Another chapter right on schedule! and good news the next two are complete! YAY! so if all goes well I'll have the three after organized enough that I'll be able to jump straight into writing-again if work leaves me alone.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot; the ending of this chapter was loosely inspired by a golden girls episode i was watching that just fit so perfectly it worked!

Dedication: To my two betas and fans for their wonderful feedback! I love you all!

As always read, review, critique, comment, ask questions, guess theories and go nuts! Have fun!

Chapter XLI: Winds

His Consort spun quickly and rushed to Timaeus' side. "We're alright," he said immediately—his face a mollifying smile. Behind him, Raphael and Malik helped Otogi to his feet, mindful of his left arm heavily wrapped in sweet-smelling linens.

Seeing the Trierarch's questioning eyes on him, Otogi jutted his chin forward like a mule and gathered his dignity. "One of the yards snapped and struck my shoulder." He presented the bandaged arm as evidence. "Your Consort came to warn us that the winds were too fierce to work in." His eyes were shadowed—his face downcast. "I should've listened."

Timaeus frowned at that. He felt Yugi's comforting fingers tightening around his palm, and when he looked at him, Yugi only shook his head.

"Stop that, Otogi," Yugi chided gently with a small frown. "It's only a fracture and a wounded wrist. Keep it stable and it'll heal itself in a matter of ten days."

Otogi stared at him inscrutably, but Yugi ignored him and spun to Timaeus. "There are more important matters to discuss. The winds—" Yugi tried to explain just as another thrall, harsher than the others, roared to life with a warbling whine.

Both men raised their arms to shield their fragile faces from the sharp, cold air. Seeing Yugi was less protected than himself, Timaeus offered the shelter of his cloak, but Yugi shook his head.

"They aren't like the ones before!" Yugi finished, shouting. His voice was practically a whisper over the wind's whistling howl. "They're faster, stronger, and fiercer! They may be remnants of that last storm and they're already changing!"

"He's right, Trierarch!" Ryou's frail shout howled over the wind. He clung to the wheel with one hand, the other shielding his eyes. "These are not normal winds!"

Timaeus' eyes sharpened at the new information.

"They're downburst and gale force!"

"Blast!" Timaeus swore so loud, the echo of it followed the stomping of his foot. He pinned his gaze above him, where the spiral of sails that specialized in capturing the winds and redirecting them were only two-thirds complete—with the mizzenmast still under repair and a handful of her wings still wounded and unable to come about.

"Damn fickle beast! Been stale for days and now it's gone traitor!" he snapped at the winds. "Those will take us days off-course with the sails down."

All around him, the men started muttering at the news. Conflicting dialects of Canaanite and Coptic and some Locrian all spiraled into a cacophony of counter-conflict opinions.

"Wait." Yugi grabbed Timaeus' hand, voice mollifying. The word cut through the noise like an arrow of silence. His voice was soft, but the sound was enough.

"Don't fret about catching the winds. We have to move away from them—and quickly."

Timaeus arched a brow, his lips set in a frown. Around him, his men began muttering—wide-eyed and disbelieving—but he ignored them. Gaze locked with Yugi's, his anger immediately softened under the flicker of determination in Yugi's bejeweled eyes.

"What say you, little one?" Timaeus asked, gently prying his fingers free. The Eye of Timaeus was built for speed, and commanded the wind and waves like they were her subjects. No one knew her better than her Trierarch, and Timaeus knew best that she was at her fastest when her sails tracked the wind and she came about flying straight, regardless of its original direction. Even in the fiercest of winds and storms, she kept her sails unyielding, and Yugi knew that well.

Of course he did. Timaeus had taught him himself.

"I know these winds," Yugi warned when Timaeus pried away from his grip. His focus was on his husband, but his words were loud enough to carry. "I saw them often in Kemet. We call them Jamsins, or 'Seth's winds'." By now, many of the men had ceased their chattering and had come over to hear the explanation.

"They're common in the early months when the winds are hot. More often, they're no more than an inconvenience, but following a storm…" He broke off to pause. "They're the only warning He gives before He conjures a haboob fierce enough to shred crops and roofs, and—if it's particularly fierce—cleave flesh from bone."

"Those are desert problems," Malik interrupted in a harsh, disbelieving rasp. "Hardly applicable for life at sea," he finished with a smirk on his lips. Timaeus shook his head in disgust. The arrogance of it nearly stole his breath.

Unruffled, Yugi shot up. "It does when the downbursts are identical to the ones we're experiencing now." He snapped so sharp that the smile quickly dropped from Malik's face. "Regardless of how it started or whether it brought dust or rain, the premonition was always the same." Yugi's insistence was palpable, but there was no doubt or hesitation in his reply. "These winds always precede a coming storm."

