She rested comfortably atop the water that stretched as far as she could see in either direction. Sun glittered off the waves. Dolphins leaped in dubilance about the spray. She did not sink, but floated along on her back, face upturned to the sun's warmth. She did not wonder why she failed to sink, only that she felt as comfortable in the water's embrace as she would in her own bed.
Something moved against the small of her back. A dolphin? No, a hand.
Soul rose to the surface, appearing from underneath the tide to lay beside her. As if he hadn't been holding his breath. As if he had been floating there the whole time.
Everything changed impossibly fast.
The sun vanished, replaced by roiling clouds, thick as night. To her horror inky red plumes billowed from under their floating forms, poisoning the fish, mutating the dolphins into disfigured sea monsters. Panic coiled in her stomach as she felt herself begin to sink. She couldn't move! Why couldn't she move? Why wasn't Soul helping her? Couldn't he see she couldn't swim?
She'd drown!
Just before she was submerged, that same hand came to the small of her back. It raised her to float safely once again.
Soul smiled. "Don't worry. You won't sink again while I'm here."
Oh, that brought a grainy image to the forefront of her mind. She shivered at the memory of drowning in insanity. "How can you control us from sinking?"
A sadness clouded his eyes. "I can't."
Just then, something big and hideously deformed broke the surface, dragging Soul into the depths.
Maka sat up in bed, screaming so loud she woke the neighbors.