(Jason's POV)

I wake up with a pounding headache. Not that that's unusual. But what I do find strange is the silence. The squids wake me up with yelling most of the time. And what's the most surprising is the soft surface underneath me. Where's the stone floor?

     I open my eyes to slits, the two different colors showing. I have one blue eye and one gray. I only have partial vision in my gray eye. It looks like I'm in some kind of tiny room? Is this a trick? They haven't tried to do this to me before. But then again, everything they did seems a little foggy. I push myself up into a sitting position when nothing happens for a few minutes. That's when I notice all the bandaids on my arms and legs, all different sizes. They're even different colors and I can't help smile a little bit. My skin is even clean of all the dirt that was suppose to be there. If I'm not at the squid base, where am I?

What's in the bag on the floor? I get to my feet while keeping most of the weight off my left leg. Dad used to say that the bones in my leg didn't grow right when I was a baby. I've always had a limp when I walk. I wonder where Dad is? I haven't seen him in so long. I hope I can go back to the castle to see him soon. Pushing my thoughts away, I turn my focus to the burlap sack on the floor. I limp over to it and sit down beside it. I pull the sack open and almost cry in relief. It's my space suit! I had built the flexible armor a long time ago back at the castle. I made it so that I can easily add parts to make it bigger. I start putting the pieces on, savoring the feeling of wearing them again. The squids were mean and didn't let me have my suit. So if I have it, does that really mean that I'm not there anymore? I hope so.

Once suited up, I take off the helmet again that way I don't scare anyone who's not used to it. I test my weak leg to make sure that the suit is doing it's job. The leg piece acts a brace so I can walk normally. Running is still kinda hard, but I'll take what I can get. I hold ont my helmet while shuffling over to the door. Please don't be locked. To my amazement and great joy, the door swings right open when I pulled on the handle.

     I look out to see people. Not squids, but actual people! They haven't noticed me yet, but they're going around the area chatting or doing work. Are these the rebels going against the squids!? Dad talked about them all the time to me in private. Now that I'm here, I can do what dad asked me! He told me get help when he had me memorize the castle and the passages underneath. But now I know about them and can get help!

I cautiously leave the safety of the doorway and wander out into the camp. Most people are too busy to even notice me. The rest just glance at me and look away. That's how all the people my dad talked to looked at me before I made my suit. So how did I get here again? Someone must have rescued me. Maybe I'll see someone I know walking around. My wanderings eventually bring me over to a big tent. I can hear at least five guy voices talking, and one girl voice too. Some of the voices sound familiar.

     Sticking my head through, I can see the six of them standing at a table and looking at some sort of map. They haven't seen me yet because I'm a little small for my age. That and they all have their backs to me. One is a fish and another looks really fluffy, but the one with headphones I remember. "Ty Ty!", I yell while running over and hugging his waist. He almost falls over when I crash into him. "J-Jason? Why are you up? You should still be resting", Ty splutters. "But I'm not tired", I argue back.

"Jason, you don't understand. You had some kind of drug in your system that made you not proses what you were seeing. You technically shouldn't be moving at all", someone else in the room scolds me. I turn to look at him, his checkered hoodie catching my eye. Does he look like someone I know? It must of been a along time ago if I have met him. "Who're you?", I ask him.

"I'm Mitch. Jerome and I talked to your dad once a long time ago", he explains while pointing to the fluffy person next to him. "I'm Ian", someone else with sunglasses jumps in. "I-I'm Quinten", the fish-looking one adds. "And I'm happy that you remember me", Ty smiles while picking me up. I squeak and accidentally let go of my helmet, which thankfully doesn't break on the floor.

     The one girl in the room opened her mouth to say something, but I beat her to it. "You're Aleasa, maybe? Did I see you before now?", I ask, cocking my head to the side. Aleasa struggles to come up with a response before deciding to drop the question. "I have no idea how you can remember, but they way you tilted your head to the side is literally the cutest thing I've ever seen", she ends up saying, laughing at her own awkwardness. "Dad says that I have good memory like him. That's why he thought I could memorize the maps", I say while wiggling out of Ty's arms to grab my helmet.

It takes a minute for them to comprehend what a just said. "Wait. Jason? Is your dad still being held in the castle? I thought the squids had......... let him go... about two years ago. And what do you mean about maps!?", Mitch spews, trying to keep his cool around a nine-year-old. "Me and Dad have been in the castle for a really long time. Dad brought me stuff to build my suit out of while we were there. The mean squids would take me away from him whenever they wanted Dad to do something. I don't know when I left, but Dad made sure I learned all the rooms in the castle. Including the...... cat-a-combs that are under the floor", I absentmindedly explained. It's not really anything special. My cool suit is much better then reading a bunch of dusty books.

The sudden silence around me makes me look back up. I see six pairs of eyes staring at me in complete shock. Ty kneels down to my eye level before asking, "Do you think that you can lead us through the catacombs and into the castle? If you can, then it would really help a lot of people". Dad told me that memorizing the castle would let me help people after he got me away from the castle. He wanted me to be able to help, and now I can bring people back to get him out of the castle!

"I can take you in. I know the way! I wanna help", I honestly say to Ty. He immediately pulls me into a really tight hug, shaking a little for some reason. "Thank you, Thank you so much Jason. You have no idea what this means for us. We really can win this".