Stripped power

"Can you believe it, Xolotl?"

"I can Quetzy. Why'd you ever follow me?"

"Because you were afraid, and you didn't want to die."

He shuddered, "But we're- well, we were."

"Yeah."

"It's just that how could we have died?"

"Just as the sun sets the moon rises, only for them to trade places."

"Are you saying that even if we were to swap places, we still would've been just as powerful?"

"Better than being stuck like this for eternity. Ehecatl did find you in the end. You had him pretty good though. When you hid at the bottom of the lake I could've sworn it would've taken him well over a millennia to find you."

"Nope, only took a century. Well, at least my blood moved the sun. The landscape baked for too long."

"Yeah," Quetzy smiled, "at least it did. Thanks to that which coursed through us, our power went to the stars, forever changing the land."

Xolotl sighed, "It's a shame though, with our power trapped we can't change the world for better or worse, and with the way our former worshippers are running things, it seems like we wouldn't be able to do any worse now."

"I will admit," she looked out the glass box, "it is a shame that all we're used for is breeding stock for their experiments these days."

"When do you think Ehecatl will release us from our punishment?"

"Worst case is never." He turned away dejectedly from her. She floundered over and nuzzled him. "Still, that wouldn't be so bad as long as I've got you."

"Even in death?"

"Even in death."