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⋆Greetings, again.
Everyone. Froggits, Whimsums, Loox, Vegetoid, Migosp, Moldsmal. Snowdrakes, Ice Caps, Gyftrot, Glyde, The Royal Guards. Aarons, Woshuas, Temmies, Moldbyggs, Shyrens. Vulkin, Tsunderplane, Pyrope, Astigmatism, K. Knight, Whimsalot, Madjick, and everyone else who came to the surface. ⋆Even Jerry.
Everyone is blanketed with silence.
Until the dog’s paw lifts from the piano key. Then, a cacophony of applause and chatter erupts. Wealth of praise swathe the strings, the brass, the percussion, the piano, woodwinds, and all that fall in between and out. ⋆I fawn over the cellos.
“The violins and their family were exquisite!” ⋆He’s right.
“I think they have other names, Pap.”
“Whatever Sans! That was such a joyous experience and I am ever-so glad to spare three hours of my life!!” The taller skeleton stands and heaves a sigh, “Though I have a sneaking suspicion a member of the royal guard sat behind me. There’s fur all over my rump and coiffure!”
“Nah. The hounds, plus Endogeny, are at the far left.” Sans winks. “You’re probably just shedding.”
“Again?!” ⋆I do not understand Papyrus, but I am glad he exists.
Interest piqued, Alphys squints to the left. Sure enough, Endogeny is there surrounded by their families and letting out ethereal yips of contentment as Lesser Dog nuzzles their cheek. Dogeressa, Dogamy, and Doggo try to pet the goopy loved one, though Lesser Dog is the only one tall enough to reach the amalgamate’s head. The other guards don’t seem to mind that, going by the strength of their tail wagging.
Undyne nudges Alphys lightly—or as light as Undyne would nudge anyone—and the scientist’s observations halt instantly. “Ah, whoops. Did I startle you?”
When Alphys shakes her head, Undyne’s wavering grin is restored. She whistles low. “Sure is great how Endogeny is having fun. The Snowdrakes, the bird guy, hell, even the Shyren sisters came. Thought they wouldn’t make it but then I caught sight of them earlier and, lemme tell you—they had stars in their eyes the whole time they listened! Aha ha ha...”
Her laughter softens after she turns and sees her girlfriend wiping her glasses. Alphys puts them back on with a small smile. “Yeah… yeah, that’s amazing!”
Suddenly, Papyrus gasps. People turn to him in surprise. “Wait! That dog… doesn’t that dog look familiar, Sans?”
“I think that’s the guy who sold you your car,” Sans pipes up still in his seat, snacking on popato chrisps. Chrisps continuously appear in his bony fingers. The bag is nowhere to be found.
“Ah yes, my marvelous mechanical mount!”
That’s all it takes to put Toriel in a laughing fit. She doubles over quivering, her ears flopping now and then.
The fit ends quick, as a queen is able to quickly compose herself, however the grin that lights her eyes betrays her lingering amusement. “Goodness. Excuse my abruptness, but I am suddenly overcome with gratitude that we went here together. You are always lovely company. Frisk has wonderful friends.”
“I agree. Not only have you all been a joy to be with, this concert has been beautiful. It rivals the memorability of Undyne’s smashing piano concert.”
She stands up straighter when Asgore’s voice cuts in. “...yes, you’ve said. How was that?”
Nearly doing a double take, he takes a few seconds before explaining Undyne’s first recital / performance art. ⋆Nice job.
Others pass them by to the exit, including Papyrus. He stretches his bones and then jogs in place, his shoes tapping the wooden flooring enough to be mistaken for freakish drums. Sans is right behind him, not moving at all and relying on the human behind him to push him forward.
Spotting Papyrus, Alphys nudges Undyne with her tail, who caught sight as well and smiles toothily. They quickly taper a conversation with Mad Mew Mew and zoom up to the skeleton brothers.
