Cover art by Dreemurr Reborn aka. Fatz

Howdy, and welcome to The Price of Peace!

Now, if you haven't read Crownquest; fret not, this story will be mostly self-contained and the few noteworthy changes to the characters should be apparent from the first chapter down below.

But what exactly can you expect from this story?

Well...

Expect Friskriel, drama, action, intrigue, mystique and maybe, JUST maybe... some smut (still a bit on the fence on that)

…

But hey, if you're still here, then I won't keep ya waiting. Without further ado, let's get the show on the road!

.

The room was a blur, as was the howling and shouting that filled it. Try as he might, Asriel, standing behind a speakers podium on top of a concert stage, couldn't for the life of him remember what had happened. His position taken into mind, he must have just delivered a speech, but why couldn't he remember anything? What he had said, how he had got there and why everything was so blurry?

Or why the assembled mass of monsters down below him was so outraged?

"YOU'RE USELESS, DREEMURR! USELESS!"

"WHAT KIND OF BALLONEY GARBAGE WAS THAT!?"

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US!?"

"DOWN WITH THE ROYALS! DOWN WITH THE DREEMURS!"

Asriel grabbed the podium tighter, as much to steady himself, as to keep himself from fainting at the sheer horror of it all. Judging from the gargantuan chantelier hanging over the crowd, as well as the richly-detailed and beautiful tapestries on the walls, they were inside the royal theater hall, used as much for political rallies and speeches as it were for entertainment. Not that the familiar locale brought him any comfort from the spectacle before him.

His heart sank even further, as he finally managed to pick out a few familiar faces amongst the screaming, blurry mass of monsterkind. Undyne, his trainer and mentor, was down there as well, joining in on the verbal abuse thrown at him, angrily hollering and shaking her fist. Alphys was making a half-hearted attempt at holding her back, but even the usually placid and timid lizard was glaring daggers into him as she did so.

Sans stood leaned against a wall on the far side of the concert hall, his usual smug grin turned into a disappointed frown. At his side, Papyrus was, for the first time in his life perhaps, face-palming at the expense of someone else.

Asriel felt his knees buckle and tears starting to build up. He had no idea what he had done, but it was obviously something horrible. His face fell.

"Someone, help me..." He tried to shout, but all that came out was a tear-choked whisper.

"We will help you no more" A familiar, and devastatingly cold voice responded.

Asriel raised his head slowly, not believing the words and the implications they held.

But there she stood; on a balcony overlooking the concert hall. His mother; looking down at him with a disapproving glare, and beside her, his father, the king, likewise scowling angrily down at him. Utterly alien expressions on their usually warm and friendly faces.

Despite the great distance between them, and the howling cacophony of the angered group of monsters, he heard them clear as day, as if they were speaking to his very soul.

"I see now. My son truly did die on that fateful day in the royal gardens. You are nothing more than a pretender - a disgrace to his memory and not worthy of our family name" Toriel said cold and quietly, before turning around and walking away, disappearing from view into the darkness beyond.

Asriel weakly reached a paw out to her, feeling emptier than he ever had, even when he had been a flower. His heart raced as he vainly tried to comprehend what she had said.

"Mom! No, don't leave me!"

In response, his father took a step forward, the whole balcony shaking under his weight, the same way Asriel shook under his words.

"I would rather kill you than have you claim the throne! That we share dust is a shame I will carry with me to my grave. Know this, cretin; you are no longer our son!" Asgore snarled angrily, before likewise turning around and disappearing.

Out of his shadow, their savior, his savior appeared.

Frisk...

No, it wasn't Frisk right now, not at this moment. Her eyes were more open than usual, and her mouth twisted into a cruel, amused grin. Lightly, she steeped forward, grabbing the balcony railing with one hand and reaching out with the other. For a few, tense moments she just held it there, as if dangling the key to end this nightmare within it.

Then, slowly, she turned it, ending in her flashing him a thumbs down from atop her alcove.

"Told you I'd see you soon, idiot!" She snickered in a sickeningly sweet voice not wholly her own. He knew what it meant; Frisk, the real one, would never do something like this; it could only mean... that she had lost the battle for her soul, been consumed, displaced...

