Marionette

Oceans, Chapter Nineteen - Ijimemasu [いじめます]

The world was spinning.

Tumbling, turning, whirling around her at a gentle, yet disorientating pace.

Whirls of colours that she felt she knew flickered, speckled with sunset light.

Round and round like the colours of a pinwheel, reflected in kind through disorientated eyes.

Orange skies speckled with red clouds dyed by the setting sun, the dark purple of sunset-bathed oceans beneath it, the white sands beneath her feet and palm-trees dyed a warm hue to match everything else.

The only stable feature of the world around her that didn't flicker with the spinning around her was that of a woman.

Pale skin, clad in sapphire coloured beach-wear, and soft white curls dancing in the air around her face.

The woman's arms were outstretched towards her, her hands holding Amaya's own as they spun together on the sunset beach.

Even from so close, she couldn't see the woman's face, nor could she see any features that would tell her the presence of an expression. But she didn't need to see it - She knew deep down inside who this was.

The waters seemed to pull away from them with the force of their spinning, as if the gravity which pulled at their forms also drew the waters away from them.

The sound of a child's shrill cry of excited squeals peppered the air, filling her head with a nostalgic ache that she couldn't describe.

'Maya-chan! Sweetheart~!' A soft, musical voice chimed out through the laughter, emanating from the form that held her hands. Soft, nostalgic, brimming with kindness, the woman seemed to laugh as she continued to spin with Amaya.

A childs voice spoke up, reverberating throughout the air.

'Mama! Faster!' The voice seemed to squeal out in delight.

'Oh no, we can't do that!' The woman responded, a musical laugh echoing in the tone of her words. 'This fast is enough - Otherwise we will get dizzy and stop, and then the water will come back to hug us.'

Innocent enough words, though they held a second meaning.

To a child they were innocent words, but right now, they held a profound meaning that chilled her to the core.

If they stopped, the water would return.

If they stopped spinning, fighting the waters in endless twirling circles, they'd be pulled under.

They'd stop breathing - Amaya would stop breathing.

She'd drown.

'Is that why you're always dancing, Mama?' An older, more age-worn voice spoke out through the child-like laughter and singing, Amaya's own voice in place of the child's voice. 'Because you know you'll drown if you stop?'

The kind, shadow-veiled face seemed to smile kindly, knowingly.

'Maya-chan, you're very smart, but I think you're too young to understand.' She spoke, her icy hands tightening around Amaya's own. 'I pray that you never will, but I don't think life will ever be that kind, my sweet.'

Clear, liquid pearls of water began to trickle down the sides of the shadowed face, the force of their spinning lifting them into the air with gradual movements.

It distressed her to see the tears - It felt like Amaya was the one responsible for those tears, terrifying her beyond belief.

And yet the woman smiled all the same.