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.