Down on the stage, Asriel was becoming undone. He couldn't think straight, his ears were filled with part white noise, part howling insults thrown at him, as his mind and soul reeled.

This was it. He still had no idea what he had said or done, but the results of his actions were readily apparent all around him; his people hated him, his friends had abandoned had him, his parents had disowned him and perhaps worst of all, Frisk was gone. There was nothing left. He was nothing.

A group of furious monsters clambered onto the stage, still howling obscenities at him. They closed in; hands curled into fists, claws unsheathed and appendages raised ready to strike him down. The urge to defend himself, gained from the countless hours he had spent training with Undyne came to the fore, but he didn't heed it. Whatever he had done, he deserved this.

The least he could do was to look them in the eye, even as he saw a gnarled, scaled fist curl up and head straight for his face.

.

That was the last thing he saw before he finally woke up with a scared bleat, knocking a variety of office supplies off his desk as his flailed wildly for a second. He took a minute to compose himself. He was back in his office in the City Hall of Ebott City, (formerly Ebott Village). His heart was still racing, and his knees still felt like jelly. Raising a paw to his face revealed that the tears had also been real, as he felt wet trails on his fur. The digital clock on his desk flashed 01:00 in the night, and the darkness of the room attested to it being dark outside. He had gotten a few hours of sleep at least.

A few hours of unintended, horrible, nightmare-riddled sleep!

He angrily slammed a fist onto his desk, scattering an innocent stack of papers to the wind. He was 22 now, and yet he still had childish nightmares! True, they didn't revolve around his past as Flowey any longer, but instead preyed at his insecurities and fears. He knew it wouldn't be many years before he would take his fathers place at the throne, and truthfully, the thought terrified him.

Yet he seriously doubted he would ever end up in a situation such as the one in his dream, so why was his mind going out of it's way to torment him so?

"Golly! Even I have to admit. that one suuuuucked! I almost felt bad for you... almost" Flowey snickered from within his head.

Asriel sighed. Even after all these years, Flowey was still there. Frisk had removed his ability to try and take his body, but he was still a nagging little devil on his shoulder. Still, even he could at times be decent company.

"Yeah... Gosh, I don't get it! Why can't I ever have good dreams? It's either nothing or my worst nightmares coming to life!" Asriel said dejectedly, slumping his paws unto his lap.

"Heh, well, guess that makes you a "bad dreemuur" then, huh?" The flower answered and chuckled.

"... You've been hanging out with sans too much"

"So have you. But seriously, fluffy butt, we're tired, dont'cha think it's time to turn in?"

Asriel looked over his desk once more. He was used to working late, but not this late. About a year ago, he had started working as a kind of adviser to his father. Every time a new proposal, claim, lawsuit or law was placed upon monsterkind, they would first be handed to Asriels desk. He would then go trough it, writing down his opinion on what they should do about it; such as making a counter-proposal, search for a loophole or perhaps even try to protest, if it was especially bad or idiotic. When he had shared his thoughts and opinions, the paper would be sent to his father, who would have a final say in the matter, and decide what should be done. It was a nice enough system; it took some of the workload off of his father, and it served to ease Asriel into the political game, without involving him directly into the decision making.

And yet, all the paperwork that cluttered his desk, and now his floor, were but mere symptoms of the real cause behind the slow going of monster rights in the world.

"The Suits"

A term he and his father had made for those humans in slick, black suits that sent them these things in the first place. After The Barrier had first been breached, humanity had been quick to adapt them into society. Some rights and laws had to be discussed, but all in all, it was a dream come true for most monsters. They had been able to walk the streets in human cities without fear and many human pro-monster organizations had been formed to champion their cause.

Then had come the time of his crownquest.

His father, amongst others, had been kidnapped, and even though he had officially taken a day off to help with the crownquest, he had still been unreachable by the human government. For a time, it was believed that a coup had taken place within their city. In response, Ebott Village had been surrounded by the human military. Luckily, they had been able to avert any serious incidents, but the damage had been done. When trying to explain where he had been, Asgore had simply said he had been on a short vacation with his family, and had forgotten his phone. They had believed him, for better or worse. In the following days, after an official report had been made, the monarchy had been harshly criticized for not taking the political climate seriously, and some had even called them a "rogue element"

Asriel's own actions during the crownquest didn't help either.

