As the Eternal Sword acted on its command, the world was engulfed in a blinding light. However, the flash lasted only briefly, and upon dimming down, the sword faded away. The landscape looked exactly the same around the destroyed Tower of Salvation, and the Heroes of Regeneration took in the familiar surroundings with uncertainty.
The group stood in a wide, mangled arc, looking around at their surroundings. "Did…did it work?" Sheena asked tentatively, her face scrunched up in confusion as her eyes darted around, searching for an indication that Sylvarant and Tethe'alla had finally been reunited. "Nothing's changed…"
"The tower was at the poles of both worlds," Raine stated with authority, an aura of calm around her. "It's to be expected that this area wouldn't have changed upon being reformed."
"Yeah, that's right," Lloyd said, panting heavily. His newly formed wings were still out, and he hovered a few inches above the air. He seemed to be paying more attention to the giant blue wings behind him than the world he had created. "Colette, how do you even put these things away?"
The girl in question giggled. "Just think about it! It's easy." She smiled reassuringly at her friend.
"Okay," Lloyd said, his voice lacking confidence for what seemed to be the first time in his life. "I'll try." He closed his eyes tightly, and soon, the wings flickered away. Dropping to the ground with a "Humph!" Lloyd finally got a chance to take a look around. "You were right, Sheena. Everything's the same."
"I guess we'll have to check out more of our new world!" Genis said, eyes filled with youthful excitement. "It's gotta be completely different now."
"This is our world now," Presea mused. "The people will be distraught."
"I suppose it will be our responsibility to bear," Regal agreed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "They will need guidance and assistance into the world in which we have thrust them."
"Well, we aren't going to accomplish anything by just standing here," Lloyd said, his expression shifting rapidly to the familiar determination to which his friends were so accustomed. "Let's go see our new world!"
The nine heroes began to walk toward the end of the Holy Ground of Kharlan, where they would find a clearing large enough to pull out their Rheairds. As they approached, however, the ground began to lightly rumble.
"A side-effect of the reuniting of the worlds?" Raine guessed. "After four thousand years of separation, it wouldn't be a surprise." Even as she said it, the quake grew in magnitude, and half of the group was knocked to the ground by the sheer force of it, while the others were forced to take a knee.
"This sure is some funky earthquake!" Zelos yelled frantically over the din of rock scraping against rock.
Debris began to fall from higher ground and into the clearing, and as they all scrambled to escape from larger pieces of rock, Regal was caught underneath a medium-sized boulder. Zelos let out a yelp upon noticing that the lumbering man had been knocked out. Raine attempted to stand despite the trembling at her feet, as she knew she was one of the few who could heal him. But her efforts were for naught, and as the strain wore her down, she found she could no longer hold herself up. She lacked the physical strength to hold herself up as the ground shook her, pulling her toward its pitiless embrace. Lloyd looked on desperately from where he was kneeling, watching as his professor closed her eyes slowly and allowed her muscles to go limp.
"Raine!" Genis cried, terror evident on his features.
"Wh-what's going on?" Lloyd shouted, struggling to move closer to his friends. He trained his gaze on each of his friends, watching in horror as, one by one, their muscles gave out, and they fell to the ground. Fortunately, most of them were still conscious, but he was worried about what was to come. If the earthquake didn't subside soon, they would lose all will to stay awake, himself included. He was amazed that he had somehow found the strength to keep moving, slowly inching toward the person nearest to him: Genis.
The boy was on the ground, struggling to keep himself up, but Lloyd could tell that he was nearly spent. Genis looked up to see Lloyd inching toward him, and the swordsman was startled by the boy's pale face. They exchanged weak smiles before Genis's arms gave out, and he fell to the ground, eyes closed and face relaxed.
"It appears to be a trap," Kratos seemed to shout, but over the roar of the quake, Lloyd could barely hear it. In fact, Lloyd could barely hear anything, as if the tremors were deafening him. Exhaustion swept through him, clouding his vision even as tiny black dots began to swim in front of his eyes.
"There's…" Lloyd grunted, his arms shaking from the effort it took him to hold himself up. "This isn't a normal earthquake!" As the earthquake became more enraged, it took all his effort to stay up. With great effort, he looked around at his friends. Most of them had succumbed to the earthquake's throes, though somehow, he and Kratos had somehow managed to stay conscious despite it all. Presea, too, seemed to be awake, though the struggle to stay that way was painfully evident.
"Lloyd!" Kratos called, but the rest of the angel's words was lost to Lloyd, as the roaring clamor of the strange earthquake had wracked his ears and left him hearing nothing but a dull roar, echoing within the hollows of his mind. It sounded as if he were at a beach, listening to conch shells, rather than in the middle of a powerful earthquake that threatened the lives of his friends.
The black dots swam faster and grew, leaving him with spotted and graying vision through which he could no longer decipher the objects around him. The trembling had numbed his arms, and without clear vision, he could not tell if he was still holding himself up. Perhaps it would be better if he just lay down, give out and give in to the supernatural tremor. One could only fight its might for so long, Lloyd supposed.
His clouded vision left him barely capable of registering a boulder that threatened to crush him on its way down from higher ground. With the last of his strength, he managed to jerk out of the way, and he was safely out of danger, with only his foot caught under the large rock. His sapped strength and his numbed limbs were incapable of freeing himself, and he realized he was stuck.
As he accepted the truth of the reality with which he was facing, he felt a small part of him slip away, trickling out into oblivion. Soon enough, the rest of him followed, and his world went black.
This is a complete re-write of my older story, Switch. It will be different, but the premise remains the same. I hope you will enjoy it.