Chapter CI: Madness

Yami took a seat as Yubel shifted closer and lowered her mouth to the cat's stomach once more. She'd been eating rather than speaking for the last few minutes, ignoring his existence as if he were but a bug. Yami had gotten used to the disregard by the second time he'd asked a question and she'd swiped her tongue over her mouth and ignored him entirely. He had settled for waiting, patience dwindling but renewing itself as he reminded himself why he was there and what part of it was the most important. He was doing this for his fathers. Discomfort and frustration were nothing in comparison to what might have happened otherwise.

He shook himself and stretched to lay on his belly. He wished for a moment he had Timaeus or Yugi or Atem present. He wished he could have spent more time with them, caught up with them, even just gotten a grooming session from Yugi. He ached as he lay his chin on his paws. It felt as if the world were closing in on him he was so lonely.

He shifted his weight and folded his paws toward his chest, wondering for a moment if Yubel might rest instead. What seemed a lifetime passed in silence but for the trickle of water beneath stone and her ravenous gorging. Yami kept his eyes closed, somewhere between rest and full awareness.

"Why did you not come into the cave when you realized I lived here?"

Yami cracked an eye and looked at her. She was grooming her face with her paws, wiping away blood and licking herself clean. He watched her a moment and wondered if perhaps he was hearing things. Then he raised his head and looked at her more pointedly. "I knew you weren't present," he answered quietly. She paused grooming to tilt her head with interest. "I can use my senses to see further than my eyes. I could tell you weren't in either of them."

Yubel went quiet for a long time, then shifted her paws. "Sartorius had a gift similar, but not so advanced, I suppose. He could sense any direction he needed to go even if he had never traveled it before."

Yami shook his head. "Atem and Yugi taught me directions. I wouldn't know which way was south if it wasn't for Yugi."

Yubel looked as if she wanted to argue, yet said nothing. Yami studied her, unsure, as she seemed to mull over the statement. After a moment she turned her head as if to stare at him, eyes narrowing into slits. "But you were startled when you realized I was there."

"I don't know the terrain of every territory I enter. It takes a while sometimes. And I only came to find you, so the surrounding area wasn't of interest." He paused. "Sorry."

"For?"

He shook his head. Why was he sorry? He'd likely never see her again and she knew why he was there. It wasn't a secret that he hadn't come seeking her company.

"That you're alone and blind like this. And that I spoke to you so poorly." He paused. "I realize it can't be easy being blind like this. I'm sure you suffer more than you prosper, if you…ever have."

She growled softly and tipped her head to the side. "I was not always blind. And it was not as if someone else inflicted it on me. I'm not so old my eyes failed me and the weather did not scar them." She turned her head and leveled him with that phantom look she had before. "And, when it happened, Jaden was still occasionally seeing to visiting. He wanted to see if the madness had returned, so it was never friendly, but it was something. He took care of me for a little while after it happened. A visit came once a week, then once a moon. Eventually they stopped unless he came to see if the madness was back, which he has not done in over a year now. Had he, I would have been able to tell him you were never dead."

Yami blinked. "How do you know of me? You were not even surprised when I said I was Atem and Yugi's son. I know you've met Atem, but what about Yugi? Do you know him?"

Yubel laughed aloud. "You're such an innocent little soul, aren't you?" she snickered, shaking her head and lashing her tail. "You don't truly think you're not known, do you?"

"Known?" he echoed. "As in my name because of what's happening?"

She threw her head back, entire body shaking with laughter. "You poor, pathetic little creature," she scoffed. She stopped laughing immediately after and turned to him sharply. "You're so childish. Of course I don't mean by rumors of your existence now."

"Then what do you mean?" he asked awkwardly, blinking and shaking his head. He pressed his wings firmly into his flanks and tried not to snarl with frustration. "What are you saying? I don't understand."

"Clearly," she snapped. She sighed loudly, lashing her tail once more. "Sartorius saw you, long before your birth."

Yami blinked again, then bristled. "He saw me?"

"He did. He showed me." Yubel snarled softly. "I saw your destiny, tasted your fate. I saw what would come and how much you would change and alter and destroy."

He shook his head. "I don't seek to destroy anything."