He let the information sink in and Timaeus pondered over it. Summer storms were sudden and short, as quick to depart as they were to arrive, less frequent than autumn ones, and less dangerous than winter beasts—but wholly unpredictable. His gaze fell to the still-wounded mizzenmast and the sails yet to be healed. With travel restricted to the daylight hours, the oars their primary source of speed, and this far from land, a second storm was the last thing they needed on the open waters. The answer came clear as morning, but Timaeus held his tongue and smiled at his consort, with blazing green and white eyes.

"And what do you suggest, Yugi?" Timaeus asked—all pride and confidence.

Yugi smirked. It hadn't escaped his notice of how rarely Timaeus used his name.

Yugi spun to the stern and hollered over the wind and masts. "Ryou, do you have a chart of our location?"

The Navigator blinked, caught off-guard by the sudden summoning, then nodded quickly. "Yes, I do, but it's in the navigation room!"

"Go and fetch it, then!" Yugi ordered.

"Right." He nodded, then his expression changed to one of command. "Raphael, take the helm!"

The Watch Keeper did as he was bid, and Ryou dashed down the steps—white hair blazing behind him like the tail of a shooting star. Half a heartbeat later, he burst through the doors and, as quick as a messenger, laid a papyrus map full, open, and spread on a nearby grate.

"Here's our location." He pointed to an empty open spot in the center of the blue sea. Though scale made the landmasses look closer, the reality put the ship leagues away from dry land and further still from any of the Atlantian docks.

Yugi scrutinized the map carefully, making careful note of Ryou's prediction and adjustments with each check of the sun's position without stars for a more accurate reading, and the giant landmass just northeast of them that he knew immediately as Atlantis. But something was different about its illustration compared to the others. Red lines circumnavigated a centered triangle of land, and from it were three perpendicular lines in the shape of an odd triangle—each one connected directly to the sea.

"What's this here, Ryou?" Yugi asked, pointing to a straight black line jutting out from the heart of the Atlantian landmass and directly northeast of their position. "Is that an entrance?"

"Yes," the Sailing Master replied obediently. "That's the East Gate."

"And where's Locri?" he asked.

"There." Ryou pointed to a familiar spot on the map.

"What's the fastest way?"

"She's built for speed, so the fastest way is to sail along the coast to the West Gate," Ryou explained, outlining the trail with his finger. "Then straight through the first ring to Locri."

"And the East Gate?" Yugi insisted.

"It's closer, yes, but we'd have to sail the whole ring around the South and then haul the ship through the West Gate. It's a slower route and it would add at least another day."

"But if we sail northeast, we'll avoid the storm," Yugi pointed out with a smirk. His fingers traced both trails in parallel swoops. Immediately, the men scuttled closer to watch his movements. "Even if we sail along the coast, the wind's blowing east, so we'll sail right into it. We won't gain another day of sailing, yes, but take even more damage. But if we head northeast to the East Gate, it's a straight path, by the looks of it. The storm will miss us completely, and once inside Atlantis, we'll have the added bonus of being able to sail without stopping—be it for storms or nightfall."

The Trierarch listened with keen insight. He smirked when the crowd around Yugi grew larger, hanging off his every syllable and none brokering an argument.

Then Yugi spun to see Timaeus smirking. "She's built for speed. We may yet arrive ahead of her sisters."

His eyes fell on Timaeus, awaiting his approval. The Trierarch's grin was exultant and beamish. "Indeed. I think we'd all like that after a fortnight at sea." He nodded.

"Alright," Ryou grinned, gathering up the map. "You heard them, men! Rig those sails and prepare to come about! We're headed northeast!" Them. He spoke of the decision and of them no longer as just Trierarch and Consort—but as a single, authoritative unity.

With a vociferous cheer, the sailors scrambled up and down the masts, along the rigging like a colony of spiders about a giant web. Tugging ropes and reefing huge, green and emerald sails until the masts shifted and the colony of triangular sails changed its shape. A howl echoed on the wind as the sails unfurled and redirected it like wings swimming on the currents of the air with a loud whistling sound.

The rest of the men scrambled below and before long, the two long rows of oars heaved and strained. Down below, the deck tilted, creaked, and swerved into its turn. Yugi's balance faltered from the sudden sharpness of it, unused to the unstable shifts and flows of the open deck. Timaeus' awaiting cloak caught him easily and he hefted him up by the shoulders, so they appeared more of a stabilized front than a knight catching his damsel. Yugi smiled gratefully. With the next shift, he spun into it and found himself standing by the railing, eyes locked on the offing where the sunset and the northeast ocean collapsed together in a single blend of colors like two lovers at rest. Together, the two watched as the galley known as The Eye of Timaeus heeled to starboard and prepared to come about.

