A/N: Thanks for the Reviews and kind words. Redrover1760, thanks for the review. For the last name, I meant to put it in earlier, but Will simply doesn't remember. Plus, he doesn't even really have one. In this AU, the monsters were never trapped Underground, so everything is radically different. I hope the upcoming chapters answer your other questions and concerns. Alright, that's enough for now. Let's start!
Slowly but surely, William woke up back in the car. He was surprised at first, before remembering where he was. He and this 'Sergeant Jordan' were heading toward the Great Ebbot Lake so that he'd find a way into the Monster's territory. He must've fallen asleep again, but that wasn't a bad thing. He'd had another one of those dream-memory things, which was good. Now he was remembering Frisk a bit more.
He looked over and saw Sergeant Jordan paying close attention to the road. Announcing that he was awake, Will stretched and yawned. "Mornin' sleepyhead."
"Hey… can I ask you a few questions?" Will asked, wanting to figure out as much as he could about this world.
The Sergeant nodded, "Sure thing. I know you're still really confused about all of this since you've got amnesia, so ask away."
Will smiled, thinking for a second. "How about more about you? I don't know much about you and you've been with me for as long as I can remember." Will joked.
The Sergeant laughed, "I guess that's true. Well, my full name is Daniel Jordan, and you also should know that I'm a Sergeant." Will nodded, "Anyway, I've been working with my squad for a little over a year now, and we've been doing a pretty decent job, I think. Anything else about me interest you?"
Will shrugged. "Hey, the King was talking about the Seven Great Mages. Who are they?"
Daniel frowned, "Well, you see… it's more like the Six Great Mages right now."
"Huh?" Will asked in confusion.
"Well, originally there were Seven Great Mages. One with each of the main seven Soul Traits. They were the most powerful magic user of their respective Soul Traits, and they used to work together to protect humanity."
"What do you mean, they used to?" Will questioned.
"A few years ago, the Mage of Kindness left the group, dissatisfied with what they were doing. Originally, the mages were put in place to protect both Humanity and Monsters, but the group had grown to despise Monsters, unwilling to spare them any mercy. Kindness left the group and went rouge, continuing to protect, but unwilling to abide by the Great Seven Mages' rules."
"So, the Mages aren't good anymore?" Will asked.
Daniel shook his head, "No, they still fight for good, but they have abandoned the old ways, and refuse to see that not everything is black or white. There's a lot of grey in this world…" He said, frowning, before smiling a bit brighter, "But it's ok. Soon enough, there will be peace between humans and monsters again, I'm sure of it."
"I hope so too." Will quietly responded, making Daniel smile wider.
"Good. Never lose that hope. Once you lose your hope, the world only gets darker."
They both sat in silence for a moment, before Will came up with another question. "So, what color Soul do you have?"
Daniel smiled, "I have a green Soul of Kindness."
Will chuckled, "Is that why you agree with the Green Mage?"
Daniel laughed too, "Maybe that has something to do with it… the fact of the matter is that the Mages have changed, and everyone has noticed. Now, whether or not they'd actually say they agree with me is a different story, but… oh well. It is what it is."
Will nodded in agreement, before asking another follow-up question moments later. "Wait, if the Green Mage went rouge, how can he still do what he does if everyone knows who he is."
Daniel smiled, "That's the thing. No one knows who he is. Since he first joined, he's worn a mask, hiding his identity. Even today, he still wears it to conceal who he is, so that he could still continue to do his job."
"Why'd he wear a mask since the beginning if he was one of the Mages. No one was going to go after him or anything, right?"
"Well, it's because of who he is. He didn't want to be thanked for doing what he's supposed to do. He didn't want all of the attention. Rather, all he wanted was to help others with his Kindness, while remaining anonymous."
Will shrugged, "I guess that makes sense."
Daniel smiled, "Is there anything else you'd like to learn about? Unless you'd like to continue talking about the Green Mage."
William nodded, "Well, I was also wondering about the plan to get through the barrier."
Sergeant Daniel Jordan frowned, "Yeah. Honestly, I'm still against this whole idea, but we DO need that intel and you're the only one who could get it."
"So, what's the plan."
"That plan is to get to the Great Ebott Lake. It is one of the spots on the border between the Human Kingdom and the Kingdom of Monsters. We'll secure a boat for you, and send it across to the other side."
Will crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, "This sounds too easy. Wouldn't they spot the boat before I even get halfway there?" He questioned.
