The Art of Rebellion

Goodnight

Alden? Talk about a coincidence.

Ry gets up and starts putting her clothes back on, so I follow along. "Be ready to step in if he does something. I'm still not in peak condition," I tell Leo, and he nods, then walks over to Ry and puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't do anything to provoke him. Ok?" she orders, but the look in her eyes reveals how little faith she really has in me. I grin at her.

"Would I do something like that?"

"Yes," they both reply, then start slipping into the floor, courtesy of the asshole's magic.

"We'll be on alert for any noise you two might make," Leo says. "If you don't want him to know we're coming up, say eggplant." They disappear before I can ask about the idiotic code word, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

What could a knight want with me that he couldn't accomplish by just attacking? If he can recognize my magic, he knows where I am, and should've been capable of taking me out with a sneak attack, since he did fight Corwin. I hate to admit it, but that old fart is probably still stronger than me.

"If you want my input," Nysa starts, materializing on the floor in front of me, now wearing a yellow summer dress with white polka dots. "I could tell you who this man is."

I groan, having hoped I was rid of her, but still let her tell me. "Speak."

"I am the one he served under - while I was alive, that is." A smirk makes its way unto her face as Shishi appears on her head. "He is the same Alden you know from childhood, my boy."

That's not possible. Not only would the coincidence be too much, but he also wasn't a sorcerer. Watching me play with shadows is as close to magic as he ever got.

"You are forgetting about Yin Sui," Shishi reminds me, flying up and circling above us. "It is possible he took the drug some time after you parted ways."

"No," I reply. "Akira's drug only ever really gave people water magic - at least from what I've seen. Both Ghost and Aya have it, and he's getting sick because of it. No one would become as strong as Corwin in such a short amount of time, either. Either Aiden would be too inexperienced in sorcery to fight Corwin, or he would be too sick. Either way, things don't add up."

At that moment, the curtain serving as the door is pushed aside, and a tall man dressed in a shiny armor walks in, a serious look on his all too familiar face. I can't help but let my composure drop as I look at him, and his does as well. For a few minutes, neither of us says anything. We just stare, taking each other in.

"It's been a while, Koko," he finally says, an uneasy smile on his face. "I see you're still keeping strange company." He's referring to the shadowform and the remnant he absorbed, of course, as they're both still here.

"Not here to avenge me, I take it?" Nysa pouts. "Are you turning on Aro now, too?"

I tense at the question. It's something I would very much like to know, too.

"Lady Nysa, you aren't really here, are you?" the knight asks. "I can't feel any life coming from you. It's as though you're a ghost."

She floats up into the air and starts spinning like a ballerina. "You aren't wrong about that." She doesn't notice he didn't answer her question, but I sure do notice. If he's avoiding it, that means he thinks the answer won't please me. I focus on making Nysa and Shishi disappear, and so they do.

"Thank you," Alden says, his attention back on me. "I am... unsure of where to start..."

"How about the part where you're aware of Aro, yet still choose to follow him?" I snap, speaking for the first time since he entered.