HALF: Dead nor Alive

“Stop teasing me, Eve,” Archie said as he looked at Eve who stayed on top of her and pressed her body down on him. “I have no experience with this kind of stuff, so this is really making me nervous and uncomfortable at the same time,”

“What makes you think I’m experienced in this kind of stuff? Do you think I have done it before?” Eve asked as she raised her eyebrows with a flirtatious smile.

“No, it’s just I might do something that I would regret. So, can you get off of my body? Please?” Archie replied as he chuckled nervously.

Eve rolled over and laid down next to Archie and stared at the ceiling while thinking about it. Deep down, she was also nervous and wanted to try it but she didn’t want to do it yet because of that reason. Archie knew about it since he felt her heartbeat getting faster and faster when she pressed her chest onto his chest.

“We should take care of that Adam in that Borneo island, Archie,” Eve said as she stared at him.

“Yes, I’m thinking about it as well, but I’m not sure if I can kill him without my full power,” Archie answered with his eyebrows raised. “I’m scared of losing control again, it’s the scariest feeling that I don’t want to feel again. Not to mention after what you guys did to bring me back, and I don’t want it to happen again,” Archie looked at Eve.

“You will be fine, you have something that nobody else has which is the first parasite that hosts your body. There’s nothing that can be as powerful as being immortal because no matter what happens, that parasite will keep you alive,” Eve answered as she stared blankly at the door.

“I believe you will be fine even if you use everything you have to fight him because if he dies, we have fewer problems to think about. I believe in you so you have to believe in yourself,” Eve explained and rested her right arm on Archie’s chest. “Get some more rest, Archie, you will be okay the moment all the parasites inside your body accept the new power,”

Archie nodded and closed his eyes to try to get more sleep.

The morning came and they both were ready to leave since Archie was planning on dealing with Adam on the Borneo island. The witches were cheering him and praying for his safety, they couldn’t do anything but those two things.

Archie spread his wings and they were surprised and amazed at the same time because the Archie they knew had become someone strong. They were all so proud of him and words couldn’t describe their happiness after all the hardships he went through that he told them.

“Good luck out there, Archie, we will be waiting for you to come back,” The eldest fire witch said. “Kill that guy and become the best of us,”

Archie nodded his head as he smiled. “I will try,”

“We should go, Archie,” Eve said as she looked at him. “There are so many things that we need to do and we are starting to run out of time,” Eve started to flap her wings and float above the ground.

“Yes, I’m coming,” Archie said and followed Eve from behind.

The Adam that lived on the Borneo island, he didn’t come from one of the Fallen Continent. The witches had no idea about the guy Archie described because they had never seen a Drautnir like that before.

Archie believed the Adam on the Borneo island originally came from one of the nations. By the look of his attire which looked like a lab coat, it seemed that he used to be a scientist and that would make sense since he managed to do all those things on his own.

Eve thought that it was possible and she wanted Archie to take him and dig for some information about the other Adams. Since she wasn’t allowed to touch or get involved in the affairs between all the Adams, she gave Archie the serum and used it on the Adam to torture him for information.

“We are here,” Eve said as she looked down at the Borneo island from above the clouds. “Are you ready, Archie?” Eve asked as she held his hand.

“I’m not sure, but there’s no reason for me to not fight him,” Archie answered as he looked at Eve’s hand. “I’m going now,” Archie said as he nodded his head.

“I will be waiting,” Eve said, and then she left to another island to explore and waste time.

Archie watched Eve leave and then looked down at the island. He took a deep breath and then dove down onto the island on his own without the wind witch by his side this time.

Archie walked toward the giant tree with the sword ready in his hand, he felt something different from the last time he went there. It wasn’t because of the island but something inside him that could sense the danger and become more sensitive to anything around him.

Archie noticed the oddity that came from the tree, it felt like the tree was alive like how the earth witches could control the trees. He decided to stab his sword at the tree and the first thing that came out from the tree was a red liquid that looked like blood.

“It’s not blood, it’s a sap?” Archie talked to himself after he smelt it. “What is this giant tree made of?” Archie looked up at the thick tree branches.

Archie swung his sword and cut the tree trunk with it because he was curious about the inside.

It took only half an hour for Archie to finally cut half the tree trunk and he was standing inside the tree. He looked at the sap and noticed it had parasites in it, thousands of them. Without hesitation, he cut the trunk and the moment it made cracking sounds, he left hurriedly and saw the giant tree collapse so slowly.

The moment the giant tree hit the ground, Archie’s senses were sharpened or became normal again to be exact. He could see the parasites lurking around him and were ready to ambush him, he realized that the giant tree was the one who made the illusion because of the shades of the trees.

“There’s no time to think about it, it’s time to do some cleaning,” Archie said as he swung his sword around and stared at the parasites.

Thanks to the dragon’s heart tissue, he grew way stronger than before, and he was glad that it was worth it. He butchered and massacred the parasites like it was harmless cattle that were ready to be harvested.

Archie was being careful while killing the parasites, but it had been hours since he cut down the giant tree and the Adam hadn’t shown himself yet. He was a bit suspicious and worried that the Adam had left after knowing he was being targeted by him, but that shouldn’t scare him since Archie wasn’t really a threat to him and he welcomed Archie back then.

The bright moonlight illuminate the forest and there was nothing left around Archie but dead bodies of parasites. He waited and the Adam didn’t show himself so he decided to fly around the forest to find him.

Archie weakly sensed the Adam’s presence from above, he then descended and tried to follow it by foot. He was unsure at first until he was greeted by two giant parasites, and now he was confident that the Adam was somewhere ahead of him.

After Archie dealt with the giant parasites, he saw a mouth cave that seemed to be man-made not long after that. He looked at how suspicious the cave was, but it didn’t stop him from entering the dark tunnel since he could easily see in the dark.

The tunnel was getting narrow and deeper down into the ground, Archie could hear his own breath and heartbeat because of how quiet the tunnel was. He kept moving forward and saw bloodstain on the walls or maybe the same red sap that he saw inside the tree.

Archie ended up in a spacious dome and the pungent smell struck his nose immediately. He looked at body parts of parasites and even human body parts laying on the ground and hanging on the wall. It looked like a butcher house because they were placed neatly and separated from one part with another.

“You know that giant tree out there is hard to maintain, right?” A familiar voice could be heard from the other side of the dome. “Do you know how much blood and lives I wasted just to make that tree?” The Adam appeared from behind a natural pillar.

“It’s none of my business,” Archie said as he walked toward him.

“It’s a shame, but I finished my research already and got what I needed,” The Adam said as he removed his lab coat and threw it away.

“You came at the right time and it’s a perfect opportunity to test my new power,” The Adam said as he split himself up into two like a cell with his inside looking exactly like the inside of the giant tree.