...

...Twelve hours.

Exactly twelve hours since the very last time he'd heard their voices. Had it really been that long already...? Well, the clock on the wall didn't lie. Night had come and gone without a wink of sleep, and now it was dawn up on the surface...Yet another grim reminder of what had occurred.

The two monarchs were in the center of their living room, knelt down with just enough strength to keep themselves from crumpling into a heap. Their knees had been pressed into the carpet for long enough at this point to leave permanent indentations, and as much as they ached now, neither of them noticed; it was less than nothing compared to the pain that had been stabbing through their hearts ever since dusk and all through the night up till now. Both held each other as tightly as they could, each fearing they would lose the other next if they didn't. They were both silent, save for their rhythmic, slightly off-sync breathing; their remaining tears had been shed before daybreak, and the soreness of their throats kept any more wails quelled. The only sound that could clearly be heard was the ticking of the clock, counting each and every second since the two children, the two wonderful young souls whom they had poured their hearts into, had left this world forever.

Asgore hoped and prayed to whatever God may be listening that this was nothing more than a bad dream. That his children would be awake early, and their ruckus would rouse him from his sleep and let him continue with his life as normal...

...

...But nobody came.

This was real. He was living his worst nightmare.

...And he was never waking up.

The sudden warmth of a shuddering breath above his bosom caught his attention, and he heard Toriel speak a moment later.

"Where do we go from here...?" she asked him, her voice barely above a whisper. "What do we tell them? How do we tell them?"

Asgore did not give an immediate answer. He did not know the answer himself. All he knew for certain in that moment was that he would never see Asriel or Chara again. They had been taken from him. Plucked from his paw, one by the hand of that illness and the other by the hand of the humans.

...

...Humans.

This was not the first time the humans had served him and his people such an injustice, he recalled. Even from so long ago, the memories came flooding back in glass-clear water. The army had ambushed their village from the southern flank with such speed that they hadn't the time to counter it. He and Toriel were caught in the midst of the battlefield, doing whatever they could to fend them off. Far more dust than corpses littered the ground, more collecting every moment as countless monsters were slain.

And then he saw, in the distance, his own mother and father, both struck in one hit by the swing of a human's massive battleaxe. One moment they were standing there, and the next moment they were nothing more than clouds of white powder scattering in the wind. All he could remember past that point was screaming, and everything else beyond that was a blurry haze of white and red...The next thing he knew, he was being sealed inside the caverns with the remainder of his people, their numbers diminished to barely a few hundreds.

The humans had nearly eradicated his people. They had taken his parents, his friends, and his land. They had taken his freedom, and that of monsterkind.

And now, they had taken his children. His precious son and heir, and the one shred of hope left for peace between the two races...

...Gone.

The humans had taken everything from him.

...

...They had taken EVERYTHING from him.

His people were suffering. HE was suffering. And for what reason? Fear? Primal, unbridled fear that they would absorb human souls and lead a crusade against humanity without warning or reason? When they hadn't even known for certain what the extent of the given powers even were.

...Well, that was just it. If there was one thing Asgore knew about humans, it was that they possessed a great fear of the unknown. It was what had kept them alive for so long. It was the reason they were so intelligent compared to the other creatures which walked the earth. They had to know as much as they could about everything they could, lest they be deathly afraid of it. And whatever they were too afraid to even dare to learn about, they either killed or drove away. Just like his people...Just like him.

It was because they feared so much.

...

...If they really feared him that much, then he would GIVE them something worth fearing.

____________________________________________________________

...

____________________________________________________________

The masses stood below the meeting room's balcony, countless heads tilted up towards it, eyes staring intently. As crowded as New Home was, there was hardly a monster who lived there who didn't at least try to attend every monthly address. Besides, the more there were to witness it, the faster the news would spread, and soon the entire Underground would know all the details they needed.

The crowd was abuzz with curious conversation. This monthly address had come two weeks early. Why so soon? Was it really this important? Was it good news or bad news?

...They would find out soon enough.

Toriel stared at her husband intently as he gripped the railing at the top of the stairs, his slumped back turned towards her as he continued to heave long, drawn out breaths. She knew he wasn't just recovering from the long flight up to the top balcony...Then again, there were more grave things to recover from.

"...Gorey, dear?" she addressed him gently. "I...If you do not wish to go on in detail about...what has happened, then...perhaps we could have a newspaper-"

"No."

She stopped. Asgore's response was so blunt and cold that she started a bit upon hearing it. Right after he replied, it appeared as though he immediately regained his composure, his breathing finally starting to steady.

