I changed the password, Blooper hasn't been able to get into it anymore.

I quickly brought myself back to the task at hand and my eyes narrowed at what exactly was being ordered. My brown eyes couldn't stop themselves from rolling. Sending a message to KrakenKid, I went back to dealing with all of the taxes.

A moment later, a loud ding from a phone came from upstairs. I let out a chuckle, knowing that he definitely got my text. With it still being early in the morning, the Conch Command was pretty silent, meaning I could easily hear the kraken stumbled out of bed and down the stairs, groaning. Eventually, the purple being stumbled from around the corner, eyes squinting.

I did my best to hold in a laugh as he started to blink away the sleep, not doing a very good job of doing so. Finally, he took in a deep breath and spoke. "You rang?" He croaked.

I let out a laugh, unable to hold it in anymore. "Ah yes, the rare decaffeinated KrakenKid, what a sight to see."

KrakenKid shook his head, eyes rolling at me. "Darrel, with all due respect, we both know I can't deal with your sass at this hour, or without my coffee, so please just get to the point."

I stopped my giggling but my smirk never faded. "Very well sir. CannibalCrab just ordered something and normally he's allowed to do that but. Well, take a look for yourself." I pivoted the laptop to his direction and highlighted the record of it.

KrakenKid leaned forward, yellow eyes scanning the computer and he mumbled what he was reading to himself. "CannibalCrab... Seven hour shipment.. Nin- NINTENDO 64? WHAT?" He reeled his head back and narrowed his eyes. "Last time he got one of those, he got addicted to it and played it for days! OH! I'm going to have a little talk with him."

Suddenly gaining much more energy than before, he stormed off and down the stairs. I watched him leave before returning to my work.

About ten minutes into it, I got a visitor. Surprisingly, I didn't notice until they were right at my desk and looming over. Peeking up, I raised my eyebrow at them. "Gnash? What do you need?"

Gnash looked around sheepishly, which for a guy of his size and being one of the tallest in the Conch Command, was a hard thing to do. I had seen him in his weaker moments but now he just looked down right terrified. "Hey Darrel, I need your help..." His deep voice trailed off and his light blue eyes darted around. A couple thin pieces of paper were being clutched in his hands.

I gave him a little gesture to go on. The golem took in a breath before handing over the papers. I took a look before whistling. "Well Gnash, I didn't know you were into gambling, and especially not this. This is way more than you can afford, even with your pay."

Gnash shifted his giant arms and legs, trying to get in the perfect comfortable position. "I swear I'm not! But... It was just too much money to resist. Darrel, do whatever you can do help but I'm begging you: Do not tell KrakenKid. He'll kill me! I just saw him in a bad mood when I was coming up and I don't want to be on the receiving end of that. Nobody does!"

I thought for a moment. He was right, even if he was in a good mood, you wouldn't want to tell KrakenKid you did something like this. I hadn't ever been on the receiving end of his rage, but I had seen plenty of others and I knew, it was bad. I wouldn't wish his true rage on any of the Tide Changers, and definitely not Gnash. Gnash was my favorite general. "Fine." The golem let a sigh of relief out. "I'll deal with it, but you owe me."

"Of course. Thank you so much Darrel." I waved it off and he left.

I tried to get back to work, but twenty minutes later, CannibalCrab stumbled into my room and made a mad dash towards me. "Darrel! Did you tell Kraken about my order?" I nodded, getting a look of pure betrayal out of him. "What? How could you do that?"

Slowly, I looked up to meet his gaze and gave him a cold look. "Do you remember what happened when you got a Nintendo 64 last time? You neglected your duties as a general," I inched forward, using my wings to boost my height to look more threatening. I could see beads of sweat appear on his forehead. "And my feathers payed the price."

He backed up, giving off a nervous laugh. "Y-you... You're still mad about that? I know the fire got a little out of hand and you got burned, but they came back didn't they?"

I put a wing to my face, taking a deep breath. "Cannibal."

"Y-yeah?"

"Let me put it this way: Run."

Upon hearing the word, the crab spared no time and bolted out of the room and up the stairs. I kept a hard gaze on him until he was out of my sight, and turned back to my computer.

"Where is that little- Darrel!" I huffed. I wasn't getting any work done today, was I?

KrakenKid swam into the area and spun around. "Where is he?" He demanded, looking at me for answers.

"Upstairs." I answered and the kraken rushed in the same direction his general had been not too long ago. I went back and started to type information on my computer but yelling from above distracted me. I paused when it all went quiet and silently hoped that KrakenKid didn't just kill him and was trying to hide the body.

Soon, all of my questions were answered when the sounds of the pair not only came back, but were coming back down. I watched as CannibalCrab was dragged across the hall by KrakenKid's death grip, much like an annoyed mother and her child that wouldn't leave a store. "You are getting an intervention!" The leader hissed to the cannibal.

"But Kraken!"

"NO!"

The pair left my sight but I continued to stare at where they left for a while. Something told me that this intervention would definitely involve smashing a very certain gaming device. Eventually, I shrugged it off and began to type the information needed for the taxes.

Hours had passed and neither CannibalCrab, nor KrakenKid had come back. Maybe the intervention was taking longer than I had previously thought. As I debated to check on them, a different kraken entered the room, an innocent look on his face. This could only mean he was up to no good.

"Heyyyyy Darrel. How are you doing?" Blooper asked with a overly enthusiastic grin on his face that could only be fake. "You know, I think you're awesome! You mean so much to me, and my Dad, and everyone in the Conch Command! You should get more appreciation! In fact-"

"Stop buttering me up and cut to the chase Blooper. What do you want?"

