And Hell Will Follow Me - Chapter 4: Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Vee…

The rose is a very powerful flower, a rightful symbol of elegance. The petals cutting into the dark night like a blade, shining through as though a raging fire spreading out in a particular pattern. A garden is a wildfire, flaring and piercing the dark with its brightness. Yet, despite its elegant beauty, the rose can be a cruel and demanding specimen. To touch upon its thorns requires a sacrifice, a sacrifice to be paid in both slight pain and a small shedding of blood. It aims for the weakness of the flesh, to make it bleed.

The horrible night had passed, fading into a new dawn. The slow, morning sun was rising lazily out of the horizon of the tombstones around. It was looking to be a bright and beautiful day, the denizens of Earth were slowly yet surely awakening from their distant slumber to greet the sun and start their individual days, whatever those may be.

The night had faded, broken up by the dawn. The spirits were put to rest, and life has been restored. Lonliness had been reawakened by his own deep slumber inside of Death’s arms, but the thorns were no longer rooted in him. They had now seeped into Tyrin’s own body, which not felt like it was blazing.

As if he was turned inside out, Tyrin’s skin had become a deep shade of red. It was crimson, like muscle. It was a very odd color to look at since it was so much different from his once white fur. The pink bits, on the other hand, had become blue. It was almost like a shiny sylveon would be, except it was a much darker shade. Not to mention that Tyrin was never a shiny to begin with.

Tyrin’s screaming came to a sudden halt just as it had started; he started to pant heavily after as the pain started to die down. The burning feeling was replaced with that of a drain. He felt empty; no emotion, and no thoughts. Only one word, his own, had started to echo in his head. Deal… deal… deal… Over and over again.

Sensing something embracing him, Tyrin let out a low and uncharacteristically threatening growl and snarl before he gradually opened his eyes. His once bright and peaceful sky-blue irises were now a deep shade of dimly glowing scarlet. They were ominous and full of hate, much like the color of his eyes under the ghosts’ control. The only difference being that he had fully become just that.

Presented before him was a brown ball that slowly started to morph into shape as his new eyes adjusted from his slumber. Before him, the foreign object seemed to grow ears and a tail before he recognized it as his friend. He seemed to be covering his ears, and crying to himself and repeating the words “Ty-Tyrin, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made you go through that” quietly to himself. The sylveon, through his drainage, felt pity on the eevee.

“L-Lonliness?” he manages to squeak out, his throat aching. Blood began to fall from his eyes instead of tears, pulling the brown body of which he inherited the curse of against his own.

"I'm s-so sorry I couldn't protect you that fateful day, I was weak.” The eevee reared his head at that before noticing the hideous changes that his own friend has undergone through just to save him. It was horrifying to him in every possibly way. Tyrin lifted his head up against the eevee’s own and looked down. He takes notice of the fact that his red tears had dripped onto the head now. From somewhere in his mind, he was told that he should be worried about this, but nothing came of it. "...but now,” he said as he continued on with his last thought, “I am strong!" The sylveon slowly smiled, a perfect row of fanged teeth replacing his weaker ones.

The eevee tilted his head in concern, the sticky crimson liquid sticking to the top of his head. "B-but you're..." the eevee retreated and gulps as he gazed into those horrifying teeth, having lost himself in them. “You’re..."

Looking down in confusion for why the eevee seemed to be so sad, Tyrin slowly raised a paw to his mouth and gently clasped around it and quickly understood. “I-I scare you, don’t I?” he asks.

The eevee hesitated before nodding to the question.

Now growing bewildered, Tyrin gently put Lonliness down and started to walk towards a nearby puddle left over from some recent rainfall. As he inched his way there, plant life quickly started to blacken and die wherever his paws touched down, but he didn’t seem to notice. When he does reach it, he helped himself to a long, good look of himself.