"I will tell them," he continued, his grip on the rail loosening as he picked up his head. "You needn't speak if you wish not to. I will carry the burden of recounting our loss."

"...Oh," the queen responded. "...You're certain of this, Asgore?"

"I am certain," he assured her, turning around to finally face her. "And I already know what must be done regarding this."

That was when she saw the look on his face...A cold, dead stare was embedded deep into his blue eyes, a hollow calmness settled into the features of his face as he looked at her, unblinking and blank...Toriel froze. She had never  seen a look like that in his gaze. Not in anyone's  gaze, for that matter.

This wasn't just heartbreak, even if she knew his was broken as much as her own. No...Something was wrong. Very  wrong.

"Gorey...?"

He didn't respond. Instead, he walked past her and made his way towards the balcony...A moment later, he was greeted with the peering eyes of his citizens below.

They would be devastated...but he would not let them lose hope.

"...Citizens of the Underground," he began, his tone as flat and lifeless as his face. "It is with great sorrow that I inform you of the terrible tragedy that occurred only yesterday evening."

Quiet murmuring came from below.

"...Yesterday, at sundown, the human Chara was consumed by their illness and passed away," he continued. "Shortly after their death, Prince Asriel absorbed their disembodied soul and used it to cross the barrier in order to fulfill their final request."

More murmuring followed.

"...At exactly 6:39 p.m. yesterday, Asriel returned, still clutching Chara's body...And moments later, he fell down in the throne room before Toriel and I, and..."

He paused again as the memory flashed before his eyes...Asriel, his dearest son, so young and innocent, battered and torn almost beyond recognition in the fleeting moments before he...

"...Passed away as well."

A loud, collective gasp came from the crowd below, followed by stunned silence...They didn't want to believe it any more than he did.

"It was clear upon seeing him," the king continued. "...that he had been attacked and mortally wounded by the humans on the surface. I know full well what a slice from a steel blade looks like, and the number of arrows in his back was more than suffice to tell me what I needed to know...We have lost our prince, and we have lost the last shred of hope that humans and monsters can coexist with one another in harmony. So, I imagine many of you may be asking yourself...Will we be down here forever?"

He paused again...The crowd beneath him said nothing. They all stared at him, some misty-eyed, some still dazed with horror, and others narrowing their gaze angrily.

...Asgore knew exactly why they were angry.

And he was ready to deliver unto his people the justice that they deserved.

"...No. We will not be trapped in these accursed caverns for the rest of eternity."

His tone grew louder, its buried growl growing more and more prominent the more he spoke.

"The humans may have taken away many things from us. Our heir, our hope for peace, and countless of our own kind in days past...and now, in days recent as well. But they will not seize our chance at freedom. Even in these dark days, we must not lose hope, and we must NOT cower before the creatures who imprisoned us. We WILL not cower before them. We will NOT let them trample us ever again! Today is the day we rise up in arms and FIGHT BACK!"

A unified cheer from below.

"I hereby decree that from this day onward, each and every human which falls into the Underground shall be EXECUTED! They will feel the same pain we felt so long ago! They will suffer the same fate they have inflicted upon my child! Each soul harvested will be one step closer to the sun! And once seven have finally been gathered, I shall harness their power, destroy the barrier and ERADICATE the stain upon this earth called humanity! And from that day onward, WE WILL NEVER LIVE IN FEAR AGAIN!!!"

A wave of his hand summoned his trident...He had not used the weapon in centuries, but he still knew how to conjure it. And the moment it solidified, he took hold of the glowing red weapon and raised it into the air, prongs pointed at the sky above the caverns for all of monsterkind to see.

The people below clapped, screamed, whistled. They chanted his name and chanted for the destruction of mankind, some with their fists raised and others summoning their own weapons along with him. As he beheld the masses below him joining his newfound quest to avenge those he had lost, King Asgore smiled...The hopes of the people had been restored, as well as his own. This was what they had to do.

...And he relished in the thought of them finally enacting their long-deserved vengeance.

"It is settled and done, Toriel," he announced, turning around to face her as he left the balcony, trident dissipating into thin air. "From this day onward, we will strive to make right the wrongs of..."

He began to trail off when he saw her face...She stared at him as though he possessed five heads, brow furrowed in dismay. When he realized something was not right, Asgore's stern and confident stare gave way to a look of worry.

