65 A Mother's Lament

The face of his mother was the first thing Kurt saw when he woke up inside his room.

"Good morning, my little dragon" she whispered while caressing his hair and wiping out some of the sweat in his forehead.

"M- Mother..." the young red-haired boy replied while trying to lift his body from bed, only to be stopped by Sabiri's hand.

"You're tired. You need to rest more."

"Tired?" he asked while glancing over his room and noticing that the sun was already about to set outside his window, "What happened?"

Sabiri bit her lips and look away as she tried to think about how to handle this situation, "How much do you remember from last night, exactly?"

"Last night?" he repeated as his mother's hand gently pushed him down towards his pillow, "It's kinda fuzzy... I remember we went to dinner with dad and... And his other wives and children..."

His mother remained silent and waited for him to finish.

"Then... I think dad talked something about the game? And about helping me unlock my dragon form...? I'm sorry... It all feels unclear..."

"It's okay, don't force yourself. Do you remember about what you did with your hand?"

"My hand?" he mumbled while gazing at his arm hiding under his sheet before trying to uncover it, "What happened to my ha- aaAAAND! What happened to my hand!!??"

The kid began to twitch and shriek as he jumped out of his bed after staring at his own hand being covered in a layer of metal scales as if he was wearing a gauntlet.

He began to shake his arm up and down trying to get rid of it while continuing to panic.

"What is this? What is this!!?? What is this!!??"

Sabiri just stared at her son losing his mind unsure of what to say, "You don't remember?"

"Re- Remember? Remember what? Why is there metal stuck to my skin??"

'KURT!!' Dorothy suddenly screamed inside his mind.

He covered his ears by reflex and began to search his room to find his pet owl resting above his wardrobe.

'Calm down, kid! You're making your mother sad!'

[Sad...? Why would I-] before he finished his sentence, he gazed at Sabiri's expression, and just as Dorthy said, she was looking down while appearing to be about to cry.

"You don't like it...?" she mumbled.

"Mother...?"

Sabiri stood up and began to aim her hand towards him, followed by a set of metal scales slowly covering her arm making it look like she was wearing a silver gauntlet as well.

"What!?"

"This is my talent..." she whispered while closing and opening her finger, "I inherited it from my mother, and she inherited it from my grandfather... It's one of the most resistant types of metals on the entire planet. There aren't many things that can harm it..."

Kurt had seen Sabiri's talent many times in the past. She would always use it to defend him whenever he was attacked by some invader dragon, as well as all the times she used against him during their training together.

But for some reason, the woman never really tried to talk about it much, almost as if she didn't like that ability, making Kurt negligent to ask anything about it.

"So... This is your power?" the boy wondered while staring at his own hand more carefully.

"It's the power of my family... A body-type dragon talent that turns our scales into an invulnerable metal. It's the perfect form of defense."

Kurt stared at her arm one more time and proceeded to lift his own arm as well. The two of them were now mirroring each other as their metal palms connected with one another.

"I used to pray that you would inherit my ability..." she continued, "Nothing would put me more at ease than knowing that my son would have the best shield in the world by his side at all times."

She closed her eyes and the metal scales suddenly started to vanish, revealing her normal skin once again.

Kurt did the same and closed both of his eyes, but nothing seemed to change.

"You need to relax," she commented, "This power is here to protect you. It will stay that way until you feel you're safe."

He glanced at her and then at his arm.

"Do you feel safe with me, my son?"

"Of course, mother!" he responded while taking a deep breath and trying to calm down.

The metal scales finally started to disappear from his arm and returned to normal as well.

Sabiri at last could feel her own son's skin touching her palm, and after no longer being able to hold herself back, pulled him closer by grabbing his hand and began to hug him close to her heart while sobbing all over his head.

"M- Mother!!? Mother, what's wrong!!?"

"Just a little bit..." she mumbled.

"What?"

"Just let me hold you like this... Just a little bit, please!"

"Oh... O- Okay..."

Kurt didn't know what to do so he simply stared at Dorothy wondering if she would have any answer, but the winged beast remained silent.

"I'm so sorry, Kurt... I'm so, so sorry!!"

"Sorry for what? Mother, what's going on??"

"I couldn't keep you safe! Just like that night, I couldn't keep you safe again! I'm so sorry!!"

Kurt could feel her heartbeat accelerating, "That night?? What night?? Mother, what are you talking about?"

"You gotta stay safe!" she claimed while pushing him away and holding his shoulders with both hands, "Promise me that you will stay safe no matter what!"

The boy was feeling very lost at that moment. Why was his hand transformed with his mother's ability? Why was Sabiri crying and asking him to stay safe? And what was this night she was talking about?

"Okay... I- I promise! I'll be safe!"

"Swear it!! Swear it on the names of your previous parents!"

Kurt nearly flinched. He almost forgot his mother had talked to him about knowing his origins.

"I... I swear on... On my human father and human mother's names... I'll do my best to stay safe."

Sabiri tightened her grip on him and whispered softly, "Good...", before finally letting him go.

Kurt had no idea what was going on inside her head but he knew something was not right.

"Mother... What happened last night? I can't remember."

The lady wiped her tears and took a deep breath herself before looking directly at him with the most composed expression she could show, "I want you to master my talent."

"What? That's not what I asked! What happened last night to make you cry like this?"

"You don't need to worry about that! Just listen to what I say and everything will be alright! If you can master my talent, there will be nothing in this world that can harm you."

Kurt tilted his head, "I don't care about getting harmed. I have dad's talent as well. If anything happens I can just heal up."

Sabiri dropped her face on her palms, "My Lord, you sound just like him... Why can't either of you just try a little to avoid getting hurt?"

"'Him'...? 'Either of you'? Who are you-"

The mother began to glare at him, "You said you trusted me. That you felt safe with me. Was that a lie?"

"What? No! I just want to know why-"

"There is no need for you to know!" she shouted, "The less you know the better! Don't ask things that will just put you in harm again. Please! Just... Just trust me and do what I say..."

Kurt stared at her as her anger suddenly turned into a pained expression.

"Please..."

His curiosity kept growing with every one of her actions. Something hurt her. Something serious happened last night. But he couldn't remember what it was no matter how hard he tried. He began to wonder if he ended up drinking something by accident and blacked out during the dinner.

The most he could remember was the face of some strange red-haired girl with big eyes staring right at him with a wide uncomfortable smile.

"Okay... Mother..." he mumbled while pressing his palm on her curved back, "I don't know what happened... But I know it must have been serious... You wouldn't have reacted this way if it wasn't important. You always do everything you can to take care of me..."

Sabiri lifted her teary-eyed face and stared at him.

"I'll trust you. Now and always."

His words began to hit deep into her heart and caused her tears to grow even stronger, making her drop her head on his chest as she started to hug him one more time.

"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry!"

Kurt still had no clue what she was sorry for, but he knew his mother, and he knew she would never do anything to hurt him out of malice, "It's okay, mom! Everything will be okay."

"I'm sorry for being a failure as a mother! I'm sorry for not being strong enough to protect you!"

The boy simply sighed. He really wished she would just tell him why she was saying all these things, but between his sudden memory loss, her insistence on him not asking anything, Dorothy's silence, and her continuous sobbing, Kurt was left unsure of what he was meant to do or say.

"Everything will be fine, mom! Whatever it is that you need, you can always count on me!"

She lifted up her head and looked at him.

"Do you believe in me?" he asked with the brightest smiling face he could reveal.

Sabiri began to smile back at him while trying her best to hold her tears, "Of course!"