Chapter CXXII: Secrets

"Seeing as Yugi is all right, I believe we'll take our leave." Jaden's eyes drifted restlessly toward the Gandora. Atem noticed he stiffened faintly every time he so much as glanced at him, as if he were afraid somehow that Yugi might turn rabid at any moment. He fought a smirk, though the humor left him soon after. Yami had not said there were any other repercussions but for his memory loss, but Atem had to wonder. The Gandora had twitched and trembled throughout his sleep, waking and flinching when Atem spoke, and even when he soothed him to rest again it did not last. Yami had, of course, said he'd relive his death for a while, but he was scared.

What if Yugi never stopped?

What if it haunted his every breath while he slept?

Atem didn't know what he'd do. Would Yugi grow resentful? Would he hate him for it? And if he did… What was Atem to do? What if one day Yugi looked at him and begged him to kill him?

He suppressed a tremor. "Yes. Thank you for remaining through the night," he murmured, forcing his voice to come out even and calm. It took everything in him not to potentially wallow with growing despair.

Jaden nodded, halfway distracted but mostly flustered. "I'm glad it proved unnecessary, Atem." He looked at the other two. "Let's go."

Yugi hovered at the edge of Atem's peripheral. "What do you plan to do?" he asked softly, and all four of them turned to him. "About Dimitri?"

Jaden hesitated and then glanced over his shoulder. "He likely senses you. I can't imagine he can't feel your aura now that you are no longer dormant. I… He's not stupid, even if he is young and foolish. If he doesn't come to investigate soon, I'll be amazed." He paused. "He either doesn't realize it's you and believes it to be Atem, or he knows and he means to bide his time."

Atem flicked his wings. "I'll kill him if he so much as drifts close to this territory," he spat. Yugi looked over, considering him. Yami had turned around to watch him as well. But whereas Yugi seemed almost curious and proud, Yami looked withdrawn and exhausted. "But I see no point in waiting for him. We've all done enough of that, have we not?"

Yami looked as if he wanted to vomit, but refused to speak. He turned away, head lowered slightly, and didn't look back at him even as he continued.

"Waiting has only gotten each of us hurt one way or another. He went after Jesse to weaken you, just as he did Yugi. Both times Yami intervened and fixed it." Atem lashed his tail. "But how many times can we count on that happening? He's already spread so thin. I want Dimitri's head."

"And no one deserves it more," Jaden returned quietly. "But what do you suppose we do? Your son can't see him, from what I understand. Or if he can, it's in limited bursts. So what use is it to try to harness his ability of foresight if it's incapable?"

"Who said anything about foresight?" Atem sneered. "I can't see anything. Visions are beyond my understanding. What I mean to say is that I wish to lure him here. I want to bring him to me and I want to rip him to pieces."

"How? He won't come if he hears word of you searching for him," Yusei commented, speaking for the first time in what seemed days. His eyes flitted to Yugi for a single moment. "He's not so brave he'll come running to that challenge. We all know that. And he's still under the impression he's won because he killed Yugi. So what reason does he have to come back so soon? He'll want you weakened by that blow and he'll wait for that."

"Right." Atem lashed his tail, mind racing before he glanced at Yugi. "When Yugi won his courtship, he did the exact opposite of what my other suitors did. There were no boasts, he didn't lash out and try to sink his claws in. He was defensive and waited, then fled at the last second. I think if we did something similar, he'd come to us."

Leviathan snarled softly. "Meaning what, Atem?"

He lifted his chin. "The Clans have allied themselves between us. They house some of the strongest of every species, yes? Dimitri wanted to sink his claws into Honda because he's a Tyrant, and he went after Akunadin for his ferocity. Yugi is a Gandora, which means he would have come for him no matter if he'd lost his challenge to me. He's going to return to them, to try to get new shapes to come after us. He wants me in particular, because he…believes I'm the strongest." He ignored the slight smirk on Yugi's face and the way Yami hung his head somehow lower. Timaeus had raised his head, staring. "So, we bring the Clans together. We come together. He comes to find us, because he'll be ecstatic to see the damage done to me in the meantime. He'll take the time to heal and prepare himself to come after me."

Yusei tilted his head. "You propose a gathering?"