“Aw, leaving already? Welp, we probably should too!” Undyne laughs. “It’s a shame we didn’t get to crowdsurf, but maybe next time. Right, cutiepie?”
Alphys’ yellow scales warm up to a different colour altogether. “R-r-r-right, darling!”
“H-HEY, stop! If you’re blushing, then I can’t help but blush too…”
After a bit of banter, the skeleton brothers tell their plan to give car rides to any monster that can fit in Papyrus’ car. Most had personal transport, so it's just to show off Papyrus' newest car.
Asgore admits he would love to, but fears that there is not enough room. “It seems that way for most human automobiles I try to get on.”
“That’s a shame. It’s fun when Pap is driving.”
“U-um, Sans. Can’t you, uh, use your sh-shortcuts…?”
“You know how Pap’s closeness to Mettaton gave him a morsel of fame among humans? That’s probably why Sans wants to be around more,” Undyne points out.
Striking a ‘cool’ pose to flex muscles, Papyrus beams. “That’s right! I have so many friends now and Sans is a little—how shall we say—jelly!”
Sans shrugs. “I dunno. After monsters stopped being underrated and started being overrated, it just seems right to hate them on principle.”
Leaving the orchestra hall takes far longer than the group expects. Everyone wants to stay, to chat, to be in the presence of close friends that they don’t have time to hangout with sometimes.
Sans talking with a nearby human (“If it had told me it was a hip composer, I might’ve lent an ischium”), Undyne bidding goodbye to Papyrus with increasing volume, Alphys double-checking her phone for the possibility of post-concert limited goods, Toriel finally telling Asgore how she makes her Butterscotch-Cinnamon pie…
All of a sudden, a velvet black envelops them.
“Howdy, again.”
Flowey sweeps a gaze around at the darkness, then nods.
“Five years, huh. The passage of time does not pull punches, heehee!” His stem bounces as he giggles. It comes to a stand-still in seconds.
He frowns. “Soooo… everyone’s happy for the most part. You saved monsterkind, and they saved you. This is, without a doubt, what Asriel would’ve wanted. You… you have no idea how gratifying that is to know.”
“Well, maybe you do—Asriel considered you a best friend in the short time you got to know him. I wish we—” Flowey pauses, something flickering in his eyes before he continues. “...I’m glad we got to know each other.”
…
⋆We love you too, Azzy.
“Bah, look at me!” He shudders and closes his eyes, waggling his petals to and fro. “Getting all sappy over… what, the saviour of the universe? Who cares about that! Let’s pull the plug already.”
In a flash, Flowey’s grin and petals morph into something razor-sharp. White bullets burst into existence. Rings of white behind rings of white, an easily endless array of weapons dancing at his disposal. “I never did show you the full extent of this form’s power, after all.”
But everything halts when you step forward and place your hand on his head.
To his visible annoyance, the petals lean into your touch. He groans. “Alright, alright! I know I’ve lost. I’ll leave you two alone, then...”
There is a faint resignation in his voice despite his words. Flowey sulks for a moment, then he winks, mouths ‘Good luck’, then disappears into the ground in one fell swoop.
Complete silence falls.
⋆Do all photography nerds have a flair for theatrics?
You turn to face the reader.
You wish you had a way to let them know how much everyone appreciates their support, how much warmth and comfort they have given us, how much everyone wants them to be safe and content. ⋆I have your back, Frisk.
Everyone. Everyone who used to live in the Ruins, Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland, CORE. Nice Cream Guy, River Person, Monster Kid. Napstablook, Mad Mew Mew, Gerson. Muffet, Mettaton, Burgerpants, Bratty and Catty. Alphys, Undyne, Papyrus, Sans, Toriel, Asgore… Flowey. Asriel. Frisk. ⋆Me.
Without the help of the reader, the story of monsterkind would not be told. ⋆Without the player, I would not see my baby bro again...
Thank you for staying determined, ⋆from each and every one of us.
LOVE, Frisk.