~Joel~

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

And said measure meant riding a horse. I know, crazy. Me, on a horse? Who woulda thought.

The clopping of the horse's hooves against the dirt path were as loud and jolting as lightning as we rocketed down the makeshift road leading to Mezalea.

In hours the thick forests that made up the unowned woods between the empires shifted to the rocky and dry landscape of the mesa desert.

Now that night had fallen it was bitterly cold, the wind like shards of glass piercing my face and stinging my ears. But I gripped the reigns tighter, pressing myself farther down towards the horse's neck and continuing further and faster.

My vision was limited from the darkness cast over the mesa, the occasional hanging lamp swinging in the breeze lighting the pathway. But other than that, it was nearly pitch black. 

It was a good thing I had memorized the way to Celadon. 

Although, the closer I got, the more unsettling it was that the sound of the ocean smashing against the cliffside was missing. 

The first noise that met my ears besides the wind hurtling past me, was screams.

My head snapped up, the smell of burning becoming stronger the closer me and my steed got to the city. Curls of smoke reached into the sky where the city lay, fire ablaze along the streets, lighting up the colorful buildings and domed rooves. 

I urged the horse faster, the sight panic inducing as citizens bolted through the streets to avoid getting caught in the flames. 

Crashing echoed as houses and buildings began to implode from both the quakes and the fires, collapsing inwards on themselves, dust rising from the wreckage. 

I yanked backwards on the reigns, throwing me and the horse to a skidding halt as I looked in every direction. The entire city was set in an orange glow from the blaze, the image of chaos overwhelming, my breath catching in my throat. The thick fog of smoke made it even harder to breathe within the capital limits, casting a haze over it like a glass encasing. 

Why does Fwhip always ruin everything!?

Leaping from the saddle, I hit the ground in a run, giving the horse a glare that said 'STAY'. I needed to help where I could.

People and authorities were already responding to the emergency, attempting to herd the crowds away from the danger. No moment was silent in the swirl of panic, overwhelming my feelings of sight, hearing and touch. My eyes and nose burned from the smoke and scent of sweat and ash. Screaming and crying and the crashing of trees and creak of supports ripped through the air, piercing like weapons getting flung into the sky. Never had I experienced so much stimulation or craze. 

I was nearly caught in the hoard of people getting herded out of the city, before I managed to break out into the open. I didn't look back as I sprinted for the center, searching for stragglers or those who couldn't keep up. As far as I was concerned, I wouldn't be leaving anyone behind.

That goal, was thrown out of my mind a moment later when an earthquake stronger even than the one that had startled me mere hours ago, before the meeting at the forest, shook the terrain.

With a violent surge, the ground began to open up as if a sword was being dragged straight through the street, tearing the land up as it went. It began to split the city in two, moving quickly from where it had started, by the cliff sides, inland. With a deafening crash, louder than the largest crack of thunder, it drove through the land right beneath the Mezalean Matrel Palace. The grand building instantly began to collapse inwards, the dome splitting in half, and even from this distance I watched as the glass shattered into millions of pieces, exploding like arrows from underneath the rest of the debris. Dust raised in huge plumes hundreds of feet into the air as even more floors and hallways fell into each other, decimating the site as it went. 

I tore my eyes away from the scene just in time to throw myself backwards to avoid getting thrown into the steadily growing canyon, watching as the street began to crumble and fall into the ravine that was gaining area and starting to swallow up even more of the city. 

I watched in horror as people dropped, disappearing from sight as more of the street was pulled down into the steadily growing sinkhole. So, unlike the rest, I ran towards it as soon as I had regained my footing, hoping to at least save one. 

The ravine was only widening, a good fifty feet across now. Whole buildings were beginning to fall to the depths. I didn't know, nor did I care how far it went down. All I knew was that there would be no saving myself if I happened to fall.

Running in the opposite direction as everyone else was hard. I kept slamming headfirst into bodies, into people sprinting for their lives. Most looked at me as if I were crazy, which was probably the right assumption, while others didn't care enough to even glance at me. 

The ground didn't relent in its shake, continuing to try and toss me into others, or to the street. Somehow, I managed to remain upright.

Heat closed in on me from all sides, like a blanket made purely of humidity. It was like I had been dunked into a pool of water, I was soaked in sweat from the warmth of the flames and the crowd.

The ravine was still widening, like a piece of cloth getting torn. The landscape was practically blurred with the shakes of the earth and the haze of smoke.

I was starting to get closer to where the land crumbled into the abyss. Soon, I'd have to turn around and run with everyone else if I didn't want to sprint straight over the edge to my death.

