Chapter Text
Everything felt different and new, but also weirdly familiar. Viktor felt hypersensitive to everything, but it wasn’t painful. It was very contradicting and he couldn’t explain why.
“Child,” a voice called and Viktor turned around or at least he believed he did. He could feel his body turning, but couldn’t see anything besides endless blue.
“Child... take my hand,” a woman in front of him told him calmly. She had her hand outstretched and a soft smile on her face. Her white hair was flowing behind her, making her look almost ethereal.
Viktor gently took her hand and he immediately felt power flowing through his whole body. Every single hair on his body stood up, but wasn't scared at all. After a while the feeling stopped and both looked at the blue that surrounded them, which began to change and manifest into roads, houses, plants and the sky. Their feet touched the ground and it felt surprisingly real.
“Where are we?” Viktor wanted to know, curiously looking around. The scenery around him looked very familiar, but his mind was not able to catch up. Everything felt too surreal.
“Atlantis. At least this is how it looked like a long time ago,” the woman explained, her expression turning somewhat sad. “This is my last memory of the city.”
The woman closed her eyes and the city faded into the blue again. “I can show you how it all began,” she mumbled quietly and Viktor couldn’t help but wonder if she died and if this was just her soul he was speaking to.
“No one remembers exactly when Atlantis was built, but it began with the gods giving us a great gift: a vast amount of knowledge of the planet that we lived on. Not everyone received this gift from the gods. They chose the people they thought were worth of it and that moment has changed our lives forever,” she explained and Viktor could see images of that happening all around him. The people who were chosen had one thing in common: they all had white hair and blue markings covering their skin.
“We never used our knowledge for ourselves. After all it was a gift that the gods wanted us to share, so we did. It went well for a while until people became jealous and realized that we were a minority. They started to enslave us and or use our power for their own selfish reasons,” the woman sighed sadly.
Viktor saw children being held as hostages or even kidnapped from their families. He reached out to catch a person that was harshly pushed away by another, but they went right through him. Right, these were only memories. None of this was actually happening right now, but it saddened Viktor nevertheless.
“We didn’t want to fight, so we asked the gods for help and they showed us a place where we were safe. It started with small houses and things we needed, but eventually we turned it into a city that made even gods jealous,” the woman smiled and Viktor saw in fast motion how the city grew in its size.
“But how did the city fall then?” Viktor asked, looking confused. The blue around them changed again, showing a huge wave rolling closer to the city. Earthquakes and fires raged through it. People were running away in fear and panic, until the crystal that floated atop the city raised a barrier to keep the water away. It chose a sacrifice however and Viktor looked at the woman in shock as everything faded. She was the sacrifice.
“We eventually... forgot who gave us the knowledge to build and create. We forgot to care about spirituality, created weapons instead of tools that were supposed to help our daily lives. And with those we waged wars against other cultures and paid no heed to any warnings. Eventually it backfired, destroyed the city and it sunk into the deep sea. We adapted to our new life with magic and allowed other people to live here, but the truth is that Atlantis is dying.”
“So you chose another sacrifice... me?” Viktor asked with wide eyes. “I cannot stay! I... I have so much to see still and I promised my dog I’d come back!”
That’s right, he promised Makkachin. And Yuuri was waiting for him too. He couldn’t stay here and guard the city.
“I know. You are not going to stay here,” the woman reassured and kissed Viktor’s forehead. “Maybe one day you will join us. There is another reason why the crystal chose you.”
“A reason? But what could I do? I’m not special!” Viktor insisted, but the woman shook her head.
“You are. You just don’t know that yet!” she chuckled. “Please help us, help Atlantis, help the people to live in peace again,” the woman begged before Viktor lost sight of her. He suddenly felt very drowsy and closed his eyes for a moment.
Suddenly he fell into water and Viktor startled, resurfacing soon after. He gasped and coughed as he swam to the water’s edge where he collapsed once his feet hit solid land. It took him a few minutes to catch his breath and to process what just happened. Shakily getting up on his feet, he stumbled out of the water only to fall back into it again when something knocked him off his feet.
“Viktor! Oh my god you’re back!” sobbed a voice that he identified as Yuuri’s. The man was holding onto Viktor’s waist, crying into his chest. “I thought I lost you!”
“Impressive,” said another voice that Viktor recognized as well. “No one got out of the crystal once it chose its sacrifice.”
A smaller figure approached them, golden hair tied into a messy ponytail. Fierce blue-green eyes sparkled with surprise, but also admiration. What shocked Viktor the most however was that he knew the person the voice belonged to.
“Y-Yuri?!”