This chapter's title comes from the song "Tears Into Wine" by Billy Talent. There is some alcohol in this chapter; despite its relatively short length, it's one of this story's darkest chapters, so reader discretion is advised.

In addition, I did something a little bit different. You'll see right away what that is.

NO POV

Two weeks had passed since the trio had been caught by the police, and since then not much had changed. On some level, of course, things were very different from how they'd been a few weeks prior, but ever since the group had returned to civilization, Bella's life had remained fairly constant.

She returned to Greater Pastoria University to continue pursuing her bachelor's degree. The school had many questions about where she'd been, questions she had no idea how to answer.

Fortunately, her parents had been able to clear everything up once they spoke with the university's staff. Bella would not get in any trouble for truancy, but she would have a sizable quantity of make-up work to complete.

She didn't know what had happened to Jeremy. Over the last week, they hadn't spoken with each other at all. It was a remarkable shift for her, because they'd spent so much time with each other during that period when they were on the run.

If Bella had had a lot of "friends" prior to leaving for Lycan Hollow, it now felt like a swarm of Beedrill who would never leave her alone. They weren't necessarily stalking her, but she noticed an uptick in the amount of people who were interested in where she'd been.

Of course, these people weren't really her friends; at least, not all of them were. Many just wanted the attention being her friend would bring, and didn't actually care about her. But Bella knew that she shouldn't let them bother her, and that there were more important matters to deal with.

She immersed herself in her studies once again, determined to bring her GPA back up. Hardly a day passed when she didn't stay up late in her single room, long after many other students had gone to sleep, poring over endless textbook pages. After some days of this, it began to feel normal again; the time she'd spent in Lycan Hollow, and in the middle of that frosty forest, felt like a strange dream.

It was during the night before her final Chemistry exam that the unexpected happened.

Bella was sitting at her desk, looking over her notes and quizzing herself on the properties of various elements on the Periodic Table. She would have liked to sit somewhere more comfortable, but she knew that doing so would make it even harder to pull the all-nighter she intended on.

Suddenly, there was a scratching noise against the window. By this time it was well past midnight, and Bella began to wonder if she was having an auditory hallucination. This was long past when she normally went to bed, after all.

The scratching continued, and that's when she realized that it was real. She didn't feel as exhausted as would be required for such a hallucination to occur.

Bella stood up from her chair and looked out the window. On the other side of her dormitory's window was a certain Rockruff kid.

"Jeremy? What are you doing here?"

She knew that it would be wise to study more for the exam, but her curiosity had certainly been piqued by Jeremy. She grabbed her wallet, which contained the key to her dorm, and left the building. Bella circled around to where the Rockruff was.

Jeremy was still there, looking up at one of the lampposts. Despite the late hour, they were all still lit, but the outdoor part of campus was otherwise deserted.

"So this is what they call a university," he said. "We don't have any of those in Lycan Hollow."

"Indeed you don't" Bella replied curtly. "Now, not that I'm not pleased to see you, but what are you doing here? I'm supposed to be studying for my final tomorrow!"

"I just wanted to visit," the Rockruff responded. "Is that a crime?"

"I suppose not, but you could have picked a better time. I need to be as prepared as possible for my exam, my GPA has really suffered this semester."

Jeremy frowned. "GPA? Semester?"

"They're academic…you know what? Never mind."

"We don't have much time to talk, anyway" Jeremy told Bella. "Let's cut to the chase. Have you heard what Cody's been up to lately?"

The last Bella had seen of Cody Harvard, her assailant on that horrific Halloween night, was when he'd been hauled away by a police officer in Central Sinnoh. She hadn't heard anything about him since, but couldn't assume he was anywhere but in jail right now.

When she looked at Jeremy with a curious expression, the Rockruff kid continued.

"For the last two weeks, Cody's been in jail again. His parents have visited him occasionally, but from what they tell me, he's rather lonely."

"Wait a minute", Bella replied, more than a little taken aback, "you're in contact with his parents?"

"Yes," the Rockruff responded. "In fact, I've been living with them since we got back. And life's been good, except that Mr. and Mrs. Harvard don't seem happy."

I wouldn't be happy either, not if my son had done something like that. Not if he was locked up, even if he HAD done something horrible.

"Let's get going," Jeremy said eventually. "We don't have all night."

"Where are we going, though?" Bella asked. "To visit Cody in jail?"

