Chapter LXXXIII: Betrayal

Yami woke uneasily from his dreams. Something had stirred in the dark, though he was unsure what it might have been. His dreams had been haunted, stalked by the sound of Atem whispering he wasn't worth the effort he and Yugi had put into saving him. He had not expected the words to present themselves as they had, and he raised his head slowly to glance around. He'd rested with a deer haunch not too far inside of the den he'd taken residence in. It had been an old badger set, just large enough he could slither inside like the shadows themselves and settle in the earth.

He blinked and glanced about. The sky was dark and blue ribbed the black, reddish glittering streaks woven about, and the stars sprinkled like granite stone across the heavens. There was nothing there to alarm him, so he sought through the brief memories of his dream.

Had there been something he was missing now that he was awake? What had he dreamed of but for Atem's broken voice? He couldn't remember for a long moment, and then he recalled with brief frustration.

He'd dreamed of the den in the mountain.

He'd dreamed of his first visit there, of Atem and Yugi watching him fall over the ledge and land in the stone and soft river sand.

But that had not been the whole of it.

He'd dreamed then of Jonouchi and the Red-Eyes' obvious fear, the way he'd glanced at him sideways sometimes and occasionally his thoughts were geared toward whether to try to get rid of him. He'd dreamed of the time Jonouchi had taken him across a ravine and over the rushing water, using a fallen tree for a bridge. Yami had felt it back then, just as he had in the dream.

Jonouchi had made Shizuka go first, then Yami, while he took the rear.

The Red-Eyes had considered—albeit briefly—throwing Yami off the log and into the water. He'd thought Yami would drown there and the problems would end. Yami had realized then more than ever that Jonouchi was superstitious to the point that his own shadow likely could have scared him had he not recognized it. Jonouchi had asked him if he'd heard his thoughts later that day, and when Yami had said yes, he'd been ashamed but never apologized. Yami hadn't held it against him, but he'd been far more cautious around him than before.

But the dream had shifted and Yami had remembered Ryou telling him of Timaeus, seeing his broken body in the dirt.

And then…

The last few moments, before he'd woken up.

That hadn't been the past.

Yami blinked and narrowed his eyes.

No, that had been the future. Somehow he'd drifted into his abilities in his sleep. Perhaps it had been the memories of his emotions or the others amongst them. Perhaps it had been something else entirely. Maybe he'd sought it out in an effort to comfort himself, to make him feel better for the choices he'd made just earlier that day.

But the dream…

Yami blinked slowly and lowered his head to the ground again. He gusted a breath from between his teeth and closed his eyes again.

The future was not set in stone.

It was moldable and choices could set about different branches from something formerly expected.

He could change what he'd seen.

He'd done it before.

He could do it again.

Yet something cold spread through his limbs and his heart ached. When Jaden realized he was alive, things would spiral toward their end. It was only a matter of moons from the moment Jaden spotted him to the conclusion he'd seen in his dreams.

I can change it. I can change it.

"I can't believe a hatchling nearly killed all three of us," Yusei griped quietly, flustered. "I would have thought it would have been harder for him than that."

Jaden scoffed quietly. "We've become complacent. If we weren't, we would have won the moment he approached us." He lashed his tail. "Your idea that we'd use Yami to kill us made the three of us complacent, Yusei."

"Are you stupid?" the Ice Dragon sneered. "We've been complacent for a long time. You didn't even want to interfere with Keith when he nearly destroyed the Fire Clan. An issue bred from within or not, that warranted more of a response than we bothered with."

Jesse looked between them nervously and Leviathan gave an annoyed sigh.

"Are we going to stand here and rehash old arguments? I'm tired of hearing the same thing over and over like this," he spat. "It's over and done with. It's past. I don't know about the two of you, but I live in the present and wait for the future. The past doesn't interest me. Foresight is great when it's not used every moment."

Yusei glanced at him sideways, then whipped around to face Jaden again. Leviathan was right. Arguing like this over old wounds wouldn't help them, but if Jaden didn't realize his mistakes they were bound to repeat them.

"Jaden," he hissed earnestly, "listen. We messed up. Thinking Yami might be the solution was stupid. I admit that now. He's dead and we have to step up. Atem can't do this on his own. I don't care what he says."

The Prime Material Dragon blinked. "I hadn't planned to leave Atem to deal with Dimitri," he said quietly, shaking his head. "I think he's foolhardy for even considering it. If Dimitri could take the three of us so easily, there's no doubt in my mind he could take Atem as well."