News quickly spread that The Prince of Monsters had violently assaulted a man on a cruise ship, been involved in the bombing of a hotel building on Los Suenos, vandalism in another and caused damage to a World Heritage Site; the old monster palace.

No charges had been pressed as nothing could be proved, but the rumors in themselves had done enough. Asriel's almost celebrity-like reputation amongst monsters had taken a dive.

All in all, the human government had more than enough reason to tighten the noose around the little boil that was festering in their backyard. "The Suits" consisted of the politicians and, even worse, the lobbyist that did everything in their power to keep monsters and humans separated. Before long, Ebott City, as it was now called since it had grown too big to be called a village anymore, had been surrounded by military checkpoints and barbed wire – they could not leave.

The lobbyists were especially bad. As Asriel had quickly found out, corporations and business had a big influence in the human government, and for most, monsters were bad for business.

Who would want to buy medicine from the pharmaceutical companies, when healing magic was much faster and cheaper?

Who would want to buy regular food, when monster food could do the same, without the trouble of having to expel it later?

Complete nonsene, Asriel thought. Human food, like the humans themselves, seemed to consist of more physical matter than their monster equivalent, which meant that it just flat out tasted better, even if it didn't dissolve into magic when ingested. Monster food would prevent hunger, but it was never filling or satiating. Human food was, although it did leave one with one with the trouble of having to go to the toilet afterwards. Tasting it for the first time had been a big shock to the dormant digestive systems of many monsters when they had reached the surface, Asriel remembered with a shudder.

"Ahh, happy memories" Flowey concurred inside his head

Still, it wasn't a coincidence that the snail pie he had ever tasted, was one his mother had made shortly after he had broken the barrier.

Nevertheless, that was the state of things. The human government had decided that all monsters would have to be kept in a reserve, "For their own protection" of course, with no chance of leaving, until a "complete and detailed understanding of monsters mental, spiritual and physical anatomy" had been written, and a "Cordial arrangement of unique monster rights and laws" could be agreed on. Of course, with the current speed of things, that wouldn't happen before the turn of the next millennium. On top of that were a heap of other excuses; what if monsters carried any unknown and contagious diseases? What if magic was actually some kind of radioactive force? A few of the more radical human politicians had even claimed, that having anthropomorphic, intelligent "animals" running around would provoke "outbreaks of sexual deviancy in the lords flock!" luckily, event amongst the human government, those radicals were rarely taken seriously.

And for good reason, Asriel thought. Monsters and humans had lived side-by-side together before without any complications, and what was so wrong about human-monster relationships? There had been a few of those before his crownquest.

As his eyes fell on the paper lying in the center of his desk, he was reminded of just how furious these obstinate "suits" made him.

It was a proposal to a law, that claimed that monsters with fangs longer than 8 cm should not be allowed to come within 30 meters of any kind of childcare institution, without explicit arrangement with said institution, for fear of frightening the children and "mentally scarring them", with the exception on holidays. Furthermore, any arrangement would have to be made under the specifications outlined in document 6875b/EC, and must not, under any circumstances, conflict with Resolution 21B, unless a form M-48 had been signed and delivered to the local authorities, in triplicate.

Asriel scowled as he re-read it. Today it was fanged monsters, next week it would probably be clawed ones! They had already broken one barrier, only to have another one literately build up around them!

He angrily crunched the document into a ball, and threw it into his paper bin. It took almost all his willpower to not immediately light it up with a burst of fire magic.

"Woah, what got you so riled up?" Flowey asked from within.

Asriel closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, allowing the motions to calm him down. It was infuriating that his people had to be caged and contained as if they were nothing more than wild beasts, all because a few suits feared for their wallets. There were a lot of sympathetic humans still fighting for their release, but it had been 8 years now, and many had simply moved on with their lives. He wasn't king yet, but he still felt like everyday that passed without coming closer to lifting the ban on leaving, was a day he failed his people.

