Parasyte

We were sat in a circle on the floor, staring at each other. A sheet of Lightwood paper was place right in the middle of us. Allister ignored it. He was too busy staring at Alice. “Who’s the girl?” he asked.

“Hi, I’m Alice,” Alice nervously responded.

“Hi, Alice, I’m Erin,” Allister mockingly replied, shooting a smug glance my way.

“Can you read the contract?” I sternly demanded.

Allister glared at me, but he complied. He picked up the paper and read it through. He hummed. Loudly. Was it discontent? Agreement? An attempt to annoy us? He returned the contract to the floor. “You’re saying you want to counter the prophecy?” he asked, dubiously eyeing the king and I.

“Yes. Then, I’ll kill you and return to Earth,” I declared.

Allister scoffed. “You do understand that doing this will likely erase Earth, right?”

I sighed with satisfaction. “Allister, do you even know what the prophecy is actually about?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Not familiar with the details.”

“Well, Alice and I spoke to the gardener who planted the Tree of Everything. Counter this contract for all I care. I’m just looking forward to retrieving my armour and killing you,” I said, self-assuredly.”

Allister laughed. “What makes you think I’ll let you retrieve anything?” he chuckled. “Now, hand me a pen, instead of wasting my time.”

I gave him a pen, and he signed his name. Allister gave the pen to the king, who in turn signed his name. Next, the king gave the pen to me. I dragged the contract paper to my feet.

Do I sign off as Sato Kugo, or Phocles Yates? No, remember rule four: “the hand that signs is more important than how it has signed.”

I scribbled down Sato Kugo. “Okay, that’s everybody,” I said. I sounded calm, but internally I was ecstatic.

That fool! What he doesn’t know, is that this contract paper is torn from a longer sheet of Lightwood. Rule seven: “if a contract is written, and a piece of it is torn off, whoever signs on that piece has signed the contract.” On the other half of the sheet, we wrote that every contract we sign with Allister is null-and-void, and to ignore anything below the line. It is now forever impossible to counter the contract signed between Phocles, Allister and that Fruit!

I could barely suppress the glee from showing on my face.

And now, we wait…

The king and I carefully observed Allister for any sudden movements. Meanwhile, Allister was weirdly side-eyeing Alice. Alice noticed his glances and looked rather uncomfortable.

“I’m not involved in any of this—” Alice began. She vanished.

Wait, what?

The king and I leapt to our feet.

“Hey, hey, hey!” the king cried out in pure panic.

Allister looked up at us with a sinister smirk. “What is it?” he asked.

“What did you do?” I demanded.

“Me?” Allister slowly stood up. “What did I do? I outsmarted you, Sato Kugo. Every step of the way! I spent a lifetime working and waiting. I brought you back to this world through trials and experimentation. I guided you to the foolish king of Bavaria. I gathered us all in a room to counter the contract. Your little girlfriend just disappeared. Why do you think I know that? Because I have my vision back! I knew you’d try to make it impossible to counter the contract we three signed, so I made you sign a contract in advance. Remember when I opened up that empty lockbox for you in my shop? Remember the liability document I made you sign? That was on a torn sheet of Lightwood, Sato Kugo! The signee of this contract agrees that every single contract he signs from here on out will take opposite effect. You played right into my hands!” he gloatingly monologued.

I instinctively reached for my sword.

Allister spotted my movement. He grinned. “What, are you going to kill me? How will you manage that?” he jeered. “Now that you’re fading.”

Huh?

I looked down at myself. Sure enough, I seemed to be a little less opaque than before.

“Kugo, you’re originally from this world, but your current physical self is tied to Earth. You need to defeat Allister before you disappear!” the king shouted.

All I could think, was: Why are you shouting at me?

I unsheathed my sword. My fate is pretty much sealed, isn’t it? I mean, even if I kill this guy, I’m still going to fade away.

Allister cracked his neck and knuckles.

Unless…

I glanced at the king. The small royal looked terrified.

So long as he exists, there must be a connection between the two worlds! I concluded. Satisfied, I turned my attention back to Allister.

Allister leapt towards me. I went to block his strike. However, it went straight passed me.

No!

I turned to look. Allister’s arm had pierced straight through the king’s chest, to the point where his hand was poking out of the king’s back.

