The Art of Rebellion

Out of Time

Without warning, a blue sphere of magical energy forms around Drusilla, suspending her in the air. She opens her mouth a few times, but no sound comes out.

"What the-" I start to ask, realizing I can't hear her at all through the spell, but a massive power signature grabs my attention. My head snaps toward its direction, and I see my mother. She's wearing the militia's dark blue winter coat, coupled with thigh-high boots. You'd think she was a young girl, out to impress a man.

"Hello, Kol," she says, smiling warmly. "It's been a while." I don't know how she managed to sense us from so far away, or how she got here, but she already messed up.

"A bit late with the times, mom. Your partner in crime already revealed everything."

She shrugs. "So? I am the one who designed your memories. I am as close to a mother as you'll ever have." I should feel something. I should love her for being the mother in my memories. I should hate her for being a traitor. However, since none of those things are true, I don't feel anything. I may as well be facing a regular magic knight.

"So, what do we do now?" I ask, then throw a knife at her, which she dodges.

"Who knows?" she responds, firing a blast of blue energy, which I block with a shadow shield. "To be honest, I kind of expected more from this reunion. You don't even seem surprised to see I'm alive. Has Aro revealed that much?"

I attack her with a shadow blade, but she parries with her own sword. "More or less. I kind of put it together myself first. I just didn't think you'd be this strong."

"You're telling me." She goes for my head, but I duck, then stab upward. She catches the edge of the blade with her unarmed hand, which is now emanating the blue light she seems to use as her magic. "My own son, an A ranked criminal."

"My own mother, the number one magic knight."

We fight with our weapons for a bit more, but the whole ordeal is incredibly halfhearted. I'm moving at half my usual speed, and I'm guessing she's taking it easy, too.

"I'm feeling disappointed, mother. Aren't you supposed to give a villainous monologue?" I tease, forgoing my sword for a whip, the strikes of which she dodges every time.

"Oh? Well, let's see what I can come up with." points two fingers toward me, and a tree erupts from the ground beneath me, hitting my arm in the process. "You cannot defeat me! I have power the likes of which you couldn't even dream of! You stand no chance!"

I use the whip to swing myself from the tree toward her, then aim a kick at her head, but she dodges with a sidestep. "Too dramatic, but nice choice of words. Six out of ten."

"Why, thank you."

The whip becomes a sword again, and I try to pierce her chest, but she moves at a much higher speed than she's been doing so far, and manages to both dodge and deliver a punch to my ribs, sending me flying. I do the usual trick and enter my shadow when I'm about to hit the ground, then move myself to stand behind her, which is when I jump out and kick her in the back, knocking her to the ground. I slash downward, trying to deliver the finishing blow, but she disappears in a flash of blue light.

I turn to where she's standing, and we get into a stare-down.

"You can't actually think you'll be winning this, son," she says, smiling coldly.

"Oh? And here I thought I was doing pretty well," I counter.

"Don't be silly, Kol. I've been holding back."

"As have I."

"But not as much as I have."

"Is talking all you're good at?"