Tides Of Protomis LXVIII

A battle between Mother And Son?! Kazimir’s struggle!

Kazimir’s expression remained as it had been before. Even with the many battles the boy had taken part in, even with how many he’d killed. His flesh and blood ended up being one of his enemies he’d come to fight against. Even if he hadn’t said it outright, he was still struggling to come to terms with this. Amelia opened her hands and her arms, almost as if offering a hug… Even so, he did not move. Especially considering who it was, he was dealing with.

“You being my son and all… perhaps we could reach an agreement, join me. As of now, House Livert has no heir… You could easily fill that role. All we need to do is clear away the coalition and the ones you came here with.”

Kazimir snapped back to reality. He floated above for some moments in silence, as if he’d begun to contemplate. But such thoughts were pushed out of his head. As the red light began swarming around him once again, he clenched his fists.

“Did you think that because you told me that, I’d join you?! Regardless of who you are to me… You’re with the group that not only caused the war but the death of the rest of my family!!!”

She scoffed at Kazimir’s words.

“You don’t get it, do you? I am family… But if you decide to keep fighting, I won’t hold back against you…”

The light around Kazimir began to intensify as the ground around them began to rumble, though subtly.

“It’s unfortunate that it had to end up like this. I’ll ask you just one thing, Amelia Livert. Will you continue to support the Kaemerge?”

Taking note of both his words and his physical response, the woman crossed her arms once again as a light swirled around her as well. It began spreading, coming to meet his in the middle… Even as they took no action, their respective influences pushed against each other, almost unconsciously.

“But of course, I would not betray Ardam so easily.”

Kazimir arched his brows as a frown formed on his face…

“If that’s the case, then my view is quite simple. You are my enemy, nothing more.”

“Good... It seems the son of House Livert is no weakling.”

What was at first subtle shaking became much more pronounced as the ground around the two began to break apart. With the range of the destruction expanding, the structures around them as well. The two espers began to levitate, gradually accelerating as they did so. Before stopping right, above the edges of the gorge itself. With the two focusing their gazes on each other. All the while, Kazimir continued to reinforce his will.

“You can’t hesitate… Not after you’ve gotten this far. All that training and fighting, It won’t go to waste!! You didn’t spend all those years building your strength up.”

The two faced off for some moments before they both clasped their hands, with wave after wave of debris coming up to surround them both. And as the two opened their hands, out went their respective attacks. The rubble crashed between them, dust kicked up as a result. The resulting pieces coming from the impacts soon glowed as well before flying at their respective opponents. For some time, neither would move, instead opting to break off debris from the earth, the buildings of Tsugashuan, and even from the gorge's wall. Eventually, Kazimir grew impatient. He would soon burst forward to close the range between them. Something which was met by attacks from Amelia. He began to zip around the sky, handily avoiding the objects sent at him as debris began to blur around him. As his speed increased again, drawing closer and closer as he shouted out two words.

“Esper’s Fist!!!”

Amelia threw her arms out, her palms facing him. Given how their last hand-to-hand battle went.

“Not this time!!!”

Before Kazimir got into melee range, he soon found that a cell of red Hexagons, almost like a honeycomb, appeared in front of him, its size dwarfing him. Amelia’s barrier did not stop there, however. Multiple identical fields appeared behind it, covering the woman from his attack, and though, with the force of his punch, he shattered 3 of the layers, he eventually stopped, withdrawing for a short moment. However, he would steel himself as he formed his left fist once again before continuing his charge, shattering layer after layer. Until he found himself covered in a lighter red glow, Courtesy of Amelia, his assault stopped as he was thrown back.

“Dammit. What am I doing?! It’s as if my body is unconsciously trying to stop me… With what she’s done, why does it do so?! Regardless, I need to keep going fort-”

His thoughts were interrupted as the field in front of him disappeared, much to his surprise. At the least, until he noted what happened in front of him, the light that swallowed Amelia’s palms became brighter as she shouted out.

“Psi-Wave!!!”

