A/N: SorryI haven't been posting because I have seen too many youtube videos on writing, and then I started reading Worm (A fantastic read. I recommend it.)

Atlanta Arc- Oldest Sister- 29 years old.

beep...beep...beep

A groan escaped her lips as she blindly stretched her hand towards the nightstand; she moved her hand slowly, carefully looking for the scroll.

beep...beep...beep

After a few seconds, when she was about to give up and open her eyes, did the back of her hand knock over a plastic glass filled to the brim with water, spilling it over the nightstand.

beep...beep...beep

'So it's gonna be one of those days.' Atlanta thought with a grimace.

She gave a heavy sigh to the pillow and opened her eyes. She then located the dripping-but still functional- scroll and turned off the alarm before it continued.

For a moment, she considered sleeping for a few more minutes, but the slight discomfort of the lukewarm water dissuaded that idea. She brought the scroll towards her hand and pressed it against the sheets with her hand in an attempt to dry it.

After a few seconds, she decided to start getting ready; she slowly sat up on her bed and stretched her arms over her head, making her shoulders pop.

She then cleared the hair off her face and stood up to do her morning stretches. She put her arms behind her and pushed forward.

Slowly she started using her aura on her brain, waking her up and sharpening her senses. The drowsiness receded, and she got a clear view of her bedroom.

It wasn't anything special; There was a single poster in the entire room, but many photographs. The poster was custom made and old; it had her family symbol, the double arc in white, the background on yellow, and words in blue, 'Strength in Unity.'

They were the only words she remembered of her grandfather.

There was a window looking over her house's extensive backyard, various chairs, and tables with parasols littered across in case of an event.

With her sharp senses, she could see the wear and tear of the furniture in the backyard. There were some apparent fractures due to their recklessness, like a parasol with a fracture line; she remembered she broke it in half, playing around with her new increased strength.

But what was most apparent was the lack of use. She couldn't say when was the last time their backyard was bustling with activity. She shook her head- making her long hair get in her face, and she once again fixed it-and focused on stretching.

There were also many pictures of her siblings, parents, and boyfriend on her room walls. Her eyes lingered on the photographs of her family smiling and bickering at each other. In one of those, she could see herself thrown out of the pictures in a blur that wasn't recognizable.

She remembered it was because she called her sister, Kimori, 'lazy.' She regretted it because she didn't understand her sister and how much effort she was putting into her training. After all, she didn't have such an easy semblance to use like her own, and her sister's was incredibly hard to master.

Her eyes trailed over her family; her father had a reproachful look, her mother only had a small smile, but she could tell she was amused. Her other sisters had expressions of surprise or exasperation.

As for her -now wayward- brother, he had a blank look. Before he left, she would have called that look surprised. Now, she couldn't be sure.

Before she could react, her semblance desperately searched through her bonds, looking for her brother; a small part of her hoped he was right next to her room, on his own.

But as each morning before this, the result was the same.

Alive.

Nothing else, not the warmth, that the bond brought, not the increase of her aura, or the strength of it. The beat of her heart was alarmingly loud at this moment.

Nothing.

It was so blatantly obvious, and it tore into her heart.

And it hurt.

Her semblance moved once again, looking for bonds to reassure her, telling her, 'It's okay, we still have the rest of them.'

Her mother was in the kitchen, and her father was sleeping in their bedroom.

Some of her sisters were sleeping in their rooms, others in houses not too far away, with their boyfriends/girlfriends. One outside the village. Another in a vague direction, she knew it was where Argus was located.

Her boyfriend of twelve years was in the school, most likely doing his job as a teacher.

The closeness of their bond brought comfort to the chunk that disappeared overnight.

Even then, her semblance didn't stop; it continued expanding, covering the hundreds of bonds around the town, friends, teachers, uncles, aunts, subordinates, and bosses, most of them shallow, some deep, and another's might as well be family.

Each of them had a place in her aura, making her stronger. The warmth is making the aura flow across her body, bringing a degree of comfort.

