★ YOU BELONG WITH ME ★
VISIONS AND DISCUSSIONS

          maliah suddenly opened her eyes. She looked around frantically until he put his finger under her chin and turned her face towards him. Only then did she realize that she was awake. That she was no longer stuck in one of her visions. Cyno tilted his head to the side and studied her face. Was that worry in his eyes? Maliah couldn't say, her head was still pounding terribly. She might as well have just imagined it.

     »Are you all right?«

     Honestly, she wasn't sure. According to her visions, that was never what she was. Each time her head hurt terribly and each time she was absolutely confused afterwards. She no longer knew where she was, why she was there. All Maliah knew was what she had seen in her vision of what her sister would do next.

     She had been to some old temple. There had been sand everywhere, pieces of crumbling ruins. Mailin had talked to a few Eremites. And Maliah recognized a few of them. But unfortunately, she was never able to hear their voices.

     »Maliah, hey, are you not feeling well?« Cyno. Right! She was in the desert with him. On a mission. »Was that some kind of vision?«

     »I'm, yes, i'm fine!«

      »Your sure?« There was that look again! It was worry! But sure, just worry that he had to drag her dead body through the desert and explain it to Candace. »You don't look like your fine.«

     »And you actually look like you're worried.«

     »Well, I am worried about you.«

     Yes, he had said he didn't hate her. That he even found her face pretty. But she honestly couldn't believe that he was worried. Even though his eyes clearly weren't lying, Maliah found it hard to believe him. Maybe it was difficult for her because he had always been absent from her the whole time.

     »You really are?«

     Cyno sighed. He let go of her chin and broke eye contact. »Yes.«

     She didn't know why, but it made her smile a little. »My head hurts, but it's like that every time.« He nodded. »What about you? How is your injury?«

     »Everything alright.« He looked at her again. There was still that concern. »Is there anything that helps?«

     »Not really.« She snorted in amusement. »Tighnari always tells me to go out for some fresh air and enjoy the peace and quiet of the forest.«

     »Yeah, that definitely sounds like him.«

     »Most of the time I go to visit Kaveh and talk to him about it over tea and cookies.« She often found him in the middle of some new project and felt bad because she was keeping him from his work. But Kaveh always said she could come to him and well he was a really good listener.

     Kaveh was the person who listened with complete attention. He nodded as you talked and made facial expressions to match the story. Honestly, if he wasn't so smart he could have gone to the theater. In any case, it was always good to tell him about it and hear his opinion.

      »So that's why your so often with him?«

      Mailiah cocked her head to the side. Cyno, this incredible grumpy guy, really cared why she talked to Kaveh so often? »He is a good listener.« She shrugged her shoulders. »Well, he's not here now and the air here doesn't really have the same effect as the air in the forest.«

     »You can talk to me.«

     She opened her eyes wide. She couldn't hide her shock. She was surprised that he said it. Very surprised. Cyno would probably be the last person she would talk to about her problems and pain.

     »You look like you've seen a ghost.«

     »You're unusually helpful.«

     »So what now, should I not talk to you or keep trying?« He raised his brow and crossed his arms. »Because at seems that both of these things bother you incredibly.«

     »That's exactly what I talked to Kaveh about! That you always.«

     »Hold on a second.« Cyno interrupted her. »You're talking to Kaveh about me?«

Honestly, she didn't know what to say. It wasn't like she talked about Cyno often! But every now and then, when Kaveh was upset about how Alhaitham had behaved again, Cyno often come to her mind. And it was kinda funny to talk about him.

»Is that why you got so quiet the other day when I saw you two?«

»No.«

Yes, definitely. She hadn't wanted Cyno to hear what conclusion Kaveh had come to. Because that wasn't true at all. No matter how smart he was. No matter how many statistics he had Alhaitham do the math on. There was no way Maliah would like Cyno in any way.

No way!

»You know what! I give you permission to be silent again.«

»I'm getting used to talking to you.«

She was happy about that. Honest. But she no longer wanted to talk to him about her conversations with Kaveh. Why she was so happy that he started talking to her? Well, Maliah liked to talk. It was a nice change from his usual snorts.

