#chromosomeshipping

It was said that when Arceus created Yveltal, he was full of vibrant life. Exuding the essence of life energy, the new creation was, ironically, the embodiment of death. And so it followed that, shortly after, the creator felt compelled to make an embodiment of just the opposite: life. And so she created Xerneas, a frail and weak Pokemon. But this new creation was intended to nurture and flourish.

As the two grew, they went in opposite directions. For Xerneas, this was a miracle. She grew in strength exponentially, and, after close to 1,000 years, she was the image of vitality. For Yveltal, it was a tragedy. His youthful vigor left him, and he was diminished to but a somber, pathetic shadow of his former self.

And so it was that, in everything she did, Xerneas healed and nourished. Yveltal’s actions, however, could only destroy and ruin.

When she first proposed her idea to him, he was shocked, but not entirely surprised. Xerneas, as much as he loved her, was all too obsessed with helping others. Her care for perfect strangers was certainly admirable to him, for it was something he lacked himself. But... her ‘help’ and ‘care’ went far beyond typical means. Upon discovering that she could give and even restore life to others with as little as a flick of her glowing antlers, Xerneas was giving away her precious gift left and right. But each time she did so, a little piece of her went with it. Small bits of all she was were all over the place, wherever she went, and they were replaced with desire. A desire to give out eternal life and, thus, a desire to eradicate herself. She was losing herself. He was losing her.

He remembered that very moment all too well. He could still hear her smooth voice in his head, telling him her deathwish. I feel that I can do more for the earth, but it can only be done through you, Death, she had said. He could still envision the way her shining antlers reflected the sun gleaming through the trees as she described the process of energy expulsion upon her death. He could still feel her immaculately groomed fur against his wings as he folded his wings around her and held her close to him. She was soft and warm then as he crushed her, crushed her dreams before they saw fruition, as he always did.

If only he had said something then. If only he had realized the gravity of her words. For it turned out that there was something he could not destroy.

His mind was drowning in words, foreboding words she had confided only to him and words he hadn’t shared at all, but should’ve. Before him, Xerneas, his beautiful Xerneas, was collapsed in the middle of the forest hollow they called home. Angry, hungry guilt and bottomless desperation ate at his insides as he gingerly approached her limp form. Her back was to him, her normally royal blue hue drab and dull. Tears pricked his eyes and a solid lump lodged itself in his throat as he wrapped a wing around her and turned her over to face him.

Dried saliva painted a thick coat around her mouth where it had frothed, the X-shaped pupils dilated to pinpoint lines, and the eyes themselves were dark and unseeing. Her teeth and lips were stained the dark blue of night, a clear indication of her method of choice: poison from the lethal Donbell berry.

His head swam and his vision blurred as if he had eaten the Arceus-forsaken berries himself. He had destroyed her. It was his fault… He must’ve devastated her instead of her asinine ideas. And for what? Where was the energy she spoke of? Why had she left him for nothing? He swayed forward unceremoniously and threw himself upon her, gathering her stiff remains in his vast wings once more. And Death himself wept over the loss of Life.

Death…

He started. He had heard her voice in his head, something he thought was lost forever. It was no longer calm and graceful, rather hoarse instead, but still her voice all the same. It was followed with the soft melody of her laughter, a joyous sound that banished his guilt to make way for hope. His seafoam eyes examined the paralyzed body in his embrace and met her own blue ones, bloodshot and dying, but still housing a twinkle of life.

Xerneas… he breathed into her mind, earning another small laugh.

O Death, where is thy sting? she replied almost playfully, reciting something the religious folk would say. But he was in no mood to play. He held her even tighter, determined to never break gaze with her again.

You know I would never hurt you… he muttered back, though he was not rewarded with an immediate response this time. After a few moments of silence in his head, he began to fret. He could feel terrible emotions tearing his insides apart again, and he craned his next so that he was nose to nose with Xerneas. Her stiff head moved not, but her eyes still, albeit slowly, followed his own. They held no visible emotion, and he knew she was drifting away. Tears flooded his eyes again, and he blinked rapidly to keep her from seeing his weakness… but she knew.