Yusei wasn't entirely sure that was true. He still thought of the way Atem had flipped the Leviathan as if he were nothing but a branch. He still sometimes pictured the way he'd stood there, calculating and watching him as if he were aiming for something. He remembered the clicking sound no one had ever found the source of, and the frantic way Yugi had rushed over to stop him.

Yusei was relatively sure Atem had meant to kill him, but he hadn't thought it maliciously ingrained. He'd suspected Atem had been so inflicted by exhaustion from the desert heat and the spat he'd gotten into prior with the Leviathan that he'd seen him then as a threat. Yusei wasn't sure he'd ever thought to truly kill him, but the impulse had been there borne of fear.

He had the smallest doubt that Dimitri could handle Atem at all. It was what would happen in the meantime that would make or break the situation.

It was whether Atem took care of himself properly, or if Dimitri managed to get him unawares. It had nothing to do with whether Atem could kill him. It depended on circumstance and a number of other factors. Yusei couldn't imagine Dimitri could be so powerful as to knock Atem off his paws.

There was an uncomfortable silence as they all considered each other.

"You don't agree?"

He didn't want to have that fight. Yusei shook his head. "I never said that. I don't know how it would turn out. Frankly, it doesn't matter. What we're actually discussing is the mistakes we've made and our complacency. We need to figure out how to fix it. We have to figure out how to stop Dimitri."

Jaden looked skeptical but did not speak out against the statement. "Okay, so, I guess we need to train and get our skills back to their peak, huh?" he muttered, sounding thoughtful. He looked at Leviathan. "You shouldn't have too many issues, though. I know that your skills are more honed than our own. Is that incorrect?"

Yusei saw a shadow pass over Leviathan's eyes. He couldn't read the expression on his face any longer, but he saw Jaden sit up slightly with a confused look.

Leviathan snorted. "No. That's right. My skills are still strong."

Yusei didn't know what to make of the statement. Something seemed odd and estranged about the words, but he couldn't quite put his claw on it. Jaden seemed just as confused as he was, yet he failed to speak against it, either.

Silence stretched between them for a long minute.

"Then how did Dimitri manage to harm you as well?" Jesse blurted, then looked mortified. He flinched when Leviathan swung around to glare at him, teeth bared and eyes sharp as thorns. "Usually you can get through a fight almost unscathed."

Leviathan bristled. "I haven't had to fight for a while, tending to the Clan like I have. There aren't usually challengers willing to try to usurp me of the temporary title as leader."

Jesse looked down at his paws with embarrassment, and Yusei blinked. He raised his head slightly. He'd almost forgotten Leviathan was able to get in and out of fights so easily. No one had truly been willing to battle him recently. And it had been a long time since any of them had witnessed one. The fact that Dimitri had laid a claw on him at all was almost horrifying.

He blinked.

Atem had done it. Atem had flipped Leviathan as if he were a log.

He shouldn't have been able to touch him.

It went almost entirely against Leviathan's abilities that he'd even managed it.

How had he gotten his paws on him like that if the War God's abilities were so strong?

He blinked and glanced at Jaden. Had that been one of the reasons Jaden had been so scared of Atem initially? Was that one of the reasons he'd been so determined to isolate him and figure out why he was such a huge blind spot to the three of them?

Or was there no other reason but fear itself?

But when had Jaden become such a coward?

When had he become so paranoid?

Yusei wondered at this thought but shook it off soon after. He turned to Jaden after a moment to avoid Leviathan's cold glare. "I say we do what we did before," he announced softly, hoping to keep Jaden from growing irritable, "and we train against each other."

"Is that so?" Jaden scoffed. "That's what you think we should do?"

"Obviously we can't fight Dimitri as we are."

Jaden shot him an annoyed look that bordered ferocity, and Yusei barely suppressed a wave of laughter. He turned away and looked at Leviathan, but whereas the God Dragon would have usually smirked now he sat there statuesque, eyes locked on the ground.

Yugi woke to Atem watching him. Timaeus was still fast asleep in the corner of the den, snoring softly and twitching occasionally in his slumber. Yugi blinked up at him, uncertain and slightly confused, and his hearts raced when Atem did not look away. He did not even make a face nor raise his head. He watched him, unblinking, and his eyes narrowed faintly as they looked at one another. Atem didn't speak when Yugi shifted his weight and got to his paws, hoping for a moment to go closer. The God Dragon stared back, tail twitching as he flexed his claws.