Still, all Asriel needed to remind himself of the grace and nobility all humans were more than capable of, was to look at the 2 picture frames situated beneath his desk-lamp. One was an old black and white picture of Chara; his childhood friend. A reminder that even seemingly hateful humans could still be capable of great love and compassion. The other one was a new picture of Frisk, his savior and more recently, his adoptive sister. In between stood a small wooden box, in which a gold, heart-shaped pendant laid socketed. The small curio was flanked to the right by a small, shinning glass sphere, containing a small amount of dust.

Monster Kid's dust...

How he still wished that had ended differently...

Asriel sighed, feeling his heart easing at the sight of them all. He reached into a desk-drawer and retrieved a jar of cinnamon-coated snails, feeling calmness descend and frustration lessen as he snacked on a few. He would have to fish the document out of his bin later; despite the idiocy on it, it was still an "important" diplomatic piece of paper, and there would be nothing but trouble if it got lost.

But that was a task for tomorrow, he thought, as he stretched and yawned. For now, not even a political catastrophe would keep him from his bed.

.

"I'm going home, Miss Muffet, you can- oh," Asriel said as he left his office. Muffet served as a combined secretary for both him and his father, the king. He had, at first, been slightly unnerved by the somewhat creepy spider lady, but there was no denying her efficiency. With her 6 arms, she could organize documents and letters better than anyone else, and her small army of spiders kept the whole building tidy and clean. The pastries she always brought into work were a plus as well; while they weren't as good as the one's his mother made, they were still delicious. There was even a rumor going around that she kept a hidden bakery somewhere in the city, but so far, no one had been able to find it.

And of course, she had already left. At least someone here was able to follow a schedule.

He continued onwards, trough the corridors of city hall, glancing at the rows of panoramic portraits of forested valleys, snow-topped mountains and glistening, cerulean blue seas, all infused with magic that animated them; the trees were moving in the breeze, snow was falling, and large, oceanic creatures could be seen moving just below the surface. For monsters, it was important to maintain a positive outlook on life, lest one "fall down" and his father had nothing if not a good sense of aesthetics that helped do just that, the beautiful, soothing paintings almost feeling like portals into other worlds.

It was still nothing compared to the floral masterpieces of gardening that surrounded the City Hall. Sometimes it was like his father had missed his true calling.

.

The night air outside was comfortably warm, well-suited for the early summer season, and Asriel took it all in; standing still and taking a deep breath, letting the fresh air cleanse any lingering frustrations and anger within him.

The City Hall of Ebott City was a comparatively new thing, built more out of sense of indirect enforcement than want. After their downfall in the wake of the crownquest, Asgore had feared that them ruling from a castle might appear a bit too presumptuous and arrogant, and had thus scaled it down to a modest office building, just like in most human cities.

Last he heard, Mettaton was using the old castle as a backdrop for a movie about a medieval court-bot coming back to fashionable un-life to enact brutal, but glamorous vengeance.

Asriel laughed quietly at the thought; he'd have to invite Frisk out to the cinema once it was done.

He had a car now; a Chevrolet Chevelle 1970 convertible, one he had gotten from his dad for his 20th birthday. The route to and from work was only a few short kilometers, and usually he'd just leg it, but he had always found something pleasant in sitting in a car, alone, listening to old 70'ies and 80'ies music. Driving in his car, all alone, with the powerful beats of Rolling Stones, Queen and others, singing about anything in general, filling the cabin was somewhat of a guilty pleasure, he had come to realize

The sheer thought alone was enough to make him grin in anticipation, as he fastened his seat-belt, put the car in reverse, and backed out of City Hall's parking lot.

.

Back at the Dreemurr Household, Frisk was in a conflicted state of emotions as well. In her dreams, she saw herself overlooking a great army of sword and axe-wielding humans besieging a monster settlement, burning and looting as they went. Quite often, she spotted some of her men disobeying orders, refusing to slay an unarmed civilian monster. Cruel taskmasters would step in then, shouting at the reluctant soldiers, promising them pain and agony if they did not dust the monster on the spot. If they still refused, the taskmasters would do the grizzly deed themselves, before having the disobedient renegades clasped in iron, and carried off to a no doubt horrible fate.

She watched all of this, and felt pride. The kind of pride one gets from watching a plan of one's own making coming to fruition.

