3 inches away... 2 inches away... 1 inch away…
*CRUUK CRUK CRRUUUUK*
The floating districts that were once floating so smoothly, gliding through the air perfectly, all of a sudden, the whole floating district stopped and shook like how a person's hand will start shaking after holding something heavy for a long stretch of time.
In the next moment, the floating districts plummeted.
*FRRUUUUUUK*
As it fell, it was almost like the air itself shook, the large piece of land breaking through the air.
*BOONG BOONG BUNG!*
As the floating districts came closer to the ground, buildings of different types went in their way, causing parts of the floating districts to be snapped apart, breaking up the restraints that held them down.
Children, adults, men and women, and even corpses sprayed into the air, like splashes of water. Face-to-face with their demise
...
It was like time had slowed, stretching a single second to a full minute.
Every fiber of Tali's being was drained, more dry than it had ever been, exhaustion hitting him like a meteor strike.
Badump badump Tali's heart beat faster than it had ever before.
Unable to move, Tali was forced to watch as the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people slipped between his hands, useless. In the last position he took before his Node gave out
Even with all of that stacking on Tali, his will never wavered and still sparked with an intense flame, maybe even bigger than before. But yet, his body couldn't keep up.
"EVEN IF I HAVE TO BE OUT FOR A YEAR OR MORE, I AM NOT LETTING ANY OF YOU DIE BECAUSE OF ME!" Tali shouted with conviction.
*BOOOOOOOO HOOOOK HUUK*
Suddenly, thousands of pasty brown earth spires protruded everywhere below on the ground, on the buildings, and even all around the now crumbled floating districts. As these spires connected, it was like everything had frozen; not a single thing moved except for some rubble coming off the sides.
The pasty brown protrusions bend and twist like they have both the properties of gum and rubber, wrapping every object within their vicinity and locking right as everything connects, solidifying, revealing the mineral that did this to be clay.
*CROOOK CROK KROK*
In the next moment, the clay stretched and did its best to connect all of the broken pieces together while diligently keeping all the panicking people imprisoned so they wouldn't cause mayhem.
The floating districts were misshapen, malformed like how a kid tries to repair a broken vase with clay.
...
It was a miracle when all hope was lost, milliseconds away from cutting off the lives of hundreds of thousands of people short... but yet, that assurance was short-lived, because seconds later, that hope was immediately cut off.
Tali had already used up every last bit of Node he had, sending him into a state of deprivation.
*booooc booockk* the clay showed signs of cracking.
Pieces slowly broke away from their positions, revealing that the structural integrity of the clay had already begun to waver without Tali's support.
His skin turned faded, his face looking like every last bit of life was sucked out of it, and even his glowing segments were affected, turning dim, but still, it refused to fade completely.
He continued, desperately scrounging for any Node he may have left; even the Node that makes up his body was being used.... but it was nowhere near enough.
"HaaAAAaa hoooOoOo" Tali's breathing became more ragged.
Tali moved his left hand, forming a fist, clenching it so hard his nails dug into his skin, drawing blood.
Desperate, he tried to use the Node in his dripping blood, but nothing came of it...
It was then Tali felt something within him stir... a separate power source so strong that it has the potential to move a whole continent shone, like a light at the end of the tunnel, reachable, but yet, to reach that light, a sacrifice must be made.
Although there was no indication on his body as to the damage that Tali had to take as the price for that power, something inside him began to brew and boil unstably, expanding the metaphoric liquid to the point it boiled over.
Suddenly, Tali's will to save everyone expanded bigger and bigger, even to the point that it took over every last thought and cell in his body and mind.
At that moment, Tali wasn't himself anymore; his consciousness was wiped. With every morsel of his body and mind screaming for one thing and one thing only... to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people he endangered, almost like a zombie
With only one objective driving him, Tali stood up like nothing happened, and in the next moment, with just his right hand... Tali swiped it upwards.
*BROOK BRUK*
Finally, slowly the spires of clay slowly began to let out, hovering at first, but seconds later, the abominable bundle of minerals that held the lives of hundreds of thousands of people lifted up into the air and became airborne again.
It was another miracle, a one-in-a-million chance; however, the price that was paid to allow this miracle to manifest was far too severe, so severe that it might even lead to Tali's death, shot down by his own people.
...
"C'mon, Kanum, you need to keep up! Tali needs us." Locce yelled at his friend as his anxiety grew.
Locce flew on a slim and refined piece of marble in a similar shape to a kayak but smaller, gliding in the air like water.
On the other hand, his friend, Kanum, who accompanied him in the air, wasn't necessarily flying, because what he's doing is akin to walking on air.
"Huff huff, I'M ALREADY GOING AT FULL SPEED," Kanum yelled despite being out of breath.
In front of Kanum were hundreds of palm-sized black petals that were transparent and extremely fragile. Each time Kanum took a step on one of them, it would almost immediately shatter, which is quite risky and not something Kanum would usually do.
Both Kanum and Locce had their arms/arm and body full with all the Node canisters they could possibly carry. So if they don't want to lose any of them, they'll have to go at a steady but speedy pace, meaning... Locce can't go at full speed with only one arm without accidentally dropping some Node canisters.
Looking at Kanum and gritting his teeth, Locce couldn't blame him, but after seeing how slow they were, he began thinking if he should pull forward at full speed even if he had to lose a Node canister or two.
As Locce was thinking through it... a shocking sight played before their eyes.
The once proud and steady floating districts suddenly began to plummet, slowly at first but picking up speed as each second passed.
From afar, the sight looked especially mortifying, especially to the people that knew what the floating districts held, because if it were to descend prematurely, it could mean the formation of a tidal wave of blood and gore.