"You don't have to." She bore her teeth. "Destruction doesn't have to be sought to coms about."

Yami nodded. "I know that," he whispered, "but why does it follow me everywhere?"

"You are Divine," she sneered. "You are Divine and you are punished for it. Destruction is often brought by those desperate to avoid it, just as Atem used to be before he realized he should embrace it as the God Dragon. But you… I've seen your life from birth to end."

Yami bristled and bore his teeth. "I… What happened in the water… What I saw…is it unavoidable?"

"If it should be changed, I never saw it. Sartorius knew of your existence when he hit adulthood, but everything else was always to be decided as time went. What I saw of your life never changed."

He shivered. "How did he show you?"

"He brought me to the water to see." Yubel went quiet for a long time. "And, later, he planted the images in my head."

"Is that where your instability stemmed? Or is it truly genetic?"

"Madness is inherited for some. Sartorius's was inherited as time passed. Mine was inflicted." She went quiet for a long time, then sighed and shook her head sharply. "He forced images into my head—especially where you were concerned. He became obsessed with you, until at some point he could no longer see you. I don't know what changed. But suddenly he couldn't."

Yami lashed his tail and wondered. Was it Atem? Or had something already rewritten itself back then? Fate could change. He was sure it could, even if he didn't know how. "You said I would change and alter things. What does that mean?"

"You've already done it," she growled. "You did something you should have been unable."

He blinked and tilted his head. "What did I do?" he asked, wracking his mind for a long moment. What had he done so far that had changed or altered anything? The most he could think of was sharing his heart with Timaeus, but the timeframe had not been past the limitations of healing. Did she mean bringing him back when he was already halfway to Paradise?

"You will realize soon enough, when the time comes."

Yami wanted to argue, but the words died in his throat. "Okay," he whispered and suppressed the frustration that burned in his veins. "Then…was it me that drove Sartorius so mad?"

Yubel seemed to hesitate. "No…" She blinked and flexed the stubs of her claws, worn down from traversing stone and likely missing the mark attempting to catch prey. "No, you did not drive him mad."

"You?" he said slowly. "I drove you mad then?"

Yubel remained silent for a moment, then turned her head once more as if to stare. Her pupils were still scratched and bluish from abuse and Yami wondered once more. She peered at him sightlessly, with an expression full of cold disgust. "Yes," she said finally, "but it was not you yourself. The visions became too much and they stalked my dreams. I could not look at water sometimes without your life flashing before me again. And I could not stand it any longer. You haunted me awake and asleep."

"So you dug at your eyes to stop them? Did it work?"

"Enough. It worked enough." She growled as she lowered her head to her paws. "Tell me, Yami, what does the moon look like outside?"

"It's waning. The moon was full earlier today when the eclipse happened, but the night before it was only half…" Yami tilted his head. He must have been wrong. Something must have been wrong for him to assume the moon was only half full when the eclipse had come through… "I suppose I saw it wrong. There's no way the eclipse could have made the moon…full."

"Was that the strange feeling of emptiness I gained earlier today?" Yubel hissed. "You crossed paths with your sibling before you were destined and things changed."

"To suit the purpose of an eclipse?" he hissed. "The moon cannot fill itself so rapidly. There's no way it could have. I must have seen it wrong."

"No. It was right. I know the moon was half-lit because the jackals do not bay at it as it wanes." Yubel tilted her head. "The omen must be terrible for the dragons long past to change the shape of the moon in warning."

He faltered. "You mean the dragons in Paradise did that?"

"In warning, yes." She growled softly and shook her head, the movement growing more furious as the seconds passed. "They forced the moon to change its shape to suit the needs of prophecy. It has happened before, when Amun and Alexander fought. It happens now as you and Dimitri have crossed paths."

"That's…" He opened end closed his mouth and suppressed a bristle. "Why do so much? I know Dimitri is dangerous. So do my fathers. Why bring about so much darkness for the sake of prophecy if it's established as fact? He killed his siblings and he ate the heart of one. I do not know how much worse it would have to be to warrant further warning."

"Dimitri grows rapidly in power, while you remain in a state of heightened senses and slow retrieval," she snapped. "If you do not learn to wield your abilities for the purpose of killing, you shall lose your parents and your own life. What then? Dimitri shall grow and grow and force the world to ruins."

