When Good Loses Its Grip {Grishaverse Big Bang 2021}

Chapter 27

Alina groaned as she awoke. "Where am I?" they wondered. 

"Good question," a voice answered. Alina spun around to face the voice's source, but there was no one there. She was stuck in a dark void. 

"Where are you?" she asked. 

"You know where I am, Alina." 

Tears came to the fortune teller's eyes. They hadn't heard that voice speak their name in so long. 

"M…" 

She couldn't say it. She couldn't say his name. Alina blinked back their tears. 

"Volcra needs me. I don't know why I'm with Leoni and Dimitri." They crossed their arms. 

"If he does, then why hasn't he called on you?" 

"B...Because he can't reach me?" Alina answered uncertainly. Their voice sounded so small in the darkness. 

"You're with Leoni and Dimitri to get to the castle, and make things right." 

"'Make things ri-'" Alina spluttered in disbelief. "This is right! The...the castle is meant to be up in the sky. I saw what happened to my people! To you." 

There was a sigh. It floated through the darkness towards her. 

"What about the monsters?" 

"The ones in the Labyrinth?" Alina asked. "We can change them back with Volcra's magic. That's what he promised me. After…" 

"After what? After you'd done his bidding? Brought him back?" Alina stayed silent as the voice continued. "Our people got turned into monsters because they were possessed by Malice." 

"It almost happened to Leoni," Alina whispered. She thought of the princess, of her black hair and laughter that sounded like music to her ears. 

"I know," the voice said. A pause. "You helped everyone rebuild after the Calamity. I saw you do it." 

Alina closed their eyes. "I did." They remembered everyone slowly walking through the streets, picking up whatever they could find. Babies had wailed. Alina had found a child's toy on the ground. They'd picked it up, and stared at it in silence. 

In Volcra's absence, Alina had helped the Hylians, Gerudo, Rito, Goron and Zora build themselves up again. They'd learnt to construct houses, console others, and calm crying children and babies. 

Alina shook her head to rid herself of the memories. "I only did it because I had to."

"It seems like you're trying to convince yourself here."

"I-I'm not! I'm doing this because I'm Volcra's equal!" 

After a short silence, the voice spoke. "Are you?" 

Then, the voice left. Alina couldn't see the person, but she could feel his absence.

Alina stared at the black void. "Come back!" the person cried. They closed their eyes. A sob escaped Alina as she fell to her knees. 

Alina woke up with a gasp. Dimitri was sitting by the side of their blanket. "Are you alright? You were tossing and turning." 

The fortune teller put a hand to their head as they sat up. "I'm...I'm fine. We need to work on your powers today." 

Out of the corner of her eye, Alina saw Leoni frown, clearly not believing her. She sighed. This was going to be much harder than she thought.