#libera paguro | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ironychan · 4 months

Text

A Little Human (as a Treat)

Part 1/? - Un Voluntario

Part 2/? - Un Escursione

Part 3/? - Una Complicazione

Part 4/? - Una Famiglia

Part 5/? - Una Aiutante

Part 6/? - Una Ricerca

Part 7/? - Un Confronto

Part 8/? - Un'Emergenza

Part 9/? - Una Speranza

Part 10/? - Una Sera

Part 11/? - Un'Interruzione

Part 12/? - Una Fuga (Prima Parte)

Part 13/? - Una Fuga (Seconda Parte)

@dysphoria-sweatshirt @writer652 The squid is a Dana Octopus Squid, chosen because they're large, their range includes the Mediterranean, and they're really freaky.

Much like Flavia, Luca was already falling asleep as he walked back into the ocean. He could see that Alberto and Giulia were also yawning, and he expected they would return to his house, curl up among the seaweed, and drop off right away. Tomorrow would hopefully be less exciting.

As they crossed the moonlit seagrass fields, however, he started to realize that there were an awful lot of people out and about at this time of night. He could see sea monsters with glowing jellyfish lanterns beating at the seaweed and looking under corals as if to flush out a shark. That thought gave him a momentary rush of adrenaline, but it wasn't enough to really wake him up again. A rogue shark was bad, but it was something the adults could deal with while he slept.

At least, that was the way it seemed until Atinnia Trota swam frantically up to them.

“Oh, thank goodness you're all right!” she exclaimed. “I stopped in at your house and when I saw nobody was there I feared the worst.” Signora Trota turned to Arturo, who was following behind her – he looked almost as tired as Luca felt. “Go tell the Aragostas I've found the Paguros and they're all right.”

“Yes, Mom,” said Arturo, rubbing one eye. He headed off to do so.

“What's going on?” asked Lorenzo.

“You haven't heard?” Signora Trota asked. “There's a squid!”

Daniela grabbed Luca and pulled him close. “Another one?”

Now Luca's heart beat a little faster. He'd only been three or four years old when the community had their encounter with a giant squid, and he didn't remember anything from the time, but he'd heard the stories. It had helped itself to everybody's livestock, culminating it tearing the roof off Old Man Cormorano's barn to get at his groupers. Terzo Cormorano himself had been nearly killed, and was supposed to have had nightmares for the rest of his life.

“Not a giant squid proper,” said Atinnia. “It's half the size of that one, but that's plenty big enough. We were afraid it had eaten you all, and you know they eat things alive!”

Daniela's eyes went wide. “You said there was nobody home?” she asked.

Signora Trota nodded, and without a word Daniela let go of her son and darted off.

Still tired, it took Luca a moment to realize what had upset his mother. Then suddenly he was wide awake. “Grandma!” he exclaimed, and followed his mother. Lorenzo, Alberto, and Giulia were close behind.

They arrived at the house to find all the jellyfish glowing, and Daniela was at the table with Nonna Libera, who was thankfully just fine. She was merely a sound sleeper, and hadn't even heard the neighbours calling out to her.

“Honestly, Mom,” Daniela said. “What did you used to do when I was a baby and cried at night?”

“Your father handled it, dear,” Nonna Libera replied, looking up as the three children entered the house. “I think tonight would be a good night for you three to go sleep up top.”

“Oh, yes, definitely!” Daniela agreed. “Luca, you and your friends go right back to town, now. Your father and I will help hunt down the squid, and you can come back when it's safe. Mom, you go with them.”

“Wait,” Luca protested. He was starting to wake up a little more now, although his eyes still itched. “What about Ciccio? His Dad said he didn't know where he was staying.” If Ciccio had gotten hurt because they'd talked him into doing this today, Luca would never forgive himself.

“I'm sure he's fine,” said Daniela, “but that's not our problem right now.”

“But...”

“No, Luca. Go to the surface.” Daniela patted him on the head. “Now, look me in the eye...”

“I know you love me, Mom,” sighed Luca.

“That's my boy!”

“Come on, Luca,” said Giulia. She was worried, too, but the odds that Ciccio would be attacked by the squid were slim, surely. “We can camp out in the treehouse. That's always fun.”

“I'll go with them,” Lorenzo said.

Heading back to shore was a very different journey than going out to the house had been. Luca was still tired, but he was now far too terrified to nod off. Every shadow, every glint of moonlight flickering across the bottom, and every fish flitting through the weeds made him jump. He, Alberto, and Giulia stayed close as his father led the way and Grandma brought up the year.

“Do squid really eat things alive?” Alberto asked.

“They sure do,” said Giulia, and Luca nodded. Squid wrapped their catches up in their tentacles and then ripped chunks out of them with a sharp beak. Luca himself had never been bitten by one, but Cosimo Pianuzza had. The older boy had a wedge missing out of the fin on the back of his right arm, and that had been only a tiny squid. A giant one, or even one that was merely big, didn't bear thinking about.

“How do you catch a giant squid?” Giulia asked Lorenzo. “When Papà wants to catch the little ones he's got special lures with lots of hooks.”

“I wasn't there, but I think they got its arms all tangled in a net,” Lorenzo replied. “If even one tentacle is free, it can still attack you, and...”

“Hello! Lorenzo!” a voice called out. “I'm so glad you're all right!”

“Oh! Hello, Vittoria,” said Lorenzo, waving to Signora Aragosta. “Yes, we're fine. I'm just taking the kids and my mother-in-law up to the town. No squid up there.”

Signora Aragosta must not have thought of that. She was startled by the idea, but it was an illustration of how much the community's attitudes towards humans had changed that, after a moment's thought, she said, “would you take my twins too? I think the older girls can hold their own, but Gianna and Giola are so small.”

“Of course,” said Lorenzo.

“I'll be right back,” the neighbour promised.

“No, we'll go with you,” Lorenzo decided. “We don't want to just float around out here waiting for the squid to find us.” He began to follow.

“I'll only take a moment,” Signora Aragosta promised. “The last time anyone saw the quid it was over and the old Cor... I mean, at the Donzella's place.”

That got the children's attention. “That's where Ciccio said he was going!” Alberto remembered.

“Are their guests okay, Signora Aragosta?” Luca asked.

“I don't know anything about them having guests,” Signora Aragosta replied, “but I'll bet Silvestro and Giorgia are re-thinking their plan to move there if the place attracts giant squid.”

“Come on!” Luca said to his friends, and took off towards the Donzella home. Alberto and Giulia were right behind him, while Luca's father shouted for them to stop.

“Get your tail back here, young man!” he called out. “Your mother told me to take you somewhere safe... you can't go towards the squid! Come back!” He swam after them.

Signora Aragosta didn't know what to do about this. She looked at Nonna Libera, who smiled gently and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Let's go get your girls,” she said. “I'll take them up to your aunts' place.”

“Thank you, Signora Gambero,” Vittoria replied.

Luca shot across the fields like a sailfish on the hunt. He would be in trouble when his mother found out, but that didn't matter. They had to make sure Ciccio was okay. They'd gotten him into this – if he got hurt, it would be their fault. More important yet, the book of magic said that both parties had to be present in order to switch back. If they couldn't find Ciccio, Flavia would be stuck out of the water instead of stuck in it.

He was gasping for oxygen as he arrived at the Donzella's house, and felt a little sick as he surveyed a scene of considerable chaos. The row of kelp behind the house was shredded and partially uprooted. The barn, which had been recently repaired, had lost its roof a second time and one wall had partially collapsed. There was no sign of a squid, but there was also no sign of Ciccio.

Signora Donzella was swimming back and forth between the barn and the house in an indecisive panic, while her husband sat quietly on the rubble of the barn, staring into the distance. A half-dozen neighbours were gathered around, trying to comfort or clean up, while others swam the perimeter looking for the marauding cephalopod.

“Signor Donzella!” Luca approached the community blacksmith. “What happened?”

It seemed to take Signor Donzella a moment to realize Luca was there. “I'm sorry,” he said, “what did you say?”

“What happened here?” Luca repeated. “Where's Ciccio?”

“We woke up when we heard the boys shouting,” said Donzella. “We saw the roof cave in and the squid swim out of the mess, and then it was gone.”

“The boys?” asked Giulia. “More than one?”

“Yeah. Silvio, Ciccio, and Ciccio's friend.”

“Which friend?” Alberto asked. They only friend they'd known that Ciccio would have had with him was Giordana, but she was definitely not a boy and nobody was likely to mistake her for one.

“I don't remember his name. The babysitter. The boy with the whiskers,” said Donzella.

