disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or any of its characters.

Time set from the beginning of the world to the fall of Atlantis.
No romance-based shippings. Rated T for anxiety/depression and character deaths.

How Timaeus, Critias, and Helmos came into being; the prosper of the great kingdom of Atlantis and finally its downfall in the great war as the three legendary knights struggled with their bonds of friendship and the emotions that they had thought lost long ago in the cruel tides of time...the heart which would mourn for those that had died and the volition to fight for those still among the living.

"Normal Speech."

-Spiritual Speech.-

A recount of past memories or "things said in the past".


The Last Five Millennium: The Fall of Atlantis

Prologue. Our Names

All was peaceful and the weather was fine. The sky was sunny and cloudless, and a gust of gentle wind caressed the locks of golden threads that fell naturally across a young man's façade. Eyes of deep sapphire blue caught the rays of sunlight as he lifted his head and squinted.

Billions upon billions of colorful air bubbles drifted lazily in the wind, like jewels scattered across the sky. As many burst, more took their places.

The young man somehow found amusement in this line of thought.

After all, where was he anyway if not another colorful air bubble? This was their world, a multi-dimensional space containing one another–soul rooms of animals and plants that belonged to the other world, rooms that were separated yet connected.

He knew the room he currently stayed was one belonged to that of an age old fern tree as he had always enjoyed that peaceful nature most plants seemed to have. Though it's not like he didn't enjoy excitement or...fun, but they were luxuries he wasn't allow to have. And the most he could hope for was the few stories that were brought to him once every couple of centuries.

But at least he had them now...as he remembered what was it like in the very beginning.

Memories that still haunted him now.

Yami.

Unlike the other side, darkness was what gave birth to this world. And how long it lasted he could no longer be sure.

And then there was water and echoes as the first sea creatures were born and their souls created slippery rooms of dampness and dread. And he learned to breathe...and learned to feel lonely as he thought that he was the only one dwelled in this side of the parallel universe.

Maybe another million year had passed before he met another–in the halls of absolute darkness–just like him, and yet not like him. Another essence, another conscious, another mind. And he learned the definition of 'I' and the differences between 'You' and 'I'.

He would always remembered the day when the soul bubble he–they–took resident in burst and sent both of them falling through the air into a space with such brilliance that he thought he was blind.

It was the first time he saw.

And there, sitting across the outstretched porcelain plane that seemed to go on forever and laughing in a merry tone at their bewilder faces, was another of their kind. A pair of outstretched membrane-wings expanded from the shoulder blades of a slender but firm stature, scales of brilliant vermilion covered the forearms and legs with a light bronze tan upon the skin, and hair of reddish brown with eyes of the richest gold.

He thought it was the most beautiful sight then–and still did so now–as he turned to look at the partner by his side, and he was greeted by a faint smile etched upon a handsome but pale face that had–like him–never seen sunlight and a pair of knowing eyes in a shade of purplish grey half-hidden under blond bangs.

The young man ran a hand through his inky spiked bristle that's tipped with the same mazarine hue like that of his eyes as memories of his distant past sparkled like wonder in his mind. But then the smile faded as more came back to him and he closed his eyes, ignoring the fragile bubbles that drifted in the wind.

Hikari.

The light that gave birth to the other world.

It wasn't until the very first being on the other side ventured from the safety embrace of the eternally dark sea did the first splendor was allowed into this world. It wasn't until then did he know what he himself–and his companion(s)–looked like.

But none of them knew it then that it was the beginning of Chaos, when dark and light finally clashes. And great sorrow and sacrifices would follow.

And it was his entire fault.

The young man opened his eyes again and thought back on the time when they set out to search for others until finally acknowledged the fact that–though creatures also born from the dark were then already plentiful–they were the only sentient beings of this world; and later further realized that also of the two parallel worlds. And they all explored their power as the responsibilities of being the guardians fell onto their shoulders.

But guardians for what they did not know, not until five millennia had past and great disaster occurred.

He remembered the time when he could simply ignore the inner turmoil that had always existed within him, the time when he still lived in total darkness and alone. But he could no longer do so now as he finally confronted the things that he had managed to conceal without his own knowing for so long.

Unlike his prideful blond companion that had always being competitive and had the ability to work stray energy let loose by the dying and the deceased with ease, nor his cheerful brown-haired friend that's always up to the challenge and had the power extract energy from the living and wield as his own. He was the only one that could absorb and contain both form and energy, body and soul.

But nothing was forever and after five millennia of happiness with his two best friends, the things that had stay locked and hidden within him broke free of his control. The parallel worlds were lay to waste as the two ultimate powers clashed. The powers that were known as Yami and Hikari, the very Gods that first created the worlds.

