Chapter V: Quietus' Reversion

Akoni was asleep.

Sleep was an action that could be faked easily by most humans—as long as you had the sufficient intelligence and skills, it could fool nearly anyone if performed well enough.

Convincing Legendary Pokemon, however, was a different issue altogether—these creatures, after all, had lived for so very long—they had learnt how to see through almost any facade or wall that a mere human could put up.

But, as Xerneas watched the boy—breaths even and relaxed figure still, eyes lightly pressed together—there was no doubt that he wasn't acting.

Akoni was asleep.

With that, she gave a firm nod to herself—no one would see her, anyway. It was the best time of the day to slip out—with the redhead boy asleep, he wouldn't feel any nauseous waves of pain, and the fact that her spiritual self was invisible to the world also helped.

Much like how her brother had made his flashy appearance the day before, she stilled her mind for a moment, form rippling and transforming into a shapeless jet of cobalt energy.

The loose beam of light, radiant against her dark backdrop and basking in the spotlight that the moon had so graciously given her, was especially ghostly—especially ethereal.

In a few seconds, she'd slipped out of the window, and the night had dimmed once more.

⚔ ∰ ⚔

"On today's news: there have been several peculiar cases of people supposedly "awakening" from the dead. Multiple young children who have been proclaimed dead in freak accidents have been seen walking from the graveyard, alive, unscathed and not spiritual in any way. This is a strange occurrence, and we will be looking more into this matter..."

The even, nearly monotonous drone of the newscaster spilled from the TV in a static, echoing warble—unpleasant for a creature like her who had such sensitive senses.

A silent scoff ricocheted against the back of her mind—she had no throat in this form, after all, and this was the best she could manage.

How annoying.

It seemed more like a childish whine than anything else, really, but it was frustrating to hear about all these reports—especially when—at this, a knowing smirk graced her face, an unusual expression for the Guardian of Life—she knew what had caused all this uproar.

The stream of tenuous necromancy paused outside the guest's window, some sense of morality and guilt tugging at her heart to leave instantly, but she couldn't help it.

Xerneas, in her current state, dived downwards again, sending a playful, harmless curse in Akoni's direction—why'd you have to arrive so late? Why'd you get a bedroom on such a high floor?—and opened her ears once again, keen to listen for any more of these amusing accounts that the news never failed to delight her with.

"This is most definitely not a natural phenomenon."

                            "We do not know who or what is behind this as of yet."

"The Kalos government is in the midst of investigating this."

Scattered noises. Unpleasant bursts of computer-processed wavelengths that were just meaningless longitudinal waves to her. Sometimes, hearing too much was more of a curse than a blessing—after all, you never really got to appreciate sound any more after a while.

The beam flew past another floor of window-filled walls, interwoven stories and broadcasts racing simultaneously through her mind like an assault on its own.

She pushed all these to the back of her mind—thousands of years surely had done wonders to sharpen her thinking, and nothing could ever be considered overwhelming to a Legendary like her.

Am I arrogant? The thought wandered into her mind as casually as a trainer on a nightly stroll, but she shelved it for a later date—immortal life could get tiring sometimes, and she'd often made up these questions to pass the time. Perhaps, she wondered aimlessly. I'll think about that more tomorrow.

Xerneas was about to craft another deep, sentimental spiel about life that she could entertain herself with—but before she could even try, a burst of intermittent static cut into her ongoing script, arriving in the form of a painful clap to her ears. Annoyed, the Legendary listened, wondering just which TV had interrupted her thoughts.

"We would gather that it was by the hand of Xerneas, but she was proclaimed dead many years ago—"

She froze. Her name had been spoken, and it was in the context of a sentence she'd never thought possible. No, it was she that knew herself best, and she felt very much alive at this moment. Life wasn't dead. Life couldn't die.

Abruptly, she'd singled out the television that had spouted this foul, self-proclaimed nonsense, and even though her mind didn't will it so, she could hear the muffled sound of glass shattering from within a distant room.