Yet the Frisk that was sleeping on the 2nd floor of the Dreemurr household felt anything but pride. Disgust, horror and agony instead filled the quivering, shaking girl.

"NO, STOP!" She shouted, as she suddenly burst into wakefulness, sitting bolt upright in her bed

Almost immediately, fear turned to anger. She quickly saw and felt all the symptoms of another bad nightmare; it was night, her heart was racing, her nightgown, as well as her bed linen was drenched in sweat. But worst of all was that tiny voice inside her that laughed. It was one that felt wholly alien, yet was undeniably a part of her.

She hated herself for it; ever since she had been taken in by the Dreemurrs, she had been treated with nothing but love, kindness and warmth, yet some dark part of her soul still found great pleasure in watching monsters get slaughtered, apparently,

She sighed, letting her frustration exit trough her mouth as she did. Her clock revealed 1:31, still more than enough time to get a good nights sleep. Yet she was wide awake now, and scooting back under the now-sweaty covers didn't appeal that much to her. She might as well get a glass of water and fresh air.

.

As she gently snuck down the dark hallway, careful not to wake her mother sleeping next door, she thought back to the past 4 years of her life. The only years she could remember - anything prior to that was just simply gone from her mind. She was 18 now, but had only lived for 4 and anytime she had inquired about it to any of the Dreemurrs, they had deflected the question, only giving vague insinuations such as "You saved us; only fair that we do the same to you"

As she reached for the living rooms light switch at the bottom of a flight of stairs, she became aware of sounds in the darkness. Clothes shuffling, someone walking around, the clanking of keys being dropped on a table.

She crouched down and focused her hearing. The footsteps were too heavy and loud to be her mothers, but too light to be her dads.

"Asriel?" She whisper-shouted into the dark room.

"Oh, howdy Frisk, did I wake you up?"

Frisk shook her head in response, not really caring that her brother probably couldn't see her in the dark. Instead, she shot her arms out, expecting an immediate response.

She got it, as she felt her brother envelop her and pick her up into a hug.

"You shouldn't be up this late; you have work tomorrow" Asriel whispered, nestling his muzzle in her neck.

"I had... I had a bad dream" she answered. She felt the hug tighten around her.

"I saw so many people get killed, Azzy. I s-saw it and I l-laughed! Azzy, I-

"Shh, it was just a nightmare. You don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to"

She nodded. For a few seconds, all that was, was them standing in the darkened living room, holding each other.

"Az... I think... I think there's something wrong with me" Frisk whispered with shaking voice.

"No! Never say that! You're perfect just the way you are" Asriel answered, a little louder.

"There's something evil inside me" She said, sounding afraid and clutching tighter.

"I don't want to hurt any of you..."

Asriel took a moment to run his paw trough her brown hair before he answered.

"Don't be afraid. You're not like that. You're stronger than hi-... than that, I know you are. We'll always be here for you, and we'll always help you"

Frisk inched closer, nestling her head in his neck fur. She would like to believe him, even if a part of her still screamed "EVIL!" But for now, this was all that she needed. Even as her brother carried her back to bed, coming back with a glass of water shortly after, she was at ease, her bed sheets even felt cleaner now.

Yes, there might be a festering knot of evil growing inside her, but being around her family gave her the strength and determination to fight it.

.

Asriel sighed with a heavy heart as he entered his own room. He supposed it was a mixed blessing that Frisk had no memory of her life prior to his battle with the old king of humans 4 years ago. After they had brought her home, they were anxious to see what kind of eyes would greet them when she would wake up. The somewhat closed, but nonetheless charming eyes of Frisk, or the smug, cold one's of Valantis, the old king.

Luckily, it had been Frisk's, but it was quite obvious that the old king was still somewhere inside her. Whenever Frisk was happy and content, she would be her usual, peaceful self, but if she got too angry or scared, then Valantis's more aggressive personality could assume control. It was just as well that he had no recollection of his past life either, but it still meant that the pacifistic angel would transform into a spiteful, arrogant despot until she could be calmed down again. It all seemed like one big deja-vu. Back when Frisk had first arrived in The Underground and he was still a flower, he had had fleeting suspicion that Chara, his childhood friend, might have taken root inside the 8th child. Now, someone probably even meaner had taken that role.