A ray of crimson flew forth, with Kazimir’s eyes widening as a result. It was something he didn’t have, no doubt… He swiped his hand upward, with a field of red combs appearing in front of him, his attempt to stop the attack in its tracks. However, it was ineffective at best, as the blast plowed right through it, as the red shattered and dissipated, barreling toward the youth. Within moments, it reached him. He grunted with effort as he focused on not being thrown back by the beam. He found that not only was his jacket ripped by the force, but he also found that patches of his skin were damaged as well.

“If I let this continue… The constant stream of energy will be a problem. If I can redirect it, for even a moment.”

He began to put his plan into action. Slowly but surely, he began to move his arms, Extending them past his body and showing his palms before yet another field appeared in front of him. Slowly but surely- moved his hands before showing his palms and creating a shield directly in front of him. Amelia squinted her eyes as she took notice… And though the shield was beginning to break down some moments after, it was more than enough for Kazimir to dive out of the way before it broke, starting his charge at Amelia. Her eyes darted to the boy, who now charged at her from her left.

“Tch.”

As the shield shattered, the beam continued to fly forward for a moment… But it would soon bend! Moving to follow Kazimir. As he glanced over his shoulder, having picked up on the sound of the beam, he’d taken notice. The youth said nothing as he soon began to change his flight path, weaving around while the beam followed him. Beginning to place rubble in the beam’s path. To the untrained eye, it looked like it was plowing through his defenses with no effect. However, the direction of the blast began to change at every impact, though subtly. As more pieces of the rubble came to his defense, however, the effect became much more pronounced as he continued to avoid the woman’s attacks, again and again.

“It may look like a desperate defense…. But it seems to me that that beam of yours tends to either avoid obstacles or plow through them… If I continue to weave around as well- her advance will be weakened!”

Amelia would soon close her eyes as the light around her intensified once again… However, as she opened them, the beams would not hit the obstacle placed in front of them. Instead, they opted for splitting up into four smaller ones!

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“What?!”

A smirk covered Amelia’s face… Though the strategy wasn’t all bad, it was still based upon incomplete information. Clearly, he hadn’t mastered all aspects of the ability they shared.

“I know very well what you’re trying to do!!”

The respective beams soon sped up as they weaved around Kazimir’s shield of debris, the first hit, catching him in the arm, the second was dodged, given that he’d sensed it, the third caught him, and the fourth was avoided.

Part B

Years beforehand, within a house in the center of Nizhny Novgorod, though somewhat damaged by age, it still stood quite well. Within this same house was a young Kazimir standing to the right of a black-haired man within a relatively empty room. The boy stared up at his father, Vadim Rhuskov. His blue orbs looked outside, his gaze falling on the buildings outside their house, which mostly dwarfed the humble home. The man had changed quite a bit, now sporting a thick beard. This, and his face having visibly aged, with some lines and small wrinkles having appeared across it. As the father and son sat together, the boy seemed quieter than usual. And one could say that there was a reason for that, something he’d thought about for a while…

He’d debated on speaking to his father about it and only recently made that decision.

“Dad…”

This caught Vadim’s Attention, and he looked down upon the boy.

“Where-- Did mother go? Why did she leave? “

Vadim turned in his chair, his legs now swinging over the side… For some time, he considered how to tell him this. Despite her disappearance, he did not want to destroy the boy's opinion of his mother, however neutral it was, especially without a chance to explain herself. And not without him being of a mature enough age to form his own opinion on the matter. Eventually, he placed his hand on the boy’s head. Kazimir’s gaze went further upward due to this, as his father simply smiled.

“Your mother had her reasons for leaving. As for why, well, she felt that… It would be better for you if she left… But, believe me, you will meet your mother… One way or another.”

Kazimir frowned as he came back from his thoughts of the past. He needed to stay focused on the task at hand. His hardened gaze stayed on Amelia as he began to pound the same thing he’d believed before back into his head.

