Okay guys! Next update will probably be the 26th. I have plans for the 21st to the 24th and I don't think I'll have time to squeeze in an update.

Regardless, thanks for reading (and/or reviewing, faving, or following)! If I don't respond to a review (which I feel like I've been slacking with a lot for some reason this year) just know I read it and planned to respond but I didn't get the time. I appreciate all of them and try to respond as often as possible but life gets in the way sometimes.

Chapter LXVI: Teachers

Yugi looked as if he wanted to vomit. Atem watched him as if he truly expected him to hack up what food he might have eaten earlier. Honda searched their faces. Yugi was horrified, but Atem was…unperturbed. He looked for all the part as if Honda had merely said he was a Tyrant Dragon, as if it were the most common news he'd ever heard. Honda bore his teeth and raised his head. He blinked and bristled, shifting his weight.

"You knew?"

"I suspected," Atem answered, turning back. Yugi watched Atem as if he were an unidentified animal for a moment or two. "I suspected it, yes, because of the way you were not present for the meeting and yet you were still alive. It did not take long to deduce that Keith had gotten to you personally but spared you for some reason. I'd have guessed at the idea of being mated but Keith was ruthless and domineering and the Clan hadn't been enslaved as he did with the Lightning Dragons."

He exhaled a long, slow breath, scowling. "Your intelligence is rather alarming."

Yugi grinned slightly in his peripheral. Atem snorted and shook his head.

"I promise only to use it to better my life and Yugi's."

Honda snickered and shook his head, looking away. "You're an imbecile."

"Thanks. I try."

He smirked. "Well, regardless. Keith learned every attack and kill technique from me. I taught him everything I knew. And he used it to tear the Clan apart and enslave the Lightning Clan and find his way to you."

Atem snorted. "Oh, Keith found his way to me long before he tore the Clan apart, did he not? I had assumed it was while he had still sanctuary here that he came for me."

Honda huffed and looked at Atem's long claws. They were like talons, huge and sharp. He remembered being told Sky Dragons used them for navigation in the air more than battle, but he wondered now how true it was. Atem's had to be soaked in blood, from tip to base. He was sure there was no true way to measure the immensity of the liquid seeped into their layers.

"He did. He never told us he challenged you. But I saw the wounds. You'd taken a chunk out of his leg and almost disemboweled him, which from what I heard is how you killed him at the cliffs."

Atem smirked. "I severed his heart after disemboweling him, yes."

"Heart?"

"They'd morphed together at some point. I assume it came from eating all those dragon hearts as he had." The God Dragon fell quiet again. "But his hearts had all…joined together and made a rather large mass in the center of his ribs."

Honda shivered. "Disgusting." He looked at Yugi and then back. "Regardless. He came back from your challenge torn up and exhausted. I always wondered later if he'd crossed paths with you but he refused to say anything and he pretended he wasn't hurt to begin with. But you could see the rage growing in him. It was slow and steady. Every day he grew just a little worse, snapping at someone or giving another a sharp glance where he hadn't before."

Yugi bristled. "You're not blaming this on Atem," he spat.

Atem blinked. "Yugi, that's not what he was—"

"No, Yugi, I'm not." He blinked. "I wouldn't dream of blaming Atem for what happened. I noticed he was nastier then, but when he was gone after the attack I realized I'd rationalized his behaviors before. The anger was always inside of him. He just didn't show it as directly before. But there had always been furious looks and scowls and the dark sideways glance. He didn't care enough to keep up appearances any longer when you beat him. That was the difference. From then he became more naked in his disrespect and anger."

Atem nodded slightly. "I suppose the loss made him bitter."

"He was always bitter." Honda searched his face. "There were a lot of reasons for him to be bitter when he was younger, not withstanding how he was treated by some of the other Clan members. But a lot of it was of his own volition as well. He was odd in appearance and he was always cold whenever he spoke to anyone. There was a barrier at any point… I was the only one he didn't immediately dislike."

Yugi shook his head abruptly. "He wasn't there when I helped you dispatch Hirutani and put Hanasaki in his place."

Honda jerked his beak toward Atem. "He went to face him and he didn't come back for several days. Hanasaki was leader by the time he got back. His absence and wounds further aggravated and estranged him to us." He fell quiet for a long minute. Then he grunted, exhausted as he recalled everything once more with sharp clarity. "Everyone was suspicious but no one outwardly said anything. He felt it. I know he did. He stopped caring about hiding how angry he was after. Soon enough, he…"

Yugi looked at Atem and back, twitching in his peripheral and flexing his claws awkwardly. Honda could tell he wanted to reassure Atem, but didn't know how. And when he turned back, he could tell Yugi wanted to say something of the same effect to him. He was right. It wasn't their fault. But it didn't matter.

Keith hadn't blamed either of them directly.

