08-13-2021, 10:03 PM
Mariya Adema lay on a giant pink float on the sea. A cocktail sat in a cup holder to her left, a half-empty bottle of suncream sat beneath her legs and she breathed in the salty air as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax. The only sounds she could hear were waves and the tweeting of birds, not a scream or a beg for mercy in earshot. Finally, she was calm. She had been at the Huedira Resort in Cuautitlán for three days, but the previous two had been a great disappointment.
To begin with, she was clearly far more famous in Xiomera than she’d anticipated. She knew rumours were spreading in the capital, but assumed it was contained. It was not, and the moment she arrived she was very aware that everyone around her knew exactly who she was. The staff behaved perfectly professionally, she could make no complaints, but the other patrons all seemed terrified of her and it had ruined her mood on day one.
Day two, she decided to do something about it. So, she visited the resort’s salon, and instructed the hairdresser to cut her long hair to shoulder length and dye it an almost-black shade of brown. She then got her first-ever fake tan, to try and compensate for her obvious pale skin. She found the fake tan deeply uncomfortable; they weren’t popular in Kerlile and she didn’t know much about them beforehand. She decided never again, once she was done. The end result was that, while she couldn’t pass for Xiomeran up close, she definitely wasn’t nearly as noticeable, nor did she look like herself.
With her makeshift disguise, Mariya could finally relax. After her beauty treatments, she headed straight to the bar to get very drunk. While working, Mariya did not drink in case she needed to be called in, and Mariya hadn’t taken a holiday in years. It had only taken three pints before she had passed out from her lack of tolerance. The next morning, she bought some oversized, very dark sunglasses and headed straight to the beach. She decided to go lighter on the booze this time, and took her time with the cocktails, ordering sparsely.
Cozamalotl had ruined her. She used to take satisfaction from her skills at her job, she knew exactly how to make people do as she wished them to, how to frighten people, and when all the information had been gathered. With him, it had been different. It had been frustrating; she’d been pleased to get off work, she groaned when her alarm went off, and she had been exhausted and fed up most of the time. Now, when she thought forward to her next big task - the captured Aurora - instead of excitement at a challenge, she felt dread.
“Martyrs,” she hissed under her breath, taking a sip of cocktail through her straw. She hated them, she always had, but they’d never been quite so dedicated as Cozamalotl. Mariya thought he must have been dropped on the head as a baby, clearly nobody sane would hold out for that long. At least, that’s what she told herself. In reality, deep down, she worried she was losing her touch. Torture was like sport; a young person’s game. It became more difficult with age, and though she was not yet 40, she feared she was beginning to fail.
Mariya Adema could not quit her job. In Kerlile, she would have been able to. But Kerlile had fired her, she accepted the new job in Xiomera and as her former colleague Adelina Sasaki had learned, quitting was not permitted. Cozamalotl had been wrong; it was in fact too late for Mariya to take a different path. That door had closed several years ago, and would not open again. Too many bridges had been burned, too many people wanted her dead, and Empress Calhualyana would be too disappointed in her if she said anything.
This vacation was supposed to be about getting away from work, and here she was, thinking about work again. It had been her life for so long, she was one of those people others joked about being married to her job, and usually she enjoyed thinking about it. This was new, this exhaustion and dread, and Mariya hated it. Someone had spilled her drink in the hotel at breakfast and then froze in terror looking at her, and all she’d wanted to do was laugh it off, because it was a vacation and these things happen.
Mariya did not usually respond like that. Mariya normally snapped and threatened people who were not perfect. There was something deeply, deeply wrong within her and she worried that Cozamalotl had infected her with something. In Kerlile, they joked about the contagious nature of treason and the need to isolate themselves from it, but it had just been a joke. Hadn’t it? No, she couldn’t afford to think like that. She was just tired and needed a break. She was getting one, and everything would be okay when she got back to Tlalacuetztla.
Everything would be okay. Wouldn’t it?
To begin with, she was clearly far more famous in Xiomera than she’d anticipated. She knew rumours were spreading in the capital, but assumed it was contained. It was not, and the moment she arrived she was very aware that everyone around her knew exactly who she was. The staff behaved perfectly professionally, she could make no complaints, but the other patrons all seemed terrified of her and it had ruined her mood on day one.
Day two, she decided to do something about it. So, she visited the resort’s salon, and instructed the hairdresser to cut her long hair to shoulder length and dye it an almost-black shade of brown. She then got her first-ever fake tan, to try and compensate for her obvious pale skin. She found the fake tan deeply uncomfortable; they weren’t popular in Kerlile and she didn’t know much about them beforehand. She decided never again, once she was done. The end result was that, while she couldn’t pass for Xiomeran up close, she definitely wasn’t nearly as noticeable, nor did she look like herself.
With her makeshift disguise, Mariya could finally relax. After her beauty treatments, she headed straight to the bar to get very drunk. While working, Mariya did not drink in case she needed to be called in, and Mariya hadn’t taken a holiday in years. It had only taken three pints before she had passed out from her lack of tolerance. The next morning, she bought some oversized, very dark sunglasses and headed straight to the beach. She decided to go lighter on the booze this time, and took her time with the cocktails, ordering sparsely.
Cozamalotl had ruined her. She used to take satisfaction from her skills at her job, she knew exactly how to make people do as she wished them to, how to frighten people, and when all the information had been gathered. With him, it had been different. It had been frustrating; she’d been pleased to get off work, she groaned when her alarm went off, and she had been exhausted and fed up most of the time. Now, when she thought forward to her next big task - the captured Aurora - instead of excitement at a challenge, she felt dread.
“Martyrs,” she hissed under her breath, taking a sip of cocktail through her straw. She hated them, she always had, but they’d never been quite so dedicated as Cozamalotl. Mariya thought he must have been dropped on the head as a baby, clearly nobody sane would hold out for that long. At least, that’s what she told herself. In reality, deep down, she worried she was losing her touch. Torture was like sport; a young person’s game. It became more difficult with age, and though she was not yet 40, she feared she was beginning to fail.
Mariya Adema could not quit her job. In Kerlile, she would have been able to. But Kerlile had fired her, she accepted the new job in Xiomera and as her former colleague Adelina Sasaki had learned, quitting was not permitted. Cozamalotl had been wrong; it was in fact too late for Mariya to take a different path. That door had closed several years ago, and would not open again. Too many bridges had been burned, too many people wanted her dead, and Empress Calhualyana would be too disappointed in her if she said anything.
This vacation was supposed to be about getting away from work, and here she was, thinking about work again. It had been her life for so long, she was one of those people others joked about being married to her job, and usually she enjoyed thinking about it. This was new, this exhaustion and dread, and Mariya hated it. Someone had spilled her drink in the hotel at breakfast and then froze in terror looking at her, and all she’d wanted to do was laugh it off, because it was a vacation and these things happen.
Mariya did not usually respond like that. Mariya normally snapped and threatened people who were not perfect. There was something deeply, deeply wrong within her and she worried that Cozamalotl had infected her with something. In Kerlile, they joked about the contagious nature of treason and the need to isolate themselves from it, but it had just been a joke. Hadn’t it? No, she couldn’t afford to think like that. She was just tired and needed a break. She was getting one, and everything would be okay when she got back to Tlalacuetztla.
Everything would be okay. Wouldn’t it?
LIDUN President 2024 | she/her | Puppets: Kerlile, Glanainn, Yesteria, Zongongia, Zargothrax