“That same bodily response… If I’m to win, I need to push any hesitation away… She does not care. If you allow her to get the advantage, you will die, Kazimir…”

“All this time... I lived with the cloth pulled over my eyes… “She felt that it would be better for you…” As if… Now that I have destroyed that cloth, I shall destroy you as well!!!”

The light around him flared up once again. The woman hardened her gaze as well. She could see the signs even if she hadn’t seen him for a while. Whatever happened, any hesitation he had was pushed away. She had but one thing to say.

“Is that so? Then come and try it.”

“I won’t “try”. I will succeed!”

Kazimir soon withdrew from her range as debris flew to surround him once again. However, unlike last time, he did not use it to protect himself. Instead, he clasped his hand, with the resulting rubble flying at her from all directions. As her eyes shot around, she formed yet another shield around herself, stopping the attack, but not for long. The shields shattered under the pressure as Kazimir tightened his fists. Amelia, however, was not willing to allow this to happen. She soon flashed out of the attack’s range, leaving the debris to crash into each other. Kazimir’s eyes flew to her new location as the now smaller pieces flew out of the dust of the larger, barreling toward the apostle. The woman would soon follow this up by throwing her hand out, attempting to seize control of the objects herself. The lighter glow washed the objects she’d sent as she threw her hands out. The two gritted their teeth with effort as they attempted time and time again to force their control over the objects… That was until Kazimir released his control, beginning his ascent far above his opponent.

“You want control over that rubble. You can have it. I have something better for you!”

Amelia’s eyes moved up to follow him. She grew suspicious of his actions. What did he gain from giving her control? So she thought for some moments until it came to her.

“He’s planning a different attack; that was a distraction!”

Indeed it was, as more debris flew off the walls of the gorge, as a mass formed in front of him, A gigantic stone slab, orange like the sands that surrounded them. As Kazimir threw his hands forward, the slab began barreling down at his opponent. However, the woman simply released her control, instead opting to take the slab for herself… Just what he was waiting for. The light around him began to grow more violent. As it expanded around him, entire buildings rose as the light of his growing aura lit up the night sky, catching the attention of many of those left within the city. Elsewhere, a squad of the coalition’s soldiers, four in total, sat within the ruins of a building, their gauss rifles in hand. It was dimly lit. The tallest of the four looked toward the west, watching for any enemies that might appear.

“Those Apostles or whatever they call ’em pack a punch... Haven’t even been able to advance with those two slugging it out.”

The shortest of those there, a woman, looked out into the street, observing what he’d spoken about. As dangerous as it was, she could not pry her eyes from the battle that was happening, even knowing that it could’ve distracted her… But her staring stopped as the red light that soon flew out hurt her eyes, nearly blinding her. She looked down, stepping back.

“Speaking of that… It looks to me like something’s going on with that guy that’s fighting the apostle.”

The other soldiers looked at her and now took notice of the intensifying light. They soon looked up as well, though they put their visors down first… Elsewhere, Zhao watched this from one of the destroyed buildings he took refuge in, seemingly, flanked by coalition soldiers... His look was one of confusion, to say the least. He’d seen the man practicing some sort of technique when they were on Yatahari, as had the others. Though he refused to use it on them or tell them what it was… But the signs indeed looked familiar.

“Kazimir…What is it that you created?” He questioned.

Miyamoto and Valerie stood on one of the smaller buildings, about five stories in height, watching this take place as well. Miyamoto soon shot upward, leaving a crater in the roof, with her violet locks flowing as she did so. She soon stopped as she had a clear view of the battle.

“What’s he doing?!”

Valerie soon flew up as well, coming to join her.

“Whatever it is, I’m sensing more protomis coming out of him.”

Jirou, Liang, and Bijan also floated above the city, watching this take place. Kazimir began to speak quietly as he saw his mother’s face one last time as the slab barreled toward him. Her expression was one of confusion. Where did he get this power from? From what little she gathered, she knew they’d trained, but this was far beyond her expectations.

“I need full concentration to pull this off… And I have it.”

He began to yell.

“We end this here, Atomic Dive!!!”

