Due to how long it'd been since the night began, it was officially the next day on planet Umbrae. The sun was beginning to rise, but Sil needed to do something important.
[Log 208,759] {Sil} I'm calling for a group meeting. Logan, get the others to join since this concerns them.
{Logan} Already on it.
{Vicky} Should I be here? I'm not as close with Layla as everyone else here.
{Logan} You can stay if you so desire, love. Since Layla is with Sil, you can argue that this also concerns you.
{Shiro} We were able to get some time alone to discuss this matter. What's the situation?
{Sil} I don't know how much Logan has debriefed you on this, but as you may be aware, I came across Layla out in space.
{Sil} However, when I found her, she was holding the black sword and we fought. I was able to knock her unconscious easily. I healed her and brought her to my ship where I've since gotten her on a specialized IV as per Logan's request and locked her in a room until further notice.
{Sil} I'm calling this meeting as I want to discuss the situation, what it means, and what to do next.
{Shiro} Ever since Sam's disappearance, I thought that she left to search for him. We all did.
{Vorden} Why would someone like her go out into space? She doesn't exactly have business out there like you do, Sil, and we all know how dangerous it is.
{Vicky} So dangerous that only you could go alone…
{Logan} I have a few theories as to why she is currently with Sil.
{Logan} My first theory is that she is searching for nest crystals, or rare demon tier beasts to grow stronger, and fought you as a test of her strength.
{Logan} My second theory is that she left to search for Sam or Erin, but this does not explain why you two fought.
{Logan} My last theory, however, is related to the sword she wields. I've been able to examine it before and noticed a symbol on it that I had found in my records along with Richard Eno's files numerous times.
{Logan} It could very well be possible that the sword she uses had caused her to treat you as an enemy.
{Logan} Historically, Layla did act strange at times before her disappearance whenever she got into fights, as if she might've been a different person… but that still leaves the question as to why Layla, or the black sword, went so far from the human solar system in the first place.
{Sil} I have reason to believe that Layla may have been under the influence of the sword like you said. Before we fought, she didn't react to her name, and didn't use any of her abilities in battle aside from telekinesis.
{Raten} What if she left to get stronger? 'Cause we haven't exactly been the nicest about her uselessness in the past. Looking at you, Vorden.
{Vorden} Hey! You weren't the nicest to her either, Raten. You called her a bitch before.
{Raten} I called everyone a bitch at least once!
{Sil} Let's get back on topic.
{Sil} Best case scenario, whatever affected her earlier was dealt with when I fought her.
{Sil} Worst case, she's still under the influence of something, most likely her sword, and is an active threat.
{Sil} If she is an active threat, then I could try to imprison her for as long as possible, but Layla is smart, and has many tricks up her sleeve. I wouldn't put it past her if she somehow manages to escape.
{Sil} What I'm trying to say is if the situation arises, I may need to use excessive force. It goes without saying that I would like to not do that.
{Logan} I would not like that either. The cursed faction has lost too many members over the centuries, I do not want Layla to be added onto that list. I believe Quinn wouldn't be pleased with us either if that were the case.
{Vicky} Still holding out hope for him?
{Vorden} Of course. Even though he hasn't been around us for long when compared to our long ages, I still miss him.
{Raten} I'm sure whatever caused him to disappear is going to regret that decision right this very moment, it's just taking a long time for Quinn to get around to it.
{Shiro} He meant a lot to us. He had given me so many opportunities that I would've never dreamed of taking.
{Logan} If it weren't for him, then I would not be alive here today. I've calculated it to know that it is true.
{Sil} There's just something about how magical he was. If he wanted something to happen, then he would fight until it did. He had a power that was unlike any other, something that made you feel safe when he was around, even if the fight seemed impossible.
{Sil} … There's nothing else to discuss now, I'll be ending this log now.
Even though Sil could stay up for long periods of time, he decided to get a good night's rest, or good day's rest when on this planet. Just because he could push his body doesn't mean he should if he could help it. He left the clone to keep an eye on Layla, and set up the surveillance screen in his room on the ship before going to sleep.
—
Back on earth, Logan was staying up as he usually did. It was actually morning where he was, but he was just awake from last night working on his usual projects.
He sat in his large bedroom with his electronics. Several wires covering the floor, a few computer screens on a wide table, and other miscellaneous gadgets littered about. He had a room dedicated to working on inventions, but Logan frequently got great ideas that couldn't wait until morning, leaving his bedroom a mess.