Yugi stopped when Atem's claws sank into the dirt and dislodged a small cloud of dust. The God Dragon continued watching him, eyes sharp and calculating, and then turned away abruptly.

He's never going to forgive me.

It had only been a day since he'd found out about Yami; Yugi was overreacting, he knew, but some part of him still feared it all the same. Was he wrong to fear Atem might prove the ruthless, unfeeling dragon he'd always claimed to be? Was he wrong to think perhaps Atem had been truthful all the times he'd said formerly that he could not and did not believe in forgiveness?

His hearts ached and twisted in his chest.

"Atem…"

"Don't," Atem hissed, and Yugi looked in the direction his eyes shot toward Timaeus in the corner of the den. Yugi could see now that Timaeus was stirring once more, sleeping but no longer snoring as he had before. The God Dragon twitched his tail again, then looked away from his friend to Yugi once more. "Are you all right?"

Yugi hesitated, looking around uncertainly, and then turned back. Atem tilted his head but did not ask his question again. Yugi got up and moved forward to sit closer to the Slifer, hearts racing once more. "Why wouldn't I be?" he asked uncertainly. "I…"

"You seemed rattled after we talked about Keith," he answered somewhat coldly, rising to a stand and peering down at him curiously. "So, I didn't know if there was something that worried you."

Yugi watched him for a moment and his mouth opened and closed twice before he looked away. He wanted to ask him if he understood what his abilities were, if he knew the implications of them. But he realized how false he was being. Atem didn't know. Atem couldn't know but for realizing himself. Yami had made that clear more than once. Yugi still didn't understand why he had to let Atem suffer alone like that. But if it meant Atem was okay at the end of everything, suffering alone and stumbling in the dark like this couldn't be the worst thing in the world…

Yami had said this would protect Atem later.

He'd have to hope Yami saw as clearly as he thought and Atem's discovery later wouldn't be overshadowed by his anger toward Yugi. He didn't know he could live with the cold shoulder Atem gave him now, even after a single day of quiet and frigid looks.

"Keith in general was worrying. Now it's just…infuriating." Yugi sighed and forced away his fear, sitting up straighter and shaking his head. "He's been dead for almost four years now. I didn't realize he could cause so much more damage in death than he did even in life."

Atem was quiet for a long moment. Something flickered in his eyes and colored the gem on his forehead with shadows but he did not respond for a long moment. Then he looked away, glancing out toward the entrance of the den. Yugi feared he might simply spring away and disappear, but the God Dragon turned back.

"I had hoped his death meant the end of his hold on me in life," he muttered, eyes darkening. "But it seems nothing can come so easily to me as it does others. I suppose I should have known better than to ever assume it could."

Yugi flinched, feeling choked and breathless. "Atem…"

Atem narrowed his eyes but didn't say a word.

Yugi struggled for a moment to think of something to say, but the words died in his throat once more. He looked away, flustered, and tried to remember how to breathe again. He ducked his head, ashamed but indignant as well—he'd done it for Atem, not because he'd ever wanted to lie and betray him like that—and tried to smother the growing anger. He couldn't stop the surge of frustration, the aggression that came with the fact Atem was so terribly angry with him. Atem was ignoring the fact that Yugi had done all of this for him, even if the lie hurt initially. Atem was still alive for it…

He hadn't lost a heart.

And Dimitri had been slowed down even if it was only because of Jaden's inaction rather than anything else…

"It doesn't matter," Atem said abruptly, and Yugi risked a glance in his direction once more. "I will deal with Dimitri as I did Keith. At the end of it, things will have to return somewhat to normal, I'm sure."

Somewhat.

Yugi flinched and shifted his weight, lifting his head to make eye contact with him again. His hearts ached as they looked at each other. It's only been a day, he reminded himself desperately. He won't be angry forever. But today…

"You have suspicion as to what my abilities are, do you not?" Atem asked abruptly, narrowing his eyes. "Do you believe they were passed to Dimitri through Seto?"

Yugi blinked and very slowly shook his head. "No." He looked away. "He'd be a lot stronger and more capable if they had."

Atem was silent for a long moment. "Is that so?" he scoffed. "Because I'm the strongest, most dangerous, right?"

He nodded slightly, turning back. "Yes. According to… Yes."

The Sky Dragon stared at him intently. "I'd like to know what makes me so dangerous," he scoffed softly. His eyes flickered toward Timaeus in the corner of the den. The teal male seemed to have settled back into a snoring slumber once more when Yugi glanced back. "You both say that and yet, it doesn't make any sense to me. I suppose not knowing makes everything so much easier for that silver tongue of yours, hmm?"