Luca looked to see if either of his friends had any idea who that might be. Neither of them did. The only boy with whiskers who they associated with Ciccio was Ercole, but they didn't hang out any more. Even if they had, it wouldn't have been possible for Ercole to be down here... and he wouldn't have been babysitting young sea monsters under any circumstances.

Giorgia Donzella came darting over. “Your friends came to us looking for a place to stay the night,” she explained. “The one with the prickles said he'd had a fight with his father. Silvio was going to keep them company sleeping in the barn. He volunteered.” She was lacing and unlacing her fingers and playing with her fins, distracted and helpless.

“When we got outside, we found this,” her husband added. He gestured to the wreckage of the barn. People had been taking it apart, looking for anyone trapped in the ruins, but they had found nothing.

“They must have escaped,” Luca said hopefully. “We can help look for them.” As tired as he might be, this was clearly something that needed doing.

“Oh, no, you don't, young man!” said Lorenzo, panting as he finally made it to the group. “You three are getting out of the water, remember?”

From the row of damaged kelp, a teenage boy called out. “Signor Donzella! We're done checking the sponge beds, they're not there, and they're not at the Haunted Fish Graveyard! Mom and Dad are still going through the Kelp Forest.”

Giorgia nodded. “Thank you, Basilio!” she replied. “Oh... I hate just waiting here. We should be doing something... our son is out there somewhere.”

“No. We need to stay in case they come back,” Donzella told her. “If Silvio arrives and finds us gone it'll be him panicking.”

Giorgia nodded, and then perked up. “Wait! I bet they went to the forge!” she said. “Silvio knows that we stayed in the forge with his egg before, because giant squid don't like hot water!” Her face then turned from hope to horror. “This is a different type of squid, though! That's what people are saying. What if it doesn't mind the heat? I'm going!” She turned and swam off.

“Giorgia!” Signor Donzella rose from his seat to go after her. “Wait! What did I just tell you?” He sped after her.

Lorenzo tried to herd the young people back towards the shore. “Come on,” he said, “we're doing what your mother said, remember? We're going to dry land where the squid can't find you.”

“Yes,” said Alberto, “we are!”

“We are?” asked Giulia, startled. She'd expected Alberto and particularly Luca to insist on staying and helping to search for Ciccio and Silvio.

“Yeah, I have an idea,” Alberto told her. “I've seen your squid lures. We're going to the Island.”

“Daniela said to take you to the town!” Lorenzo protested.

“The Island will have to do,” Alberto told him.

Twenty minutes earlier, Silvio had told his guests that they needed to get to the forge, but there wasn't going to be time. The squid was remarkably fast for such a large creature, and by the time Silvio finished speaking, it was almost on top of them. Ciccio swam up again, while Silvio dived through the bar door past Ercole and slammed it shut. The squid collided with the doors, but the door was one Signor Donzella had made out of a section cut from a ship hull, choosing the solid metal specifically to keep such dangerous creatures out. Silvio had just barely had time to slide the bolt into place, and while the door shook, it held.

The door was not the only way into the barn, though. There were also a couple of windows. These were quite small, and for a moment Ciccio was reassured that the squid would not possibly fit – but its boneless body was almost infinitely malleable. The only hard part of it was its beak, which was easily small enough to get through. The water temperature seemed to drop almost to freezing as the rest of the animal squished and squeezed to get through.

Ciccio knew he had to do something. He could see where the fresh stones had been added to the roof just that day. How fast did barnacle glue set? Could he get one free to let Silvio and Ercole escape? He went to the base of the repaired area, grabbed the edge of a particular stone, and with his feet braced against the older wall below, pulled with all his might.

The stone shifted, but did not come free. Ciccio looked around for a tool and found the broken shaft of Silvio's pitchfork. He stuck that into the gap he'd made, and pried. This time, he managed to lever the piece to the side. The big stone didn't come out, but a dozen smaller ones that had been sitting on top of it were jostled enough to drop into the interior of the barn.

There was a startled shout, and for a moment Ciccio worried he'd buried Silvio and Ercole. Then they wriggled out the hole, panting and covered in scrapes, but alive and whole. For a moment, all three boys hovered there in the water, staring at the hole in the roof as a few more stones dropped out of the edges of the hole and vanished into the darkness. Had the squid been buried? Was it dead?

“Mom and Dad are gonna be...” Silvio began.

His voice was drowned out by the sound of the rest of the roof collapsing, and then the squid rose out of the billowing silt like a monster emerging from the crater of a smoking volcano. The light at the end of its tentacle was now blinking with regular, brilliant pulsations like a heartbeat, but with an odd quiver underneath them, giving the impression that the animal was shaking with rage. It only had one tentacle with a bulb at the end, Ciccio managed to notice. Was it injured? Had it come here into the shallows searching for easier prey?

Then Silvio grabbed his hand and shouted at him, and he managed to take in the fact that this creature was rising towards him, furious and hungry.

“This way!” Silvio shouted, and took off, leading the way into darker water.

“What about your parents?” Ciccio panted, as he and Ercole followed as fast as they could.

“They'll be fine!” said Silvio.

He might have been right, because the squid was determined to follow them. Ercole, not a good swimmer, was now having trouble keeping up. He could go forward, but he hadn't quite mastered steering at high speed and kept having to correct as he drifted to one side or the other. Ciccio grabbed him by the back of his shirt to drag him along.

Silvio led the way into a shallow trench that kept getting deeper and deeper – the ravine where the sea monsters set their eel traps. It would have been a creepy place on an ordinary night, with the glowing algae lighting it up just enough to make out the shapes of weird corals and many-legged crustaceans lurking in the cracks. With the flashing of the squid's single bright tentacle close behind them, it was terrifying. Dark shapes and black-edged shadows appeared and vanished out of nowhere, and Ercole kept yelping and whimpering every time.

“Shut up!” Ciccio told him. “Shut up!”

Ercole was not listening.

Ciccio had of course never been to the forge, and he had kind of wondered what such a place could look like underwater. He'd never been a decent mental picture of it from any of Arturo's mentions, and since Ciccio was usually wanting Arturo to go away so he and Giordana could spend time together uninterrupted, he'd never asked for one. It turned out to be very deep in the trench, where the walls were at least fifty metres high – looking very far away and ominous when silhouetted against the blue glow of the algae. The water was warmer here, and continued to heat up as Silvio led the way, until they found themselves outside a structure built of piled-up boulders.

Unlike the sea monster houses, where the stones were glued tightly together to keep out the currents, these had been chosen and piled in such a way as to leave wide gaps between them so that light and water could enter the forge – and the heat could leave. The centrepiece of the space was a chimney belching out dark, hot water from a point halfway up the wall of the gorge. This billowed up into a chimney of close-packed stones that directed it up and away.

“It won't come in there!” Silvio declared.

Silvio slipped easily through one of the openings. So did Ercole. Ciccio had more trouble. He was a lot wider than the other two, and some of the openings were not going to admit him. There had to be bigger ones somewhere, though, because Signor Donzella himself was much bigger, and he must be able to get in. Ciccio passed by several that were too narrow, and then found one that looked right. Silvio and Ercole took his hands and helped him through, then dragged him over to the far wall, the hottest place in the forge.

It was a deeply uncomfortable place to be. The water shimmered a little as it flowed up, and there was a smothering feeling that Ciccio didn't know the cause of. Had Luca been there, he could have given the answer, as it was another thing he'd learned in a book: hot water couldn't hold as much oxygen as cold. It made breathing hard work, and when Ciccio looked at his companions, he saw their gills flexing hard to get the water through them.

There was more light inside the forge than out. All around the chimney was a faintly bioluminescent slime that fed on the minerals in the outflow. Higher up, the softly glowing jellyfish sea monsters kept in their houses were also shedding a faint pink light. The boys were not able to make much use of this light, however, as it was entirely drowned by the angry strobe-like flashing of the squid's photophore outside. This flicked on and off with the regularity of a lighthouse, coming from a different place each time as the squid investigated the openings.

“What do we do if it comes in?” Ercole whispered.

“It won't,” said Silvio, but his confidence was a little shaky. “Anyway, we must've woke Mom and Dad up. They'll get help.”

“Will they? I've heard that some fish eat their young,” Ercole said.

“That's fish! Not people!” Silvio scolded him.

The squid flashed again, this time revealing several tentacles feeling around the rocks, testing the opening Ciccio had come through.

It was no good, Ciccio realized. Maybe this was a different kind of squid, or maybe it was just that desperate, because it wasn't going to let the hot water stop it. It found an opening it liked, and started squeezing through.

“Down the bottom!” Silvio ordered.

