This story is now the weekly Sunday update.

Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 7

He may have underestimated the power of the internet.

That was the only conclusion Jaune could come to as he looked at his bank account and realised it had exploded from a couple of hundred lien to shy of 40,000 in the space of a couple of days. It turned out that going viral was good for your ad revenue.

Less so for his self-esteem.

A magazine in the grocery had a picture of his alter-ego on the cover with the words "WHO IS GUITAR CUTIE?" above it. That stupid name had stuck, too. It was Guit-Arc. It was a clever play on words.

That was a hill he was prepared to die on.

Technically speaking, RemTube and his bank knew exactly who he was on account of the fact they paid money to his account, but they weren't going to tell when it'd mean breaking confidentiality rules and causing a huge scandal. Maybe they didn't even know for sure. The site probably only let its employees see "necessary information", and the bank knew he got money from RemTube, but didn't know if he wasn't some other new creator making it big.

Apparently, he'd caused a bit of a stir. It was hard to tell just how much because Ansel was far removed from the major cities and a lot of their news came late. Maybe the fuss was all over by now and no one cared. Maybe he was already yesterday's news.

Through performing for an audience, you have gained +1 Charisma.

Ugh.

Or maybe not.

Tearing his eyes away from the cute girl on the magazine cover, he paid for the groceries and bagged them up to take back home for mom. The cashier tried to make conversation with him but the long line behind wasn't appreciative and the girl flushed and went to serve them while he slipped out.

Ansel didn't have a supermarket. Few villages were big enough for it. Instead, it had a franchise that ran a grocery store-slash-newsagent and got most of its goods as cast-offs from the supermarket it was franchised from. Even the magazines on the shelves were a couple of days out of date.

It had been a week since Mistral and while he'd kept in touch with Nora and Ren, he'd neglected his RemTube channel. Mostly out of fear. The barrage of notifications of gaining a level in Charisma had slowed, thankfully. It was impossible to know if that was because it was getting harder to gain Charisma as his stat grew, or if it was the natural slowing down of traffic to the video. It might have been both. Either way, he was lucky if he got one point in it a day now. It was honestly a relief.

Turns out using my Bardic Music absolutely does transmit over digital media, he thought.

He wasn't sure why it did but trying to apply logic to a Semblance seemed like a bad idea anyway. After reading up on them, he'd found some examples of family ones like the famous Schnee Semblance, and that was pretty illogical as well.

Glyphs that could appear in the air and bend gravity? Summoning defeated foes as spectral versions of themselves? They might as well be called magic. How else could you describe something that broke the fundamental law of physics? They were witches and wizards, and he was among them – except he'd rolled bard without realising it.

Go figure.

Idly, he checked this stats.

-/-

Jaune Arc

Lvl 5.

Title: Bard

HP: 140/140

MP: 65/65

Str: 6

Con: 5

Dex: 5

Wis: 7

Cha: 102 (103)

Aura: Locked

Semblance: The Game

Perks:

Speak with Animals.

Bardic Skills.

-/-

What a ridiculous stat gain. He'd been somewhere between fifty and sixty before Mistral and doubled it from one online video. It made sense. Before, he'd been performing for a handful of people in parks and gaining the odd level, and he'd escalated to a live performance in front of hundreds of thousands – maybe even millions by now. He was too scared to check – and his stat growth reflected that.

"I could probably become a rockstar with these skills. It'd feel a lot like cheating, but no one would care."

He pictured himself topless on a stage before a crowd of thousands, with an electric guitar strapped over his chest and his hair spiked up. He then imagined his music being broadcast across Remnant, the feedback of: "you have gained +1 Charisma…" ramming into his head, and his spiky punk-rocker self having an aneurism and falling into the crowd.

It probably wouldn't get that bad. The deluge of notifications had been a pain in the ass because they were coming at night when he wanted to sleep. If he was going to do it again, he should plan his videos to go out in the morning and avoid that.

If he decided to.

He had the money he needed to travel. That was it, right? No need for another video.

Other than gaining even more Charisma…

Those juicy, juicy stat points.

"Curse my power-gaming nature," he groaned, shouldering his way into their home. "Mom, I'm back! I've got the shopping."

"Bring it to the kitchen and the girls will put it away."

"Aw, but mom—" whined Jade.

"No buts. Your brother fetched it so you're putting it away."

Jaune smirked and dumped the bags on the table. It wasn't even a big job between the four of them. There was only Jade, Hazel, Sable, and Amber there. They made a show of huffing and going slowly to express their unhappiness, however, and made the job take twice as long as it otherwise would have.