"That is exactly where we will be going," the Rockruff kid replied. "But I want to give you some time to study, so we'll just head out right now. Cody's parents have parked just behind the garage."

Bella was torn between wanting to visit Cody and wanting to forget Jeremy had ever come to visit her. While he had wronged her, quite severely in fact, it wasn't Cody whose benefit she would be doing this for. She'd grown to care about Jeremy, which is why she ended up nodding.

"Let's go" she said, clutching the Pokeball containing her Lucario partner, Azure. "It's just like you said, we don't have too much time. At least, I don't."

Bella felt bad for Azure, and rather guilty for having left her in her Pokeball when she'd gone to Lycan Hollow. It wasn't in the nature of any Fighting type, let alone Lucario, to have any desire to sit still.

Of course, the environment inside a Pokeball was nothing like that of the outside world; it was entirely possible that Azure was frolicking around in some field within said device. Obviously, Bella had no way of knowing this without asking the Lucario, but she wasn't going to let her out of her Pokeball to visit Cody.

It's going to be very awkward if they meet each other again. I would prefer to avoid that if possible.

The short car ride to the jail was largely a blur to Bella. She didn't even make small talk with either of Cody's parents, not that there would be much to say. Jeremy didn't speak much either.

Eventually they reached the outside of the jail, which was a different building than the burned-down courthouse. That courthouse would be rebuilt, but it would take a long time, and in the meantime, they had to have somewhere to keep the suspects awaiting trial.

This visit brought to mind a field trip Bella's class had taken in middle school. Her teachers had thought it would be a good idea to show off the local jail, which had scared the living daylights out of many of them. Certainly, it would keep them from committing any crimes in the future.

I guess Cody never went on one of those field trips, did he?

Bella decided that this line of thought wouldn't be very productive. She was visiting Cody in jail, after all, so there was no need to be condescending like that.

But then, doesn't he deserve to be in jail? He DID commit a crime, after all.

As they headed to the front desk, still occupied by a secretary despite the ungodly hour, Bella didn't say a word to either of Cody's parents. Neither did Jeremy. All four of them were almost completely silent as they stood in front of the secretary, who had fallen asleep on the job.

Bella tapped the secretary, a middle-aged man with a crew cut, on the shoulder. At this moment, she was extremely happy to be back to her human form, because it was a lot easier to reach the man's shoulder when she was at her full height.

The secretary woke with a start, probably thinking that there was some urgent matter he needed to deal with, such as an escaping suspect. When it turned out that there was no such emergency, Bella and Jeremy gestured towards the hallway containing the cells, and the secretary nodded.

"He's in cell 137" the secretary whispered. "If you mean Cody Harvard, that is."

"We do," Bella replied in an equally soft voice. "Thanks."

Of course, it was rather odd to thank someone for allowing you to visit someone who's bitten you and turned you into a were-Lycanroc. Neither Bella nor Jeremy remarked on this fact.

They walked quietly down the hallway until they reached cell 137. For some reason, the door was unlocked, so they made their way inside. And once they were there, Bella was arrested, no pun intended, by the sight.

Cody Harvard was sleeping on a thin bed that resembled a weightlifting bench. Despite the fact that it clearly couldn't be very comfortable, he could be heard snoring, indicating that he wouldn't wake up too easily. Regardless, Jeremy and Bella quickly came to an agreement that they wouldn't even try.

Although Bella was still disgusted by some of Cody's actions, she had to acknowledge two things. Firstly, he had saved her life back in Lycan Hollow. It didn't excuse what he had done that Halloween, but it showed that he perhaps wasn't as much of a monster as she'd thought.

Had he not shown up at the door to my room in the inn, I might have stayed inside. And that would have been a huge mistake - a deadly mistake.

Secondly, and she hated to admit it: To see Cody in such a pitiable position made her, well, take pity on him. His hair was unkempt, and it was clear that he'd lost some weight; this, despite the fact that he couldn't be getting much exercise.

"According to Cody's parents", Jeremy whispered, "since you were Cody's victim in the event that led to him being locked up, you get to decide whether to drop the charges or not. I understand if you want to spend some time thinking about it; it's a big decision."

"What happens if I drop the charges?" Bella asked. "Does he just go free?"

The Rockruff kid nodded. "I'd assume so."