They swam down to the bottom of the forge chamber. The water was cooler here, which was a relief, but there was also an opening to a smaller cavern. This was lined with more glowing algae, and divided within into several rooms. Ciccio dimly remembered being told that the Donzella family had used to live here at the forge, but Giorgia hadn't liked how far it was from any neighbours. This must be their old house. It had several windows bigger than the ones back at the barn, but unlike those, they had thick metal shutters on them. Silvio darted inside, and began banging these shut.

Ercole went after him and dived under the overhanging shelf of stone the family had used as a kitchen counter, where he curled up with his hands over his head and his tail wrapped around himself. Ciccio came last and turned to shut the front door, which he assumed would also be made of salvaged metal.

There was no front door. The rocks showed rust staining where hinges had once been attached, but now there was only the yawning opening.

“Silvio!” he said. “There's no door!”

“What?” Silvio looked, and even in the wan greenish light of the luminescent algae, Ciccio could have sworn he saw the boy go pale. “Dad took it out to put on the new barn! I forgot!”

Flashes outside told them the squid was coming, and now they were cornered. Ciccio's stomach turned inside-out. For a moment he was frozen, unable to even think for fear.

Then, suddenly, he knew exactly what to do.

He had no idea where the urge came from, but he swam back into the opening, turned his back to the outside, and started sucking in water. It was like taking a deep breath, only instead of letting it back out again, he just inhaled more, and more, and more. His skin began to feel tight, and the waistband of his shorts cut into him until it became painful. Within a few seconds, he felt the button pop and the seams begin to stretch.

It belatedly occurred to him that maybe this hadn't been a good idea, but by then he couldn't stop. He swelled up until he filled the entire doorway, and then the fit got tighter and tighter. The stitches tore on his shorts. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ercole and Silvio staring at him and hanging on to each other in terror. A moment later, he was forced to close them again as his face, too, began to swell.

Ciccio had the poison spines of a pufferfish. Apparently he could also do this.

Finally, he reached a limit. He was well and truly wedged in the doorway now, incapable of moving even if he'd tried. With his eyes closed tight, he had to rely on hearing to tell what was going on around him.

There was plenty to hear and most of it was Ercole, wailing in terror. “I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Especially not as a sea monster!”

“Shut up!” hissed Silvio.

“It's going to eat us! There won't even be bones!”

“Shut up! It'll hear you!

“I wanna go home! I wanna... OW! Did you just bite me?”

“Yes! Now be quiet.”

It was too late, though. Moments later, Ciccio felt the questing tentacles. They wound around a couple of the sponges still on his spines and pulled them off, then retracted, not wanting to get pricked. Then the squid started feeling along the edges of the doorway, hoping to find a gap or perhaps a protruding limb so it could pull Ciccio out. He gritted his teeth, hoping it didn't find anything – and hoping it wouldn't actually prick itself on a spine, because he didn't want to know what that would do.

After what seemed like way too long, the tentacles retreated. Was the squid leaving, or was it only considering its next move.

“Ohhh, that's weird,” whispered Silvio.

“What's weird?” Ciccio asked through clenched teeth.

“We can see your bones when the light comes through.”

A few more moments crawled by in silence, and then Ciccio heard the rattle of metal on stone. Ercole let out another wail of despair as the squid moved along the row of windows, trying them one by one.

“Dad put the shutters in just in case we ever got another squid,” Silvio said quietly. “I hope they hold.”

“If won't matter if they hold if Ciccio can't,” Ercole said. “Ciccio – how long do you think you can stay... allora... inflated?”

“I don't know,” Ciccio replied. He was already finding it tiring and it was starting to be painful. He hoped it would be long enough.

Suddenly, the rattling stopped. Ciccio felt something brush against his over-stretched skin, and would have shuddered if he hadn't been wedged in far too tight to move. He started hearing what sounded like distant voices. Could this be a rescue?

Having gathered the stuff they'd need to carry out Alberto's idea, the kids plunged back into the water over the continued protests of Luca's father. They left Nonna Libera sitting on the beach with the two Aragosta girls, one under each arm. Luca at once set out for the forge, hoping Signora Donzella had been right about Silvio wanting to go there.

Signs were good. Halfway there, they ran into Signor Pianuzza, carrying his daughter.

“Don't go that way!” he called to them. “The squid is in the ravine! Vittoria told me she'd sent the girls up to Alberto's Island to keep them safe – I'm heading up there with Alessia.”

“It's okay!” Luca said, “we're going to catch it!”

By the time they arrived at the forge, there were at least a dozen people there ahead of them. Most of these were gathered around outside the big forge cavern, watching or throwing objects. It was uncomfortably reminiscent of the crowd that had been following the kids through San Giuseppe mere hours ago. That gave Luca a moment of pause, but he reminded himself that he and his friends hadn't gone to that town to hurt anybody. The squid had tried to hurt people already.

“Stay back!” one of the adults told them. “It's in there!”

Luca went and looked inside anyway.

It was difficult to see what was going on inside. The squid's single large photophore was flashing like a strobe, making things seem to move in jerks. There were three people Luca could see, and he managed to make out that one was Signor Donzella, the second was Niccolò Branzino, and the third Luca's own mother Daniela. The two men were holding sharpened spears, while Daniela had a harpoon Massimo must have given her. They were circling the squid, jabbing at it and then darting out of the way of the tentacles.

“Mom!” Luca shouted out.

“Luca?” she looked up in horror and surprise. “I told you to go to the town!”

“We've got something to catch it!” Luca replied. He moved aside, and let his friends bring up the item they'd hastily put together on the Island. Using Alberto's extensive collection of Human Stuff, they'd made a Christmas-tree-shaped cluster of ropes, cords, and nets with a fishhook on the end of each – a giant squid hook. Now, they just needed to get the squid to attack it.

Right now its attention was elsewhere. When it realized Daniela was distracted, it wrapped a tentacle around her ankle. She cried out, and the two men hurried to help her. Daniela jabbed the harpoon at the only part of the squid she could see for sure in the flashing – the bright bulb on the end of its tentacle. The sharp point pierced it, and glowing goo burst out into the water, coating everything and suddenly making the inside of the forge very visible.

Tools and half-finished objects had been scattered around, and part of the chimney that produced the hot water had collapsed so that the vent was now spewing out into the room rather than up towards the surface. Stones had fallen to land in a pile around the cave where the Donzella family had used to live. The windows there were shuttered, and the door was blocked up by something with long spines, like a giant urchin. Were Silvio and Ciccio hiding in there?

Alberto and Giulia helped Luca thread their giant squid lure through one of the openings and let it dangle, and then called out to the three adults still fighting the creature.

“Up here!” Alberto shouted. “Lead it up here!”

“This way! Careful of the hooks!” Giulia agreed.

By the glow in the water the three adults could see them waving, but did not understand the strange construction they were gathered around – except for Daniela, who had spent enough time in the Marcovaldo house to recognize it at once. She turned and swam for the opening, darting around the dangling hooks. The squid, furious and in pain from its burst photophore, gave chase. Signor Donzella and Niccolò followed it on either side to herd it towards the lure if it got distracted.

Daniela wiggled out, and the squid reached for her, only to get a tentacle caught on one of the many hooks. It reached with another to free the first, and the second arm caught, then a third. Daniela joined the kids in jiggling the ropes to get more hooks moving. Before long the squid's arms were hopelessly tangled, but it could still swim by squirting water out of its siphon. When it realized it would soon be helpless, it released a cloud of gooey ink and then took off into the bottom of the trench. Daniela and Luca had to let go of the ropes in a hurry so they wouldn't be dragged along with it.

It took a minute or two for the ink to disperse, but eventually the moonlight started coming through. Giulia and Daniela had gotten the worst of the blast, and both were covered with dark stains. Daniela's hands and arms were also splotched with phosphorescence. She tried to wipe some of it away on her clothes, but soon gave up and gathered all three kids in for a hug.

“You brave, amazing, brilliant... I am so proud of you, and if I had my way you'd all be grounded for a season! Why don't you do what you're told?”

“It was Alberto's idea,” said Luca.

“Wait'll I tell Uncle Massimo I helped catch a giant squid!” Alberto grinned.

Daniela shook his head. “Young man, I hope your uncle...”

“Get out of the way!” Giorgia Donzella interrupted. She pushed past the group, and she and her husband entered the forge and began calling out. “Silvio!”

“Junior! Where are you?”

“We're down here!” came Silvio's muffled voice. “We're okay!”

The Donzellas went down to get their son, while Luca wriggled out of his mother's grasp. “Is Ciccio with you?” he asked.

“Yeah, he's fine,” Silvio said. “At least... I think he's fine.”

That didn't sound good. Luca and his friends followed the Donzellas to see.