It was now that her hurt didn't thump against her chest as loudly as before, and she took deep breaths calming her. She slowly walked over a mat that was leaned over a wall and spread it over the floor; she sat down and focused on her aura.

Even then, there was someone missing.

She slowly brushed her hair as she examined herself in the mirror; she was wearing a green blouse and shorts that accentuated her slim figure and muscle tone. The outfit also proudly showed her scars; one went diagonally from the half of her thigh to her knee—another in her neck's base towards her chest.

When she finished brushing her hair, she examined her night's clothes and decided they were suitable for another night.

She walked down the hallway towards her room, but her eyes drifted towards the closed room next to hers. A question floated in her mind 'Should I..?'

She pressed her clothes to her stomach as she grabbed the handle of the door. She hadn't entered his room since before he left. Maybe, they were some clues as to why he left. She took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped forward.

It hadn't changed; she didn't know why a small part of her thought it would. The walls were bare, nothing but wood. His usual desk was below a window overlooking the backyard, just as hers did.

A shelf was next to the window, full of different books, math, biology, some she could only assume it was for farming and a couple meant for administration and productivity; she knew those were Argent's books.

She turned her attention towards the notebooks on the desk. She grabbed one, and something caught her attention, everything was clean. Someone was cleaning his bedroom.

She immediately thought of her mother, but she discarded that option.

Whoever did this was in hopes he would come back quickly, and her mother came to terms with him leaving pretty rapidly and didn't have hopes of him coming back soon. Besides, she wasn't big on gestures like this.

Her dad? He wasn't big on cleaning in general. Knew better than anyone that he wasn't coming back anytime soon. So doubtful.

Argent? Too busy and tired. Making plans to trade with another town.

Grise? Distracting herself with a new boyfriend. Besides, she was evading the issue. This was too straightforward.

Rogue? Maybe? She didn't get along with him, but that didn't mean she didn't care for him. She made small gestures like this... but since he left, she threw herself towards achieving that promotion in the hospital. She was evading like Grise. Doubtful.

Clair? She wanted to make it a movie room. She would have moved stuff out.

Saffron? Hasn't visited in months. So a definite N-O.

Kumori? She snorted. Her sister acted proud of him when she heard he left home.

That left her a blank, and she didn't know why but she thought of Kumori once again; she was complicated and valued her freedom above all else; despite that, she hadn't left home. She looked at the door and across the hallway.

Kumori's room.

The first thing she saw was her poster of two cards: an ace and a king, a devilish grin in a black background, and red letters said:

'If you ain't cheatin'

you ain't tryin'.'

She hated that poster and wanted nothing more than closing the door to her bedroom; she was sure she left it open to annoy her each time she passed through her bedroom.

But her sister had been home more often than before. She was coming twice a week and not her usual once a week.

She wasn't evading the issue and has been more open to talking about him than the rest of her sisters. Maybe a part of her wishes that he would come back, even if she were proud of him.

Even then, this was Kumori. Cleaning. Showing she cared.

It was weird.

She shook her head as she asked herself, 'Did it matter?'

She decided to look at the notebooks; she draped the clothes in her hand onto the chair and picked and opened it at a random page.

Reflection: Month six.

The best month so far managed to make 3000 lien and was right about Acorus calamus's need.

Though I still managed to lose about 23% of the product, I should have handled better the watering cycles; most of them dried fast. I could've also worked them better if they could get shade in parts of the day. Can't sell as much of Acorus calamus next month, I overdid it for this month, and they should have supplied for a few more months. Even then, they would want to stock because of their recent shortage.

The other, Anemarrhena asphodelioides, was a complete bust, barely managed to break even, and still have much of it in storage; need to get rid of it fast.

The other herbs didn't make me lose money but might have been better if I planted more vegetables... Maybe look for a different type of manure? The village hasn't changed its supplier in years... There might be something better.

She was shocked; she didn't know her brother was making so much money, sure it was even less than a quarter than hers, but she was a lieutenant of the town guard and one of their best fighters. Her brother was a farmer; they were hundreds across the town.