That was the only reason!

»Well, if that's the case,« she quickly spoke up to be able to change the subject. »In my vision my sister was in some temple, pretty ugly thing.« He almost looked amused that she started talking about something else, but he let her continue anyway. »She was yelling at this big guy who ran this troupe.«

»And?«

She didn't know that herself. She didn't know what this vision would bring her. Or should say. Her head still hurt and Cyno's new way of handling her absolutely baffles her.

»My vision shows me what's going to happen soon, not what's happening right now,« Maliah murmured, remembering as she shrugged her shoulders. »Cyno! Do you see the man here?«

He flinched when she said his name out of nowhere and with enthusiasm. She even saw a tiny little smile. »No.«

»He definitely didn't fall down here. I even think he ran this way so we could fall down here.«

»He couldn't possibly have noticed us.«

»I didn't mean to doubt your abilities.« Another tiny smile. She slowly got used to it. »If I have visions of my twin, she probably has visions of me too.«

»Sounds plausible.«

»He wanted to gain time and because I was so stubborn, well he did it.«

Cyno snorted. But not annoyed. No! It was an amused snort. »I can't deny that.«

»So we have to get out of here and find this temple!«

He nodded. »How long exactly does it take for your visions to become real?« Maliah had no idea. Really. How would she know that? She could only guess and that certainly wouldn't be enough for Cyno.

»No idea.«

»Try to think,« he said softly. That confused her too! She hadn't known that Cyno had a soft side. Where from? He always looked the same, he always spoke in the same tone... sometimes he seemed to her like a robot without any feelings.

»Three maybe four days.«

He nodded. He pulled the backpack towards him and pulled out the card Candace had given her. How did he know that? »Yes, I knew Candace gave you one«, he said as if he had read her mind.

Cyno rolled up the map. His eyes darted over it until he placed his fingers on one spot. »We fell down here.«

Maliah moved closer to him so she could look at the map. Things went badly overhead. She could read maps, but of course this map was full of sand and temples. Everything looked exactly the same to her.

»There are two temples nearby, one a three-day walk and the other two.«

»That's what you call nearby?«

Cyno looked over his shoulder at her. »I can carry you if you can't walk anymore.« He grinned at her, which made her uncomfortable. Not that he didn't have a nice smile. It's was just too much for her. That and this feeling.

»Anyway, that's enough time to get to the right temple until you or your sister have a vision again,« he interrupted her thoughts. That didn't bother her. She was glad that he continued talking and looked at the map again. »This long corridor can either lead directly to the right temple or at least take us to the surface.«

Maliah nodded. »Great! Then let's go!«

»First you should rest.« Cyno rolled up the map and put it back in the backpack. He leaned with his back against one of the large ruins.

»Why?«

Good. She understood why they usually took a break at night, but they were under the sand, in some ruin. It didn't matter whether they were out during the day or at night. Besides, she couldn't sleep anyway.

He crossed his arms over his chest. »Because of your vision«

»I'm fine, Cyno.«

»You look exhausted,« He said. »Your green eyes don't shine like usually.«

Her green eyes shone? And such a sentence from Cyno! Unusual, that was very unusual. »My green eyes, what?«

He started to smile. Of course not too much. Just a tiny bit, but still! A smile was a smile. »Don't shine like usually,« Cyno repeated. »You haven't really slept through the night since we left.«

Maliah nodded slowly. »So you noticed that.«

»You snore a little when you sleep and this snoring always only lasts a few minutes. So you've slept a total of just under three hours since last night and this night,« Cyno said. »This is not enough.«

He was probably right. But Maliah had such a headache that she wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. »You haven't slept at all today,« she noted.

»I can sleep in peace when I know that you are well rested and can actually stay awake when I sleep.«

»I am well rested, so either you sleep now or we're on our way.«

Cyno sighed. »Then at least eat something.« He pulled out a few of the treats Candace had packed and handed them to her. My goodness, he was really worried. That was almost sweet. She accepted the food and then stood up.

»Wrong direction,« Cyno called after her.

»I knew!«, Maliah replied and walked into the dark tunnel. »I just wanted to test you!«