At the heart of it all, Yugi beamed so brightly and his smile radiated so much confidence that, for a moment, Timaeus wanted nothing more than to kiss him. But there was work to be done, a course to set, and destinations to change. The deck was a place for orders and dictations, not fondness and pleasantries. There would be a time and place for that later.

Still, Timaeus thought, Yugi looked so happy and Timaeus was so proud of him that it seemed cruel not to give him some type of reward.

His lips parting with the faintest whisper, Timaeus leaned in—then just beyond the wisp of his blind eye, he caught Otogi limping back towards the stern. He spun around immediately.

Yugi felt the sudden shift in his stature and turned around.

"Otogi!" Yugi called him first, then rushed to block his path. "Where are you going?"

"Up the stern," Otogi replied, though not unkindly. "They'll need me to—"

Yugi's brows knitted together at the brush-off. "Not with that arm you are not," he asserted, stern-eyed and lips a narrow frown.

"Just so," Otogi protested, more chivalrous than argumentative. "I'm able-bodied enough and—AH!" With the gentlest of touches, Yugi tapped his wounded arm. Whatever endurance the man had prepared to defend died in his throat. The sound that followed lasted half a heartbeat—a wracked, aggrieved shout—but it was enough to confirm his condition. He wrenched away hissing, and clenched the railing with his good arm for support.

Yugi's neutral mask did not soften.

"Just nothing, alright," he stated, harsh and hard. Then his eyes softened. "Your arm is fractured; the bones need to set. Until then, the pain will cloud your mind and worse yet, you could lose your mobility if it doesn't heal properly."

Otogi's face contorted between frustration and fear. "I'm the Bosun," he protested, but the remark felt watery and overused.

"And I'd rather have my bosun rested and able-bodied than working himself into a crippled state," Timaeus stepped in conclusively. Otogi was dutiful but stubborn. His presentism was admirable but unsafe. Otogi spun to him, and for the slightest moment, his eyes flickered with fear. Timaeus allowed his gaze to soften, but his tone did not lack authority. "You heard him." He jerked his chin towards Yugi.

Otogi's face said he wanted to protest, but faced with both their unyielding masks, he ultimately hunched his shoulders, defeated.

A soft hand brushed his shoulder and gently shoved him to his feet. When he looked down, Yugi was warmly smiling. "Rest easy, Mr. Otogi," he mollified. "Timaeus did not make you Boatswain for your muscly arms." He whispered his assurance, not wanting the man to appear weak. "He needed a man with wits for planning, scheduling, and assigning work."

Otogi's face was blank, his lips a frown—but his eyes were grateful. He hissed when he moved his bandaged arm. The other moved to grab it but Yugi caught it and shook his head.

"Go to the infirmary," he ordered gently. "I'll fetch you some herbs for the pain."

Otogi nodded and departed down the steps. Yugi was close behind him. Seizing his chance, Timaeus stepped forward and grabbed Yugi's hand. The younger man spun to him, a question forming on his lips, but it was swallowed by Timaeus' kiss.

It was a quick kiss—fugacious and no more than a heartbeat—but for Timaeus and his consort, it may as well have been a thousand years, and with it, he poured all his respect, admiration, and the faintest traces of pride. When he pulled away a moment later and gazed into Yugi's wide eyes, he whispered low and sultry in his ear, "Well done." He punctured it with a kiss to the cheek and flashed his brightest, beamish smile—glowing with all the receptivity he had for the younger.

It was all he said before he pulled away. He had already lingered far too long and now was not the time. There was work that needed to be done. For now, he would wait, but later when their tasks were done ans they were alone in the privy of their quarters, then he would properly premeditate his lover. Out of the corner of his emerald eye, he caught Yugi proudly beaming and his whole expression brightened with laughter and accomplishment.

The faintest trace of a smile curled at Timaeus' lips, and it stayed there long after his little one had disappeared below deck and The Eye had successfully come about to kiss the wind.

X X X

Yugi skipped down the steps to the infirmary, his smile wide and face beaming. Timaeus' proud face and approving eyes were still visible each time he closed his eyes and felt a tingle on his lips. That kiss had ended much too early for his liking—he'd barely had any time to appreciate it, let alone respond—but he understood why. There was work to be done, and Otogi needed Yugi and the crew needed Timaeus. Open flirtations and obvious displays of affection were for the bed chamber not on the open deck where all eyes were on them judging for any sign of weakness.

