Chapter LXXI: Mistakes

Atem turned to Jaden the moment Yugi had vanished from sight. "The three of you are here to deal with my sibling and yet I was not a passing thought?" he said slowly, tilting his head and eyeing him. It was a predatory move and he saw Jaden's temper spike almost immediately. His eyes flashed in turn as Atem considered him and raised his head. "Are you all so stupid as to not realize I don't have these familial ties you fear? I could have killed him on my own if the three of you had not interfered."

"Atem, it's not—"

"Eat dung," he snapped. "I'm tired of you lying to my face, Yusei."

Jaden looked as if he'd just been smacked. "Atem…"

The red male raised his head higher, peering at him coldly. "I told you once that I wouldn't hesitate when it was necessary. I don't know why the three of you insist I'm too weak to hold to my word." His attention shot to the nursery entrance for a split second. "I care nothing for Seto. I care nothing for Malik. I care nothing for siblings that I want little to do with. Blessing or not, they are not mine. And I do not think they should survive beyond their necessity. Clearly they have outlived that already."

"It has nothing to do with you being related," Yusei murmured, though he quickly looked away when Atem turned to him with a snarl. "It has to do with the fact that you can't see things. We thought if we had an idea of how this fight might go, we could avoid involving you at all."

Atem snorted and turned to Jaden. "You're alive," he hissed slowly, "because Yami told me if the time came, I should spare you. I would have let Dimitri take your head off had it not been for that. I could have killed him while he spat your throat from his teeth. Yet, here you stand, because my dead son told me you mattered enough that it could be catastrophic to allow your death."

Leviathan snorted and looked away. "Ironic, considering how quickly Jaden planned to wage war and raze your territory just to get to him."

Atem shot him an annoyed look but stepped closer to Jaden. "I won't go to war with you. Not when there's nothing here that matters so much. But you should realize I'm stronger than you. I'm the only one with a chance to kill him and survive to see the next day," he spat. "Ironheart feared me. Dimitri buckles before me. And you defy me at every opportunity."

Yusei blinked and stared at him as if he had three heads. "What?"

Atem ignored him, watching Jaden with his teeth bared. "You would do well to step back and allow me to handle the problem."

"And if you falter?"

"I won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"He's my mistake," he spat. "He's my sibling. I Blessed him. As far as I'm concerned, that almost makes him my own. I shall be the one to kill him."

Yusei eyed him awkwardly. "That's a lot of responsibility to shoulder just because you Blessed him."

I should have eaten the egg. Atem ignored the Stardust Dragon and flexed his claws, watching Jaden. "I've never had trouble doing what had to be done. I've bloodied my claws and fought until my paws ached. The amount of bodies littering the mountain range I call home is indication enough. Yet you all pretend to know what's best for me because I'm youngest and you can't determine my temperament on the best of days." He scoffed. "You should step back and let me do as I need to, because so far all you've done is created a mess for me to clean up because you refuse to admit I might be capable of correcting the various mistakes I've made."

Leviathan stood and shook himself out. "We don't know where he went. You can't travel some of the furthest areas to find him."

"I don't need to. He wanted me to come here when he attacked Timaeus." Atem looked over at him, narrowing his eyes. "He wanted me to come to him. He'll try to lure me to him or he'll come to me himself."

Yusei hesitated. "And what if he comes for us?"

"Then I guess you'd best hope you can fight better than you did now." Atem scowled, turning on Jaden. "You would have hunted Yami. And you had all the time in the world to prepare yourself for the fact that you planned to take him over my dead body for the last two years. What have you been doing instead? Did you think I'd hand him over to you peacefully?"

"It would have been temporary."

"Because when he did what you wanted, you'd kill him."

Jaden didn't look away. "You say that as if you wouldn't have done the same." He slowly rose to his paws. "Your sibling is a menace. And Yami was stronger than him. We couldn't have hoped he'd remain stable forever."

"What were you planning to do? Keep me distracted while you took Yami away?" he spat. He tilted his head. "Or were you planning to try to kill me?"

Jaden scoffed. "I wouldn't have needed to. All I needed was Yusei and Leviathan to keep you preoccupied."

