Death Is Lonely

Part 2

Crashing waves and cruel winds filled Yveltal's earholes. Bitter cold seeped into her feathers, and she weakly flopped her way through the water with an annoyed grunt. "Jirachi's a real piece of work," she said. "Teleporting us... out in the middle of the ocean... just because it happens to be where Manaphy rests..."

Xerneas did his best to tread water, leisurely continuing through the ocean currents. "At least he teleported us nearby. I can sense Manaphy's life energy."

"The sooner the better," Yveltal grunted, beating her wings against the water again. A sudden rush swept Yveltal under. Irritably, she beat her wings to return to the surface, trying her best to ignore the salt in her beak. "Jirachi will be getting a visit from me later."

A dim glow caught their attention and, seconds later, Manaphy flew out of the water with a flourish and a spin. "Hey, hey! I got word from Jirachi!"

"You're awake?" Yveltal said, squinting in the darkness.

"Of course! The sun isn't even out yet!"

"...You aren't nocturnal, though," Yveltal said, frowning.

"Yeah but today was a party day," Manaphy explained, grinning while playing with one of her antennae. "Oh, oh! Right! So, Jirachi actually didn't explain to me what you guys wanted."

"Land. We need—" Yveltal plunged into the depths for a few seconds. She beat her wings and reemerged, spitting out salt water. "Land. Please."

"Can't you just use a little power to fly out?" Manaphy frowned.

"I don't want to harm the sea life."

"Hmm..." Manaphy turned around, floating just above the water's surface. "There's a sandbar just this way. Follow me!"

With groans, Yveltal and Xerneas continued their swim, occasionally bracing for an incoming wave.

"Can't we... just use some Psychic energy, Xerneas?" Yveltal said. "Or maybe Gravity?"

"We don't want to be spotted by Arceus, do we? We need a low profile here..." Xerneas glanced toward land, the dim glow of Destiny Tower just barely visible through the darkness. "This is already risky. Let's keep going our own way. The less we use our powers, the less likely he'll see something from up there."

Sand brushed against the bottom of Yveltal's talons. Finding her footing, she advanced to more stable ground and tried, futilely, to dry herself off. Xerneas followed, shaking off the water from his fine fur, and turned back to address Manaphy.

"Okay, princess of the sea," Xerneas said with an irritated snort, "Thank you for answering Jirachi's call. I think I understand why he sent us here."

"You wanted swim lessons?" Manaphy asked, tilting her head. "Both of you were pretty bad at it..."

"I have wings," Yveltal said, "meant for flight. I'm not meant to swim."

"Well, what's flying except swimming in the air?" Manaphy asked. "How about we start with the backstro—"

"Manaphy, how long does Heart Swap last?" Xerneas asked.

"Umm, a few days? A day?" She frowned and floated a little lower. The way her attitude suddenly changed, it seemed she figured out what they were about to request of her. "But... you guys want to do that? After all, did you, I dunno, get approval from Arceus for this? Swapping the spirits of the Lifebringer and the Deathbringer? Aren't you guys, like, total opposites?"

"Excuse me?" Yveltal said, protectively wrapping a wing around Xerneas. "Not at all opposites. We're perfectly fine working together."

"But doesn't Arceus not want you guys working together? You guys have to be one after the other, and stuff. He's kind of a traditionalist like that." Manaphy frowned, poking her flippers together. "I'm really not sure about this..."