Death Is Lonely

Part 4

Cold, white marble chilled Yveltal's wings. The only sense of warmth she had was from the blue, furry body cozied up against her back. With a weak breath, she tried to lift her head, expecting to be stiff and groggy. Something felt correct, yet wrong, like there was a disconnect in what had happened earlier.

She was in the right body again. And, therefore...

"Urgh..." Xerneas tried to move his legs, but they were underneath Yveltal.

She rolled away and helped him up, and then a golden gleam caught her eye. She sprang upright and took on a more dignified posture. "Arceus. I—"

"Arceus?" Xerneas said, trying and failing to stand with some form of grace, but his legs were asleep. The most he could manage was a wobbly kneel. "Hello, Arceus—it's an honor to see you."

"I wish I could say the same."

Yveltal shuddered. That tone was something she hadn't heard from him in a very, very long time. Cold, harsh, yet still contained and level. But it was clear that the amount of irritation Arceus chose to display here was intentionally less than his true ire.

When Yveltal and Xerneas said nothing in reply, Arceus continued. "I know everything. After I spoke with Jirachi and reversed your Heart Swap, I spoke to Manaphy, and then returned you to the Hall of Origin."

Yveltal only now realized their surroundings. Aside from the pristine, marble flooring, they were within a great, ethereal hall of light with pillars of the same divine material. Everything was bright, aside from the dark glare given by Arceus' green and red eyes.

"Explain yourselves," Arceus said, "or I will strip your spirits of power and make better candidates for Life and Death."

Yveltal bowed her head again, shivering. Explain herself? How was she supposed to explain this? That she was lonely, and that her occupation—which generally required dabbling with things inherently unpleasant to mortals—was leaving her mentally unwell? How was Arceus supposed to take that?

He wouldn't. Everything she'd done was shameful, and now... Now, Yveltal didn't know what was going to become of her. It was all her fault for being so careless, so weak. She used to be so strong and proud of what she'd done, and yet the moment she brought some of that old pride back, she'd misused Xerneas' powers and traumatized a—

"There's a Venusaur," Yveltal said, looking up. "I—is he okay? He was just a young Bulbasaur, and I..."

Arceus shook his head. "He is still adjusting to his new body, and I do not know if reverting it is worth the trouble."

"A-and—and the ones that were revived, the ones during my... m-my outburst." Yveltal looked down. "I—that was an incorrect use of Xerneas' power. Therefore, it would have... h-have to be undone by me. They shouldn't be alive."

"Is that how you feel?" Arceus said.

"It was a mistake. Under the rules, I... it would be proper if the mistake of one divine act is undone by another. Divine to divine."

Silence followed, and then he said, "Do you feel that if you undid this mistake, it would absolve you of your crimes?"

Everything felt cold and tight and dark, even with all the warm light around her. Yveltal couldn't breathe. She hated how powerless she felt against Arceus, but there was nothing she could do.

"Speak."

"N-no," Yveltal said. "It wouldn't. But I..."

Arceus waited.

"But I don't think this is very fair, either."

"Fair?" Arceus said, narrowing his eyes. "What isn't fair?"