Chapter 3

Remembering The Truth

"Dad? Where are you?" a sixteen-year-old boy called from the front door.

A man's head popped out of the kitchen door while replying, "I'm here, Yami!"

The boy entered the kitchen and greeted his father. Well, the man wasn't really his father. Yami was adopted by him when he was only eight. The odd part is that Yami can't remember anything about his real family. The farthest he can go in his memory is 8 years ago. He couldn't remember anything further. He had tried, but it only resulted into headaches.

"What have you been doing?" the man asked.

"I've been flying the courses," Yami replied.

"You're really getting good. I bet you can out fly the Great Ren," he said. Ren Cairo is a professional flying instructor and Yami's foster dad.

"C'mon Dad. You know that I can't out fly you." A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Yami got up from his seat and walked towards the front door. They weren't expecting a visitor or visitors, and no one lived in their vicinity. Heck, there wasn't any civilization for miles around. Well, about 50 miles exactly. The point is, they lived at a small dojo in the fields of Athens and rarely get surprised visits.

Once Yami opened the door, his eyes widened and his jaw almost dropped to the floor. There, standing before him, was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had chocolate brown hair that came down to her shoulders, and beautiful cerulean hues that suited her perfectly.

"Um…" she said, "Would you mind helping me? I'm a little lost." It took Yami a whole minute to register what she had said. He shook his head to clear his mind, then involuntary took a step to his right to let the beautiful girl in.

"Who's at the door, Yami?" asked Ren as he stepped into the room. "Oh. Who's this?"

"Hello. My name is Tea Gardner from Atlantis," she said while bowing in respect.

"The only daughter of the royal family of Atlantis?" he said, eyes widening. "Make yourself at home! If there's anything we can do for you, just ask. By the way, my name is Ren Cairo and this is my son, Yami. Well, he's my adopted son, but he's almost like a real son to me," said Ren.

"It's very nice to meet the both of you and actually, there is something you can do for me. You see, the banished men have formed alliances within themselves and have begun attacking Atlantis," Tea explained. "My father sent me to Athens for my own safety. I believe Ms. Athena Mutou agreed to let me stay here awhile, but as I was making my way here, I got a little lost. Luckily, I stumbled upon your dojo. So I was wondering if either of you would like to escort me to the Central Building of Athens?"

"Oh of course we will, but I have classes to teach later this afternoon," Ren replied.

"I can escort her, Dad," Yami said quickly.

"Alright. I'll pack both of you some supplies for your journey," Ren said as he made his way back into the kitchen.

"Um… Yami?" Tea said. Yami turned to look at her.

"Did anyone tell you that you look a lot like Yugi Mutou?" she asked.

Something flashed in Yami's mind as he heard the name. The same thing had happened when he heard Athena's name.

"Um… not really. Then again, I don't see that many people. I live 50 miles away from any civilization and the fastest way to get to Athens from here is to fly," Yami said.

"So you've never seen the royal family of Athens, then?" Yami shook his head.

"How about your real family? Do you know anything about them?" Tea asked. Again, another shake of the head.

"What if… well, I think it's a little impossible, but what if… you're… the fourth Mutou," Tea said almost in a whisper.

"What do you mean?" Yami asked.

"Don't you know the story? 8 years ago, the Mutou family suffered from a terrible incident," Tea started, "Banished men brutally killed the current head of the family and his wife. Then, they burned down the house, thinking that all four of the children were still in there. They also thought that their powers haven't awakened yet so they wouldn't be immune to fire, but they were wrong. One of the children, the eldest son, already had his powers awakened. Athena said that he had saved her's and her sibling's lives, but returned to get something of value. He was never seen after that."

As Yami listened to the story, he had something flashed across his mind, which gave him a headache. They were flashes of faces. All of them had amethyst or crimson eyes and the same tri-colored hair. Red, black, and gold. All 5 of them had these same characteristics. Two of them were a little older, maybe in their late 20's or early 30's. Two other girls looked remotely close to being twins, had not one being older and taller. He presumed that they were about 3 to 4 years apart. Then, a boy's face flashed across his mind. He almost looked exactly like Yami except Yami had crimson eyes and the boy had amethyst. All of these flashes were giving him a migraine now. He groaned slightly and cradled his head in his hands.