Blooper quickly started to shake his head. "Actually, I think the real question is: What do you want? Because-"

I instantly figured out where he was going and stopped him. "I'm not giving you the amazon password."

The once devious smile quickly became a frown. "Aww, come on Darrel! Cut me some slack here, I'm just a baby!"

"A baby who has been learning how to kill since... Actually pretty late. KrakenKid was pretty protective of you, but you are his son. Your age doesn't mean you should be any less feared."

Blooper opened his mouth but thought through what I had said and actually looked quite pleased. "Oh... Thank you! I often think that myself but everyone keeps refusing to spare with- Dang it Darrel, you made me lose my point! My point is: Give me money or I'll shoot." In an instant, he pulled a gun but I scoffed at him.

"Good luck getting the password off of my dead body. Or explaining it to your Dad."

Blooper's face paled and his arms drooped. I let out a snicker. "You didn't think this through did you?" His head shook.

"I'll... I'll be back with a plan later." I nodded absently as the small kraken scurried out the door.

The day continued on, and just went I thought I was going to get through it all today, a figure poked their head from around the corner, slithering from the upstairs. "Umm... Darrel, right?" I glanced up at the hybrid and nodded. She opened her mouth but I answered for her.

"KrakenKid, or KK as you refer to him as, is currently holding an intervention at CannibalCrab's house. Unless you feel like joining in, I'd pass on it. They've been gone for half the day and aren't done yet so it's going to be a doozy."

Tanith hesitated before saying something I didn't expect. "Actually, now that I'm here, I wanted to ask you something."

I gave her a look but decided I might as well humor her. "Alright, what is it?"

Tanith struggled with answering, like there was something she wasn't quite sure about, but finally blurted it out. "Who was KK's son's mother?"

I paused. Out of everything, I wasn't expecting this. I turned my full attention towards her as she went on. "KK never really says anything about her, even when I asked about her and I doubt that will change anytime soon. He even said that his son doesn't even know, so why? Why does he never say anything about her?"

For a long moment, I didn't say anything. It was a touchy subject, even for me. But, she was right. If I didn't tell her, nobody else would. I sighed, ruffling my blue feathers out for a moment and smoothing them again. "Blooper's mother's name was Ena. She was this powerful warrior and passionate about her job. Ena was never good with people when it came to actual friendship. On the battlefield, she could form great bonds and had this ability to make you trust even her craziest plans, but outside it, she had a lot more trouble. She always did better after observing people but... It was just a tough thing for her. However, her and KrakenKid were a great pair. They complimented each other's weak spots. Everyone thought they'd be together forever."

I then couldn't help but look away. "But then came a new plan. The Tide Changers wanted to get new allies in the Overworld, so he sent some of his trust troops and her, the person he knew would do a good job. She'd send reports every week, but one week she didn't. And the next week came with no news. It kept coming until even KrakenKid couldn't deny it: Ena wasn't coming back. Nobody really knew what happened but she was declared MIA, along with everyone else who went with her. Kraken never says anything because it's too painful for him to talk about."

Tanith was speechless. "Oh..." She said after a long pause and turned away. After what seemed like eternity she turned back towards me and nodded, giving a quick smile. "Thank you Darrel. I appreciate you telling me. That must have been hard for you." I nodded in agreement. "I'm... I think I'll go." Her movement seemed just a bit off, and I finally came to a conclusion. Several other memories came to my mind as I did.

As she started to leave, I spoke out. 

"I see the way you look at him."

I watched her entire body freeze until she inched back around and faced me. Her face now had a light pink color to it and she stuttered to find the right words before just saying, "W-what?"

I smirked, knowing I got it right. "KrakenKid. I see the way you look at KrakenKid. The subtle little sparks in your eyes, the way you want to linger around here, the things you are willing to do and most of all, your behavior. You genuinely smile when you see him, and not a "Friend" way. It's something more, isn't it?"

Tanith continued to remain speechless so I decided to go on. "I know love when I see it. A lot of the other Tide Changers are blind to it, but I know it when I see it. You're in love with him." Her eyes began to blink rapidly and her gaze averted to the floor. My grin only became wider as I put two and two together. "And you're still unsure. You haven't even fully realized it, have you?"

Tanith gulped and shook her head. "No... It's kinda confusing but also... Really nice? I don't know how to feel but... I just don't want to get my hopes up if I might not even get to actually..." She let out a hard sigh and started to mess with her hair a little bit. "I'm an Atlantean alright? And KK hates Atlantis. A full on romantic relationship like that would be difficult and..." Her voice trailed off but her blue eyes rose to meet mine. "I don't want to put KK in a situation like that. Where he has to choose something like that."

Silence passed through the air and I smiled. "Good to know where your morals are."

Tanith looked away for a long moment, thinking hard. "I'm going to go home... Thank you Darrel, I have a lot to think about. Goodbye."

I waved as she was gone in an instant.

As the sky turned dark outside, my eyelids became heavier. My day was over, and I didn't even finish doing the taxes. Something for tomorrow I suppose. I got up and stretched.

Just another day in life I guess, though I certainly had some interesting moment to it.

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That last little moment with Darrel and Tanith wasn't planned. She was just going to leave after getting the information, but then that happened so.... Yep.

A chapter in Darrel's perspective, it actually turned out not too shabby! In case you didn't see it, I did a little chapter on 14 new upcoming chapters for this story and Iceshard1011 pretty much got it right! Wooo! Good Job!

I also decided to add in a little background on Blooper's mom, just for the sake of the story.

I hope you liked this! Be sure to comment your thoughts and goodbye!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter