Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Sea monster!" Luca pointed at Alberto, leaning into Giulia's grasp. As soon as the words left his mouth he felt his chest clench with a tense anxiety, different from the 'my mom is gonna kill me if I'm not home on time' anxiety yet still not quite the 'oh, carp, the town will know we're sea monsters’ anxiety. 

He watched as Alberto's expression sank into a look of shock, of betrayal. As his ear fins drooped and the corners of his mouth twinged down.

It made Luca feel so, so much worse. 

"Luca?" 

Luca could feel Giulia shaking even as she stumbled in front of him, an attempt at protecting him from Alberto, oblivious to how little Luca actually needed that protection. Luca should be protecting Alberto from her. Still, he didn’t move. 

Giulia reached forward and swooped up a stray driftwood piece, waving it haphazardly at him. Luca knew she couldn't—wouldn't—do anything (a distant 'would she?' echoed in Luca's mind that he pushed as far back as he could), but the sight still made his chest clench.

Alberto shifted as Giulia essentially threatened him, but his gaze stayed on Luca. Luca felt tears well in his eyes and he begged them not to fall, not to reveal him with warm tears leaving scales in their wake. Scales that Giulia would see. 

Alberto began to speak again, but whatever he was going to say was lost on a distant shout.

"Sea monster! There it is!" Ercole's voice grated on Luca's ears. Luca felt his neck twinge in sharp pain with how quickly he snapped his head towards the sound. Ercole was holding a harpoon. He was pointing a harpoon. 

No.

"Now!"

"No—!"

Luca leapt forward over the gentle, crashing waves, pushing Alberto into them. They both hit the shore together, the feeling of scales replacing skin, tail elongating, fins protruding.

The Change would never cease to send shivers down Luca's back.

So much for keeping it a secret. 

The two harpoons thrown missed both of them, yet Ercole's gasp still cut through the air, closer this time. 

There was a pause in which no one moved, waves smacking against both of them. Alberto was shaking a little bit, claws digging into Luca’s scales.

Ercole moved first. "Cazzo, I knew it! Cicco! Another harpoon!” Ercole snatched Cicco’s harpoon out of his hands. “I knew something was fishy about you two. You shoulda left when I told you.”

Luca glanced back behind Ercole, away from the threat, the predator, his instincts screamed at him. His gaze landed on Giulia, who looked pale, eyes wide with fear, hands held close to her body. He'd never seen her look so small, so scared. She was Giulia, defeater of evil empires of injustice and protector of the underdogs. But now she was Giulia, scared of her friends because they lied to her and are monsters from stories she spent years hearing about.

Luca flickered his attention back to Ercole as Alberto clenched Luca's arm tighter. Something shimmered in Ercole's grasp, and it took Luca a moment too long to realize what a harpoon pointed right at you would look like. What a harpoon that was thrown right at you would look like.

Alberto was faster than him, he always was. He tugged Luca backwards, dragging him along the sea-smoothed pebbles of the beach into deeper water. It wasn't enough, though, and Luca saw the impact before he really felt it. Right into his thigh. 

Every emotion building up finally hit him all at once, from his own words thrown at Alberto to Giulia's expression to Ercole's laugh to Alberto's yell of alarm as the harpoon—sharks, the harpoon. 

It hurt. 

Luca opened his mouth to scream, forcing pressure through his lungs and throat, but no sound came out. A pathetic, inhuman whimper left his throat, resonating from his chest, and Alberto growled at the humans—at Giulia and Ercole and the boys that were always with him. 

Ercole was treading down the rocks towards the water. Giulia was frozen. Cicco and Guido, Luca recalled, were also frozen. Hands covering their mouths and eyes wide.

Albero continued to pull Luca deeper into water, away from Ercole and everyone. He felt his body float as water surrounded him, the familiar weightlessness returning. The harpoon shifted as well, almost dislodging itself, yet sending a harsh jolt of firey pain through Luca's leg in the process. The pain radiated up from the harpoon, stretching into his torso. 

Alberto was saying something to him, Luca suddenly registered. The sound of his voice carried so differently under water, the communication in their natural form so achingly familiar.

"I think," Alberto started, "I think it needs to be taken out. It doesn’t—uhm—it doesn’t look deep." 

Luca was painfully aware of the anatomy of a harpoon, his mother made sure. There was one sharp end for piercing and a contrary, second sharp end pointed back towards the staff. It was meant for keeping the harpoon stuck. If they pulled it out, it would make the wound worse. Messier. 

The sound of splashing reverberated through the water around them, Luca saw the glint of the other discarded harpoons being pulled out of the surf. 

If they didn't pull it out, the drag caused by it would slow them down too much. They would be hit with another harpoon. They would be caught.

Alberto growled, an anxious whine backing it, grabbed the harpoon's end, and yanked. 

Luca’s tail thrashed at the action and, oh, now his leg really hurt. The water around him and Alberto was suddenly an uncomfortable tint of red. 

Luca felt a tug and their surroundings got darker still, from the sun setting or the retreat into even deeper water or the blood, Luca wasn't sure. The splashing sounds and outraged voices from the surface grew further.

"Luca, please—" Alberto pleaded as he dragged him through the water. Then, softer, to himself: "Silenzio, Bruno."

They were moving faster now. Luca blinked slowly, his head hurt now, too, and watched Alberto's lithe form rapidly sway back and forth in the water. Lashing tail, shifting hips, propelling legs. Luca beat his own tail in an effort to push himself through the water with Alberto.

He thought about how beautiful Alberto's scales looked reflected in the setting sun's rays. The water at this hour always looked beautiful. 

He thought about how angry Alberto must be with him. To betray him, act as if Alberto was the only one, all for a selfish desire to attend a human school. Then, to throw it all away, anyway. 

He felt rocks scrape against his scales as they reached another shore. Felt the air brush against his head fins and face as they surfaced. A thought crossed his mind before he immediately dismissed it. This couldn’t have been the island, Alberto’s island. There was no way they had been swimming long enough to make that trek.

“Okay, uhm,” Alberto stammered. “You’re fine. It’s not that much. This is fine. I know what I’m doing.” Luca bit his lip and watched as Alberto floundered about. “Just… Just wait here. In the water.” Alberto ran up towards the grass, disappearing with the foliage. He left Luca on the shore, very gentle waves pressing against him. 

Luca’s head was still pounding, but the lack of movement helped minutely. He didn’t feel his vision blacking anymore, at least. He shifted so his leg wasn’t directly on the rocks, scared that some would find their way in the wound, but kept his leg submerged enough to stay wet and scaled. He wasn’t sure what The Change would do when he was hurt like this.

He was scared to look down at his leg. The wound left by the harpoon stung and throbbed with pain. Everything his mom and dad had ever done for him when he would occasionally get hurt slipped through his grasp. He couldn’t really focus on any of his thoughts right now. 

Besides, he doesn’t remember ever being hurt to this extent. He wasn’t even sure they would know what to do.

He was scared to look down at his leg, so he looked up instead, letting his head finally fall back against the rocks.

With only a minor protest of pain from his temple as he tilted his head back, he saw the tower. So, this was the island? Luca tried blinking a few times, maybe he was seeing things, and oh wasn’t that a great thought. Deeper in the island he heard crashing sounds. Glass shattering, items being shoved and thrown. 

Nevermind that.

His attention shifted back to his wound. Wrap it in seaweed, maybe? 

Luca looked behind him, again with a throb of pain radiating through his entire body in the process, out into the sea. He tried to pull himself deeper, away from the shore, but his leg practically screamed at him. Luca wouldn’t find any seaweed this close, anyway. He didn’t really want to scare Alberto, either. If it already isn’t too late for that.

When he pulled himself back to his original spot, closer to the surface plants, he didn’t find much luck around the rocky shore, either. Not even broad leaves to press onto the wound. Best he had was rocks, pebbles, and slightly larger rocks. 

Luca’s head felt heavy again, and he blinked. When he opened his eyes, Alberto was suddenly in front of him holding some odd fabric all tied together. He knelt down to Luca’s level, water splashing and scales reaching his mid thighs and forearms.

“I’m sorry if this hurts.” Alberto suddenly pressed the shirt-pants-bandage to Luca’s thigh, hard. 

Yeah, one could describe the feeling Luca is experiencing at this moment as ‘hurts.’

Luca hissed in pain and instinctively grabbed at Alberto’s arm, gripping it with still scaly claws. The pain in his thigh throbbed more and reached up into his stomach again. Luca was sure he was going to throw up if it kept on like this. Alberto eased up slightly and began wrapping it around the leg. It was tight and Alberto was still pressing on it. 

“Do you have to press it so hard?” Luca barely could hear himself above his own whine and the blood rushing through his ears.

“It stops the bleeding, unless you want to bleed out?” There was a snap to Alberto’s voice, yet gone a moment later: “I—I’m sorry.”

Luca hummed, pitchy and pained, and he watched as the bandages bled red anyway before being wrapped again under a new layer. And just under his leg the water was cloudy, slowly circulating with the fresh sea water as the tide pulled and pushed. It was still darker than it should be, though. His blood? All of that was his? His head swam.

“I—” Alberto began, “I don’t know what else to do, Luca, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m doing!” Luca watched Alberto’s eyes shine with tears, just waiting to fall. His chest clenched again with the same anxiety he felt earlier. Alberto sank in the water next to Luca, letting his body change from soft, warm, human skin to glistening scales and a tail that whipped back and forth with nerves.

“No, I’m sorry, it’s my fault, anyway. I never should have done that.” Desperate to avoid Alberto’s eyes, Luca looked up towards the sky. Immediately, his vision darkened immensely when he tilted his head back, and he quickly righted himself. His vision didn’t really correct itself to it’s usual brightness, though, and his head still felt lighter than before.

Luca found himself looking at Alberto, anyway. Alberto’s already tense brow pinched, eyes searching Luca’s. “Done what?”

“When you…” Luca couldn’t find the words. He couldn’t really find anything right to say. “The sea monster thing. I wish I could take it back.”

Alberto huffed. Probably in renewed anger. “Luca you… that… you revealed yourself, anyway. It doesn’t matter.” Alberto leaned back and tilted himself away from Luca. The air filled with awkward silence, the crashing waves being the only thing breaking it. He thought back to everything that led up to his stupid decision. Alberto crashing the bike, Giulia calling out to them from up above on the surface, them crawling out of the water on that pebbly beach. 

Luca thought back to his parents chasing after him. The sheer adrenalin rush he got when he saw them recognize him, call out to him. The wave of anger that kept resurfacing every time Alberto denied them being here, only for it to culminate in them literally chasing after him as he rode uphill. 

He remembers the bitter taste left in his mouth when Alberto still denied the severity of the situation, of Luca’s parents seeing him. 

And, oh, what if they saw him now? Bleeding with his leg wrapped in old human clothes tied together in a shoddily-made bandage? Sometimes, he wished they were more like Alberto’s dad, barely ever here and leaving him free to do whatever. An odd, deep down part of himself felt relieved that they had come to search for him. That they’d risk themselves, too, to find him here. That they cared about him to that extent even after all the disrespect.

Why hadn’t Alberto’s dad done the same?

“Alberto,” Luca began. Even just that short few moments of silence, despite them stretched on for what felt like an hour, left his voice weak. His head was still pounding. “Why hasn’t your dad come looking for you?”

Luca caught Alberto’s look of wide eyed shock, present only for a moment or so before it disappeared. In its place, Alberto shrugged, still faced slightly away from Luca. He said nothing, but the tip of his tail twitched persistently.

“What do you mean?”

Luca squinted at Alberto, his own tail lashing in the water alongside Alberto’s, albeit much more stilted and slow. Alberto never talked about his dad. Whenever Luca brought him up for whatever reason, be it ‘would your dad get mad if we do this?’ to ‘what’s your dad like, mine just likes crabs and junk,’ he’d get more and more distant until Luca learned to just not talk about it. 

“Like…” Luca grasped at empty words in his mind for a moment. His head was swimming too much for him to focus. He couldn’t figure out exactly how to say this in a gentle, polite way. “Tell me more about him. Why is he gone so much? Isn’t he worried about how you’re doing?” 

Alberto was silent for a beat more. Luca was caught between deciding to push him more or just let it be, but Alberto beat him to it.

“He left.”

“You’ve… been living alone? For how long?” Luca balked.

“I…” Alberto still wasn’t looking at Luca. “I don’t know. A lot of days. I just stopped counting after a while. He said I was old enough to be on my own.” Luca heard Alberto sniff, and it sounded oddly wet. Luca felt more winded than even before. He had never seen Alberto cry. “I just thought that… maybe he’d change his mind.”

Luca tried shifting towards Alberto, but his leg continued its protest. He settled for twisting the end of his tail around Alberto’s. 

“Honestly, though, I get it. He’s better off without me. You are too.”

What.

“That’s not true.” 

“Yes, it is. You’re not like me. You’re the good kid. And I’m just the kid that ruins everything.” Alberto sniffled again, head buried in his knees. “You wouldn’t have been hurt if I didn’t…”

“Silenzio Bruno. That’s just a dumb voice in your head.” Luca felt frantic, he didn’t know what to say. “You taught me that.” Alberto was so good, why couldn’t he see himself as Luca saw him? “And getting a Vespa—seeing the world—” 

Luca pulled himself towards Alberto finally, ignoring the pain. He rested a hand on his shoulder.

Alberto unwound their tails and pushed him off, causing Luca to shift onto his thigh and cry out. “Just let it go! Okay? You and I should have never been friends in the first place.”

Luca felt something bubble in his stomach, something angry and sad and anxious and entirely in disagreement with the already nauseous feeling settled from everything else happening today. Luca opened his mouth to say something, anything, to beg Alberto to take it back, to yell at Alberto, to say something , but Alberto looked suddenly off behind his shoulder, effectively silencing Luca. Luca couldn’t hear (or see, wow, it was really getting dark) what exactly set Alberto off.

Luca settled on a simple: “Beto…” 

Alberto’s head whipped back to Luca. 

“No! Don’t sleep. Just—” He glanced behind himself again. He shuffled around Luca and pulled him deeper into the tide once more. “I’m not leaving you.” Alberto stopped pulling them after a while and they settled behind a short rock, hidden from the beach.

Luca felt too warm, but he was shivering. Alberto’s words echoed in his head over and over again and his stomach felt worse and worse by the second. Moving like they did didn’t exactly help, either. His head felt light, but impossibly heavy upon his neck. 

Luca rested his head against Alberto’s chest as he shifted them in the water. His eyelids, even, felt heavy. 

So, he closed them.

Chapter Text

Giulia stood still for what felt like forever, mouth still open. Her vision blurred with shock-induced tears that numb arms couldn't brush away, her ears clogged with something that made everything sound muffled and far away, her mouth stuffed with cotton and leaving her unable to swallow the overwhelming emotions consuming her.

"Idiota! You let them get away!" Ercole approached her, yelling. “What, Spewlia? Did you know? You were always around those vagrants.” Ercole scoffed. “Of course the only friends you could make would be monsters.” As Ercole laughed in her face, his attention shifted elsewhere. She didn't have the energy to even come up with a retort in her mind, let alone voice one out loud.

Another voice she distantly recognized piped up, “We should tell the others in town—” Guido mumbled. Giulia felt like she was dunked in ice.

