Clover:......woah......so this is what a Clan empire looks like?

Shadow quickly snatched her hand away from Sho and walked off while pulling out a mini gaming console from her pocket.

Shadow: yes. Remember, we're here to forge a weapon and get out.

Sho: and to have pizza!

Shadow:........*sigh* I have a question...Sho.

Sho: hm hm?

Shadow: do you know this place well? Those guards seem to be very friendly with you.

Sho: hmph! I know this place like the back of my head

Shadow: hand

Sho: huh?

Shadow: hand...it's "back of my hand"not "head"

Sho: no, I'm talking about MY hand, silly ^^

Shadow:........

Clover: uh...anyway! Sho said she knew this place! That's good, right!?

Shadow:.....yes....We need you to direct us to the blacksmith here.

Sho: *tilts her head* what's a blacksmith?

Shadow:......

Sho: is it a black bird!? I saw a black bird in the sky!

Shadow: Oh my cod....

Sho: *looks at Clover* leaf! are black birds, blacksmiths?

Clover:...uh...no, they're ravens, crows....or basically a lot of other birds. *smiles* I don't blame you for thinking that though.

Sho: I saw birdies...hehe....bird...

Shadow: focus, idiot; the blacksmith, the squid who makes and forges weapons.

Sho:.....nope, I don't know.

Shadow: but you just said bang bang things!! you said you knew this place!!

Sho: I do! ^^

Shadow: then how do-.....uuuugh!

Shadow walked towards Clover and grabbed her by the shoulder, then began to drag her away from Sho down the street.

Shadow: thank you for getting us in the walls, and now you can go along with your day. We don't need your help anymore, so bye.

Shadow walked along with Clover, but then Clover felt something tug on her shirt from her side. She looked over and saw Sho on her other side, seeing her eyes glisten green once more, holding onto her shirt with a nice smile, which caught Shadow's attention.

Shadow: you can leave.

Sho: I wanna come with you guys!

Shadow: definitely not.

Sho: please!?

Shadow: no.

Sho: pretty please!?

Shadow: no. Like I said, we're here to quickly get our weapon forged and we're leaving.

Sho: pretty pretty please!! We can go get new pizza first and I'll help find the blackbird!

Clover: blacksmith.

Sho: blacksmith!

Shadow: you just had pizza...

Sho: there's no such thing as too much pizza!

Shadow:....

Shadow let out an annoyed grunt at Sho, seeing some cephalopods strolling on by while looking at them because she was slightly causing a scene, but after looking at the goofy Octo, people's eyes would shift towards Clover in pure confusion. Worrying about future causes, Shadow let go of Clover and rolled her eyes at the two, gesturing Sho to walk in front of her with Clover.

Shadow: just be quiet...

Sho: yes! I will take you to my favorite pizza shop!

Clover: what was the pizza you had in your hands earlier then?

Sho: that was my super secret special surprise pizza! Gages likes it! But it's squished now, it's alright though, because I ate it!

Shadow:.....

Sho began to walk along with Clover, not letting go of her shirt as Shadow trailed behind the two, getting more and more embarrassed when people noticed Sho talking to Clover.

Shadow: (it seems like everyone here knows Sho........*tsk*.....she's just drawing more attention to us...)

Inkling boy: hi Sho!

Sho: hiya!!

Inkling boy: who's the girl? A new friend?

Sho: this is Leaf! A new bestie best best friend!

Inkling boy: woah! I love your Kilu! What clan are you from!?

Clover:.....uh.......I um.....

Before Clover could speak, Shadow popped up from behind her and glared straight at the Inkling boy with a menacing aura.

Shadow: she's from a clan known as "mind your own damn business"

Inkling boy:.....alright, jeez. Fucking asshole.

The Inkling boy walked away as Shadow gestured towards Sho and Clover to continue walking. As the three continued to walk through the domain, Clover still felt Sho gently holding onto the side of her shirt, causing her to look over at the Octo, curious of her appearance and calm, yet happy tone of voice.

Clover: By the way...."Leaf"?

Sho: mm?

Clover: why did you call me that?

Sho: it's your nickname! It sounds awesome!

Clover:.....huh...

Sho: hmhm! Your necklace makes me feel funny! It looks super cool!

Just then, it hit her. Clover forgot for a slight second, but she remembered back to Citrus's video......Sho....she's heard her name prior.....the necklace around her neck was meant for her....She gently grasped onto the necklace and looked over at Sho, seeing her humming and looking around the empire.

Clover:.....hey....Sho, can I tell you somethi-

Sho: there!! My pizza place!!