This is what I want, you know, she finally spoke. You’ll see how beautiful the world will be when I grant it life. It is a cruel place, full of war and fighting. And death. But my own death will fix that… You’ll see… she trailed off, and he didn’t try to stop his silent tears from flowing any longer. He nuzzled his nose against hers, willing her to do the same as she always had, knowing too well that it was in vain.

I am happy, Yveltal, she said, speaking his name for the first time in years. The twinkle in her eyes was fading to a mere reflection of the sun’s rays, but he could still hear the final, sweet smile in her sickly voice. Death… I love…

And that was the end. The imminent you was carried away with her spirit, unheard.

Her stiff body when limp in his arms. Her mouth still hung open and her eyes looked up at him, glassy and seeing nothing. A deep sob pushed its way past the knot in his throat, and he squeezed his eyes shut, finally letting his heartache burst in a physical manifestation. His body wracked with violent convulsions of sobs as he mourned the dead deer in his wings. He cried for his loss, for her departure, and for all the things he could’ve done, should’ve done. He would not remember her clear and lovely voice but the weak and frail one that wreaked of poison. He would not close his eyes and see her antlers lit up with the light of life, they would be dark and dull as the image of death. He would not feel the sensation of soft and precious fur on his fingertips, instead feeling the coarse and stained hairs that laid on her deathbed.

He lifted his tear-streaked face and cried out,

In the midst of his intensive anguish, however, he was subconsciously aware of a peculiar sensation. The body of his lover was not growing colder as would be expected, but gradually warmer. He peeled his puffy eyes open and was surprised to see her horns alight with their active colors and pale pink waves of light passing over her body. They seemed to transform her, closing her eyes and mouth, evaporating the dried saliva and berry juice, and restoring her to her prime, lively state. He watched in horrified fascination as the waves increased in size and intensity until they enveloped her. Her corpse glowed a soft whitish pink and her body pulsated light with every wave.

The waves, however, were not working their wonders on him. His tears were not ceasing, his sorrow still clung to him. The light was blinding rather than soothing, and he would’ve tossed her away from him to be rid of the stinging light were it not for his even greater desire to hold on to the little he had left of her, before she blew her life to bits.

He knew all too well what the waves were. It was what she had spouted about for weeks now. They were her end, the release of her life force. He could only assume that the waves were collected her vitalized energy for expulsion. How should had flourished in the last years… had she been planning on this all along? In the farthest recesses of his memory, he could remember a thin, sallow Pokemon, but with eyes exuding refined passion and perseverance, and that Pokemon blossomed into a strong and willful creature that matched the emotions that had always swimmed in her eyes. And now she had withered to her humble beginnings in his arms. Was this end what set her eyes ablaze back when she was little? Had she always known that she would end her life when she was at the pinnacle of health, when he had loved her most?

He had been so consumed in his loathing that he nearly missed the shock wave of light emit from her body. It passed over him and he scarcely felt it, watching as it passed into the forest beyond. It brought no change in its wake, and he felt rage bubble in the empty pit of his stomach. Was that it? Had she died for THIS?

And then the real burst hit him, a wave of energy so intense that it unclasped his arms and knocked him back against the nearest tree. He braced himself against the opposing force and squeezed his eyes open to see wave after wave of pink energy erupting from Xerneas, who was glowing with the same pink aura, but her usual active colors had returned. And wave after wave crashed into him and the surrounding with the intention of healing. And that it did, as he observed. Each thing the waves touched brightened a richer shade and grew a fuller size, somehow more alive than it had previously been.