However, seconds after, what looked like pasty brown tentacles sprung up and, seemingly, saved everyone and everything that fell.
At first, a flush of relief flooded Locce's and Kanum's hearts as they watched the pasty brown tentacles save the day. But as time went on, a sinking feeling came over them, both of them with the same look of acknowledgement, like they knew what was going on.
"KANUM, I'M GOING AHEAD!" Anxiety fully flooded Locce as he frantically yelled to his friend before departing, leaving only a streak of the color palette from his figure behind as he vanished.
Locce couldn't care less anymore about losing some Node canisters, because as long as he had one, there's a chance that he might be able to save his friend, Tali.
...
Right as the floating district was finally back up to the level it should be, a loud male voice announced its presence.
"TALI, ABSORB IT!"
In the next moment, Locce threw a glowing brown Node canister as hard as he could with his only hand at Tali.
Quickly, right as the Node canister got about halfway to Tali, the brown light immediately vanished, as Tali's deprived body instinctively absorbed all the Node that single canister had.
"Haaaaaaaa-!" Following that, Tali's eyes became clear again as he sucked in one striking breath.
Due to Tali suddenly regaining his mental clarity, the connection he had with the floating districts was suddenly lost, causing his hold on the districts to completely detach.
*Bruu-*
Before the districts could start falling, a human figure with only one arm stood in between them and attempted to carry the floating districts with his own power until Tali recovered.
"Uuugggh, this is im-impossible."
Locce tried his best, using practically all his Node in one go to hold up the districts, but yet, all he could do with the full extent of his power was to slow it down.
1 second... 2 seconds... 3 seconds... 4 seconds...
Finally, on the 5th second, right as Locce gave out, the weight of the districts suddenly disappeared.
"Tali-" before Locce could finish, his body gave out, and soon, even the marble kayak he was standing on disappeared, sending Locce downward, plummeting from 100 feet in the sky.
Right as Locce began falling, stacks upon stacks of transparent black petals manifested from below his body in a straight line, and as his body impacted the first petal, it broke, and the remaining petals followed suit until they broke his fall completely, safely delivering him to the ground.
"Gotcha!" Kanum expressed relief as he ran to his friend.
"You go back first, I'm going to hang out with my new friend." Kanum smiled with a hint of seriousness in his eyes.
After detaching all the Node canisters from Locce's body, Kanum just left them there, not bothering with them since, at some point, Tali must've absorbed all the Node in them, so there is no use in letting the empty Node canisters slow them down.
Holding Locce between his arms, Kanum quickly ran back to the safe zone and shrugged off the responsibility of taking care of his friend to another musician before running into the air again to get to Tali.
...
"Hey~ I have more Node canisters for you." Kanum sung as he landed next to Tali.
Hearing Kanum's announcement, Tali nodded with his pale face in acknowledgement, never losing focus on the floating abomination under his control.
"I'm going to make sure you don't do that again," Kanum voiced out, his goofy demeanor suddenly taking a drastic turn to becoming serious.
The air around Kanum was cold and oppressive, giving no room for refusal.
Despite being leagues upon leagues above Kanum in terms of power, Tali still felt a cold chill surging through his body.
At this moment, thanks to Locce and Kanum's delivery, the districts, although not in the best state, took off and continued their expedition, inching slowly toward the safe zone to conserve Node.
Just a single second of movement requires a quarter of a Node canister, which could completely replenish the node of most middle-grade musicians from zero, but luckily for them, more than half of the floating districts were already inside the safe zone, so as long as Tali maintains a steady pace while Kanum monitors his Node levels, then all they need is to maintain it in the sky, which requires significantly less Node until all the passengers are fully recovered.
....
"It looks like we're not needed here anymore. Can I... I mean, we can go and support the other evacuation zones," a crimson-haired woman out of a team of musicians voices out anxiously.
Since all they could do was watch as Tali navigated the floating districts to fully enter the safe zone, the other musicians were left with nothing else to do.
All they could do was help the doctors with the grunt work, since most earth resonance path users wouldn't have the adequate power or medical knowledge to make a significant difference.
So, when the other musicians heard Shelt's suggestion, they all immediately thought it would be best to divert their efforts toward helping the other evacuation zones; even if they're late, at least a dozen lives could still be saved if they made the attempt to travel to the other evacuation zones.
"I'll be going then." Without waiting for an answer, Shelt announced her departure, immediately rushing north to where Ren and Rekka were.
Shelt looked around as she ran, trying to find an unobstructed area for her to take off. However, the entire area was packed; to her left were at least a thousand people lying on the ground on medical mats with a variety of main physical injuries. To her right, although the sight was similar, there were 3 to 4 times more injured people awaiting their treatment, and in the middle of this personification of agony were a few large and hastily put-together tents equipped with as much medical equipment and remedies as they could stuff in there.
As Shelt continued to acknowledge the sight around her, fears and worries began to slowly take over her mind, indicating that Shelt and everyone else is still suffering from the effects of the dying wail.
Luckily, because of Shelt's level head, created as a by-product of living with her husband, Kanum, she managed to take control over her emotions and quickly found a big enough area for her to launch off of, like an uninhabited island in the middle of a vast ocean of agony.
Stepping onto the empty spot, a paved path made of concrete below her feet, Shelt's right hand began to glow light green, indicating that she had activated the wind resonance.
*Eeeiiiiiiikkk*
In the next moment, she swung her glowing right hand downward, conjuring a sharp and screechy noise to shake the air around her as a sharp and concentrated blast of wind propelled her upwards, higher than most of the buildings in her path.
"I should have gone there sooner..." Shelt gritted her teeth, mouthing her regret right as her body reached the maximum altitude her initial blast of wind could achieve.