It is done.

Crisp moonlight shined into the castle, the sun having set not too long ago, as a gentle breeze of fresh air seeped into the Underground for the first time in centuries. The barrier has been shattered. However, the moon was not the only source of illumination in the room that night. Seven souls gleamed in various colors, shining a warm glow on the still body of a human child who had died not minutes ago. Among the shadows stood Asgore, the king of all monsters. He knew that this was not the end. He knew exactly what needed to happen next. He needed to ensure peace for all monsterkind, even if it meant doing the unspeakable.

Humanity shall bow before the monsters. This was his sworn duty. They will pay for their treachery.

But what after? He longed for the days of the past, back when he was the father of a loving family. He would spend his days off playing games with his son and adopted daughter, and eating delicious cinnamon-butterscotch pie baked by his wife and-

No. Those days were gone. His son was dead, and his wife had disappeared, never to be seen again. There was no point of hopelessly reminiscing on the past when what done was done. Still, not a day went by that he didn't think of the tragedy of what happened. How he had failed as both a husband and a father. He truly hated himself.

Asgore sat in silence for a long time.

...

"So it's really over then?"

The king turned around to face the sudden, unexpected voice, only to see that it belonged to a golden flower.

"Err, howdy! You caught me by surprise! Did you want to say something? I'm here I you just need someone to talk to." The king said in a calm, friendly tone, pushing his thoughts away. "But first, introductions. I am King Asgore. Who are you?"

The flower paused for a moment before speaking again to think. Was this truly what he wanted? This would be the only way to feel again, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to go through with his plan. So instead, he stalled and asked a different question. "Names do not matter. I just had a question for you. Why are you going to wage war on the humans?"

The king closed his eyes in sorrow, the memories flooding back, a solemn tone in his voice. "I must protect my people from destruction at the hands of humans."

"Why do you think the humans would try to destroy us?"

"They took everything from us many years ago. I lost someone very special to me. I know what kind of people humans are."

The flower hesitated once again upon hearing his response. He knew exactly what Asgore had "lost." It was obvious now that there would be no more RESETs. The human was truly dead for good. If he went through with his plan, there would be no turning back. But he had made up his mind. He couldn't feel emotions, but mentally, he could still remember being... happy? He was sure that this was what he wanted. To be happy again. And Asgore held the key.

The flower paused for one last moment, then spoke. "Well... There's something you should know…"

Conquered
by hjk321
Chapter 1: When the Monsters Came

It's been five years since the monsters came. At least, I think it's been that long. It's getting hard to keep track of the days in this place. I can't remember the last time I've been able to see the sunlight, or even been outside this prison. Dark rooms, rusty pipes and the smell of death in the air is all I know now. And I'm one of the lucky ones. Most people died before they could even be captured. At least I still have my brother, Case. Or, at least one of my brothers. I haven't seen my other brother in years. He's probably dead by now.

My name is Drew. Well, my official name is Prisoner 3KP-19U-74D4, but that seems like a bit of a mouthful. I live in one of the prisoner containment camps they've got set up around Ebbot City. The able-bodied adults are sent to the labor camps to work. Some of the smarter kids go work in shops. The rest get sent here. There are thousands of prisoners here, locked up in dark rooms all day, until they either put us to use or kill us all off. Every day we wonder if today will be our day- either to be sent to the labor camps, or to be sent off into the dreaded death camps. I'm not sure which option is a worse fate than the other, but it's clear that neither of those sound pleasant at all.

Case says that he's lost hope. He's… always been a glass-half-empty kind of guy. Ever since we got sent here, it's been hard to go on. But I haven't lost hope. Not yet. There's gotta be someone who can help us. To free us from a bleak future as a conquered race... right?

There was nothing that could have prepared us for the hellfire that was the war five years ago- if you could even call it a war. Fueled by the power of human souls, the monsters began their rampage, destroying anything and anyone in their path. These people couldn't even be stopped by nuclear bombs, and believe me, we sent lots of them- they just used so-called "blue magic" to fling it away, back onto the people who sent it in the first place. And the most infamous of all monsters were King Asgore Dreemurr, able to destroy anything effortlessly with power comparable to a god, and his second-in-command, Undyne the Terrible. These names strike fear into the hearts of every human. They are the most ruthless of what is already a ruthless race, doing most of the conquest themselves single-handedly.

I remember that early morning when the front lines of their army came through my hometown near Mt. Ebbot. We were one of the very first towns to get hit by the monsters- those who didn't die fighting were captured - like me - and taken to prisons. My father went out to hold off the soldiers while we made a break for it. As we ran into the forest, I could hear screams from all over the town – which at some point had burst into flames. My mom had told Case and me to hide in a bush while she went out looking some more. That was the last time I ever saw her. She probably lasted only minutes, hours at most. After a while, the monster soldiers found our little hiding spot, and loaded us into some sort of wagon. Then they pulled us off to where I live now – in this dark, dank complex. Dad was dead, and we never saw Mom again. End of story. I don't even know what happened to Frisk. He went missing about a week before everything happened. The police looked for days, and Case and I would go looking too, but after a few days we had to come to terms that maybe our baby brother wasn't coming back. Hopefully, wherever he is, he's in a better place than here.

