𝓢𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓟𝓼𝔂𝓬𝓱𝓸

𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓰𝓾𝓮

The alleyway was dark, cold, and wet. A rat scuttled through the piles of trash, inches within a pair of patent designer shoes. Mercenary boss Ercole Visconti cringed. 

He hadn't wanted to personally meet the smuggler, but all of his goons were busy doing the rest of his dirty work, so he didn't have a choice. 

He shivered as he pushed open a chain-link fence and walked into the shipyard. He made sure to stay hidden in the shadow of the Conexes as he crept along, careful not to slip on the wet concrete. Sure, he had bribed the security guards into turning a blind eye for an hour, but better safe than sorry. 

Rounding the corner, Ercole spotted a figure standing in the narrow space between two dull red Conexes. He pulled out his phone and, checking to make sure nobody else was watching, flashed the flashlight in a series of long and short pauses- spelling out Ercole. The figure shifted slightly, then flashed Alessandro back. 

The smugglers' name, Ercole thought. He checked both ways, making sure no guards were coming, before bolting across the pathway to the Conexes. 

The smuggler, Alessandro, looked him up and down before grinning a crooked grin. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting to meet the mercenary boss in the flesh! It's a pleasure, signore," he said, holding out his hand. Ercole ignored it. "I wasn't expecting to be here," he said, sounding incredibly annoyed. 

Alessandro chuckled, then gestured to Ercole. "Do you have the amount we agreed on?" he said, his voice gruff and demanding. Ercole nodded, reached into one of his hidden coat pockets, and pulled out a bundle of euros. Alessandro grinned, then held out a small bag. Ercole opened it and was hit with the pungent odor of marijuana. 

Ercole grinned, then handed the money to Alessandro. This is sure to please those nagging clients, he thought in satisfaction. Alessandro counted up the money, then nodded at Ercole and slipped away into the shadows. Ercole tucked the bag into his pocket, then turned and began walking back the way he came. 

The rain was coming down harder now, and Ercole shook himself off in disgust. "Mio dio, I need to get someone who can do things like this for me," he grumbled. He slid through the fence and turned into the alleyway where his Vespa was parked. He was halfway there when a sudden clatter caught his attention. 

Whirling around, he was just able to catch a flicker of motion. "Who's there?" he hissed. Nobody answered, but a pile of trash rustled slightly at the sound of his voice. Moving carefully, Ercole pulled his gun out from underneath his jacket and nudged the rubbish away with the tip of his shoe. He braced for an animal to leap out at him, but what he saw made his jaw drop. 

A little boy, who couldn't have been more that two years old, crouched in the trash underneath a dirty newspaper. He had curly brown hair and pale skin, and his chocolate brown eyes were wide. He was wearing what appeared to be woven-grass shorts, and a locket dangled around his neck. 

Ercole stood there for a second, then tucked his gun away and carefully reached towards the boy. The boy stood frozen for a few seconds, but then savagely bit Ercole's hand and darted away. "OW!" he cried, jerking his hand back. He looked up at the little figure stumbling away and did a double take. 

Free from his newspaper cover, the droplets of rain fell on the little boy. Where the rain hit his bare skin, jade green scales sprouted. Blue fins replaced the curly brown hair on his head, and a thin, whiplike tail now waved behind him. Mio dio, a siren! Ercole thought in shock. You don't see many of them these days. But where are his parents?

The little siren was a good 20 feet down the alley before Ercole caught up with him. He jumped in front of the siren, causing him to squeak with alarm and screech to a halt. Ercole reached down and gently picked up the siren, avoiding his claws. His scales are smoother than I thought they were, he thought in surprise. 

The siren child was squealing and thrashing around wildly, trying to break loose from Ercole's grip. "Hey, now, piccoleto, calmati! I'm not going to hurt you!" he said. At the sound of his voice, the siren calmed down slightly, but was staring at Ercole warily. Ercole saw the locket around his neck and carefully pulled it off, then opened it with one hand while holding the siren with the other. 

Two slips of paper were in the locket. One was a faded photograph of a siren family. There was a tall cyan female with blue hair fins, a shorter, olive green male, and the little siren boy in between. His family, Ercole realized. 

The second slip of paper was still folded up in his hand, and he carefully unfolded it. Words were scrawled hastily across the page, and he had to squint to read them in the dim light. 

My boy's name is Luca Paguro. My name i̶s̶ was Daniela Paguro, and my husband Lorenzo Paguro. We were a family of reef sirens, but the fisherman have found us. If you find Luca, please take care of him. Let him know that we love him, even in death

The note was short, but evidently filled with all the emotion of a desperate mother. Ercole looked down at the little siren- Luca- who had been staring back at him expectantly. "So, you're a reef siren, eh, piccoleto?" he said. He looked back down at the note, and the gears started turning in his head. 

I need a right-hand man. Luca needs someone to take care of him. I know that sirens are stronger than humans, and reef sirens are more agile and flexible than the other siren clans. I can take him in and easily train him to be a ruthless mercenary...

Ercole refolded the papers, slid them back into the locket, and snapped it shut. He then put the locket back around Luca's neck, then slid Luca into his jacket to protect him from the rain and cold. He felt Luca sink into his warmth, and the little siren looked up at him with wide eyes. 

"Come on, piccoleto," he said, walking towards his Vespa. "Lets take you to your new home." He reached his Vespa- a bright, shiny red cycle that made Luca squeak in excitement. Ercole chuckeld as he climbed onto his Vespa, holding on tightly as the bike started up and drove out onto the road. 

"Hey, piccoleto, you like my bike? Who knows? Maybe one day you'll get to drive it," he said. Luca squeaked happily, and Ercole felt a small twinge of- love? affection? compassion? He had never really cared for anyone. Why was this little siren different than other people?

Ercole shoved away all the nagging thoughts. He glanced down at the siren tucked underneath his jacket, just starting to fall asleep. "You're going to make a wonderful right-hand man, piccoleto. I just know it," he whispered. 

The Vespa revved as they drove off into the darkness of the Italian night.

1213 words

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Ayo my fellow dorks, 

THIS IS THE PROLOGUE!!!

So, a little bit of information for the story, cuz I know that context is important. 

-Ercole is 11 here- yes, I know, that's young and he's already a mercenary boss and adopted father, but I mean, if you're rich you can get pretty far in life. And in the story, he's 9 years older than Luca, so- ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-In my Luca fandom world, there are different tribes of sirens: reef sirens, tundra sirens, jungle sirens, arctic sirens, urban sirens, deep sea sirens, and outback sirens. The other siren clans will be mentioned, but honestly, the only sirens you really have to worry about are reef sirens and tundra sirens. I'm not planning any other-tribe siren ocs yet

-I looked it up and I'm pretty sure weed is illegal in Italy- I don't know for sure (given that I'm not from Italy) but for the sake of the story it's illegal. Sorry if I got anything wrong, peoples

So, I hope you enjoy the prologue- Chapter one should be out soon!

Ciao for now!

-Abby