“No!” Her voice wasn’t the only one shouting. Ercole, too, seemed against this. She furrowed her brow and stared at him. She couldn’t make a single connection in her brain, her mind felt like it was dipped in molasses.

"I saw them first! I will get the reward. We don’t need to tell anyone else until we get them.” He scoffed at Guido and Cicco. 

Giulia never, ever, in her entire life, not even a moment of it, thought that she would be grateful for Ercole. Today was full of surprises, apparently.

“B-But—” Ciccio stammered. 

Guido continued, “That was Luca and Alberto…”

“Close your mouths, you look like gaping pesce. We’ll get them, kill both of them—” Giulia actually felt her stomach tie in knots, something she previously thought was just an exaggeration. So much for being grateful. ”—get the reward, and then tell the town.”

The other two boys glanced at each other and then at Giulia, looking nearly as messed up as she felt. Ercole was already turning and walking away, though, adjusting his stupid piccolina of a sweater as he walked.

“To the boat! We're gonna kill some sea monsters!!" 

Ciccio and Guido only hesitated for a moment. Ercole turned back towards them, arching an eyebrow. They glanced back towards Giulia before they both turned and followed after Ercole, leaving her alone.

Completely alone, again.

She stood there for a bit more, thoughts racing too fast for her to even grasp one to comprehend it. 

Alberto was a sea monster. 

Luca was a sea monster.

Alberto growled at them—animalistic and terrifying—as he held Luca.

Luca in his arms.

Oh, Dio, Luca in his arms. Luca bleeding in his arms.

Giulia felt her legs move before her mind did. 

The distant roar of a motorboat filled the air, far-off towards the docks, as she pushed open the shoddy wooden gate leading into the small yard. She tore open the door to her home, racing up the steps. 

Her papà was cooking.

He turned and smiled, soft and small, yet there, "There you are! I made your favorite—trenette al pesto—" She watched him pause, watched the cogs behind his mind shift. 

There were times where she admired it, his ability to stay quiet, something she could rarely do, and think silently before doing anything at all. 

There were times where she hated it, she had no idea what he was thinking. She had no idea how he was going to react to what she had to tell him.

"Where are the boys?" 

Her eyes stung. 

Her papà's own eyes widened, and he quickly placed down the large bowl of trenette al pesto (more than enough for four servings, more than Giulia was used to him making).

"Giulietta, mia figlia, what happened?" Her papà was at her side, a large, yet gentle, hand resting on her shoulder. It was grounding. 

"Papà—" Her throat clenched around the words. She looked anywhere but his face. She looked at his arm, at the tattoo that he was so proud of. 

She can't tell him.

She should tell him.

She's scared to tell him.

She needs to tell him.

"Sea monsters." The words felt like she had to punch them out of her throat. 

A mirage of emotions passed over her papà's face. The fact that she could recognize them at all on his usually stoic face scared her. His grip on her shoulder tightened ever so slightly. It took a while for him to speak. 

"Did—" He stuttered. He never stutters. "Did they hurt them? Are the boys gone?"

"I—"

He waited for her to continue. She couldn't. She couldn't get a single sound out. Just a single, shrill note. Her throat hurt from how tense and closed up it was. The meaning behind that ‘gone’ blared front and center in her mind. She needed to tell him that no, the sea monsters didn't hurt them, the humans. The humans hurt the sea monsters. 

She still couldn't say anything.

He breathed in deeply, closing his eyes and releasing her shoulder. "Giulietta," He began again, slower this time, more composed, "Are they alive?"

Her jaw trembled. She nodded. 

"Where are they? We are going." He stood up from his crouched position suddenly, grabbing the harpoon off of the wall. Giulia felt her stomach twist. 

She swallowed back the nausea.

"Luca is hurt. Alberto took him somewhere." Her voice was frail, barely there. 

Her papà nodded once. "Mia figlia, per favore." he paused and hummed in the way he always did when he seemed like he wanted to say more, but was holding back. "Why... Do you know where Alberto took him? To the forest?”