Without any bit of hesitation, Sho ran with Clover towards the pizza shop, with Shadow rolling her eyes at them and walking rather slowly still.

The two arrived at the pizza shop, then Sho pointed up at the sign to see it say "Cogs, Collectibles, and Crafts".

Clover: huh.....weird name for a pizza shop.....

Sho: they have the best pizza!

Shadow: *walks over* is this the pizza shop-......Sho...

Sho: mm?

Shadow:......read the sign.

Sho: hmmm! *staaaare* Cobs!

Shadow: Cogs....

Sho: Cookable!

Shadow: Collectibles....

Sho: Pizza!

Shadow:..............read below the sign....

Sho: mmmmm! Blackbird weapon....farting! *snickers*

Clover: *tiny snicker*

Shadow: -_-.....Blacksmith weapon forging....Sho, this is the blacksmith...not a pizza shop....

Just then, Shadow looked up after hearing something fly over her head. She saw a Raven fly above the three, then perch itself below the blacksmith sign, holding something in it's mouth.

Sho: *gasp* it's Bobby! Hi Bobby!

Clover: where'd that thing come from?

Sho: he usually follows me wherever I go. He's so kind!

Shadow: well now I know why you think blacksmiths are black birds.

Clover looked up at the Raven and saw it looking down at her, and when she took a closer look at the Raven's beak, she saw that the object hanging from it's mouth was an eyeball, which the Raven quickly devoured right above her.

Clover:............

Shadow: *sigh* alright, let's get this over with.

Shadow dragged Clover into the blacksmiths shop while Sho trailed behind them, waving at Bobby the bird before going inside the shop with them.

Clanging of metal could be heard, and slight colorful bursts of energy were erupting from a back room within the shop. Shadow walked up to the front counter, seeing no one there to serve her, so she rang the little bell multiple times as Sho walked around the shop, looking at an axe and pointing her finger out to touch it, but Clover gently pushed her finger away so she wouldn't cut herself.

Shadow: yo! You guys have some customers!!

*silence*

Shadow:.....helloooo!!!?

Just then, a loud burst was heard from the back room of the shop, then it was followed up by the sounds of loud coughing and wheezing. The back room door behind the counter opened and the three of them saw an Inkling girl walk out with pink dust covering her body.

???: *COUGH*...woah....looks like lifeless nectar was a no-go for hammers...heh...sorry about that.

Clover looked straight at the Inkling girl, seeing her shake the pink dust off her body to expose her green tentacles. The girl wore goggles that were also pink, which she took off, showing them her red eyes. She smiled with her unique teeth that looked like fangs, and she wore overalls with her outfit as she waved her hand at the three of them.

Angelica: the name's Angelica. How can I help you guys today? Oh, hey Sho!

Sho: hey Jelly!

Angelica: how you been?

Sho: I saw Corn!

Angelica: *giggles* you're a cutie.

Shadow: ok, look, we need a weapon forged.

Angelica: easy! Who's this weapon for, exactly?

Shadow stepped out of the way and Clover walked up to the counter, feeling a little awkward from herself, but then she saw Angelica jump up and roughly land her feet on the counter, crouching down and looking straight into her eyes with a fat smile, and their faces only being inches apart.

Angelica:....mm....you're a special one, huh....

Angelica used one of her hands and reached up to Clover's face, gently using her fingers to feel on her birthmark, spreading her eye wide open while glaring deeper and deeper into her eye.

Angelica: wow....what clan are you from? I've never seen anyone like you before.

Clover:....oh....uh...

Shadow: she's a scar.

Angelica: is that so?

Shadow: yes, now let's move on from the topic quickly please.

Angelica: mmmmm....If you say so. I won't push you on it.

Angelica hopped down from the counter and stood next to Clover, grabbing her arm and walking away with her while Shadow and Sho trailed behind. They walked into a weird cybernetic room that was completely covered in machines, gadgets, and other unique accessories.

Angelica: we're the most technologically advanced blacksmiths around! Heather, we have a new customer!

Clover saw another Inkling girl sitting down in front of a table, playing with a weird metallic triangle that was slightly glowing while she adjusted the wires to it.

Heather: huh....it's been a while since we had a new customer.

Angelica: I believe this one is a pure blood! Her body is nothing like I've ever seen before.

Heather: wait what!?

Heather quickly stopped her work and lifted up her goggles, looking straight at Clover. Heather stood up and walked over to Clover, looking at her birthmark, then felt on her arm to test the density of her skin. Clover stood uncomfortably as Heather went all around her body, then let out a "hm" as she held her chin.