"Why not? In a moon, he'll have likely adapted to his current limitations and he'll be convinced I'll be a broken mess by then. He'll want nothing more than to try to eat my hearts." Atem smirked when Yugi snarled softly and lashed his tail. "He'll expect us all to be weak and broken. He'll assume Yugi and Timaeus are dead and I'm crippled. What better chance is there to kill him than to take him by surprise?"

There was a long moment of silence. The three of them swapped looks, considering each other for so long Atem almost wondered if they even recognized one another. Finally Jaden turned back, studying him intently.

"Bringing him into a group of dragons like that… How do you know we can contain him? He could easily kill everyone else."

"He's not so fast," Yugi answered softly. "He's quick, but he's not like Atem, and when we fought he was still working on his control of Yusei and Leviathan's forms. He's not all powerful and he's not so fast he can catch you by total surprise. He's still young and easily overwhelmed."

Atem glanced at him sideways. Jaden narrowed his eyes in his peripheral. Yusei stared at Yami in puzzlement, and Leviathan groomed his wing.

"What do we tell them to make them attend?"

"That I plan to deal with Dimitri," Atem spat. "That I plan to put an end to it and I want them to serve as bait. It'll be controlled in the fact that Dimitri will never lay a paw on them."

Jaden flicked his tail. "That's a lot to ask of them. That's a lot of faith to ask them to place in you."

"But it'll be paid back tenfold," Yugi murmured. "Dimitri will be handled and they'll have Atem to thank for it."

"You wish for us to stand back and watch you fight him alone?"

"You'll get in my way otherwise."

Yusei shivered. "I'll agree to that, but… You'll have to remain where we can see and intervene should something happen. We can't risk him changing into you. We don't know that your abilities won't bleed into his if he can take your shape."

"Did yours?"

"We don't know," Jaden said slowly, "which is why we can't risk it, Atem."

"Do you even know what his ability is?" Yugi asked quietly, considering them with a tilted head. They all looked over at him then, Jaden bristling with narrowed eyes. "Do you? Do any of you know what it is?"

"I know I couldn't lay a paw on him in that fight between us except for when he allowed it. I think that's enough of a warning sign for me to abide by," the Prime Material Dragon snapped. He looked at Atem sideways, bristling faintly. "I don't need to know beyond that what the full extent of it is. But if Dimitri got his claws on your abilities through his shape-shifting…"

Atem glanced at Yami. "Is that a possibility?"

Yami was silent for a long time, then raised his head. "Your ability is your own," he murmured. "All of them are your own. He can't mimic abilities. He can only do what you can as far as magic and physical prowess."

"You know that for sure?" Jaden snarled. "Because I'd hate for you to say that and we go against a copy of Atem who guts us just as easily as your father has managed."

"He gutted you as a hatchling," Yugi scoffed, startling them. Yami snorted, eyes widening as his head whipped around. The Gandora scratched his chin and blinked once long and slow. "And it didn't require more than Timaeus."

The Knight Dragon burst out laughing. Yugi gave him a wry glance, grinning hugely, smirked at Yami when the hatchling blinked owlish eyes full of laughter, and turned back to Atem with a warm expression.

"We also hadn't been prepared for him at the time," Yusei commented. "An oversight on our end. But we've held our own against him since, which…I think if he'd been able to use our abilities, we wouldn't have been able to."

Jaden was silent for a long moment. "No," he said slowly, "likely not. Not between the three of us."

Yugi blinked and looked over slowly. "I'm sorry, but I don't recall either of your abilities. Jaden can influence others. Atem's battle instinct makes him undefeatable, but the two of you?" He tilted his head. "Besides seeing visions, what are they?"

"Leviathan can see split second intervals of attacks before they happen," Yusei answered quietly. "And mine are mostly by dreams and moonlight."

Yami raised his head, bristling faintly as he looked at the Ice Dragon.

"I have the most accurate visions and omens, and most crippling attacks don't work on me. So a blow that might crush someone else's ribs usually just makes mine ache." He paused. "I'm also immune to most toxins, but I don't know that's not just a Ice Dragon trait."

Yami stared at him for a long time, then turned away. Atem saw something cold and hollow in his eyes for a split second before they locked with his. Immediately his expression warmed and he smiled faintly, but turned away again almost immediately.

Yugi frowned faintly. "So…all of your abilities are aimed toward battle?" he said slowly, bristling. "I thought… But most God Dragons have a variety between the four of them, right?"