#pixar luca #luca 2021 #luca paguro #alberto scorfano #giulia marcovaldo #ercole visconti #fanfiction #a little human (as a treat)

11 notes · View notes

gaymaramada · 3 years

Text

HC: if adult Luca and Alberto were ever to adopt a girl they’d name her Libera after Luca’s grandmother and they’d call her Liberetta

#i will stand by this one forever #and libera is such a cute name like come ON #luca #pixar luca #disney luca #alberto scorfano #luca paguro #luberto

199 notes · View notes

lineamara · 7 years

Text

Le giornate Arcobaleno.

Ieri in spiaggia ho capito che forse una speranza a questo genere umano posso anche dargliela. Ho passato la giornata in spiaggia, in una piccola caletta al riparo dal vento e dalla folla. Un posticino tranquillo, con un baretto accanto. Una piccola porzione di paradiso come tanti altri luoghi sardi. Io, mio figlio, la mia migliore amica ed i suoi due figli. Ci piace passare l'intera giornata in spiaggia, aspettare che la marea si ritiri, che il sole inizi a smettere di picchiare forte sulla pelle. Il tardo pomeriggio in spiaggia è sempre il momento più bello, le ombre iniziano ad allungarsi e la gente, quella brutta, solitamente va via prima di poter godere di certi spettacoli. Ho visto arrivare una coppia, lui sulla trentina, l'altro lui un po’ più maturo, forse intorno ai quaranta, ma ben portati. Mano nella mano con loro due bambini di due anni circa. Gemelli. Un maschietto ed una femminuccia. Stupendi con i loro occhioni blu ed i capelli di un biondo chiarissimo. La pelle ancora pallida resa ancor più bianca dallo strato di crema protettiva preventivamente spalmato prima di uscire di casa. Niente di strano, direte voi, eppure gli sguardi di quei pochi rimasti intorno a noi si potevano tagliare, si sentivano. Erano pesanti i giudizi solo pensati. Tutti avevano già tirato le loro somme e la certezza è arrivata quando i bambini, nel giocare nell'acqua bassissima e cristallina, hanno iniziato a chiamare lui papà e l'altro babbo. Io non potevo fare a meno di sorridere. Che soluzione geniale! E sorridevo anche nell'osservare lo sguardo inorridito e sporco di pregiudizi delle signore attempate con nipoti e pronipoti al seguito. Ed io invece mi sentivo libera. Vedevo loro così attenti, così premurosi, originali, impegnati, amorevoli, così semplicemente padri, da sentire l'emozione ed il privilegio di condividere con loro l'ombra lunga delle rocce sul mare. Mi avvicino con la scusa di far vedere ai due bambini il paguro di cui va fiero mio figlio. I bimbi si avvicinano incuriositi. Nel frattempo arriva anche un granchietto e l'attenzione si sposta da un secchiello all'altro. Sorrido con loro. Mi informo. Di dove siete? Ah! Quindi siete di qui! Ed i bambini quanti hanno? Bellissimi! Molto educati, complimenti, magari fosse meno belva anche il mio… e cosa fate? Un ristorantino al centro? Verrò a trovarvi, davvero con molto piacere. Loro colgono il mio interesse, capiscono il perché della mia voglia di dialogare con loro. Io non chiedo altro. Non voglio sapere altro. Non mi interessa. Mi avvicino alla signora che per tutta la giornata ha parlato e riso con noi mamme “normali”. Le sorrido e le chiedo: - La vedo perplessa. Qualcosa non va? - È che proprio non capisco sa? Quante coppie “normali” vogliono figli e non glieli danno, fanno mille problemi per farli adottare e poi li danno a questi? Manco uno, ma due! - E chi le dice che li hanno adottati? - Ah. Dici che hanno fatto quella cosa in affitto? - Beh, è probabile! - Mah! Non sono d'accordo comunque! I figli hanno bisogno di un padre e di una madre. - Signora mia, ha giocato, riso e scherzato per tutta la giornata con mio figlio, le sembra un bambino con problemi? Un bambino triste? Le sembra che gli manchi qualcosa? - Beh no! Ma sei lesbica perché? - No. Sono una madre single. Mio figlio non conosce nemmeno il volto del padre. Non sta crescendo in una famiglia normale, eppure… eppure è felice lo stesso, no? - È un discorso diverso! - No. È un punto di vista diverso. Questo non significa che io sia una madre migliore o peggiore di una sposata. E questo non significa che loro non possano essere padri eccezionali anche se dividono lo stesso letto ed hanno lo stesso sesso. Si diventa madri quando si scopre di essere incinta, per i padri è diverso, è una vocazione, un impegno. Ed ora, in tutta sincerità, mi dica che non vede in loro la vocazione, la premura, l'amore, l'attenzione che ogni bambino merita di avere. - La vedo. È evidente. - Ed allora? - Allora forse vedendoli sto cambiando idea. - Sono felice. Intanto il sole si sta facendo più freddo. Pieghiamo armi e bagagli ed iniziamo ad avviarci. Lui mi si avvicina. Mi saluta chiedendomi di andare davvero a mangiare da loro. Confermo la mia intenzione. Lui mi ringrazia. Io sorrido, so che mangerò bene, non devi ringraziarmi. No, dice lui, grazie di avermi tolto anche solo uno sguardo pregno di giudizio dalla pelle. Sorrido ancora, grazie a voi di avermi fatto capire che qualcosa di bello in voi uomini c'è ancora. Anche se ve la fate tra di voi, egoisti! Lui ride. Mi saluta ancora. Ed io torno a casa con il cuore davvero pieno eppure così leggero.

16 notes · View notes

retegenova · 6 years

Text

I LABORATORI PER BAMBINI E RAGAZZI E LA FIERA SEI SERVIZI AL BAMBINO

Sono circa 90 i LABORATORI ARTISTICI, CREATIVI E DIDATTICI RIVOLTI A BAMBINI E RAGAZZI suddivisi nella tre giorni di Festival. I laboratori sono condotti da operatori specializzati e durante il loro svolgimento i genitori e/o gli accompagnatori dei piccoli potranno curiosare oppure visitare tranquillamente il paese o farsi un tuffo in mare per rinfrescarsi. I laboratori del NiNiN Festival rappresentano un esempio di apprendimento ludico che stimola la socializzazione, la concentrazione, la responsabilità e la fiducia verso se’ e gli altri. Alcuni laboratori sono basati su animazioni con letture di storie e giochi sulla spiaggia. Appuntamenti fissi per tutti i tre giorni del festival saranno laboratori di sport in mare come vela, sup e kajak, senza dimenticare la possibilità di provare a nuotare con le bombole ed il casco da palombaro nella “Vasca in Piazza” allestita nella centrale Piazza XXVI Aprile. Tra le tantissime proposte ci sarà per esempio l’eco pinneggiata in mare con attività di snorkeling alla ricerca della plastica abbandonata con conseguente laboratorio che prevede l’uso delle stampanti in 3D, un evento a cura della Scuola di Robotica che unisce il contatto con la natura e il rispetto per l’ambiente all’uso consapevole della tecnologia. Tra i numerosissimi laboratori per i più piccoli, ci saranno per esmpio il laboratorio musicale per bambini fino ai 3 anni di età da titolo “Una Giornata Musica”, tenuto da Alessandra Auditore e Francesca Bottone, il laboratorio sensoriale ed espressivo dal titolo “Libertà di vedere con i propri occhi”, a cura dell’educatrice Anna Corradini e dell’animatrice Lucia Razeto ma ci sono laboratori veramente per tutti i gusti tra teatro, musica, danza, disegno, pittura, yoga, meditazione, ecc.. Per partecipare ai laboratori è necessario prenotare ai numeri di telefono o alle email indicate nel programma scaricabile da www.nininfestival.com Il festival propone ogni giorno la“Fiera dei servizi al bambino” con stand di case editrici, fattorie didattiche, scuole di teatro, musica, danza, sport ma anche associazioni, centri didattici, ecc… Un’importante occasione di incontro e confronto, ma soprattutto una vetrina a scopo informativo per chi è interessato alla crescita sana e consapevole dei più piccoli. Fino alla scorsa edizione la Fiera si svolgeva solo nella giornata conclusiva ma le numerose richieste di partecipazione hanno spinto l’organizzazione a proporla in tutte le giornate. Come nelle precedenti edizioni, TUTTE LE ATTIVITÀ SARANNO FRUIBILI GRATUITAMENTE, così come il parcheggio e la merenda bio e gluten free offerta a tutti i bambini presenti!

