Chapter Text
It’s been a few days since Alberto and Luca came up to the surface. Luca’s mother had warned Luca about going up there, because of the “land monsters” (what they called humans) being known to hunt and kill any kind of sea creature, including sea monsters; sea monsters like Luca himself, Luca’s family, and Alberto. It was too risky, she tried to tell him. Unfortunately, Luca refused to listen. His parents were being overprotective of him, as usual. He needed to get away from them, because they were smothering him. He was 13, and he didn’t feel like he should be babied nonstop about it. Sure, he knew it was dangerous, but that was only when the fishermen were out on their little boats, with their knives, harpoons, and fishing nets, and were traveling across the ocean to find them As long as he didn’t get too close to the water, he was fine. He confided in Alberto about his problems, and the two of them came up with a plan; after discovering a poster in Alberto’s tower one day, Luca took a close look at it, and saw that there was a picture of a guy on a moped scooter called a “Vespa”. The guy looked happy and had a big grin on his face. Then he saw some words in Italian. Vespa is Freedom is what he translated it to, when he read off of the poster. That was it!! Of course!! All he and his new friend had to do was find one of their very own, and they could be just as free to do whatever they wanted; just like that guy on the poster. All they had to do was make sure, again, not to get too close to the water. And by doing that, the two of them could transform themselves to look just like the “land monsters”. They got the transformation down very quickly, and it was such a perfect disguise, that maybe nobody would even suspect a thing.
“This would be easy,” Luca practically said to himself -Or so he thought. It was not nearly as simple as it seemed, after all. First of all, a local thug named Ercole noticed almost right away that the two boys smelled like a fish shop. He first met the boys after Luca accidentally knocked over his precious, beautiful, shiny red Vespa scooter, with a heavy soccer ball (some slightly younger looking kids were playing soccer that day, and when the ball was kicked in his direction, one little boy asked him to help them out, by kicking it back to the soccer players. Luca unfortunately kicked a bit too hard, causing the ball to miss the children, and aim straight at the scooter, instead). Ercole was angry that his Vespa almost got ruined, and as payback, after sarcastically introducing himself to the disguised boys, he mocked them about their strong, fishy odor, and as a cruel joke, he and two other boys named Ciccio and Guido, who were his henchmen, decided to attempt dunking the boys in the fountain, as revenge. He laughed cruelly as he saw Luca’s face turn into little patches of blue and green fish scales. Luca frantically tried to break free, and wipe his face until it was dry, and he looked like a human teenager again. Before Alberto could get exposed, too, a young fish delivery girl came to their rescue, riding on her bike, and defended them both from the bullies.
When she asked what the two boys were doing in the town of Portorosso, Luca and Alberto told them their backstory of how they first met, their mutual understanding of each other, their wish for freedom, and dreams of getting a Vespa of their very own. Of course, they let out the part that they were sea monsters. Giulia, the girl, albeit reluctant about befriending them, because they told her that they were runaways, had slight sympathy for the boys. They looked so desperate, and they clearly had no idea where, or even how, to get a Vespa of their own.
“So, there’s this race called the Portorosso Cup, which is a race for kids in the village, and it happens every year. Are you guys in town for it?” She asked, trying to make small talk with them. When the boys gave her no response other than some blank stares, Giulia shrugged in slight confusion, and said, after a long moment of awkward pausing, “...Okay, then...Well, good talk. I gotta deliver these fish. Always be training, you know?”
Luca suddenly came up with another idea. He told Alberto about his plan:
“We should ask her about this Portorosso Cup race. That’s how the loud scary human said he got his Vespa.”
Alberto argued at first, but he eventually agreed to Luca’s plan. After all, they had no idea how else to get a Vespa scooter of their very own.
“Okay. Hey, Giulia? When you race in a cup, what do you get?” He asked the girl
Giulia said in response:
“Soldi. Prize money.”
Alberto continued, he still had more questions.
“Can we turn the money into something else? Something like…” His voice trailed off when he and Luca saw a beautiful looking Vespa for sale, “Something like *that* maybe?”
Giulia shook her head and scoffed:
“Pfft. No. But it could get you *that*,” pointing to another Vespa right next to it. Sure, it looked old and rusty, and a bit broken, but it was still a real scooter, and if they were lucky enough to win it, Luca and Alberto would still be happy. To them, the rusty Vespa looked just as beautiful as the shiny, newer looking scooter.
“We *need* it!!” They claimed together. They had the wildest imagination about zooming through a cascade of gold prize money coins, and riding their future Vespa together.
After attempting to prove the two boys have what it takes to win the race, Giulia told them they could join their team, but they had to work together and beat Ercole. The three friends decided to dub themselves the “Underdogs” (Giulia was considered an outcast, just like the boys, only differences were that she was a real human being, and she was being made fun of because she lost the race last year, by embarrassing herself, when she got sick during the competition). Now, all they had to do was get entry fee money from her father.