A wave of responsibility and pressure hit Bella like a truck. She knew that she'd just been saddled with a major dilemma.

"I know he's done horrible things", Jeremy said after a minute or two of silence, "but it was a mistake. He didn't mean to do it. He told me that day in the tent."

Bella couldn't help but chuckle despite the situation.

"What's so funny?" the Rockruff asked her.

"What's funny", Bella replied, "is that I already knew this. I heard you talking to him when I was in my own tent. I will say, I liked his pep talk of sorts."

"I know he hurt you, but don't let that cloud your judgment on what to do."

On the one hand, that sounded like something someone far older and wiser than Jeremy would say. On the other hand…

"No. I have to take that into account" Bella replied. "Him biting me…that doesn't go away just because he gave you a pep talk. My life will never be the same."

Jeremy nodded somberly. Not for the first time, Bella found it hard to believe that he was only eleven years old. He held a sort of wisdom that was far beyond his years. Very few would have expected that he'd be so studious, in a way, after showing off his hyperactivity prior to the attack.

His parents' demise must have changed everything.

"If he could do it all over again, he would have made sure to refrigerate his wolfsbane. That way, he would not have gone berserk. You know this, Bella."

When she didn't say anything more, Jeremy continued to speak. "That day we were in the tents, when you overheard us…do you remember Cody saying anything about life being unexpected…what were the words he used, again?"

Bella's memory had been jogged, and she was able to recall what Cody had said.

Sometimes life throws you curveballs, and you have to figure out how to hit them.

She realized that this advice didn't just apply to Jeremy. It could also apply to Bella herself; really, it was a motto that almost anyone would benefit from living by.

"We have to play the cards that we're dealt" she told the Rockruff kid. Those weren't the exact words Cody had used, but they had more or less the same meaning.

"Exactly. Now, I don't play a lot of poker, but I'm pretty sure that even a weak hand can beat a strong hand."

Since when is Jeremy such an intellectual? Did Cody teach him some scholarly ways?

Speaking of Cody, Bella looked down at his sleeping body. Despite the fact that he was clearly dead to the world, he didn't look comfortable at all. His body kept shifting from side to side, trying to find a secure spot on the weight bench that he wouldn't roll off of.

If someone I loved, or even someone I felt ambivalent about, was in this position, would I help them?

The answer to that question was obvious. However, Bella wasn't exactly ambivalent towards Cody Harvard. The resentment might not flare up as dramatically as it once had, but it was still there.

Here's a better question: Were our roles reversed, would Cody drop the charges against me? He did say we were a dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless.

Bella sighed. This wasn't a question she needed to ponder right now. She still had many things to worry about, such as her exam the following day. The dilemma regarding Cody could wait until it would no longer have to share her brain's space with the properties of various elements.

"We should head out," she said. "I hate to cut our time short, but I need to study for tomorrow."

"That's what you've been doing, but okay" the Rockruff kid responded, sounding a bit upset. "But soon enough, you will have to make a choice. Will you drop the charges, or will you not?"

(Insert a horizontal line here)

Jubilife City's most famous watering hole was known as the Barrel of Laughs. It was a peculiar name, but its patrons could often be heard telling jokes and laughing at the latest political cartoons. Very often, it lived up to its title.

However, one evening in mid-December, it might as well have been called the Barrel of Tears. The bar was nearly deserted, except for a pair of brothers in their early twenties (talking quietly amongst themselves) and a lone man in his mid-twenties, sitting at the bar.

The bartender walked up to the young man. "What will it be today, sir?" he asked the patron.

He was struck by just how morose the patron's face looked. His blonde hair was rather unkempt, and it wasn't even that long. His blue eyes were facing the floor, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes.

"I'll take the strongest thing you've got, sir" the man said. "Not in the mood to remember tonight."

"What is it, Mr. Redmond? Nasty divorce? Or did a family member die?"

"It's none of your fucking business, sir!" Royal replied, banging his fist on the counter. The pair of brothers turned their heads, looking concerned at the scene this man had made.

He might not have gotten drunk yet, but he was already acting like it, and the bartender looked none too pleased.

"Arceus, Mr. Redmond, you'd better get a hold of yourself. If you don't, then I hate to do this, but I will have to eject you from this tavern. So please, calm down."

"Fine…" Royal sighed. He didn't know how much he'd be able to cool his anger, if at all, but he did know that the bartender would kick him out if he didn't. And if that happened, he wouldn't be able to drink himself half-blind the way he wanted to.