GLI SPETTACOLI Per ciò che riguarda gli SPETTACOLI, il festival propone teatro, narrazione, cinema, performance, installazioni, danza e la musica come principale protagonista; musica che unisce, portatrice di valori e che libera i sentimenti, per sentire grandi emozioni e riconoscere anche negli altri ciò che si prova… Le OPEN NIGHTSdi venerdì e sabato saranno particolarmente ricche di propostecon street food, spettacoli, concerti, performance, pedane da skateboard, pareti per arrampicare ed esibizioni che si concentreranno nella piazza principale del paese dalle ore 18:30 in poi. La prima, venerdì 6 giugno, sarà un vero e proprio inno alla libertà espressa attraverso il linguaggio dell’arte contemporanea, nel quale musica e danza si fondono dando al pubblico presente la possibilità di interagire sperimentandosi attraverso lo spettacolo “Pallaprigioniera”, un viaggio che accompagna grandi e piccini in una riflessione poetica sulla libertà attraverso il movimento. La seconda, sabato 7, ospiterà lo spettacolo “Rosaspina” della Compagnia del Piccione, una fiaba delicata e forte che ci racconta di crescita e autonomia attraverso la magia del teatro.

GLI INCONTRI E LE ATTIVITÀ PER GLI ADULTI Oltre agli eventi e alle attività per bambini e ragazzi, vengono organizzati INCONTRI, LABORATORI, CONFERENZE E PRESENTAZIONI DI LIBRI PER UN PUBBLICO ADULTO, composto da genitori, insegnati, educatori e tutti coloro che sono interessati all’argomento. La prima giornata del 6 luglio sarà dedicata ai libri per ragazzi con presentazioni, tavole rotonde e letture, la seconda giornata sarà dedicata alla scuola, soprattutto alla formazione per insegnanti, e la terza giornata alla genitorialità attraverso incontri con psicologi e operatori specializzati. Quest’anno ci sarà anche “La Fiera della Maternità” a cura dell’associazione We Love Momsnella giornata di sabato 7 luglio con tanti servizi e informazini per la maternità. A partire dalle ore 15 si alterneranno eventi, performance, presentazioni di diverse attività con l’interazione di professionisti tra cui pediatri, ostetriche, doule, consulenti dell’allattamento, osteopati, ginecologi, counsellor, psicologi, consulenti del portare, consulenti del lavoro e molte altre figure di supporto alle future e neo mamme. E ci sarà anche lo Speed Moms! Sulla falsa riga degli appuntamenti mordi e fuggi per single, ci sarà la possibilità di incontrate tantissimi professionisti dell’area materno-infantile. Gli eventi sono gratuiti ma, dato il numero limitato di posti, è richiesta la prenotazione tramite mail all’indirizzo [email protected].

LO STREET FOOD Dopo il successo della scorsa edizione, confermata la presenza dello spazio dedicato allo STREET FOOD, che stuzzicherà gli appetiti dei visitatori con trofie, trenette, frittelle dolci e salate, acciughe fritte ed anche le specialità gluten free.

SERVIZI E INFOPOINT Solo venerdì: 10.00-12.00 Servizio “Riposamamma” presso l’Amaca in via Mazzini 103. Solo sabato: 10.30 -18.30 “101 Gite in Liguria”. Infopoint in piazza XXVI Aprile. Solo domenica: 10.30-12.30 e 14.30-17.30 Presso lo stand di “Società Nazionale di Salvamento” e “Rotary Club Golfo Paradiso”, informazioni sul “Progetto Piccolo Bagnino” e prenotazioni per il corso futuro.

TUTTI I GIORNI VASCA IN PIAZZA: immersioni con le bombole e casco aperto da palombaro per bambini dai 3 anni. A cura di C.A.S. (Centro attività subacquee) Il Paguro. Prenotazione in loco. Dalle 16.00 in poi “Merenda in libertà”. Tutti i giorni, in piazza XXVI aprile, merenda biologica e glutenfree GRATIS per tutti offerta dalla Farmacia Corsanego di Bogliasco. Dalle 10.00 alle 18.30 Lo sportello dell’ostetrica: presso “L’Amaca” (via Mazzini 103), l’ostetrica Teresa Lin Simonazzi, presente nei momenti di attività del centro per tutta la durata del Nininfestival, è disponibile a incontrare le mamme e a rispondere alle loro domande. Servizio prestito fasce e zainetti portabimbi presso Punto Informazioni in via Mazzini 24 (di fronte alla Biblioteca “Casetta Burchi”). Parcheggio GRATIS presso i campi sportivi di località Poggio con servizio navetta gratuito

Gli OBIETTIVI DEL FESTIVAL consistono da sempre nell’offrire a bambini e ragazzi opportunità ed esperienze diverse da quelle proposte dai soliti canali, nel dare un sostegno alle famiglie e nel promuovere un incontro e uno scambio tra operatori del settore. Nelle prime cinque edizioni la manifestazione ha registrato una grande affluenza di pubblico ed ha ricevuto numerosi consensi e riconoscimenti.

Press Office LP: Luigi Piga

Cooperativa Battelieri del Porto di Genova

NetParade.it

Quezzi.it

AlfaRecovery.com

Comuni-italiani.it

Il Secolo XIX

CentroRicambiCucine.it

Contatti

Stefano Brizzante

Impianti Elettrici

Informatica Servizi

Edilizia

Il Secolo XIX

MusicforPeace Che Festival

MusicforPeace Programma 29 maggio

Programma eventi Genova Celebra Colombo

Genova Celebra Colombo

NiNiN Festival dal 6 luglio un mondo per bambini, ragazzi e educatori a Bogliasco con 90 laboratori, spettacoli, tavole rotonde, ecc… I LABORATORI PER BAMBINI E RAGAZZI E LA FIERA SEI SERVIZI AL BAMBINO Sono circa 90 i…

#Cinema #Domenica #Eventi #gratis #La Fiera #Liguria #lo spettacolo #musica #sport #TEATRO

0 notes

brunosaderogatory · 1 month

Text

Luca’s desire to explore the surface didn’t only kick off an end to an in-universe genocide, it also fixed an ongoing trouble in his family.

On his mother’s side, Libera had been going to the surface for possibly decades, not only hiding it from her community but also hiding it from her own daughter. And according to Casarosa, Daniela had been curious and tried out the surface-life before, but stopped. My guess is that along the lines, something happened that caused her to take a full 180°. Her insistent fear for Luca and (albeit rightfully) calling the humans “murderers” “bloodthirsty lunatics” raises a lot of questions as to what that something was.

Then on his father’s side, there is Ugo that was so “addicted” to the surface that he was sent to The Deep to correct it, and Lorenzo who, also according to Enrico Casarosa, had tried it out as well.

This wasn’t a curiosity unique to Luca, but to all Paguros (and Ugo). He wasn’t where the “problem” began, but he was where the problem ended.

#they dragon ball z’d this kid into being a surface freak #luca 2021 #pixar luca #luca paguro #disney #pixar #daniela paguro #Lorenzo paguro #libera paguro #uncle ugo

51 notes · View notes

brunosaderogatory · 2 years

Text

Daniela and her biological mother have the same last name: Paguro

Lorenzo, Daniela’s husband, also uses the last name Paguro

Uncle Ugo, Lorenzo’s biological brother, has no confirmed last name

Conclusion: Seamonsters take the last name of the wife, or at least the Paguro’s did

#Luca 2021 #pixar luca #daniela paguro #lorenzo paguro #grandma paguro #libera paguro #uncle ugo #ugo luca

9 notes · View notes

ironychan · 1 year

Text

A Little Human (as a Treat)

Part 1/? - Un Volontario

Alberto's cousin Flavia doesn't transform when she gets out of the water - a bit of a handicap in a family that likes to live in both worlds. The boys think they may have an answer, though... surely there will be something in the magical texts held at the Library of the Deep.

The Library of the Deep was a long, dark, spooky journey requiring at least one overnight, and when Alberto and Luca put the idea to Flavia they found she didn't like it at all. That did make some sense. She'd come to Portorosso to be out in the sunshine and around other kids, in a place where most people didn't mind sea monsters. Compared to gelato and watermelon and games in the piazza, a dark cavern full of weird creatures and artifacts didn't sound like much fun at all. Giulia therefore volunteered to stay and keep her company, while the boys went to ask the Librarian Diotima whether any of her books of magic had a spell that might help Flavia transform.

It took them two entire days to return. When they arrived, Giulia and Flavia were at the Paguro family farm, where Flavia and Uncle Leonardo were staying, helping Nonna Libera trim back some sponges that had started growing on the roof. I was Nonna who looked up and said, “oh, the boys are back.”

“They are?” Giulia saw them both swimming up with Luca's backpack bulging. Clearly they'd found something. “Flavia, come on, let's go see what they found!” She rose from the roof and darted down to meet them.

“Hi!” Luca called out as they got closer. “We're back!”