"And did you tell them that? Because they're both looking at you like you're a piece of dung," he noted quietly. He stepped forward. "I knew something was wrong when you never contacted me again after you found out he existed. I had assumed it was because you'd killed him that same night, but why not return to gloat? Why not tell me I was foolish to think you'd let him live even a minute longer? See, I convinced myself it had to be you just to give myself an answer. But none of it matched up. I may be in the dark about a lot of things, but I'm not so naïve. I understood what I was doing. I convinced myself to make it easier, but I never had answers."

Jaden blinked and bristled. "I didn't have anything to do with—"

"No, but you planned to lead him here to kill Dimitri," he sneered. "You planned to use him like some kind of human tool to take Dimitri down. And then you planned to kill him immediately after."

"The world has no place for Divines. Dimitri is evidence enough."

The Clan had gathered closer, listening. Atem could see Akunadin's remaining eye stretched wide with shock. Rafael sat up from where he was closer to the leader. No one spoke, but he could see a few of them swapping looks.

"Yusei should have let Sartorius eat you."

The words rang across the clearing. Everyone froze and stiffened, bristling and casting fearful looks. Atem ignored them, stepping closer to Jaden and raising his head higher.

"Had Yami survived, I would have ripped each and every one of you to pieces to protect him. He was mine. If anyone had the right to kill him, it was me." He snapped his teeth when Jaden opened his mouth, and the other God Dragon froze in place once more. "If your plan was to use him against Dimitri, what would you have done if he wasn't strong enough? You clearly haven't been using any of your time to train or remember your own powers."

Jaden snarled softly. "When Yusei convinced me to let Yami live, it was understood he'd be disposed of after. We only had to kill a hatchling."

"And you did amazingly here," Atem spat, almost salivating with blind rage. "A hatchling on the cusp of three years and you couldn't hold your own. Any of you."

"And you could have?"

"He's afraid of me."

"And fear only holds for so long," Jaden snapped. "How would you have managed on your own if that fear did not last?"

"I don't need fear to strike someone down. But for the moment he is afraid enough of me that he could not face me as he'd assumed." Atem looked him over. "I did not need him to fear me to begin with. Had he been unwavering I still would have struck him down in the time it took for him to blink. I do not rely on fear or cowardice for victory. I will always win, because I must."

Yusei shifted his weight. "He took all three of us down."

"None of you have entertained suitors in battle for years. You were not forced to hone your skills until your own paws bled from chafing. I have bled and fought until I felt I might collapse. I did it for years. And I'll always have those skills because of it. If you were so foolish as to pretend peace would last forever and you could relax, that is your own fault."

Leviathan chuckled. "He has a point."

Jaden whipped around to snarl at him. "I've survived on my own long enough—"

"Yusei saved you from Sartorius. I need no such help."

Leviathan roared with laughter. Yusei looked away with a small shake of his head. Jaden spun on him with a snarl.

"You have no idea what happened that day—"

"I know Sartorius almost ate your hearts and Yusei fought him off. I know you initially refused to fight him because you assumed you could reason with him. I know your judgment was clouded because he was your son." Atem tilted his head. "Do you wish to correct me on any of those facts?"

The tension was thick enough he felt it like ice upon his scales.

"Atem."

He didn't look over. "Your mistakes will not be my own. Family is nothing but a word to me more often than not. Beyond Yugi, my parents, Mana, and Valon, I do not care for the lot of them. The only reason I came to Bless this nest was for Kisara. You overestimate the worth of blood."

All three deities watched him for a long moment. Atem could see them struggling for a response between them, though he knew it wouldn't last. Jaden looked as if he wanted to box him upside the head, but scoffed after a moment and tipped his head to the side in a more annoyed, predatory manner.

"You truly believe yourself to be better than all three of us."

Atem snorted. "I don't have to believe it. I am better than the three of you." He glanced at Leviathan and Yusei in his peripheral, gauging their reactions, but neither of them seemed offended or argumentative. "You are foolish to think otherwise. Not only are my skills sharpened and honed, I am a Sky Dragon. I am three species blended into one. My natural defenses alone put yours to shame."

"You're also weak to hot weather and dry winds, to heavy air and heat." Jaden curled his lip. "Dimitri has advantage over you just with that alone. He's half Lightning Dragon."

Atem found himself swallowing his response. He looked toward Yugi slightly in his peripheral, relieved to find he had not moved but to place the herbs down. He'd grabbed them in abundance, standing and shifting his weight awkwardly as he looked between the four of them.

