Infinite Classes in the Apocalypse

Chapter 94: Damon’s Dream

"Huh?"

With the next blink of her brown eyes, Nyla’s gaze widened in complete bewilderment as she stared at the empty palm of her hand.

She lingered for a moment before looking down, her confusion only deepening. Unlike mere seconds ago, she was clothed. Her face was still flushed, her knees still felt weak from what had happened with Damon.

She pressed her hands flat against the plateau beneath her, grounding herself as her mind spiralled into thoughts.

The surface was cold and rough, and the wind that swept across the plateau carried a chill that prickled her skin. Everything felt real, too real to dismiss.

The distant sound of the dark sea lapping against the edges of the plateau, the ache still lingering in her chest, the way her breath was still ragged, none of it had the weightlessness of a dream. None of it felt like something her mind had simply made up.

And yet the evidence was undeniable.

Wait... Damon!

Still on her knees, her gaze snapped to where Damon had been standing, only to find he wasn’t there.

Her head whipped around, scanning the entire plateau, but no matter where she looked, there was no sign of him.

Her hand moved to her face, and just like everything else, the gift he had given her was also gone.

"That was... a dream?!"

She shook her head erratically, trying to deny it, but everything around her made the truth very clear.

But how could a dream feel so real?

She dwelt on the thought for a moment before something far more pressing forced its way into her mind.

’Where’s Damon?’

***

As Damon’s eyes fluttered open, he was met with a clear blue sky and a piercing sun hanging at the corner of his vision.

He frowned in confusion before pulling himself upright, and then froze as he saw a figure move toward him.

Walking slowly, barefoot through the golden sand, was Ayame. She wore a tight swimsuit that showed off her perfect figure, moving with an ease that made his chest ache.

"Ayame!" he called toward her the moment he realised it was her.

"Damon." Her lips curved into a warm smile. "What are you waiting for?" she asked, watching him jump to his feet. "Let’s go for a swim!"

"A swim?" He frowned slightly. That didn’t sound right, but before he could wonder why, she grabbed his hand and began leading him toward the quiet blue water ahead.

Her feet hit the water first, with him following a step behind. It was warm and calming, though not nearly as calming as having Ayame beside him, back from...

Back from where?

A heavier frown settled on his face. Something was off, something felt terribly wrong, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. His mind felt clouded, his memory in complete disarray from something he couldn’t quite understand.

"Where are we?" he asked, but no answer came.

His gaze drifted down to his legs, and despite being several meters from the shore by now, the clear blue water only reached his ankles.

’How can an ocean be this shallow?’

His head ached with every thought. His steps grew heavier too, as if weighed down by something invisible. Still, he followed Ayame for a couple more strides before it finally struck him, and he came to a sudden stop.

’She left...’

A faint memory surfaced, one of his and Ayame’s goodbye.

He blinked slowly, staring at the girl ahead of him, not understanding how she was there and why she was so calm about it. As she turned to check why he’d stopped, he tried to speak her name.

"Ayame."

But the word wouldn’t leave his lips.

Without warning, he felt the absence of air in his lungs. One moment, he was simply walking through the shallow sea, lost in thought, and the next, he was suffocating for a reason he couldn’t begin to understand.

The last thing he saw was Ayame’s worried expression as she hurried toward him. But before she could reach him, his oxygen-starved mind gave out, and his vision went dark.

***

’Where could he have gone?’ Nyla wondered as she moved across the plateau, weaving between the massive roots that jutted from its surface.

She walked for around ten minutes before deciding to circle back along the edge of the plateau.

Then, just before she could complete the loop, her steps faltered.

There was something floating on the dark sea.

A frown settled on her face at first as she couldn’t quite make out what it was, but then her eyes snapped open, and she broke into a run toward the edge.

"Damon!"

She hit the water without hesitation, reaching his face-down, motionless body within seconds before quickly dragging him back toward the plateau. She shoved him over the edge first, then hauled herself up and dropped to her knees beside him.

’He’s not breathing!’

Panic surged through her for a brief second before she forced it back down.

She pressed her slender hands against his chest and began pushing in a steady rhythm, just as she had seen done in the movies. After several compressions, she leaned down, pressed her lips to his, and breathed air into his lungs.

She kept at it for two long minutes before—

Cough! Cough!

Damon lurched awake with a sudden fit of coughing, expelling the water lodged in his throat as he rolled onto his side. His eyes swept the plateau immediately before locking back onto Nyla.

"What happened?" he asked between the rough coughs.

She opened her mouth to answer, but then a frown pulled at her brow, followed by a distant look settling into her brown eyes.

"I... don’t know," she said slowly, her gaze drifting somewhere far away with each passing second. "...What was it you wanted to ask?"

Damon blinked, but then, just like her, he felt a sudden, creeping confusion wash over him.

"I don’t remember," he answered with a faint feeling of a bad premonition creeping up on his spine.