Yet still Timaeus had risked stealing a kiss from him.

Yugi covered his mouth to keep from giggling, cheeks flushing pink. He let out the last of his laughter and shook himself to regain his composure. Not yet, he told himself, but followed it with a promise. Not yet.

His crewmate needed him first. He journeyed through the mess deck and into the galley where Rhebekka already had a thick bowl of boiled potatoes prepared and grills of fish cooling on the racks. Water still bubbled over a doused fire, so Yugi fished a mug full of it and started up the backstairs to the infirmary.

Otogi sat patiently on one of the swinging cots, his arm sling resting peacefully on his lap. He watched Yugi set the steaming mug down on a table, then pull out a bowl and a small elongated tool from the cabinet, and search through bottles and jars of dried herbs for a replacement for poppy seed.

"I'm grateful," he said again, less begrudging than before.

Yugi spun to him, jar in hand, and blinked. "Pardon?"

"My arm," Otogi repeated, not looking at him. "I've not been kind to you and you still could've chosen to leave me, but you didn't. I am grateful to you for that." His voice sounded so hollow and heavy under the weight of its own regret.

"You don't have to—" Yugi started, but Otogi cut him off.

"I know I don't," he said sharply, but not unkindly. His jaw clenched with a quiver and his eyebrows twitched like crawling, uncertain insects. "But I am. And I want you to know it."

Immediately, Yugi understood—and to spare the man's pride further, he simply smiled and nodded. "You're welcome." When Otogi nodded back, he returned to the cabinet and pulled out a large leafy green sprig, stripping it of its many star-shaped leaves, and began grinding them into a powdery paste.

Otogi stared at the wall, gnawing his lip between his teeth. A question hung loose on his tongue and heavy in his mind, unsure if he was worthy of asking it.

As if asking it would somehow change anything.

"Did you love him, then?"

Yugi dropped the pestle into the mortar, startled. He spun so quickly he nearly spilled the evening's work.

"Who—Timaeus?"

"Who else?" Otogi chuckled, but his eyes had not left the wall. "You were betrothed to him, weren't ya? Or was that just a story to please the masses?" he said in a jocular voice, but Yugi heard no humor in it.

Yugi just stared at him, too frozen to speak, but Otogi's next words dragged him out from his stupor. "Or are we all just bodyguards ushering you to safety?"

Yugi snorted at that. "That was my brother's doing, not mine. I never agreed to it."

That seemed to have taken the man by surprise. "I don't understand." He tried to sit up, but the swaying of the cot and his injured arm allowed for minimal movement. "If you didn't want to marry him, then—"

"Oh, I was never against marrying him, if that's what you think," Yugi confessed softly, returning to his work. He dumped the ground contents into the mug and started stirring. "I was mad at him, certainly. Had he outright asked me, I would have not hesitated. But once my safety became an issue, I… started thinking that his interests in me were only that of… duty and not desire. I was ready to hate him forever for that."

Otogi blinked at that, surprised. Suddenly, the boy's earlier behavior at the start of their journey made sense. "And you didn't ask him about it?" He was astonished. "You were alone with him all that night and most of the morning. We all know he didn't touch you. Surely you must've talked some?"

Yugi blushed and stopped stirring—his color the dark burning red of shame. "Well, rather… it was he who talked, and I refused to listen. He tried to explain but I wouldn't hear of it—the lot of good it did the both of us… If I'm being honest, I think I was avoiding talking to him in case it was only duty he saw in our union." He continued stirring, though the leaves had already dissolved. It felt odd discussing something so personal and unexplored with someone who was virtually a stranger and, not an hour earlier, considered him an adversary. And yet something about it felt strangely clarifying… as if by speaking it out loud, he was able to believe it in his heart and not just state it in his mind.

"And had he asked you properly?" Otogi asked, more curious than anything else.

Yugi set the mug down, a blush crossing his face—but there was no doubt or hesitation in his voice. "I would've said yes." He didn't even have to think about it.

"Then… do you?" Otogi repeated his first question, but there was an added uncertainty to it. "Tell me truly: do you love him? Really love him, I mean. Not just want to bed him—I know you want that, and he does, as well—but do you love him?"

Did he love him? Beyond the desire Timaeus awakened in him with each kiss, and the carnal pleasures his flesh craved with his every touch? Yugi had to think about it. All of it was still so new to him, he almost wondered if he had enough knowledge of the situation to earnestly decide. It would be a lie if he said he didn't, but to confess it so soon would be a worse one.