She searched through the notebook and finally looked at his revenue for each month, and it was volatile. He lost over a thousand lien in a month once. But it was apparent he was getting better and better.

As she read the pages, she noticed how detailed they were and how he seemed to make more and more predictions and calculations as time moved on. She felt like she was seeing a small part of her brother that never came to light.

With this notebook, she seemed to get an insight into his brother before he left. She looked back; each time she asked, 'How did your day go?'

He only shrugged, kept doing whatever he was doing, eating, changing his clothes, or walking down the hallway and said, 'Same as usual.'

How is losing a 1000 lien, same as usual?

How is making 3000 liens nothing but outstanding?

How is researching the market and studying different herbs, nothing to share with the family?

She was beyond frustrated. It drove her guilt further. She should've seen something coming; he didn't decide to leave from one day to the next.

The signs were there, but she was blind to them. But someone had to have seen them. If it had to be someone, she would bet it would be their mother.

She grabbed her clothes, left the room with the notebook in her hand, threw her pajamas onto her bed, and went downstairs towards the kitchen.

As she approached the kitchen, she saw her mother, Aria; she was thin, long blond hair that reached her waist, she was dressed in a long light green dress that stopped at her ankles. She was serving herself tea in her big, blank mug.

The moment she entered the kitchen, she called out to her, "Good morning, Mom."

Her mother replied without looking back and without interrupting the stream that went from the kettle to her mug, "Good morning, sweetie. Did you manage to meditate today?"

She dropped the notebook on the kitchen table and replied with a grimace, "Yeah, I'm adjusting, but my semblance isn't making it easy."

Her mother slightly turned towards her signaling her mug, and Atlanta gave the nod.

Her mother gave her the cup she was holding and said as she prepared another tea, "It's to be expected; you draw strength from bonds, and one disappeared that was next to you for seventeen years. It'll take time to adjust."

She gave the tea a sniff; it smelled like mint; she slowly felt it as she left the cup on the kitchen table next to the notebook. She replied then, "But my aura finally stabilized; I should be back to work soon."

Her mother then sat right next to her at the head of the table with her cup of tea and said without concern, "Is it a big difference?"

She shook her head and said, "Not really, but it might throw me off balance. I'll have to train to adjust."

Her mother joked as she said, "So you'll still be able to jump over mountains?"

She rolled her eyes as she said, "That was once! And a bunch of people stacked semblances together to do that."

Her mother gave a slight chuckle to her whine and said, "When will you get back to work?"

She gave it a thought and said, "Probably next week, gotta get check out and get tested on the field."

They fell in silence as they sipped their tea, and after a moment, she moved the notebook to her mother's side and said with an even voice, "Jaune's farming records."

Her mother lifted an eyebrow but didn't speak. She knew she wouldn't be showing it to her without reason. She stood up to prepare her breakfast; she took out toast and marmalade and slowly ate as she looked at her mother.

Her mother didn't react and only kept reading, though the pages kept turning faster and faster. She seemed to understand what she was reading, more than her anyway. She used to own a bar; she should know some business.

Her mother finally finished examining the notebook and looked at her silently; after a moment, she spoke first, "Impressive, right?"

Her mother gave her a measuring gaze and asked, "Why do you think it's impressive?"

That statement would have been considered cruel as if trying to diminish his accomplishment, but she knew her mother, that wasn't what she was trying to accomplish, so she replied calmly, "He's smarter than I thought he was."

Her mother shook her head and said, "I think anyone could've done that. If they tried."

Her mother leaned forward and held her hands in a bridge and placed her head over it, and said, "I think it's far more impressive his ability to recognize an opportunity and followed through. Even when he lost a considerable amount of money, he kept going."

The puzzlement must have shown in her face as her mother leaned back and said patiently, "Why do you think he made so much money?"

She thought for a moment to remember the passages in the notebooks, "...He planted the right plants?"

Her mother replied, "Not entirely; he planted the right plants at the right time."

She was annoyed as she said, "It's the same thing."