"Yes, well, it matters little." He shook his head. "We would have to find him first to even pose a threat and for the moment he has the upper hand in fleeing as he did. We have no idea where he would have gone while we've been arguing amongst ourselves."

Yugi glanced around. "Who's the worst wounded? I'll start there," he said abruptly but eagerly. Atem had the feeling he was afraid of the argument unfolding before him.

Yusei jerked his beak toward Jaden. "I hate to bring this to attention, but I'm rather sure it's him."

Yugi looked as if he wanted to spit at him. He scowled a moment, considering Jaden as if he might lunge forth like a poisonous snake, and then sighed softly. His eyes shot to Atem's as if asking permission to ignore the request, and Atem fought a snicker at the juvenile behavior. He'd almost forgotten how deep Yugi's loyalty ran in that manner. The fact that Jaden had even spoken negatively of him was enough to make Yugi less than enthusiastic to deal with him.

He wouldn't have let him die, but he would have left him as last on his list of wounded needing attention.

Leviathan burst out laughing again. "Wow. You've made Yugi angry enough he'd rather see you bleed out."

Yusei chuckled and shot Jaden a smirk. "Imagine that."

Atem studied Yugi for a moment, suppressing a smile. The Gandora still had not moved but for scowling at the Prime Material Dragon. He huffed after a long moment, so loud and annoyed that Atem couldn't stop his snicker. Yugi immediately grinned at him, then whipped back to glare at Jaden.

"Yugi." He struggled not to guffaw when Yugi huffed. "See to his wounds. You remember the poultice mixture, yes?"

He huffed again and looked over. "Yes. Timaeus told me, remember? I said I'd make sure your paw didn't fall off," he murmured, though he spun on Jaden again with a snap of his teeth at the last two words. Atem snickered. The Gandora flexed his claws angrily and shook himself out after a moment, growling softly. "I still owe you for that fight."

Jaden bristled slightly. "For a wounded paw? It healed well enough." He paused, voice dripping with malice for a split second. "I suppose Yami did that."

Yugi bore his teeth, snarling. "He should have let Atem kill you."

Atem tilted his head, eyeing them both. "Yugi," he murmured, "enough. Deal with the wounds. I'm going to see to it that everyone gets something to eat at the very least."

Yugi looked over, opening his mouth to argue, and then paused. Atem didn't need the stress. He was already frustrated and Yugi was sure aggravating him further would only worsen his chance to get ahead and look for Dimitri. He nodded after a moment, grumbling under his breath, and ducked to grab a mouthful of herbs as he hurried over to the other God Dragon. When he looked back, Atem had vanished from sight.

"Amazing how silently he flies," Yusei commented, head angled backwards as if to watch the red male. He blinked and turned to Yugi immediately after. "I'd almost thought he just disappeared for all the sound he made."

Yugi chewed one of the herbs until his mouth became thick with its paste, ignoring him a moment. Jaden was watching him with sharp eyes, as if he expected him to lash out at any moment. Yugi didn't care enough to, however. He wanted to check on Atem and make sure he was okay. But he didn't think Atem would appreciate it, especially when he'd made such a request of him.

It was better if he tended to the task given instead of disobeying. He knew Atem wouldn't have turned on him violently or even spoken much against it, but he didn't want to upset him any further.

"When you say Timaeus taught you how to make this poultice to keep Atem's paw from falling off, do you mean when Jaden imposed upon the territory the first time?" Yusei asked conversationally, tilting his head. He smiled when Yugi shot him an annoyed glance. "Because I don't remember it being so bad as to potentially fall off. I know it was deep, but not as if it were severed."

Yugi huffed. "Does it matter? If it had gotten infected, it could have easily rotted."

Yusei hummed. "But you wouldn't have let that happen, with or without Yami's help." He smiled a little wider when Yugi growled. "Sorry. I'm just curious."

"Be curious elsewhere then," he snapped. He spread the paste across the bottom of his paw and smacked it into Jaden's side. The God Dragon yelped and dropped to his stomach, wheezing. Yugi grinned despite the small tremor of guilt that coursed through him. Yusei snickered as if with delight and Leviathan turned away, laughing. "But yes. Timaeus taught it to me when he saw how deep the wound was."

Yusei nodded slightly, studying him. "I'm glad he did. I'm terrible with plants of any kind, aside from the ones that make your scales itch. Those I seem to have a knack for running into. I can find them no matter where they hide."

