On the other side, in the tent Asher shared with Axel, Asher couldn't sleep. He kept tossing and turning in his sleeping bag.
"You can't sleep, can you?" Axel finally asked in a drowsy voice.
Asher jumped slightly.
"You're not sleeping?"
"It's hard when someone next to you won't stop moving," Axel answered, yawning.
"Sorry…"
"What's wrong?"
Asher didn't answer. Axel turned toward him.
"Does it have to do with Miria?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Oh, stop pretending. It's obvious. Since we set the travel plan, the house has been going crazy. Floating objects, flickering lamps… and you not wanting Miria to know about it."
Asher remained silent. Axel insisted:
"Asher… tell me honestly, between friends. What's wrong with Miria?"
Asher turned toward him.
"I don't really know… however…"
He didn't have time to finish. Bryan rushed into the tent, looking panicked.
"Asher!"
Both men sat up immediately.
"What's wrong?" Asher asked, already worried.
"It's Miria… she's not well… She…"
Bryan didn't have time to finish. Asher jumped up and ran toward Miria's tent. He entered and found everyone already there, gathered around her, their faces frozen in shock.
Miria was thrashing violently in her sleep. A golden light emanated from her body. Her long brown hair was changing color in waves: it turned green, then back to brown, then green again, as if two versions of herself were fighting under her skin.
"How long has she been like this?" Asher asked, his voice hoarse.
"At first everything was fine," Marlie answered, trembling. "Then I started hearing her talk… and after that, I saw her like this."
"Asher… what's happening?" Katrina asked, her voice full of anguish.
"I don't really know… but I have the feeling it has to do with the town of Ashenford. Since Miria found out we're going to pass through there, the strange phenomena started."
"Yes," Diana confirmed. "She looked terrified at the idea of going there."
"But why?" Isabella asked.
Asher pointed at Miria, his face dark.
"I have the intuition that it has to do with her… but not with the Miria of our time. I'm talking about this Miria with the green hair. I have the feeling that this version of her was reincarnated at the time when Ashenford was destroyed… or that she even took part in it. Hence her guilt."
"Oh no…" Kira murmured.
"Yes…" Asher answered.
"But then… what are we going to do?" Alix asked, worried.
"The best thing would be for her to talk. A shared secret is less heavy than one kept alone."
Barely had he spoken those words when a sphere of pure light formed above Miria. Everyone panicked. Asher reacted the fastest: he threw himself forward and stopped the attack just in time… but the impact wounded him in the chest.
"Bryan! Eiden! Hold her down!"
The two men immediately complied. Marlie, on the verge of tears, cried out:
"We have to wake her up!"
"No!" Asher cut in sharply. "That could kill her… or cause even more damage with her powers… or worse, leave her trapped in this sleep forever."
Anxiety rose another notch. Katrina clenched her fists.
"But then… what do we do?"
Asher didn't have time to answer. A new sphere began to form. Everyone panicked again. Marlie was almost sobbing.
"Asher… do something…"
Asher, lost, no longer knew what to do. Suddenly, a flash of images hit him: he saw himself as a child, in a dilapidated house, curled up next to a little girl with green hair. Outside, the rain was falling hard. Lightning struck. The little girl flinched. Then, instinctively, little Asher began to sing a soft, soothing melody to calm her.
He came back to himself under Katrina's calls. He almost lost his balance, caught himself, then pulled himself together. He approached Miria, placed a trembling hand on her head… and began to hum the same melody.
Almost immediately, Miria stopped thrashing. The sphere disappeared. Her breathing became calm again. Eiden and Bryan released her, relieved.
"Phew… she's calmed down," Katrina breathed.
"Asher… how did you know that melody would calm her?" Isabella asked.
"I had no idea," he admitted. "I don't even know where it came from. I thought I had a vision… and then I don't remember anymore."
Gale shook his head.
"Anyway, I'm not asking you any more questions. You and Miria… you're too weird."
Everyone laughed weakly at the remark, the stress easing a little.
"Well," said Katrina. "Since Asher is the only one who can calm her… Asher sleeps with Miria. And Marlie, you'll go with Axel."
Bryan, Klaus, and Eiden made devastated faces.
"Oh… no…"
"Why the funeral faces?" Ray asked, amused.
"Bad luck," grumbled Klaus. "If it had been me sleeping with Asher… at the time of the switch, it would have been me sleeping with Katrina."
"And me with Kira," Eiden added, dejected.
"And me with Alix… Aaaah… no luck…" Bryan sighed.
The others burst out laughing before returning to their tents.
When Asher found himself alone with Miria, he lay down beside her and began gently stroking her hair while continuing to softly hum the melody.
Miria, still asleep, smiled. She leaned in slightly and placed a brief kiss on his lips.
"Thank you…" she murmured.
Asher smiled… until she added, still deep in her sleep:
"…Leo."
Asher's smile immediately faded. His gaze settled on Miria's peaceful face, now filled with questions.
Asher's thought: *Who… is this Leo?*