Heather: we've been looking for someone like you for a while. I can't properly tell if you're pure, but I can find out right now. This will only hurt for a second, okay?

Clover: wait what?

Heather pulled out a tiny needle and quickly jabbed Clover in her arm with it, then pulled it out and walked away as Clover held her arm after yelping in pain.

Clover: ow! what the hell!?

Heather looked at the blood on the needle, then gently placed one tiny drop of the blood on a tiny glass sample. Heather put the glass under a machine, then looked at the projection with Clover while Shadow played her video games, and Angelica was playing patty cake with Sho.

Clover: I guess Angelica wasn't joking when she said you guys were technologically advanced.....

Heather: back in the human age, blacksmiths would craft everything by hand. Your mind Is lifting in the past, my friend! Now then, let's see what clan you're from originally!

Clover:.......but I'm.....*sigh*.....

The machine read Clover's blood DNA, then suddenly the screen became corrupted with static and began to glitch out. The machine bursted and began to emit smoke, shocking everyone in the room.

Heather: My machine!!

Sho: you burned the pizza!!

Heather:.....my baby!! ugh....this is horrible....

Clover: it's okay...if you want, I can help with fixing it.

Heather: no, no, no. It's just, we have a problem.....If I can't get your DNA to find out your blood heritage, I can't make you a weapon that suits you.

Clover: does my heritage matter that much?

Angelica: yup! It's just because every clan has their set of unique quirks with them. Tundra clan is hidden within the snow and they're all very swift and nimble in their attacks.

Heather: they allow their weapons to control them. They imagine their weapons as the wind, and themselves as the snow from above, flowing wherever their weapon leads them. The weapons they possess are usually thin and fragile, but very lethal and can take your life in an instant.

Angelica: yup! Unlike them though is the Magma Clan, a very heavy hitting clan but they aren't that quick at all. They're rather slow, but one blow from them is basically death.

Clover: so I can't...get a weapon?

Heather: well since our machine is broken, I'm not sure, but most likely not. The machine is the main gadget that gives us the materials and blueprints for perfect weapon to build.

Angelica: the materials we have are pretty limited. Hmph! Ever since stone clan sealed themselves off from us, finding materials to forge weapons has been a real pain.

Clover: Stone clan?

Heather: they are a very humble clan and their empire is within the mountains of flowing ink, which they now claim as their full territory.

Shadow: a bunch of assholes if you ask me.

Sho: *nods* yeah!

Shadow: do you even know what you're nodding your head to?

Sho: nope ^^

Heather: alright uh....what's your name?

Clover: Clover.

Angelica: awwwe, that's cute.

Heather: Clover, I'm sorry but I can't take the risk. I don't want to fail on making something you don't like and wasting materials as well.

Clover: so you're putting all of your trust into a machine?

Heather:....I-It's not like that, it's just...the machine kinda just...ya know.

Angelica: it's 99.9 percent correct. Heather made it herself.

Clover: so if you were the one that made it....can't you basically do what it can? If not, better?

Heather: I....

Clover: you're not gonna feel satisfied with yourself if you just simply cheat your way through everything. Sometimes you just gotta trust yourself and do your best.

Heather:....it's not that....it's just.......*sigh*.......Gage isn't happy with the income of our shop...that's why....

Clover:...Gage....he's the...

Shadow: Core of this clan, yes.

Sho: and my bestie!

Heather: he wants us to close the shop because we're not getting as many customers as we used to.

Angelica: yeah, it's just because Stone Clan played a big part in our income because they'd give us materials to craft the weapons they needed, then they'd pay us.

Heather: but since they're not associating with us anymore, we lost a lot of money, materials, and valuable customers.

Clover:.....hm.......then I'll just go to Stone clan and talk with them about this drama so I can get my weapon forged.

Shadow: you do realize that you'd get murdered in like, three seconds, right?

Heather: going out of your way like that isn't necessary, Clover.

Clover: I just wanna get you guys up and running like before by lending assistance. You two are very nice and amazing squids, and I want you guys to keep this shop open. The second I walked in here, I was a bit nervous of the environment, but your hearts of purity are what calmed me down.

Heather saw Clover give her a gentle smile, which made her stiff and unable to speak. This girl, that she hasn't even known for an hour, was already willing to risk her life to help her. Heather looked down and thought to herself for a second.......clenching her fists on her thighs.

Heather:........do you want a Physical weapon.....or a Sumi Weapon, Clover?

Angelica: Wah!!?

Clover:...huh?

Heather: give me a request and I'll try to make a weapon that lives up to your expectations.

