Mother

The pre-dawn light cast long shadows in the dimly lit pagoda where Nadia stood, her pregnant figure cloaked in the stillness of the morning. 

The tranquility of the space was suddenly disturbed by the arrival of a man.

He entered with a casual grace, greeting her with a too-smooth voice. "Mother," he said, a smirk playing on his lips, "forgive my tardiness. Time slipped from my grasp in the company of your daughter.."

Without turning to face him, Nadia's voice cut through the air, sharp and suspicious. "Who are you really?" she demanded, her tone betraying a steely edge.

Bai Ling began to respond, in a innocent voice, "Mother, why would you ask such a question? You know I am Bai Lin—"

But Nadia was quick, and her anger quicker still. With a flick of her wrist, a blade made of pure energy soared towards Bai Ling with deadly precision. It was a sword projection, a manifestation of her inner strength, aimed directly at his neck.

In a blink, Bai Ling's demeanor changed, his eyes narrowing with concentration. With a deft movement, he used just his finger to slice the energy blade in two, dispersing it into harmless light.

Not deterred, Nadia spun around, her white robes swirling with her motion. She lifted her arms, and the air hummed with power as hundreds of similar swords formed around her, each one as deadly as ever as they hurtled towards Bai Ling.

But Bai Ling didn't seem dettered. With a fluidity that belied the danger, he performed a series of intricate hand signs, each gesture dispelling the projections that threatened to tear him apart, leaving only the whisper of their destruction behind.

Once the last of the energy swords had been nullified, he fixed Nadia with a smile that held a challenge. "Mother," Bai Ling said, his charm never faltering, "what reason could you have to try to kill your own son-in-law?"

The pagoda, once a picture of serene solitude, now bore the scars of their confrontation: scorched pillars, fragments of the ceiling lay scattered, and the air still crackled with the remnants of their clashing energies. 

Yet, amidst the chaos, Bai Ling's smile remained, a stark contrast to the fury in Nadia's eyes. "Stop calling me that," she hissed through clenched teeth, her suspicions about Bai Ling deepening with every display of his formidable strength.

Bai Ling, however, only smiled wider, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Your daughter... she has your fire," he said, almost thoughtfully. "She communicates with actions over words, much like you. That's... endearing. She even looks like you. I had always wondered what you looked like when you were her age."

Nadia's face was a mask of ice as she stepped closer, the fragments of her shattered energy swords crunching underfoot. "If you so much as bruise her heart," she warned, "you will not live to witness another sunrise."

She paused, her gaze sharpening. "But first, how do you come to speak the name 'Lucas' with such familiarity? What is your relation to him?"

The unsettling smile never left Bai Ling's face. "Did you feel relieved when you heard Lucas died without even seeing his body?" he asked, watching her closely.

Nadia's expression faltered for just a second, her heart stinging for a brief second. "I feel nothing for a ungrateful boy who left me, despite everything I sacrificed."

"Oh? After you shattered him and cast him aside? What a... loving mother you are," Bai Ling said, his tone laced with sarcasm.

Nadia's fists clenched har. But her stance was rigid, her voice laced with a steely calm that belied the turmoil within. "Who are you?" she demanded, the aura of power around her tensing like a bowstring. "Answer me, or I swear I'll unmask you before the entire court. Not even the empress's favor can shield you from my wrath for trying to toy with my daughter's life."

Bai Ling stopped his approach, and there was a palpable shift in the air as his playful demeanor dropped away, replaced by a frost that matched Nadia's own. "Do you really not recognize me, or is it that you've washed your hands of your past so thoroughly?" he asked, his voice cuttingly soft. He paused deliberately before adding with a chilling emphasis, "Mother."

The word seemed to echo in the cold morning air, and Nadia felt the familiarity in his gaze piercing through her defenses. 

Her heart beat a wild, discordant rhythm as she took an involuntary step back. "No... You cannot be—"

Before she could finish, Bai Ling closed the distance between them, his height looming over her as he locked eyes with her. "Have you been enjoying your life as the queen, Mother? After you broke me and cast me aside for power?"

Her breath caught in her throat; the pieces fell into place with a horrifying clarity. "L-Lucas?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Lucas's smirk was almost cruel as he said, "Oh, Mother, such a delight to see that my name hasn't faded from your memory."

Nadia, her mind racing with disbelief and horror, stammered, "This... this can't be real. You were dead."

His eyes, icy mirrors of the past, fixed on her as he suddenly grasped her throat. His fingers were bands of steel, pushing her effortlessly against the wall of the pagoda. "Disappointed to see me breathing?" he hissed, his face inches from hers. "Did you want me dead so badly? Or did you just relish the thought so much that you didn't bother to seek proof?"

Nadia's hands trembled as his words struck her mercilessly.

But then her pulse hammered in her ears as the memory of their last encounter—a slap, harsh words, a stormy night—crashed over her. 

The moment where he cursed her and left her alone in the air and ran away despite crying out her heart.

Rage, sharp and sudden, cut through the shock. "You have no right—" she gasped out, her fingers wrapping around his wrist, "—to judge me."

With a surge of qi that gathered like a storm around her, she released a burst of energy. 

Lucas was sent reeling back, his grip broken, as the force of the blast tore through the already damaged pagoda, causing more of the structure to give way. 

Dust and debris filled the air as Lucas caught himself, his feet sliding on the loose stones, a look of surprise briefly crossing his features before they settled back into that cold, unreadable mask.

"You always did have a flair for the dramatic," he said, brushing off his clothes as he righted himself. "But you are even more shameless than I thought. Even now, you think you never did anything wrong." His eyes shone with a dark light as he went on. "So now I am going to make you regret everything you did to me."