“Did you find it?” Giulia asked them. She'd been starting to wonder if the reason they were taking so long was because they were searching and searching and couldn't find anything.

“Sure did!” said Alberto proudly.

“Kinda,” Luca qualified.

“Kinda?” Giulia echoed. She realized Flavia wasn't beside her, and looked over her shoulder to find the younger girl still kneeling on the roof next to Nonna, nervously petting one of her pet lumpsucker fish. Giulia was about to call out to her again, when Luca's mother realized the boys had returned.

“Luca! You're back!” Daniela dashed out of the farmhouse door and gathered Luca and Alberto both up in a hug. “How's Ugo? You were warm enough down there, weren't you?”

“Yes, Mom, we're fine,” Luca assured her, embarrassed but accustomed to his mother's worrying. “And Uncle Ugo's fine, he's thinking of coming to visit again before I go back to school.” He gave Daniela a kiss on the cheek, then floated up to wave to Flavia. “Good news!”

Nonna Libera patted Flavia on the back. “Hear that, kiddo? Good news. Let's go see what it is.”

The kids, along with Uncle Leonardo, gathered in the sunny little garden among the anemones and crinoids, and Luca proudly spread out the pages of notes they'd brought back. Giulia was a little worried because the spells they'd copied before had been in Greek, but these all seemed to be in Italian, and like the previous pages of magic, included lists and diagrams of how to set things up. Flavia came and settled down between Nonna and her father, but still said nothing, and fiddled distractedly with the hem of her seagrass tunic.

“People were always suggesting things back home,” said Uncle Leonardo, carefully avoiding words like cure the way he always did. “They were all nonsense.”

“Well, we don't know for sure that this will work,” Luca warned, “but it sounds like something to try. See, we told the Librarian about Flavia and how she doesn't transform when she gets out of the water, and she said you're a...” he paused. “What was the word?”

“Throwback,” said Alberto. “You're what sea monsters were like before Oannes.”

“That's right. And you know what?” asked Luca.

Flavia opened her mouth to ask what, but Alberto wasn't willing to wait for her. “She is, too!” he blurted out. “She doesn't Change! That's why she went to live in the Deep in the first place!”

“Yeah, she said you're welcome to come and visit her,” Luca agreed. “She's never met anybody else with the same problem and she wants to meet you.”

Flavia hung her head. “No, thank you,” she said. She made a move as if to leave.

“Wait!” Luca said. “We're not done!”

Flavia hesitated.

“Yeah, we told her that's not what you want – you don't want to hide in the Deep. You want to do the opposite of that,” Alberto said.

Luca nodded.

Reluctantly, Flavia settled down again. Giulia gave her an encouraging smile.

“The Librarian said if we wanted the original spell Oannes used to create the Change in the first place then we were out of luck,” Luca explained, “because we don't know if that really happened, and if it did, he never wrote it down. But there was one she always wanted to try for herself but couldn't because you need a human to help you with it.”

“So we said, that's perfect, we know lots of humans,” Alberto said.

“How does it work?” Giulia asked. Flavia might be near-paralyzed by fear of disappointment, but she was definitely intrigued.

Luca pointed to a page where they'd copied out a drawing of two figures. “It's intended for sea monsters who want to be able to blend in with humans even if they get wet.” Luca hadn't liked the sound of that. The Librarian had suggested perhaps it was for people like Alberto's father or Carlotta Gennari, who wanted to marry a human or have a job, but it sounded to Luca like it was meant for spying. “You have to do the spell with a human, and it's like a trade – you pass the Change on to them, so you stay in human form and they transform when they get wet. The Librarian said she'd wondered if it would work for her when she didn't have a Change to give away, but she didn't know any humans and she was never brave enough to try to meet any.”

“So it probably won't work,” said Flavia.

“It might,” Giulia said. “We just need a volunteer to try it.” It couldn't be herself or her dad anymore, but quite a few kids in town had sea monster friends now. Maybe Maurizio, who liked to play with Arturo Trota and Silvio Donzella... the three of them were planning to enter the Portorosso Cup race together at the end of the summer. He might enjoy being a sea monster for a while.

“Is this safe?” asked Uncle Leonardo. “I mean, if it doesn't work, what happens instead?”

“The Librarian says most magic, if you get it wrong, it just does nothing,” said Luca. “You just have to be really careful and get all the steps and words right.”

“It worked fine the last time we tried something,” Alberto said, and then his face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Oh! And I know exactly who will help us with it!”

The Ottonello family Foccaceria was on the piazza, not far from the Pescheria. That was where they found Ciccio and his sea monster girlfriend, Giordana Trota. She'd taken an interest in human cooking and liked experimenting with recipes. Today the bakery was full of the smell of cinnamon, and the group entered to find Ciccio and Giordana playing checkers while they waited for their latest project to come out of the oven. Alberto marched in at the lead, while Flavia, whose self-consciousness was ten times worse on land, brought up the rear with a wet towel wrapped around her neck to keep her gills damp.

“Hey, Ciccio!” Alberto called out. “We need a volunteer!”

Ciccio didn't have a reputation for being the smartest boy in town, but he knew a trap when he heard one. “A volunteer for what?” he asked warily.

Alberto dropped their papers on the counter with a wet thump. “Let me put it this way: has Giordana told her mom yet?”

Ciccio and Giordana exchanged a glance. Attinia Trota had never liked humans, and while she was slowly warming to them with encouragement from Giordana and Arturo, she still wasn't the type to go into town for fun. Giordana had managed to give the impression, without ever actually saying so, that her new boyfriend was a fellow sea monster who happened to live most of the time on land, like Pinuccia and Concetta Aragosta did. She kept saying she was going to tell the truth sooner or later, but 'sooner' had definitely expired by now.

“Yeah, I didn't think so.” Alberto grinned. “So... what if you didn't have to?”

“Don't say it like that,” Luca told him. “She's still gonna have to tell eventually.”

“Yeah, but her Mom will stop being nosy for a while,” Alberto countered.

“Or she'll get even nosier because she thinks you have no excuse for being so mysterious,” said Giulia, who had more than enough experience with people who liked to know what everybody else was up to.

“What are you guys talking about?” asked Ciccio.

“An opportunity,” said Alberto immediately. “What if you could be a sea monster for a day, while Flavia here could be a human?”

Ciccio looked interested. “How would that work?”

They explained in more detail. The spell was much more complicated than the one they'd used to summon up a genie at Christmas time, with more ingredients and a magical circle that had to be put together over the course of a few days rather than a single morning, but it seemed to be just a matter of making sure they got all the steps right. They'd done a bit of magic before and it had worked fine, there was no reason they couldn't do it this time.

Ciccio, however, looked doubtful. “I dunno...” he began.

“I think it's a great idea!” said Giordana.

“You do?” Ciccio looked at her. “I mean... won't that just make it even weirder when we do tell your mom?”

“It's another step in convincing her that humans are just people,” Giordana said. “Just like us.”

“She already knows that. She's met Giulia and her dad,” Ciccio pointed out.

“And now she can meet you properly instead of just for five minutes at a time,” Giordana nodded. “Come on. You can stay for dinner! I'll ask her to make something special.” She took his hand in both of hers and batted her eyes at him. “Please?”

Flavia didn't say anything, but she was starting to look hopeful. She shifted from one foot to the other, too shy to speak but desperately hoping Ciccio would say yes.

“I'll see what my Dad thinks,” Ciccio decided.

He was gone for about twenty minutes, during which time the kids had to re-soak Flavia's towel so her gills wouldn't get itchy. She sat in a chair, swinging her feet and looking around the room distractedly.

“If Ciccio won't do it, we'll find somebody else,” said Alberto, who wasn't worried at all.

All Flavia did was nod, but the others could feel her absolute yearning. She wanted so badly to be able to do the things her cousins did, to not stand out, to be normal even if just for an afternoon, it almost hung in the air around her – but all her previous efforts had been disappointed. She didn't want to get her hopes up again, but at the same time, she couldn't help herself.

A timer in the kitchen buzzed, and Giordana bounced to her feet. “There's the rolls!” she said, and ran to take them out of the oven. The kitchen door swung shut behind her, but the kids could still smell the cinnamon as she opened the oven door.

A minute or so later, the door opened again to reveal not just Giordana, but Ciccio and Signor Ottonello. The latter was wearing a similar expression of skeptical concern as Uncle Leonardo had shown in Daniela's garden.

“What is for a day?” was his first question. “Is it twenty-four hours, or just breakfast to dinner? I don't want him out in the ocean at night.”

Alberto had not actually thought about that when he'd made the suggestion – it had just sounded good. “There isn't a time limit, is there?” he asked Luca.

