An underground swimming pool was flooding. Water, freezing and boiling at the same time, lapped further and further along the tile. It had almost completed its journey to the wall. Enough steam had come off the water to create a light layer of fog that filled the room. Every minute or so, the fluorescent lights would flicker, obscuring the pool, bleachers, and bins of water polo equipment.

    A girl with a pink bob and black hoodie was curled up on one of the bleachers’ few floorboards, crying. She had been for hours. Upon first waking up, there had been no fog and she had enough resolve to try the doors, discovering an infinite loop of swimming pools. She then spent a good deal of time looking for a clue, like this was a Legend of Zelda directional puzzle or an escape room, but after an hour she ran out of uninundated places to look and the water was starting to cover the floor.

    “Hey Champ.”

    Any voice would’ve been enough for the girl to jolt up, but this especially applied to the voice of her girlfriend, who was now sitting a few rows above her in a leather jacket, her long brunette hair flowing in a nonexistent breeze.

    “Alina?”

    “Close, Mittie,” she responded, smirking. “I’m your mind’s extrapolation of her. This is all in your mind.”

    Mittie’s eyes narrowed, processing what she had known all along. It was still a lot to take in. She slammed her left arm into the neighboring seat of the bleachers, but nothing happened. No sound, no pain. Nothing.

    “This isn’t a lucid dream though,” chimed Alina. “There’s been an accident. I’ll spare the details because I don’t want to panic you, but there’s no easy way to say that you’re slowly bleeding out.”

    “But the real you is coming for me, right?”

    “Sorry, but I don’t know anything you don’t.” Mittie’s face drooped, and a brief glint in her eyes betrayed that she was crushed by this. “I mean, I have to be looking,” continued Alina, with the first words she spoke that went against her cool demeanor. “I am me, after all.” Confidence, albeit a mockery of it, had returned to her voice.

    The two sat in silence for a little bit, and Mittie turned her body and her attention out to the pool after sliding up onto the seat to be a little more comfortable. The fog was a lot thicker now, but she could still see this half of the room quite easily, and glowing lights had started to flash under the water. The lights turned on and off, letting the reds, blues, and yellows dance through the fog to give the room an otherworldly feel. This is what Mittie thought places like the River Styx were supposed to look like.

    After another hour or so of mild chit-chat and silence, the mist was dense enough that it was hard to see past the edge of the bleachers, and the boundaries for the pool were solidly out of sight. The flashing lights had intensified and darked. They now felt more like alarms and far less mystical and alluring.

    “Hey, Alina,” stammered Mittie. “Does the fog have anything to do with how close I am to death?”

    “Probably. If I had to guess it means your mind is running out of energy and can’t render the full room.” Alina was way too calm about this, but this is what Alina is like. At least to Mittie.

    “In that case, will you be the last thing I ever think about?” Alina bumped herself down a few rows to meet Mittie. Before her butt could touch the seat, Mittie dove under Alina’s arm, wrapping her arms around Alina’s waist. Alina returned the hug, savoring the moment before gently pushing Mittie back down onto the bench and hoisted herself up to straddle Mittie’s legs.

    “Of course,” she said, before leaning down and planting a fiery kiss onto Mittie’s lips.

    They held the kiss until everything went white.