Clover: but you already said you were short on materials.

Heather: with the materials we have....I can potentially craft one last weapon...

Clover:....

Heather: just tell me your clan and I'll get started.

Clover: I'm a scar.

Heather: your original clan! Every scar originated from a different clan.

Clover: oh.....uh...well I'd rather not say my original clan....

Heather: mm....I see! So you want me to guess on that as well!

Clover:....

Heather: I accept your challenge.

Heather grabbed onto Clover's hand and held on her palm, feeling the slight roughness of her skin.

Heather: your upper skin density is more firm and stiff....and your palms.....I can figure something out.

Clover: I have a quick question.

Heather: yeah?

Clover: what's a.....Sumi weapon? You said it earlier.

Angelica: you don't know what a Sumi weapon is?

Clover: *shakes her head*

Angelica: well, do you know what Sumi is?

Clover:........no...

Heather: I'm surprised you don't. Sumi is the special ink that flows within our bodies, with Sumi, you can use and harness it to preform especial streams, which are special attacks that a stream user can have.  Or you can use it to heal yourself, or fellow allies.

Angelica: Sumi weapons are pure weapons made from your inner ink that you can summon at anytime. Both Sumi weapons and physical weapons require materials though.

Heather: and there's two ways to get a Sumi weapon. You can either get it merged into your body by a blacksmith, or you can unlock one on your own through pure willpower and determination.

Clover: so can someone have more than one Sumi weapon?

Shadow: Mhm. There's a drawback though.

Shadow raised her hand above her and her hand glowed in cyan, then a giant axe formed within her hand, showing off a beautiful radiant glow with a sapphire within it.

Sho: woah!!

Shadow: this is my Sumi weapon, and I unlocked it on my own. But this weapon is basically living in my body rent free. If I wanted another Sumi weapon in my body, it would start to extract my energy just to maintain itself within me. That's the drawback and why usually people only carry around one Sumi weapon. Sumi weapons are way stronger than physical weapons though.

Shadow's axe faded away and she went back to playing her video games while Clover thought to herself, looking back over to the two blacksmith squids.

Clover:.....a physical weapon.

Shadow:....*looks at Sho*...did she not hear me?

Sho: huh?

Shadow:...

Angelica:.....hm.....that's a first...

Heather: usually squids would always say Sumi weapons because of what Shadow said. Sumi weapons are really strong and you can use them to preform especial streams.

Clover: well if I have a physical weapon, I can always carry it around and train like how I used to do with my Dynamo Roller.

Heather: a.....Dynawhat?

Clover:...uh....never mind.

Sho: Jellycaaaa!

Sho stumbled over to Angelica and rested her head on the blacksmith, and Angelica simply giggled and patted her head.

Angelica: I didn't forget. Give me a sec!

Angelica ran out of the room, leaving everyone confused until they heard a weird sound of an engine running. Everyone saw the inkling run straight back into the room with a inkzooka, smiling at all of them.

Angelica: PIZZAZOOKA!!

Sho: *GAAAAAASP*  YOU ACTUALLY MADE IT!!

Heather: that was the thing you were working on for the past month?

Angelica: yes! And it was worth it!!

Angelica shot the pizzazooka at Sho, then she caught it in her mouth and happily ate it. Angelica began shooting slices of pizza everywhere, and even hitting Shadow in her face with a slice, slightly angering the squid.