Daniel nodded, "Yes, and we've got that covered. You see, we're going back to village where we found you, which is also by the lake. We've got a small factory on the shore there that will 'accidentally explode' because of Grillby's fire, sending all of the docked boats by the factory out in every direction from the blast." He used one hand for air quotes for the 'accidentally explode' portion.
"So, you're going to use Grillby's fire and an explosion as a reason for why boats were going out across the lake?" William summarized.
Daniel nodded, "Yes. Your boat will remain unpowered, but as long as you remain hidden on it, you should get over to the other side with little-to-no issues."
"But won't they send guards to investigate the boats?"
Daniel frowned but nodded again, "Yes, that's one problem. But, with the sheer number of boats, it should work. Plus, they wouldn't expect a human to be on board since we can't cross the barrier. Worst-comes-to-worst, simply run for tree cover once you make it across. Or, you could always play ignorant. Pretend that you were sleeping when you came over. Pretend that you have no idea what happened. It'd probably work too." He said with a shrug.
Soon enough, the two of them returned to the small town that was assaulted by Grillby. "Welcome to Little Ebott, Will."
William nodded. So that was the name of this small little town…
Little Ebott was still in disrepair. Sure, almost all of the fires were put out now, but so many of the buildings were nothing more than ruins. If one were to name this place now, they'd probably just call it 'The Ruins'. Heh, I wonder where that idea came from…
Off in the distance, near the lake shore, was a large plume of smoke, rising from some sort of industrial building. There seemed to be not attempts to put out whatever fire was inside. This was likely going to be his 'excuse' for crossing over.
After a few more minutes, the car came to a stop. The Sergeant stopped the vehicle and turned it off, before climbing out. He turned to look at Will. "If you'd like, you can stop by the orphanage and see if there's anything there to jog your memory. When you're finished, follow the main road to the factory. We'll be waiting there for you, but please don't take too long."
William nodded, showing the Sergeant that he understood. With that, he smiled and nodded back, before walking away. William, himself, got out of the car and looked around. He set both feet down onto the dirt.
It only took a few minutes to walk from the vehicle to the ruined orphanage. He had passed by dozens of soldiers, either on break or patrolling the town. Will knew they were sweeping the town for dangers still, making sure everything was safe. The soldiers looked at him weirdly, but didn't stop Will. In all likelihood, they were all informed about his necessary presence, and they shouldn't bother him.
Soon enough, he arrived at the front entrance, which he hadn't really seen earlier considering the circumstances. Not knowing the way back to his room, nor the structural stability of the building, he decided to reenter from where he escaped. Following the outside wall, he went around the entire building, taking about a minute or two before stopping. He stopped right next to the hole in the wall, which led into the room where he woke up.
No longer filled with smoke, he decided to go inside. If this was his room, then there must be something here that could help jog his memory. It seemed like relatively little damage happened in this room, considering how intact most of the furniture was other than a layer of soot over them. He started with the bed. He went over and looked at it.
He guessed that this was his bed. Maybe… It was covered in grim and soot, which definitely didn't appeal to him.
William shrugged, not really feeling particularly tired after those last few naps. There wasn't really anything else special about the bed, so he continued looking. He turned to his left and found what should be his dresser. He opened the drawer. There's all sorts of clothing items within it, all in decent shape despite the state of the room.
Will looked closer, before grabbing an extra pair of jeans, underwear, and a shirt, putting them on his bed. If he had a backpack of some sort, he'd be able to carry this extra pair of clothing. William decided to look around the room some more, starting with the bed. He got down onto his hands and knees, looking underneath it. Sure enough, he found a small blue backpack.
He stretched out his right arm and grabbed it, pulling it out before putting it on his bed and filling it with clothing. He smiled a bit to himself, happy that he now had a few supplies for this 'journey' of sorts. That was nice and all, but there surely must be something else in here that could help. Next was the small closet in this room.
Will frowned and lowered his head. He really didn't know what he was looking for. He closed the closet door and went back to his backpack, inspecting the other pockets within it. Maybe there was something inside here that he missed.
After a moment of searching, he found the first object of interest. It felt cold and metallic. After firmly grasping it, he pulled out a small pocket knife/ multi-tool. It was one of those pocket knives that also had a few extra things like a small screwdriver and a few other things. It was a normal grey color with nothing exotic on it. He held it in his hand and looked at it closely. Like earlier, a weird message filled his mind.
*The Plain Pocket Knife. +12 ATK
*Good as a weapon and tool. It looks like it was a gift.