Looking up though, I locked eyes with someone running right towards me, eyes wide in fear just before the chunk of street they had been sprinting across crumbled from directly underneath them. A shriek escaped their lips as they plummeted, so without thinking I dove forward, slamming chest first down against the street and the edge of the ravine, reaching out and grabbing onto their wrist.

Their weight yanked harshly on my shoulder, nearly tugging it from its socket, the rumbling of the ground almost throwing me down the sinkhole as well. "I got you!" I called down over the shaking of the earth. Their panicked face stared back up at me, fear in every line of their expression. She couldn't have been older than fifteen, dangling from their forearm down into the canyon. I glanced past her for just a moment, staring down to the bottom. It had to be at least three hundred feet deep, a raging river flowing in from the ocean, pooling into the area that had just opened, deadly rapids swirling far beneath us.

The teenage girl let out another scream as her sweat-covered wrist began to slip from my own gloved grip. I only tightened my hold, reaching my other hand down to grab onto her. Nearly my entire upper half was now dangling over the edge of the ravine. I was struggling to keep hold of her, feeling the ground beneath me tremble like it was about to give way.

I used all my strength, which wasn't very much, to try and lift her, my forearms burning from the strain I put on them to keep her from falling completely. I gritted my teeth, determined not to let the girl go even if it meant going down with her myself. With my head bent over the edge, I felt the crown set upon my head begin to slip, loosening my bangs and letting them fall and stick to my face.

I watched moments later as the golden band fell, plummeting towards the depths of the widening chasm. It got smaller, and smaller, and smaller until it was the size of a pinhead and disappeared into the raging waves of the violent body of water below.

My eyes locked back on the girl's, hers wide with the same terror as before, her face red and tear tracks staining her cheeks. "It's going to be okay!" I reassured, although I was in no place to promise this. It was almost certain that both of us would become victims of the chasm.

I got no answer from her, only startled and strained noises as she tried to reach up to grab to my hands to keep herself up longer. But I noticed out of the corner of my eye past her face, the water level... rising?

It wasn't supposed to do that, right?

My stomach dropped as the river, almost like a geyser, exploded upwards and in a huge updraft, I was thrown from the ground into the air, the girl's forearm slipping from my grip. Screams echoed as, not just me and the girl, but several others were blasted up, like gravity had decided to take a dip and go on vacation. 

My throat burned with a scream of my own, my limbs thrashing wildly for something to hold onto. I was drenched in seconds, salt stinging my nose and eyes and leaving the taste of the ocean behind on my tongue. My vision was now a blur of white sea foam, and short glances of the orange hued sky as I spiraled.

In those few moments I had no sense of up or down, left to right, sky and ground. That was, until my arms wrapped around something jutting up into the sky, around the same width as myself. I clung tightly to whatever I had managed to grab hold of, my eyes screwed tightly shut to avoid getting more of the sea water in them, hardly able to breathe from the sharp gusts of wind that spun around me, trying to throw me off into the air again.

Finally after what felt like hours (but probably was less than ten minutes) I managed to ground myself, squinting to see where I was and what on Empiria was even happening. 

I realized I was stood on one of the many domed rooves of Celadon, one of the few that hadn't collapsed, my arms wrapped tightly around the pointed spire. I was facing out north, towards the ocean, except...

For a moment, I thought it was raining, large droplets of water nearly the size of my head skirting through the air. That was before I noticed, the droplets were flying up. They shot up towards the sky, the ocean level rapidly dropping as its water lifted up to join the swirl of grey, nearly black, clouds swirling above the city and as far as the eye could see, completely masking the smoke and orange of the air above.

I had never seen anything like it... the ocean was draining.

"Lizzie..." I spoke to myself, my voice breathless and hardly above a whisper. I needed to get to Lizzie.

I looked around frantically, noticing there was no easy way down from the roof. So, instead of scaling down like a sensible person in their right mind would do, I hit the roof on my back, sliding off the slick, arced surface, towards the ground.

I hit the dirt in a run, my ankle near crumpling beneath me. Ignoring this new pain to add to my steadily growing list of injuries, I sprinted faster than I had previously down the street. The shaking seemed to have lessened the slightest, replaced by the water swirling through the air like ash. I had to get back. I just hoped that damn horse was where I had left it and hadn't gotten scared.

I had to get to Oceania.

There were less people crowding and running through the streets. I just hoped that was because they had escaped the city limits and hadn't gotten swept away.

