Techno opened his eyes, but instead of being met with the sight of the beach or the house, he was met with darkness. Well, the world was darkness. But the things infront of him were definitely not darkness. Only shadowed to appear darker. Eyes of so many different colors stared at him, each one either sympathetic or flaring with rage as hot as the sun.

"What the.." Techno trailed off. They usually only appeared one or two or.. five at a time. So why did it seem like every victim he had ever killed stood infront of him? Surely he never killed at any big events... No, no he didn't. He'd remember. And, he recognized these people from other places. For example, the one with sky blue eyes and shoulder-length hair was found after his car was wrecked. He begged Techno to kill him, and he never faltered, thanking Techno when he pushed the man to break.

The one with red-orange eyes, much like the sky that night, had been found after leaving a club. They weren't drunk, in fact, it had seemed like they'd been pressured. Techno took pity, seeing every wound that was almost fatal enough to kill, but was purposely meant to keep them alive. It was obvious, really. They had also asked him, too, right after he killed an older with lime eyes.

"We forgive you." An elderly woman walked towards Techno, somehow towering over him. It was another twisted, fucked-up part of his mind, making her tall. Making them all scarier in some way, even though most of them didn't appear like they'd hurt a table. Yes, a table. No fits or anything, the table's been through enough with others.

"What?" Techno couldn't help but sputter in confusion. "But I-I haven't been able to say sorry individually, I thought that was important and, I would need to understand how you guys feel and your families and... You're letting me go..?"

"Yes." The woman was accompanied by a young man, sky-blue eyes reminding the other of Tommy. His voice was way different, though, a thick northern accent rather than a british one. Like New York. No? Just me with relatives from up north that have an accent? Ok. 

"Because you do understand already. You knew from the start, and rather than wasting your time, we've decided to have mercy. We've decided that you've suffered enough, and hurting you would make us no better than what you used to be." The man nodded, letting the woman continue his speech.

"If we made you suffer, it'd only make us worse. And you're already on the verge of death, and though it's better, it's still awful. We've all collectively decided to forgive you, and doing it one by one would result in you being dead before we could fit ten in. And we can't let you hallucinate constantly, it would develop your brain to be used to it, and it would probably lead to derealization and eventually... Suicide."

"Oh." Techno blinked, still feeling guilty. He really didn't deserve forgiveness, but if they really wanted him to... He could stay. For his family, online and real.

"Thank you."

When he awoke that morning, everyone was relieved when he had stopped retching up blood. The flowers disappeared, the only one remaining being the one behind his ear. He didn't mind, though, he liked that one.

This is the story of Technoblade, the man who got hanahaki from enjoying murder. He learned to resolve his issue, put aside his urges, and confront his friends. This is the story of a man who was put through torture in a week, retching his heart out. This is the story of a man who was effected forever by the flowers that once grew in his lungs.

This is Bloodlust and Thorns.

Thank you for reading.