Yami looked over at Leviathan. "Do you wish to tell them or shall I?" he murmured, smirking when the Divine Serpent shot him a furious glance. Jaden and Yusei both looked over, Jaden in puzzlement and Yusei with a tired expression. "There was only so long this could continue. You must still remember that."

Leviathan snarled softly and flicked his tongue childishly. Yami laughed at the disrespectful gesture. But his eyes shot to Yusei's after a long moment before he turned away.

Atem flexed his claws. Yugi shifted his weight and looked as if he meant to hurry to his side. He wondered briefly if he was unsure or if he had seen something Atem had missed.

"Yusei?" Jaden prompted, as if testing the waters. "You know as well?"

The Ice Dragon shifted his weight, flexed his claws, twitched his wings, and glanced at Leviathan. "You aren't really going to make me explain this, right?" he asked incredulously.

Leviathan huffed loudly, shaking his head. "Shadi…predicted Yami would come into existence when I was newly hatched," he said slowly, eyes fixed on the hatchling. His lips curled to show needle-like teeth and Atem realized Yami was no longer smiling. "He said…that there was going to be a huge war when I got older, and everything would hinge upon it. If the fourth God Dragon of our era was a two-mouthed Slifer with excruciating bloodlust."

Yugi huffed. "Well, he was already wrong."

Yami glanced at Atem but turned back again immediately.

"He said this war would basically decide the order of things from then on. It could reverse life and death itself or cause the destruction of everything." Leviathan fell quiet. "When I met you, Atem, I wanted to test my claws and see if you measured up. But you weren't bloodthirsty and you barely paid me attention when I egged you on. Later you were quiet and withdrawn, arguing and fighting with us only when you thought it the right thing to do. I didn't think anything would come of it. You had two mouths, yes, but you didn't have uncontrolled bloodlust. You even argued to save Keith's offspring…"

Atem blinked, then flicked his tail. "An action I feel no one has forgiven me for."

Jaden looked over, startled. "No one needs forgive you for that. None of the nests at the time produced anyone like Dimitri and the few who survived that war keep their heads down and don't bother with even hiding when we come to darken their territories."

"You argued with me. You held it over my head. You made remarks about it every chance you got." Atem bore his teeth, snarling. "And then you forced yourself upon Timaeus's nest when you realized he and I were acquainted."

The Prime Material Dragon scoffed. "I forget how young you are, " he growled. "You're so calm and collected for the most part, and then you start to show your naivety in the strangest ways. Atem, the nests had to be checked. It had nothing to do with your friendship with Timaeus. It had to do with whether there were other nests in the area. We wanted to know if there were other scents nearby. The hatchlings themselves we were never worried about. And as for the remarks, they were reminders. If Keith's nests turned violent, you swore to take care of them. We expected you to uphold that."

Atem bristled, lashing his tail. "I would have without all the remarks or the constant antagonism," he spat. "It's not hard for me to bloody my claws."

"Yet you were so insistent upon saving them."

"You yourself just said they proved innocent and unlike their father—"

"Enough," Leviathan snarled, and Jaden looked away first to glance at him. He stood looming over them, spitting with annoyance. "You're both like jealous siblings. Shut up already."

Atem flexed his claws and wrapped his tail around his paws. Yugi crept over to his side, brushing against him in reassurance but not bothering to speak.

"It doesn't matter anymore. That's over and done with." Leviathan shook his head sharply, annoyed. He lashed his tail as he slowly took a seat again. "No one cares about his offspring any longer."

"Dimitri is half of Keith's genetics," Yami interjected, and Leviathan and Yusei looked over in confusion. Atem noticed Jaden turn away entirely. "He's Keith's, Seto's, and Kisara's."

Yusei blinked and stood straighter, eyes wide with alarm. "Keith's? What does Keith have to do with…?" He paused, then looked over at Jaden slowly. "Keith was Sartorius's."

"And Yubel's." Jaden flicked his tail. "I didn't know."

"But you found out before."

"Two days ago. With everything that's happened since, there wasn't time to tell either of you."

Yusei looked as if he'd been gutted, but it passed when he turned to Yami. "How long have you been sitting on this?"

