When Luca's eyes finally popped open on the pebbled beach, he sat up to find Alberto on the other side, out cold. Brushing the little rocks off his face, he tentatively walked over to investigate.
Slowly, eventually, Alberto came to. Luca watched as he winced, lifting himself off the ground and looking around as if wondering how he got there. Alberto looked up.
"Luca!" He struggled to get up, relieved. "What are you doing here? Where even are we? I woke up and - "
Luca instinctively stepped back; Alberto regarded him curiously. He tilted his head.
"Why do you look scared of me?"
A bewildered cry escaped Luca's throat. He couldn't help it. "You just blew me back a billion regions like two minutes ago!" he said. "Your eyes were like glowing and you went like that and you almost killed me!"
"Luca, that's crazy," Alberto said. "I can't even control whirlpools."
Luca felt like he was going crazy. He explained to Alberto the bizarre behavior he'd just witnessed.
Alberto shook his head. "I don't believe you," he said.
Exasperated, Luca took his hand and walked him into the sea. He showed him all of the upturned reefs, the decimated coral fields, the bits and pieces of broken ships strewn about. He showed him the nearly-empty, littered ocean. Alberto covered his mouth.
"It's you, Alberto," Luca said to him. "You've been doing all of this."
. . .
"Hey Luca, so are you related to the Kraken?"
"Are you cool with Charybdis?"
"Is Scylla your sister?"
"Ignore them," Giulia hissed, using her arm as a barrier to block out the comedians. But Luca figured he'd get such treatment in Mythology Class… being a mythological creature and all.
"Alright everyone, silenzio." Mr. Filellene winked at Luca. "Let's save all this interest in the Hellenic arts for our homework, shall we? Which only one person in this class seems to do."
Luca smiled. Mr. Filellene was way nicer than Ms. Brontolare; he knew what it was like to be an outsider, being an Italian teacher obsessed with Greek culture and all. After class, he would sometimes keep Luca back and give him life lessons and ask him questions about his life under the sea that made him not feel attacked.
Like today. Once class ended, after a deep-dive into the last chapter of the Odyssey, Mr. Filellene noticed him frowning at his desk. "Luca, you're frowning."
"No. I… "
"He thinks his best friend is turning into Charybdis," Giulia said.
"Giulia!"
"Charybdis, eh?" Mr. Filellene chuckled. "I love your gusto, but are you sure you haven't been lapping at the Odyssey too hard?"
"I swear, Mr. Filellene, there's no other explanation," Luca pleaded.
"Hmm." Mr. Filellene cracked open the giant book and flipped the pages. Luca had only been in his class for a semester, but he'd remembered from earlier lessons that Charibdys was a sea monster that created whirlpools and terrorized ships a really, really long time ago. She hadn't caused trouble in a couple thousand years… but people were thinking she was starting to again.
Especially Portorossans.
"A little known fact is that she has the power to possess vulnerable sea creatures to do her bidding while she sleeps," Mr. Filellene said. "… I guess she is getting up there a little bit."
"That's it, then," Giulia figured. "Alberto must have swam to the Strait of Messina and gotten wrapped up with that whirlpool monster."
Mr. Filellene nodded sagely. "Sounds about right."
"Then why would he call me all those times in the middle of the night and then hang up, if he didn't expect me to help him?" Luca asked.
Mr. Filellene had to think about this. "I think he was trying to get you to hear him," he finally said. "I think that part of him - the good part - I think he was screaming."
When I heard the voice on the phone
I knew it was bad news
So I rushed to be by his side
. . .
