Chapter 4: a Rose by another Name

Kristy’s Point of View

Kristy, having watched with tears in her eyes as the last bit of her skin turned white, causing the real transformation to begin. A bolt of pain raced down her back and into her toes and up again. Her appendages spasmed and she fell into a writhing, screaming mess on her back on the bed.

Her arms and legs felt like they were wrapped in shrink wrap while her head seemed ready to burst. All night she told herself that she could handle whatever pain that the transformation could dish out, but she wasn’t prepared for pain at this level. She had never felt as if every fiber of her being was being torn to pieces. Literally every part of her body hurt tremendously. She lashed out with a hand knocking a bedside lamp off the table. It broke as it landed on the carpet.

A loud pounding came on the door along with some yelling that was incoherent among her pain and loud screaming. A particularly bad lance of pain coursed through her, making her arc her back so badly that she lifted herself up off the bed, toes curling. She felt her chest explode outward, and with it came a pulse of something that wracked the room, knocking the pictures off the wall and breaking the window panes. The bed couldn’t take that kind of abuse. One of the legs broke and the sudden change in elevation caused her to spill onto the ground.

She screamed as another pulsation was issued from her body. Something rolled over her like a steamroller and suddenly everything was still. All that was left was her loudly beating heart and driving headache. ‘Is it over?’ she asked herself. ‘A-am I me?’ she opened her eyes, trying to make sense of the fuzzy picture that was produced.

“KRISTY!!!”

She became aware of yelling and pounding. She realized that what she was looking at was a door blocked by a tipped over nightstand that was braced by the bed in juuuuust the right way so that it was as inconvenient as possible. She tried to move, but found her arms unresponsive. A jolt of panic went through her. ‘Do I have arms?’ she questioned, trying her hardest to move.

“G-Gar…” a word was issued from nearby. Somehow she knew it had the real meaning of her boyfriend’s name. “Gar.” It came again.

‘It’s me.’ she realized. “G-Gardevoir.” She said louder. That was all she heard, but under it she heard [Leon, help me.] she said it again and again, trying and failing to say what she actually wanted to say. “GARDEVOIR!” she screamed. [Leon, please, I need you.]

Suddenly, the bed shifted and the door opened a crack. Leon hit the door hard with his shoulder again, causing the door to open just enough for him to fit through. “Kristy.” He landed on his knees beside her, immediately taking her into an embrace.

“G-Gar…” She spoke, regaining some control over her arms. She weakly threw her arms around her boyfriend.

“Y-You are my Kristy right?” he asked, his head still buried in her shoulder.

Kristy could only nod, afraid of what would come out of her mouth. She saw her hand. It was dark green as opposed to the pale white it had been the night before. 

“Before anything else is said or done…” Leon broke the hug, looking directly into her eyes. “I just want you to know that I still love you.” He picked her up effortlessly as if she no longer had any weight. Kicking the nightstand out of the way of the door, he carried her to the bathroom. The large mirror now had a single crack running across it, but it performed its duty no less. In the mirror was her rugged Leon. His thick sweater and hair were mussed up and the effects of his last shower were starting to wear off, but other than that he was still the man she fell in love with. Clipped on a belt loop was the sheath that his knife’s hilt protruded from.

That was where familiarity stopped though. Cradled in Leon’s hands was a girl, no a Pokémon, that she had never seen before. Dressed in a long, flowing dress that was white beneath her breasts and green up to her hands, she looked delicate and fragile. A murky, dark red gem protruded abnormally from her chest and exited her back between her shoulder blades. She touched it lightly with her hand and gasped as an intense, hard-to-place feeling rushed through her. Her hair was long and dark green, almost obscuring her large, triple-finned ears. Her eyes met her reflection’s scarlet ones and she shivered. This is what she was going to be forever. An empty feeling washed over her.

“Kristy?” Leon ventured as she motioned for him to put her down. He complied with her wishes. She leaned closer to the mirror, checking her face more closely. “Are you alright?”

She nearly laughed at him. Of course she wasn’t. As she dragged a finger across her alien cheek, she winced as she actually felt it. “Voir.” She replied to him wincing once more as the words she didn’t want to say came out of her mouth as if it had a mind of its own. She wanted to break down, but she didn’t want him to be worried about her. She had to be strong. They were in this mess because she got bitten. He ran away with her so she would be safe.

“We need to leave this place.” He said abruptly. “I’ll… I’ll give you some time to think. I’ll take Dagon and check the other houses for anything useful.”

She turned around suddenly and grabbed his arm, her eyes wild. [Don’t leave me.] She shouted, though all that really came out of her mouth was her new species’ name.

Leon got the point of it though, thankfully. “I promise I’ll come back. I’d never abandon you. Besides, why would I take Dagon with me if I was leaving you?”

She stopped, fully convinced by that. [I love you.] She said as he walked out the door of the bathroom. He didn’t reply. She waited until she heard the front door close before she started sobbing.

‘Maybe I should just end it.’ A thought crept into her head. She shook it out, thinking of how devastated Leon would be. No, she would soldier on, if not for herself then for Leon. He was a big strong man of course, and he acted all courageous. Yet, she knew that it was just the frozen surface of a lake of boiling emotion. He would be able to keep himself together under even strange circumstances, but if he lost her, she didn’t know if he’d be able to cope. He didn’t have anyone else in this world after all.