The Bridge To Nihon (BOOK ONE)

Chapter 31 - Orì

The statue stopped, and Sofia stared at with a rage she could no longer conceal.

Before she could say anything else, a soft voice sounded out.

"You may let her go."

The statue's grip let off, and Sofia's arm fell. It was tingling numbly. The hard fingers that had been holding it had left deep red marks. Sofia rubbed the spots, and tears rose to her eyes, as she noticed the pulsating pain for the first time.

She quickly put some distance between herself and the statue, as if that would help her in case it grabbed her again. The statue stood immobile, looking dully ahead as if this was the spot it had been carved out for.

Out of the dark, a woman emerged. Her eyes were just as soft as her voice had been, but Sofia was not fooled by such illusions any longer. Yet, she felt an innate desire to go towards this inviting, friendly softness.

The woman smiled and spread out her arms. She was tall and plump, with no hard edges or angles, only curves. Her face was round, with a little nose and mouth and large eyes, like a doll's. Soft brown hair was pinned up in loose curls. She looked like she was floating underwater, weightless.

Sofia hardened herself once more, biting the insides of her mouth. There was something so lovely, so maternal about the woman that she wanted to run to her and bury herself in her warmth.

"Finally, you are here, Sofia," she sang out. "I have been waiting for you."

"Who are you?" Sofia asked.

"I am the Lady of Shazar," the woman said. "But you may call me Mother."

Sofia stood still. She opened and closed her mouth noiselessly, like a fish clamping for air. At that moment, a smaller figure appeared behind the woman.

A tall, lanky girl with blue skin, silver hair and fluid outlines.

Orì.

"They are not all your children, Mother," she said, sounding irritated.

The woman's lips pulled almost imperceptibly at being contradicted, but she didn't lose her smile as she looked down at Orì.

"They are if I choose them to be."

She put a hand on Orì's shoulder that might have been a gesture of affection or warning.

"You know I don't like it when you make yourself look like that," she said. "Why, nobody would know that you are my daughter with your silly skin blue and your face like that."

Orì looked at her defiantly, but the longer she held her gaze, the more her determination waned. Finally, she sighed, and with a blurring of her contours, Orì's shape changed in front of Sofia's disbelieving stare.

"Now, that's better, my darling," Mother said.

Orì's eyes were cast on the ground before her. Her shoulders trembled.

"Orì?" Sofia said, forgetting for a moment the enormous anger she was feeling towards the girl she had considered her best friend. "Is that you?"

"Doesn't she look pretty?" Mother said, looking fondly at the miniature version of herself, soft and pale, with curly brown hair and a rosy face.

Only Orì's flinch was the same.

"Hello Sofia," she said, not meeting her eye.

*

"There is not much time for you two to get reacquainted," the Lady of Shazar said, leaning her head to the side as if she felt affected by this. "We have been waiting for you, Sofia. I had almost given up hope, but Orì was convinced that you would make it."