Disgusted—had the entity of Life just tainted this very world?—she hurriedly raced on, the world disappearing around her until all she could see was—

Sky

                              Window

                                                                 Sky

                                                                                                      Window

                                                                                                                                                   Ground

Lifting her dainty head at the sight of the dull tarmac, she hastily gave herself another order—and in mere seconds, she'd broke out of that shell that had kept her as a mere jet of energy; instead, she was now in her former glory, assuming the elegant cervine form that most people recognised and worshipped.

She shook her head, taking a step forward—there was really only where place where she could truly think all alone, and she needed that very break.

I'm not dead, she muttered to herself. Legendaries are immortal beings, and I have never been killed. The humans are wrongs. Life will not die. Life is always alive.

Ignoring the fact that her rant had been more akin to that of a mental patient—sentences fragmented and repetitive, tone hesitant like that of a child's—she dashed forward, not noticing that her hooves weren't even touching the ground.

Instead, a thin carpet of air brushed against her soles—fragile enough not to be noticed by most—not even her.

She never came into contact with anything in this world—she had never once done so, and she had never realised it.

⚔ ∰ ⚔

Xerneas stood, bright figure silhouetted against the inky blackness of the waiting night. The bumpy surface of the hill rustled beneath her hooves, and she closed her eyes with relish as a breeze licked at her skin, not even bothering to wonder why she could still feel when she was in this form—the questions would come later.

For now, it was all she could do to enjoy this moment.

If others learnt of her favourite place to go to in the shadows of the night, there would certainly be much commotion in the Armada. Some would accept it and move on with their lives—a small minority, but enough to still make up a definite number.

Others, however, would scoff; they might even express their concern for her mental well-being—after all, what business would a Legendary of Life have to do in a place that reeked of the very essence of Death?

It calmed her down, though—she didn't want to admit it, but standing alone in the graveyard and watching nothing but the maps of stars in the sky brought an odd sense of security.

Maybe it was the absolute quiet and privacy she had here, with no one to bother her and no troubles to think about at that moment—a place separate from reality, she'd liked to call it. Maybe it was the fact that the cemetery was a place where Pokemon—though having passed on—were at peace, and that alone spread a wave of calm serenity through the deserted area.

Perhaps saying that she was finding beauty in Death was stretching it too far—that was Yveltal's field of expertise, after all, but she enjoyed this method of relaxation—and she was determined to not let any interfering thoughts spoil this moment.

(Unknown to her, she was spoiling what she loved about the place—she wouldn't know, of course; her back was turned and she was lost in another of her trances.

Cobalt seeped through the ground like oil spilling and spreading through the great seas, lighting up the grass in a ghostly light and curling its way into the ground, patches of grass shimmering and appearing to be shifting.

The ground rippled, and the glow resurfaced once again, forming human-like figures bearing an uncanny resemblance to the faded pictures on the tombstones beside them.

When the radiance died down, the details were strikingly clear—these were real. Not just real humans—simply creating them wouldn't be too big of an uproar—humans that were exactly identical to their late counterparts.

Except, they weren't counterparts.

They were the dead—yet now, they were alive.)

⚔ ∰ ⚔

"No signs of her knowing?"

The Celebi flitted to her Lord's side, bowing gracefully and keeping her head down. When no reply reached her ears, she frowned, a miserable expression crossing her face.

"I am sorry," Arceus stated, but even the Pokemon's apology failed to restore any signs of happiness on the Legendary's face. "It does not seem that Xerneas has any idea about what happened to her."

"So, Akoni won't remember either—"

The former warm look on the Creator's face faded, swapped out for a colder, harsher expression. "Do not forget about the incoming deadline," he warned. "No matter how you were related to Akoni, you cannot let your emotions influence your actions. That is the professionalism expected of a Legendary."

"...Yes. I understand."

⚔ ∰ ⚔

no AN because i'm rushing to publish this before leaving for an anime con

its short but its also what the chapter length for MO chapters are supposed to be haha

Anyway, thank you guys so much for 585 reads and 84 votes! I really appreciate your support gais <3

Critiques are most certainly welcome, and don't forget to read, vote and give your thoughts in the comments! Please be 100% honest!

~ nyxia ☆