HA\LF: Dead nor Alive

“Where have you been?” Vincent asked as he stood in front of Archie’s house. “I have been looking for you since yesterday.” Vincent continued.

“Why? Is there a problem?” Archie asked as he entered his house and Vincent followed him from behind.

“Not really, but Ruby is getting better after she took a medicine that the doctor gave me,” Vincent said as he kept looking at Archie. “What happened to you by the way? You looked like shit…” Vincent continued as he saw Archie’s torn shirt and jeans.

Archie grabbed a shirt in the wardrobe and removed his shirt but Vincent suddenly grabbed his shoulder. “What happened to your back?!” Vincent asked as he stared at Archie’s back.

“What do you mean?” Archie asked as he tried to look at his back but he couldn’t

“It’s hard to explain…” Vincent replied with a bit of fear in his tone. “I guess you should check it on the mirror.” Vincent continued.

Since Archie’s house didn’t have a mirror he couldn’t check it.

“I feel fine, so it must be nothing,” Archie said as he put on the shirt. “Anyway, I have to go again and I don’t know for how long until I get back to the city. One thing for sure is that I will be back five days from today.” Archie continued as he grabbed his bag.

“Wait, where are you going? What happened?” Vincent asked.

Archie sighed and looked at Vincent. “You said that Prince and Resse saw a guy, right?” Archie said while Vincent nodded. “I met him two days ago, he almost killed me but he spared my life,” Archie said as he checked his bag. “On the seventh day from that day, he will come back with parasites and kill you guys,” Archie explained as he looked at Vincent.

“Wait, what?!” Vincent looked at Archie with a surprised expression.

“I know, that’s why I have to go and get stronger…” Archie said as he put the bag on his back. “I have the Ex-Humans waiting for me so I can learn a few things from them,” Archie continued.

“So you’re going to leave?” Vincent asked as he furrowed his eyebrows and stared at Archie.

“Of course, as I said, I need to become stronger before I can face him again,” Archie replied as he walked past Vincent and toward the door.

“Are you sure you’re going to come back and not leave us to die?” Vincent asked as he squinted his eyes.

Archie turned around and sighed. “Talking with you is just going to waste my time, but I’m going to tell you one thing,” Archie said as he approached Vincent. “Before I become like this, I followed great people that I admired. They were the best of the best, and do you know what happened to them? They died because of their bravery. Bravery means nothing if you don’t have the power to balance it. I won’t make the same mistake as them.” Archie said as he glared at Vincent.

Vincent just stood there in silence while Archie walked away.

Archie went into the forest unnoticed, his sense was more accurate and he could detect danger from far away thanks to the new ability he possessed.

The moment Archie got into the forest he was welcomed by parasites, he dropped the bag and extended his fingers and claws.

“I’m no longer human, I’m me and I will become stronger…” Archie said to himself as he glared at the parasites.

He charged at them and scratched them like butter, he decapitated and mutilated those parasites without hesitation. After he killed every single one of them he looked at his fingers and was amazed by how powerful the ability he gained. He then looked at the parasites and ate them all up and left nothing.

“You’re being serious about this, huh?” the black-haired witch appeared from behind the tree.

“What makes you think that I’m joking?” Archie asked back at the woman.

The black-haired woman shrugged and then tilted her head to the right. “Come, follow me.”

Archie followed the black-haired witch from behind.

The black-haired witch ran so fast that it was hard for Archie to catch up with her. They both had been running for hours, the red sky he saw before he entered the forest already turned dark blue. He had been running and following the black-haired woman all night, he went deeper into the forest where the sky couldn’t be seen anymore because of the tall giant trees around him.

“We are here…” The black-haired witch said as she looked back at Archie.

Archie walked past the witch and saw a giant lake down below. “Where are we?” Archie asked as he walked to the edge of the cliff.

The witch stared at Archie and walked to Archie’s back. “It’s time for you to meet her…” The witch whispered into Archie’s ear.

“Meet wh-” Before Archie could finish his question, the witch pushed him off of the cliff.

Archie was free falling and slammed his body into the lake, but it surprised him that the lake wasn’t that deep. He could stand up with his head out of the water, he turned around and looked up at the witch. “What’s the meaning of this?!” Archie shouted at the witch.

“You have just disturbed her slumber, and now you will see her!” The witch shouted back at Archie.

Archie squinted his eyes and shook his head with confusion but then he could feel the ground shaking and he immediately felt a chill down to his spine. His eyes were sharpened and his whole body trembled, he turned around and saw something gigantic merged from the water.

A formless parasite with a gigantic mouth appeared from the lake, Archie saw massive arms and legs all over its body. The formless parasite screamed and growled at the same time as if it had so many vocal cords that could produce voices at the same time. Its scream and growl were enough to create tidal waves around it and scared the birds.

Archie was being washed up to the shore because of the tidal waves.

“That’s the one I’m talking about! You have to prove your strength and subdue her!” The witch shouted at Archie. “But it won’t be easy though!” The witch continued. “Because all of her children will come and protect her!” The witch shouted as she smiled sinisterly at Archie.

Before Archie could ask, his sense was sharpened and he immediately looked around the cliff, he saw dozens of parasites jumping down into the lake. From a very small parasite like a child up to a parasite that was as tall as a tree.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” The witch said. “Some of those parasites were an Axis Human so you must fight them!” The witch continued as she sat down on the edge.

Archie looked around him and he was already surrounded by parasites, he immediately extended his fingers and claws and charged at them.

Archie was stronger than most of them but since he was outnumbered by a lot, it was hard for him to not take any lethal attack from them. Archie was cornered with injuries all over his body but his regeneration ability helped him to survive. He kept attacking relentlessly until a parasite managed to block his claws.

“Ahh, it seems that you have finally found your match…” The witch said as she looked down and watched Archie.

Archie tried to push his fingers and claws toward the parasite but he was overpowered by the parasite’s strength which pushed him back in return. As he was getting knocked back by the parasite, the other parasites grabbed him from behind and started to bite him while they pulled his arms from both sides.

He couldn’t do anything as he screamed in pain and was surrounded by the slushing sound of his flesh eaten by the parasite. Then a pair of claws pierced through his chest, the claw of the parasite that pushed him back. Archie looked at the parasite and glared at him with blood coming out of his mouth.

Knowing that Archie was in a bad situation, the witch jumped off of the cliff to help him. She submerged from the lake as she walked toward Archie.

“I need your help sisters…” The witch said quietly.

Archie who was cornered on the cliff and struggled with his life suddenly roots broke through the walls and smacked the giant parasites away from him. The wind blew and the smaller parasites were pushed away from him, then the witch closed her eyes and the water followed her from behind as if it was her limbs. She splashed the parasites and washed them away from Archie but the one that Archie couldn’t beat was still there, standing in front of Archie with its claw in his chest.

“You one stubborn animal…” The witch stared at the parasite then grabbed its head and slammed the parasite down.

Archie fell to the ground as he watched the witch single-handedly beat the parasite.

The witch approached Archie with a smirk on her face. “How was it? It’s fun, right?”

Archie chuckled as he coughed. “What is that thing?”

The witch turned around to look at that ginormous, disgusting, scary-looking parasite and rested her hands on her waist. “We called her The Mother.”