Her mother lightly shook her head as she said, "It's not." She took a single slender finger into the cover of the notebook and tapped it as she replied, "This."

Another tap. "Is all about timing."

She gave another quick answer, but she knew it wasn't the right one, "Is it about the seasons?"

Her mother shook her head, "He mentions it; it matters, but not the main point."

Her mother continued, clearly proud, "Look, it's all about our neighboring towns; they haven't received more people, and our population hasn't changed, so food hasn't been a concern for a few years."

She nodded and let her mother continue, "So when people don't worry about the food on our tables, they worry about more petty stuff, creams, antiacid, and other things. But we live far away from any city, so we make our stuff."

Her mother finally reached the end of her explanation as she slowed down, "That's what he was seeing; for the last couple of years, there has been a pattern for these herbs, at different points of the year."

Her brain blanked as she replied, "Oh." She leaned over the table and placed her hand on her cheek as she mulled it over and said, "Doesn't sound so exciting when you put it like that."

She could see she doused her mother's enthusiasm with her reply, and she got her revenge by flicking her nose, and Atlanta flinched.

Her mother sighed as she stood up, picked up the dishes and cups, and started washing them; her mother then said, "It isn't anything special, but he could've made a lot of money out of it, not that we care about money."

They were in silence until she asked the question that mattered, "Did you know he was so passionate about farming?"

She focused on her aura as she observed her mother, sharpening her senses.

Her mother stopped washing, her shoulders stiffened and lowered, the edge of her jaw tensed as she grimly said, "No."

She felt the slightest tremble in her voice, and she knew her mother was hiding something. She thought for a moment, it could be shame for not knowing her son, but she needed to know for sure.

After a moment, she asked with steel in her voice, "Did you know he was going to leave?"

Her mother turned around, and she focused on her green eyes as she took a couple of seconds to reply, "Yes."

For a single second, she saw red; anger flowed through her aura, but she managed to reign it in at the last second before it flooded the house and its surroundings. She knew it wouldn't do anything besides showing her anger to her mother and waking up every single person in their home.

She took a few calming breaths, and her mother stepped forward and sat across from her. Eventually, when she kept her aura under her control, she manages to ask through gritted teeth, "Why didn't you do anything?"

Her mother shrugged as she replied, "It was inevitable; I knew it was coming since The Argument. But I thought he would leave as Saffron did."

She gave a glare to her mother as she said, "Why would it be inevitable? We could've done more."

Her mother replied calmly, "We chained him down, and he's still a teenager. He would try to break free."

Horror dawned on her as she asked, "You don't think he would..."

Her mother had an uncertain look, "I don't know, but I don't think so. It's been too long."

That brought a sigh of relief as she tried to look for information in her mind, "Yeah, if he did, he would've started looking through books on Grimm and aura."

She continued, replaying what he wrote, "Besides, he wanted to see the world."

The look on her mother could clearly say what she was thinking, 'That's what he would write if-'

She snapped out of it as she heard footsteps coming down through the steps; Atlanta looked over the kitchen entrance as saw Argent dragging her feet as she said a lazy, "Mornin'."

She and her mother echoed each other, "Good morning."

They shared a look that decided to keep their recent conversation a secret.

She looked over at her sister; she had shoulder-length hair and was wearing a pink nightgown as she struggled to make coffee. Her cheeks we wider, and she had eyebags on her eyes. Her job had taken its toll.

As Argent struggled to make herself breakfast, she decided whether to mention the notebook to her sister. She felt guilty as this was her brother's work, and she was the one showing it around, but she couldn't leave in his room either; it would be such a waste.

Besides, there was no guarantee someone else would see what he saw and take advantage of it.

When her sister started making her way towards the table with some pastries and coffee in her hand, she made a decision and said:

"Hey, si-"

"Atla, i-"

But they caught each other, and her sister said, "You first."

She was a bit hesitant, but she tapped the notebook, "I was hoping you could take a look at this."

Her sister set the pastries and coffee down on the table and sat down at her left, "What's this?"