"Sounds like Frisky-bits isn't doing so great" Flowey declared sleepily.

"Yeah, having an annoying buzz in your ear telling you to do stupid crap can be a real pain in the butt" Asriel answered.

"A what? What are you... Oh! Ohohoho, I get it! Low blow, Azzy. I like it!"

Asriel tossed his shirt and vest unto a chair in the corner, as he did, he caught a glimpse of himself in a large mirror mounted on his wall, and he turned to look.

In the years that had passed, the fur on his stomach had migrated upwards, becoming more thin and downy, and making his chest more fluffy. His horns had grown quite a few centimeters, and had even begun curling slightly inwards. But perhaps the biggest change of all was his now bright green eyes; his natural ones. Having Frisk's soul inside him had turned them brown, but now those belonged to the sweet little cinnamon roll sleeping next door.

Ever since Frisk left him for her own body, he had been severely weakened. Her soul had made him the most powerful monster on the planet, but ever since that day, his physical and magical capabilities had been severely diminished. As a result, his training with Undyne had had to be ramped up dramatically. While he was still nowhere near as powerful as he was back then, it had helped to shorten the gap, and while they had cut down on the hours ever since he started working as adviser, they still sparred and jogged together every once in a while. He had grown a lot in the past 4 years, and in more ways that one, standing at almost 2.1 meters tall. It was still early summer and he had already twice needed to go out and buy new clothes this year, because he had outgrown his last ones.

"Y'know, all that cardio can't be good for ya"

Flowey commented inside his head.

Asriel merely grunted in response.

"Oh! That reminds me, you still haven't answered that letter, have you?"

Asriel cringed and felt a fresh wave of red-hot, embarrassed blush fill his cheeks. He looked to his side. On top of his clothes drawer laid an opened envelope and letter. An invitation from Furfit, Ebotts premier (and only) health and fitness magazine. 2 days ago, they had offered and invited him in for a swimwear photo-shoot, of all things.

His first reaction had been to immediately throw it into the trash in an embarrassed fit, but it was still hard not to take it as a kind of compliment. Thus, it had laid on his drawer the last few days, like an errant alien object fallen from the sky which you're not really sure what to do with. Something you take an ashamed kind of pride in.

What he had to do right now, however, was to get a good nights sleep. He had gotten a head start back at the office, but tomorrow would be another busy day; filled with joyful browsing of yet more thoughtful, and not at all delaying proposals and paperwork

"You're a bad liar" Flowey murmured sleepily in his head. "Why do you even do it if you hate it so much?"

"Because I have to"

"No you don't; you're the prince! You can do whatever you want!"

"Then I want to!... Figures you wouldn't understand" Asriel replied, slumping unto his bed.

"Y'know, it's not nice to make fun of people with glasses... It's, uhh, kinda the same with me and.. you know"

Asriel nodded, eyes closed.

"I do. I just want to... do a good job, perhaps even make the world a better place for all to live in. But there's so much riding on my shoulders, I don't even-"

"Stop! Stop right there Mr. politician, if you're gonna get wound up about your career now, we'll never get any sleep!" Flowey protested.

Asriel smiled a bit at that and chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess you're right... thanks Flowey"

"Aww, screw you too"

.

Meanwhile, far, far away, beneath another mountain, a lone, young human was descending down a dark, cavernous stairway. He shivered, both from the cold dampness, but also of slight trepidation of what he was about to do.

He knew he wasn't in any real danger; as long as got at least a second's advanced warning on any would-be attacker, no one would be able to lay a finger on him.

Still, this was a day of many first, and almost all of them were unpleasant.

He finally reached the bottom, and entered into circular room. The room was dominated by an office-like desk with a computer, manned by a bloated, toad-like monster.

The monster in question rolled one of it's slimy eyeballs to look at him as he entered.

"Whaddya want?" It croaked in a slimy, wet voice.

The human froze for a second in front of the desk. The monster wasn't all that intimidating, but he of all people knew that looks could be deceiving.

Finally managing to break his stupor, he gently placed an aluminum-briefcase on the desk.

"I wish to deal in the most common, yet most exotic ware of all" the human said, as monotonous as possible

The croak didn't move a muscle, instead just keeping up it's death-stare. He supposed it was as good an indication as any that the toad had accepted the pass phrase.