She swallowed again, throat impossibly tight.

Previously, if both Luca and Alberto disappeared, she would have said yes. 

She had no idea. What could she say? 'Alberto swam off into the sea— because he's a sea monster, papà . They're sea monsters, both of them, and they've been lying to us, but they needed to lie to survive. They lied because for whatever brilliant reason they came to Portorosso, famous for sea monster hunting. Luca is a sea monster, and Alberto is a sea monster, and we kill sea monsters, Ercole kills sea monsters. Anche, Luca is bleeding out somewhere, probably, and, dio santo , Luca is going to die—!'

"I..." 

Her papà stayed silent, waiting for her. She was taking too much time. She's wasting time and her mind is moving too fast and, while she usually uses those racing thoughts to her advantage, each moment she can't grasp a thought is a moment that Ercole is searching and Luca is bleeding. She couldn't bear to look at him. She looked up, past his shoulder, through the window that overlooked the sea. 

She always loved being in Portorosso, seeing the sea from her window was calming. Even now, it eased the tightness in her chest ever so slightly. Her mamma’s apartment in Genova was near the sea, but her window didn't face it. She didn't have a view of the rocky beaches that lined the shore. Could hear, but not see, the birds in the morning diving for fish. Genova didn't have a little island with a busted up lighthouse that really barely even looked like a lighthouse anymore. 

Aspetta.

The island with the little lighthouse. Isola Del Mar, the island of legends in Portorosso, where every fisherman that her papà knows, including her papà, refuses to go. Because of sea monsters. Because of sea monsters that she was convinced weren't actually real until however-many minutes ago. 

Barely an hour ago at this point. How could she not connect the dots before?

Giulia was beyond frustrated, now. 

What was wrong with him?

“What is your problem?!” Giulia snapped.

“I’m his friend! I know what he needs!” Alberto was being ridiculous. Giulia wanted to win this race just as much as he did.

“Oh yeah?” She retorted, unable to stop the frustration and anger from bubbling over. He’d been acting like this for days. A girl could only take so much blatant annoyance thrown at her. “Then what does he need?”

She watched as Alberto narrowed his eyes at her again, for just a fraction of a section, before grabbing the handle bars of the bike and swinging himself on. Luca’s eyes widened and he gripped the back of his seat as Alberto positioned one foot on the pedals.

“Me.” She couldn’t believe this was happening, Santa Mozzarella, he’s got to get over this. She waited for him to dismount and just let Luca ride down the downhill like he was supposed to.

Her jaw dropped when she realized he was actually being serious. 

A spark of nervousness flashed through her. She had no idea why Alberto hated her so much. If this kept up, she was going to lose both of them. She was going to be alone. Again. “We’ll just ride it like we did on the island,” Alberto continued, “together.”

Island? What island?

Alberto yelled, kicking the bike into gear: “Andiamo!”

“No!”

"Isola Del Mar.”

“Isola Del Mar?" Her papà repeated back to her. 

"I— Yes."

"They were... attacked by sea monsters and then went towards...?"

Giulia swallowed.

Le bugie hanno le gambe corte.

"Luca and Alberto are the sea monsters!" The sentence came out quick and garbled and she pursed her lips after she said it, but at least now it was out. Her papà's expression was unreadable.

"They—! Ercole attacked them when they..." Suddenly, the words were all coming out. Great, perfect. "Because they can look like—They didn't hurt me! I mean, I thought he would but—It scared me, but they didn't do anything. They were having an argument over something and then Alberto went into the water and then I got scared and then Ercole and his gang came and threw the harpoon and then Luca went into the water and I got even more scared but Ercole threw another harpoon and it hit Luca in his leg and it looked really stuck in there and Alberto just dragged them both into the sea so I couldn't see them but Ercole is still going after him and I heard his motorboat and if Ercole doesn't find them then I think Luca might bleed out anyway and—!" Giulia breathed shallow and fast. She felt lightheaded. All the words just came all at once like she was vomiting information all over her papà's chest. It was too much.  