The light soon flashed forward, as all in front of Kazimir was quickly washed over by the light. The objects soon began warping before they seemed to disintegrate… Nothing in the man’s path was safe. Buildings, the soldiers, and the weapons that remained. What little civilians had remained above ground, unable to get to the shelters. The display left Amelia’s mouth agape in her surprise. She was quiet as the light barreled toward her, but she soon regained her composure as she spoke.

“What?! That’s… My technique? He’s evolved that far?”

Kazimir said nothing as he continued his attack. Instead, he simply thought.

“There’s no way for you to defend against this-- I’ll warp your molecules as a whole- It’s over!!!!”

Amelia put up one more last-ditch effort to secure her survival, a field of cells raised in front of her. Once again, for a moment, it stopped the light from reaching her. She grunted with effort as she attempted to keep her last line up, but it was ultimately ineffective. Finally, the shield gave way, and the light barreled toward her. She almost seemed like a deer in headlights, bereft of any chances to escape… As the light reached her, her body began to warp, limbs changed size, shrinking and expanding rapidly, and wounds began to spread farther throughout her body, but it was not limited to her outer layers. Her organs expanded and contracted, moved. Some even looked to have fused, though this wasn’t visible to Kazimir… It was painful, no doubt, yet no screams came out. Instead, the woman simply remained in her thoughts.

“I’ve… lost? This shouldn’t be possible… No, that much simply means he’s overpowered me. Perhaps, that just means that I’ve just succeeded as a parent... That’s all this means, I've --- Succeeded… And he, as a fighter. It’s unfortunate that he refused to join us. But either way… This feeling, is this what pride feels like?”

For a moment, her thoughts stopped… But even the idea of her so-called success came into question, by herself, no less.

“Yes… That must be it. But then again, even if I could tell him, what does that mean coming from me? One who has destroyed his chances of a normal life … The life of many others. Rather than studying or hanging out with their friends… Here we have orphaned children battling with people much older than them. Forced to mature without a semblance of a childhood. That is the result of my actions. And it took me seeing my son’s thirst for revenge to realize it…”

In the midst of her introspection, she began to look back upon her memories… What if she’d just stayed with her family? What if she’d left the Kaemerge and stood against them? Would the result be any different, any better for those she abandoned…? Eventually, she cleared her head and came to a single result.

“What use is there for what-ifs now? Either way, I’ll be gone soon. I guess this is how it ends…”.

The woman’s thoughts went silent as the sky returned to its normal darkened state. Amelia’s body, now no longer kept afloat by her abilities, began to fall. Crashing on the ground with a thud. With the high of his adrenaline gone, as Kazimir’s s eyes fell upon the deceased woman, his expression changed. Rather than enraged, he was simply mortified… Kazimir descended, and as he landed beside the woman, he fell to his knees. Just before he keeled over, punching the ground below him. It gave way under the force. With the display, he was reduced to what was simply frustration. Despite what she’d done, despite who she was with, he shouted out…

“DAMNITTTTTT!!!!”

To Be Continued

Elsewhere within the city, several men sat within one of the Kaemerge’s remaining shelters, separate from the mass amounts of people behind them. Luckily for those inside, it had remained untouched by the constant battles that happened around them. However, there was confusion rather than the usual organization and stoic attitude. Chatters about their situation began. As many of the men raised their visors, and some even moved to take off their helmets.

“What am I doing in this Armor?”

“I’d never fight for the nobles, nor the apostles… I’m not sure what happened. My memory is blanking around after I got called to Rizian.”

Another soldier, a man of dark skin, came to his side.

“It was the same for me. I’ve heard that Apostle Livert had some abilities. She was kind of like an esper. You think she had something to do with this?”

Another came forward, a fair-skinned man with green hair.

“It’s possible… But we need to gain our bearings first. We don’t know who our allies and enemies are.”

The one who spoke first removed his helmet, revealing a bald head underneath.

“If that’s the case, we need to group up with everyone else and see what else we can get.”

The four soon began to run toward the metal blast doors that led to the entrance.