Tides Of Protomis XXIV

Far away from either group, Kingston, or within Yamato, an enemy that gave the four tides trouble… In no small amount either, sat within an unknown location. A wooden shack within a forest, nestled in an opening between the tall, strong oak trees that lined the area. Given the state, the dwelling had since been abandoned by whoever its inhabitants were. However, that only worked to the advantage of the one who found himself within, Ito Minoru, the 1st apostle, wearing a Hakama, that, at the least, looked somewhat similar to his previous one. But, that was not the only thing one took note of. There was also the communicator, the sole source of light in the room.It projected the images of 4 others. The silhouette of a man with wild spiky hair, marked II lay on the left. The one in the center, marked III, had the clear outline of a woman. While, the one of the very right, marked IV, was yet another man,his hair much more kempt than that of the seconds. But, above them all, was another, sitting on a throne, details of his body unseen as well.

The four apostles had come together, for the moment, it was silent, until a sultry, womanly voice came from the third, as the visuals notified them.

“Ito...You’ve finally joined us.”

Ito closed his eyes, as he put his blade over his shoulder.

“Quiet yourself, Third… I have no interest in speaking with you.”

This much elicited a chuckle from the Third.

“I see your anger over the war between our respective houses still stays. How immature of you.”

A sigh came from another one of them, the fourth.

“You two are arguing again? Must you do this in all of our meetings. This meaningless Squabble gets us nowhere. ”

For a moment, silence returned, before the formerly silent member, the second, spoke.

“We all know the answer to that, Fourth…”

Minoru opened his eyes once again.

“You’re mistaken if you think that you won… We all know what the result of that would have been had his excellency not stopped me...Why would I dwell upon it.”

“How Strange...You took the words out of my mouth- we all know that i would’ve been the vic-”

However, before she finished, she was cut off by a new voice.

“Silence-- The both of you...We have more important things to worry about then your quarrel...”

And, with his words, the argument came to a stop. For a few more moments, it remained like this, until he parted his lips to speak once more.

“Now then...Ito- what is the status of the four tides?”

“As I was about to end them, a proto-human, who I believe to be from the Yamato Military, arrived to interrupt me. I estimate that he is a high-tier...Due to Lafeyah’s Poisons- I was not at full capacity. It's likely that they have left by now.”

Now, a sigh came from the second.

“So that’s what happened. That Lafeyah knows what he’s doing… Unfortunately, it’s to our detriment”

“Hmph. It only makes sense...I was the one who trained him after all.”

Minoru perked up at these words.

“Then I suppose it does make sense that he defected...Considering how treacherous you are- you must have had a hand in that…”

“Just what is that supposed to mean?Are you insinuating that I was the cause of his defection?”

Now, it was quite clear that the tension was building. Even if they hadn’t been in direct contact with one another... If the two had the chance, they’d certainly have tried to strike each other.

“You did spend the most time around him in recent years..And you were responsible for upkeep control of him...It only makes sense. As we all know.... Shazin’s hammer of justice comes down upon traitors of those who’d betray the Ardamite faith.”

Now, her tone of voice changed, what was once, somewhat offended, had now turned to outright rage.

“You’d dare invoke the name of one of the inner circle?! To insinuate that I’m a Tr-”

“Did I not tell you two to cease this? Do not forget that I can execute you two myself if you get out of line like you did all those years ago…”

Now, cut off by the stern voice, the two became silent once more. Minoru closed his eyes, leaning back into his seat. All the while, the third seemed to draw back, away from the screen as well.

“Now then… The simple fact remains that the power of those 4 will grow quickly-- possibly enough to become a threat to us. Not only this- but we have possibly been compromised with Lafeyah defecting.”

“I’m afraid that lafeyah has destroyed all means of communication- So while he won't be able to navigate bases he has not been to. It will be much harder to track him.”

The man hummed in acknowledgment.

“And what of Yu Liang?”

