2012 A Happy Family

The dark night sky was out, and the crystals powering small lights throughout the settlement and houses could be seen everywhere. It was different from the regular cities on earth that would have giant skyscrapers in the sky.

The largest buildings were the castles, followed by the mansions and three story houses that were built on top of each other. It looked more like what a village would have looked like in the olden times, instead of one with modern technology and materials.

It was a beautiful sight to see in its own way, to say the least, and walking through it, Quinn had a straight face as he took his steps carefully glancing around the area.

"This job is so boring!" Ronick complained. "There's never anything exciting happening in the vampire settlement. Why is there even a position like this in the first place."

Walking right now by Quinn's side was a regular vampire. He was middle aged, or at least looked it. There wasn't much that stood out about him, having a regular vampire hairstyle, not having overly good looks or large muscles, and the same could be said for his skills, which was why he was given the task as a guard, a guard for the ninth family.

"It's good that it's safe. There is less chance for the people to get hurt." Quinn replied, as he continued to walk in his guard boots. They were tight around his legs and in all black.

They were made of beast gear, but were at the intermediate level. It was the same for the rest of the equipment Quinn was wearing as well. A few shoulder pads, with a belt wrapped around some trousers and a shirt. This was the uniform for the guards of the ninth family.

It had been a while since Quinn had joined the Fortuna family, and as promised Edvard was going to give him what he asked for. Which was why the position that was assigned to him was as a guard. Something every family had but wasn't used very often.

There were vampires that went out on hunts on local planets, those that went out on joint hunts with the humans on other planets, and the castle vampires and more. On top of that, if one had a particular skill such as cooking, crafting, and marking out maps, they could also be invited to these teams.

Which meant that a guard was simply someone who wasn't strong enough, or had no skills whatsoever to do anything. They would patrol the pooling area with the other guards from other families, trying to solve disputes.

However, in the vampire settlement there were rarely any arguments to begin with. Perhaps once in a while, someone needed help with moving some equipment, or another felt like they had slandered their name or tried to cheat them out of money from a stall.

Yet, it never got into a confrontation where they needed to use their fists. The most excitement they got was that sometimes the guards from one family would tease the other, and even fight from time to time, but it was all in good fun rather than due to arguments.

"If only I didn't do so bad on that assessment." Ronick sighed. "Maybe I should save up some money, get some Dalki blood and try at the next one, there's a chance I can get promoted then right?"

"You know what happens to those people right?" Quinn replied. "Either they end up dying when fighting beasts because their skills were overvalued, or they get caught before that even happens and end up in the same position as us. There are only a few that are able to learn from using the blood and keep their strength up. Besides, why wouldn't you want to be a guard. I think having an easy job is a good thing."

Ronick started to shake his head.

"Someone like you would never understand the thrill of fighting." Ronick explained. "A strong person wishes to display their skills. They are treated with great respect from the other vampires and heroes, because they are the reason why we can live the way we can.

"They collect the crystals that run our society and make the energy we need to enjoy our life. On top of that, we are vampires, we have all this power because we are meant to fight, and here as a guard, when there is no sense of danger, how am I ever meant to improve."

Ronick looked straight into the eyes of Quinn, but soon looked away.

"As I said, someone like you who doesn't like fighting, and looks far too handsome to have ever fought a day in his life wouldn't understand. Maybe I should hire a teacher from one of the castles instead?"

Of course, Quinn knew a lot about fighting, and a lot about war, it was a feeling that he would never forget.

"You should be happy that there is no war… people you care about die and even if you are incredibly strong, sometimes there is nothing you can do. If you want to get stronger, and fight for fun, that is up for you to decide. But I warn you, don't go around wishing for conflict to happen, or wishing there is war. War is never good for anyone."

Once in a while Ronick noticed that Quinn would get like this, and when he did he found it hard to argue or talk back. It was also the reason why he hadn't delved into the other's life too much, even though the two worked closely with each other.

Just then, a bell had sounded, and it continued to let out a noise. The second Ronick turned around he already knew Quinn would no longer be by his side.

"Always when his shift ends he leaves on the dot." Ronick smiled. "Still, I can't help but like the guy for some reason. Even if the two of us are nothing alike. Maybe we can do some training together next time, or I'll teach him a move or two."

As the bell rang, Quinn had already rushed off to head home at the end of his shift. The house was in a pooling area, but it was based quite close to the counts and more that lived in the ninth family. He had always assumed that there was a reason why Edvard did this, maybe so he could keep an eye on him, but outside of meetings and such, the two never did meet.

Bursting into his house that was relatively small, but detached from any other homes, Quinn had a large smile on his face as he could see Layla sitting down knitting. It was a hobby she had decided to take up, because right now, although it wasn't hard to move, she was increasingly uncomfortable.

Her belly was quite a bit larger than before, looking similar to a human that was ready to give birth any day now. However, it had only been a couple of months.

"I know you like being with me, but you should really spend a bit more time with your friends at work. It's been two months and I don't think you have gone out with any of them once." Layla said, as she received a kiss on the cheek from Quinn and he placed his head on her belly trying to listen to see if he could hear anything inside.

"I know but it's an important time. I think the baby could pop out at any moment. Then after I take care of you and the baby for a while, I promise I will go out with the others, and try to socialise like you asked." Quinn said with a smile.

In the time that Quinn had been here, Jim Eno still hadn't returned. On top of that there were no big events, the world was just running as it had been doing. The only slightly strange thing was the competition of gathering crystals for the family.

In the past, Quinn understood because factions and other families were competing with each other for better equipment. It also made sense because they were at war, but the basic crystals were enough to power the settlement.

Was it just for the sake of getting stronger if a problem occurred? Even the humans used to do that on earth, so it made some sense.

Still, there wasn't much to go on, or troubles, and Quinn wouldn't try to find out what happened elsewhere until Layla felt comfortable as well.

Just then, Minny opened the door from her room, rubbing her eyes as if she had just been asleep. But soon ran over to Quinn and jumped up to him. He lifted her up in the air and the big cheeky smile he was used to appeared.

"So tell me, are you excited about tomorrow?" Quinn asked.

"Of course I am, it's my first day of school!" Minny said.

It was a worrying matter for Minny to be going to school, but it was something that was required from Vampires of a certain age, and it was hard to explain that Minny was far older than them. Still, mentally she was young, so in the end they thought it would be good for her.

However, she was a vampire that had perhaps the equivalent strength to a low level vampire Lord. So they just hoped that she wouldn't cause any trouble.

*****

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