"I'm… not certain." It was the only answer he could give.

Then he turned around, the mug still steaming in his hands, and smiled down at the glowing amber liquid inside. "But I… am falling for him. I was before in Kemet, but now… I can't explain it, but every day, it grows deeper. If I had to guess when it started, I suppose it was that night on the ship, when we spoke for the first time and he had listened to me and held me. No one had ever done that for me before… I guess I loved him then… I guess… I do."

He was speaking more to himself than anyone else. He'd almost forgotten Otogi was in the room until he heard the ropes of the cot creak, and he looked up to see Otogi was shaking as he laid himself down.

"Mr. Otogi?" he asked, concerned, and set the mug down on the stand beside him. The man wasn't shaking violently, but his face stared at the wall—reflective and distant and with the slightest hint of remorse. "How are you feeling?" he asked, apprehensive.

"Like a fool," Otogi confessed, closing his eyes. His chuckle was humorless. "Like a damned fool."

Since last chapter ended up being more Otogi and Yugi with Timaeus as a caemo i switched it so the beginning of this chapter was from Timaeus' POV and it flowed SO MUCH better when i did! It was so much fun showing off his pride side and how turned on he is by Yugi taking control and showing how he can handle a situation...huge step forward for Yugi in two fold! XD

And the ending was to confirm for Otogi what Ryou, Rhebekka and Timaeus already know...so three down and one to go, and that last one is gonna be the toughest one yet! and i've got the SWEETEST plan for it ;)

I had to so a LOT of research on storms, winds, the Mediterranean and a butt load of other stuff to get this chapter accurate-and i wanted to get them to Locri as soon as possible but still have time to add all the other stuff i wanted so this helped! Man this is a long arc isn't it?

Glossary

Bosun — nautical term; another term for Boatswain or the superior office responsible for all the components of the ship's hull and deck—though more in terms of planning, making schedules, supervising, etc.

Jamsins — from the Arabic "khamsin", an oppressive, hot southerly or southeasterly wind blowing in Egypt in spring. This is a sandstorm carried by hot winds of the South, which causes extensive damage to crops and inconvenience to humans and animals. These storms often occur in the first months of the year.

haboob – (Arabic: هَبوب habūb "blasting/drafting") is a type of intense dust storm in North Africa and the Arabian peninsula created when a thunderstorm collapses.

Downburst — modern storm; a fierce and can be dangerous series of winds that are straight lined in all directions and precede a fierce thunderstorm.

Notes on Time and Distance:

Just a little reminder: the Ancient Egyptians counted days differently than we do today, so a week was ten days and a month was three weeks, so a fortnight (as Timaeus explains) would be about two ten-days or 20 days (two weeks). I had to double check that twice because I wanted Timaeus and Yugi to have enough time to steam over, argue, and then reconcile, but also keep accurate to how long it's taking them to get to Locri, especially given the Eye of Timaeus is known for speed. Fortunately, my research on the Mediterranean and sea voyages helped out with that and since they've been going against the wind, or had no wind and had oars—taking into consideration they only sail during the day, so the boat is stagnant at night, and taking into account how stormy the Mediterranean was and how storms affect travel distance and time—I estimate they've been on the water for about 20 days and are directly south of Greece right now. So that storm I had them face served an additional purpose.

A bit of geography: I have Atlantis situated as the landmass between Italy and Greece in what is today known as the Ionian Sea, and the way it's set up is that the capital island is in the middle of the sea and then it's a giant land mass surrounded by three river wings of water, and cutting through each of these is a waterway that connects to the sea in a triangle shape (I drew a map of it) so as it is now they ARE at Atlantis—it's directly North East of them—but since they need to get to Locri which is the west, they'd have to skim along the coast towards the toe of Italy then travel diagonally toward that entrance to the most outer ring and then sail directly to Locri. Yugi's plan is to sail through the East entrance, located just west of the tip of modern Greece, sail diagonally on that channel to the outermost ring and then sail that loop to Locri. I estimate it will still take a few days (since Atlantis is huge and they ARE still traveling through, so possibly 5-7 days) but this way, instead of sailing on the coast which is further distance but on open sea which may be faster if there's wind, they can avoid the risk of storms by taking the river, which is a shorter distance but it's slower obviously.

Next Update: February 21st

Next Time: A forgotten face makes a spotlight, Yugi makes a fascinating discover and Timaeus gives his brave little consort a "reward" for all his hard work.

As always read, review, comment, critique, ask questions, have fun and go nuts!