The Divine smiled tightly. "Atem had a theory about it a moon or two ago, but it wasn't until recently that I got confirmation," he admitted. His eyes shot to Atem before he looked back. "We didn't think it would be necessary to say anything when Atem meant to kill him immediately. But Jesse got hurt and I healed him, and then Jaden came for me and Atem declared war. And from there it all just…got out of hand. Yugi died and the path to Paradise to retrieve him…"

Yusei looked over at the Gandora. "And now you're awake."

Yugi tilted his head. "I guess so," he said somewhat doubtfully, "but I still feel like I'm asleep. Everything feels the same, but really…off at the same time."

The Ice Dragon nodded slowly, then smirked and turned to Jaden. "Okay, well, I'll forgive you for not saying anything about Keith if you'll forgive me for what I'm about to tell you."

Leviathan burst out laughing. "That's really messed up, Yusei."

The Ice Dragon grinned at him over his shoulder before turning back. Jaden eyed them both critically, but nodded slowly for Yusei to speak.

"Ironheart told me about Yami when I first apprenticed with his father."

Jaden blinked. "Apprenticed with his…? Who? There was only ever Shadi and Ironheart," he scoffed.

Leviathan burst out laughing again. Yami looked away with a snort. Yusei was snickering, tilting his head and waiting. Atem bristled, flicking his tail.

"You all held secrets from each other."

"We all hold secrets," Yusei corrected gently. "Yes. It was necessary and always will be, Atem. You kept Yami from us to protect him, as you should have. We kept your omen hidden from Jaden to prevent unnecessary bloodshed."

"You're not saying what I think you are," Jaden spat. "You're not saying Shadi was Ironheart's father."

"Surprise," Leviathan scoffed. "I'm not related to them in the slightest. Shadi asked me to protect Ironheart when he realized Sartorius was coming for him. It seemed the easiest task for a war god, so I agreed. But we lingered to watch Shadi and Sartorius, and you and Sartorius. He said it was necessary, so that Ironheart and I both understood what would come if we…overstepped."

"Overstepped?"

Leviathan looked over. "In regards to you," he answered coldly. "If we overstepped and fought you for Yami. He said the bloodshed would be hundredfold and you'd pick your teeth with our bones. He showed us an image of you in the water once, moons before you were born. You hatched the night he died. The false moon, the year spring came late."

Yugi looked at him sideways. Atem was statuesque, frozen beside him with widened eyes and a horrified expression. He wished he could have comforted him, but no words came. He flexed his claws and looked away.

"So then… The two of you knew of Atem?" Jaden hissed.

"Yes." Yusei gave the Sky Dragon a sympathetic yet measured look. "Yes, we did. We could never see him, so we thought maybe he'd died in the nest or suffered egg rot or something of that nature. We never heard word of him until he reappeared in the eastern region, and by then he was rumored to eat hatchlings who misbehaved and hang corpses from trees."

"And yet neither of you went to investigate."

"No, because Ironheart said to wait. Atem would come to us when the time came." Yusei glanced at Jaden sideways. "I sent Jesse because I knew he'd likely overstep and if he made it back to us with his wings intact things had changed and Atem wasn't the beast Shadi had predicted."

Jaden scowled. "You play a lot of games for someone who pretends to be so straightforward."

He shook his head. "It was never a game. But I couldn't risk you going to find him, and I didn't know if he would react poorly to Leviathan or me entering the territory. The rumors were all bull dung, so I was never worried about that. I just wanted to see if he was nearly as volatile as Shadi had originally predicted. He'd said he would be a cold, ruthless murderer by the point we all crossed paths. He wouldn't be mindless, but he'd barely hesitate to rip us open to see what our insides looked like. Shadi called him death incarnate once."

Yugi saw Timaeus shiver where he was seated near Yami. He glanced over and found the Knight Dragon studying Atem with huge eyes. Yami was watching the other three deities with glittering eyes, puzzled.

Yusei hesitated, then looked at Atem again. "He said you'd have a lot of hardships that would mold you. From what I understood, you'd leave the nest prematurely and from there build yourself up from whatever terror had chased you out. I didn't know all the details. I heard of your side being ripped open later, a moon after we'd met at the gathering. But I didn't hear much else, just that for a long time in the borderlands between southern and eastern region, there had been a little Slifer with two mouths whose side had been rotting."

