Before Quinn absorbed the nest crystal, before the second dalki war began, before creating the cursed faction, before the civil war, before the Truedreams attacked the Blades, before Quinn left for the vampire settlement to save Fex, before Erin went to Pure, before Quinn even opened the book, before every major event in his life to come— here he was— sitting in his government funded house, all alone.
It was 7 months before he would go to military school, and he was contemplating what to do with this little extra bit of credits he got this month. Normally, he was given just enough money to afford the basic necessities, but sometimes he would be given a little extra, just like now.
Military school was on the horizon, and even though Quinn had an ability book, for some reason he couldn't open it. Usually, he'd spend his extra money on some chemical or tool to try to get the damn book to open, but right now, he really wasn't feeling it.
The book was really annoying him, with how many things he's bought over the years to open it, he could've bought a new ability book. This time, Quinn wasn't going to feed into the sunk cost fallacy, and decided to look online for a way to get more money.
Quinn decided to go to the local library to access the computers there to see what he could do to make more money out of the money he currently has, and one such thing that stood out was an investment. When searching stuff online, one of the things he could do was buy something at a cheap price, then sell it for even higher. It was also called scalping, but Quinn elected to ignore that part.
Beast crystals were considered a universal currency as they were used for armor, weapons, even powering machines. Of course, affording all of that was already off the table, but maybe Quinn could use a singular beast crystal for his investment. Currently online, someone was asking for a specific beast crystal from a Deathbat and seemed to be willing to pay top dollar for such a thing.
'This was it,' Quinn thought, 'the perfect opportunity.'
Quinn spent a lot of money for a traveler to acquire this crystal, which dipped even into his food budget and forced him to sell what little furniture he had left. Since he was going to military school in a few months, it wasn't like he needed those chairs or tables in a few months. It was going to be worth it if he could pull this off.
After a few weeks or so of waiting and stealing some extra food from his school, he went to the local shipping department to pick up his crystal. It was a building that allowed people to purchase and sell items online using teleporters. He checked online on one of the nearby computers to see if that someone still wanted the deathbat crystal. He smiled, then sent the crystal to the buyer.
Quinn finally had the cash he needed, and he was about to buy a cheap ability book, but even with the money, the most he could afford wasn't anything he wanted for the rest of his life. Picking out an ability required a ton of thought, just as much as buying a house, or a new car, maybe even more considering you could always get a new car, but not a new ability.
Instead, Quinn decided to put his money into a bank and collect the interest later. Quinn didn't need to spend the cash right now, plus it was better to spend it on a higher level ability book if he could help it.
After doing a lot of research into some reputable banks, he found one that seemed trustworthy. Quinn was about to select the 5 month investment time, but a tall man in the department's uniform came by and told Quinn he was hogging the computer all day.
Frantic that he might get beaten up for such a thing, since it happened too many times at school, Quinn wasn't able to double check the information and quickly hit submit on the bank's website. Looking at the tall man then back at his bank investment, Quinn's heart sank when he saw he put the investment for 5 years and not 5 months.
He couldn't even stick around to register what happened when he was kicked off, and shooed out.
Quinn stood outside, a chill blowing through the wind, and a sudden feeling of dread crept in. Him selling his furniture, him skipping a few meals, him doing all of that was for nothing. He really did just spent all that time just to end up more broke than when he started right before military school
Angry, Quinn ran up to a rock on the ground and kicked it as hard as he could, before storming off back home in frustration.
What Quinn didn't know was this simple attempt at acquiring more cash had kickstarted a few events that would change the rest of his and a few other lives forever.
—
The Blades were a secretive family, only known to a very small number of people, namely The Big Three before it became The Big Four. They lived on a secluded island, where only those who were of the Blade family knew about it; but despite their best efforts to remain self-sufficient on the island, they would gather resources such as inventions, money, food, and other goods on the mainlands.
All of these things cost money, and one of the easiest ways they made money was to send a few of their own to act as travelers for other factions. It was not uncommon for a Blade family member to also use this opportunity to scout out for new and rare abilities to tell to their family head.
On the deathbat planet, a member of the Blades and a member of the newly formed Truedream family encountered one another as a result of Quinn's little investment. However, this event created a scuffle that would anger the head of the Blades when hearing the news. Apparently, on this planet, the Truedream member stole the beast crystal from the Blade member.
He was sitting at his dining room table eating dinner amongst his family members, which included the two identical twins Vicky and Pai, along with their "parents", Tina and Kane. Sitting next to Hilston was Vorden, who looked to be very tired— just like everyone else at the table. The only one who didn't look tired was Vicky, who played with her food as she was bored.
As Hilston bit down on a large chicken leg, his servant, Brock, hurriedly walked up next to the Blade, muttering the news of the scuffle between families in his ear. Vorden's nerves were on edge hearing this, while Tina and Kane were simply dead eyed. A bunny could be slit before their eyes and still they would not even flinch.
Hilston stood up, a casual, relaxed look on his face.
"Those Truedreams are a little too green for my liking. It's about time I stretch my legs a little, wouldn't you agree?"
Brock, upon hearing him, quickly walked up to the large man, "If I may make a suggestion…"
Hilston looked at the shorter man with a raised eyebrow, "You may continue."
Everyone else at the table stopped what they were doing to pay closer attention to what it was they were hearing. It wasn't very common for someone to make a suggestion to Hilston and expect the man to listen.
Brock cleared his throat, "The Truedreams have a strong connection to the military, and we wouldn't want to reveal ourselves just yet. There is no need for such acts of violence."
Hilston crossed his arms, "And why would I allow myself to bow down to such a new group?"
Everyone at the table began to look much more closely now, not hiding the fact that they were eavesdropping.
"We could let the situation die down— they are a new member of The Big Four after all— but consider the nature of their group. They collect many rare and unique abilities just like we do, most likely have many that we haven't even discovered. We back down, but let the Truedreams continue to collect for us."
"Hmm…" Hilston simply hummed.
Brock's role on the island was to be a servant, but he also acted as a stop gap from Hilston wreaking havoc onto the world. Hilston had his role to play in the war, so Brock's master told him, and he would fulfill that role far later in the future, not now.
"I suppose that's true," Hilston finally responded, before returning to his food and everyone else did the same, "But I'll keep the island on lock until they bother us again."
"What!?" Vicky cried out, slamming her hands on the table, "Come on, do we really all have to be stuck here?"
"I've already decided, and besides—" Hilston took another bite out of his large chicken leg, chewing it, then finishing his bite, "I would not like my food to get cold."
"Ugh….." Vicky sighed. Slumping down on her chair.
It wasn't just Vicky who was in a bad mood, but Vorden as well. If what he heard was true, did this mean that he wouldn't get the chance to leave the island? He was genuinely excited, counting down the days until he would be away from Hilston's side. Now he was going to be stuck by his grandfather even longer.
"It could be worse," Raten spoke, casually laying on the floor of their shared mindspace, "Another Big Four faction could've been annihilated— actually, wait, I don't give a shit about them."
Raten got up from the floor walking over towards Vorden, who was in the chair, "This really fucking sucks."
"I know, Raten." Vorden shot back internally.
Vorden then shuffled on the chair, looking behind him to see Sil, the little one of the three. He was the same as always, stuck in a perpetual fetal position on the floor near the back. Faint muffled sobs were the only sounds that he made nowadays.
"But I'm worried about him. I'm not sure how much longer he's going to last living like this."
"He'll last for as long as Hilston wants."