He'd always hated Hanasaki. He'd seen him as weak and small. Keith had been a beast before a lamb, waiting and stalking and ready in the dark to sink his claws and teeth in. When he'd finally lashed out…

He looked at Atem. "We were patrolling when he decided he'd had enough. There were rumors he'd been spotted in another territory and chased a Wind Dragon back to their Clan grounds at some point. I took it in stride because Keith could be hostile, but he didn't try to antagonize like that." He hissed a breath and bore his teeth. "But we were patrolling and he was quiet the entire time. It wasn't a new occurrence, but this silence was…charged. It was all bubbling up to the surface. He was much worse off than I'd assumed."

"Worse off than assumed? Why would you assume…?" Yugi mumbled. "I mean, it was Keith, but…"

Honda scoffed and looked away. "He was reopening the wounds on his sides, the ones Atem inflicted. We all knew he was. We'd never caught him doing it. But he would have healed in a few days if he hadn't been messing with them. I think he saw them as a weakness and he wanted that fixed."

Atem nodded. "So he targeted the stronger species and tried to make himself infallible." His eyes shot to Yugi. "Especially targeting the Gandora species."

Yugi shivered. "That's…horrifying."

Honda nodded and drew a deep breath, looking away. "He decided during that patrol that he was going to destroy the Clan. He looked at me and told me to stay where I was no matter what noises I heard. I followed him, of course, because I couldn't just…do that. So, I followed and he caught me before we even got a few yards within the camp. He told me if I was to join him it had to be to help or he'd leave me in the same pieces as the rest. I didn't understand what he meant and then he killed one of the younger dragons and called for Hanasaki…"

He stayed quiet for a long time, then risked a look at Atem. The God Dragon was watching Yugi, head tilted, and Honda looked over to find the Gandora picking at his wings.

"Molting?"

"Shush!" Yugi snapped, though his eyes shot to Atem and quickly back. He straightened and pressed his wings into his sides, flustered as he looked at his paws. "He wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't said anything."

Atem snickered. "I noticed prior."

"No. Shush. No, you didn't."

Honda smirked. "What? You're embarrassed to molt? I'm sure your shed was much worse a nightmare than just patches of scales."

Yugi huffed and sat up straighter. Atem snickered louder and grunted when Yugi whipped his tail into his side. "I never shed."

Honda startled when Atem burst out laughing, looking away from Yugi as if it might somehow smother the sound. He kept laughing even after he was whipped again and then he grinned as he turned back.

"You definitely shed." Honda ducked a swipe at his head. "You couldn't have gotten that big and remained healthy without shedding."

Yugi grunted and shifted his weight, glancing at Atem. "I didn't shed."

Atem smirked and looked at Honda. "He did. But he went to huge lengths to try to hide it from me. Apparently he was not happy to have to shed, even three times."

Honda snickered. Yugi huffed and scowled at Atem, and the Sky Dragon smirked wider. "I see. And I'm sure Atem had no idea that Fire Dragons and Wind Dragons are notorious for yearly molts or sheds. Absolutely no idea, right?"

Yugi whined. "Shush."

Atem shook his head. "I was in shock, I can assure you."

The Gandora visibly sulked, shooting Atem a flustered look. "Why?"

"Because it's hilarious." Atem faced Honda abruptly. "But, as I said before, I need to know. Please."

He felt his stomach hollow out as they looked at each other. The impulse came to snap at him to find his answers elsewhere, but it died immediately. He looked away, bristling, and sneered, "He slaughtered several others who came before Hanasaki. I tried to stop him and he almost killed me for it. He said if I didn't stay down he'd take my head off, but first he had to deal with Hanasaki. And from there he…killed everyone to cross his path. He didn't even wait for Hanasaki to come out. The Clan no longer held his interest aside from killing him and the rest of us. I was…removed from the situation so he no longer had to worry about holding back. If I hadn't been harmed prior he would have waited."

Atem blinked. "You believe he cared enough about you that he held back at first?"

"There's no other reason he should have otherwise." Honda tilted his head. "And when he left he said I'd best stay out of his way because he didn't want to kill me. And after that, he never came back. He heard I was the leader. I know that much, but he never returned. He sent his daughter…an Ice Dragon…to keep me contained and out of the way. He didn't even have the Clan under attack. He just…didn't want me in the midst of it."

Atem was quiet for a moment. "And the daughter?"

"I let her leave when news was heard Keith was dead."

"That explains why no one from the Clan had come to the cliffs." Yugi sounded puzzled. "I'd thought you guys just…didn't want to be involved. I know Keith had attacked the Wind Clan at one point, too, but he moved to the Lightning Clan quickly after."

"He heard Seto was related to Atem." Honda flexed his claws. "He heard there was a Sky Dragon tied to the God Dragon of the East settled in the Lightning Clan. He'd heard the rumor before that you had siblings, but he had never quite thought much of it. It was only after Seto was established there and pursued Kisara that word got out it was true. He had just forced Aki to surrender when he heard. Or so the story goes. I'm not…exactly sure. His daughter talked about it, but I have a feeling she didn't know the full story, either. But she…told me he went after the Lightning Clan because of Seto. And he'd hoped it would draw you out to fight him when he forced himself onto Kisara."

Atem scoffed. "As if I'd run to his aid."

