The Silver Soul

37

I can't stop gasping, the huge gulps of air doing nothing to calm the panic consuming me from the inside out, somehow burning worse than the magic that appeared to be cooking me from the inside. It was like the day I found out about my past all over again, the raw power threatening to kill me.

It's alright. I'm here...

The voice comes directly from inside my skull, startling me enough to lose the little grip I had, and I feel myself begin to slip away.

A sensation akin to being splashed with icy water overcomes me, snapping me back into focus.

Not yet. You have a species to save...

The voice trails off, though I knew exactly who it was.

"What do I need to do, Michael?" I whisper, shakily sitting up on my haunches. I hadn't realised that during the absorption, I had fallen to my hands and knees.

Souls...

What the hell does he mean by souls? Rising gently, I brush off my knees, trying to look around to gauge my position through blurry eyes. Everyone seemed to be holding their own, fighting back in twos or threes. Undyne and Alphys made a formidable pair, Undyne with her spears and Alphys fiddling around with a little black box that shot off yellow lightning.

I move out of the way quickly, hunching over and holding my stomach. I feel nauseous, ill to the point where I don't think I'll be much use in a fight of this scale.

I pass Gaster, Sans and Pap, all three holding well with a variety of bone attacks. The problems is the fact that no one can fight forever, and the clones just keep coming in droves. We won't be able to hold them off for much longer, so we need a solution that would wipe everything out.

Muffet leaped past, in some kind of weird, deadly tango with Mettaton, destroying the clones in an almost amusing way. They're giggling and smiling as well. I'm glad that some of us are enjoying it.

Get...souls...

My eyes widen as I realise what he means.

"If one of them makes me feel this sick, imagine what seven of them will do," I hiss, passing Toriel and Asgore, back to back and working together like I've never seen before. Above them, Frisk watches, terrified and sealed away safely in a cage made of bones surrounded by a yellowy force-field. "I can't risk it."

Do it for...them...

I open my mouth, a retort on my lips when I look around. I see signs of weariness already, attacks being thrown off easier, and hits coming far too close for comfort.

A Chara-clone finally spots me and sprints over, brandishing its little knife. Without thinking, I lift my hand, and a wave of magic washes it away. I jerk back, surprised and in shock. I have two human souls in me at this moment, I realise for the first time. This shouldn't be possible.

Indeed it shouldn't, but taking advantage of my new powers, I wave my hand properly. A dozen clones get extinguished on the spot, washed away from the face of the Earth like bugs.

Break...the barrier...

I blink. The barrier. I can do it. Theoretically, I can do it.

"Hey Will. You cool?" My head snaps up at Sans, who'd just blocked an attack aimed at me. Flowey's vines lash out, knocking down three attackers, who got too close, at one time

Smiling slowly, I nod back. "Hold on, just a little longer, okay?"

He looks apprehensive but inclines his head. "Will do."

The new power flows through my blood, making the sprint and desperate dodging and countering to Asgore much easier.

"The souls," I say, before Asgore can even open his mouth. I throw up a hasty shield around us. "I need you to summon them. Please," I add.

He thinks it over for a second, flinching as an attack hits the shield. The clone which tried to kill us gets flung away with the impact of magic on magic. "Why? What are you going to do?"

Taking a deep breath, I rush it out. "I'm going to absorb the souls and end this, once and for all."

The two seconds it takes Asgore to nod and raise his arm feel more like two years of waiting anxiously. I watch in slow motion as they rise, six human souls in their capsules, in the middle of the battlefield. I take off, disarming my shield and mowing down everything that gets in my way. I don't have time to deal with anything. From the corner of my eye, I see a smear of green, yellow and brown heading towards the souls as well. Chara is shrieking at the top of her lungs, running faster than I am.

She can't absorb them, but she can destroy them before I have a chance to use them.

I throw out a blast of white magic in her direction, which slows her down. She emerges from the residue cloud, looking more murderous than ever. We're running, every step bringing us closer to the grand prize.

Her knife materialises, and spurred on by the thought of winning, I draw my sword from thin air, slashing it in a wide arc in front of me.

She slows down, ducking to avoid the taste of a blade. Relentlessly, I swing at her again, determined to cut her in any way I can.

"Step away from the souls," she snarls.

I have had enough of her killing me at every opportunity. "Over my cold, dead body," I growl back, striking by lunging forward, the tip of the blade leading my movements. The sword becomes embedded in her stomach, and I leave it there. Her shock and slow reaction gives me time to leap forward. The glass cases shatter at a flick of my finger and the souls float to me.

"NO!" Chara screams, ripping the sword out of her abdomen as they reach my chest. In a brilliant flash of white light, I absorb six more human souls.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Voices clamour in my head.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Bring your power in.

Focus it!

Destroy the demon.

Destroy the barrier.

For the future of monsters and humans.

Together?

Together.

The demon screams as she gets washed away in the tsunami of magic that erupts from my body, spilling out in a deadly avalanche.

The souls sing one last time, the crescendo of their voices overpowering the sound of the barrier breaking, deafening like a gun shot.

They whisper goodbye, as they vanish into the air, leaving me, alone and weak, yet charged full of magic.

My eyes slide shut, exhaustion overtaking everything, and I get lulled into a deep sleep, the slivery sound of magic buzzing in my head acting as a lullaby.

A/N 
:))))))))))))))))))))