Yugi bore his teeth. "It was for you. I didn't do it to hurt you."

Atem narrowed his eyes and stared until Yugi felt he was looking through him rather than at him. His stomach rolled as they considered each other. Yugi shivered, scales rising and falling along his spine. Atem blinked once, then turned away, and the sting from the realization Atem truly didn't believe him was enough to wind him.

"I've never done anything to hurt you!" he spat, startling himself. Atem turned back, standing atop the ledge and peering down at him with glittering golden eyes. "I'd never purposely hurt you. You know that. How dare you accuse me otherwise!"

Atem blinked slowly, then glanced to the back of the den. "Good morning."

Yugi whipped around. Timaeus had raised his head, staring at them both with a strange, horrified expression. The Knight Dragon eventually turned his head away, blinking and looking down after a moment. He shifted his weight, blinked once, and then got up to shake himself out.

"I wasn't aware the two of you were going to start fighting like this. Is it over me or something else?"

Yugi blinked. He wished for a moment he could have claimed it had to do with Timaeus. It would have made things simpler. "No, it…has nothing to do with you," he managed to breathe. "Atem and I…are fighting over something else."

Timaeus nodded slowly. "Okay." He turned to Atem. "I haven't heard you that angry in a long time."

The God Dragon huffed. "I've no idea what you're talking about," he scoffed. "I'm having a simple conversation with my mate."

Even Yugi heard the hatred in that one word. It made him feel ill even as he turned to him with wide eyes. Atem wouldn't look at him, instead watching Timaeus intently as if the Knight Dragon might have some kind of answer. Yugi wondered if he was thinking about what Yami had said, that Timaeus had been payment for saving their lives. He wondered if he truly disagreed and didn't think either of them worth the sum of his best friend's, whether he thought he'd have given his life for Timaeus regardless.

But the God Dragon turned away abruptly.

"Are you both hungry? I wish to find something to eat. Finding Dimitri yesterday and seeing what he did to the other three God Dragons is enough to exhaust me." He looked to Yugi. "Fish or meat?"

Yugi hesitated for a long moment. "Fish," he finally mumbled. Atem was more likely to actually eat if he had fish instead of meat. When he was so torn up and unsure of himself, it was easier to coax him to eat if it was not a heavier meal. But he had to pray to the gods that Atem would even bother to fill his own belly. He could have easily been too angry to take care of himself. "I'd like fish…please."

Please eat.

Atem watched him a moment, then turned to Timaeus. "And you?"

"Fish is fine," Timaeus dismissed. "I have no problem with fish."

Atem turned and trotted away, but he still heard it when Timaeus likely whipped around and snarled, "What have you done?" to Yugi. The God Dragon thought to stop and turn back to see them, but the impulse died. He did not wish to approach them again nor pick a bigger fight with Yugi. It wasn't worth it.

He picked his way along the ledges and toward the river. It wasn't too long a trek, but it felt uncomfortably fast where he'd hoped it would take a while. He took a seat and wrapped his tail around his paws, staring into the water. Fish flickered about beneath the surface and for a split second Atem thought to gather only gray and black fish, to show his irritation in such a simple but petty way. But Yugi already knew he was upset with him. He already knew Atem was furious with him.

Bringing him the fish he didn't like was too childish and stupid.

He peered at the water, watching them intently as they glimmered beneath the surface. He considered them for a while, studying the depth they swam and the lengths of their bodies. They were mostly juveniles and Atem didn't know if it was best to wait and see if there should be adults further into the river or if he should leave to find something from the lake.

He shifted his weight and studied for a moment longer.

Would it have been easier to hunt something from the forest?

But he settled there again. He did not want to hunt anything land-based at the moment. He didn't want to taste so much blood as it took to crush a windpipe. He did not want to have the blood stain his senses and soak his tongue as usual with a land animal. It was frustrating at times, and it made him thirsty and sometimes made his skin feel tight over his bones.

Atem swept a paw into the water, swiping a fish which came flying through the air and hit the ground with a hideous thump. The smell of blood was light in the air and the fish gasped as it flailed for a few heartbeats before growing still. Atem watched the fish weaving their way beneath the water once more and considered them silently.