In the reflection, he saw his own monstrous appearance, barely recognizing himself. He looked into those sharp teeth. He gazed upon his own ruby-colored eyes, blinking a few times as if expecting any sort of change. He tried his hardest to understand. He wanted to know why his friend seemed to be afraid of him, but he simply could not. He was unmoved by his new self, not feeling any sense of surprise, shock or disgust towards it. In fact, in a way, he actually liked it. He looked a lot stronger now. But if it meant scaring Lonliness…

“D-do you want me to leave?” he asked suddenly. His voice sounded glum, almost dreading the answer.

The sylveon gave a contented smile to the eevee. “Thank you Lonliness, but you may find it more... difficult to be around me,” Tyrin warned with renewed melancholy, recalling his end of the deal. “The ghosts said I’m not the same person anymore.

“… An embodiment of that blasted curse!” the sylveon abruptly swatted at the puddle with a loud splat, letting all that anger out that he had been containing and keeping to himself, making the eevee cower at the sudden aggression, an emotion that he had never seen from him yet. It wasn’t fair, Tyrin thought, the whole situation was unfair to both of them that he had lost control of himself. It made him feel less tense, at the very least. Almost prideful. Almost.

Both of them dimly note that the puddle had become a dark grey, but given the current situation, neither of them were all that surprised at this transformation.

Looking over his paw in curiosity, Tyrin quickly turned his attention back to Lonliness. “But as long as I have you,” he continued his last thought as he wrapped a ribbon around the vee with the same gentleness and care as he had before, bringing the smaller Pokémon closer to him. “I think I can still be myself.”

Although he had nearly panicked when he was reached out to, the ribbons were still as soft as Lonliness remembered him, helping him relax and ease right into the hold. “I’ll always be with you, Tyrin. No more shall we part.” His mind was made up, and his voice reflected that.

More red tears came to Tyrin’s eyes as the eevee still accepted him for his new self despite the obvious changes. After a short while, Tyrin let him down. “So, where shall we go next? There is a big world out there and not enough time to see it!” The sylveon was mirthful, and was about to wait for an answer when it lied within his own stomach growling. The fairy looked down at it and smiled brightly. “Guess we should get some food first. I’m starving.”

Relieved that his friend was still his same old self and was ready to tackle the world with him at his side, Lonliness agreed that something to have for breakfast would be an ideal start of a new day of their adventures. The sylveon lifted his head and started to sniff the air. Maybe there would be a human encampment somewhere near that they could take food from. The odor that came back to his nose was enough to make his mouth water, Tyrin began lick his own lips. “There is something in the woods, and it smells amazing!”

With that, he started to walk out of the graveyard and into the trees. Following behind him, the eevee lets out a small chuckle. His interest was piqued at how amazing this scent was, and yet he himself could not get a single fragrance of it, most likely a result of having a smaller nose, he figured.

“Any idea of what it is?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” Tyrin gave another whiff of the cold morning air. “But it’s moving.” His head tilted towards the direction of the smell to point it out.

Lonliness now felt more intrigued. “Moving?” he asked interestedly.

Slowly moving behind a bush, the waft was finalized. “There,” he pointed with his nose behind the bush, moving in a crouching position, stealth on his side. Lonliness heard Tyrin pounce, and a small struggle ensued. Lonliness moved behind the blush to see what the commotion was, and froze.

“Hello there little guy,” he heard the sylveon greet the zigzagoon he had pinned under a claw, although it wasn’t exactly a friendly salutation. The raccoon was shocked and struggled a bit at first, but then he realized what was exactly what he was jumped by, looking at the odd fairy.

“Uh, hello? What are you doing?” the zigzagoon asked inquiringly. His fearfulness soon being replaced by skepticism. Sylveons were herbivores, after all.

The sylveon was almost disappointed by the reaction; Tyrin gave him an evil smile, not being afraid to show his teeth. ”Oh, just catching breakfast is all,” he said almost casually before scraping one of his claws on the zigzagoon’s face. “B-breakfast?” the raccoon began to quiver as his face turned a ghastly pale.

