This story is a fanfic of Pinkeevee222's webcomic, Stupid Short Eevee Comics. Most of the major characters and several of the minor characters belong to her. You can learn more about them by reading through the comic, which can be found fairly easily by googling "ssec comic." I highly recommend that you do so, because she is far better with a pencil than I am. However, you do not need to read the comic in order to enjoy the fanfic, as this story takes place several years before the start of the comic and therefore does not require any prior knowledge of the characters.

If you were linked here by Pinkeevee222, be warned that my content will be much darker than hers. As they struggle to overcome their trials, the characters in this story will face a great deal of violence and abuse. Some of them may even die. If that makes you uncomfortable, you may want to reconsider reading this fanfic.

But if you like that sort of thing, read on and enjoy the ride. It's going to be a long one (I hope).

Prologue

It was nearly noon, and the night was dark.

Who has Skychanging duty this week? Harmony wondered as she walked up the side of a hill. As the leader of the Box the eevee should have known, but the path up Birdpeck Peak was long and steep, and the effort from the climb was making it hard to think straight. Well, I know it isn't Night. He wouldn't have made such a blasted mess of the job. Night was the oldest of Harmony's sixteen sons, and her favorite. Perhaps it was wrong for a mother to prefer one child over the rest, but how could she help it? Night was strong and smart and quick and capable, and a hundred other things. His brothers simply could not compete. Of course, she would never say any of that out loud. As far as her other sons knew, she loved them all equally.

Harmony continued her ascent, panting. She was more than two-thirds of the way to the top, but she was so out of breath, and her legs hurt so badly that she was very tempted to give up and roll to the bottom. Instead, she kept climbing. I'm not as young as I used to be, she reflected as her muscles ached.

She was not the only one aging, however. Just two weeks ago, Harmony's trainer had deemed the eevee's mate, Rick the buneary, to be too old to continue his work as a breeder. Harmony did not miss him. They had been making eggs together for more than two years, but she had never been able to love him. Not like she loved her children. Not like she loved Night. Rick had been nothing to her but a way to make kits.

His time was up now, but Harmony's was not. If she was fortunate, she would still be fertile for another decade. With a younger male, she might have another hundred children before she was finished. Who knows? she thought. One of them may even be a daughter. Harmony had wanted a little girl ever since she was very young, but eevee were far more likely to hatch male than female. The odds stated that at least one or two of her sixteen sons should have been a daughter instead, but luck had not been on her side these past few years. But the gods had given her Night, so could she truly complain?

Night, she thought. He was the reason that she was making the trek up this hill. When she had awoken earlier this morning and realized that dawn was coming late, she had decided to wait for daybreak at the top of Birdpeck Peak. Its apex was the highest point in Box Four, and from it you could see the entirety of the cube of land they lived in. That meant that, when the sun finally came and filled the world with light, she would be able to spot Night and go to him as early as possible. Today was an important day, after all, and she needed to have a talk with her son.

The prospect of that conversation filled her with anxiety, and she began to feel a bit sick. Night would never refuse me, she told herself, but what if she was wrong? It was entirely possible that he would laugh in her face when she went to ask him. He had every right to do so. Harmony could not force him to agree. He would not do that. You worry too much. Either way, Harmony had been putting this off for more than a week, and she could not stall any longer. She knew that her trainer was starting to grow impatient with her.

Harmony needed to pick a new mate very soon.

At last, blessedly, she reached the top of the hill…and found that someone was already there.

"Oliver?" she said.

Her youngest son had been watching the stars, but he turned toward Harmony when he heard his name called.

"Mother," he acknowledged, staring at her with pale red eyes that were unnerving to look at. Perhaps they'll change color as he grows. Like Harmony, and all of the residents of Box Four, Oliver was an eevee. He was not quite two months old, yet he could walk and talk almost as well as an adult. Pokémon matured far more quickly than humans, and their language did not need to be taught.

"What are you doing up here?" Harmony asked. She had been hoping to spend some time alone, so she could compose herself and think about what she wanted to say to Night. Apparently, that wasn't going to happen. She was annoyed, but she did not let it show on her face.

"Hiding from Stan," Oliver said, returning his gaze to the stars. "He won't leave me alone."

Harmony knew that Stan and his friends bullied the others quite often. I should probably put a stop to that, she thought, but she knew that she would most likely end up forgetting. It was hard for her to feel motivated if Night was not involved. Thinking about that made her feel guilty, so she decided to change the subject. "Do you know who's in charge of the sky today? The morning is late."

"I don't know for sure," Oliver said. "Fred, I think. Or Pete."

Yes, Harmony thought. It was Fred, I remember now. He never took anything seriously. Harmony would need to find him and talk some sense into him at some point. But not today. There were more important things to do today.

"I'll sit with you," she told Oliver, and moved over beside him. He leaned into her side, and Harmony smiled down at him. She did love him, just…perhaps not as much as she should have.

They sat for a long time and talked about whatever random thoughts entered their minds. The minutes melted away, and before Harmony knew it nearly an hour had passed. She barely even noticed when the sky began to change.

The moon did not set. Rather, it simply began to fade away into nothingness. The darkness went with it, and the black sky slowly turned a light blue. Then the sun appeared where the moon had been, and Harmony had to shade her eyes from the brightness.

Finally, she thought as she rose and stretched. Her legs were still tired from the climb.

"You're leaving?" Oliver asked.

Harmony surveyed the land below them for a sign of her oldest son. "I need to go speak with Night," she said.

"Oh. Okay." He sounded sad.

"We'll spend more time together soon," Harmony promised. Then she gasped. "There he is!"

Even from a mile away, Harmony could make them out. The twins. There were six of them, all walking together toward the Unnamed Forest in the northwest corner of the Box.