If you ignored his electronics, the place was rather cozy with its dark wood floors and beams. The walls were colored a cool green, and a chandelier lit up the room.
Logan leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes as a yawn escaped his mouth. He really should've gone to sleep ages ago, but the message from Sil about Layla was too important to miss. It made him think about the other members in the early days of the cursed faction.
He did his best to record where they are, what happened to them, and more in case Quinn ever came back and wanted a refresher. Logan always felt guilty for giving everyone hope that Quinn was going to wake up within everyone's lifetime of 10 years. However, as the time went on, Quinn remained in eternal slumber, and the cursed faction members either died or disappeared, never to see their original leader again.
Ever since Quinn was put in the 10th family's tombs, the first to go was Peter. No one expected him to actually stay there for more than a week, he wasn't exactly the most patient last Logan remembered of him, but even though he knew that Peter was dedicated to Quinn, Logan thought— wanted Peter to come back to him.
Logan gripped his hand around his dalki arm. Sometimes those moments of doubt came along, that despite all that Logan gave to him, their shared history, Peter would never love him as much as he loved Quinn. Logan knew it was not logical to expect Peter to love anyone as a wight, especially when it came to anyone that wasn't his turner, but what they had together was special.
At least, that's what he thought.
The next to disappear was Vincent. He personally had his suspicions about why Vincent left. With how the red heart's whereabouts became unknown just like he did, Vincent most likely disappeared to keep it hidden.
Politically, things were rough for a while between vampires and humans, but Fex and Samantha joined in union to create the vampire corps. Sera, Leo, Silver and Chris were able to take down most of Pure's operations, with him taking control of their forces.
Then things started to go wrong. Humans were being forcibly turned into vampires.
Tensions rose, and people began to distrust the Cursed faction despite all they had done for human and vampire kind. Sam disappeared, leaving the faction leaderless and in disarray. Laxmus came back with a full force in the Cursed faction's worst time. He had an army stronger than the vampire leaders, causing several casualties.
Leo, Chris, Sera, and Silver were attacked by them, ending in Leo's death and Silver deciding she had enough, ending up in eternal slumber. Chris was never really an official member of the cursed faction, but an ally. Still, he eventually went back to Pure.
Samantha was also killed, leaving Fex to take care of the Vampire corps, but humans did not trust him as much since he was a born vampire. Logan and Fex did their best to convince them, but Fex grew old, and went into eternal slumber.
Alex was frequently attacked for his forging skills, forced to create a legendary set of armor to defend himself. He was able to stick around until his mentor got killed, and the last blood fairy needed to be put into eternal slumber. The Cursed faction's lead blacksmith was effectively dead. Logan still kept a vial of his blood for when it was safe again, but even now, the situation was too precarious.
Hayley left to live her own life as an infamous doctor who was an unusual subclass before eventually disappearing. Logan honestly wasn't quite sure what happened to her.
Dennis and Megan decided to retire. Megan was actually turned into a vampire to live with her husband longer, but the two wished to live quiet lives away from everyone after fighting for so long, and fell into obscurity.
After Sam disappeared, Layla soon left the faction, with no one able to find her either.
There weren't many left, with Sil going off into space to fight celestials, Vorden, Shiro and Raten becoming the head of the Blades, and Linda being alive somewhere but just barely hanging onto a reason to continue last he checked with her. Such was just the natural result of time taking its course.
But if Layla was able to come back despite it all, then perhaps Logan can begin his searches again. Of course, Layla being alive now could simply be because she was the most recent to disappear, he would not deny that possibility, but if he never searched for those who disappeared without a trace again, then they were less likely to ever be found.
Leaning towards his computer, Logan placed his hand on it and began using his ability. He went through all of his files on the missing cursed faction members. Not only that, but he double checked their leads, and seeing if anything new popped up in recent years.
Fortunately, there had been, even when filtering for fake claims. It was good news, albeit, there were only as many leads as one could count on one hand. It was better than nothing. Logan was going to exhaust these leads before officially giving up.
Lastly, and what might just be the most difficult part, was convincing Vicky to help. Years ago, he was still actively searching for the others, but after hitting a wall for so long, it was negatively affecting his mental state, and his relationship to his wife and kid. Vicky had to help remind him what was important, and he had since put a pause on his search.
Logan sighed as he rubbed his eyes. He got up and headed to bed, removing most of his prosthetics before he laid down. He was going to need to think about this when he had some rest.