“I find it improbable that he would defect when he believes that we’ll provide him with a cure for velox mortem...And even then- if he figures it out, we'll still have his final family member.”

“And what of the traitor… The one the sentinels captured?”

“Unknown, your excellency…”

Now, the leader sighed, as he leaned back into his throne.

“I will have to discuss that matter with them directly…”

As he trailed off, the flow of questions stopped. And the call became quiet once more… As the man himself began to think, considering all the factors that were just shoved into his face, it’d be unwise to make any large movements, especially at the risk of being discovered… Finally, he came to his decision.

“Meeting Adjourned. For right now, Have our forces observe the areas near fortresses close to Santa Maria. Otherwise- maintain status quo.”

The man on the throne watched, as one by one, the screens closed, leaving him by himself. Now, his gaze went up, to the marbled ceiling that lined the throne room.

“Those two…”

Pacific Ocean, 9:50 PM JST

The Soryu made its way over the crisp blue waters of the pacific. For the most part, seemingly to the only aircraft, or ship anywhere near there, and, the only source of light, bar the moon. The ones who took note of this as well, were those in the Cargo bay, Corde’s friends, looking outside the small windows that lined the walls. Though, if what they saw was anything to go by, they were nowhere near Kingston, about halfway at the most. Now that five hours had passed, much of the enthusiasm disappeared. As such, the bay was mostly quiet, save for the occasional conversation between Yudei, Shinto, and Akashi. They weren't hungry, as Shinto thought to bring food with him. Since neither Jirou nor Tsumotsu had come down, they looked to be fine for now, all things considered, they were doing quite well for stowaways. The ride had seemingly gone on without a hitch. That was, until, Yudei, closest to a door that led to another part of the ship, heard the distinct sound of shoes clanging on the metal floors. He perked up as he began glancing around.

“Hey- Do you guys hear something?”

As he mentioned it, now they did. Asami swiftly stood up.

“One of them must be coming down, we’ve got to hide!”

They then did just that, scrambling into the crates that were open, While Asami and Shinto found themselves in their own crates, placing the lid on the other two… That was a different story, as Yudei jumped into a crate, as did Akashi, though it happened to be the same one.

“Wh- Akashi, Find your own crate- it’s too small for the both of us!” He whispered

Akashi turned his gaze toward Yudei.

“For what, so I can go out and get caught? If you haven’t realized the only empty crate is on the OTHER SIDE OF THE Cargo bay... “

As he took note of the man’s loudness, Yudei didn’t correct him on it, rather, he got louder himself.

“Well Maybe if y-”

“Oh- you don’t need to do that to be caught… I sensed you as I came down here, you’re past that point already.”

Yudei went silent as he was cut off, with his eyes widening in surprise. While he kept his gaze forward, beside him, Akashi slowly turned his head, as Tsumotsu, looking down upon them, the lid to the crate in his hand, standing over them. Afterward, Akashi sprung out of the crate, landing just beside it, as he pointed at Yudei.

“See what you did? now we got caught!!”

As Akashi yelled, Yudei sprung up as well, getting into his face.

“What I Did?! How is this my fault?!”

“How could it not be?!”

As the two continued their bickering, Shinto watched this with his expression unchanged, while Asami facepalmed, shaking her head.

“These two… Are they really arguing right now?”

Eventually, the two stopped, and the cargo bay became quiet once more, at least, until Tsumotsu placed the lid of the crate down.

“Are you done yet…?”

Akashi turned his gaze back to Tsumotsu. He said nothing in response, as he tried to think of a way out of this. Because, truth be told, intruding on a military ship wasn’t a very good look. He pivoted, now, facing the man completely.

“Well- Heh, Isn’t this quite the situation- with time, I'm sure We can ex-”

He cuts himself off- attempting to begin running. But, before he got far, Tsumotsu grabbed his neck from behind, as if he was grabbing a cat by the scruff of his neck. Now he began to gaze across the room, taking note of the other two crates that didn’t seem to be in their original positions.

“I know you’re there, you two come out too.”