She hesitated a bit and looked at her mother, who had left the table and was looking through a pile of books in the corner of the kitchen. She eventually bit the bullet and said, "Jaune's farming records."

Her sister flinched a bit but seemed mostly unfazed as she said, "What about them?"

She needed to get her sisters interested, so she stated in a value she understood, "His work can make the town a lot of money."

Her sister gave her a skeptical look, but it vanished when her mother sat on the table with a book and said, "He had great ideas and would also help gain leverage over other towns."

She pouted a bit when her sister took her mother's words at face value, but it disappeared when her sister said, "Okay, I'll look through it."

She looked away and drummed her fingers on the table but stopped the moment her sister threw a glare at her. She then took her scroll out of her pocket, noticed messages from her boyfriend, and started chatting with him.

teachong: Hey, how did you wake up?

mntJmpr: better than yesterday nd mnaged to meditate. u?

teachong: thats good, been fne, not as sick as ystday. u thinkin bout going back to wrk?

mntJmpr: Yea gnna try to get back next week.

teachong: R u sure?you could tke more time

mntJmpr: Yea too bored at hme

teachong: kay, besides yr group of idiots needs u.

mntJmpr: thats right they might b going crazy without me.

teachong: i think they r crazy either way :3

mntJmpr:...true

teachong: gotta get back to class. see u tonite?

mntJmpr: sure!

She looked up from her scroll and notice her mother and sister still reading, so she stood up on wondered over to the refrigerator and served herself a glass of orange juice.

She then stalked over at the window and looked at the backyard from the groundfloor. It was so big that it only made it lonelier. She remembered the cheer and movement that flowed through the backyard; it wasn't only once in a while; it happened a couple of times a month.

She missed it. Maybe Jaune did too; perhaps he couldn't stand how we are drifting away, or was that her insecurities?

Then the words flowed out of her mouth with absolute finality that her aura reacted and escaped her body, displaying her emotions to the world.

"Let's have a barbeque."

Her aura felt her mother and sister head snap towards her and rapidly showed their agreement. Her sister shrugged as she said a vague affirmation, and her mother was more enthusiastic.

But she wasn't truly listening.

Her aura woke up everybody in the house, and she could feel them grumble as they woke up. She flowed one more message through her aura before she reeled it back towards her body.

"Sorry."

She was a bit embarrassed but less than last time. This was happening less and less often as her aura stabilized. It didn't even occur yesterday, but today's emotional exhaustion must've caught up to her even if she caught herself the first time.

She sat down and focused on calming down her aura, letting it flow through her.

Eventually, she snapped out of it when her sister commented on her brother's work, "It's good. It exceeded my expectations."

She looked over at her sister, and she seemed satisfied as if she finished a good burger, "I think the town would be interested in buying his work."

It was only then that she noticed the pile of notebooks layered across the table, showing her brother's work in full—much more than she thought possible.

Her sister continued and looked at her eagerly, "You are the stand-in when Jaune's missing, right?"

She sent a pitying gaze as she gave a pointed look towards her mother, who had a predatory gaze on her eyes as she looked at her sister and said with a dark chuckle, "This will be fun."

Her sister paled and muttered, "Fuck." She schooled her features and would've sound professional if her voice didn't shake, "How about w-we meet at 4:30, to negotiate?"

Her mother smiled at her sister and said with a sweet voice, "Sure, sweetie~I'll bring a snack!"

Her sister looked like she wanted nothing more than run away, and she did as she stood up and left as she said, "Gotta get ready for work!"

She gave her mother an exasperated look and said, "Please don't make the town bleed."

Her mother pouted and said in fake hurt, "I would never." She gave her a look and continued with a slightly more serious tone, "I'll just make sure he gets a fair compensation."

She hesitated for a second and said, "What about the money?"

Her mother seemed concerned, "I don't think we should deposit it into his account. I'll make a savings account and give it to him when he comes back."

She saw a look of guilt on her mother, and it resonated with her but said, "Yeah, that would be for the best, if not who knows when he would come back."

After a few moments of awkward silence, her mother nodded and asked, "So what are you gonna do today?"

