Chapter 1: The World is on Fire
William awoke to the sensation of heat and smoke choking him. His lungs were on fire and his clothes were threatening to join in the moment his consciousness returned to him. What happened? He opened his eyes before recoiling backwards, falling back against some sort of solid object. They burnt due to the smoke filling the building.
Despite the pain and his now teary eyes, he forced himself back to his feet. Taking the collar of his sweater, he stretched it over his nose and mouth to allow him to take a slightly fresher breath of air. He knew this was going to hurt… and he opened his eyes.
He was in some sort of smoke filled bedroom. The door to the hallway was in splinters beside the doorway, but flames could be seen beyond it. That was certainly not the way to go. He looked around before noticing the likely origin on the broken door. Where a window probably used to exist, there was now a hole in the wall. Something must have broken through the wall/window and destroyed the door. Whatever that something was, it was probably also responsible for the fire.
Seeing this as his only possible escape route, William quickly approached the hole and climbed over the debris of this old bedroom. He didn't have time to ponder how he got here, as he ran outside into the fresh air. The moment his feet touched the grass, his knees buckled and forced him to the ground.
Now grounded, William flipped himself over to be looking up into the sky as he took in many breaths of fresh, delicious oxygen. Now that his panic had subsided, he looked more closely at his surroundings, starting with the sky. There was a huge column of smoke, originating from the building he had awoken within. Tracing the flames back down, he got a better look at it…
It… it looked like it was some sort of orphanage. But… he wasn't familiar with it. In fact, now that he had a moment to think clearly, he wasn't really familiar with anything.
He sat up in a panic and looked down at his hands while his ears continued to ring. He couldn't remember anything except for his name. His name was William. Was there anything else he could remember?
Suddenly, an image popped into his head. Before him stood a child, maybe 12 years old? They had slightly darker skin than himself and short brown hair that almost met their shoulders. She wore a blue and purple striped sweater with a pair of jeans. Her brown eyes stared at him while he stared back in this piece of a memory. This was… "Frisk…" William whispered to himself.
This 'Frisk' seemed so familiar to him, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Despite not knowing much about this 'Frisk', something about her resonated in his soul, err heart. She seemed so nice... she must have meant a lot to him, so he felt kinda bad not remembering who she was.
In a panic, realizing that he didn't know how bad this memory loss was, he looked over himself. He seemed to be wearing a pair of light blue jeans and a pair of blue and black sneakers. Looking underneath his comfortable blue and green sweater, he saw he also wore a plain black t-shirt. These clothes were comfortable and calming. This must have been one of his favorite outfits. Looking himself over again, he confirmed this, really liking his fashion choices.
After a moment, the ringing in his ears went away. Now that the sounds of flames and burning debris was no longer overwhelming their sense of hearing, they could hear the people screaming about a monster, pointing behind them. After a moment, William forced himself to his feet and walked toward the corner of the former orphanage, arriving shortly thereafter and rounding the corner to see what was going on. If it really was a monster, Will had to see this. But… something about 'monsters' nagged at the back of his mind. Likely another thing he had forgotten.
Then, he saw it. Standing at least seven feet tall stood a large pillar of fire in the vague shape of a man. Some sort of long sword floated beside the 'hand' of the flame as fireballs were spat out of another 'hand' at some of the other buildings. When the fire turned slightly, Williams's fears were confirmed. He could make out a pair glasses on the fire's… no, the Monster's face. Whoever this fire monster was, he was the one responsible for all of this death and destruction.
The monster swept a hand over a burning house, sending a large wave of flames washing over it, pushing through the roof and killing anyone inside. In fact, three glowing hearts began to float in the air before Grillby, which originated from the house. Two yellow and one green. What did those hearts mean?
Suddenly, a small memory surfaced. Wait a moment. William squinted his eyes and leaned slightly forward. Those weren't hearts… those were SOULS. Was that right? Those were actual souls? Of people? Dead people? Will began to feel slightly nauseous, thinking about it. Some sort of living-flame-like monster was killing people and taking their souls?