Feeling pride in his fear, Tyrin leaned in and whispered a suggestion to the brown ear. “Beg,” he commanded, as his fingers found their way to one of the hind legs. Although his brown eyes widened and his breathing picked up, the zigzagoon stayed relatively silent. Tyrin’s face slowly started to morph from sly and cunning to a boiling anger as he was being disobeyed. “I said…” Tyrin started to repeat himself, his pointed digits beginning to seep into the leg until blood started to leak from the pores. “Beg!” he shouted, quickly twisting his claw and causing great pain, bruising on the outside as veins were severed. The zigzagoon had no choice but to scream in pain.

“Tyrin, what are you doing!?”

As he was reveling in the pained screams, and just as he was about to sink his claws deeper, the bawling voice of the beloved eevee made him halt in surprise. He quickly turned back to his friend, his smile wide and maniacal. "Getting food, what does it look like I'm doing?" He slides his claws out as he let body fluid ooze out of the open gore, bringing the claws up to his muzzle to try for a taste and lets out a small gasp. “Delicious.”

“Y-you’re a monster!” The zigzagoon quickly looked around for any help or support before his brown eyes locked with the eevee’s own after he spoke. There was a glint of extreme pain and of deep fear in his stare. "P-please help me! I'm begging you!" his voice shaky and desperate.

The eevee would have helped him too, but he was still recovering from that sinister grin the sylveon gave him as he assured that he was “only getting food”. Food? But this was another Pokémon! While he was certain that Tyrin would never lay his paws – or ribbons – on him, everything that he had known about his best friend was gone, lost inside of that deranged mask that resembled nothing like the sylveon he had used to have known.

A few seconds later, he brought his glance back towards the begging Pokémon’s face. Tears began to roll down his cheeks as it beseeched and pleaded for his mercy. Lonliness remained silent, staring at the brown face before mouthing that he was sorry, looking away and covering his ears to try to deafen the noises that would come after.

He blamed only himself for his own cowardice, and his inability to take action. It had, once again, cost him another innocent life.

Hearing no response from his friend, Tyrin turned back towards the zigzagoon with a wicked facial expression. Well my little morsel, I can tell you I have never had zigzagoon before...but if you are anything like chicken...” a ribbon found itself at the clawed hind leg again. "I’d like to start on the drums!"

Taking a strong hold of it, the ribbon started to slowly twist the leg, the bone in its socket starting to turn towards an uncomfortable angle along with it. Awkwardness soon gave birth to utter terror as the leg started to bend in odd directions, the zigzagoon starting to writhe and scream about in renewed vigor as he heard a loud and painful snap inside, weeping and whimpering afterwards in agony.

"Keep that up and this might just go a little slower,” Tyrin smiled with malicious intent.

He went down to the leg, knowing that the zigzagoon would be in too much pain to try and run now. He lapped over the wound he inflicted earlier, hungrily drinking any blood that had come out before biting into the leg, his teeth guiding flawlessly into the meat and took out a huge chunk of the thigh. The zigzagoon continued his screams while his body was violently shaking over the loss of its flesh.

Tyrin chewed at the mixture of fur, skin, and meat, sighing in sheer bliss at the flavors of it all mixed together. He swallowed, "Oh my Arceus, that was the most amazing thing I have tasted! This is going to be..."

His ears perked and he looked around, there was another Pokémon nearby. It was big. It was perhaps too big, and Tyrin realized that this was going to have to be a fight or flight situation.

The zigzagoon heard it too, "PLEASE SOMEO-" Tyrin quickly wrapped his two two ribbons around the Pokémon’s throat and squeezed tightly, starting to choke the poor creature. The raccoon struggled against it, his face turning blue from the lack of air. Having decided his earlier dilemma, the sylveon sighed.

"Too bad this couldn't go on any longer..." he said rather sadly.

He lifted the zigzagoon off the ground and let gravity do the rest. The small pokemons eyes were bulging and full of tears and terror as the life seeped out of him. Trying brought the zigzagoon above him and let the pouring blood from the zigzagoon’s wound fall onto him, loving the feeling of the warm liquid on his fur. The zigzagoon let out one more small gurgling sound, then fell silent. Tyrin brought the body down and smiled at it.

His ears perking higher as the heavy footsteps were coming closer, Tyrin quickly moved into the bush to Lonliness, still holding the body, "Come on, we need to move!"