"Giulietta." 

"Papà, I'm scared. Ercole knows that it’s Luca and Alberto. He wants to—” She couldn't make herself say it. She swallowed and squeezed her eyes shut when her vision blurred with tears. “The reward money... What if I don’t see them again?”

He pulled her into a hug, a strong arm crushing her. The pressure seemed to squeeze out all the swirling thoughts, if just for a moment.

"We will go to Isola Del Mar. We will find them. It will be okay." He stood once again, dropping the harpoon. "Grab the medicine box."

"You're not...? They're sea monsters, papà." She didn't know what she was saying or why she was still going on about it. She needed to stop talking now.

“They’re just boys,” was all he said before disappearing out the door. 

Giulia nodded to herself, a purpose suddenly giving her the strength to actually move, and ran to the bathroom.

The medicine kit was tucked away next to the sink. Quickly grabbing it, she leapt through the house, down the steps and through the still open gate. She wasn’t sure how much help it would do, but her papà’s had enough experience with harpoons, so maybe he knew what to do. Maybe.

There was a space in the docks where she saw her papà’s smaller boat, still safely tucked away. He had used that one before he was able to afford the boat with the fancy motor, and she remembers many fishing trips on that boat. It was the one she had rowed out with Luca and Alberto for her to train for swimming, because neither of them could swim. They were both ‘amazingly—bad... at swimming,’ because of course they were. 

She really should’ve figured it out sooner.

“Giulietta!”

Her papà was standing in the motorboat, untying the rope that kept it tethered to the docks. She readjusted her grip on the medicine kit and ran down towards him, careful of the slimy-slippery dock boards.

As she climbed into the familiar boat, weight shifting on the water, Giulia gave a tight nod. The boat started with a jolt, and they were off. 

The boat ride was tense and silent. Giulia was used to her papà’s silence, but not like this. Something else hung in the air as she clenched the medicine kit tighter to her chest. She grew up on boats, grew up on the water with the scent of fish around her. Half of her entire childhood was spent feeling the familiar rocking of the boat as the waves pushed and pulled. She didn’t get seasick, she could never be sick of the sea. 

The nausea now, though, felt overwhelming. How silly.

The ride to the island felt so much longer than it should’ve been, even with a motor taking them faster than she ever remembers her father driving. He was more the type to ride out slowly and enjoy the sounds and views the open sea provided. There weren’t many sights to enjoy at night, and she doubted that he could ruminate on them in his usual way now, anyway. What with all that was happening now.

She heard another motorboat in the waters, one made for much more flashy speeding rather than proper practicality, the sound quickly followed by Ercole’s yells. Something squeezed her heart. 

Did he find them yet? Are they dead now?

The sound of scraping rocks grated her ears as the boat stopped at Isola Del Mar’s shore. The dilapidated lighthouse that looked so small and sad from her window towered over the island forebodingly. She jumped out of the boat without a second thought.

“Alberto! Luca!” 

Were they even on the island? What if they were underwater, in some fish-home of theirs? Was it offensive to call them fish? She figured 'sea monsters' was probably even more offensive.

She felt a pang of guilt crack through her chest at even letting her get distracted during such a serious time. She blinked a few times, both to clear her mind again and to will away to near constant presence of tears.

There were random scrap items scattered across the grass as she approached the tower. Some items looked just a little worn down, while others looked like they had been soaking in the sea for ages, barnacles and discoloration rampant. Many looked well-cared for, any damage looking like old damage, as if a child left a toy after playtime.

There was a ladder leading up the tower. 

Climbing while one arm was occupied holding a medicine box was a bit more difficult than she’d like to admit, but she eventually did reach the top. It was… a mess. There were shattered glass bottles, torn fabric, more broken items all scattered across the wooden floor. She was careful to avoid any of the rusty, bent nails that littered the ground. Everything looked in disarray, what could have previously been a haphazard organization of the items was torn apart. Boxes and old chests lay open, contents spilling across the floor.

