When Good Loses Its Grip {Grishaverse Big Bang 2021}

Chapter 29

Leoni immediately summoned her light. She and Dimitri both used their powers to clear the pathway. The monsters screamed, vanishing once the light connected with them. To the left of her, Leoni saw Dimitri reach for his Master Sword, then decide against it as he moved forward, instead summoning his power once more. Leoni smiled to herself, then saw Alina on the ground. She rushed towards her, kneeling on the ground beside them. 

"Alina," Leoni said, shaking the fortune teller's shoulders. "Alina, wake up," she begged. Alina didn't respond. Tears came to the princess's eyes. 

"Leoni!" Dimitri called urgently. Leoni looked behind her and saw a monster barrelling towards her and Alina. The girl summoned her light and shot it at the monster, which turned to ashes immediately on contact. Up ahead, Dimitri let his power vanish. Then, he walked over to Leoni. "Is she breathing?" 

Leoni brushed a strand of Alina's white hair from their face. When she saw the rise and fall of their chest, tears of joy sprang to her eyes. "Yes," she whispered. Then, she shook Alina's shoulders, and called her name. 

"...Where am I?" Alina groaned, sitting up. 

"Careful," Leoni said, helping prop them up against the wall. She had half a mind to hug them, but something told her that the fortune teller was more annoyed than relieved right now. 

"Those stupid monsters," Alina muttered, brushing Malice off her clothes. She looked at Dimitri. "Did you use your powers?" they asked. 

"Yes. Teleporting and everything." 

So that's why the monsters were vanquished so quickly. Leoni smiled at the knight. "Thank you, Dimitri." 

"Of course." Dimitri smiled, but he looked tired. Leoni grasped his hand and squeezed it. He squeezed back. 

Leoni turned her head and saw Alina looking at her's and Dimitri's display of affection with a pained look on their face. But then, her expression became neutral again, and she managed to get to her feet. 

Leoni watched as Alina walked to the altar. The fortune teller sat down, then closed their eyes. The effect was quicker this time. The constellations on their orb glowed. Their hair glowed brightly, almost dazzling. Leoni watched in part awe and part fear, as the same floating square that showed Dimitri's memories appeared again. 

The princess saw her mother holding her and laughing, and tears came to Leoni's eyes once more as she watched her mother swing her back and forth. 

"You are like Nayru," Leoni's mother said to the baby version of Leoni. "Wise and gentle." The baby babbled, and Leoni smiled. Then, she paused. I don't remember that… 

The scene cut to Leoni running in the fields near Hyrule Castle. The floating square showed her mother sitting on a picnic blanket on a sunny day. Leoni watched her child self run up to her. 

"Mother, mother! I found a flower." She put it in her mother's hair. "I thought it suited you." 

"Why, because it's bold? Beautiful?" Her mother grinned at her, and Leoni nodded with a giggle. "You're the most beautiful woman on the Earth!" 

The mother laughed. "What, surely not Leoni! Come." Six-year-old Leoni ran and sat on her mother's lap. Her mother nuzzled her nose with hers. "My daughter is the most beautiful girl in Hyrule," the queen declared. Leoni watched her six-year-old self cover her face with her hands and start giggling, falling into her mother's lap. Leoni smiled fondly at the memory, then frowned slightly. 

"What is it?" Dimitri asked quietly. 

"That was the day before my mother passed." Leoni closed her eyes, then opened them again. "She died before my seventh birthday." 

Dimitri was somber. "I'm sorry," he murmured. 

"It'll be alright," Leoni murmured. "She lived…a good life." 

Leoni watched her father take her beloved robot, Terraco, away. She watched the past version of herself get scolded and panic, become frustrated, become anxious, devoting herself to her power and only that. The princess shook her head as the calamity raged on the floating square in front of her. 

"Do you think I would've been able to prevent the Calamity if I'd been allowed to help with technology?" Leoni asked. 

"Maybe," Dimitri responded. Leoni glanced at him, surprised, before looking back at the screen. 

The screen showed Leoni aiming her light at the darkness and vanquishing it. Leoni threw her hands up in the air. "Is that it?" she exclaimed, frustrated. "I've done that before!" 

Leoni squinted at the screen. It looked like this future took place in a forest, but Leoni didn't know where this could possibly be. She groaned. 

Sitting on the altar, Alina opened their eyes. 

"Well, that future was…boring. Typical, even." The fortune teller looked at Leoni, then paused. Leoni looked back at Alina, confused. The person opened their mouth to say something, then decided against speaking and closed their mouth. 

Leoni was confused until the trio left the chamber and began to walk to the exit, Dimitri's using his power to light the way. 

"I'm sorry," Alina said quietly. "For bringing about the Calamity. If I hadn't, then…" 

Leoni realised what she felt at that moment. The apology was deserved, but it was too soon after seeing her mother again, whole. 

Leoni had waited for an apology for years, hoping Alina would give it earlier. But now, she realised what she truly wanted from the fortune teller.

"I don't want your apologies," Leoni muttered. She didn't look at Alina as she clenched, then unclenched her fists. "Just do better." 

The silence was tense after that. At first,  Leoni regretted being so annoyed at Alina's apology. But then she realised she had been right. An apology meant nothing if the perpetrator wasn't willing to change. 

As the three stepped outside and looked out at the landscape, Leoni took a deep breath of fresh air and sighed softly. She glanced at the castle hanging above the Labyrinth of Memories, and grimaced. There was still quite a way to go.