"What's the matter?" he asked, voice shifting suddenly to something soft and doting...He did not at all anticipate what her response was.

"...What have you done?"

She spoke with a deathly hush, aghast by what she had heard come from her husband's mouth. It was the last place she had ever expected such hateful, vile oaths to emanate from...Asgore stared at her for a moment, not sure what to make of her reaction. But then, his expression hardened again into a slightly perturbed glare.

"I have done what was necessary. For both us and the people...and our future," he replied firmly. "...I do not understand why you seem so troubled by my declaration. Is there-?"

"You do not...? Do you not realize what you have begun?!" Toriel interrupted him, now her turn to raise her voice. "How could you SAY such things!? How could you condemn ALL humans!?"

"How could I? The better question is how could I not, after all they have done to us? Are you not also furious at the fact they killed our only son?"

"'Our only...?' What...what about Chara? Did they mean NOTHING to you? Our last hope?"

"Our last hope, indeed," Asgore replied. "Dashed into a million pieces, along with our son. And need I remind you that it was their  final request that sent Asriel to that forsaken village in the first place, might I add? They brought on his destruction along with their own..."

He paused, brow raising in realization.

"...How do we know that Chara did not have this planned  from the very start, knowing that Asriel would be fatally injured?"

He turned again, back facing towards her, as he meditated on the possibility even more, wondering if he had missed anything, ANY sign that may have pointed to his hypothesis...But the queen didn't DARE to fathom such a blasphemous idea.

"...How could you even think to suggest such a thing?" she asked him, appalled by what she was hearing. "You raised that child as your own. You loved them, you listened to their every word, you consoled them when they woke up screaming at night...They knitted you a sweater for God's sake, and now you turn around and say they were nothing more than-!"

"OPEN YOUR EYES, Toriel!"

He screamed, swiveled around to face her again, grabbed her shoulders and jerked her closer...She could see the rage in his eyes far too well, now. A rage she had never seen before, ever. Not in anyone.

...Never in him, of all people on this earth. It disturbed her deeply.

"Are you really this naïve?" he interrogated her. "Does it not occur to you that the human could have put on a façade? To gain our trust, to gain Asriel's trust? So they could destroy us from within the mountain, because they were too cowardly to face us head on? That's what they do, Toriel, that is what they are. Cowards. Crafty, beguiling, murdering cowards, from the moment they exit the womb. I would have never let such depravity grow close to my own flesh and blood, let alone enter my house if I had known what was to come."

He stopped again, grip loosening and expression growing eerily calm.

"...Why, if I knew this was going to happen, if I had had even the vaguest premonition...I would have killed that creature on sight, crossed the barrier with its soul myself and finally avenged us all."

Toriel was stunned silent. She could barely find the strength to breathe. Tears bubbled over and stained the white pelt of her face as she looked at this...vengeful beast  that used to be her patient, loving husband, its eyes cutting into her own like the sharpest of swords.

"...Who ARE  you...?"

"I am the king of this mountain," he replied coldly. "And it is about time that I took a stand and acted like the king it needs, the king it deserves."

"This is not the king the Underground needs OR deserves," she spat at him. "This creature I am looking at is a bloodthirsty, vengeful tyrant. This..."

She paused, coming to a realization.

"...This is not the man I married."

Asgore's breath stilled, his eyes widening at her remark...only to sharpen in contempt a few moments later.

"How dare you denigrate me," he hissed, voice barely reaching over a whisper but laced with adder's venom. "After all of the turmoil which you have gone through, which WE have gone through at the hands of the humans, you choose side with them?  The creatures which have killed our own son? YOUR son? You..."

Without even realizing it, he re-summoned his trident, firmly gripping it in his hands.

"...You TRAITOR."

Toriel wasn't sure whether or not she was just seeing things for a moment, but once she realized that yes, Asgore WAS INDEED summoning his trident against her, she gasped loudly and backed away until she was all the way up against the wall to the left of the stairs. It took her all of the strength she had left not to faint before him. She couldn't...What would he do if she did?

...It seemed as though, for a fleeting moment, the untamed look of rage in the beast's eyes flickered and died as it looked down at the glowing scarlet weapons in its matted white paws. He released it from his grip a moment later, allowing it to fade back into oblivion once again as he realized what he had done.

"I...I-I'm sorry, Toriel," he apologized, his tone suddenly sickeningly calm and earnest. "I didn't mean to insinuate what I did. I simply-"

"Hold your tongue, Dreemurr."

