Chapter XXXIV: Lies

"What did Seto want?"

Atem debated ignoring the question. Yugi would have backed off immediately if he did—unless he thought it a big enough reason to push. He wondered if he could get away with claiming Seto was gone before he got there. He even thought to say he'd changed his mind at some point and decided it wasn't worth asking Atem for whatever favor he'd wanted. But then his eyes shot to Yami. The hatchling was watching him, head tilted and expression curious. He didn't look as if he knew, but rather seemed impatient to hear about it. Atem looked away again.

"Jaden said he thinks Seto's offspring are the reason for the other dragonets dying. Seto came to ask for help in…protecting them."

"No."

Atem blinked and looked over. "No?"

"No," Yugi said more firmly. "That won't be happening. He doesn't deserve the help and he's stupid for coming to you. He's treated you like dung since the moment you hatched. And he's jaded and jealous and doesn't deserve your aid. I don't care for him. I don't even care for his nest any longer. He took for granted that your familial ties meant you owed him. You don't."

Atem considered him a moment, then shifted his weight. "I know. But he wasn't coming to ask me."

"Then who was he—? No." Yugi bristled and slammed his tail into the ground. "Did you hit him? You should have hit him!"

"I did, but it was not because of that."

"Why would he even ask for that? How dare he!"

Atem nodded slightly. "I know."

"He's such a presumptuous pile of dung!"

Atem nodded again. "Yes."

"You should have beaten his skull in."

"I know."

"You should have torn his head off."

"Yes."

"I hope you threatened his life!"

"I did."

"I hope you scarred him!"

"Previously."

"That stupid, stupid, stupid bastard!"

Atem flinched, startled. His eyes shot to Yami and back. "Yugi—"

"I should have followed you," the Gandora snarled, bristling and quivering with rage. "I should have followed you and ripped his throat out and peed on his broken corpse!"

Atem blinked. "Little one—"

"I should have boxed him until his head rolled from his neck." Yugi bore his teeth. "I should have hollowed his skull out and pooped on it!"

Atem looked slowly toward Yami. Their son was gaping at Yugi, mouth wide open with shock, but the beginnings of a grin on his lips. "Don't you dare repeat a word he just said," he snickered. Yami glanced at him but the grin only grew. "Yami."

"You told him no," Yugi insisted, snapping his teeth. "You told him no."

"I… Yes, initially."

"Initially?"

Atem watched Yugi intently. "It's not my decision. It's Yami's."

"You want to take him to the camp and expose him to everyone there? Atem, are you insane?" he all but roared. He had sprung forward, shaking and snarling. "You can't tell me you considered this for even a moment! Why would you do that?"

Atem flinched when Yugi stopped an inch away, spitting, "Atem!"

He opened his mouth to answer, just as Yugi startled and jumped away. Yami was between them, snarling and spitting at him. He had puffed up, lunging and snapping his teeth but never quite moving forward as if to spring. Both wings were up and flared and Atem could see the scales along his back raised into quills.

"Yami…"

The hatchling huffed. "Don't yell at him," he snapped. "You don't yell at him."

Yugi looked so chastised Atem almost forgot the reason Yami was so angry. He almost forgot why Yami had sprung between them. He almost even forgot why Yugi had been angry before. He looked mortified, and Atem had the sudden realization Yugi had been so scared he'd lashed out verbally. He hadn't meant to scare him or freak Yami out. He hadn't even slightly thought to hurt him. He'd simply lashed out verbally, scared to anger.

"I… I…"

Yami snapped his teeth loudly.

Atem looked over at his parents. They were both staring, his mom infuriated but his father curious. Valon and Mana were gaping at Yami, as if they expected Yugi to slap him out of the way at any moment. When he turned back, Yugi had dropped to the ground on his belly, panting loudly. Atem watched Yami huff before the hatchling spun around to look at him. The bristle was immediately gone, the glare removed from his face, his wings lowered. He bumped beaks with him and purred, rubbing against his legs.

Yugi licked his paws compulsively, still panting, but the trembling ceased after a while. Atem stared at him a moment, then considered Yami. The hatchling looked pleased with himself, as if he had always wanted to stop an argument between the two of them. He butted his shoulder and looked to Yugi again.

"Did we… Did Yami display one of his talents when Seto was there?"

Yugi blinked and looked up. "What? No. I don't… I don't think so."

"He…he said he came to speak to Yami because he knows Yami must have some kind of abilities. He claimed if I'm truly divine, then Yami would be, too."

