"Maybe missing isn't the correct word to use." Sam quickly corrected himself as he saw the look on Cia's face and thought she might have gotten the wrong idea.
After all, Quinn was young and maybe the pressure of being a leader had gotten too much for him. He was certainly one with a lot on his plate, and there were many reasons for him to possibly leave.
"Technically we have some idea of where he is," Sam continued, "You see, after healing up, Quinn was acting a bit weird, it was understandable after Fex explained it to us. The person who had saved their lives was known as Arthur, and Quinn saw him as a type of teacher, someone to look up to. So after what had happened to him, he was more than devastated.
"When he had finished healing, he didn't even leave the medical bay, no matter who came up to him. He hardly spoke and mentioned about you. Out of concern I placed Linda there to keep an eye on him. From what she had described, it seems like Quinn had used his own shadow skill on himself, and ever since he hasn't returned."
"I think i understand a little more now." Cia replied.
Honestly, no one even knew what had happened between Arthur and Quinn, and Fex was the only one that could guess, but it seemed to be quite accurate based on the way Quinn was acting. Still, Sam didn't really know what to do, the faction belonged to Quinn, didn't it? Without him what was their goal or direction.
Eventually, the group had called a meeting with all the leaders to discuss what to do next, and the one who was most vocal, was Paul.
"It's clear that Quinn isn't fit to lead this faction at this moment and time." Said Paul. "This faction, this group is now too big to be left alone like this. The world now knows the Cursed faction as one of the big three forces that make up the human forces.
"We can't be like the Bree family who have been disorganised ever since they have been unable to locate Mona. Everyone has to start thinking about acting without him, and even if he does return, we need to evaluate if he will even be fit enough to lead us."
The room was quite silent, Dennis, Linda, Fex, Sil and many others in the room all owed Quinn a lot, but they couldn't deny the days before he had disappeared, he was certainly acting strange.
It hadn't been long since the Bree family had their leader disappear but the fall of the great family was becoming clearer and clearer as days went on. Before no ability books had been made of the Bree family, but suddenly with Mona gone, they started to circulate on the market place.
This caused infighting between those in the groups and eventually some had disbanded to join the others. Oscar and Owen with Sam's blessing had made the decision that the Bree family were to be broken up and become absorbed by the other three families. Which made it easy for Logan to join the Cursed without being suspicious.
Since it was an order from the leaders, and now there weren't any solo stray factions, they had no choice but to comply. What Sam was surprised about after this order was made, was how many from the Bree family had requested to join the Cursed.
What he didn't realise was just how much effect the videos of Quinn's duel against Pure and others had on other people.
The video of what happened to Hilston wasn't broadcasted. There was footage but Oscar demanded that it not be released. The humans already had many things to fear and they didn't need a new one right now.
However, the live streams of the duel that Quinn were in, were edited down and the clips showing off Quinn and his power the most were broadcasted.
"Wait, pause the video. Did you see what he looks like, isn't that Quinn?"
"Quinn, the guy from the inter base tournament."
"Oh crap! This can't be real, I used to beat that guy in school, I hope he doesn't remember me and come back for revenge."
"You really think he has time for that? He's a world leader now, he will be far too busy to do anything like that."
"But how did he get so strong? I remember he used to be, well so…weak."
"Hey, maybe if we join the cursed faction the same thing can happen to us."
The news of Quinn's past as a nobody, a weak level one who used to get bullied all the time, was spread across the internet and the story of his achievements as he rose was passed along as well.
This seemed to inspire many from a younger generation who felt the same way Quinn had once did, and it also caused an influx of people requesting to join the Cursed faction.
However, this news didn't just reach the public, it had a far wider reach than that as well.
Somewhere underwater, in a large submarine that could be anywhere at any point, they had heard the news as well. Once in a while, the submarine would surface and today was one of those days.
In the middle of the sea, the giant behemoth of a submarine rised up crashing through the waters, chucking huge waves off to either side and when it finally settled, it stayed there for a few moments.
The hatch door wasn't opened, and it looked like they were waiting for something. A few seconds later and a small human could be seen crashing down on the submarine, hitting the upper half of its body and lifting the back of it up.
The tail of the submarine crashed back down, and the white overcoat of the man could be seen fluttering through the air. It had a large number one on the back.
"Whoa, that was a bit off a rough landing. I hope no one gets mad about that." Chris said. "Actually, maybe I need to be worried about being away for so long, but he said I could do what I wanted, didn't he? As long as I just came back when he asked. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now." He shrugged his shoulders as he opened the hatch and entered the submarine, soon after it descended back into the water just like before.
Chris, having returned, had a lot to catch up on. However what he was looking forward to finding out about most, was who Quinn was. Supposedly he was a new world leader, but when did that happen, and how?
He was so determined to find out about Quinn, that Chris practically ignored everyone in the Pure base that would greet him as he headed straight to his own room. When at the computer, he sniffed each of his armpits as he noticed a foul smell coming from them.
"Damn I need a shower, but first things first."
Typing in Quinn's full name, as expected there was plenty of information on him. Videos, articles, and more and what's more, all of it seemed to be recent. However, his eyes were glued to one thing in particular.
It was a video titled, "Pure leader vs Quinn from the Cursed faction". Then underneath it there was an article discussing the Pure leader's death.
"What happened while I was away?" Chris thought, as his hands were shaking. "Shit, I was meant to be there…. I'm sorry my dear friend, I said I would protect you."
Back on the Cursed ship, they had decided to think about what Paul had said, but there was one thing that was agreed. They would remain on the planet at least until Quinn returned. According to Sil, the skill Quinn used would allow him to reappear where he had left, so if they moved, they were wondering if it would cause a problem for Quinn and they didn't want to risk it.
While walking around doing his duties as normal, a gust of wind ruffled Sam's hair.
"Sam, its..its..its… Quinn!" Wevil shouted. "He's returned, he's come back. Everyone is already gathering at the medical bay."
At first Sam thought this was great news, he had finally returned, but the question was whether Quinn was okay or not. Even if he did return, did he return as the same person as before?
*****
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