This was entirely my fault, Lonliness realized as he listens on to Tyrin bringing nothing more than suffering. Like a beast to the slaughter. “I let this happen.” Still killing himself for not having the bravery to stop his friend, the eevee was surprised when he sees Tyrin again, with the dead ziggy in hand. "Where are we going!?" he sobs loudly.

The sylveon shushed him, "There is another here, and we need to get out of here before it finds out what happened. Come!" He hurried Lonliness along and they ran out of the area. Tyrin had never felt so alive! Nothing had ever given him so much pleasure as ending the insignificant creatures’ life slowly, though he wished he could have done it slower.

Tyrin made a mental note to take his next victim to a quieter place. Lonliness would make sure that he would never lure a Pokémon to Tyrin in his head. After about five minutes of running, they would come across a cave.

"Perfect!" Tyrin said, laying the deceased body down. Covered still in dried blood, panting, he turned to the eevee. "So what part do you want first? The leg was good, so I call that one. But good thing there is four, right?" The sylveon gave a rather toothy grin.

In the cave, Lonliness was noticeably depressed. He was not very proud of himself, and looked at the ground before up at the sylveon. "I lost my appetite, thanks," he was as respectful, yet honest as he could be in his depressive mood.

A frown started to come to the blue-furred face. Suddenly remembering the blood on his face, Tyrin made an effort to clean it with a paw. Then a horrifying image popped into his head. He remembered how the eevee looked when he first met him at the lake. How weak, emotional and fragile the eevee was. How thin the eevee was.

That poor, caved in stomach. The eevee was starving to death, he suddenly remembered.

"Lonliness,” he began. “I know you don't eat when your depressed... speak your mind, kiddo." He pushed the body aside and sat down next to Lonliness, his eyes full of the loving compassion it once had.

The eevee took a deep breath before he looked into those crimson-tinted eyes. "I know how hard it is for you to understand, for the longest time I was the exact same way. I know you can't feel for others, I couldn't very well myself,” he admitted. “But I want you to understand one thing, it's all I ask. The Tyrin that I met back at the pond told me that everybody has their own piece of the world and they should be loved. What you did just then..." he shivered a little in nauseate. "If we're going to continue like this, please promise me that you won't hurt them too badly..."

"Everyone deserves love..." the sylveon repeated his own words, and his confused mind started to panic. Who did he love? Was he loved? I just killed an innocent...

Before he could think too hard about it, Tyrin’s indifference towards others came back. Suddenly, his mind switched to a different topic, back at Lonliness. “Let me ask you this Lonliness, did you ever want to stop? Did you ever look at what you did and not feel a certain amount of pleasure from it? It was hard for you to stop?”

His red eyes looked into the brown ones. “Something tells me there is still a little bit of it still in you... I want to be with you in the forest because I love who you are. All I'm asking is the same courtesy.” Suddenly, compassion came creeping into his mind as he continued. "I can offer a little less pain, but I can't stop it all....now are you going to eat?" he offers.

Lonliness could tell by the sudden change in facial expressions that his words did get to the sylveon, glad that they were at least considered before Tyrin retained his apathetic and unfeeling demeanor once more. He looks into the others eyes as they stood intently into his own.

"I was too young to realize what I was doing at first. I didn't know what I did; I only knew that a small bit of me wanted me to do it at least a little more. I couldn't help it, not after my trainer left me years ago. I don't want our friendship to end; we are all we have for each other. I don't want to ever leave your side again, Tyrin." He looks down at the mangled carcass. "Thank you, I think I'll probably just have some berries or something for now."

"I will fetch them for you, I will be right back.” He smiles as he slowly started to rise to his feet. “If you could, could you start a fire? The sun is starting to go down,” he notes before stepping out of the cave.

With his friend gone, the eevee sluggishly rose on all fours. With a small stretch after lying around for so long, he started to walk towards the mutilated carcass of what used to be a small raccoon. He knew it was his fault. He knew that perhaps he had spoken, Tyrin would have listened to him. But he was such a coward, and this spinelessness had brought nothing but death, once again.