Yugi noticed Atem glance briefly toward Timaeus. "Yes," the Sky Dragon growled. "Seto carved my side open. It rotted for moons. I nearly died more times than I care to recall. The infection wouldn't go away and I finally ran into someone who helped clean it. We separated a few moons later, when I had enough of a growth spurt that I wasn't tiny and lanky anymore. I returned to my home range and struck a territory."

Yusei nodded. "Right."

"Timaeus was never seen in those visions, because you were meant to be chased out later than you were. And Timaeus was younger than he should have been when he challenged for mating rights," Yami said abruptly, cutting in. Atem's head snapped toward him and Yugi bristled faintly. "But things changed somehow. And they overlapped. You met Timaeus rather than being alone to suffer and lose a heart. And, later, you came across Yugi. And Yugi… Well, I don't think anyone accounted for a little Gandora who fell in love with you at six moons."

Yugi blinked and tilted his head. Atem looked over, puzzled, and Yugi glanced back. He smiled distractedly, licked his beak, and turned back with a small frown. "What does that mean?"

"That you are what changed everything."

Atem blinked. "Huh?"

Yami smirked. "Yugi changed everything. You said yourself you'd been expecting someone to finally force you to your belly when you were too weak to fight one day. You said you'd rather have died than allowed it to happen, though you worried about it constantly between waves of suitors." He paused. "Yugi saw you and you knew nothing about him. The entire time you were on your own, Yugi and his family had migrated to within a mile of you. You likely never crossed paths because of Timaeus, because Yugi's parents wouldn't have risked that fight."

Yugi tilted his head. "That doesn't…"

"After he won the courtship, he changed a lot of your perspective without meaning to. You were never any less dangerous, just more tolerant of things that usually would have infuriated you. You grew and changed because Yugi was so easygoing and didn't try to pressure you to do or see things the way he did." He paused. "By the time the gathering rolled around, you were already different. Seto didn't invoke the same rage he had twice before, you weren't so concerned about Bakura or Malik, you didn't even think the other three gods a threat. Had Yugi not come along, you would have been a lot warier and a lot less tolerant. You'd have gone after your brothers and flipping Leviathan wouldn't have been the only thing you'd have done."

"It almost wasn't."

"Yes, but you hesitated long enough that Yugi had time to stop you. If you'd never have met, there wouldn't have been any hesitation. Leviathan would have lost a heart and you would have returned to your territory and waited your days out. Dimitri would have come for you and you both would have died. You would have lost a heart and come back unstable and with unattainable bloodlust." Yami paused. "Yugi even slowed Dimitri without realizing."

Yugi blinked. "You mean the Blessing?" he murmured. "Because Dimitri would have killed them in the nest otherwise?"

Yami nodded. "You weakened him. He's not half as strong as he should be because of that one simple thing you put into motion."

"Half?" Yusei hissed. "You mean that bastard could have been twice as strong as he is now?"

He nodded again. "According to the omen Shadi and Ironheart both saw, Atem was to be alone and grow into a ruthless creature that shed blood as easily as summoning rain. Things changed, but they never quite saw it. They had to work together to see Atem at any point, as their abilities were too weak to get past his singularly. Yugi made him softer but didn't dampen his abilities. But his inclusion in Atem's life stunted Dimitri and Atem didn't eat his egg as he had the chance to."

"The Blessing changed almost all of it then," Yugi muttered. "If I hadn't convinced him to perform it, Dimitri would have hatched at full strength. Atem would have fought and killed him at the cost of one of his hearts, and slowly destructed from there."

"Yes, but all of that hinged on you not being there as well, Yugi. I don't know if he would recover eventually from the loss and return to normal, or if he'd still slowly rot into a mindless beast." Yami fell silent for a long time. "But it doesn't matter. It changed. He won't lose a heart now."

Atem flexed his claws. "Are we so sure?" he asked softly. Yugi bristled, whipping around to scowl. The Sky Dragon was watching Jaden instead, golden eyes narrowed to slits. "It seemed almost inevitable that Dimitri and I fight and die at each other's claws. So how is it you say you can prevent it?"

Yami didn't answer for a long time. Yugi looked over, desperation surging through him. But the hatchling was motionless, staring at Atem as if he had just asked him to kill him. The Uria finally blinked and looked at Yugi, then turned away.

"Trust me."