He caught another fish and the flash of violet in its scales made him stop short. He turned his head to regard it, but the glimmer was faint and discolored for the most part. He saw it flail a few times, gasping audibly as if the air might turn liquid, and then it began to choke and slowly went still. Atem stared down at the shiny scales, rainbow-flecked and glimmering, and his stomach lurched. It looked almost like the fish Yugi had been so excited about when they'd been newly mated. He'd found it in the river and caught it and come running to Atem to show it off. It had still been alive, and it had horrified Yugi who had assumed it was dead prior to that point, and Atem had taken it back to the water when he'd seen that flash of violet that reminded him of Yugi's eyes.

It was odd to see another rainbow-like fish with scales like that.

But he supposed it had to have been related to the fish. He didn't think it was the same. He didn't think fish survived so long for the most part. It didn't make sense that it could have survived for so long on its own in a river where competition was so intense and food so limited.

Atem turned back to the water and swept another fish from the depths. He bristled and flexed his claws, digging them into the ground and smothering a snarl in his throat. Yugi. It almost seemed like a curse now to be tied to the Gandora. Everything since Yugi had come into his life had seemed a blessing, even if a majority of it had scared him more than he wished to admit. He'd thought their relationship one of trust and affection, though now he wondered. Everything seemed tainted.

He was still reeling.

Yami was alive.

His odd, impossible son who should never have existed was still alive.

He was even healthy.

And all because Yugi had chosen to lie to Atem that one night and the last two years he'd maintained his false bewilderment and confusion and loss. He wondered if Yugi had ever even considered telling him the truth. He wondered if he'd only ever cared to mention it now because Yami had shown himself.

How long would the lie have held otherwise? How long would Yugi have let him mourn without reason?

He claimed he'd done it to save his life, but if he was so dangerous shouldn't he have had more faith in Atem's ability to protect himself and Yugi and Yami from Dimitri? Or was it all false? Had Atem been right whenever he'd assumed formerly that he wasn't a God Dragon to begin with?

Maybe they'd all mistaken him for one because of his physical malformation. He'd gone along with it because even Timaeus had told him he had to be one. Atem still didn't know why he had always insisted he was. He didn't know why his parents had believed him to be one. He didn't know why Yugi threw the title at him as if it were written in stone that he was one.

Atem bore his teeth more pointedly, slashed the water so hard he felt he'd almost dug a tidal wave from it, and knocked several more fish from the river. He stared at the droplets as they danced and glimmered in the air. He saw the shadows of droplets and the flash of another fish caught by the torrent of movement. And he wondered then, why did he not see more?

Why did he not see things in the water?

He was a Sky Dragon.

Aside from Leviathan, he was closest to the element. Why didn't he see things in the water like the rest of them did? Why didn't he have any control of anything but the usual magic every one of his species possessed? Controlling the weather and seeing to the wind pressure and flying higher, swimming deeper, didn't amount to anything in comparison.

Why hadn't he ever been gifted this ability?

What God Dragon was incapable?

No other God Dragon was incapable. It was the most common of abilities between deities. Why would any of them have assumed to allow him the title when he could not even stomach to do something so simple?

Atem snarled low in his throat, glancing at the pile of fish to his side.

For a split second he thought to turn and stalk off. But he'd never been one to waste food. And no one was with him to ensure it didn't simply rot in the sun. He settled back on his haunches and closed his eyes for a moment, forcing himself to calm down and reconsider.

He had never killed in surplus and he'd never wasted a meal. He'd backed off to let other predators have food when they came to scavenge and he always sat back and waited when he himself had picked off former kills when he was younger. It was against his nature to kill needlessly.

Atem blinked and swiped at another fish.

Hadn't Yugi said something at one point that God Dragons were chosen by their souls and the purity in each of them?

He nearly snarled, outraged and annoyed with himself.

What did it matter what Yugi said?

He'd lied to him and kept Atem in the dark and let him mourn a dragon that hadn't passed. As far as Atem was concerned, Yugi was almost no better than Malik when he'd sat back and watched Atem struggle and get beaten. Malik had held his tongue and refused to tell their parents anything, which had always coaxed Atem to do the same just to avoid being accused of lying.

Hindsight said his parents would have believed him, but back then he'd been terrified and refused to speak out against the torture. Now…

Yugi had all but maimed him.

Even his brothers wouldn't have been so cruel as to pretend they loved him just to tear him apart again.

Yugi had done the impossible, gotten him to return his affection, and betrayed him.

Atem shuddered and got to his paws, glancing at the pile of fish, and moved a little further down the river to peer into the water. It felt cowardly and he knew he couldn't chase the shadow of fear that crept over him, but he wished all the same.