Asami and Shinto alike stiffened at this. Neither moved out of their spots.

“Well...This didn’t last for too long.” Shinto thought, as he removed the crate’s lid, standing up, and stepping out. Soon after, Asami did the very same.

Part B

It was but a few minutes later that the four found themselves sitting on the level above. It was simply designed, on one end of the ship, there sat a table, with a window giving a view of the area outside the ship, with a kitchenette just beside it. To the other end, were a collection of bunk beds, presumably for the squad to sleep in, during their longer missions. The four all found themselves sitting at this table. Asami sat with her arms placed on it, while Akashi leaned back into his seat. Yudei was hunched over the table. While Shinto sat with his nose buried in a book. On the other side, sat Jirou and Tsumotsu. While Jirou’s gaze went out the window, Tsumotsu’s laser focus stayed on the four.

“You see-- we just wanted to see Corde. When I heard you both talking about him being in Kingston- I told everybody else…” Akashi Mumbled.

To Akashi’s left, Shinto closed the book in his hand, placing it onto the table.

“After what transpired, we all felt the need to begin a conversation with him.”

Tsumotsu sighed at this.

“:Is that so… We were tasked to protect you and whatnot, although- considering how close we are to Kingston, it’d make no sense to turn back now...I’ll allow you to come the rest of the way with us.”

Asami perked up, a smile covered her face.

“Really?! I'm so glad!”

However, quickly realizing what she’d said, and the attention that it brung to her, she stiffened up, before she composed herself, returning to her poker face.

“I- I mean… I guess that’s cool and all…”

Though she looked rather neutral externally, Internally, it was a different story.

“What?! Who’s gonna believe that?! That’s cool and all?! Who says that? be honest for once you idiot!!” She yelled internally

If the gazes that were put on her were anything to go by… She was right about one thing. But, this was interrupted by the one who turned his attention forward first.

“That aside- it’s likely going to be the next day by the time we get there… You all get some rest.”

Elsewhere, the one that’d been mentioned just before, lay on the roof of one of the city of Kingston's many buildings, a smaller residential building. Just beside him was Kazimir, looking off the edge, Alarick and Zhao, laying down as well, with Bijan just in front of Arctiaus, and Liang on the opposite end. While the roof didn’t have any lights in itself, it was lit up by the lights from the city around them. The roof was mostly silent, save for the sounds of the city below. It was at it’d been on Kazimir’s ship beforehand. At the least, until, one Yu Liang stood up, Focusing his gaze on the five.

“Let’s get this out of the way- I'm going to make this distinction- we are not friends… Our goals just happen to align.”

As he heard him speaking, sitting up, was Arctaius.

“We’re not idiots, we understand that much. Besides, it’s not as if it isn’t the same for us.”

Behind him, Kazimir glanced over his shoulder at the two.

“Let’s forget about that for a second. What are we going to do about finding that fortress? We haven’t been able to get much information from anywhere.”

“It doesn't help that we need to be discreet...There are proto-humans stronger than me and Bijan in the Kaemerge, Even if they aren’t apostles, they are nobody to trifle with… Speaking of which- How did you manage to survive Minoru, even if he wasn’t serious. He should be much stronger than anyone here…”

“Lafeyah’s poisons… they helped us out a lot.” Responded Arctaius.

Liang glanced at Bijan, who rubbed the back of his neck.

“Those poisons of yours...To weaken someone like that to that level.”

“If nothing else- I pride myself in the potency of my poisons…”

“Not much else we can do for tonight...I’m going to sleep. I think I might know a guy who can help us out, but he probably ain’t awake at this hour.”

Arctaius soon layed down, as did the rest… Well aside from one, Sitting on the edge of the roof, was Kazimir. Many things ran through his head, but one thing came to the very forefront, especially as his gaze went to the ones he’d traveled with. He kept quiet for some moments, until it finally came out.

“Dammit man...This group is such a sausage fest… Couldn’t we at least find one girl?!”

To Be Continued