To my surprise, the horse remained where I had left it. It looked thoroughly spooked though, shaking as it stood by the outskirts of the city. 

I quickened my pace, completely forgetting about the fact I'd absolutely scare the hell out of it if I barreled into it. However, it stood still as a statue as I leapt up, my foot catching on the stirrup as I swung myself over the saddle.

That was smooth. 

I then yanked harshly on the reigns, tugging the bits in the horses mouth before snapping them. We bolted forwards almost instantly, the horse's hooves slamming into the torn up street as we raced out of the city.

As the landscape sped past us, I directed us towards the cliffside, looking desperately for ways down to the now-exposed ocean floor.

Finally, I spotted a rough, natural pathway that definitely wasn't supposed to be used as a pathway, down to the seabed. 

I tugged again on the reigns, urging the horse faster. It seemed hesitant at first, before tentatively making its way down the narrow path I had spotted. The lower we got to the bottom, the more the air smelt of rotting seaweed, and the smoother the red rock became, having been hidden and eroded at for decades.

After a while of stumbling over protruding ledges and down tight bends me and the horse finally managed to make it to the bottom.

I pulled the reigns again, pointing us in the right direction before jabbing my heel into the horse's side, throwing us forward.

The horse's hooves splashed in the remaining tidal pools left in the small (some large) craters of the uneven ocean floor, saltwater spraying up at my face in mist. It was bitterly cold, biting and snapping at my nose, ears and cheeks, turning them and my fingers numb. But I only gripped tighter, urging my steed faster. I couldn't help the feeling of dread that something had happened to Lizzie.

~

It must have been hours that we sped across the flat terrain. It stretched for miles in every direction, nothing but suffocating sea creatures without water to breathe and flattened forests of kelp lying in massive hills of slimy green.

I had long since lost sight of what used to be the coast, the cliffs of Celadon, that had previously looked over the ocean, dozens of miles behind us.

I felt the horse beginning to slow down, but quite frankly I didn't care as I tried as hard as I could to keep it running. 

Finally, with a jolt of excitement I saw the tip of the Prisma Palace rising over the horizon...along with a horrifying sight.

The lily pads that had once floated on the surface like islands lay dried up along the ocean floor, buildings that had been built on them completely destroyed, citizens digging through the remains, even more bodies scattered motionless along the seabed. It was absolutely devasting. They had no way to escape what had occurred, no way to stop the plummeting of their city...

I could do nothing to help at the moment, instead locking my eyes on the Prisma Palace as to not get distracted.

It was perched on a huge mound of rocks and boulders that jutted out from the sea. I knew from my many visits that it was in fact set upon an underwater mountain of sorts, but never had I realized how tall it actually was from the ground up. The spiral staircase wrapping around the pearlescent and sheer walls of the palace, typically used as a dock, hung in midair where the water level used to be. 

I'd have to scale the rocky base to make it there.

Dismounting the horse as soon as I reached it, trying my hardest to ignore the cries of the ocean folk in search of their loved ones, I didn't bother to try and tie the reigns of the horse down. The only thing on my mind was to get to my wife. I hoped she was up there...

I breathed out slowly. "You got this Joel..." I told myself, attempting to hype myself up before sprinting for the rocky jut out. I began to climb, finding grips and footholds to pull myself up. The stone was slimy, and slick from just recently residing under the water. I was thankful for the white (not so white anymore) gloves I wore that helped my grip as I slowly but surely made my way up.

I was panting now, my arms and legs burning from the overexertion I put on them. I didn't look down, I didn't want to see how far up I was anymore. All I knew was that falling from here meant death.

I breathed heavily through my mouth, determined to not let myself slip. I would make it. I had to make it. 

With a final tug, I pulled myself to the top, pressing my back harshly against the walls to the palace, hyperventilating to try and give my lungs the oxygen they begged for, every breath sharp like a dagger getting driven into my ribs.

I looked down at my accomplishment, far below at the destruction that lay where the floating city used to be. I briefly wondered how I would get down...that wasn't important now.

I shakily got back to my feet, narrowing my eyes at the ledge where the staircase started. The jump to it from where I stood was a few feet across...a few feet that I could easily miss and go plummeting.

But honestly, at that moment, I felt like I could take on the world as I took a running leap, landing with a stagger on the base of the stairs, my knees buckling. 

I managed to stay on my feet, stumbling, before facing the staircase hugging the side of the tower built to the sky.

I clenched my jaw, giving myself a moment to mentally prepare before beginning my jog up the sloping staircase, keeping a steady but fast past.

