HALF: Dead nor Alive

Three months had passed since they investigated the Landing Site and ever since that day, Ruby, Vincent, Resse, and Prince started to change. They were acting weird that Frank, Tommy, and Daniel were so confused with their sudden changes, Marlon and Fanheim noticed that as well. They thought that the investigation went well but it affected the four of them.

Archie lived his life and just focused on the task that was given to him but Ruby and Vincent were avoiding him ever since that day and the wall between them and Archie was getting wider and wider. Archie didn’t bother about it at all since he didn’t need anything from them and he didn’t need to socialize with anyone in the first place.

Archie went to the port where they built the ship because he heard the first three ships were ready to set sail. He looked at how big the ships were and they said a single ship was enough to bring at least 40.000 people inside. Three ships were ready and another three ships were being built, so a total of six ships were guaranteed to sail. With that many ships, they could bring at least forty percent of the population of the Western Nation.

As Archie enjoyed the sunset on the cliff, he heard footsteps that came from behind him. He looked around and saw Daniel and Tommy were looking at him and waved at him.

“What are you guys doing here?” Archie asked as he took care of his swords.

“I know that it’s a bit too late to ask, but what happened to Major Ruby and Captain Vincent, Arch?” Tommy asked as he sat down next to Archie.

Archie rubbed his thumb on the blade and made a cut on his skin immediately. “Why are you asking me? Shouldn’t you ask about it to them?” Archie replied as he retracted his thumb from the blade and sucked on the blood.

Both Tommy and Daniel were looking at each other and then Daniel looked at Archie. “We did but they were ignoring us and they looked stressed out, or like a depressed person,” Daniel said.

“If that’s what you saw, then you’re not wrong about it,” Archie said as he sheathed Nyx. “If they didn’t want to talk about it, then I don’t think I have the right to tell you guys what happened to them since the four of them already have been a hot gossip amongst the other soldiers, so I don’t want to make rumors about them,” he continued as he looked at them.

Tommy plucked the grass next to his thigh. “Did something happen to them? Can you at least tell us that? Because we are so worried about them,”

Archie sighed. “Physically? No, nothing happened,” he answered. “Mentally? Yes, they were bothered about something,” he continued as he cleaned up Erebos.

The two of them started to think about the possibility that might had happen to Ruby and the others. Archie looked at them and decided to leave before they could ask more about it.

Archie was busy checking the scabbards that he didn’t pay attention to the road he was walking and he bumped onto someone. He lifted his head a bit and saw a woman fall to the ground because he bumped her. He looked at the woman and turned out it was Resse, her eyes looked empty. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” Resse said as she tried to stand up.

Archie just stared at her until she finally realized that she just bumped into Archie, she was surprised at first and her empty eyes turned into fear and anger. Archie looked away and pretended that he didn’t know her then he started to walk away.

“You know about it, don’t you?” Resse asked quietly as she stared at Archie from behind.

“I do, but what makes you think it will make any difference if I told you about it?” Archie said as he turned his head a bit and stared at Resse from the corner of his eyes. “Don’t start asking questions if you’re scared of the answer. Isn’t that what she told you guys back then?” he continued and then started to walk away leaving Resse on her own.

Archie went back inside the wall and as soon as he entered the gate Fanheim approached him. “Are you done checking the ships? Do you have anywhere to go now or are you free?” he asked.

“I’m free, Colonel,” Archie replied.

“Great, why don’t you join me? I’m going to have a drink,” Fanheim said with a smile on his face.

Archie nodded with understanding and followed Fanheim from behind.

They ended up on the other side of the city where the “fun” stuff happened and to “relieve” stress for some people. Fanheim led him to the bar that was quite fancy for them even though it wasn’t that different compared to Frank’s.

“Get yourself a drink, it’s on me,” Fanheim said as he pointed at the bottles on the walls behind the counter.

Archie looked around and there were so many escorts that were serving the customers. Fanheim looked at them and just smiled and shook his head because those customers were mostly the captain of the division in the army.

“Have you talked with Ruby, Vincent, Prince, and Resse lately, Archie?” Fanheim asked then he took a shot of the whiskey.

“No, they were avoiding me and I know the reason why they’re doing that,” Archie answered. “Oh, I just bumped into Resse back then and she’s not looking great,” he continued.

Fanheim looked at Archie while he was holding the glass. “They still haven’t told us what they saw in there, and I don’t think they will ever share it with me or Marlon,” he said then took another shot.

“I can’t blame them and I think they’re being noble for not telling you guys about what they found,” Archie said as he pointed at the bottle of wine and looked at the bartender. “To be exact, they’re being generous for not telling you guys anything,” he continued as he looked at Fanheim.

Fanheim looked at the empty glass for quite a while, then he looked at Archie. “I know that you’re not going to tell us anything about what happened back there, but can you at least give us something? Something that we can understand why every single one of the people that we or the previous Marshal sent to investigate the Landing Site always ended up like this?”

“If you’re worried about the four of them, I think you shouldn’t be worried about them because they can handle it since they have seen a lot of things and it helped them see it,” Archie said. “If you want to know what happened, why don’t you think about why the previous people that were sent to investigate the Landing Site ended up killing themselves?” he asked.

“Why did they kill themselves?” Fanheim asked with his eyebrows raised. “If I think about it, maybe it’s because they were haunted by something and couldn’t take it anymore?” he continued.

Archie smiled as he smelt the wine aroma in his glass. “You’re half right about it, they were haunted by something but that wasn’t the reason they killed themselves,”

“Wait, so they killed themselves for a different reason?” Fanheim asked as he raised his eyebrow. “Then, could it be they killed themselves because they have no more reason to live?” he asked again while Archie enjoyed his wine.

“Yes, that’s correct but why did they think that they don’t have any reason to live anymore?” Archie asked and put the glass on the counter.

“Because they were hopeless?” Fanheim answered with his forehead furrowed as he looked at Archie.

Archie looked at Fanheim and nodded. “Yes, because they know that there’s no hope for humankind. Whatever they saw or heard during the investigation, it was similar to what those four found back there,”

Fanheim looked at the ceiling and took a deep breath and exhaled deeply. “My God… They couldn’t bear the burden on their own then decided to kill themselves rather than telling us that there’s no hope for humankind,” he said as he closed his eyes. “What kind of terrifying things that they found?” he mumbled to himself.

“Colonel, there’s something that I want to tell you,” Archie said as he turned the chair toward Fanheim. “I’m not a human anymore and I’m losing my emotions and feelings toward you guys. I’m not worried about it because I can survive on my own and I’m basically immortal as long as I can feed on parasites,” he explained. “The peaceful moment that you have right now is just temporary. Either you all die or survive is none of my problems, so be ready before the calm turns into a storm,” he warned.

Fanheim looked at Archie and chuckled softly. “I will keep that in mind…” he said quietly. “I might need a lot of drinks to think this over,” he continued as he smiled and looked at the empty glass in his hand.

Archie nodded and stood up. “I will leave you be then, Colonel, and thank you for the drink,” he said then left the bar.