As the Surface Caves In

Hydrophobic

Luca whips his head upward from Alberto and his fear spikes. Panic seizes in his brain as he shrieks, still slurring his words, "GHOST! MONSTER--" *hic* "WHATEVER YOU ARE!" His eyes roll back as he passes out and slams the weight of his body back onto Alberto.

Alberto quickly shoves Luca off of him, instantly cringing to himself in hopes he didn't hurt him. However, there are bigger issues to deal with right now. He whips his body around, almost giving himself whiplash and his heart jumps at the sight he sees.

A large, scaly red figure towers above them. Well, more like red, orange, and... even pink, as if this creature couldn't decide what color it wants to be. There even seems to be a few unpigmented scales too... Alberto quickly scans the being starting from it feet.

Scaly skin, but there's five rounded toes... There's no way it could be a sea monster.

His eyes track upward.

Excessive spiky fins lining the back of the legs... Maybe it is a sea monster? If it is, though, it's got to be an OLD one. No sea monster the age of Alberto or Luca would have fins that large. There's cuts--and burns, all up the legs. Blood slowly trickles down them.

A large, beating tale with the same jagged fins... Wait-- are those... jeans?

His eyes quickly dart to the torso.

Non c'è modo... a striped T-shirt with sweat stains?!

"Well, that's no way to greet your 'supposed' sorella, Alberto. Staring is rude, you know."

Petrified, he stumbles backward on his hands and feet, slamming his head against a rock sitting behind him. He instinctively rubs the back of his head with his hands and continues to stare at the life form in front of him with his mouth agape.

A large bunch of the same multicolored scales sit atop its head, held by some type of band in a bun--or an attempt at one. A few of those scales cover one of its eyes, and the other--it's an even brighter red than Luca's sea monster eyes. Interestingly, there's no yellow tinge around the iris as all sea monsters have, only white.

"Giulia?!" Alberto finally manages to sputter out of his trembling mouth.

"Sorry to crash your party for two, or--whatever this is." She looks down at Luca, passed out with a face full of sand and raises her eyebrows in concern. She turns back toward Alberto, "But I guess I just couldn't go to the afterlife without doing this!"

With the speed of lightning she reels back her hand and slams it against Alberto's cheek. The sound of the smack is loud enough to make Luca jolt awake.

Alberto launches to his feet. "THAT'S THE SECOND TIME TODAY!" He clenches his fist, at the ready to launch an uppercut, but then realizes who he's talking to. He sighs, "But okay... it's well-deserved." His heart still pounds from shock.

A soft snicker escapes Luca's lips. "Haha...ha, ghostly, sea monster lady smacked Alberto..." he hiccups and lets his head fall backward. He raises a thumb into the air and blacks out yet again.

Giulia scoffs, "I don't blame him for needing a little vino to kiss you."

"Hey, that's not why--" Alberto yells defensively, his face becoming almost as crimson as Giulia's new scales.

"Right-- maybe it's just because he's gone insane after the bomb destroyed everything he loved."

Alberto laughs dryly, "Ha, insane? Wait-- everything he loved?" He quickly changes the subject, "Look at you! What the hell even happened? How...?" He stutters and chokes on his own words, "What?!" A look of surprise is glued on his face.