The Dragon Blade

Chapter Nine, Five Questions

Having six brothers staring at me, not wanting to leave the living room, is A-a-h-h. "Boys, That's Enough!" Dad yells at them.

They yield to Dad, stopping their stare at me. I really hope they know that their level of intimidation right now would send a normal person running for the hills. Literally, all my brothers are sitting right in front of me. "Dad, I'm not gonna just sit here and act like everything is ok!" Mateo just burst his exploding bubble.

Seeing Mateo's reaction, Dad gives out a big sigh. He is gonna ask me, and I can't ignore it anymore. "It was a memory from when I was ten." I beat Dad to his question first.

"Is it too early to ask what happened?" Ricco confirmed, seeing that I held back my emotions, and concluded that ready yet to talk.

"Yes, but over time as you guys start to understand my history." My face was blank, showing no emotion, just feeling dull.

The pain of the last twelve years of my life.

They all looked at each other with concerned faces. "Gemella, non c'è emozione sul suo viso (Twin, there is no emotion on her face)." Romeo points out the obvious to the family in Italian.

"Papà, Elma ci sta nascondendo delle cose (Dad, Elma is hiding stuff from us)." Mateo tries pushing Dad to make me talk.

"Lo so, figliolo. Ma non possiamo insistere (I know, son. But we can't push it)." Dad sighs, knowing that if he pushes me too much. I will crash and break any trust that I would have built for the future.

Looking around the room, the triplets are acting like they are not paying attention to the convocation. At the same time, my younger three older brothers are engaged. Hiding the fact I know Italian is gonna be hard. For every single gathering, I need to act clueless and not engaged. But in the long run, I can protect myself secretly until we all have gained each other's complete trust.

"Sì, papà (Yes, Dad)." Mateo yields, stopping the convocation knowing there is no changing Dad's mind now.

Now I notice the air in the room changes again. Glazing to the left, Alonso sits up straight. "Papà, se posso farlo notare, nonostante tutti i miei anni ad addestrare le persone. La faccia di Elma mi spaventa di più (Dad, if I may point it out, despite all my years of training people. Elma's face scares me the most)." Alonso comments, wanting answers for the twelve years I have been gone.

Clap, clap, Dad clapped his hands together, getting everyone's attention. "That's it for the discussion. Now, why don't you guys introduce yourselves." Dad settled the discussion seeing me acting like I was bored.

"It's ok. Elio already told me your guys' names." I cheerfully gave them a warm, happy smile which relaxed most of my brothers.

"Why don't we play five questions?" Elio declares, getting a ton of grumbles from my other brothers. This family doesn't like playing twenty or even five questions.

"Isn't the game twenty questions, Elio?" Mateo points out, looking confused.

"Yes, but this one is shorter." Elio keeps his head high.

Now, Dad interjects with, "Ok, guys. Settle down. We are playing five questions, and Elio can go first."

"My favorite color is Orange." Elio starts the question. Now going down the table. Romeo's is Gray, a classic Gunsmith. Mateo's is Blue, the computer expert. Alonso's is red. Ricco's and Dad's favorite color is Black. Dominic's is Green, the forest. People's Favorite colors tend to reflect their personalities and hobbies/work.

And finally, my turn, "Red and Black are my favorites." Red represents Blood, and Black equals Void.

The next question was: What is your favorite activity? Mateo is the captain of the school's football team. Romeo likes Baking treats. Ricco is a painter. Dominic does hiking. Alonso is a boxer. Elio loves cars, and then dad enjoys cooking. Of course, I do not want them to know that I like fighting and assassinations. I told them, 'Martial Arts' instead.