"That's the legend," his mom commented when Yugi didn't answer immediately. "The legend is that one God Dragon can produce another in any clutch. The idea is that they'll always be stronger than any neighboring dragon, but one will always be a deity of some kind."

"I don't see how that could be possible."

"Most God Dragons don't breed, Atem," his father mumbled. "It's too likely to overthrow the balance. So, they don't usually breed."

He nodded slightly. That made sense. His eyes shot to Yugi and then Yami. "It doesn't matter. He wants to speak to you. I said I would relay the message that he wanted to see you. I did not make any promises you would entertain his request."

Yami looked up at him, considering for a moment. "I can at least speak with him." He paused. "You and Dad have to be there, though. I'm not speaking to him alone."

Atem wondered if he was saying that for their benefit or if he was truly worried about what might happen if he were to be left with Seto. He couldn't think of a reason for Yami to be afraid of him. That didn't make much sense. Unless he remembered Atem's torture at his paws when he was younger, then Yami had no reason to question his sibling. He looked away again, nodding once more, and he regarded Yugi in his peripheral.

His mate was watching Yami with an extremely uneasy expression. When he realized Atem was looking at him, he glanced over, grimaced, and ducked his head apologetically. Atem almost stepped closer to lick his forehead, but the impulse died soon after. Instead he turned away, shifting his paws, and tried not to snarl with annoyance.

Seto always had to do something to upset his happiness.

"How would you even summon him? It'll look suspicious if you go to the camp and lead him back and he returns alone again."

Atem glanced over. He hadn't considered it. "I'm sure he'll be back soon enough. He was quick to return when he needed my help the first time. And he refused to back off for long when we agreed to help if he'd leave the territory a while. I don't think this should be any different. In fact, it'll likely be sooner that he returns. Now he has an entire nest of five to be concerned about. It's no longer about himself or Kisara."

Yami looked at them with his head bent all the way backward. Atem smiled slightly; he'd loved doing that when he was younger as well. Peering at the world upside down had always been fun. "He'll probably be back by the end of the day," he said with an oddly certain tone. "It wouldn't make sense for him to delay longer. If Jaden declared the nest a threat yesterday and you told him you'd allow me to make the choice to see him or not, it would only make sense he'd return nightly to find out."

Yugi bristled, hissing, "I hate your brothers."

Atem chuckled. "I know. I'm not too thrilled with them, either."

The Gandora sighed and licked his forehead, but didn't bother to smile. He looked exhausted. "It's not fair. Seto is worthless. He doesn't need to speak to you or Yami—ever."

"I know." He tried to smile but failed. "I know, Yugi."

"You should have cut his head off."

"Yesterday?"

"Or any other time before that."

Atem laughed before he could stop himself. "What? Yugi, I don't want to go around killing for fun or pettiness."

"I know. And I'm glad you didn't—and that you still don't. I just wish the three of them could have been an exception. They all deserve it. They're the worst dragons in existence." Yugi sighed. "They don't deserve to be able to interact with you at all."

He snickered and shook his head. "None of them do," he agreed. His eyes shot to Yami. The hatchling had moved, seated between them as if he were playing referee again. Atem wondered just how badly they'd scared him during that spat. Yami was hyperaware of every step Yugi took, as if he were trying to plan and intercept any movement he made. "But killing them senselessly wasn't on my list of things to do then. It still isn't now, either."

Yugi gave him a resigned look. "I know."

Yami blinked and glanced over. He curled his tail around his paws and watched Atem for a long time. "He just reached the territory. He's headed for the river den again."

"He can find his way here," Atem dismissed. He watched Yugi in his peripheral as the Gandora bristled and glared. He was sulking, wings tucked firmly into his sides and face pulled into a grimace of disapproval. He shifted his weight anxiously, noticed Atem watching him, then looked away as if he might strike out.

Atem felt both the impulse to comfort him and to turn away. He chose the latter for the sake of not upsetting Yami somehow. The hatchling looked as if he might jump between them again at any point. Atem didn't think he was quite past the fact that Yugi had yelled at him, and if he sprang between them when he was trying to comfort him, who knew what adverse effect it might have between the three of them?

He knew Yugi hadn't forgiven himself for his loss of temper, either. He knew he would have calmed down if Atem had backed away or even raised his voice to meet his. It wasn't an instinct for him to further an argument, however, because he did not care for it. Fights that lingered at the edge of becoming physical were best abandoned and he didn't know he wouldn't lash out too hard if he defended himself, so he'd stepped back and avoided. It was simple enough. Raising his voice before Yugi could get to such an aggravated state was usually what snapped him out of it. But he'd startled him with how quickly he'd gone from haughty to enraged.

