Tides Of Protomis LXXXI

Peace Broken?

Outside of Tokyo, there lied a much smaller city. A city of little note, even those in the area. This city was known as Chikawa. Though Chikawa itself wasn’t of note, one of its residents was. Within a small two-story house at the edge of the city, there sat a small two-story house. It was of a more traditional style, the walls lined with timber, and the roof covered with gray ceramic tiles. In stark contrast to the buildings around it, mostly built of brick and concrete. Within it, was a rather bare bedroom, filled with a desk. bed, and not much else. Though the desk did have a small mirror, where a girl, wearing a white shirt, and jeans looked at herself. She ran her hand through her violet locks, as she grabbed her holo-phone, and shoved it into her pocket.

“Alright, I’m ready.”

She ran out of the room, and then, down the stairs, the sound of which, caught the attention of a gray-haired woman within the home’s living room, who glanced over her shoulder. The effects of age had had some effect on her, given the wrinkles that covered most of her face. She stood up and trudged toward the doorway, soon finding the girl descending from the stairs, and going to the front door. She took note of her approach as well, as she looked over her shoulder with a smile, she waved, before turning away.

“Well, I'm off, I'll be back later- Koyama-san!”

The older woman was Mizuki Koyama, Living for a long, but not unordinary age of 112. Following her gaining proto-human abilities, it was not as if she could return home. With her parents and much of her family being hardline purists, It became very apparent to her that there was little chance of fixing their relationship. And, all in all, she wasn’t very interested in the first place. As she made her way around Tokyo, she took odd jobs, hoping to get an apartment for herself, struggling quite a bit before Koyama took her in. She was grateful to her, to say the least.

“Stay safe out there, never know what could happen nowadays!”

“I will!!”

Miyamoto soon changed into her shoes, and exited the house, making her way onto the street… Her tone, her expression, it was jubilant. For a moment, she stood, as she determined her route. Then, she began jogging.

“I’m so excited, I’m so glad I get to see Kazimir again…”

However, she paused, as the smile on her face began to shrink, replaced with a more neutral expression.

“But I mustn't forget why I decided to call him.”

She soon began to think about how to explain her situation to him. All things said this could be considered pretty unbelievable. Though, with who she was talking to here, perhaps, not too much. Hell, Corde had even somehow met some guy who’d been dead for over three thousand years. Much longer than any proto-human was capable of living. Elsewhere, Kazimir walked down the street, instead of the school’s uniform, opting to wear a simple black tracksuit. His attention, however, was not on the street, rather the holo-phone in front of him. Though, as his spine tingled, he became aware of the one in front of him and looked up. As he tapped the side of the device, the display went down. The two continued stopping within a few feet of one another.

“Junko”

“Kazimir…”

Junko opened her arms, as did Kazimir, as they hugged one another, though briefly, pulling away soon afterward. Unbeknownst to them, however, or, seemingly at the least, on the rooftops of one of the many buildings, an older man wearing a white cloak squatted on the edge. In his hands, was a terminal. As his hands dragged across the screens, the footage shown seemed to change angles and zooming. The focus of the footage itself, were the two themselves. How did they get this footage? That was the fault of the drone above them. A small black hunk of metal, with propellers keeping it afloat. Though, it was high enough that it seemed to simply be a speck to those on the ground. All the while, the man spoke into the device with a deep, gruff voice.

“Commander Hawks, Violet Devil, and ESP-2 are in my sights, I repeat, Violet Devil and ESP-2 are in my sights.”

Soon, appearing on a small section of the screen, was the man himself. A tan-skinned man with Black Orbs. The same color as his long head of hair. He leaned back into his chair as he fell into thought, attempting to think of a good tactic. They were both targets they had to take seriously. But, that was a given, since command put so much effort into observing them. Eventually, he did decide upon something.

“Do not pursue- I repeat, do not pursue, Keep the quicksilver on them for as long as possible, be careful to avoid notice, despite their age, they both fought against the leaders of the Kaemerge, we helped eject that organization itself, so we all know how troublesome they were. The last thing we need is a battle on our hands.”

“Yes Sir!”

