Darkness.
Luca drifted in it, weightless, neither sinking nor rising. His eyelids felt heavy, his vision murky—blurred as if water pressed against his eyes.
"Hm…? Where… am I?" His voice cracked in the void, thin and uncertain. "Is this… the afterlife?"
Something warm pressed against his forehead. A touch—gentle, steady.
A voice followed, soft as a lullaby brushing through the silence.
"Are you awake?"
Through the haze, strands of violet hair shimmered faintly, glowing against the dark. They tickled his cheek as they fell forward, brushing his skin. Slowly, a face formed before his blurred eyes.
"Y-you…?" His breath hitched, chest tightening.
The woman tilted her head, a teasing smile curling at her lips. "What? Can't you recognize me anymore?"
Despite the exhaustion dragging every word, a faint smile tugged at Luca's mouth. "W-where… am I? And w-what am I doing here?"
She leaned back a little, her eyes softening. "Can't you see? We're in the academy infirmary."
