Adrian's plan finally clicked in my head. He was going to use Grace's pure heart to close the gate to keep himself and his army on Earth. I let everyone down, and we were defeated. I fell to my knees and buried my face in my hands.
I waited for the sound of the doors to close, but I only heard Adrian curse. I lifted my head to see him throwing a temper tantrum (which I found quite humorous).
Adrian turned to me. His eyes were blood red and amplified his rage. "YOU! What did you do to her?!"
"I didn't do anything to her," I said as I stood up. "As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure this is your fault. Your influence made her do drugs, you know. You made her heart impure."
"Noooooooooo!" he shouted. "Of all the people who would betray me . . . why . . . why you, Pet?"
I wondered if what I was saying to him was going through one ear and out the other, or if he wouldn't accept the fact that he made an error.
"Adrian, I couldn't have betrayed you because I was never on your side."
He crumbled to the ground and moaned. I had never seen Adrian so exposed and helpless before. I was shown a side of him that I didn't even know existed. I pondered giving him a good slash with Lumen Spatha, but I figured he was suffering enough on his own.
Adrian crawled to me and tugged at my robe. "I failed . . . haven't I? You . . . you can turn this around. Help me. I'm begging you."
The red in his eyes faded and brought back the brilliant green that he and Jacob shared. They didn't dazzle me the same way Jacob's did, though. They were slightly glazed.
"If we don't do something, the Dark One is going to get out. He told me if I didn't finish this job, he'd do it himself. He'll kill us all," Adrian said with a nervous gulp, "even me."
We stayed still for a while in complete silence. The fighting around us stopped. It was like the only ones on the iceberg were the two of us. The whole world around me seemed to freeze as I pondered what was happening. I wasn't sure if I could trust Adrian. He had done some terrible things to my family and me.
As if he was reading my mind, he said, "If you can forgive me, I can be true to you. I am eternally loyal, but I can see that I've given my trust and service to the wrong side. I want to join your team. This isn't for power at all . . . this is about saving the world."
"Ok," I agreed. I could barely believe the words coming out of my mouth, but I sensed truth in Adrian's voice. I released the anger and frustration built up in my heart and forgave him. "Tell me what we need to do."
The other angels came to see what was going on. I explained the situation.
"We can't trust him," Jake told me.
"Well I do," I said back.
Jacob pulled me aside. In a hushed voice, he said, "Don't forget what he did to you. He killed your mom and your dad. And me . . ."
"Listen, Jake. You don't have to forgive him, but I know I do. You can't take the burden of the desire for revenge forever."
Jake didn't talk to me much for a while after that. I'm sure he felt slightly betrayed, but he knew that there was no changing my mind.
I turned back to the angels and Adrian. Adrian said that we had to go back to Mount Skelecea. I grabbed Grace and soon found the eight of us were headed there.
We landed in a circle on the peak of the mountain and the other angels drew their light swords, bows, and arrows.
"No, no, no!" Adrian stopped us. "Weapons cannot harm the Dark One."
"Then what do we use?" Lance asked, seeming irritated since his precious weapons were being belittled.
Adrian pointed to me. "Us."
I gently laid Grace down and walked to Adrian. "I don't understand," I told him.
"You don't have to," he whispered to me, "as long as you do everything I say."
The ground shook and a giant crack appeared in the middle of the circle of angels. It felt like a shadow of darkness had been cast over the mountain. A behemoth creature emerged from the fissure. It had dark red skin, black eyes like coal, claws as big as I was tall, fangs like swords, and long, curled horns.
"Well, Dark Heart. I see you've joined the other team. I should've known that you'd betray me. Oh well . . ." the Dark One said as he extended a claw casually. "When I'm done here, I'll take you down to my hall and torture you for a thousand years. Then we'll see how you feel about being a traitor."
Adrian refused to let the demon's harsh words affect him.
"That's a nice toothpick you've got there, girly. Seems like the kind of thing I'd have in my house. Wouldn't you agree?" he inquired with a smile. "You've seen it, haven't you?"
"Yes. And I'll have to say that your curtains don't match your carpet at all."
He laughed at my smart remark. "Well aren't you just a jewel?"
His smile curved into a scowl and he swiped a clawed hand at me. I jumped out of the way. As he lifted his hand, I stepped back to my place beside Adrian.
"Take my hand," he whispered to me.
I grasped it firmly, and the Dark One didn't seem overly happy about it. "So this is the Pure Heart? It doesn't matter. Your hearts aren't joined."
Adrian looked at me. "I hope you don't mind."
I soon felt his lips on mine. It was a strange sensation, and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.
Either way, I felt like I was being pushed away by a voice in my mind.
"You can't forget what he did to you. You can't. You can't."
That whisper echoed through my head. It hurt me. It made me want to cry.
And then I realized it was the Dark One's harsh, and yet nonchalant voice. He was trying to force the two of us apart so he wouldn't be defeated.
I thought to myself, "Love conquers all."
Adrian held me a little closer and I could feel his usual chill fading into inviting warmth. I wanted to collapse into his arms and let him hold me close all day and night. I didn't understand, and I didn't try to.
Our lips parted and Adrian looked at me strangely. "I always wanted to do that," he said to me quietly. A smile edged across his face.
There was a long pause before Jacob spoke up. "There's no way it was that easy."
I was so lost in the moment that I hadn't realized that the Dark One was gone. Even the crack he had emerged from had disappeared.
"It's in the prophecy, brother," Adrian said back. "I have to say that I didn't understand at first either, but I found that 'hair ablaze and eyes of ice' refers to Liz. Red hair and blue eyes . . . get it?"
It was all so obvious, but we hadn't realized it when the definition fit Vivian so well.
"I guess you didn't have the section of the prophecy that talked about the Pure Heart and Dark Heart, then. You would've seen that the Dark One could be defeated."
"That's not what I mean," Jacob growled. "How could you fall in love so easily? I treasured my relationship with Liz, and you've just gone and torn down everything we built up. How could you do this to me?"
"It matters not. I believe," Adrian started, "that Liz can choose who she wants to love."
