Archive of Our Own ^beta

The doubt scratches at his mind like a wild animal, and honestly he can’t take it any longer. William sighs, head in hands as he debates internally on what he should do to remedy the situation placed in front of him by that damned Mallard Conway.

He did exactly what was told. They did, as a group. Vyncent, Dakota, Ashe, and himself. Defeated that soul and took it to Mal, and now he stands there. Mallard is in front of him, his friends in back, as he debates if he should consume that soul.

On one hand there is the morality of consuming a soul for power. Considering he is kinda a soul is this sorta like cannibalism of some sort? These thoughts are hurting his head.

And on the other hand, if he doesn’t, Mal will consume it himself gaining more power. And that in general is bad since we have no idea what kind of bad stuff Mal would do with this power.

Either way he is stuck in this decisional paralysis waiting for some kind of answer to fill his brain.

Mal taps his foot, glancing at a handheld watch before looking up, “Time is ticking, Whisperer. What is your decision?”

William looks at Mallard, before glancing back to his friends,

Dakota looks pissed, as if he would tear Mal apart if he didn’t have Tide in his arms.

Vyncent, who is helping Dakota hold Tide, meets his eyes and gives a reassuring smile, somethat that eases some part of William’s brain slightly.

And Ashe just looks tired and horrified at the same time over this situation, flicking his hand through his book, glancing between the whole group, and shoulders tensed.

William sighs, before turning his back once more to his friends, walking over to Mallard, and snatching the soul in the container from him, ignoring the proud smirk the being does, and downs the soul.

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As William cries out, Vyncent drops his share of carrying Tide, Dakota easily taking the brunt of the drop, and yells, “Hey! What did you do to Will!”

Mal chuckles, “It was his choice, he could have just refused the soul.”

“What did you do to him??” Dakota roars after Vyncent.

“He’ll be fine! He has so much potential to be powerful, you know.” Mal brushes off, “Anyways you three be off now. Get your fish dad safe.”

Vyncent shakes his head, and moves to go grab William off the ground, but is surprised by the sudden force of magic that presses to his chest as he is pushed back by something.

“No. The Whisperer is staying.” Mallard grins.

Ashe shakes his head at that, “You think we’re leaving him behind?”

Mal nods, “Yes. You will be.” And suddenly a portal appears, engulfing Dakota and Vyncent into it, angry shouts as they yell out in shock and anger, but Ashe stays behind, as Mallard walks over to him curiously.

“That book. It is how you got here, right?” Mal asks.

Ashe glares, and clutches the book closer.

“I’ll do something real quick then.” And Mal’s arm turns a shadowy black, and plunges into the book, grabbing something and pulling it out, as a piece of paper erupts into soul fire and disintegrates, before patting Ashe on the back, “I’ll still be watching you, anyone with a book like that interests me.” Before pushing Ashe, and like with the other two, Ashe falls back into a portal, back to the world of the living.

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It feels like his whole soul is on fire, as William falls over, clutching his chest as his veins light up with a fiery glow of wisp fire. He cries out, tears stinging his eyes as his vision almost blacks out for a second from agony, all before it cools down, William lays there panting. He is vaguely aware of the sound of muffled shouting and a whoosh, before he fully comes to.

He pushes himself up from the ground, a groan escaping from his lips, before he stares up at Mal. He scrambles back, glancing behind him at where his friends…used to be. They are gone now.

“What did you do?” William shouts.

“Me? Nothing! They watched you consume that soul and found you disgusting and evil so they left.” Mal shakes his head, “truly horrible friends.”

William shakes his head, “No. No they wouldn’t…would they? No! Of course not! They are my friends.”

Mal frowns, and sits beside William, “..Would they? I mean I watched them do it myself, but would they? I mean Dakota, is that his name? He seems very hero centric and does the best moral thing, right? You ate a soul .”

William shakes his head, “Yeah…But you forced me! I had to do that because if i didn’t you would!”

Mal shakes his head, “No, that was all you, Whisperer. That was your choice. And you supposed “friends” saw that too, and found you disgusting.”

“But…Vyncent…Ashe…” William stares down at the ground.

“You’ve just met Ashe, haven’t you? And Vyncent is also a hero after all. He does what's right like Dakota.” Mal tsks, before standing up again. “They think of you as a monster.”

William starts to tear up, “I did this for everyone’s good…but they didn’t see it that way. They abandoned me.”

Mal hums, and offers out a hand, “I wouldn’t abandon you though, i’m still here.”

William gives him a look, “Isn’t this your house? Makes sense why you are here.”

Mal ignores his comment, and still offers his hand, “I see the good in you, the good in what you have done.”

He hesitates, staring at Mal’s hand, before grabbing it, Mallard hoisting him up, and setting a hand on his shoulder steadying him.

“I can help you train to become more powerful. I can help you learn your domain, and be so much better than the living.” Mal starts to lead William, stopping at a window that overlooks the afterlife, “This is your domain to rule after all.”

William stares out at the desolate lands off the afterlife, feeling some sort of belonging pull at his chest.

“Forsake your old life, your old ways. Embrace death as you were always meant to be.” Mal prompts, “I’ll even sweeten the pot and allow you to own half of this place all to yourself, to do whatever with. I’ll give you everything you want. Just accept my deal.”

William hesitates, looking at Mal, looking at the afterlife, looking at his phone, with all of his friends contacts inside. He looks at his parents contacts, his brother’s. His friends.  

And he crushes it. Blue fire encapsulating the device, and he tosses it down at the ground, destroying it.

“I accept.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Now this way, Whisperer.”