Now that William looked at it more closely, it may have, indeed, been a gift. This was further solidified by looking back into the backpack. Within that same pocket was a small piece of paper, which was slightly damp due to the hole in the wall. It read:
'Happy Birthday William. Not all knives are weapons, so here's one as a tool. Thought you'd like one since we already had some of our own."
The signed name is illegible, but you can make out a single letter in the cursive signature. C.
So, this was a birthday gift for him, huh? He held the blade's handle a bit tighter and tilted the tool, looking at it from a few different angles. The blade looked almost as if it had a faint glowing outline to it, but it may have just been the way the light was filtering into the room. William wasn't sure, so he put the knife in his pocket and threw the backpack over his shoulder. Now… now he was ready to go. With nothing else to look at in the room, William went back out the hole that he entered from.
After setting foot back onto the grass, William followed the wall back out to the main road, before walking down it once more, toward the lake shore.
It took about five minutes to make it down to the shore. He heard the gentle waves of the large lake sweeping back and forth over the dirt shore. He could make out some minnows in the shallow water, swimming in schools peacefully. The beautiful scenery relaxed William a bit, before he remembered where he had to go. Following the path once more, he soon arrived at a small dock, filling with boats. This dock was quite close, actually, to the factory that he had seen earlier.
Standing there on the dock were Sergeant Jordan and the mage that Will had met earlier when he first woke up. What was her name again? Mage Palmer, maybe?
She was the first to spot willing, waving him over. "Hello William."
"H-hello Mage Palmer." Will replied, a bit intimidated by this mage.
She smiled kindly, "So, the Sergeant here says that you're going to be crossing the monster barrier, right?" Sergeant Jordan nodded, "Alright. The factory is set to explode. Are you ready William?"
William nodded, "I think I am…" He said, a bit of hesitation and nervousness in his voice.
Mage Palmed knelt down a bit and looked up at William, putting a friendly hand on his shoulder, "What you're doing today… it is really brave. You're doing us a huge service, and for that you have my thanks." Will smiled weakly and nodded. "Listen Will. I know you're nervous. I felt the exact same way on my first mission. I have some advice for you. No matter what happens over there… be yourself, ok?"
William tilted his head in confusion, "What do you mean?"
The mage smiled, "What I mean is, don't try to change who you are while you're over there. If you get caught, be yourself. Don't let it change you, because once you change… it's hard to change back."
William nodded and smiled for real now. "Thanks."
She smiled and stood back up, "You're welcome." She turned to the Sergeant, "So, I will go put the finishing touches on the bomb Sergeant. I need you to get William to a boat and inject them with the Monster Dust."
Daniel Jordan saluted, "Yes ma'am." She nodded, before turning around and walking into the factory. After she left, he turned and smiled at William. "So, let's find us a boat, shall we?" William nodded, before following the Sergeant down the dock to look at the boats.
There were all kinds of them. In fact, there were even one or two small yachts. William looked at them with confusion. Sure, this lake seemed huge, but who would put a yacht on a lake? The Sergeant, seeing Will's reaction, smiled and spoke. "On the other side of the barrier is a lock that connects to another lake, which then leads to the ocean. Ever since the barrier went up, these yachts have been stuck here."
Will nodded, before they both returned to their search of an adequate boat to use. Finally, after searching for a few minutes, they came across the perfect one. This was a decent fishing boat with a small bedroom under the deck. William could easily hide in there as it drifted across the barrier.
"This will work perfectly, Will. I think we have a winner." He said, as the mage walked out to the two of them.
"So, is this the one?" She asked.
William nodded, "Yeah, it'll work perfectly."
"Great. All that's left if your injection, then we can set off the bomb." Mage Palmer said, nodding toward Jordan, who pulled out the white liquid-filled needle.
Mage Palmer stretched her hand out slightly, before pulling it back to her, ushering Will's Soul to come out. "I-is it g-going to hurt?" Will stuttered.
The mage smiled weakly, "I'm not going to lie, it may sting a little bit." William nodded and frowned, sitting down on the wood beneath his feet as the Sergeant took a step forward while holding the needle.
"Alright, hold still." He told Will, as he touched the tip to Will's clear Soul. Will clenched his eyes closed as the needle punctured his Soul. It felt like a splinter pricking his leg, so it wasn't too bad. Then… then he injected the liquid into Will's Soul. It felt like freezing water running through his veins, sending shivers along his entire body. He was still shivering when the needle was pulled out.
"Oh my…", said Mage Palmer.