Luca flipped through the pages. “I don't think so... it lasts from whenever you start it up to when the two of you come back together and end it. There's a specific time for setting things up, but not for how long you trade for.”

“So breakfast to dinner,” said Alberto. “If that's okay with Flavia.”

Flavia nodded quickly. She didn't care how long it was for as long as she got to do it.

“We'll just be at my place,” Giordana added. “You've met my mom, Signor Ottonello. You really think we'll let him get in trouble?”

Signor Ottonello and Signora Trota had met, briefly, and it had been a very stressful day for Ciccio and Giordana. Ciccio's father knew that. “As long as this actually is a prelude to telling your mother the truth,” he said to Giordana. “You know what I think of lying to her.”

“Yes, Papà, we know,” said Ciccio.

“We promise,” said Giordana. “Cross our hearts.”

“And your friends are sure this is safe.” Signor Ottonello looked at the younger kids.

“Totally,” said Alberto. “We've done magic before. We're basically experts.”

Signor Ottonello looked skeptical of that, so Luca repeated their earlier reassurance to Uncle Leonardo: “if magic isn't going to work, it doesn't do weird things – it just does nothing. That's what the Librarian of the Deep told us and she really is an expert.”

“Am I allowed to watch?” Signor Ottonello wanted to know.

“Definitely,” said Giulia. “Flavia's dad will be watching, too.”

Signor Ottonello threw his hands in the air and sighed. “When did this town get to be so damned weird?” he asked the heavens, and turned to head back into the kitchen, leaving the kids a little unsure of his answer.

“That wasn't a yes...” said Luca cautiously.

“But it wasn't a no, either!” Alberto whacked Ciccio on the back. “Perfect – we'll start tomorrow!”

As stated in the scroll, it took several days to set things up for a much more complicated spell than the one that had summoned the genie. There were ingredients to gather and diagrams to draw, magic words to speak and a bit where Ciccio and Flavia each had to prick a finger and let a drop of blood fall onto a slip of paper, which was then burned with some herbs. The priest frowned disapprovingly at all this and took to muttering prayers and crossing himself every time he passed them, and Ciccio's father looked very doubtful of the whole enterprise.

Luca, Alberto, and Giulia, however, were quite confident that it was harmless, the important part was simply to get it right. It was still an experiment, though, and they'd noticed that Flavia was even quieter than usual and simply did what she was told for her own parts of the spell, without any enthusiasm. The person who was most excited was actually Giordana, who they had to remind repeatedly that this might not work. If they hadn't, she would probably have already told her mother than Ciccio would be coming for supper.

“I thought all the Librarian's books were from ancient Egypt,” Giulia remarked, as she pounded up some dried pine resin in the kitchen mortar. “Shouldn't they all be in Greek or hieroglyphics?” It seemed odd that they'd been able to write this one out in Italian.

“Oh, it was,” replied Luca. “It was in a language called Coptic, but the Librarian can read that. She reads with her fingers,” he added, having evidently been fascinated by this. “She just runs them over the lines and feels the shape of the letters, and she's just as fast about it as we are reading with our eyes.”

“First she read it in the other language,” Alberto agreed, “and then she'd tell us what it said so we could write it down.”

Giulia frowned. “Why didn't she do that with the spell to summon the genie? Then we wouldn't have had to get Professor Hamid and Dr. Cozzolino to translate it for us?”

“She said it was because we didn't ask her to,” Alberto replied. “She didn't realize we couldn't read it ourselves.”

“I wonder,” Luca mused, “if it works, do you think she'll want to try it, too?”

“Before when we invited her to visit, she said she'd been in the Deep so long, she didn't think it would be good for her to visit shallow water,” Giulia recalled. “So probably not.”

“That's kind of sad,” Luca said. “If she always wanted to try but now she'll never be able to.”

Giulia showed Luca her progress powdering the resin. “How's that?”

“I guess it's good enough,” Luca shrugged. He certainly wasn't the expert here no matter what Alberto said. “Is that everything, then? I think we've just got the last ritual to go.” He'd wondered why the spell was so complicated, and had decided it was because the people who designed it wanted to be sure everybody involved really wanted to participate.

“Looks that way,” said Alberto, turning a page over to make sure there was nothing on the back. “We've just gotta get Flavia and Ciccio together tomorrow morning.”

“Great!” Luca nodded. “I hope this works... I asked Flavia if there was anything she really wanted to do if it worked, but she said she didn't want to think about it too hard just in case it didn't.”

There was a brief silence in which all three wondered whether, if this didn't work, they could find another spell and try that instead... but there was a definitely feeling that Flavia probably wouldn't be up for that. As Uncle Leonardo had pointed out, she'd tried other ways to address her situation and none of them had worked. She might not be able to handle yet another disappointment.

The next morning after breakfast, they gathered on the beach. Signor Ottonello was there as promised, standing at the top of the sea wall watching skeptically, with Ciccio's best friend Guido sitting next to him with his legs dangling over the edge. Giordana and her brother Arturo were waiting in the water, and Uncle Leonardo brought Flavia to shore.

Flavia was ready for a good outcome – she was dressed in human clothes, a white blouse and green plaid pinafore dress, and she was carrying a pair of black mary jane shoes to put on later. But she was obviously fearing the worst, anxious and distracted. Her father squeezed her hand, and leaned down to talk to her face-to-face.

“Angelfish,” he said, “are you sure you want to try this?”

“Yes,” Flavia replied firmly. “If I don't, I'll just wonder forever what would have happened.”

Leonardo sighed. “Just... please don't be too upset if it doesn't work, okay? Your friends said it's a long shot. Even if they did everything right, this magic isn't meant for your situation, remember?”

“I know, Papa Leo,” she said.

He bent his head a bit. “Your Papa Giorgio and I just wish you could be happy with yourself the way you are.”

“I know,” Flavia repeated, then asked, “are you gonna be sad if it does work?”

“No! Of course not!” Leonardo gave her a hug. “I'll be thrilled. But I need you to know that I already love you as much as I possibly can, and I have from the day you turned up. You know that, right?”

“I know,” Flavia assured him. “I love you, too, Papa Leo.”

Uncle Leonardo kissed Flavia's forehead, and then let her go and join the others.

Ciccio took off his shoes and socks and waded out to waist-deep water, and Flavia gave her mary janes to Giulia to hold onto, and joined them. Alberto, the tallest, then sprinkled the crushed-up resin, which was mixed with the ashes from the paper and herbs, over both their heads.

“Okay,” said Luca, checking their notes. “Now you put the palms of your hands together.”

Ciccio and Flavia, both clearly feeling rather self-conscious, obeyed. “Now what?” Ciccio asked.

“That should be it. And it's supposed to last until the next time you touch each other.”

Nothing seemed to be happening. Flavia's shoulders sagged, and her tail drooped into the water.

“Yeah,” said Ciccio. “I don't think it's gonna...” but he had to stop there, as out of nowhere a wave rose up and broke over the two of them, dragging them both under the water.

Flavia was the first to come up, and she did so coughing and gasping for air, because the spell had worked: she had transformed into a human girl with olive skin and straight dark hair cut short. Uncle Leonardo immediately ran to scoop her up and carry her back to the pebbly beach, where he patted her back while she leaned on him and coughed up salt water.

“You're okay,” he soothed. “Deep breaths. You're okay.” Then, once she seemed mostly recovered, he held her out at arm's length. “Hey... look at you!”

Flavia blinked at him in momentary confusion, then held up her own hands to look and gasped audibly. “It worked?”

“It sure did,” said Uncle Leonardo. “I honestly didn't think it was going to, but here you are!”

She reached up to feel at her face and hair, and Giulia ran to offer her something she'd brought along for exactly this moment. “I brought a mirror!” she declared, holding it out.

Flavia took the object as if afraid it would explode, and turned it over to see her reflection. For a moment she just stared in shock at her own face, and then she burst into tears.

Uncle Leonardo hugged her again. “You look beautiful, Angelfish,” he promised her, gently rocking her back and forth. “You look great.”

Meanwhile Ciccio had sat up, also transformed. His father was too shocked to do anything but stare with his mouth open, so it was Giordana who was first to come running and help him. She took his hands and pulled him to his feet, then grabbed him by the gills and planted a big kiss on the tip of his snout.

“Ow!” Ciccio exclaimed.

Giordana stepped back. “Ow?” she asked, startled and perhaps a bit insulted.