Yami shouldn't have been there to witness it. That was the other problem. If they had been arguing, they should have removed themselves from where he could interfere. It wasn't that Atem didn't appreciate it, but it had been unnecessary. They butted heads sometimes. No mates were so perfect they didn't. Even his parents had fought. It was beyond where the four of them could hear before Atem left, and had likely been exposed when he'd fled. But all the same.

It didn't matter how aggressive Yugi sounded at the moment. He wouldn't have hurt him and Atem knew that.

He wouldn't have raised a paw at him.

Surely Yami understood that as well…

He didn't understand why Yami had reacted at all. It didn't make sense for him to jump between them like that, unless he'd sensed something Atem hadn't. Maybe he'd ask him about it at some point, but now was clearly not the time.

"How far is he?"

"About a mile." Yami looked over at Yugi. "It'll be okay! I just want to know what he wants to talk to me about!"

Yugi grunted and turned to Atem. "And he didn't tell you what it was?"

"He only said Yami had to have powers if I was actually a God Dragon."

Yugi bristled and sprang to his paws, glaring. "If?" he spat. "Oh, I should beat sense into his tiny head."

Yami snickered and grinned at Atem. "He's stupid."

"And spiteful," Yugi declared.

"And mean."

"And pathetic."

"And arrogant."

"And loathsome."

Atem smirked and shook his head. Seto looked between the three of them in bewilderment as he landed. The God Dragon turned away, smirking wider.

"And ignorant!"

"And reproachful!"

"And gross!"

Yugi burst out laughing and nodded sharply. "Gross is an understatement. Disgusting is the word you should use, Yami," he said, glaring at Seto with clear aggravation.

Yami snickered and wiggled, blurting, "Disgusting!" in a long, drawn out word. Atem smirked and shook his head once more, watching them both with a warm feeling in his chest.

"Lovely," Seto drawled. His eyes cut to Atem. "And this is your mate."

"He is," Atem agreed happily. "And he's absolutely correct. You are loathsome, and I would happily kill you if I had reason."

His brother snorted and turned to face Yami without a second look. "You've grown," he murmured, smiling slightly. "I didn't think you'd be so much bigger."

Normally Yami would have done as every other dragonet and preened beneath such praise. Instead his son peered at Seto with an annoyed expression.

"Why should I have to go to the Lightning Clan camp to see who killed the two hatchlings?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "You can't just look into it yourself? Why do I have to be involved in any of it?"

Seto blinked, bristled, and stepped back with wide eyes. Atem smirked and shook his head. Yugi stood taller, head raised proudly. Yami scowled and jumped to his paws.

"I don't owe you anything. You realize that, right? You keep your mouth shut because you're afraid of Atem. You're afraid of Yugi. Your silence is easily bought." Yami tossed his head, glaring. "I have no obligation to you or your hatchlings. Being family doesn't mean anything. You're not one of my fathers. And I'd rather pretend you didn't exist for all the stress you bring them both."

Atem blinked and looked over, startled. "Yami…"

"You talk down at Atem and you sneer at Yugi, and yet you expect me to be so easily driven to help you? What is it? You suspect me easily manipulated because of my age? You think I don't know what you did to Atem when he was my age?" Yami snarled, bristling and lashing his tail. "Surprise. Atem is a true God Dragon and I'm a second generation deity. Amazing, isn't it, what came from two 'spineless, worthless, pathetic males unworthy of the title of being dragons'?"

Yugi bristled and looked as if he might speak, but fell silent when Atem shook his head slightly. The Gandora scowled, peering at him questioningly, but turned back to Seto with his lips drawn back to show the ridges of his teeth.

"How…?" Seto whipped around, snapping his teeth at Atem. "Can you do this, too?"

"I wouldn't waste my talent on you if I could."

Yami snarled softly and thumped his tail. "Don't speak to him like that. You have no right!" he spat. When he lunged, Seto startled so hard he fell backwards into a seated position. Yami snarled and puffed up, bristling more furiously and flexing his wings in agitation. "You came here to ask me to help you. Yet the entire time you've stood there berating my parents and acting as if I'm too stupid to think for myself. You don't think I know how to see past false pleasantries? You're needy and disgusting, and I was willing to at least speak to you about the situation and what you wanted from me."

Atem tilted his head. Yugi was staring at Seto with an expression that said he'd clearly rip his head off if he got the chance. Yami had not lessened his furious expression.