"Where are the others?" he asked.

"Coral has work tutoring some poor boy in poetry and your father has taken Lavender for her weekly check-up. As for Saphron." Juniper rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Terra managed to get time to come visit."

"Terra is here?"

"Will be later. Saphron wants to clean her room and pretend she isn't half as much of a slob as she is. Who am I to complain about that?"

That would have been something he'd laugh at if it wasn't probably aimed at all of them. Saphron was the cleanest among them, which sounded great until anyone saw their rooms and realised that just meant she was the lesser of many, many evils. Still, it'd been a while since he saw Terra. The two had been dating for a while but it was obviously long distance for the most part. He could still dully remember first meeting her and developing a bit of a crush, back when he thought she was just a "really good friend" of his older sister. A really, really good friend who spent a lot of time doing things in Saphron's room.

So he'd had a crush on his big sister's friend. Sue him. Jaune was fairly sure that was standard younger brother experience. He'd gotten over it quickly enough, especially when the two of them came out to the family.

Turned out most of them had already figured it out.

Saphron and Terra may have thought themselves clever in playing loud music to mask their make out sessions, but that would have been a much better ruse if Saphron had ever been one to belt loud music out her bedroom. The sudden onset of it whenever – and only ever – Terra was around, might as well have been a signal flare fired high into the sky.

"Actually, Saphron did want to talk with you," said Juniper.

"Oh? Why?"

"I think it was something about wanting to make you do a performance for Terra."

"To show me off, you mean…" he deadpanned.

Juniper laughed and ruffled his hair. "You should see it as a good thing your big sister is so proud of you that she wants to show you off to her girlfriend."

Hngh. Yeah, he guessed so. It was nice to know Saphron liked his music that much. "Fine. I'll go see her. But if she's expecting me to do a romantic serenade while they have a date or something then she's got another thing coming."

"Hmm. Your bird has been looking for you as well."

"What!?"

There was an angry tapping on the kitchen window. The blackbird was there using its beak to peck on the glass.

"HEY! HEY! FLIGHTLESS ONE!" it shouted. "YOU FORGOT THE OFFERING OF SEEDS TO HE-WHO-BURNS-IN-THE-SKY!"

"Damn it, Doom…"

"I think he wants seeds," Juniper quipped, having no idea how right she was.

"Yeah, well. We shouldn't feed stray animals." Jaune turned away.

"CAN'T YOU HEAR ME? THAT'S OKAY. I'LL ASK AGAIN LATER WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO SLEEP!"

"On second thought," he growled, stomping to the cupboard, and reaching for the birdseed he'd been forced to buy by the annoying thing. He yanked open the window and dumped a handful onto the windowsill. "I hope you choke on those!"

"Your – um – offering is – hmm – appreciated. This will keep – oh bird, that's good – the sky-fire happy." It pecked up another and tilted its head. "Don't suppose you have any worms to go with it?"

"I do not," he growled. "Go build a nest and attract a mate or something."

"My duty is to protect the world and its beings from the angry fire-God. I have no time for eggs."

"Sounds like an excuse to me."

"I—I could totally find a mate if I wanted to!"

"Yeah, sure. I'll believe that when I see a nest filled with eggs."

Juniper giggled. "Look at you two. It's like he really understands you sometime. Why don't you get a perch and let him sleep in your room?"

"I would rather die," Jaune said, scowling and dragging the window back down. "Loud little bastard would keep me up all night." He headed away from the window before Doom got any more ideas. "I'm going to go see what Saphron wants."

Jogging up the stairs, he headed for his big sister's room at the end of the corridor closest to their parents' room. The house had been filled and expanded with every new child, so the rooms were in chronological order. Careful not to enter and see anything he really wasn't prepared to see, Jaune knocked.

"Who is it?"

"It's Jaune. Mom said you needed me."

"Ehehehehehe." Saphron's responding laughter made him nervous. "Come on in, little brother."

He hesitated.

"How about you tell me what you want through the doo—"

The door opened and Saphron's hand grabbed his collar, yanking him in and spinning him around, then pushing him at the bed. He bumped into and fell over it, hands planting down onto the sheets on either side of his guitar. Why was it in her room? Jaune swivelled and faced his sister as she closed the door and leaned against it, blocking off any escape.

"S—Saph? Hey. W—Whatever I did to upset you, I'm sorry. Really."

"I'm not upset, baby brother." Her eyes glinted.

"You're not? Good. Great! I heard Terra is coming. You excited?"

"Oh, yes. And I want to introduce you to Terra!"