"Yami, are you alright?" Tea asked softly as she put his hands on his shoulders to comfort him.

"I… ugh…" he groaned. The headache was throbbing now. As more flashes, or memories, he decided, came, the more his headache worsened.

Flashback

"Yami, Athena, take a look at the new members of our family," said a man. Two four-year-olds made their way to a hospital bed where their mother sat. The man, presumably their father, lifted up the girl first, then the boy, up on the bed beside their mother. In their mother's arms were two babies.

"Say hello to your new baby brother and sister," their mother cooed. "This handsome guy's name is Yugi and this beautiful girl's name is Cleo." Both babies cooed at their new names, indicating that they liked it.

"What was that?" Yami thought, but he didn't have enough time to think about that because another memory surged in his mind.

Flashback

"Yami! Your powers have awakened!" eight-year-old Athena exclaimed while running to her older brother. They were at the park for a small family picnic. Yami hadn't felt so good, so he sneezed and crimson, red, fiery wings sprouted from his back.

He all of a sudden felt strong and couldn't contain the outburst any longer. He shot up from the ground excitedly and did a somersault in the air. He did triple loops while flying and circled the perimeter of the park with such breathtaking speed.

His family just laughed and smiled, happy that Yami's powers have awakened.

"Yami? Are you all right? Please, talk to me," Tea pleaded. The boy looked like he was in so much pain and Tea couldn't do anything to help, or… could she?

Tea looked around for water. Some form of H2O. Finally, she saw it. It was a vase with flowers in it, but at least it had water and it will do for now.

Tea sprawled Yami out on the couch, making him comfortable. She made sure that his head was propped up by a pillow, then concentrated on the vase. She closed her eyes and brought up her right hand. Suddenly, the water smoothly came out of the vase and surrounded her right hand. Then, she brought her right hand down onto Yami's forehead. The water instantly surrounded his forehead and in an instant, his expression went from pained to relaxed.

"At least he won't be in pain," Tea thought as another memory came to Yami.

Flashback

"Mom! Dad! No!" eight-year-old Yami yelled. He saw his parents lying in a pool of blood. It wasn't a sight an eight-year-old should see.

Suddenly, Athena, Yugi, and Cleo entered the room. All of them sleepy and tired.

"Athena, you have to get out of here! All of you!" Yami warned them.

"Yami, what do you me-" This was what Yami was afraid of. Athena had just seen the horrible sight. Suddenly, both Cleo and Yugi started crying. They were saying something about a fire.

He finally noticed what they were talking about. A big, raging fire was heading its way toward them. He knew that he was immune to fire but his siblings weren't. He spread his wings wide and grabbed his siblings. He flew out of the room and settled them down on the ground. He took out a phoenix-shaped necklace and clasped it on Athena.

"Be strong, Ana," he said, then flew towards the open window to retrieve something of high value.

Once he got in, everything was burning away. He made it to his room and threw his closet doors, or what was left of them anyways, open. Fortunately, the thing he was looking for hadn't melted, yet.

On the floor was a metallic safe. He grabbed it and put in the passkey. As soon as he opened it, he smiled to himself. The Millennium Puzzle was safe. He put it around his neck and tried to find a way out. Almost every exit was blocked. He flew towards the guest room, but a piece of the ceiling fell on him, making him unable to move.

He struggled to get it off, but it was no use. He finally gave up. Before his consciousness left him, he felt the heavy piece of the ceiling being lifted off of his chest.

Yami's eyes snapped open. He looked around for a while, then his eyes finally rested on Tea.

"Are you alright, Yami?" she asked once more. She was gazing at him, curious but worried.

He didn't reply. He only stared at the ground as he sat himself up. He knew who he was now. He wasn't just some orphan who didn't know who his parents were anymore. He was the eldest son of the royal family of Athens.

Ren finally emerged from the kitchen, carrying two bags. Yami looked up at him and said, "Why didn't you tell me?"

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