She began to sprint down the hill, not bothering to say goodbye to Oliver. In her haste to get to Night, she forgot that she was sore.

Aside from a few high hills, the Unnamed Forest, and the lake to the east, Box Four was comprised entirely of grassy plains. Harmony barreled across the lush green ground, barely taking in any of the scenery. She started to pant, but she kept running anyway.

After about ten minutes, she was close enough for them to hear her. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and compose herself, then yelled, "Night!"

The twins stopped, and all of them turned to face her. These six were Harmony's oldest sons, and they were inseparable. Twins were far more common among pokémon than humans, but the fact that Harmony had given birth to three sets in a row was still bizarre. Harmony walked toward them at a more leisurely pace, until they were only a few yards apart.

Night stepped forward, smiling, and said, "Good morning, Mother." Her son wore a silver bell around his neck, held there by a blue ribbon. He had darker fur than most eevee, and his eyes were a yellow so bright they were almost glowing.

He already looks like an umbreon, Harmony reflected, though he had not evolved yes. Perhaps that was why he had decided to become one. Night had made that choice when he was only a few weeks old, and he had picked his name at the same time. Because they could talk almost as soon as they were born, pokémon usually named themselves. Many chose names that were fitting for their species, or the species that they would evolve into. Others, like Harmony and Oliver, just used a name that sounded good to them.

Harmony said, "Will you walk with me, Night? I'd like to speak with you alone." The queasy feeling returned to her stomach. This is it, she thought. I'm about to ask him.

Night glanced back at the others. "We were gonna go play in the woods…"

"It won't take long," Harmony assured him. "You can play afterwards."

"All right."

The two of them left the other five, who decided to wait there for Night's return.

"So," Harmony said as they walked, not entirely sure how to begin, "how has your morning been, Night?"

Night's eyes lit up with child-like wonder. "It's been really fun!" he started, quickly and fervently. "When we all woke up we decided to play tag. We could barely see because it was so dark. It was really cool! Then Flame and Jay started fighting and the rest of us got to watch! Then Blizz said something really funny, but I don't remember what it was. Now we're gonna race through the woods!"

Harmony smiled as he rambled. When he was finished, she said, "It sounds like you've had an exciting day. But you're growing up, son. Maybe it's time to spend less time playing and start thinking about the future."

"What do you mean?" Night asked, looking up at her.

Where to begin? Harmony thought. "Do you know how eggs are made, Night?"

He shook his head.

"It happens when a male and a female love each other," Harmony explained. "You do know what love is, yes?"

Night nodded eagerly. "Of course I do! I love Sky!"

Harmony could not hold back her laughter. Sky was Night's twin. "I don't mean brotherly love. I mean…" How could she explain it? "I mean the sort of thing you feel when you're with someone very special. Someone you want to be with forever. Not because they're your family, but because their personality matches yours, because you like their body, because you care about them and they care about you." She took a deep breath. "That's…that's how I feel about you, Night. I love you. I want you to be my mate. Do you…feel the same way?" Her heart fluttered in her chest. She had actually done it! She had asked him!

"No," said Night.

His answer was like a slap in the face. For a long time she did not say anything. "But…"

Night stopped walking and looked at her. "I love Sky."

"What?" Harmony said in a shaky voice. "Sky is your twin! He's your brother! He can't be your mate."

"Why?" Night asked. His yellow eyes were full of genuine curiosity. "Those things you said about love…that's how I feel when I think of Sky. And he feels that way about me, too. I know he does."

Harmony stuttered as she tried to speak, holding back tears. "Everyone will call you unnatural." Incest was fairly common among pokémon, especially those who belonged to trainers, but for a pokémon to mate with his twin? His male twin? That was absurd. Disgusting.

"So?" Night said. "Why should I care what they say?"

"Because…" Harmony was panicking, and she could not think of a good answer.

"I love him, Mother," Night said. "He loves me. I want to be happy with him. Please…" There was something in his voice that Harmony did not understand.

"This is all wrong," Harmony said, doing her best to compose herself. "You and Sky must be kept apart. I will send Sky away, and you and I-"

"No!" Night yelled, and Harmony froze. "Please, Mother! Don't send him away. I love him!" It was the first time that Harmony had ever seen him defy her.

"I…I need to think about this," she said. "Go on and play with your brothers, Night. We'll talk tomorrow."

Her son gave her one last pitiable look, then left. Harmony watched him go, completely baffled. What just happened? she thought. That was not how she had been expecting that conversation to go. My son…my son is a freak.

But it wasn't his fault, was it? Night was perfect, she knew he was. It was Sky who corrupted him, Harmony decided. He ruined my perfect son. It was obvious, now that she thought about it. Sky was poison, and poison had no place in her family.

Harmony found herself walking toward the center of the Box, where the control room was. There, the pokémon were able to travel between Boxes or leave the PC. Fortunately, it was only a couple of miles away, and she reached it within the hour.

The control room was a shack, the kind that humans built. It was made of steel, and there was nothing inside but a large mechanical panel built into the back wall. The machine had almost a hundred buttons and levers and switches on it, and every one had its own purpose. Some of the buttons determined if the weather would be snowy or rainy or sunny, and one of the levers changed night to day and day to night. The week's Skychanger was supposed to come here at certain times every day to bring about the sunrise and sunset.

But Harmony was not here to change the weather or the time. She looked up at the top of the wall, and found that the light there was green. That was good; a green light meant that the pokémon could enter and leave the PC as they pleased. If the light had been red, then only their trainer could put them in and bring them out. Harmony was glad that her trainer gave her pokémon so much freedom.

She stepped up and pressed her paw against the big red button in the center of the panel. There was a flash of light, and she was gone.