What it Means to Persevere

Natural Selection

Wingdings thought he'd seen that old skeleton again, but it had turned out to be an old turtle instead. Gerson was his name, and the King, King Relegore, had sent him to count all the able body monsters in case war did erupt on them. All the King's guard were going to monster towns to do the task, including the King himself. It reminded Wingdings and Grillby painfully of the trying times that laid ahead for them and their little girl, especially when the old turtle knocked on their door to see how many was in their house. Grillby was feeding Amiri, so it was Wingdings who answered the door. The shocked look that he was given surprised him, and he could make out Gerson asking to be let in. "I haven't seen a skeleton in a good many years. I thought they went extinct when the King's grandmother cast them out because of that stupid human religion." Wingdings managed to see Gerson saying as he paced the room slowly. "Wait, what?" Grillby signed in confusion. "The former Queen did that? That's why I've never seen another of Wingdings species? That's speciesism!"
"I know, lad. That's why you need to take special care of him and that child of yours too."

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Grillby invited Gerson to have some tea so they could learn more about what happened to the skeletons. It made them wonder just how old this turtle was and why he wasn't dust yet. With the rise of the human religion coming about, superstitions started to spread about the skeletons being bringers of death- grim reapers disguised as monsters. The humans started to fear them, and the monster King tried to quell their fears. The Queen though, a converted Christian, wanted to get rid of the skeletons and blamed them for every misfortune until finally they were cast to the shadows, guards and humans hunting down any skeleton that didn't flee. The species just disappeared in the span of a day, never to be seen again... until Wingdings. As Gerson recounted the story, Grillby signed it out so Wingdings could better understand. "Why are you doing that?" Gerson finally asked. "Ah, well, Wingdings is deaf. And while he is good at lip reading, I try to make understanding easier for him." Gerson nodded as he looked at the deaf skeleton. It seemed he was quite the survivor.

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"Well, I best be going. I haven't finished yet." Gerson stood up before pausing. "I didn't just come in here to tell you gentlemen a story, though. There's a meaning to it." Gerson warned. "The King is doing what he can, but war seems inevitable. It might be days, it might be years, but it is coming, and when it does, your skeleton friend might be the first target. Until the dust settles, it might be best you let him disappear too. Back to wherever he came from." Gerson knew it sounded quite rude, but he didn't want, what could possibly be the last skeleton, to die. He liked these folks and wanted them to make it out of this whole thing alive. Them and their little daughter, too. Grillby kicked Gerson out pretty fast, offended that he would say such a thing, but for some reason, the words lingered in Wingdings skull. "Don't listen to that old coot. He doesn't know what he's talking about!" Grillby signed before picking Amiri up to prepare her for a nap. "I can lay her down." Wingdings went over to take his daughter and think.

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After their encounter with him, Wingdings had strange dreams. Dreams of the forest, where the brush was so thick, he shouldn't have been able to move forward. Yet he did so effortlessly, walking forward to see something... something he didn't know, and yet he just knew where it was, like he'd been there a million times before. When he finally broke through, the clearing was vast, almost unnatural. The walls before him depicted a great many things, things that he both did, and did not understand. The grand doors of this walled home held what Wingdings knew to be the Deltarune. The symbol for the royal family. Wingdings walked forward in awe of this great spectacle and placed his hands on the wood. He could hear. He had never heard anything before, but these were clearly whispers, welcoming him home, telling him the name of the place inside the wall. It was called Allhalla... The Birthplace. Wingdings pushed at the doors, opening them wide to see Allhalla- but then he found himself awake and deaf once more, aside from a small ringing noise, in his skull.

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