When Good Loses Its Grip {Grishaverse Big Bang 2021}

Chapter 2

If Dimitri had said he was energised the next day, that would have been an understatement.

While Leoni had had to pull herself out of bed, Dimitri had jumped up, eager to start the day. He tried not to think too much about how he shared a bed with Leoni now; it just felt natural after a year of doing it. The first night Leoni asked Dimitri to sleep beside her had been the night she'd started having that awful, recurring dream that she, for some reason, refused to tell Dimitri about. The knight was concerned for Leoni's wellbeing, but he could only do so much when she wanted to shield him from the horror of her nightmares. It kind of made Dimitri want to laugh at the irony of it all when he himself had nightmares that he didn't tell Leoni about, for fear of scaring her.

As he got dressed and thought about the dilemma, Dimitri sighed. Suddenly, he didn't feel as eager to go out and explore with Leoni. But then Dimitri thought of what they were exploring, and what they hoped to discover, and so he strapped on his boots and walked downstairs for breakfast.

"Ready to go?" Leoni asked. She was dressed in her blue dress that was patterned with kitenge patterns, and dark brown trousers. Dimitri was surprised.

"We're going now?" The knight asked.

Leoni nodded. "Uh huh. We can eat on the way."

Dimitri caught a croissant and an apple when Leoni threw them at him, and he ate as Leoni strapped on her weapons. The Sheikah Slate sat on her hip. Dimitri smiled.

The two set off, and as Leoni rode beside him, Dimitri took a quick look at the map. They were headed for the Zonai ruins, where people used to roam. Dimtri wondered why he and Leoni hadn't checked this place before, but pushed it to the back of his mind and kept riding.

Upon getting to the destination, Dimitri jumped off his horse. He and Leoni tied their horses to a tree near the place, then set off towards the ruins, weapons at the ready.

Dimitri held the Master Sword in his hand, feeling the weight of it in his palm. Sometimes, he felt like all of last year was a dream - and other times, he'd wake from a nightmare of waking up again in that shrine, this time with no one to guide him; no Master Sword, nothing. And when Dimtri stepped out of the building in his nightmares, he was met with a barren wasteland.

Snapping out of his reverie, Dimitri suddenly stumbled. Leoni was by his side in a second, helping him up from where he'd fallen.

"Are you alright?" Leoni asked, worried. Dimtri looked up and found himself trapped in the beautiful darkness of Leoni's eyes. It took everything in himself not to melt.

"I'm fine," Dimitri replied, averting his gaze from the beautiful princess standing in front of him. "I'm just remembering."

Leoni's posture changed on hearing this. Dimitri could see out of the corner of his eyes how she straightened up, her eyebrows furrowed. He hated when Leoni was stressed, but he couldn't face her right now.

"What are you remembering?" she asked.

"Nightmares."

The word came out of Dimitri's mouth before he could shut it. Leoni looked alarmed.

"Nightmares? Why haven't you told me?" the princess demanded. Dimitri knew Leoni was concerned. He wanted to comfort her, he did - but right now, he felt overloaded.

"Let's just go find that evidence." Dimitri walked past Leoni, eyes set on the cave in front of him, even as he heard the princess call his name. All of a sudden, the sound of thundering steps reached his ears. Immediately thinking it was an enemy, Dimitri spun round, Master Sword at the ready. Leoni yelped, throwing her hands up as the knight pointed his sword at her throat, eyes wide.

"Whoa! It's me! I just have loud footsteps sometimes. Heh."

Dimitri nodded before, slowly looking around. The ruins were barren like in his nightmare. A light breeze blew through on the sunny day, and whilst it was normally welcome, this particular instance chilled Dimitri to the bone. Had he...had he dreamed of a Zonai waking up to everything they knew becoming non-existent? Was that what the dream was about?

Dimitri pinched himself to stop overthinking again, and looked at Leoni.

"Are you going to tell me about the nightmares?" the princess asked, putting a hand on her hip.

Dimitri shook his head. "Not right now." Something is wrong with these ruins. "Keep close, princess."

Behind Dimitri, Leoni huffed. "Since when did you call me 'princess'?"

The two stopped in front of the cave. Dimitri did not dare squeeze Leoni's hand for comfort, though he very much wanted to. The knight's dark brown eyes peered into the gloom, and Dimitri felt hairs rising on the back of his neck.

"When something's not right. Keep close."

Dimitri felt Leoni's presence beside his, and sighed in relief. With that, the duo descended into the darkness.