"You don't understand how infuriating this is. You'd been so interested in me before because I was unique and related to you. You'd wanted to speak to me then, to play with me even, and now you're condescending and only hope to gain from this venture. You want me to find out who did this to spare your hatchlings, because somehow your bloodline is too great to be the cause of this?" Yami scoffed. He thumped his tail again, glanced at Atem, and then spat, "The greatest dragon in your bloodline is Atem. And, even now, as I say this, you scoff."

Seto was staring at his sibling with a horrified expression. Atem glanced at him and then Yugi and back. Yami shook his head angrily.

"You don't recognize how important he is. You never will. It's sad. It's pathetic." The hatchling watched him for a long time, then sighed and looked away. "I'm going to do it. But it's not for you. It's not even for my siblings. It's for Atem."

He blinked and raised his head. Yugi looked over in confusion, his aggressive stance eased by bewilderment. They waited in silence for the dragnet to continue but he failed to. Yami sat there, staring at the ground with a troubled expression. When he finally looked over at him, it was to tell Atem, "I don't like him. You should bite him."

Atem snorted, startled as he smiled faintly. "I should. But he'd get stuck in my teeth."

"Ew!"

Seto was silent for a long time, then snapped, "You can hear thoughts?"

"I do. And I've heard yours. They're despicable."

Atem glanced at his brother sideways. "He's answered your question about helping."

Seto shot him a furious look. "You—"

"Leave," Yami snapped, turning on him angrily. "I want you to leave. Your thoughts give me a headache. You're just…toxic. Go away. We'll come by the camp tomorrow, sometime after sunset. Just…go."

The Felgrand seemed startled but didn't answer. After a moment he dipped his head and Yami huffed to take his thanks elsewhere. Seto glanced at Atem, pausing as if to speak, and then shook it off. He was gone a few moments later. Atem watched until he faded into a speck against the clouds and turned to Yami once more.

"He's…so…arrogant," Yami mumbled, looking over. "I thought maybe it was Yugi poking fun at him for being so selfish, but it's not. He's so…entitled. It's disgusting. I don't…I don't understand."

"Bakura is pure evil," Yugi stated with a shake of his head. "And Malik is a follower who only does as the next. He doesn't care one way or the other about any of them, though he lingers with Bakura the most. I don't want you to ever have to meet either of them."

Atem looked away. "He's probably told them of you by now."

"He has. I saw it in his thoughts. Bakura doesn't believe him, though, and Malik is skeptical even if he pretends to believe him." Yami tilted his head and walked over to rub beaks with him. "But it doesn't matter. I'm okay. We'll find out what we can at the camp and then we'll leave immediately after."

Atem bristled faintly. "And if we can't?"

"Why wouldn't we be able to?"

"Because you shouldn't exist." Atem ignored the furious look Yugi leveled him. Yami stared up at him with his head tilted. "You shouldn't exist, and if Akunadin or the others hear of you being mine…"

"We'll say I'm Yugi's," he said confidently. "Seto won't tell the rest of the Clan that you're my father in such a direct sense. He'll say you adopted me. It's easier to believe and if I don't show my abilities, who's to say it's more than a meeting of family?"

Atem studied him. "I don't know how likely it is to pass so easily."

"It'll have to," Yami stated. "No one needs to know otherwise."

He nodded slightly. "Right." His eyes shot to Yugi who was still glaring but not as intently. "We can say you either found and brought the egg to me, or…"

"No one is going to be stupid enough to believe I would have been disloyal to you," Yugi grumbled. He huffed. "Not after the fight I put up just to get to this point. You have no idea how many rumors I chased or how hard I followed after the tiniest hint of a trail. If you knew half of that, you'd understand why no one would ever believe it."

Atem snorted. "I believe that."

"Good." Yugi turned to Yami. "So, in other words, I think our best choice of action is to say I found your egg when I was hunting. There was no parent nearby and the den seemed…abandoned. You were the only egg of three not to rot and that might be why your parents abandoned you. So I brought the egg to Atem. We argued a little, and then Atem agreed to take you as an adopted hatchling should you hatch. When you did, we named you Yami because of the color of your egg."

Atem looked at Yami. The hatchling was staring at Yugi, listening and nodding as he spun the tale for him. When he turned to Atem, he chirped, "And now you love me as your own because I'm amazing!"

Atem chuckled. "You are," he agreed. "But you need to refrain from showing just how amazing you are, understand? We can't let the entire world know you have abilities. You'll be hunted like a piece of prey."