Stabbing pains seemed to jolt through my legs, as if sparks were flying along my nerves. I could hardly breathe, my chest tight, my body aching with exhaustion and cold. The ground still shook every once in a while, throwing me off course so that my footing listed to the side. But I was determined, and nothing would keep me from my goal.

"Lizzie?" I called around three quarters of the way up the stairs, my voice strained and scratchy. "LIZZIE?" I tried again after receiving no answer, raising my voice to a shout that tore at the roof of my mouth.

The silence I received at my calls only made me move faster.

I neared the top quickly, desperate and panicked. Sweat from not only my movement, but worry soaked me, plastering my hair to my face, hair that had long since fallen out if its neat ponytail.

As soon as the stairs leveled out into the flat flooring over the open room, lined with pillars and wall-less, which I barely took time to gaze over, I felt like collapsing to the floor. But I didn't.

"LIZZIE!?" I shouted again, cupping my hands over my mouth to help my yell carry farther. My heart raced, beating against my chest like a caged animal as I began my search for her.

However, my search ended quickly as my eyes landed upon a crumpled mass on the ground.

"LIZZIE!" I repeated, this time not a call but a shriek of panic as I recognized the plates of armor the color of the sea the figure wore.

I hit the ground beside her, knowing something was gravely wrong. As gently as I could with my shaking hands, I rolled her onto her back.

She was...frail. Almost smaller, her eyes half-lidded, and her breathing labored. Her eyes met mine, tired, her movements weak as I helped her sit. She wobbled, gripping to my wrists tightly. I looked down, a lump forming in my throat as I saw the webbing between her fingers had almost shriveled, looking dead as if they had been burned but without the marks. Patches of pale, peachy skin showed in splotches, as if hidden beneath the blue scales that had begun to peel off like paint from her face and arms.

"Lizzie? What's happening?" I asked, hardly able to speak above a whisper without my voice breaking.

"It's happening again..." She replied, her own voice hardly intelligible, her lips barely moving as she spoke.

"What is??" I questioned, my voice nearing hysteria as I frantically took her face in my hands. To my horror, as I shifted my thumbs, the scales along her cheekbones slid from her face, falling like shingles or pebbles into my hands.

"Without the ocean...there can be no ocean queen." She answered, leaning heavily into my arms, seemingly no longer able to hold herself up. "I won't remember after this...everything is already starting to slip away..."

Like lightning the realization I was losing her struck me. "No!" I said as if my mere protest would stop what had already begun. Tears burned the corners of my eyes, my nose stinging, my heart aching more horribly than any of my other injuries. "You– You can't! I won't let you!" I cried, letting my own stubbornness try to mask the fear slowly creeping into my mind.

Lizzie gave me a sad smile, one that didn't reach her eyes that seemed to dim of the piercing blue. "It'll be okay, my love." She whispered, sliding one of her hands along the side of my face, tucking one of the fallen strands of hair behind my ear. "Take care of Jimmy for me. He knows, but make sure to remind him, next you see him, that I love him, okay? And that I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise..."

I shook my head in denial, hot tears pouring down my face, too fast for me to stop. "No– you can tell him yourself– please– we all need you– I need you–" 

Lizzie didn't seem to be taking my words into account, the beautiful blue scales flaking away, her gills fading and turning smooth against her neck, same with the frills along her ears. "I don't want my memories to fade, I don't want to lose what I have," she began, her voice laced with sorrow as her own tears trickled from her eyes. "But do me one more thing."

Taking in yet another shaky breath as I practically watched her fade in front of my eyes, I nodded. "Anything." I breathed in response, holding her close.

"Don't forget me...as I will you. I won't be gone completely... Just not the same... Don't remember me as what's to come in the future, but me as I am now. I'll always be here, in this moment, when you look back upon it. This me, will always live on through you. As long as you don't forget." She said, her voice getting quieter the longer she spoke, something like hope settling within her words.

"I could never forget you." I promised, wiping the tears that slid down her cheeks, gently sliding my hands into her pink curls that fell in damp ringlets around her face. "I'll remain with you till the end, whether it be now, or too many years away to count."

And with that, she smiled, leaned forward to press a soft kiss against my cheek. Then, her eyes closed as the last of her scales faded and fell to the ground, losing their sheen as she went still in my arms.

***

Heheh

I was like cry-laughing while writing this, idk if this makes me crazy or if I just really like torturing my characters

But uh, believe it or not, it gets worse from here so BUCKLE YOUR SEATBELTS WE'RE FOR A RIDE

Anyways comments and votes are appreciated :D