Kingdoms Fall

Chapter 2: "A Mother" POV: Kazumo Asaki

When I was really young, maybe 5 or 6, I got into an accident where I ended up breaking my left wrist. I tried to jump off a stone block that was 2 times my height. I thought I would be fine if I just landed with my toes pointed downward and rolled as soon as they touched the ground. I thought I did it just the way I saw the students who actually had sensei do it. But somewhere in the middle of my roll, I rolled on my wrist, breaking it. As son as those tiny screams escaped my mouth, a woman who would then raise me as her son rushed to my side and made a small cast for my wrist within a minute. That day she wore her dark green hair in a bun that was held up by two wooden chopsticks painted a slightly lighter shade than her hair. Her eyes were white like snow; it was the first time I'd seen someone with eyes like that. The first thing she asked me was, "Does it hurt?" I told her it felt like a big bee stung me, and as soon as she laughed and smiled, it felt like all the pain I felt instantly went away. Her name was Coitahno Rooma, but I just called her Coi, and later on I would just refer to her as my mom. She was trained as a skilled medic and assassin to protect Teitri, which was in the southern part of Kishi. Before the age of 21, she'd already been on 200 different surveillance missions that could've involved crossing enemy lines or even fighting them, and on time, she even disarmed and took control of four enemy strongholds in a single day. People used to say she returned from that mission without a scratch or bruise anywhere to be found. That day she'd asked me two very simple and short questions: "What's your name?" and "Where do you live?" I didn't even know what my name was. That day I was wearing a T-shirt of the ancient king Zak, the son of Gwen the wise."Well, if you come to my place, I can help," she began to say but as soon as she saw the numbers on my wrist, she paused and looked at my T-shirt and said, "Do you remember what your parents look like?" I shook my head, then she nodded. In that moment, she acknowledged what and who I was, knowing I wouldn't be let in on until I was 12 years old. It's been about 10 years since that day, and about 4 years since Coi... My mother went to protect Gerego the king in the heart of Kishi, Rimson City... And she still has yet to return, and I know she will return.