Shadow:.........for fucks sake....

~~~

The sun was setting slowly, and Shadow was standing near Heather as she reached down into a compartment to grab a unique material, looking at it before nodding to herself.

Shadow: ok, so when can you get this weapon done? I'm not trying to start any drama with your core.

Heather: uh....let me see....

Shadow: if you could finish it by tomorrow morning, that'd be perfect.

Shadow saw Heather look at her with a tiny smile on her face that eventually turned into a snicker as she pushed up her glasses, aggravating the scar squid.

Shadow: what's so funny?

Heather: you think I can finish this weapon by tomorrow morning? You're one crazy stream.

Shadow: well, when's the earliest you could get it done?

Heather:....mmmm....considering the image in my mind.....the width....height.....weight and density....*shrugs*...tomorrow night at the earliest. Sometime around eleven, but I'll have to close the shop for the day tomorrow so I won't get interrupted.

Shadow: wha-you're joking! I'm not spending a whole day again in this hell hole.

Heather: well this "hell hole" is my home, thank you. that time is the earliest I can forge this weapon, make it usable, durable, and proficient. This will cost me my blood, sweat, and tears, so the best you could do is be patient....unless you want me to go slower with my project to make you spend a longer time in this "hell hole"

Shadow:.....

Heather: I'm pretty sure Clover wouldn't mind waiting.

Shadow: alright, whatever. Where's the nearest hotel here?

Heather: oh, it's right down the block. It's called Gizmos. you'll know it when you see it.

Shadow:....thanks...

Shadow paid Heather and walked out of the blacksmith's shop, noticing Clover sitting on a bench that was next to the shop, keeping the ink tank strapped to her back while also holding onto Sho, who was sleeping in her Octopus form.

Shadow: c'mon.....we'll rent a room tonight....

Clover:....alright.

Clover stood up and began to walk next to Shadow, feeling the warm radiance of the sun slide from off of her body as it set. Many little squids and octos ran down the streets, going home for the day or playing one final game for the night.

Shadow looked over at Clover and saw how she was holding onto Sho, looking down at the Octo and letting out a tiny smile as she grasped her, hearing her cute noises she was making while being within her realm of dreams.

Shadow:......just yesterday......you were charged as a criminal.........because you murdered someone who was close to us......your life quickly switched right before your eyes.......you're acting like this doesn't matter to you....

Shadow saw Clover look over at her in curiosity, then give her a gently smile as well while slowly rubbing onto Sho's head.

Clover: it's impossible to know how many checkpoints you'll have throughout your life.......most of them are happy, and most of them are sad, but in the end, these checkpoints are still a token of gratitude from life. *smirks* like in your video games.

Shadow:........

Clover: when you're pushing through a level and you make it to the checkpoint, that's the game congratulating you on how far you've come in your journey.

Shadow: yeah, but in a video game, you already know exactly where checkpoints are.

Clover:.......the only time you would know where that checkpoint is....is if you already played through the level before....

Shadow:.....

Clover: you've already experienced those events that life had to offer you.....that's how I feel....

Shadow:....

Clover: my three closest friends in the world were all murdered right in front of my eyes by her.....I was scared...and I honestly wanted to die that day because I didn't want to let go.

Shadow:.....*looks away*....but she saved you.....

Clover:.....I still don't understand....please....I need to know who I killed.....who were they?....

Shadow:.......*sigh*.....Yufine is the queen of the ArchAngels....you know that already though.......and Yufine has a sister......her name is Luna, and she was an Archdemon.

Clover:......

Shadow: Luna is in a coma because of her current state of separation. She was cursed by a masked criminal....and was getting weaker and weaker by the minute, so she separated her power into three worthy cephalopods.....transferring her power was the only way to continue her lineage of Archdemons and get rid of the curse.

Clover: a...criminal cursed her? Not Yufine?

Shadow: no.....nobody knows who did it. All we know is only one of the three Archdemon descendants......and.....she was Luna's daughter......her name was Eleanor.

Clover:......

Shadow: a month ago, on that day of Yufine's attack, Eleanor was coming back to the base after completing a mission that was assigned to her for investigating the clan of  Venom. She was searching to see if they had any type of information related to her mother's curse.

Clover:....nobody.....went with her on the mission?.....

Shadow: we couldn't....the Venom clan has a very hazardous and deadly empire. Even inhaling the air for too long will destroy your lungs and kill you. The clan is untouchable within their territory unless you have someone who has the medicine for their poisons.

Clover:.....Oh....

Shadow: this is why Eleanor was the only one who left that day. Archdemons are immune to poison and toxins, so she was easily able to sneak in and out because the venom clan has no defenses at all, and inhaling the fumes wouldn't kill her.

Clover:....when she was coming back...she....

Shadow: ran into you and Yufine....

Clover:......

Shadow: you passed out just as Eleanor came to save your life. She fought Yufine, and defended you to the very end.....and.....she died that day because she protected you from a very lethal attack......

Clover:......

Shadow:.......you got.....Luna's one and only daughter.......killed....

Clover's eyes widened and she had nothing to say whatsoever to Shadow. She instead just looked at the Inkling, seeing her look away slightly and sigh.

Shadow:.....I loved that kid....she was so happy and full of life.....she reminded me of.......me....when I was younger....Before my sist-......

Clover:.....what?.....

Shadow:.....nothing....

Clover:....

Shadow: the hotel is just up ahead. We'll get some sleep, lay low, and wait until your weapon is ready, got it?

Clover looked ahead, seeing the nice hotel that had a nice sign that lit up the whole street, showing a robotic Inkling girl with a smile, presenting the name "Gizmos" to everyone around.

Clover:........yeah......

~~~~

*chapterly art*

Beauty