HA\LF: Dead nor Alive

Eve and Archie were staring at the soldiers training in the field, they both were having fun scaling the Axis Humans’ power and compared it one with another. While they were busy playing around, Faye entered the barrack and she looked at them both smiling.

“Am I disturbing your alone time?” Faye asked with a smile on her face.

Archie looked at Faye and shook his head. “No, we are just playing around,” he said.

“Playing around? What are you guys playing?” Faye asked as she approached both of them and then looked out through the windows that they both were looking at. “You’re watching the soldiers training?” she asked as she looked at both of them.

“No, we are just comparing their strength and skills, that’s all,” Archie answered.

“You guys can tell by just looking at them? Is that what you guys are saying?” Faye asked as she looked at the Axis Humans training.

“Something like that, we have a keen eye when it comes to this kind of stuff,” Archie answered while nodding his head in agreement. “That guy over there is the strongest one compared to the others, and that guy over there is the weakest,” he continued as he pointed at those people.

Faye raised her eyebrows with a bit of shocked expression. “That’s amazing! You’re actually right about it, that guy is strong and I don’t know if that guy is the weakest though,” she said as she nodded her head in agreement. “Why don’t you both help us when we are going to open another recruitment? It will be easier and faster rather than have to waste time in testing all of them one by one,” she asked as she looked at Archie and Faye.

“Don’t you think it would be a waste of time to recruit anyone in general? You know that it’s impossible for you guys to deal with a king if one day they decided to come out,” Eve said as she looked at Faye.

“We know, we have seen the pictures that Archie took during his search in the far east of the Eastern Nations. We also saw the parasite on the island that Ruby said Archie was the one who killed it,” Faye answered as she nodded her head with understanding.

Eve looked at Archie and smiled. “Yeah, I saw it too, he entered the parasite’s mouth then destroyed its head from the inside,” she said and Archie was surprised that Eve knew about it.

“Anyway, how about Nova? Is she going to make it?” Archie asked while he looked at Faye.

“Yes, it seems that she’s the only one who met the requirement so I think we are going to take her in. The rest of them are not as great as the last time we open recruitment,” Faye answered.

“Good times create weak people, weak people create a hard time, and hard times create strong people,” Archie said as he looked out the window, he heard about that phrase from a book he read.

“Good times create weak people, that’s really deep and somehow I can see it by now after years of people living comfortably,” Faye said as she nodded her head. “Would it be better for us to live in the wild like how we used to be?” She asked as she looked at Archie.

“Why do you want to make yourself suffer after you achieved what you wanted? Just enjoy it and be cautious at the same time because good times won’t last,” Archie answered.

Eve chuckled softly. “How interesting to hear something like that from you, Archie,”

Archie just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

“The final test should be over now, let’s go back and get ready for the inauguration,” Faye said as she looked at her watch.

The three of them went into the building and they were inside the headquarter of the Central Nation. The whole building was guarded so tightly that it was impossible for anyone to enter without permission.

Nova was sitting on the bench and then she saw Archie and Eve with Faye walking in front of them. She stood up and waved her hand in excitement then she approached them with a big smile on her face.

“I heard from Lieutenant Colonel Faye that you guys passed the test! I can’t imagine how exciting it would be if I’m with you guys,” she said.

“Congratulations to you as well because I heard from Faye that you passed the test as well,” Archie said as nodded his head and Eve was also nodding while smiling at Nova.

“My power helped you pass the test, right?” Eve asked with a smirk on her face.

Nova cleared her throat and nodded. “Yes, I don’t know how but I feel a bit stronger now,” she answered shyly.

“Come on, the others are waiting,” Faye said as she walked past Nova.

“The others?” Nova asked as she turned around.

“Yes, Ruby and Vincent are waiting for you for the inauguration,” Faye answered as she walked backward.

Archie stopped walking and immediately looked at Eve, the moment he heard their names, it was too late for him to do anything. Eve looked at him she just smiled at him as if she wasn’t bothered by it.

“Don’t worry, I can handle this,” Eve whispered into Archie’s ear.

The four of them entered a room that looked like a meeting room, it was so huge that it could fit a hundred people inside. Ruby and Vincent were sitting at the round table and when they saw Archie and Eve together, they both jolted from their seat.

Eve smirked mischievously and for some reason, they both couldn’t open their mouth. They both looked so scared and panicked at the same time that Nova and Faye looked at them with confusion.

“What’s wrong, Ruby? Vincent?” Faye asked as they walked toward them.

They both couldn’t move their bodies and suddenly they shook their head and it wasn’t them who moved their head but it was Eve. Archie looked at Eve and he was so curious about her ability, and it seemed that she could control anyone with her mind or something like that.

Archie walked past Faye and Nova, he stood behind Ruby and Vincent who glared at Eve. “Don’t do anything stupid, she’s not here to do any harm. She’s here because she wants to follow me so don’t say anything or you will regret it,”

Eve looked at them with her eyebrows raised and then they both nodded with understanding. Eve let them free and they finally could move their bodies again and open their mouth.

“Alright, we will be waiting for Marshal Gard since he wanted to give a short speech to the new recruits,” Faye said as she sat down at the table. “Don’t just stand there, go and have a seat,” she said as she pointed at the seats in front of her.

All of them sat down, Ruby and Vincent couldn’t get their eyes away from Eve. They couldn’t believe it to see the one who knocked down a king and killed Axis Humans with only a hand gesture.

“Why everyone is so quiet here? Is there a problem?” Faye asked as she looked at everyone.

“Ruby and Vincent have a bad memory with Eve, let’s say that Eve fought them in the past and she almost killed them,” Archie answered. “So, yeah, it’s a bit complicated,” he continued.

Faye and Nova looked at Ruby, she nodded as he sighed.

“It’s really complicated and it wasn’t a pleasant memory so it’s better to not talk about it,” Ruby said as she kept staring at Eve. “I just hope she won’t do that again,” she continued and looked at Archie.

“Don’t worry, I already got what I want here so I’m not going to make a scene. Although, it was you who interrupted me back then so it wasn’t my fault, really,” Eve said as she rested her arms on the table and crossed them. “Also, not to mention that you shot my back with that thing which still gives me pain,” she continued as she rubbed her back.

“You deserve it after everything you did,” Ruby answered with a smirk on her face.

“Hmm?’ Eve hummed as she raised her eyebrow. “Do you want to see your partner die in front of your eyes, Ruby? I can do that so easily that you can’t do anything about it,” she continued as she pointed her finger at Vincent and Ruby immediately unsheathed her sword at Eve.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Eve yelled and it startled Nova and Faye.

“Really? That’s how you’re going to protect him. Too bad,” Eve said as she smirked and closed her right eye.

Ruby jumped over the table and was about to slash her sword at Eve, but then Eve grabbed it with her hand and shattered it into pieces which shocked Vincent and Ruby. “I told you, too bad,” Eve said with a smirk on her face.