Toriel didn't even realize she had said what was going through her mind out loud until she saw Asgore's expression shift, his solemn look of remorse now replaced with a pair of wide, startled eyes...But when it dawned upon her, she continued to speak, her brain still hardly processing what her mouth thought for her instead.

"...You disgusting, violent, degenerate  excuse for a man. What sort of loathsome creature raises a weapon to his own wife?"

"I-I didn't mean to, Toriel, why I...I didn't even realize I had-"

"Exactly. You DON'T realize. You do not realize any of the atrocities you have committed just in the span of minutes. What sort of unspeakable things will you do to the next human who falls down here, if there is to be ANY AT ALL, which you stated when you made that wicked, WICKED promise?"

She didn't even notice the tears spilling from her eyes again as she lambasted the beast which stood before her, which now looked much less like a bloodthirsty brute and more so like a scared puppy. Asgore reached a hand up towards her face, his aim to wipe away the rivers cascading down his wife's white-coated cheeks.

"Toriel," he whispered, his voice hushed and tender. "We...we will sort this out, I-"

"Keep your hands away from me, you savage."

The sting he felt against the back of his paw an instant later as Toriel's own flung itself into it caught him completely off-guard. He stared at her again, stunned, scared, and for the first time in centuries upon centuries, distanced from her. But not from her body...from her heart.

"I would not be caught DEAD with the sight of you," she spat. "...I will not be. Never again."

With that, she glanced at the stairway from which they came, then turned her back towards Asgore as she began to descend it...It took the king of monsters a long moment to realize what she meant, but when he did...

"No..."

He walked at first, but then RAN down the flight of circular stairs as he tried to keep up with her, although she seemed to pick up her own pace with each step closer he got. Finally, he made it to her, right as the two reached the bottom step, and he skidded to a halt in front of her, arms slightly splayed in order to block her preordained path.

"No. Please, you can't leave, Toriel, you can't...!"

"Why should I not? I refuse to be associated with the likes of someone who wishes to spill innocent blood."

"We can sort this out, Toriel, we can talk about all of this, we..."

His words dissipated at the tip of his tongue, now beginning to cry again himself as his knees gave way, leaving him begging on the floor before her.

"Please...You are all I have left."

She stared down at him, nose wrinkling at the pathetic villain begging at her feet not to do what she had already decided on.

"Oh, please," she sneered. "You have your people to look out for, do you not? They are just like you anyways, as far as I could see down there. I am appalled by the lot of them, almost as much as I am by the sight of you...They can have you as their king if this is what they want, but I will not serve a public which condones such barbaric practices as what you have put into place."

Asgore was panicking now. He had already lost two children, he COULD NOT lose his wife as well. He stood up, reaching out to her once more in vain hope that she would take his hand.

"Please, please Toriel, you mustn't, they need you, I need you-!"

"And if you DARE follow me, I will sear your skin PITCH BLACK!!"

She conjured a fireball in her right paw, stopping it right before it could engulf the left side of his snout. The intense heat radiating off of it was enough to sting his now bugged-out eyes and evaporate the tears from his face.

"...Let this be your warning. As I will not repeat myself to you," she growled, fangs bared and the hand which held her flame contorted and stiffened with anger. "...I hope that your lust for blood satisfies your hollow soul."

She continued to stare down at him for another second or two, almost as though she was relishing in his misery. But then, she stood up straight, turned her back towards the king and walked away...Where to, Asgore didn't know. He didn't dare to follow her after what she had threatened to do.

...Questions flooded Asgore's mind as he stood there, unmoving. What happened? What was going on around him, above him? Everything was just fine three days ago! Where did it all go wrong? HOW did it all go wrong? Why did Chara have to fall so deathly ill? If she had, none of this would have happened! Oh, that wretched mysterious disease, taking the life of a child so soon, it was terrible...

...

...The life of a HUMAN taken so soon.

And the lives of many more to come...at his own hands.

What had he promised the people? What had he said, WHAT HAD HE DONE?  Was he really going to have six humans thoughtlessly KILLED? Would they even have anything to DO with Asriel's demise, or would they be bystanders? Who would be victim to his trident by the horrible, despicable law that HE had put into place? Innocent men? Innocent women?

...Innocent children?

No...No...!

The weight of it all came crashing down atop him like a thousand arrows. The pain of the impact stabbed through his core and tore it to shreds. Blow, after blow, he was struck, until he could take it no longer. With a long, hitching breath, Asgore fell to the ground once again, threw his horns back...

...And SCREAMED.