He, however, was the exception. Each crest of energy brought searing pain not to his physical being, but to his mental, emotional, and spiritual state. He knew that each wave was some part of her. There went her stubbornness in the face of opposition. Here was her tendency to go on and on about the things she adored. Here comes that glare she’d always give him when he’d made a foolish remark. And following that would be the small smile she gave him to reassure that she held no ill feelings. He was unsurprised to realize that he had begun crying again, tears that only increased as he faced each new wave, as paralyzed as she had just been.

But as he watched her life ebb away and foster in the world around them, the undeserving world, his tears slowly turned into angry ones. Why wasn’t she healing him? She knew how weak he was now. His physical strength had never quite left him, while hers was what she had initially lacked. No, he was emotionally drained. He lacked resolve and was submissive while her independent and controlling spirit had nourished him. She gave him purpose when he couldn’t drive himself to do anything, and she welcomed him as a pitiful project to take care of. They had complemented each other in the strangest ways, her emotional adamancy paired with his eternal strength. And the pieces of herself she had given away up until now were but child’s play. Now an entire piece of him was missing. And that chunk was being given out to all the world. Everyone but him. Was it some sick game of hers? To grow as strong as possible, support him with it, and then take it all away when he needed it most?

No. He needed her. For one moment, he was going to be the strongest he had ever been to keep her whole… to keep them whole.

He returned his gaze to her. While the waves were still coming head on, it was clear that they were subsiding. The pink aura was fading from her and her normal Active colors were returning. He had to act quickly.

Leaning in to the oncoming forces, he made his steady way back to Xerneas. He could once again make out the features of her lovely face, and he leaned down and kissed her one final time, tasting traces of the poisonous berry on her mouth. Then he gently took hold of her underside and rolled her onto her stomach, legs folded awkwardly underneath. He took a deep breath, silently cursing himself for doing such a disgraceful thing to her solemn form, and straddled her backside. The outflows of energy protested against his weight, but he was determined to be as resolute as she always was. Finally, vision swimming from the small exposure to the poison, he raised his wings above her antlers, squeezed his eyes shut, and brought the crimson sides down on the sharp ends. He winced with pain as he dug the needle-like points deeper into his flesh, and sucked in air again as he brought his wings closer to his breast, raking them along her pristine horns. Bright blood trickled down her golden antlers, and he withdrew his wings to see eight rivulets of blood oozing on each wing. The liquid stained his wings a brighter red, almost glowing against his dark colors. How ironic it was that while she, the brightness of life, was stained darker in death while he would die with a lighter liquid.

He curled up against her, wrapping his bloody arms around himself and bringing his tail up to his chin. Moving was getting harder and more painful, and he resolved to lay like this until his death came as well. He knew how wrong, how horrible it was for him to do this. In the back of his mind, he knew Arceus wouldn’t just let them die, that she would find a way to have them return. And he knew that Xerneas would be livid. Perhaps she would never forgive him. But did she expect him to possibly live without her? Even for a day? Didn’t she care about how he felt? Didn’t she love him, too?

She seemed to think she was the only one with a special death. She hadn’t counted on him having his own ability. Or maybe she did, but felt that she could trust him. He knew that he was being selfish, but she knew that she would hurt him by doing this. So he would be, just for a moment, as strong as her, and put his wants before her own, just as she had done to him.

After all, no amount of love and affection can change your nature. Arceus had created him as a destructor, and that was just what he would be until the very end. His grand finale was the destruction of Xerneas and her hopes and dreams.

He blinked up at the blurry trees above. It wouldn’t be long now. He was nearly done destroying himself. In his last moments, he remembered her parting words. Smiling, bringing the tiniest bit of warmth to his heart, he breathed his last.

I love you, too, was carried away with the last pink wave.

Legendary Pokemon who witnessed the fateful event would tell Arceus that the explosion the day resulted in an orange bubble, swirling with dark energy, that encompassed the whole of the Kalos region. And as soon as it appeared, it was swallowed up again, taking with it the life of everything within.