"Uh. Introduce? Terra already knows me…"

"I meant the other you."

Saphron held up her scroll, upon which was the video. The blasted video. It was paused, but his face was clear as day. Jaune's jaw dropped, and he stammered protests. Claimed ignorance. Shook his head. Called her crazy.

"I had to be sure, which is why I borrowed your new guitar to check. And look, it's an exact match!"

"It's a branded guitar! They're made in a factory! There are thousands just like it!"

Saphron didn't believe him. Of all the times for his Charisma to fail him. Setting her scroll down, she hoisted her makeup bag, her face flushed and her eyes shining like crazy. Out came the foundation, the blush, the mascara, and the nail polish.

The blood drained from Jaune's face.

"S—Saph. L—Let's not do anything hasty—"

"Don't worry, little sister. This is going to be anything but hasty."

/-/

"It's a present for you." Saphron's voice came through the door later that day. "It's been ages since you came over, so I wanted to surprise you with something."

"Is that so?" Terra sounded excited. "I can't wait to see what it is."

Jaune groaned in his head and pulled his skirt a little further down his legs. His fingernails had been painted pale blue. This wasn't even a new experience for a boy growing up with seven sisters. He'd been "practice" for them on more than one occasion, especially when he'd been young and impressionable. He'd always wanted to spend time with his cool big sisters and their friends, and they'd had fun dressing him up like a doll.

It'd become much rarer once puberty hit and he started to fill out, and when he realised just how embarrassing it was to be dolled up like that.

But Saphron had him by the balls this time.

The door opened and Terra was ushered inside.

The pretty Atlas woman caught sight of Jaune, sat on the edge of Saphron's bed with her bare knees together, an over-sized sweater reaching over her hands and her curled golden hair. Pale blue eyes surrounded by dark eyeshadow blinked nervously up at her, and Jaune glanced away, blushing. Red crept up her face and she played with the hem of her skirt.

"Surprise!" cheered Saphron.

Terra's jaw dropped.

"Y—Yes," she gasped, suddenly bouncing on the spot. "Hells yes!"

"I know!" gushed Saphron. "Isn't she the cutest thing ever?"

"You're the best girlfriend ever! I love you so much!" Terra hugged Saphron tight, then let go. "S—Should we put the music on, so your family doesn't hear?"

"Eh?" Saphron made a confused sound. "That'd defeat the point of the gift. And we only do that when we're about to…"

Saphron's eye twitched.

"Terra, darling, my love. What exactly do you think your present is…?"

"…" Terra froze, hands outstretched for Jaune. She paused and looked back, taking in Saphron's dangerous smile, and reconsidering the situation. "Uh…"

"What did you think this was, Terra?"

"This…" Terra swallowed. "This isn't an offer for a threesome, is it?"

Saphron's eye twitched a second time.

Jaune winced.

"Your surprise was to get to listen to some incredible music. Isn't that thoughtful of me to let you have a private concert with the world's most famous guitarist. Or infamous, at least." Saphron was smiling brightly now, which was no less dangerous. Terra looked like she was hoping for a hole to swallow her up. "And I'm definitely not doing a threesome with a member of my own family."

"Huh? But she's not one of your sisters."

"And you," Saphron said, planting her hands on her hips and staring at him. "Don't seduce my girlfriend!"

"Me!?" Jaune balked, asking in a very masculine voice. Terra made a choking sound. "This isn't my fault. You're the one who locked me in here and dressed me up. Maybe you should have thought twice before telling her the strange girl in your room is a gift. What's she meant to think?"

"J—Jaune…!?" Terra had gone so far beyond choking that she was dying. "No way. How… But I'm… But you're…" The older woman pointed accusingly. "You're hot!"

Saphron glared. "Not helping yourself."

"Not as hot as Saphron, of course. I just mean she – he! – is so sexy! I mean, attractive. Cute. But not like that. I'm Saphron-sexual. Promise. I'm just saying it objectively, like how a married woman can call a man handsome as a matter of fact!"

"Keep digging that hole, Terra. You're doing such a good job."

Uh-oh. This looked bad.

Jaune wasn't sure how close this was to an actual fight since he'd always kept himself as far removed from Terra and Saphron's romantic meetups as was humanly possible. The rest of the family had done the same, giving them the privacy they so obviously wanted.

Maybe it was teasing, but he couldn't help but worry it might not be.

He'd be the first to admit he wasn't good at telling the difference. Terra looked panicked enough, and Saphron had her arms crossed in mom's patented "you'd better have a good explanation" stance. It was strong enough to rock his father to his core, and Terra had no defence against it. This was definitely going to be a "sleeping on the couch" moment, and there wasn't even one for her to sleep on.