“Not you. It's my...” he looked over his shoulder. Ciccio was still short and chubby, as he'd been as a human, and was now covered with scales that were dark maroon on his back, fading to a dull pink on his face and hands. His fins were dark yellow, and interspersed with something quite unexpected: all over his back and shoulders were sharp spines, five and seven centimetres long, that had poked through his shirt and even torn it in several places. When he'd tried to raise his arms as Giordana kissed him, the fabric had tugged the spines forward, which had hurt. Puzzled by them, Ciccio reached to touch one.

“I don't think you should do that,” Guido warned. “They might be poisonous!”

“You think so?” asked Ciccio, wide-eyed.

“Yeah, lots of fish have poison spines,” Guido said. He looked at the sea monster kids for confirmation.

“Well, yeah. There's pufferfish,” Giulia counted them off on her fingers, “and lionfish, stonefish, stingrays...” Sea monsters seemed to look like all kinds of fish, from Luca being a wrasse to his Uncle Ugo being an anglerfish to the Librarian of the Deep resembling a coelacanth. It wouldn't be too strange if there were some with the venomous barbs of pufferfish.

Ciccio grimaced, and tried to remove his shirt so it wouldn't restrict his movement. Unfortunately, the spines grew facing backwards and down, and trying to pull the green t-shirt over his head bent them painfully backwards. “Ow! Why do I have those?” he asked. “Flavia didn't have those.”

“Yeah, but you don't look like Flavia,” Giordana pointed out. “And Flavia doesn't look like you.”

“Well, who decides what kind of sea monster I am?” Ciccio asked.

There were some shrugs. Nobody had an answer for him.

“I'll be right back,” Signor Ottonello promised, and went into the focacceria to get something.

Massimo had given Flavia a handkerchief to dry her eyes, and now Uncle Leonardo was waving the kids over to sit down on the steps. “Your friend Signora Marsigliese loaned me her camera,” he said. “I want to get a picture for Giorgio and Ma. You sit in the middle, Flavia,” he directed.

“Okay,” said Flavia, and tried to take a step, only to nearly fall on her face as she overbalanced without the counterweight of her tail.

“Whoops! Careful!” Leonardo caught her arm.

“You gotta stand up really straight,” said Alberto. “Like when you're piling rocks, all the heavy stuff has to be right in the middle or it'll topple over.”

“Lean on me if you need to,” said Uncle Leonardo.

He got everybody arranged on the steps, and backed up to take the picture. Nobody had any trouble smiling for it. Alberto, Luca, and Giulia were happy for Flavia and proud of getting the spell right, and all three grinned from ear to ear – while Flavia herself was beaming like a sunrise even as fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

“Here we go,” Signor Ottonello announced, re-emerging from the bakery holding a pair of kitchen scissors. “Stand still, Francesco.”

“You're gonna cut it?” asked Ciccio plaintively.

“It'll get it off without breaking any of those,” his father replied matter-of-factly. He cut the shirt open from hem to collar, and then down the sleeves so they could peel it off without bending the spines. “There's holes torn in it now anyway.”

“Sorry,” Ciccio said, sheepish. “I didn't know I was gonna ruin it.”

“You've got other shirts,” Signor Ottonello said. “If that's the worst damage those do today, it won't be too bad.”

Uncle Leonardo returned the camera to Signora Marsigliese and gave her the address in Procida where the Scorfano family received mail, while Luca and Alberto helped Flavia stand up and find her balance.

“What do you wanna do first?” Alberto asked.

“I don't know,” Flavia admitted. “I didn't want to think about it too hard, because I was afraid this wouldn't work.”

“You were interested in land animals,” Luca remembered. “There's a little zoo in San Giuseppe. It doesn't have elephants or giraffes like the one in Genova, but there's all kinds of birds and a couple of kangaroos that you can feed and pet.”

“Really?” Flavia asked eagerly.

“And if we're going to San Giuseppe we can go to the Confetteria,” Alberto added. “They've got so many kinds of candy there, we still haven't tried them all!”

“And the bookshop! It's not as big as the one in Genova either, but... oh,” Luca cut himself off. “No, you can't take books underwater. But there's a toy shop, too. I'm sure we can find you something there that you can take home.”

“We don't have a bike for you,” said Giulia, “but mine can tow the delivery cart and you can ride on that.”

“Hold it,” Uncle Leonardo interrupted. “How far away is San Giuseppe?”

The boys had very little concept of distances. They turned to Giulia for an estimate.

“Not far,” she said. “Maybe ten or twelve kilometres. It takes about half an hour to bike there.”

Leonardo thought about that. “That's closer than Pompei is to Napoli,” he said. “You're not going to try to go anywhere dangerous, are you?” He was probably thinking of some of the places Flavia had explored in the depths of the Gulf.

“Of course not,” scoffed Alberto.

“We promise,” said Giulia.

“The children are very responsible,” said Massimo, which might have been a bit of a lie but only a very small one. “I trust Giulia with Luca and Alberto at sea. I'm sure you can do the same with Flavia on land.”

“San Giuseppe is bigger than Portorosso but not nearly as big as Genova or Napoli,” Luca added. “We'll be fine.”

“Please can I go, Papa Leo?” Flavia asked.

“You'll be back by dinnertime?” Signor Ottonello asked. “Remember what I said, I don't like the idea of Francesco out there in the ocean in the dark.”

“Of course!”

“Absolutely.”

“We promise!”

Uncle Leonardo was reluctant, but he gave in. “This is what you wanted,” he said. “You wanted to explore. I...” He held out his arms. “Just promise me you'll be safe.”

“I will!” Flavia ran to hug him again. “Thank you, Papa Leo!”

Giulia hitched the cart to the back of her bicycle and tossed in a couple of pillows to make it a bit more comfortable, and they set off up the hill towards the main road. The kids waved as they rounded the corner out of sight. Uncle Leonardo waved back, then sighed and sat down heavily in one of the metal chairs outside the Trattoria.

“It won't be long until she's grown up and doesn't need us anymore,” he said mournfully to Massimo, who was standing not far away. “I know she can handle it, she's tougher than she thinks she is... but I don't know if I can.”

Massimo put a hand on his shoulder. “Coffee?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Leonardo. “Thanks.”

On the far side of the hill, past the old tower, was the petrol station where the main paved road passed through on its way to the nearby city of San Giuseppe. The ride that had been bumpy on the cobblestones suddenly became smooth when they reached the asphalt, and the kids moved to the side of the road to be out of the way of passing traffic. When a car passed them, Giulia and Alberto both waved, and then cheered when the driver replied by honking his horn.

Flavia sat back in the delivery cart and gazed up at the sky. It was a perfect day for having adventures – the sky was brilliant blue with big, puffy white clouds drifting slowly across it, and the occasional dark dots of birds flying over. She'd seen that before, but never like this... never with the shining green of the land plants all around her and the warm breeze stirring her hair. The feel of the wind reminded her of her towel, and she reached up to rub at the back of her neck, where the damp cloth usually sat when she was out of the water.

“Don't need it,” said Alberto, noticing the gesture. “Your gills can't dry out if you don't have any.”

“I know,” said Flavia. “It just feels so weird.”

“You'll get used to it,” promised Luca. He knew, in ways his friends did not, how odd the various sensations of being out of the water could be. “Don't look right at the sun, though. It's too bright and it can hurt your eyes.”

“What about the clouds? Can I look at those?”

“Totally,” Alberto said.

“Good! Because that one looks like a seahorse!” Flavia pointed to a wisp that did look very much like the animal's curly tail and long snout. “What are they made of?”

“Clouds? They're made of water,” said Luca.

“If they get too much water in them they leak, and that's why it rains,” Alberto added.

“Wow!” said Flavia.

“Clouds happen when the sun heats up the ocean and it boils just a tiny bit,” Luca said, always happy to share the amazing things he'd learned in school. “It's called evaporazione. Did you know the surface of the sun is over five thousand degrees? It's probably about twenty-five degrees out today, so the sun is two hundred times hotter! That's why it can boil the ocean even though it's so far away it takes the light eight minutes to get here, and light is the fastest thing in the universe.” That fact had been in a book one of the teachers had recommended after noticing how excited Luca got about using the telescope.

“Wow,” Flavia repeated. The hottest thing she'd ever felt was water from a vent in the sea floor – she'd burned her hand on it when she was small. The sun must be way hotter even than that.

“Don't start telling her all that,” Alberto teased. “Next thing you know, she'll wanna go to school, too, and then what happens to Ciccio?”

Flavia giggled. “I hope he's having fun, too,” she said.

“He will,” Giulia promised. “Being a sea monster when you're new at it is amazing.”

“Hey, it's pretty cool when you're used to it, too,” Alberto said.

#pixar luca #luca 2021 #luca paguro #alberto scorfano #giulia marcovaldo #fanfiction #this is a messof ocs and headcanons from two different fics #a little human (as a treat)

21 notes · View notes