Of course, he knew that binge drinking was unwise. He knew that his brain was his greatest asset, and that he shouldn't seek to inhibit this asset, no matter what. But even the wisest person in the world can succumb to temptation.

The bartender poured him a glass of scotch, done perfectly so that there was just the right amount of foam on top. As soon as Royal's mouth neared the glass, he recoiled at the smell.

It was so much more bitter than he had expected. For a few brief seconds, he wondered if he'd even be able to drink it. And that was before he'd even tasted it.

"It's an acquired taste," the bartender told Royal. "You're not going to like it the first time, or even the second time. One day, though, you'll be wondering where it was all your life."

"Clearly…not…yet" the younger man responded, taking a deep breath and lifting the glass to his lips. Before he could second-guess himself, before he could talk himself down from the proverbial ledge, he tipped the glass down his throat.

He regretted it immediately. The scotch burned his throat as though he'd just swallowed a small swarm of Beedrill. It worked its way down his esophagus, and Royal felt pain in places he'd never thought could hurt at all.

"You're not supposed to chug scotch, Mr. Redmond. Keep it down, will ya? Otherwise you'll have to clean the floor, and I do not wanna have to explain to the manager what happened."

It probably happens all the time. This IS a bar, after all.

The glass of scotch had not yet been depleted; there was still roughly two-fifths of it remaining. Bearing in mind the image of Lycan Hollow, the knowledge that it had all been destroyed, and his own determination to forget the crimes of Team Skyward, Royal drank the rest of his whiskey in one gulp.

As the alcohol permeated his body, Royal could feel all five of his senses becoming duller. The lights of the tavern became dimmer, as though they were winking at him. The sounds of the brothers going back to their small talk got more muffled, and finally, Royal felt as though his mind were relaxing itself.

I'm glad I didn't drive here. I can just get a cab back to my apartment. Although…I don't want to puke, or else they'll charge me a fee. I guess I should just bite the bullet and walk home. Hey, a little walk never hurt anybody.

"That'll be $8.46" the bartender told Royal; referring, of course, to the price of his scotch.

Royal reached into his wallet and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. He set it on the counter and then stood up.

"Mr. Redmond, let me get you your - ".

But Royal had already left the bar. He found himself back in the cold winter air of Jubilife City, significantly sloshed and yet no less morose.

During the long walk back to his apartment complex, Royal had to stop several times to throw up. It wasn't just the alcohol that was making him sick to his stomach; it was the belief that had he known just a little more, taken decisive action just a little sooner, the attack on Lycan Hollow could have been prevented.

How could I have known? I couldn't have. Not everything is my fault.

Ah, yes, but human reason can excuse any evil. That's why it's best not to rely on it too often.

Royal considered calling Felipe Matamoros, but he decided against it. They hadn't spoken since the morning of the attack, when Felipe had woken him up with the horrible news, and at this point, trying to make up now would just be random and weird. They would be going their separate ways, at least for the time being.

Every step was an effort when you were as tipsy as he was. With every foot he planted, Royal spread his arms like the wings of an airplane to steady himself. There were many peculiar looks from the other citizens of Jubilife City, but he paid them no mind.

Fortunately, the walk back to his apartment building wasn't terribly long. Once he reached the lobby, Royal saw that the secretary wasn't at his desk like he normally was. Perhaps he was out for lunch, although it was getting a little late in the day for that.

It wasn't a big deal, though; even in his drunken stupor, Royal knew his room number. He got into the elevator and, right behind him, so did a mother with a young daughter who might have been four or five years old.

The elevator ride up to his floor was heavily awkward, to say the least. The mother clutched her child close, a rather scared expression on her face. For all intents and purposes, she looked like she was facing a werewolf.

Fortunately I'm not a werewolf, Royal thought to himself. But for future reference, just so I don't do this again…that was a horrible idea.

(Insert a horizontal line here)

Cody had been in this jail cell for who knew how long. He had no way to tell time, so he had no clue how many days it had been. Even minutes and seconds started to lose their meaning.

He slept as much as he could during this time. Not only did time seem to pass more quickly when his consciousness was suspended, but the fact that he had nothing to do sapped his energy more than he would have expected. Of course, he should have expected to be lethargic, since that had happened last time, but still.