Yami looked away. "I'm a hatchling. I shouldn't be forced to kill like this, even for justifiable reasons."

"I'm sure Atem thought the same when he bloodied his claws the first time. But Dimitri will not be your first. You sank your teeth into your sibling's throat to save him once. Can you not do so again?"

"I'll kill him," he whispered. "But what of the rest? What have you seen? Is there anything I can use now to my advantage?"

"You shall have to grow into your strengths. They cannot be fed to you." She huffed. "But… I shall give you your answers so desperately sought. You brought me my favorite meal, something I could never hope to catch on my own with such weakness. So, I shall hold my end of the bargain and grant you your answers."

Yami nodded, grateful but bitter all at once. "Thank you."

"Don't say that yet. You may not like what I have to say later."

Yami shook his head. He was sure he wouldn't, but what was the point in withholding his gratitude? It was soured, but it was not destroyed.

"I doubt I'll like most of what I'm told." Yami searched her face even though he knew she could not see him. "I can't seem to recall a story recently I have liked."

She chuckled and shook her head. "Very well. Relax and settle for the tale. It's a long one, though I'm sure if I cut the majority of it I could tell you all of it in a shorter amount of time."

He lay his chin on his paws and watched her. "I'm not afraid of a longer story. I have the time, and the details are necessary. I need all of it."

Yubel looked as if she might argue but nodded after a moment. "Yes. I know. I remember your necessity. Nature itself hangs in the balance."

Yami blinked and tilted his head. Nature itself? What did that mean? Did she truly mean to insinuate he was so powerful? Or did she mean Dimitri? Dimitri would have made more sense. He could change shapes, after all. He didn't even know what strength that took.

And with the speed and frequency he did so…

"You likely have no idea the extent of power that comes with being a Divine," Yubel continued quietly. She flexed her claws and blood dripped from the carcass she'd been eating from. Yami watched them sink into the flesh and pull back again, red and stained. "Sartorius touched the highest power any of you could ever dream of reaching. And he could have forced this world and the next to its belly if he'd so wanted. Had he not gotten so sidetracked and power hungry, he could have done the impossible."

Yami blinked at her, then narrowed his eyes. "The impossible?"

"Bring the dead back, summon the specters and reverse the natural order of things." She tilted her head and looked at him again, her sightless eyes burning into his as if straining for focus. Yami didn't move but for breathing, wondering if he should speak or hide from the task. "Sartorius planned to do that when he ate Jaden's hearts. Yusei scared him off, but Shadi's heart… I don't know what happened to make him lose his mind."

He tilted his head but didn't speak.

Yubel sighed softly, shaking her head. She looked as if she were exhausted, smaller than she had been when he'd first come across her. He bristled faintly but did not question the expression on her face.

"We'll begin again. I'll explain everything from the beginning."

He nodded. "Thank you."

She huffed. "You are the only reason Jaden will see the end of this fight," she sneered. "I suppose you should thank him for being so weak that it is necessary I educate you."

Yami barely refrained from laughing. She was so spiteful.

"Do you still love him? Even after everything?"

Yubel was silent for a long time. "I should want his entrails hooked to my claws," she snarled, then huffed and turned away again. "But, yes, unfortunately enough."

"Even though he only visited to make sure you were not going mad again?" he asked, and his belly churned as he wondered. Who was there to turn to if he himself began to grow mad? Atem had sworn he'd hold to his promise and kill him if something came about like that. Yami supposed he couldn't wish for more. At least he'd kill him with mercy, swift and painless. When Yubel didn't answer, he shifted his weight and looked down at his paws. "Sorry. I know I'm pushing at information you likely don't want to think about anymore."

Yubel didn't answer for a long minute, then turned to him again. "It no longer matters what I want. It is what needs to be done that holds merit now."

Yami wondered how much strength it took to say that, to prepare oneself to dig at old wounds so painful the edges still poisoned with rot. His heart squeezed in his chest.

