She nodded once. "Of course, I understand that," she said. No mythic or legendary was capable of everything; not even Arceus as far as she knew.
"But it's worth a sh--"
"̴̧͖̣͎̣̠͎̤̳̟̳͓̥̮̠́̔̊̑̎̀̾̅̋͑̚̕N̷̮̈́͂͗͒̒͒̚O̸̢̻͚͇̥͙̰͆̍̅͊̉̈́̇͆͆͘̚͜͝.̸̡̢̖̟̩͓̗̫̮̪͔̩͍̎͋̒̇̓͐"̸̢̮͔̣̝̹͉͇̙̱̟̇͝ͅͅ
Odette flinched at the sudden outburst, and turned around to see Odile storming toward her, looking like she was about to go on a rampage. "Odile, what did--"
"̶́̊̚͜I̷̡͔͕̬͊̍̑̉͝ ̷̰̩̭̽̿ḑ̷̲̣͌̄̈́ǫ̸̧͚̣͋̒̅n̸̳͆́͗̓'̵̨̠̭̯̠̇̿͗͂̐t̶̖̖͑̉̿ ̴̠̤͚̯͛͠w̶̧̪̅̕̚ā̶̧̖͍̣̘͋͗͆n̸̢̯̖̈́̚͝t̷̢̢̛̯̰̓͑͝ ̶̡̛̱̘͎̈́͆̈́̕y̷̫̺̌́̈́̔̈́o̷̢͇̹̻̬̒u̶͇̱̙̫̳͌̓̃͠ ̸̱̖͖̳̓́̍̌̿d̵̬̩̗͆̾͝ó̷͎̲̗̯̚ĭ̷̡̩͙̏̐n̵͎̜̯̹̈̔͐̂͒ǵ̸̻͉͕͘͠ ̸͈̞̘͉̞́̄a̴͈̼̱̖̣̿̊ṋ̴͊̀̃̋y̴̥̝͕̒͒ ̴̛̤͇͂ȯ̵̲͖͗͆́f̶̬͖̰̎́͜ ̷͈͙̼͐͊̈́̂t̶͈̿ĥ̶̠̖͙̀̊͜ã̵̢̘̭͈̽́̔t̴̛̟̐̃ ̴̜̈́̕w̵̠̺̜̟̏͋e̴̢̖̹͐̽̋̿͑ḭ̴̧̂r̶̥̿̒̕͠ḑ̴̛̛̦͖̻͜ ̶̲̥̘̼̽̚ͅb̶͈̱̳̝̅͑̓̓̐ő̴̠̥͔̭͎͌ḑ̵̮̙͔͒̿̚͘ẏ̸͉͋ ̵̺̆̿̍̉̇s̷̨͕̟͈̓w̶͔̩̪̮̎̈́̍̿̎͜ạ̴̟̫̖͙͊̅͒p̵̳̪͔͊͊̈́̓p̴͍͆̍͝ḭ̶͍͈̖̥̀̇̅̆̏n̶̺̠͗̋̚g̷͇̽ ̸̬̠͑̏s̶̟̬̅̊͝h̸̻̤͈̙̤͐̋̅i̶̫̅̉̐͘t̴̢̩̬̠̀̚.̸̙͉͕̈́ ̸̘̋Ḯ̸͕̪̣̖̤ ̸̮̙̮͚̠̎́̚d̸̤̫̬͍̭͆̑o̵̫̩̖̝̰͋̂̂̄̿ṋ̶̢̢̫̮̓̔̾'̵͖̞̬͓̍t̸̢̰̫̥̃̀ ̴͇͉͍̍̇͒̀̎l̶̤͖̝̪̀̀̃̀͌i̷̭̲̫̗̓̃̔͘͝ͅķ̸͓̎͂̽͂̌ͅe̷̪̪̼̅̈́͑ ̷̬̰̲̑̆̔́ì̷̼̟ť̴̲̘͑̿̇.̴̧̮̗̖̪̋̆̀͘͠ ̴̗̝̯̂́̏Ņ̵̝̺̱̳̐͐̕o̷̻̗͇̫͌.̵̛̬̻̱̎̓͋"̸̨̛̮̞̺̙̈́̓̋́
Odette was...startled. To say the least. "I didn't think you'd be so bothered by it." She scrunched her nose as she tried to figure out what could have gotten Odile so worked up over the idea of her attempting this. It came to her pretty quickly, as it seemed almost too obvious.
"Mm, is it because you don't want to share?"
