Elementals || Grishaverse

Chapter 42: One of Us

The Darkling lost balance and fell down.

Everything came back to him. He was a murderer. He was a liar, a thief and worst of all, a heartbroken man. He had to kill the one person whom he truly loved, the same person who had accepted him for all his flaws.

He had to kill Sophie in every single life that she took. He could see her blood in his hands. "No." He did not want to kill her. Enough was done already. He couldn't lose her again.

But the only problem was that, if he had gotten his memories, it only meant that Adaline was at the Hand. She knew who she was.

The Darkling had never been able to figure out what Sophie was. But he knew one thing. He loved her. No matter what. He loved how she made him feel and how she was the only one whom he had truly had eyes for.

She looked the same every time that they met - the straight brunette hair, the deep brown eyes and the fierce soul. One look at her and everything changed. They found their way back to each other despite all the obstacles in the hundred years that they spent on Earth.

They were meant to be. They were going to change the world for the better, until the Darkling made his decision. Every time that they met, he was forced to kill her and she was forced to take their memories away.

They say that memories are the greatest gift of our life. Nothing is truer than that.

The Darkling could have prevented many things if he had had his memories. But that was exactly what Sophie didn't want. If he had been waiting for her, they never would have had a chance. They never would have spent the little time that they had together.

Life was strange.

She chose the path of mystery while he took the long way around. Both of them had to live with the mysteries of life. They had to go through this for both of their visions. Every incident started to make sense to the Darkling.

He always had an image of an empty house in the back of his mind that he always pushed away. It didn't make any sense and it didn't matter either. But the day he saved Adaline by the lake, he should have made a connection to her. He used to have episodes too.

The Darkling wasn't himself anymore. He was Aleksander Morozova.

He remembered what it was to be close to her. He remembered her floral aroma and the softness of her hair. A small smile crept on his face. He remembered the tone of her laugh. Oh, what it was to hear her laugh!

He wanted to kiss her and hold her in his arms. He wanted to protect her but also for them to fight against the worst. He wanted the dream about the future that they wanted to come true. "No." He realised, his eyes opening wide.

That dream was exactly what it was - a dream. It could never come true. They were mortal enemies. She was the Morana of Life while he was the Darkling. They could never be together. The universe wouldn't allow it.

He knew that their wants were overpowering. He knew that even in this lifetime, there was definitely something between him and Adaline. He loved that she didn't always agree with his thoughts.

And yet, he knew that their end was fixed.

"One of us has to die." He whispered.

"One of us has to die." Adaline said, taking a seat on a log by the fire. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself. She was shivering. The memories took everything of her. She looked at Simon. "Do you know....about the...." She was having a hard time talking because of the burden that she was facing herself, a burden that she couldn't share with anyone but for one.

"I was filled in on everything." He replied solemnly. "So I am sitting with two supernatural beings. It's a great day to be human." He had a soft smile on his face. He cleared his throat and sat up straight.

"Why?" Adaline looked up at Ramina and Simon that were taking a seat as well.

"You know why." She replied.

"He has been brutal to everyone that has ever met him." Simon said.

"He is not brutal!" Adaline said, but the voice that came out wasn't hers. She wasn't Adaline at that moment. She was Sophie. She always had been.

Adaline started to laugh. Simon looked confused and turned to Ramina for answers. Adaline didn't stop laughing but the situation did seem somehow funny to her. "Please share the joke, Addy. What's so funny?"

"I'm defending him!" She wiped her eyes. "I never thought that this day would come." She took a deep breath to control the laughter but she had never imagined her life to turn out this way. "My life is a joke! I've been playing this game for far too long."

"You've been coming here for all your resurrections. You always end up here." Ramina said.

Adaline's face turned to stone. "I don't want to do this."

"You never do."

"Look." She stood up. "I am only a doctor. I was perfectly happy in my life in medical camps. I was doing what I wanted in life! But no no no!" She let out a shaky laugh. She was rambling and she knew it. "The King just had to send his troops and Darkles Sparkles to the camp because he needs soldiers for an army that he keeps sending to suicide missions."

"Addy-"

"And I get stuck in the middle of all this because I'm a fool, right? Wrong! I'm the freaking Morana of Life. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. My life has been turned into an absolute joke because I'm some supernatural being who has been told as a tale for years. Years!"

"Adaline-"

"Now, I have to make a decision about killing someone. Who needs a doctorate for this? Let's just kill him, shall we?"

Ramina and Simon let her rant. There was silence after Adaline sat back on the log and rested her head on her knees. She let her hair fall over her face because she needed to have a control over everything. She needed to go through her process for the anxiety.

"Darkles Sparkles?" Simon asked.

Ramina smirked and hit him playfully on his arm. She put a finger on her lips to tell him to stay silent.

Adaline shook her head as a smile crept up on her face. "A friend told me about that."