She noted a gramophone sat upon a table to the side, dangerously close to the edge. Other items had been swept off the table and thrown to the floor, but the gramophone remained. 

On the back wall, displayed as if it was the main attraction of the room, was a peeling poster. 

‘Vespa è libertà’

She figured this is where Alberto and Luca spent at least some of their time. Probaby Alberto, he had seemed much more obsessed with the Vespa idea than Luca had. Just behind the poster was a series of tally marks. She shook her head. She didn’t have time to snoop. Clenching the box again, she peered up the rocky staircase leading to the top of the tower. 

When she peaked up, she saw nothing. Just an old, discarded fireplace. Her heart began to beat faster.

Maybe they really were gone. Maybe Luca was gone-gone

She retreated back into the room, staring off into space at nothing. It was like when she’d read for school: she’d be ‘reading’ the pages, but not absorbing any information. She felt the movement of her eyes, noted that, yes, she was looking at a bottle, but her mind was completely elsewhere.

“Go away!”

She jolted at the sound of an achingly familiar voice, distant, coming from across the island. Alberto.

She raced back down the ladder, nearly falling off entirely with how poorly secured it was ( and she was still holding the medicine kit), and ran towards where she heard the voice. She had nearly forgotten that her papà was here with her, helping her look, until he saw him with his back towards her, facing the water.

Alberto sounded scared . Did he get hurt at some point? Was Luca still bleeding? Was Luca dead ?

Giulia willed the nausea away as she skid to a stop near her father. They were standing in a small sectioned off area of the shore, where a pebble-filled beach gave way to gentle lapping waves. There was no one else but them here.

“Papà?”

He simply began wading in the water.

She finally heard it.

A soft growl was emanating from behind a rock. “Alberto?” She hated the sound of her own voice, raw with emotion she wasn’t used to feeling so strongly.

The darkness of the night made it a bit harder for her to see, but the moonlight reflected just enough that she could make out dark purple scales in the shallow water. A tail waved in the water, keeping them afloat. There were flashes of bright blue and green, though, contrasting the other sharply. That tail wasn’t really moving at all, except with the current.

Alberto.

Luca.

Alberto swam out from behind the rock just as her papà began nearly swimming himself with how deep the water became. 

“What are you doing here?”

“Alberto…” her papà mumbled. 

Alberto’s arms were wrapped around Luca protectively in front of his chest, the fins on his arms stood on end, stretching to appear bigger. The hair-like fins on his head also seemed to stand on end, as if his hair was frizzed out. All his sharp teeth were also on display, instinct urging Giulia to turn and run. She took a deep breath and stepped forward.

“Alberto. It’s… We have medicine. For Luca. We know how to help. Please let us.” Painkillers and bandages, specifically. A full-fledged doctor would probably be better, but they couldn’t exactly have one treat Luca. Maybe sea monsters had doctors of their own. Regardless, nothing was going to get done while Alberto remained as nervous as he was.

Giulia knew how quickly ‘nervous’ can turn into ‘aggressive.’ Especially if Machiavelli was any indicator. Was it rude to compare her friends to a pet cat? Like the fish? Well, it fit anyway, she supposed, but that’s besides the point.

“We don’t need it.”

“Ma , Alberto…” Her papà intervened again. “Luca is bleeding. Just let us help you.”

Alberto’s scowl deepened. Giulia watched his tail—tail!—lash in the water, arms tighten around Luca even more. She heard a weak whining sound and, when accompanied by Alberto gasping and loosening his grip on Luca to look at him, her heart clenched with the realization of where it originated. 

Her papà cleared his throat. Alberto tensed, if it was even possible to grow more tense than he already was, based on what she could tell, and turned to look over his shoulder at them. His tail was lashing in the water, slow but strong. Still nervous.

“Fine,” he finally mumbled.