"I'm sorry;” he whispered the apology to the dead zigzagoon, before cowering back towards his earlier spot.

Outside, Tyrin was walking towards a bush as his mind was now completely off the zigzagoon, only viewing it as food now. For now, his attention was settled solely on what Lonliness wanted, to find some berries for the small Pokémon to help himself to.

"Rattata... young...tender..." He said so said out loud as his stomach growls demandingly. He began walking towards the scent but then stopped, Lonliness' words echoing in his head. He begrudgingly starting walking away, repeating in his head that he had food back at camp. Quickly, he stumbled upon a bush of oran berries and gathered them, every step away from the glorious scent causing him pain in his stomach, but he manages to hold true to his promise. He swiftly gave the berries to his friend once he arrived back soon after.

"Hope you enjoy!” he said as he soon started to work on his own feast.

Noticing how hasty he seemed, knowing that something was obviously unnerving him, Lonliness moved a tad closer to the fairy, although some distance was still being kept. The reeking iron odor in the enclosed air was a tad unnerving for him.

He looked towards the sylveon as he dines at times, watching the sylveon rip and tear through the meat with relative ease before looking away before he noticed. Somehow the eevee manages to stomach this sight, mildly disturbed but did not find himself even gagging, despite how much he wanted to. He was starting to at least accept his friend's new customs.

The eevee looked up as the remains, mostly just bone and small strips of flesh clinging to them were tossed with a sickening plop into the darkness and watches as Tyrin comes closer. "I'm fine," he assures him.

Seeing through his lie, which wasn’t all that difficult anyway, Tyrin sighed. A ribbon comes around to rub along that brown, fluffy back. "Lonely, I don't want you to just tolerate the rest of your life... I want you to be happy, so if there is any way I can help you be more comfortable with my... actions, I will do it." He smiled down at the little guy.

Listening to his words, and leaning into the petting, Lonliness started to finally feel a lot more comfortable around the corrupted fairy again. Even after the torturing of another Pokémon, of his appearance. At the very least, he realized that he is far from the top of the food chain. The eevee looked up and smiled back. "Would you mind if we played together, maybe? Would you still enjoy that?" He asks, not sure.

Tyrin giggled for the first time in… months? "We can't play hide and seek! You would have too much of an advantage!" To set an example, the fairy pawed at a patch of grass. It died almost instantaneously at his touch. "See? But tag sounds like fun! Who do ya want to be it first?"

Lonliness watched the grass die with a rather casual and expected chuckle, shaking his head at his own mistake. "I forgot! I used to do something similar, except it would turn kind of red, black sometimes." The eevee recalled. He considers for a few seconds before walking towards the sylveon and placing a small paw on his nose. "You're it," he snickered before taking off. Letting out a small snort at the touch to his nose, the fairy gave a grin.

"Oh, it's on!" he retorted gleefully before starting to bolt towards the eevee, giving chase.

The small and simplest of games continued on for what seemed like hours passed. In times of crisis, the simplicity of tag entertained them as they enjoyed every second of it. It offered them freedom and joy. For that moment, Tyrin soon forgot all about his bloodlust, his rage and even his own curse that previous plagued him for a year after his best friend died before him. As if there wasn’t a problem in the world. Tyrin was at peace and everything seemed like it was going to be okay, and the one thing that made Lonliness happier than ever was his realization of this. He was sure that there could be a way to bring Tyrin back to normal, perhaps. Although, he knew this wouldn’t be an easy task, and Tyrin probably would not like this. But just maybe. It was worth a shot.

The dark sylveon lied on the grass next to the brown canine, panting after their little game. He pulled the child closer and felt the warmth of the fur on his own, sighing rather happily. Satisfied, Tyrin’s eyes began to droop. "Good night, my little prince... I’ll see you in the morning."

Likewise, the smaller Pokémon started to nuzzle into the larger one’s fur. Whatever fear or worry that he had over his best friend’s incarnation slipped his mind. "Good night, best friend." They slept there as the silent and beautiful night passed around them, with not a care to the world.