The Monster reached out to absorb the three SOULs, when three gunshots were heard. Each shot that rung out caused one of the SOULs to shudder and break, destroying each of them. Alex turned toward the source to find a human sniper laying on his belly in the middle of the street. Several army mean with riot-like gear and assault rifles quickly rushed forward to shield their sniper.
The moment they got in front of him, the shields aligned perfectly, creating a large green barrier to protect them. It was timed perfectly too, as a massive wave of fire splashed against the barrier in an attempt to kill them. Will was horrified.
The moment the flames stopped, some sort of leader yelled, "Open fire!" On command, the line of shields broke, destroying the barrier, as the Shield-men took a few steps back as a line of other men charged with their rifles. They opened fired upon the monster, certainly spelling certain death for the fire elemental… except… he didn't die.
After they each emptied at least half a clip into the monster they paused by their commanding officer's order. "Cease fire!" There was a slight pause as he squinted at the monster. William looked closely too and noticed what he saw. The Monster had an upside-down white soul, a 'Monster Soul' a shard of a memory told him. This Monster Soul was connected to an orange soul… a human's Soul. Something about orange seemed familiar to William. Did the different colors mean different things? Nothing new surfaced from this, so he refocused on what this meant… he had already absorbed a human's soul.
The commanding officer screamed at his men, "It's a Hybrid! Defensive positions!" They didn't need to be told twice, as they retreated slightly as the Shield-men charged forward again and shielded their comrades' retreat. The shield went right back up and remained there as more flames washed the street clean and attempted to fry the soldiers.
The officer began speaking into a radio, "We have confirmed Hybrid, south of the Great Ebott Lake in the center of Little Ebott. Requesting mage support!"
Soon enough, the person on the other end responded over the radio, "Copy that. Mage ETA five minutes."
William was stunned by all of this. Magic? Mages? Monsters? This all seemed like something out of a video game or fantasy novel. So, did this mean that Monsters were bad? Something deep within William's Soul said otherwise, but he wasn't sure.
As William watched this, he saw the green shield around the soldiers began to crack. William might not have known much about magic, shields, or magical shields, but he assumed that the cracking wasn't something good. He felt the need to help them… to save them from the fiery death awaiting them on the other side of the shield. At this rate, by the time the 'mage' arrived they'd all be dead.
Against William's better judgement, he ran around the corner and shouted at the flaming monster, gaining his attention while waving his arms over his head. "Hey, you stupid oversized candle! Leave them alone!" He yelled at the fiery monster, making his whole body turn to face William as he ceased his attack.
The monster's voice cracked and changed in pitch in tune to his fire as he spoke, the monster's glasses hid the monster's expression. "Little boy, run along before I add you to my flames." He threatened.
William felt something deep within his soul tell him not to back down. Telling him that this wasn't how things were supposed to be. He shook his head. The monster slowly shook their head and sighed, "Well then, little boy… I'm sorry." With that, a wave of flames washed across the pavement towards Will.
William rolled to his right, dodging the wave, before quickly returning to his feet. Something began to… he couldn't quite describe it, but the world around him began to almost shift and change. The color of the building around him began to fade away slightly for a moment, before returning to normal. Huh, weird… A heart began to exit William's chest and float right in front of it. It wasn't orange, or yellow, or green… it was crystal clear, completely see through, minus the white border and aura around it.
As the colors of the world tried to fade, an eerie music began to play as the fiery monster watched him, the light of his flames danced off of his glasses.
William felt a weird sensation in his soul as he leaned forward slightly to get a better look at the monster. I'd be nice to know more about him… to 'check' and learn about this 'monster' before him. As if his soul knew what he was thinking, an odd message popped up in his head.
*Grillby (Hybrid) ATK High DEF High
*A bartender-turned-freelancer with a fiery temper.