Too bad her father was a fisherman. He seemed gentle, and friendly to the boys, but what would happen if they got wet, and accidentally blew their cover? Would he *still* be just as friendly and welcoming, or would he try to hunt them and kill them, and eat them as seafood? Luca sure as heck didn’t want to know.
Machiavelli, his pet cat, who looked similar to the man himself, *certainly* wasn’t as friendly, and *he* suspected right away that the two boys were in disguise. He could smell their fishy odor, and he was angry, suspicious, and hungry. After all, what cat wouldn’t eat seafood?
Speaking of fish, Giulia and her father had a private discussion about the race. Not only was the one-armed fisherman concerned about his daughter entering the Portorosso Cup race again due to her throwing up last year, and getting upset when she lost, but he also explained to her:
“...And I know you need some cash for the entry fee, the problem is, money’s tight…”
Giulia pleaded with her father by saying in response:
“Papa, per favore. I have a team now. Plus, I can work double shifts at the pescheria. Whatever you need,”
Her father sighed in response.
“I can’t sell what I don’t have. What I need is more fish in my net,”
Giulia looked slightly disappointed. However, she was also old enough to understand that money doesn’t just grow on trees.
“Mi dispiace, Giulietta,” Her father said, apologetically.
Wait, Luca thought, Did they say something about fish?! Apparently selling them makes money. And if selling them gets money, then, maybe we’ll have enough for the entry fee. And, if we are lucky enough to win the race, then maybe we’ll get more prize money, and we’ll have enough to buy the Vespa for Alberto and I!! I think I have an idea.
Luca cleared his throat:
“Hey. Uhh, excuse me, sir? Maybe my friend and I can help,” He said, looking over at Alberto.
The one-armed fisherman glanced at the two boys and asked in slight surprise, “You know fish?”
Alberto chimed in and added, “Oh, trust me. We know lots of fish.”
Giulia asked her reluctant and confused father, looking right at him with the most determined and hopeful expression on her face, “Can this face lose?”
The fisherman looked over at the boys one more time:
...Hmmm, he thought to himself, They *do* seem to be friends with Giulia, and they *did* say that they knew about a lot of different species of fish….
“You want to work?” He asked the boys, as they nodded in reply.
“Alright, ragazzi, I’ll put you to work. We start tomorrow morning, so be sure to go to bed early tonight. We’ll be up bright and early the next day. Do we have a deal?” He asked again. The boys nodded once more.
Then, the cat emerged again. This time, he was perched on the fisherman’s shoulder, almost like a parrot. The cat narrowed his eyes at the two youngsters. He growled threatenly, and got ready to tackle and pounce on the boys. His prey was cornered. Giulia had to stop the cat from attacking the boys so badly that they might need stitches.
Thankfully, Luca and Alberto only had a few minor scratches on their faces. The cat was annoyed however, because he was stopped from his scheming hunting plans. He was a *crazy* cat, both the boys concluded.
“I’m so sorry about the cat,” Giulia said sheepishly to the two scratched up boys, “I don’t know what got into him tonight.”
He discovered our sea monster identities, that’s what, Alberto thought, even though he didn’t say it out loud. They couldn’t risk blowing their cover in front of humans (also known to the disguised boys as the “land monsters”).
Luca laughed nervously, still a bit shook up from the crazy cat:
“...It’s fine. We’re just gonna head back to...uhh…”
He paused for a moment. Oh, carp, he thought. He and Alberto forgot about finding a place to settle in for the night. Giulia read his mind however, and asked:
“Oh. Do you guys need a place to stay? How about my treehouse? It’s usually *my* hideout, but *you* can sleep there, if you want to. I got pillows for both of you.” Not to mention, the treehouse also had twinkling lights.
This will be *just* like sleeping under the fish, Luca thought.
Naturally, because Luca and Alberto were sea creatures, which, usually others of their kind would live underwater, they had a slightly different style of stargazing.
Or, was it called “fish gazing” for them, because they could only see stars if they were on land?
And, because the anchovies they would see underwater looked *so* similar to the twinkling stars, on land, which would light up in the night sky, the boys found it hard to tell the difference. The string of lights on the treehouse also had a similar appearance to the glowing “fish”.
Luca and Alberto smiled and quietly thanked their new friend.
“Buonanotte, boys. See you in the morning,” Giulia called out to them, as she climbed on one of the tree’s branches, and accidentally slipped on the cat. The cat let out a startled yowl in response. Giulia briefly apologized to the feline, before blushing in embarrassment, as she peeked out of her bedroom window.
“Oops!! Slipped,” She chuckled sheepishly, as she glanced at the boys for one last time, before getting ready for bed herself.