"The four of you…" Honda shook his head. "You were a rumor told to keep hatchlings in line. Seto was living flesh. And then all of the sudden Bakura and Malik existed as well. Everything we considered bedtime stories had come to existence. You were living and had killed thousands. Seto had escaped from Keith and lived. And Bakura and Malik rallied to help him get his mate back."

The God Dragon remained silent for a moment. "And what was their reasoning?"

"What?"

"For coming to Seto's rescue. What was their reasoning?"

Honda snorted. "As if I would know. I assume it had to do with you."

Atem narrowed his gaze. "Perhaps." Honda saw his eyes flash like gems for a split second. "It doesn't matter, I suppose. Regardless, I was always flesh and bone. I just did not project myself as a God Dragon and I'd rather have faded into obscurity had that been an option."

Yugi looked at him sideways with an expression that said he wanted to argue but didn't know how. Honda was almost amazed by how much fear he saw in his eyes for a split second, as if Yugi were truly terrified Atem might just do that. But why should he have worried so much? Atem was known now. The God Dragons would have sought him out no matter where he fled. They would have known where he went and gotten him back and yet…

Why did Yugi look so afraid?

"So, his plan wasn't to conquer the Lightning Clan originally? His directions changed when he realized Seto was related to me? Why? Why had he planned to go so much further north into Wind Clan territory if he was expecting to get to me again?"

"You're directly south. It was a strategic maneuver. He wanted to force his way down and to you through the Wind Clan." Honda considered him for a long moment. "It all seemed more likely he meant to sneak into the territory and have the Clan act as a buffer for when things began to go wrong."

Atem narrowed his eyes. "And where along the lines did he learn of Sartorius? Or find the means of which to harvest such power?"

Honda looked away. "I told him. He asked and I told him."

There was an uneasy silence for a split second.

He waited, but no reassurances came. When he glanced toward them again, Atem was studying his face but Yugi had turned to stare down at his paws awkwardly. He wondered for a moment if they blamed him as he had so many times. But Atem didn't look angry and Yugi just seemed flustered again.

"When he came for me again, he went through Timaeus. Do you know how he knew about Timaeus?"

Honda blinked. "Timaeus?" He opened and closed his mouth. "The Knight Dragon?"

Atem snarled softly. "The very same, yes."

He tilted his head. "What does Timaeus have to do with anything?" he asked, bewildered. "Timaeus isn't part of the Wind Clan."

"He's not. And I don't ever want him to be," Atem said sharply. "But Keith went through him to get to me. How did he know Timaeus was close to me?"

Honda shook his head. "You know him?" he mumbled. "I only know of him because there was a rumor a long time ago that he'd gotten his eye taken out instead of killed when he fought you."

Atem looked as if he'd been struck, then snarled louder and shook his head. "Keith knew he was my friend. He used him to try to distract me so he could get to the cliffs and thin the others."

"I don't know then." Honda shifted his weight. "Did he see the two of you, maybe? I only knew you might have been friends because of my Clan mate returning from the meeting. She said you'd been at his side much of the time. I almost speculated he'd won a second courtship."

Atem scoffed. "He was never interested in that." His eyes shot to Yugi. "I suppose he could have seen him at some point. Timaeus doesn't turn invisible or anything when he comes to visit. It wouldn't have taken a genius to understand his disappearance into my territory before resurfacing unscathed was more than coincidence, especially if he saw it multiple times."

"How long ago did this all happen?" Yugi asked abruptly, turning to him. "Keith went after Atem pretty quickly, right? Seto came to find Atem almost immediately after he escaped the Lightning Clan…"

"It was all within six moons. He'd been using night time at various other regions to secure nests with females and then he'd been told about Sartorius and I'm pretty sure his first victim was a Gandora female he crossed paths with under the guise of mating. The Lightning Clan was taken over about two moons after the attack, so one before the fight at the cliffs." He shook his head. "He did it under our beaks for a little while and then when he finally destroyed the Clan, he almost killed all of us. Damage done was more than we'd anticipated from the initial incident. Most of the wounds got infected no matter how much poultice we used or who cleaned them. It was…terrible, to say the least."

Atem looked briefly at the sky, eyes narrowing. "The Clan wasn't destroyed. It was temporarily wounded. You're still alive. So are many of the others who managed to evade him." He got to his paws, shaking himself out. "I owe you answers now, I suppose."

Honda bristled, startled, and shifted his weight. "You did give your word."

Yugi looked between them and got up as well, shaking himself out and nipping the small pile of scales still dangling from his wing. "Ugh. Why?" he huffed, stripping it away and hurriedly flattening it beneath a paw to hide the evidence. Atem snickered next to him and Honda grinned.

"Why so upset?" he teased. "It's only natural."

Yugi shot him a flustered look. "Atem doesn't molt or shed," he hissed. "Sky Dragons don't do either. It's embarrassing!"

Atem snorted but didn't respond, looking to Honda again. "We'll take our leave as soon as I give you your answers," he said abruptly, stretching his front paws and wiggling his toes. Honda looked at the long claws again and then quickly to Atem's face once more. "Feel free to interrupt for the sake of asking questions. I have nothing to hide. Answering them might be easier than the time wasted explaining everything."