Yugi ignored him, slathering a thicker coating toward the middle of Jaden's neck wound. Dimitri had missed his jugular by barely a claw's width. He glanced at Yusei, but the Stardust Dragon had turned away again. He studied the passage of the wound, where Dimitri had clawed Jaden's shoulder to the very center of his neck to the spot his teeth had latched on. He shivered, ignoring the questioning look Jaden gave him.

"Atem says that there's another hatchling missing," Yugi commented, turning to the Leviathan. The Divine Serpent spent a long moment staring off into the distance before abruptly turning to him. Yugi forced his voice not to quake. "So are there two Divine Dragons? Or is it just Dimitri?"

"If Noah is one as well, then he doesn't seem to be acting out like Dimitri," the Water Dragon answered dismissively. He lashed his tail and closed his eyes, visibly annoyed. "Unless it's a game and Noah is the mastermind behind it. I don't know that I can't see that being the truth. Dimitri seemed scared out of his mind of Atem."

"The good thing," Yugi said slowly, "is that Atem rattled him as badly as he tried to him."

There was a small moment of silence.

"Atem didn't seem rattled," Yusei mumbled. "He seemed like he already knew Dimitri would have picked up on it and mentioned it."

Yugi suppressed a snarl, hearts lurching. Atem's lowered self-esteem still hurt to think about. He didn't deserve that pain. And he didn't deserve even a portion of the doubt that so often plagued him. He'd hoped for a long time that he could change that, that his presence and reassurances and arguments to the contrary might help. But every reassurance went unanswered or sometimes got cold sideways looks that said Atem didn't want to hear it, didn't want to further it, but did not and would never agree. Every argument was shoved aside when Atem left, unwilling to further it or listen any longer.

It went against his nature to stand there and fight with him. It went against his nature to listen to assurances. He'd closed himself off for so long sometimes Yugi wondered if he really understood what he meant when he said he loved him more than anything and would gladly do whatever he asked of him. He knew Atem didn't believe he deserved it, just as he never had questioned it when something went wrong and he had to deal with it.

Yugi suppressed the urge to close his eyes, exhausted and wanting nothing more than to lay down in a tight circle. He just wanted Atem to understand he was worth it. But every effort had fallen on deaf ears and tensed muscles. Atem still always seemed one remark away from fight or flight sometimes.

He huffed, shaking his head. "He's not easily shaken. Dimitri trying for such a low blow doesn't mean he has to react to it. He's never flinched when someone speaks down at him. He can't afford to."

"Can't afford…" Jaden grunted when Yugi smacked his shoulder with his paw to spread the paste. He snarled and the God Dragon blinked. "Oh. Yes. Okay."

Yugi straightened a few minutes later, looking him over. "Just…don't move around too much and it should heal," he hissed, glancing over his shoulder. He'd been hopeful Atem would be behind him, but the red male still appeared to be gone. He turned back, giving Jaden a dismissive glance, and hurried past him to Yusei and the Leviathan.

"I'm okay. Give the Clan more attention. Leviathan is already healed." Yusei smiled. "Thank you for the thought."

Yugi shook himself out and turned to them with an annoyed look. "Well, seeing as the three of you are more or less taken care of, why don't you see your way out?" he snapped. He bore his teeth when Jaden looked as if he might object. "You've done enough to upset Atem. And seeing as you can take care of yourselves, the Clan needs more attention."

Jaden blinked slowly and then shuffled to his paws. It was a slow, agonizing movement that spoke of obvious pain, but he nodded all the same. "Okay. Yes, we'll see ourselves out." He snarled softly. "You and Atem may not want to believe it, but I did just want to help. All of that scheming was to ensure things would not fall apart."

Yugi bore his teeth. "Right. Planning to kill Yami was only for the greater good. Eat dung."

It was an hour later that Atem returned, shoving a buffalo and several deer over the camp walls. They made sickening noises as they landed and many of the dragons hissed and spat with shock. They settled when they noticed him, however, and several rushed forward to sink their teeth in. Atem jumped down a minute or so later, shaking himself out again, and turned back with a tilt of his head. Yugi opened his mouth to speak, but the red male looked abruptly toward the nursery.

"It's about time your cowardice ran out."

Yugi blinked and raised his head to see Seto standing before them, watching with cold glittering blue eyes like chips of ice.