As Asher spoke his final words, Miria remained silent, as if struck to her very core. Suddenly, violent and vivid images assaulted her.
She saw herself in the brightly lit amusement park, laughing heartily beside Asher, hand in hand.
"Asher, look at that one! It's beautiful!" she exclaimed, pointing at a glittering Ferris wheel.
Then chaos erupted. Screams. Explosions of magic. Vareck's forces appeared, Miley at their head — chestnut hair, green eyes burning with jealousy. The battle raged. A huge metal bar broke loose with a terrifying groan and hurtled straight toward her.
"Miria! Watch out!" Asher shouted as he threw himself over her.
He shoved her violently. She fell hard to the ground. When she lifted her head, she saw him: Asher crushed under the metal debris, his body broken, blood pouring from his mouth and chest.
"Asher! No! Asher!!!" she screamed in a broken voice, desperately crawling toward him despite the pain. "Asher, stay with me! Please, don't leave me!"
A searing pain tore through her chest. She screamed his name between sobs, tears flooding her face.
The vision shifted abruptly. She now saw herself in a bedroom, beside a depressed and distant Asher, freshly turned.
"I feel… different. Monstrous," he murmured.
She gently took his face in her hands:
"It doesn't change anything for me, my love. I still love you. We'll get through this together."
Then a final scene: she entered their house, a glass of wine in hand, smiling.
"Asher? I'm home! I brought your favorite wine!"
The room was empty. Only a piece of paper lay on the table. The glass slipped from her hands and shattered on the floor. She read the letter with trembling hands. An agonizing pain pierced her chest.
"No… no! Asher!" she screamed as she ran out into the night. "Asher! Where are you? Come back! Asher!!! Please, don't leave me alone!"
She spun around, calling his name in a voice broken by sobs, desperately searching for his silhouette in the darkness.
Asher panicked immediately.
"Miria? What's wrong?"
He tried to wipe her tear, but she gently pushed his hand away.
"Why did you leave…?"
Asher, troubled:
"What? What are you saying?"
Miria, tears now flowing freely:
"Why did you leave? You had no right to choose for us… I should have had a say too…"
Asher remained speechless, finding her words incoherent.
Miria grabbed the sleeve of his shirt, her voice broken:
"Why can't you trust me… trust *us*?"
Those words stung him deeply.
"That's not true! I believe in us!"
Miria, head lowered and sad:
"But you still want to leave…"
Asher took her face in his hands and looked her straight in the eyes.
"That's not true. I'm here, and I will never leave."
Miria lifted her head, searching for the truth in his gaze.
"Do you swear?"
"I swear."
To seal his promise, Asher kissed her with infinite tenderness. When their lips parted and he opened his eyes, he froze in shock.
Before him stood the other Miria: deep brown eyes, long black hair cascading down. The Miria from the past.
"Asher… Asher!"
The current Miria's voice called him several times. He shook his head. When he opened his eyes again, she was herself once more: violet eyes, brown hair.
Was it his imagination?
Miria, worried, cupped his face in her hands.
"Asher, what's wrong?"
He hesitated, then answered in a voice he tried to make reassuring:
"Nothing… Nothing, my love. I was just wondering why Kira is taking so long. I'll go see what she's doing."
Miria nodded, still shaken. Asher stood u
p, walked to the door, and left without looking back, his heart heavy and mind tormented.