He rued the day he'd returned to Skylock after spending time in Lycan Hollow. If there was one thing he would have done differently, he would have stayed in the village as long as he possibly could. Eventually the fighter jets would have come and forced his hand, but until then, there'd been no reason to leave.

Cody frowned as he realized that was wrong. Even before he'd made that boneheaded decision, he could have simply not bitten Bella. Sure, it had been at least partly out of his control, but he could have planned for that. He could have kept his wolfsbane in the fridge, and then he wouldn't have made things so much worse for himself.

But I was too scared to. I didn't want others to know that I was a were-Lycanroc.

That had also been incredibly short-sighted. There had been no guarantee that his hallmates would have put two and two together. But even if they had, how many other werewolves of Sinnoh were there?

The answer: Probably more than Cody thought.

Even before that, however, there was something else he could have done to avoid his current fate. Hindsight was of course 20/20, but rarely did anything good happen at night. He'd been only fourteen at the time, but youth didn't mean one was incapable of making good decisions; or at least, better decisions than Cody had made.

How often are we told not to blame the victim? I know I shouldn't be thinking this way, but by going out at night, I was practically ASKING for trouble.

He'd made mistakes, there was no doubt about that. These mistakes would chart the course of the rest of his life; even if he were to move thousands of miles away, they would still haunt him.

Of course, there was a good chance he'd spend time in prison. It might not be fair for him to spend years locked away for his lapse in judgment, but he remembered telling Jeremy something a few…what unit of time was best? Days? Weeks? Months ago?

Anyway, not too long ago, Cody had told a certain Rockruff kid that life wasn't fair. Sometimes you just had to deal with the way things were, rather than the way you would like them to be.

It's probably best that I take my own advice. Stop being so furious about my life, because it's not SUPPOSED to be fair.

He had ample time to dwell on his numerous errors as he languished in the small room. His bed basically doubled as a weightlifting bench, but there were no dumbbells around to lift. Besides, Cody very much doubted he'd have the strength to do any serious lifting. So that left him nothing to occupy his mind except sleeping and eating.

The food was horrendous, but after his last experience in jail, what else would he have expected? Quite frankly, it served him right for being a criminal; at least, that was likely the logic behind it.

On some level, Cody was vaguely aware that less than a month had passed. The reason for this was because he hadn't transformed back into a Lycanroc, which only happened once a month. This gave him some hope that he hadn't missed Christmas yet.

How great would it be, he thought to himself, if I got out of here before Christmas? I might be too old to see it as the most wonderful day of the year, but if they at least give me some information, it might as well be a Christmas miracle!

Probably the most difficult part of his confinement was the utter loneliness it induced within him. Whenever the guards would come to bring him food, they never said anything. This meant that Cody hadn't held a conversation in what felt like weeks.

I'll take life in prison if that's what they give me, so long as it's not in solitary confinement. Of course, it's not like I'd have any ability to resist, but this is just BRUTAL.

As each period of sleep went by, Cody felt increasingly anxious. Somewhere out there, behind the door that led into the hallway of the jail, they were deciding his fate. He didn't know exactly who "they" were, but he had plenty of time to picture what the scene might look like.

He imagined a defense lawyer arguing that he should be set free, that he wasn't as much of a public menace as the prosecution insisted he was. Cody also imagined a prosecutor, likely accompanied by Bella Fox, countering the defense's arguments with assertions that were-Lycanrocs didn't just go berserk for no reason. That Cody's attack on Bella had been premeditated.

Who was he kidding? This thought experiment was a pointless exercise; the reality is that the trial hadn't begun yet. Cody expected that he'd have to attend his own trial; he'd have to dress in a suit and tie, which would be uncomfortable, yet not nearly as much so as the stares he'd get from the audience, as well as the jury.

They were going to make an example out of him, just like an animal at the zoo. The prosecution would point out the way he was squirming in his seat; they'd wave that example in front of the jury and explain that this was proof he had a guilty conscience, for if he truly were innocent, he'd have nothing to fear.

All these nightmarish scenarios ran through his mind like blood ran through his veins. Given that he had nothing but time here, these thoughts had plenty of staying power within his brain. And, given every single possibility, Cody was almost glad to be stuck in this cell.

One day, everything would change. One day, he would be taken out of this cell, stuffed into the back of a police car, and taken to court. One day, he would have to face the music.

That day came sooner than he thought.