He clicked the hinges of the suitcase open, and turned it towards the monster.

It's eyes practically grew in size, as it saw huge assortment of human money- bills and monster gold coins.

5 m-m-million... in t-tot-total" the human stammered out, anxiety starting to cripple his voice.

The toad made a series of deep, almost bird like chirps. It took him a moment to realize it was laughing.

"For some reason, this doesn't strike me as a donation" it said, and raised a questioning eyebrow, while smiling smugly.

The human took a deep breath, gathering his courage.

"I...I... 40 monsters. I need 40 monsters" He finally managed.

A flash of nervousness went across the toads face. Breaking eye-contact, it returned to it's computer, tapping a few buttons.

"My apologies, sir, but we only have 7 on "storage"" It said, in a suddenly much more professional tone of voice.

"And, uhh, we only have capacity to hold 25 at any given time"

As he saw the evident nervousness of the monster, the human finally felt the galvanizing effect of having his burning fear turn into cold anger. Fear was a useless emotion; it crippled one. Anger, on the other hand, was something he knew, something he could use.

"That's alright, I'll need 'em by tomorrow"

The toad croaked in disbelief, and turned both eyes to look at him.

I-I'm sorry, sir, but capturing that many takes time! There are procedures to follow, escape plans to organize, people to-

"I don't care about your work "ethics", toady. Are you telling me you can't do your job?" The human challenged, reaching a hand towards the briefcase as if he intended to close it shut in front of the toad.

One of the toads eyelid dropped down slightly, giving it an "annoyed" look.

"No, sir, I am merely suggesting that there will be consequences for such a rush order"

"Let me worry about that" The human said with finality and turned to leave.

"Just have them ready for pickup, same time tomorrow"

"One more thing, sir..." The toad called after him. He froze; feeling his recently won courage already slowly morph back into fearful anxiety.

"To whom should I say is the "merchandise" to be addressed to?"

The human took a deep breath, his shoulders rising and falling with the motion.

"Call me... "The Prophet""

With that, the human steeped onto the stairway, intending to leave the damp cavern as quickly as possible. He heard the toad-like monster make it's chirp-like snicker behind him; a usual reaction when he told people his moniker.

His hands clenched into fists. Socializing with other people had never been something he was great at, but having to deal with scum like that made his blood boil. He made a mental note to return here and destroy everything once his agenda had been accomplished.

He stumbled on one of the steps, cursing as he did. In his anger, he had not noticed his vision going blurry because of a lack of air. He reached into his hoodie pocket for his asthma inhaler, cursing again when he accidentally tipped his jar of painkillers out unto the floor.

Yes, dealing with human/monster trafficking scum made him sick, but, really, was there any price too steep, too dire or too damning to pay...

If it meant saving the world from a fate worse that it's destruction?

.

At the bottom of the stairs, the toad-like monster was working frantically. The magical sensor hidden beneath his desk had revealed that the human were not in any way affiliated with the police, so there was no way this was an attempt at infiltrating them.

That just left the business of orchestrating the kidnapping, relocation and tempoary confinement of 33 monsters in 24 hours. It was going to be a long night; all their catchers would have to be called in, and they most likely all have to be paid overtime. Which shouldn't be a problem, giving the huge amount of cash they had been paid

Normally, one would have to go to Ebott to kidnap a monster, but the human military cordon around the city made it difficult to break in or out.

But luckily, there was another readily available source much, much closer. There would be consequences, severe consequences, but then again, there always were when you dealt in the business of buying and selling other people's future.

.

To summarize:

- Asriel is 22, Frisk is 18.

- Frisk's original body died in The Underground, but they managed to posses an older version of their body made trough magic. They lost all their previous memories in so doing. (And yes, they're female in this story)

- Valantis, The human king during the war, is also possessing Frisk, but is a fair bit weaker. He also lost all his memories.

- Flowey's persona is still inside Asriel, but he's essentially nothing more than a nagging voice at this point.

- Monster Kid is dead :(

Whelp, that's all for now! Hope you like it. Please leave a comment as to what you think, and I'll hopefully see you next time!