'Grillby, huh?' Will thought to himself. His name sounded familiar, giving him a slight headache as he tried to remember him… but nothing surfaced. All he knew was what that weird message told him and that he SHOULD know who this monster was.
As he was standing there for a moment, a soldier ran forward and tackled him out of the way as a wave of fire washed towards him. Had it not been for him, Will would've been literal toast.
"Th-thanks…" Will said, before being quickly yanked to his feet.
The soldier shook his head before yelling, "That was foolish, get outta here!" He was their leader, it seems. William didn't need to be told twice, and began to run side-by-side with the soldier towards the rest of the group. His eyes widened as looked at his men. "Defensive positions around the kid!"
His men wasted no time, running forward and forming a wall in front of William and their leader, before their shields aligned once more and put up a large green shield to protect them. As a nonstop amount of flames washed towards them.
Once more, cracks began to slowly form on the green shield, spelling disaster for them all. This might be the end…
Suddenly, a blue orb of magic flew out of nowhere from behind them, where Will was currently looking. He watched as it was sailing into the flames, before he heard a small explosion. Shortly thereafter, the flames ended. The men cheered, "The Mage is here!"
Sure enough, a tall female in a full-length midnight blue robe appeared out of nowhere, beside them all. She had pitch black hair that reached a bit past her shoulders. The unit leader smiled and nodded, "Mage Palmer!"
The Mage nodded as she took a few steps forward, effortlessly passing through the soldiers' shield. She had a matching dark blue soul hovering before her chest. Grillby's expression shifted, looking slightly worried. Mage Palmer turned her head a bit, "Sergeant Jordan, status?"
The leader, Sergeant Jordan nodded, "Yes ma'am. Three confirmed civilian deaths, possibly more. Rest of civilian population is evacuated. He's a confirmed Hybrid, ma'am, searching for more Souls."
She smiled lightly, "Excellent work Sergeant, I'll take it from here…" She returned he attention to Grillby. "Grillby, fire elemental. You are given one chance to surrender yourself and that Soul."
Grillby shook his head, "I'm afraid that's not going to happen, Mage." He swiftly sent another wave of flames across the street towards the Mage. She swiftly vanished from sight, reappearing in the air above Grillby, floating there. As he turned around to face her, she sent out a pulse of blue magic towards his Souls, both turning blue. Two Souls will hurt more than one…
She then sent the monster flying into one of the nearby buildings. Before he could recover, she held out a hand towards the nearby lake, manipulating the gravity around the water. Using this technique, she brought a steady stream of water out of the lake and sent it into the building that Grillby was climbing out of, dousing him.
His flames were not hot enough to instantly vaporize the large amount of water, being put out quickly and weakening him. He shrunk by a foot, before falling to his hands and knees. His flames were now a weak, sickly yellow. She floated slowly to the ground and returned the excess water to the lake.
Now on the ground, she took a few steps forward, stopping before the monster. She returned his Soul to blue as she lifted him up, his feet no longer touching the floor. Both his monster soul and the human soul were visible. She slowly reached out and grabbed onto the orange, human soul.
The Mage frowned, "I am sorry, citizen." She mumbled quietly, "Now… be at peace…" She crushed the orange soul in her hand, destroying it and further weakening Grillby. Without the human soul to absorb the damage, Grillby's form shuddered and began to turn to dust.
The mage knelt down slowly now, looking Grillby in the eyes, "Monster… it was nice to meet you… goodbye…" She then swiftly summoned a blue blade in her hands and stabbed Grillby's Soul with it, killing him. He promptly turned to a pile of muddy dust.
After remaining silent for a few moments, she got back up and re-approached the soldiers and William. The Shield-men broke rank and dissolved their shields, making way for the Mage. She turned towards the men, turning her back to William and the Sergeant.
"I want you all to break into squads of three. Search the town for survivors or signs of any other Monsters." They all saluted her, crying out in unison 'Yes Ma'am!', before splitting up as directed and dispersing.