The king spat up blood. His head slowly turned to me. He stared at me with wide, unblinking eyes.

I saw those eyes glaze over.

Suddenly, a searing pain shot through my head. My vision instantly went blurry. I fell to my knees, clutching my head. It felt like someone was smashing my forehead and temples with a hammer. It took all I had to look up at Allister. I managed to muster up a single thought.

Him too?

Indeed, Allister was hunched over, clutching his own head. He let out a ferocious roar of pain and anger. His roar turned into a prolonged and bone chilling shriek.

The window behind us burst. No, I am not joking. Was it because of Allister’s high-pitched screaming? It certainly sounded like it.

Shut up! I wailed.

My upper body was involuntarily flung backwards. I fell down, landing hard on my back. I groaned in agony.

“What did you do?!” Allister furiously asked.

I was still too dazed to reply.

“I split myself between both of you,” a strange voice responded.

Who…?

Allister cursed the voice. Apparently, he hadn’t been talking to me.

“I now own part of both of your consciousnesses.”

Who… are…

I gasped. My head still hurt.

Allister, however, was recovering much faster than me. He had propped himself up on one knee. “I’ll get you yet, you damn apple,” he wheezed.

“Silence! There’s no more talking left for any of us. I’ll watch as you both kill each other.”

Apple?

I thought back to the story on the scroll. Could Allister be referring to the fruit from the Tree of Everything?

Are you… the king?

“That was one of the identities I had assumed. In truth, I am an immaterial being, bound by no world. If I have no host to keep me tethered, then I exist between realities.”

I didn’t care about any explanations. There was only one thing that mattered to me.

Does… that… mean… there’s still a connection… between realities?

“Indeed it does.”

“How do I get you out?” Allister demanded.

“I suppose you’d have to die,” the king sneered.

“You no longer have any stake in this, you frickin’ bastard! Leave us alone. Kugo and I have a score to settle!”

Shut up… shut up!

“I will transport you both to—”

Can you cripple us like that again? I mean… make our heads hurt, like just then?

“No. That was me battling for your minds. Once the entry process has been completed, I can no longer gain any ground.”

“So, you’re like a parasite,” Allister mocked. “Not that I didn’t already know that, given what you did to the real king of Bavaria.”

Oh… It was only now that it clicked with me.

Now that my mind had cleared a little, I was aware enough of the situation to consider a sudden attack by Allister. I slowly raised myself to my hands and knees. I looked down at myself. I was definitely translucent now.

Is my vision still messed up?

No. I was truly fading out of existence.

Oh! There, on the floor. It was the sharp and silver shape of what had become my best friend during my travels.

I reached for my trusty sword.

Allister viciously kicked my hand away. His leg went up in a circular motion. He brought down his heel. It was a fatal axe kick aimed straight at the back of my head.

The roaring sound of fire burst into me. An intense heat poured through my veins, like a cascade of fury.

Everything slowed down.

I pressed the balls of my right foot onto the ground as hard as I could.

I leapt up with all my might.

Allister’s heel blasted straight into the stone floor, cracking it. Tiny stone fragments shot out.

I twisted my body in midair. I had lost all control over myself. My right foot—the one I had pushed off the ground with, whipped around. It was headed straight for Allister’s temple.

Somehow, the locksmith managed to bring up his left forearm just in time to defend himself from my attack.

Despite my fading away, my blows still made full impact.

Allister stumbled backwards. For a moment it looked like he would lose his footing. He toppled over and began to descend. However, he stomped on the floor, stopping himself mid-fall. It looked almost comical.

What wasn’t comical was the front kick he delivered to my chin. He’d used the inertia from his fall to make his counter as brutal as possible.

This time, his strike hit its intended target. It lifted me off my feet. I slammed against the wall and collapsed to the ground.

“Kugo!” the king yelped in desperation. “Think of a better place!”

It was a strange feeling: my mind was numb. I couldn’t think of anything at that point.

Allister picked up my sword. “A lifetime of waiting, only for a fight that lasted a second. You disappoint me, Kugo.” Allister almost reluctantly picked up my sword.

I could only watch as he approached.

He now stood right above me.

Allister raised the blade…

… and swung it.