Welcome to Gaia! ::

Summer! It was one of Giulia’s favorite times of the year, even with the heat that came with it- maybe especially because of that. Being fair of hair and skin, the blonde was always slathered in sunscreen, even though she rarely burned. She had been informed it was because of cancer and her brother Lucas, who was in medical school, had set her down for a long lecture on how it didn’t matter if her father had been Italian, because Italians could get skin cancer too. Aidan had needed to sit through the same lecture. At least it was nice to know she was loved.

The invitation from one of her school friends last year had left the young Miss Montgomery in a bit of a tizzy; there was going to be a birthday ‘beach’ party at the Destiny City Reservoir, and she was invited!! Her squeal could be heard through the entire mansion, and she had insisted on shopping for a new bathing suit, and a good gift for her school friend, who was turning 12. Not quite as old, of course, as Giulia’s very mature and elegant best friend, but still a great leap forward in Giulia’s blue eyes- she herself would be turning only 11 in July. It was such a huge leap forward.

Giulia had wanted to get a two-piece bathing suit because she knew that a lot of older girls in her class had been allowed to wear them. Jada had not agreed. Aidan backed up Giulia, because it was to his advantage to have his twin being respected as a more mature not-adult. Jada still said no. Hope was almost 6, and backed up Giulia’s request in exchange for a Butterfinger and a loan of one of Giulia’s Barbie dolls. Long story short, Jada had won, Hope had gotten a Butterfinger and a Barbie, and Giulia had come into possession of a brand new one-piece bathing suit, just for the birthday party. (Giulia had, however, gotten close to having permission for a two-piece, so she held hope that the ‘not until 13’ could maybe change to ‘maybe when you’re 11’. After the party she’d try again.

She had spilled out of the car at the Reservoir, and darted off with a quick goodbye, hauling a mid-sized birthday gift for the birthday girl and a bottle of something for the mom, and threw herself into the festivities. There was barbeque! There was sunscreen! There was water! There was beach volleyball! There was ice cream! People were giving out more of those cute collectible star charms- Giulia had gotten an EMERALD one for her collection! And, last but not least, there was SWIMMING. The last in that list, of course, was the best; Giulia was a very good swimmer thanks to having grown up with a pool. So there was no hesitation, when one of the other girls proposed a contest to go out to one of the deeper parts of the reservoir, in the blonde’s acceptance. She had cheerfully lined up with the other pre-teens and then dove into the water on the call, swimming quickly for the chosen location, where they were supposed to turn around and come back.

As she neared the mid-point, Giulia thought she could feel something brush against her foot, and thought little of it; pausing to stop and see what littered the water would just slow her down, and several of the other participants were ahead of her. Pushing through it, she made her way closer and closer to the point where she was supposed to tag and turn back. That was when something grabbed her ankle more firmly, and yanked. Not just pulling her back, like one of the other girls might to get an edge, but pulling her down.

That was just mean!

Giulia took a deep breath, intending to yell at whoever grabbed her, but as she inhaled and began to open her mouth- her head sank under the water, and her body dragged down, and down…

Oh dear. Even being an experienced swimmer, Giulia was still getting sucked downwards, and the girl couldn't identify why. Though her lungs burned, and her arms reached desperately for the sky, and her eyes ached from trying to see through the water, there seemed to be nothing there. Was this a rip current? But weren't those only supposed to show up in natural water, like real beaches and stuff? Not a reservoir.

Blue eyes caught on someone coming towards her, and she reached out her skinny arms to him, clinging on as the larger person pulled her upwards. It seemed as though almost instantly her leg was freed, and she was able to help him kick to the surface.

As they reached the surface she practically climbed onto him, moving as high as she could away from the water line, choking and wheezing, sputtering and coughing up a mouthful of liquid. Her hair was streaming down her face, but she didn't care, both hands clinging to the adult as she gulped in oxygen.

One skinny arm relaxed a bit, and she used it to push her mop of hair away from her face so she could breathe more easily. "Thank you," Giulia croaked to her rescuer, "I don't know what happened."

Luckily for the erstwhile hero who had saved her from an unfortunate belly full of who-knows-what water, Giulia was fairly light. Her hair probably weighed more than the rest of her, and it trailed behind them in the water like a sad tail as the almost-eleven-year-old clung to him in blatant relief.

"There wasn't anything there." her voice was dazed, and more than a little confused. "It was like I was in a current dragging me down, but there shouldn't be a current in the reservoir, right?" Not that she knew much about current patterns in a lake environment. But wouldn't a current like that be from something... bigger? And it hadn't felt like a current should.

It had felt like something grabbing. Something pulling.

Giulia had to admit the laugh she gave about his joke about things lurking in the deep made her laugh nervously. Her sister telling her that Krakens had once been real creatures, and looming over her to tell her that perhaps they still were was quite enough ocean horror for her- not that it actually SCARED her, just made her think about all the things that could be real.

"I mean," she told the man with a grin, "they estimate only 9% of ocean species have been discovered. And Destiny City is a very special place- no other place like it on Earth."

The blonde hopped off of her savior, and clasped her hands together, giving him a polite demi-curtsy. "Thank you for helping me. My name is Giulia Montgomery. I have someplace I can rest, I'm with a birthday party. Can you come with me real quick, though? I want to give you something to say thank you."

"Superheroes don't get thanked enough." Giulia reached up to tug at his arm, noting the way he fiddled with a necklace- a Star of David? "Don't worry, it's nothing major. I'm not going to have someone like... play a trombone or anything or hire a mariachi band to stalk you or something."

Small little tugs, and Giulia guided him over to the place where the birthday party was gathered. Grabbing a pen and a napkin, the blonde wrote down a phone number on it, and held it out to Eliot. "Don't throw this away. It's my si- my mom's phone number. If you need anything, call. Like- seriously. You helped me big, so whether you need anything from like... a doctor to a week-long vacation or like... a job... this is an IOU."

She was young, but not stupid. "It might not have been trouble for you, but I could have been dead, so. Take it."

Giulia nodded in satisfaction as her Hero took the phone number and said his farewells; when next she went into the pool, she was very certain to stay only in the shallow end.