"Holy shit…", added Sergeant Jordan.
Will opened his eyes to see what they were talking about. He looked down and saw his Soul… except… it wasn't clear like before. Instead, it was completely white. In fact, it was actually upside down now, just like Girllby's Soul was. He… his Soul looked exactly like a Monster's Soul. "This is insane. If we didn't know what just happened, we would assume that you were some sort of humanoid Monster." Sergeant Jordan said, completely amazed by what just happened.
"I knew that Harmony Souls were unique… but I never expected this!" The mage said, before collecting herself after a moment. "Alright, that should last a few hours. I'll go make sure everyone's safe so we can set of the explosion. Get ready to go." She turned to leave once more, leaving Daniel and William alone again.
William, afraid, looked to the Sergeant, "D-daniel… does this mean my Soul will act like a Monster's Soul until it wears off?"
The Sergeant shrugged, "I think so. But, this could work to your advantage."
"H-how?"
"Well, Monster Souls don't come out in battle, so if you're forced into one, they can't use it as your weak point. Plus, it might even convince them that you're a monster if you're spotted." He informed Will.
Will nodded as he climbed into the boat. He opened the small door to the room under the deck and climbed inside. Suddenly, the mage reappeared beside the Sergeant. "Alright, we're ready to go. You ready William?"
She smiled and nodded, "Good luck then!" She grabbed Daniel's hand and held it in her left hand, before doing a circular motion with her right hand in the air. She and the Sergeant then suddenly disappeared from the dock and reappeared on the shore. William closed the door right as the explosion went off.
Sergeant Jordan and Mage Palmer watched from the lake shore as the factory exploded. As soon as the fireball went off, she extended her hand toward the boats and enveloped them in a blue aura. With a sweep of her hand, they all took off toward the opposite end of the lake. After a moment, she retracted her magic and let them all coast toward the opposite side.
The Sergeant spoke first, "Something feels… wrong."
Mage Palmer turned to look at him, "How so Danny? Are you worried that Will might get caught?"
"How informal, Mage Palmer."
She shrugged, "Before I was Mage Palmer and you were Sergeant Jordan we were simply Kate and Daniel."
"Yeah, well back then I wore an apron and wanted to be a Chef, while you wore a tutu and ballet shoes, trying to be a Ballet Teacher."
She frowned, looking down at the waves washing over their shoes. "Yeah… the good old days. I still think you should be a Mage like me. Your magic is just as strong as mine…"
He shook his head, "Well, that's not really possible with the Green Mage right now."
She shook her head, "Don't worry about that traitor. Soon enough, there'll be a vacancy in his position."
"Oh really? You trackin' him down?"
She nodded, "We're setting a trap here in the town, and I'll need your men ready for when we spring it."
He hummed in agreement, "Yeah, you got them… but I still can't help but feel that there's something wrong here…" He paused and looked at Kate. "You… you ever fell like this isn't real? Like… maybe this is a dream…"
She frowned, "Sometimes… I understand what you're talking about. Like, I have this reoccurring dream."
"What dream?"
"Well, I start with climbing this mountain… I think it's Mount Ebott. And, I fall down a hole and meet the queen of monsters. I was… wearing my old pair of ballet shoes and tutu the entire time too. Anyway, I leave the queen, before then going to this snowy forest."
"A snowy forest? Beneath the mountain?"
"Hehe. Yeah, it's weird. Then, I go through a small town before entering a darker cave filled with waterfalls."
"Waterfalls? Again, under the mountain?" He asked in disbelief.
She shrugged, "Hey, dreams don't always make sense. Anyways, the dream always ends with some sort of cyan energy spear puncturing my stomach, killing me."
"And… you get this dream repeatedly?"
"Well… It started when I was a kid, but it's been happening more and more often recently."
"Hmmm…"
"What?" She asked.
"Nothing… just wondering why you've been having these dreams."
"I don't know… anyway, we should probably call in the explosion."
"Yeah, you're right. Let's go."
Author's Note:
Sorry about the delay in the chapters, I really am sorry. I needed a small break and I've been working on another story that should start uploads soon. (Hopefully this week). It's an Undertale story that I've been dying to do and have only just now gotten permission to write it. But that, by no means, means that this is the end of OVERWRITTEN. This story WILL be finished, but another one is coming too, featuring the PureTale cast and someone else's Undertale cast.
Coming soon to an internet-connected device near you…
Anyway, hope you like this so far and I'm gonna stop talking now. Bye.