But now we wait for the end of our stay now; it can't be long now, whether it be death, or some sort of assignment. Case hopes for death. But me?

I'm not sure which one I want. Anyway, in the meantime, it's lights out. There's nothing left for me to do but hope.

My father called me into the banquet hall.

"Yes, father?"

"Please, sit down, son."

I sat down at the far end of the massive table as human servants came out with a modest yet satisfying meal. I can't ever stand to look directly at them. They always have that look of defeat in their eyes. Besides, they aren't comfortable looking me in the eyes either. The hall was easily the largest room in the entire castle, albeit it being the emptiest. I'm not sure why the other places are ever set; we don't ever use them. For a banquet hall, we don't really host many banquets in it. At least the view is nice. It overlooks Mount Ebbot, and when the sunset hits the ridges just right, it could easily be the best sight in the world.

My father began to speak in between sips. "Asriel, your 15th birthday is coming up soon. It seems that time is just slipping away these days. But I wanted to do something special for you this year. What would you like for your birthday?"

Oh, I guess that is coming up. I had almost forgotten. But what would I want for an occasion like this? Material things never captured my interest. The only time I was ever happy was when I had a friend to talk to. But I haven't had one for a long time.

Perhaps someone to talk to would be nice. I should ask for that.

But before I even had the chance to say anything at all, he chimed in, "I've been reading about medieval human traditions recently. It seems that royal princes had servants their age follow them around at all times to help out with whatever they would need. How would you like a human servant?

I paused for a moment. This was exactly the opportunity I was looking for, and I knew my father meant well, but even after all this time I still had reservations about using humans as, let's be honest, slaves. I'm sure that I should be disgusted by all of this. But it's still hard to feel anything. It's better than when I was completely soulless, but it only comes in small bursts of simple emotions; happiness, sadness, anger. I guess a human soul can only do so much for a monster.

My soul. I had picked the red one out of the seven available to me, both for practical reasons, as it was the most intact of all of them, and for, well, other reasons. It reminds someone else I knew. She's gone now.

I've only ever known that one human. There were the servants, of course, but the only human I ever really got to know was a true friend, not just nice because she had too. Not even monsters prove to be true friends; everyone at the academy either brown-nose me or try to punch my teeth out. Perhaps it would be nice to get to know someone, to make a friend, even if indentured. Making up my mind, I turned to my father to answer his question.

"That sounds like a plan, father."

"Excellent. We will select one tomorrow at the nearby containment camp."

We finished our meals while making small talk and got up from the table. As I turned to leave, I heard a very familiar sound...

"NGAHHH!"

The banquet doors slammed open, a servant was knocked over from the impact, and Undyne burst in, followed by a very distressed Alphys.

" Undyne don't go in there-"

Undyne, not even noticing the human servant sprawled unconscious on the ground next to her, turned to my father and shouted, "Hey Asgore! If he gets one, I want one too! I've been running out of punching bags!"

"S-So sorry, your majesty! She just heard what was going on and burst in and I couldn't stop her because she's so fast and -"

"It's fine, Alphys," the king calmly replied. "Undyne, you may come with us tomorrow if you wish. It's really no problem. You are family to us. Both of you." Asgore chucked, clearly enjoying Undyne's excitement and vigor. "You know what they say, the more, the merrier!" Alphys seemed to calm down a bit.

And so, the event would be scheduled for tomorrow. We would attend a triage containment camp and select two test subjects for the new program. I don't really agree with what my father has done to the surface, but no cost is too high for peace, and humanity, if left unbridled, will charge straight into war over the smallest disagreements. Human history has proven that time and time again, and I can speak from experience that even a simple misunderstanding can turn into a dustbath.

Besides, it's too late to change anything now, right?

Update 2019: Minor dialogue revision and typo correction.

Original A/N 2017: Thanks for reading, guys! I intend to upload a chapter every Saturday, but that could change depending on my schoolwork. I'll try to make each chapter about 2,000 words each

Please don't take the fact that Asgore and Asriel seem out of character to be bad writing or plot holes, there's a very good reason for this, but we'll get to it. And don't worry, Goatmom isn't completely out of the picture yet. ;)

So, this is my first fic, so please tell me how I could improve this story through a review. I'm pretty sure this is a least a little better than some of the other stuff I've seen posted lately. Hopefully I'll be seeing you in the next chapter!