Yami's eyes glazed for a split second. Then he grinned. "Of course not! No one needs to know! I won't say or do anything that would hint at that!" He paused. "And I'll…I'll pretend I'm closer to Yugi—to make sure that no one suspects anything."

Yugi tilted his head and licked Yami's cheek. "You're so sweet to consider it. But I don't think you'll need to go that far."

Yami didn't look away from Atem. "Yes. Because you'd be the one to incubate my egg. Because my egg was black, and that's a Fire Dragon's color."

Atem's stomach churned. "Yes."

"But what Fire Dragon would be in this territory? It's almost unnatural."

Atem couldn't recall the species name. But he remembered them. He remembered there was a species of Fire Dragon far more adapted to thrive in his territory. It was powerful and irrationally terrible, with the ability to all but survive any terrain. They were not afraid of water; it was the one species Atem knew of but for the Tyrant Dragon, which was hardy enough that water failed to daunt it.

"There…is one. But I don't know… I don't remember the name."

Yugi huffed. "You could be a hybrid—like you are." He paused. "Jonouchi always told me if you have to lie, you must do it well. And if you need to do it so well as to save a life, the truth needs to be hidden within it to keep the threads straight."

Atem looked up. "Hmm?"

"So, how about we…change the story a little?"

Yami looked up, eyes wide with interest. "To what?"

Yugi exhaled slowly, focusing entirely on Atem. He rapidly searched his face, studying and picking details and working together the lie he needed. After a few minutes of silence, he raised his chin and offered, "Atem found the egg. We were hunting. I was further ahead and chasing and he smelled the rot. He checked the nest and found two eggs. One was rotted and the other seemed to have survived. We discussed it, argued a little when I insisted we keep it, and we staked out the nest for a few hours until we determined the parents would not be returning. From there…we removed the egg and traveled to the den in the valley because we believed it was a Fire Dragon hybrid. He hatched, and because we couldn't settle on a name, I suggested Yami because of the color of his egg. He's close to Atem because Atem is the one who found him, but I incubated him the most. Because of circumstance, he's smaller than he should be but his age shall be older. He's almost nine or ten moons, well out of range of the eclipse, and he's intuitive. He's not a God Dragon, but he likes to pretend to be because he likes to emulate Atem."

Yami blinked and frowned. "Do you think that will work?"

"It's close enough to the truth that it's not a complete lie. You are a hybrid, we did move dens, Atem feared you'd died of neglect or rot, you are intuitive and emulate Atem, and I did incubate the egg the most when he told me." Yugi exhaled slowly. "Your size…will be explained by malnourishment in the time that we found you. Your sibling's rotted egg will give the idea you were on the brink and we saved you by miracle. That ensures your size is no longer a concern, even when we declare you older than you are."

"And his species?"

"We don't know it." Yugi shook his head. "We don't know what he's a mix of and we don't know what species his parents were because we never met or saw them."

"And when they ask me why I didn't know of a dragon in my territory hiding a nest?"

"A suitor who didn't make it."

Atem blinked and something clawed desperately for his attention. He tried to focus on it, to bring it full center, but it fled him immediately like a mouse caught between his paws. He looked away. "I suppose that would make sense. But how long ago did they challenge me and where was the second parent?"

"The second parent could have been the Fire Dragon for all we know. His mother might have challenged you and died for it when she refused to admit her loss." Yugi paused. "It's not impossible. It's happened thousands of times. We'll say she insisted on challenging you even despite your protests you were mated. You pinned her, but she refused to listen. She attempted to force herself on you, and you struck her down. It's not unusual."

He nodded. "I had many suitors who assumed that position."

"Exactly."

Yami was quiet for a long moment. "Okay. I can pretend that's what happened. I don't see why that would be hard to follow and repeat. If anyone asks, I'll repeat what you said. And, when someone asks why you brought me there, it'll be simple enough. I was brought to meet my siblings now that they're of age to leave the nursery."

Atem looked over. "Yes."

Yami nodded slowly, then jumped up to rub beaks with him again. "Okay, good. Can we go to bed now? I'm exhausted. Seto…upset me."

Atem licked his forehead. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

Yugi relaxed visibly, then licked Atem's cheek. He rubbed his head against his shoulder and sagged into him gently. He looked as exhausted as Atem felt, as Yami seemed. Atem smiled when Yami met his eye and stood straighter, beaming, and wondered for a moment just how easily things could crumble apart if they messed up.