Her earlier outburst flashed in her mind, and said, "I think I'll try to meditate for as long as I can."

Her mother nodded but didn't say anything; after more moments of silence and awkward looks, she decided to get started, "I'll go ahead now."

Her mother nodded and said, "Sure, I'll be reading if you need me."

She gave a silent, "Okay," and headed towards her room.

She was tired as she strutted forward to her house to collapse on her bed. This was a bad day for the town guard; Grimm kept pushing forward and wasn't stopping.

But things were fine.

They had to be.

It was only now that she realized she lost herself in her head and kept going without thinking. Looking around, she saw she was close to the pre-school where Jaune was.

She could feel her bond with him; each step closer, she got stronger and a further step away from fatigue.

Eventually, she got to the pre-school, more awake than she felt in hours. Nothing was stopping her, not the dirt and grim, not her new scar on her thigh, and certainly not her fatigue.

When she looked at the pre-school, she thought she would be happy to see Jaune, and she was, for a single second. Then the rage came from the scene before her.

Her brother was standing over another boy, pointing and laughing at him as he cried; the boy was hurt as there were traces of blood on his hands. Kids laughed or kept their distance, but nobody none of them intervened.

She could faintly see a teacher stepping out to resolve the issue, but she was far, far faster.

When her mind caught up to her, she had already grabbed Jaune and dropped him a dozen feet away directly in front of her and a dozen or so feet away from the pre-school.

He looked happy as she looked at her, but before she could say anything, she was already screaming her lungs out, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? HOW COULD YOU DO THAT AND LAUGH!?"

Her brother looked scared and tried to get away and said, "I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

But she didn't listen, she stepped forward and pushed him into the ground, and he started bawling his eyes out; she then said coldly, "How do you like it when you are in the receiving end?"

It was only when she saw red cover his hand that she regretted ever coming to the pre-school.

She immediately knelt and hugged him, and tears covered her eyes as she barely manages to croak out, "I'm sorry, Jaune, I'm so sorry."

After a few moments she felt a tap on her shoulder and managed to turn around while still hugging her brother and saw the teacher of the pre-school, she didn't say anything, she only gave her a pitying gaze and said, "You need to get some sleep."

She didn't say anything as she gave Jaune to her; she carefully evaded looking at his face.

She was already looking at her house when she stopped, someone was in the front door and walking towards her, but she couldn't look away from the ground and was already starting to turn around.

Before she could start running, a pair of arms pulled towards her chest, and she recognized her mother's voice as she said, "It's okay, sweetie, you've had a tough week. Too many have died."

Her mother pulled her even closer and started running her fingers through her hair and she felt even more guilty as she said in tears and a piece of steel on her throat, "I'm sorry, M-mom, I-I hurt J-Jaune."

Her mother said softly, "It's okay; it was only a scratch. He'll be fine."

She pushed her arms towards her mother and hugged her as she said, "I-I screamed at him!"

Her mother held even with her incredible strength, "He's tough, he'll get over it."

Somehow those words were convincing enough to pull her into unconsciousness into her mother's arms.

She was sweating buckets, it drenched her clothes, and she could feel the foul smell from the mat under her; she started gasping, trying to catch her breath.

It was only after a few minutes of long deep breaths that she managed to calm down.

Atlanta barely managed to make a shuddering breath as a question flowed in her mind, 'Is it all my fault?'

What if she hadn't gone to the pre-school that day?

Maybe Jaune wouldn't have become more withdrawn with other kids their age.

Maybe he could have set his eyes on training earlier.

Maybe he wouldn't have run away.

Why did she freak out when she pushed a kid? It wasn't a big deal; in fact, she could remember doing many worse things in her childhood.

Kids are physical beings and them being Arc's and fourth generation of practitioners of Aura Physique, they were marginally stronger than other people. So, of course, injuries were meant to happen.

Why would she go to the pre-school after being on a battlefield?

She saw friends die; bonds disappear into the void and tear into her aura even more than the beowolf did into her thigh.

It was all her fault.