And it wasn't until creatures became so sparse that only few survived did the powers once again withdrew inside his soul to carry on the endless battle. And it was only then did they realize just what they were supposed to guard.

They were the guardians of the spiritual universe, the Gate Keepers that regulated the crossing of souls and spirits between the two worlds, and the wardens that maintain the balance betwixt.

And he himself was the only prisoner.

The young man let out a hollowed laugh at that. It's true that his friends never made to held him captive or lock him down; it's all in his own bloody mind that he wanted to cringe back into the darkness where he was first born, so to spare the others from the chaos that's sure to occur every five millennia–when his control were at his weakest.

But no, it was no use as the light and the dark had already clashed. And all he could do was stay as far away from the others as possible and hope could reduce the damage done.

Sadly, things could only go as planned for so long and the race of dinosaurs were wiped out the very same way as the powers again crossed the Gates when they gone loose.

Those were the things of the past, some more distantly and some in recent decades, and the young man had slowly grown numb to the loss and pain over the forever coming and going of time. He knew how selfish he had become to think this way and secretly he admitted that he only cared about his two best friends...and not the billions of bubbles which meant life that burst every day.

The man stretched and stood up. The light green tunic he wore fluttered in the breeze and the hard leather scabbard that held his great sword–the Sword of Justice–clicked against his boots. This brought him amusement as well as he suddenly thought of the time when none of the trio knew what decency was and were used to just go around naked like all the other creatures that roamed the skies and lands and waters.

There were so many firsts.

Though none of them could remember the details, it didn't matter as long as they were filled with delight and meaning. And even that arrogant blond had to admit.

Like the long stretch of time they spent on trying to come up with a way to communicate with each other and had somehow managed to invent a language between the three of them. Which then leaded to another memory that didn't seem all that long ago.

The young man could almost remember it word by word that time when the delighted brunette ran around like a dunce, coming up with seemingly random sounds as names for just about everything, before the kid suddenly turned around facing the other two and actually asked something constructive.

"How 'bout names for ourselves?"

He remembered being flabbergasted.

"If ya asked me, I think I'll go for Helmos!" He wielded a long piece of wood like a sword as overjoyed-spark in those golden orbs showed how happy he was for coming up with the name that would from then on belonged to him and him only.

"Why's that, pry tell?" The blond countered with his casual smirk.

"Cuze it sounds cool, like me!"

It was just like him to come up with something then and there.

As it was just like the blond to spend another century perfecting their language and looking for inspiration before one day, out of the blue, uttered a single word under his breath.

"Critias."

It wasn't at all unexpected so the shortest of the three only showed that of polite puzzlement, but Helmos sure was caught off guard.

"My name. Critias." The blond repeated again before turning to the last of the trio who was still nameless. "How about yours?"

"Why do you think I've thought of it?"

"Sure you have." The blond said with much confidence as Helmos finished the 'Now tell us!' for him.

For two that seemed to never get along and would always spend half their time bickering, they sure like to continue each other's dialogue. The young man with tricolor hair could easily saw the irony as he closed his eyes and raised his voice to a higher yet softer pitch to repeat the words he had said so long ago.

"My name is Timaeus!"

He dropped his tone an octave then before he reiterated his own words again, but this time in a low murmur.

"My name is Timaeus."

And when he opened his eyes, he could see his two friends standing across the field. Helmos laughing and waving–forever his frivolous self–and Critias with his always sedate expression and too-long white fabric that hang down his dark blue tunic.

They didn't know their names were the beginning of a legend.


As I'm a Chinese I watched the Chinese-dubbed YGO series, so I based the personalities of every character on the Chinese-dubbed version which, I've got to say, is slightly different from the few English-dubbed versions that I've watched.
I'm not sure what Helmos and Critias were like in the English version but they have a tendency to share a sentence when they speak in the version that I'm more familiar with (which I find amusing what with Joey's and Kaiba's voices). As for Timaeus? He actually had two different voices (both of Yami's and Yugi's) in this version but no, not at the same time. He used Yami's voice throughout the battle with Dartz and it wasn't until they bid farewell on that lone island did he suddenly switched into Yugi's cute voice and said "So long, pharaoh!" in an adorable way that just screams for a hug.

Anyway! If Helmos and Critias keep splitting sentences into two parts and finishing for each other seems kind of GAY in later chapters, please bear with me as it wasn't my intention. And if Timaeus seems a bit ambiversion talking to himself... ah well, you get the picture I hope.