She turned back around now to face the two-remaining people. Sergeant Jordan stood at attention. She eyed William's transparent Soul for a moment, before looking back to Jordan. "Sergeant, you know protocol, do you not?"
He nodded, "Yes ma'am."
"Then you know what to do. Take this child to the capital. It is of utmost importance that his majesty sees this." She said, pointing to William's soul.
William, having been in shock throughout this entire ordeal, finally spoke, "E-excuse me? The capital? What's going on?"
The Sergeant frowned, "That's no way to speak to a Mage, young man."
Mage Palmer smiled gently at William, bending down a little bit since she was taller, "You're going to the capital to see the king. By order of King Tenity, any civilian found with a soul of Harmony must be taken to the capital."
William looked down at his still-present crystal-clear Soul, furrowing his brows a bit, "Harmony? King Tenity?"
The Mage frowned slightly, "You don't understand any of what I said, do you?" She asked calmly, making Will shake his head. "Do you remember you name?" She asked nicely.
"W-Will…"
She smiled gently, "Alright, Will, this Sergeant, here, will explain a bit on the way to the capital."
She turned to the Sergeant, "It seems Will, here, has amnesia. I'd like you to get him caught up on the basics: What's going on, Harmony, our king, this town, anything that might be able to jog his memory."
Jordan nodded, "Yes ma'am."
She smiled, "Thank you Sergeant. You've done fine work today, responding to the incident in record time. Keep up the good work. I'll remain behind for inspections and in case there are other hybrids lurking…"
"Yes ma'am, I'll be on my way with the kid."
Will frowned as he crossed his arms, "This 'kid's got a name, you know."
Jordan chuckled a bit, "Sorry. Will, let's go." The Sergeant led the way as William followed, turning around for a moment to wave goodbye to the Mage. After waving, he turned around and sped up a bit, now walking side-by-side with the Sergeant.
They walked in silence for a few minutes before they reached the truck they'd take. William climbed into the passenger's seat as the squad leader got in the driver's seat. He promptly started up the truck and pulled out onto the road.
As they left the small town, William got a better look at it. So much of it was on fire, which was being extinguished by the Mage, using her magic to move the water like before. So much of everything was engulfed in flames though. It was almost as if the world, itself, was on fire. William frowned at the scenery, was everything this bad?
He turned to look at the Sergeant, who had just said something that Will had missed. "What?"
Jordan smiled, "I said, how much do you remember?"
"About what?" Will questioned, asking for him to narrow down what they wanted to talk about.
"Ok, let's start with history. Do you know what just happened?" Will shook his head, "Alright, then I'll start with that." Jordan cleared his throat as he began the story.
Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS.
One day, war broke out between the two races.
The first battle was lopsided, giving the HUMANS a flawless victory.
…But their victory was short-lived.
A human child, adopted by the Royal Monster Family grew ill.
After the first battle… she died.
Using her Soul, the MONSTERS now stood a chance.
The MONSTERS now had SOUL power on their side.
Now, the second battle ended in a stalemate…
…Except the MONSTERS had more Souls now.
But this was, in no way, a solid victory for the MONSTERS.
HUMANS were resourceful, creating weapons to even the odds.
Currently, the war had been waging on-and-off for years.
The first MONSTER King was missing; presumed dead.
Both sides were preparing WMDs to end the war…
The stakes had never been higher.
The HUMANS were led by King Tentity.
The MONSTERS were led by King Dreemurr.
…
'So, Monsters and Humans were at war… and it was tied…?' He thought. William listened until that point, before their vision became cloudy and murky. He was tired… so tired and exhausted. Finally, no longer trying to resist it, Will fell asleep.
Final Note:
I do not plan on doing notes in every single chapter, unless it is necessary for an announcement or correction. I hope this story intrigues you, and that you stick around for the whole thing! If you have questions, ask and I'll try to answer in the next chapter submission. I'll upload once a week. Enjoy.