"I was born in the Fire Clan. Jaden had just taken his title as a God Dragon when we crossed paths. He had gone to train with the other three, but it was only Shadi who truly came to do so. If I remember correctly, the other two were ill. It may have been old age, or something more violent. But they passed soon after. Shadi was the only one then, and Yusei and Leviathan rose to god status almost upon hatching."

Yami narrowed his eyes and studied her for a long time. He'd assumed there was more overlap, though he had never quite thought much of it. Atem had not known any of the others and Yugi had never cared much. He'd only cared for Atem, and on the rare occasions he was with the other three he worried for Atem's safety. Beyond that, until they were mentioned, they did not exist.

There was no love lost in squabbling with them, either. Yami had always known that, but it seemed more and more apparent now.

"We met when he came to do a count of the nests laid." She sighed and shifted her weight and Yami considered her curiously. She seemed to be far off, her gaze glazed with memories. A small smile threatened to tug at her lips but it seemed to sour immediately after. "I was taught to worship them as deities, so I made a show of bowing and using only the most respectful tone, but I wasn't impressed. Shadi saw the situation as humorous, and Jaden was curious. We barely spoke that time, but he came again a moon later to see me."

Yami tilted his head.

"He came then because he was curious about my lack of interest in them. It apparently intrigued him that I did not flaunt myself before him like a dragonet that wished for approval. We spent much of the time together talking about the different ways we were raised." Yubel trailed off for a moment, then turned to him abruptly. "Why should I tell you?"

Yami blinked, about to argue, then stopped short. Why was she telling him? He nodded slightly. "Show me then," he said softly, and she smirked as if he were a stupid creature for having wished to grant her a semblance of privacy from him.

The world seemed to explode with color before him for a split second, and he felt as if he were being dragged beneath a heavy, furious river current. His claws twitched and scratched at the ground violently and he bristled as the vision slowly changed and expanded. The desert stretched before him, the wind whistling and the stones cut by its effortless baying. The red sand was shinier than it had been before, as if the world were somehow brighter and more wonderful now. Yami wondered with amazement if that was true. Maybe the world seemed dull and colorless to her now, and if he saw it through her eyes after she and Jaden had parted it'd seem listless.

He wondered then if his own memories were similar. Did the mountains seem brighter and more vibrant back then than they did now?

He'd never considered it before, but it didn't matter either, he realized.

All that mattered was Jaden was standing before him, with brilliant golden scales like silken sunlight. His head was tilted and his eyes looked…brownish-red, with little flecks of amber scattered about. He looked amused by whatever had likely been said, but the memory didn't go backwards to let him hear.

"Well, it's not as glorious as all that, but Shadi did say I was going to be a great healer one day!" Jaden said, seeming fit to burst with pride. Yubel snickered and smirked but didn't speak against it. He looked so much younger, with more vibrance to his appearance and his stance and he didn't seem as if the world were too dark and overwhelming to remain within. "And, honestly, the whole raising us together thing isn't…really…raising us together? They just wanted to meet us for the first time, see where we might specialize in things, and then go from there to find out what we should do. Shadi's father Ironheart took me aside to look at me and read my future. Apparently that's a thing all of us go through? I'm not sure. The other two died recently. I didn't even get to meet them…"

Yubel tilted her head. "But you met the Judgment Dragon? And he said you're a God Dragon?"

Jaden looked oddly hurt. "Do I not seem like one?"

"You're certainly not regal," she laughed. "And I've never seen a God Dragon so…energetic and vibrating with energy like this."

Jaden opened and closed his mouth, then plopped down and sat rigidly for a moment. He raised his head and blinked slowly, then exhaled. Yubel noted the way his shoulders still shook for a split second before it was his wings that trembled.

Was he nervous?

"That's not to say you won't grow out of it." She narrowed her eyes. "I guess I just expected you to be more…mature."

"Gee. Thanks."

She smirked. "You're welcome." She considered him a moment longer. "I'm sure it's just age. You're a lot younger than most of the others were when they were found and brought together, right?"

Jaden blinked. "I…don't know."

"Oh. Well, then whatever." She laughed. "It doesn't matter. Don't look so worried."

He tried to smile, but it looked like a grimace. Yubel suppressed a snort. He really was nervous, wasn't he?

"Really, Jaden," she snickered, "don't look so worried."