"̴N̸o̷,̷"̷ ̸she whimpered as her demeanor abruptly changed."̵I̵'̸m̶ ̶j̷u̶s̶t̴ ̴s̷c̴a̷r̸e̴d̷ ̷y̸o̵u̵ ̸w̴o̴n̶'̷t̴ ̸c̵o̶m̵e̶ ̴b̸a̸c̴k̶.̶ ̴A̸n̷d̷ ̸I̴ ̸d̸o̴n̵'̴t̵ ̷l̸i̶k̶e̶ ̴t̸h̵a̴t̸.̴"̵
Odette's eyes softened. "Oh..."
"I don't say this often, but I agree with Odile."
Goodness, it felt strange to utter those words. But she couldn't dwell on that.
"I am not sure I'm very keen on you trying this." It certainly wasn't the first time Enora had found herself entirely wary of her human's dedication to solving mysteries, and...nothing really came of that initial instance. Not that it would have made much of difference in the long run.
Here, though, she could maybe try to talk some actual sense into her.
"Like Manaphy just said. It's powers aren't infinite. What if something bad happens? What if something bad is happening to them?" she questioned. "Your body has already handled enough, so what if it physically stresses you out more?"
Odette was frowning now. This wasn't the reaction she was expecting. And it bothered her even more now, because their worries were completely valid.
"Guys..." she tried to speak, but found that she didn't yet know how to respond.
It took a second, but she was able t find a start. "I...I understand where you're coming from. Really. It's dangerous. But the longer we stand around not showing jack all, the more dangerous it's going to be for all of us in the long run," she explained. "And I'm sure Manaphy has done this enough to assure I won't get stuck. And I have the necessary things on hand if something...happens. There's a doctor here, too. But this doesn't involve my blood, so..."
Now she was rubbing at her cheek, as her eyes traveled down to the sand she was kicking. "I'm not worried. I think it will be fine. I wouldn't offer if it felt sketchy, and you know that."
She raised her gaze ever so slightly. "And honestly, who better to test the waters on this than somebody who has experience letting foreign souls into her body?"
"̶H̵e̴h̵.̵ ̸T̴e̶s̴t̸ ̸t̵h̴e̶ ̷w̷a̶t̶e̸r̵s̴.̶"̶
As funny as the joke was, Odile was quick to snap out of it. Didn't she just complain about not wanting to lose Odette again yesterday, and now they were discussing letting her swapping bodies? She wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a joke or not, but she definitely wasn't fucking laughing. These weren't bowling balls she was feeling. They felt...spikier.
Maybe they were durians.
"̷N̵O̴.̵ ̴T̶h̴a̷t̶'̴s̸ ̷n̶o̵t̷ ̵f̸u̸n̷n̵y̷.̷ ̶T̵h̴i̵s̸ ̷i̷s̶n̵'̶t̷ ̸f̸u̷n̵n̷y̵.̷ ̶I̷ ̴s̶t̸i̸l̶l̶ ̸d̴o̵n̴'̴t̵ ̵l̶i̵k̶e̷ ̵i̵t̵.̵ ̵B̷l̷o̴o̴d̶ ̸t̶y̶p̴e̸ ̸t̵r̶a̸i̷n̷e̸r̸ ̵o̴r̸ ̴n̸o̶t̵,̵ ̴t̴h̶i̸s̵ ̷a̵i̴n̷'̸t̷ ̵i̶t̶ ̶c̷h̵i̸e̶f̶.̵"̷
Enora was shaking her head along with Odile's words. "I understand your concern, but I still don't know if I'm on board. I know things are bad right now, but there has to be a different way? Maybe?"
Without responding to either of them, Odette held out each of her pinkies.
Odile stared at Odette's hand. "̴W̸h̷a̸t̵'̴s̴ ̸t̸h̴i̷s̵?̵"̷
"I'm pinky swearing," she declared. "That I'll be okay. That this is for our own safety. And that I'll come back."
When neither of her Pokemon responded, she jerked her hands for emphasis. "And have I ever broken a damn pinky promise?"
Both Enora and Odile shared the same apprehensive look.
"No̸.̷"
They stared at their trainer's outstretched hands, before Odile reluctantly wrapped her pinky around one. Enora grasped the other with one of her ribbons.
"We're good, guys. I trust Manaphy knows this process by now," she said strongly. Reassuringly.
Though, it started to feel like she was trying to reassure herself as well. But, she wasn't going to back down now. Not when her and her 'mon's--and even her new friend's--collective safety was at stake.
"Just don't tell Clovis or Guzma and we're square," she muttered, the words coming out like rapid fire, and she released them before either of them could say anything more.
"Okay," she said to Manaphy as she turned back to face it. She clapped her hands together for good measure. "I am...good to go."
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