The two continued their stroll, acting as if they were unaware. Though, unseen to the drone, the two were communicating. They glanced at one another, as they turned off of the sidewalk, and made their way into an alley. Of course, the operator moved the drone to follow. It was then that the two stopped. The operator paid this no mind. At the least, until they turned on their heels, and looked directly at the drone!

“Shit!”

Soon, a red light grew around Kazimir’s palm, and it soon obscured the drone’s camera. All the while, the drone was crushed under the force of Kazimir’s assault. The feed was replaced by static.

“Commander, they detected our surveillance.”

As Kazimir watched the remains of the drone fall to the ground, his gaze soon went back to Miyamoto.

“A drone…? Who would be watching us?”

Miyamoto took a step closer to him as she spoke.

“You see, that’s what I came here to talk about… You already know that I can convert my protomis into demonic energy, bring out “demons” along with that…”

“Of course.”

She turned away from him, opting to look into the sky.

“The thing is, ever since Tsugashuan stronger demons have been appearing… Usually, the stronger demons can’t exit their realm without a direct link, with Hyperion's being me, of course.”

This was interesting indeed. Hyperion was pretty strong from what he displayed last time she’d brought him in as support. But to think that there were more like him running around.

“Do you know why this has been happening?”

“No, though I’ve been looking into it… From what I’ve heard- the upper echelon of demons could easily outclass the apostles, likely even Ignatius…Perhaps farther”

His eyes widened.

“What?! Even with our training, that could be an issue…”

“Yeah, but, that’s not all. Now then, there’s still something else we need to talk about, the ones who were watching us… From what I know, they’re a group that calls themselves the “holy order”... To sum it up, they hunt demons… I’ve always had to deal with them since my abilities awakened. They haven’t been aggressive per se, but they do enjoy keeping eyes on me when they can. Though I will say, lately, they’ve been watching more closely.”

Kazimir put his hands on his chin.

“This is strange indeed… I’ve never heard of the “Holy order”. But then again, I believed demons were simple fantasy before we met… We may want to inform Arctaius and the others as well-- just in c--”

However, he was soon cut off, as a strange sound filled his ears, as well as hers, ’s as they glanced over their shoulders, A red void soon formed behind them. Larger than both of their bodies.

“That’s… What’s going on here?”

Soon, the furred skull-clad beast exited the portal, though some were larger than others, and others and their fur colors were different, it was clear that they were similar. Perhaps, aside from the largest one, who had sleek skin, lacking fur at all. A look of confusion was soon etched onto Miyamoto’s face. But, she soon regained her composure, as a red glow surrounded her fist, she burst forward, slamming her fist into it. And, from there on, it seemed to dissipate into the air. Kazimir soon did the same, coming forth, and punching yet another, which also seemed to dissipate. Regardless, the last two charged, disregarding their destroyed comrades. Only to be obliterated, by, small, yet effective bursts of energy, coming from their palms. They stood there for a few moments, before, A frown made its way onto Miyamoto’s face.

“...Reavers”

Part B

Elsewhere, Arctaius found himself surrounded by the very same beasts. Though he did not understand what was going on, he remained calm. As a golden light flew out of him, the beasts around him were vaporized, with red particles floating, and seemingly disappearing, just as they had before. Arctaius dusted his hands off as he began glancing around once again, checking for any more possibly arriving.

“The hell was that...? Can’t be one of the life weaver's works…And based upon the familiar Protomis I just sensed…It looks like I wasn’t the only one to encounter them. I doubt it was a coincidence.”

Indeed, it was not, A broad-shouldered boy with wild, spiky white hair stood within an alley. Wearing a pair of gray sweatpants, and a black shirt. Something expected for someone like him. After all, he never really cared about appearances all that much.

“Well then… Perhaps I'd better contact the others… You guys will be fine here, right?”

Behind Jirou, was his retinue, several men wearing suits, some of which had gained some injuries, sat behind him, the man in the forefront, bald, with a pair of sunglasses, known as Sato Kazuma, was the first to speak.

“There’s no problem… Just get back in time, we still have the rest of the Koboyashi to deal with…”

Jirou Nodded

“Right… I’ll see you all later, then. Tell dad I went to meet with the others.”