If the next few months were not hell, Tyrin considered it to be the next best thing.

The eevee had suggested that after the “disgusting” display with the zigzagoon, which the vee never fully blamed him for, the two of them should change their lifestyles a tad. It might lead into some undesirable consequences later down the road. Tyrin agreed, but was unaware of the grueling process that would come with it.

As expected, he was cut off from killing and maiming others. It was, after all, morally wrong outside of his psychopathic mindset. For the first few days, he was certain he could handle it. He started to feel withdrawal equal to a junkie deprived of their dose of opiates. He missed the blood, and the screaming that came with it. He began to feel weak, depression getting to him as his friend only cheered him on, almost teasingly. He felt himself breaking further, his mind corrupting. During some nights, he had to exclude himself from the eevee’s side, sometimes in the rain and cold. He would look down at his shaking paws, his former instruments of malice and torment now being reduced to kindness and sympathy. It was sick, his mind told him. The whole process was counterproductive.

Then he would think of something he would later regret and put himself down for.

He was the one who did this to you, his mind reminded him.

Everyone is deserving of love, he mentally replied back.

And where has that mentality brought you? You have ruined your own life in favor for a stranger who you felt pity for. Someone you know who has brought only misery onto others. Look at yourself, Tyrin. Open your eyes. For now he is happy, and you are better off dead. You never deserved any of this. You have done nothing wrong before this.

It doesn’t have to be torturous, Tyrin began to shiver as the spell as well as his very own conscience prompted him, and it could just be a quick snap at the base of his weak little neck. Just one crunch and he goes back to Hell where he belongs – and you are free of him and the hexes he brings forever. THIS is the true path towards living a normal life. Not HIM.

“He’s just a child,” Tyrin reminded himself. “He was misunderstood, that’s all. Arceus loves every Pokémon.”

No Tyrin, his mind snapped back before once again retreating. You have blood on your hands now. You murdered somebody else in cold blood for your own primal urges. Arceus is no longer with you, and you best get used to it.

As opposed to other Pokémon, the fairy was put on a diet of fresh fruit and vegetables against his wishes. As well as fish. One would consider it to be a “vegan” diet. As expected, Tyrin seemed more interested in watching the marine animals suffer than to chew on them to death quickly, which in his case would be within seconds considering his impressive fangs like a shark. Watching their mouths gape open as their eyes glazed over was rather amusing to him, timing how long they would keep alive as his claws dug into the pathetic flesh and rip them apart from the inside out as they writhe in his clutches weakly. Sometimes, this internal and silent torture would last for a few full minutes, he had found with a sadist’s satisfaction. But after a while, even this little game eventually came to a closing. He had almost stopped gutting the fish. Almost.

He was in the cave when Lonliness called him out to a wonderful and sunny day for an announcement. A rather big one at that, as explained. He walked up to him and smiled in high spirits, "What's up, little buddy?"

The eevee returned the smile, even noticing how less menacing and friendly smirk the sylveon had despite the teeth. "Do you think you're ready now? To be welcomed back into the forest? To live a normal life?" Lonliness moved closer to him.

The smile slowly fell into a worrying frown. “Am I ready?” he thought out loud, before keeping his mouth shut. I haven't seen anyone in so long... I don't know if I could stand to be so close to those... delicious... no, control yourself, Tyrin. No matter how delicious they might be, this is not about them. This was for Lonliness.

As Tyrin thought, Lonliness was unable to read his face, although the frown scared him. The sylveon soon broke into a beam on his bothered face. “I... I think I can..." he replied, a small glimpse of confidence soon rising in his voice. "I... I can do it!"

The eevee soon felt convinced that this was going to turn out perfect himself at those words. "It'll be hard, I know,” he reassured him as he reached out to grab one of the ribbons soothingly, “but maybe we could pull it off."

After watching the vee try to reach out for the ribbon, the sylveon smiled and moved it to reach the paw for him. "Lead the way," he proposed and soon he walked with his friend back into the forest, into society at last.

On the way there, he couldn’t help himself but to think that he might finally get his chance to delight himself to some real food again.