Soon, a Chime filled Jirou’s ears. His glance fell upon his pocket, as he pulled out the source, his holo-phone. He tapped the side, bringing the display up, and looking upon one of the notifications, A message from Kazimir appeared on screen, he soon tapped on it, opening the group chat they commonly used. The message itself was simply“An issue has popped up, Same place as usual.”. Jirou soon turned his phone off, and began walking… Elsewhere, however, Alarick had his own issues. In one of the Shima ward’s many parks, he sat on a bench with eyes closed, at the least, trying to ignore the one sitting beside him, A golden-haired youth with green eyes, about an inch taller than him. His rather extravagant white robes lined with gold. This was one of his distant relatives. Eadwig von Blutstein, the 3rd son of the Realms of Speilbach’s Royal Family. A relative he did not like very much. Though, he did not like most of those in that family, given the degree to which he did not know him.

“You don’t get it, We are nobles, we come from the same ancestors, we are of a different breed! You will begin to stink of peasant if you stay here any longer, You must take your birthri-”

Eventually, the man began to block him out, or at the least, attempted to, as he fell into his thoughts. As his annoyance continued to grow, he grit his teeth, at the least, trying to keep cool.

“Wichtigtuer…”(Pompous Ass)

Even as he cursed in his mind, the man did not stop. All this talk of birthright this, legacy that. It only annoyed him more, so much for keeping cool. His head shot over to the man, as he began to glare at him. Apparently, his piercing gaze was more than enough to silence him, it was only following this that he let out a deafening yell.

“For the last time, My name is Alarick Grayhelm. Alarick Von Zaisen is dead!”

He forcefully stood up, as he turned on his heel. For a moment, he was silent, calming down after his outburst. He glanced back, taking note of the man with his arms in front of him as if he tried to protect himself. He turned away from him as he spoke.

“Go find someone else to bother, Ea-”

He paused, as he soon heard an unfamiliar sound from behind him. Once again, the result was a portal. Something which caught both of their attention. Alarick raised an eyebrow at this development. Eadwig soon stood as well, as he stepped closer to it.

“What is this-”

Soon, jumping out of the portal, where four of the very same skull-clad beasts, who soon jumped at the youth. However, Alarick was quicker. Within a moment, he appeared in front of his cousin, his straightened fingers surrounded in a dark glow, once again, resembling a sword. It was after this that he began swiping, turning the reavers into mincemeat. At the least, until what remained dissipated.

“Well…”

He was soon interrupted by a rumbling. Glancing down at his pocket, he soon pulled out his holo-phone, as he turned on the display, taking note of the same message that was sent to the others. He turned it off and placed it back into his pocket. He soon began walking away, only for a hand to fall upon his shoulder, which made him stop.

“Hold on, what were those things?”

He glanced over his shoulder.

“Hell if I know.”

He soon began walking once again, leaving the youth standing there. As he began to get further away, the man began to fall to the back of his mind. Something more important, at least, to him, came to the forefront.

“Well then, it seems like this “peace” didn’t last very long...Though, I can’t exactly say I’m surprised.”

Elsewhere, however, in a Location unknown to them all, there sat Commander hawks. In the large dimly lit room around him, there were hundreds of men wearing cloaks as the one on the building had earlier. Many of which scrambled around in the lighter sections of the room. Though, the ones around them had their nose buried into the terminals, as did he. Though many of them did not pay attention to the screen, rather, they paid attention to their superior, who looked down upon the footage in confusion. At the least, until A soldier stepped forward.

“Commander-”

“I’m aware, D-Classes…It’s uncommon for them to act in unity. Usually, they’d just consume one another.”

A gravelly voice sounded off next.

“That raises a question, sir, what could be going on here?”

“I’m not sure…”

Hawks went silent as he attempted to determine his next course of action. The situation was unusual, though one may have been able to dismiss it as a fluke beforehand. Not so much with the current situation being what it was. Ignoring an irregularity could end up being their doom. As anyone who had fought demons for long enough would say, it was a domino effect. One irregularity could end up creating more…. And he would not let that happen. He turned his attention to another one of his men, sitting at one of the terminals. Something which the man took notice of, as he returned his gaze.

“Open Communication channels with HQ, Increase surveillance on the Violet Devil, and her associates…”

To Be Continued