Damn it.

Jaune reached for his guitar and balanced it in his lap, sliding the plectrum out from between the strings as Terra fumbled for words. Something romantic would have to do, and luckily for them the slow romantic songs were some of the first he'd learned – namely because they were so much easier than rock. They were slower, softer, with each note articulated. Arpeggio in a lot of cases.

As he played, Jaune activated his Bardic Music and let the skill wash out.

The effect was immediate.

Terra and Saphron froze as the first notes played, then turned to him as he plucked each string one at a time, filling the room with the sounds of an old classic. Slow romance, the steady tune thrumming from his guitar, amplified by his skill and his staggeringly high (at least compared to his other stats) Charisma.

As the song ended, Jaune was relieved to realise he hadn't gained a point in Charisma.

Maybe the threshold by which he accrued points really was getting larger. That was honestly a relief if it meant he wouldn't have to face crushing headache each time he played for an audience. Speaking of…

Saphron was crying and Terra was holding onto her.

It looked like their "fight" had concluded.

"That was beautiful," said Terra, and it was clear this time she meant the music. "Oh my… I can't believe it. I heard about the viral video online, but I didn't bother watching it. I thought it must be good but that everyone was exaggerating it."

"Jaune, that was so sweet," whispered Saphron. "Where did you learn that?"

"Here and there," he said, evasively. "Are you two finished with your little dispute?"

"Our what—? Yes, yes, it's over. My bad. I should have been clearer." Saphron kissed Terra's cheek. "Forgive me?"

"What's there to forgive? I'm the one who got it wrong." Terra wrapped her arms around Saphron's waist and stared deep into her eyes. "Will you forgive this stupid horndog? It's only because I've been longing for your touch for so long. I got excited."

"Oh, you."

Saphron leaned in.

Terra tilted her head.

"NO!" Jaune shoved the neck of his guitar between their faces. "Not while I'm in the room!"

"Ah. Right." Terra drew back reluctantly. "So, uh. I guess you wanted Jaune to play for us. That was really good. You're… what's she called, again?"

"Guitar Cutie," said Saphron.

"Guit-Arc," said Jaune. He glowered at his older sister. "It's a pun."

"It's something. That's for sure." Saphron giggled and turned to Terra. "He's doing this because he wants to travel. It's an idea he came up with when we were in Mistral." Saphron then recounted the story, with Jaune filling in some blanks about Nora and Ren, but also how he felt travelling would let him gain a better understanding of what he wanted to do with his life.

Terra was surprisingly approving of the idea.

"I did some travelling when I was in university as well," she said. "I already had my course by then, so it wasn't to decide what I wanted to do, but it still helped me a lot. That's actually how I met Saphron." Their hands linked. "It was good for me, I think. A bit of a chance to let loose before I had to properly commit myself to a normal nine-to-five career."

"Mom wants Jaune to have some money to rely on. Which I assume is why he did this whole Guitar Cutie thing."

"Guitarc," Jaune said, stubbornly. "And yeah. It was Nora's idea. I did a video where it was me playing the guitar normally, but it didn't do very well. Then she dressed me up and did one, and it went nuts!"

Terra snorted. "That's the internet for you. I used to play online games a lot and you wouldn't believe the shit I got the moment my voice came through and they realised I was a woman. It was either everyone wanting to help me to get to know me, or a deluge of misogynistic shit. Or people saying I'm not real unless I show them my tits. Got so annoying I just stopped using voice comms altogether. I hear the video went nuts. You make enough money?"

"More than enough. I've got enough to travel right now."

"When are you telling mom?" asked Saphron.

"I was planning on doing it tonight or tomorrow morning. Why?"

"Because," teased his sister. "I think we could both help one another out!"

Jaune stared up at them. "Huh?"

"Saph and I want to become official," said Terra, showing Saphron's hand. There was a ring on it that Jaune was sure hadn't been there before.

"Holy shit," he swore. "Uh. Congrats! But what's the problem? Mom and dad are going to be thrilled."

"Thrilled with us getting engaged, yes. Thrilled when we say we want to move to Argus…?"

Jaune winced. "Argus…? That's quite far."

"Exactly." Saphron sighed. "It's not that I don't love it here, but Terra's job requires she be somewhere with an actual CCT, and it's not like we can afford a major city. Ansel is nice and all but there aren't many prospects here when it comes to real jobs."

"Yeah, I get that. I sometimes think dad forgets the reason he has it so easy is because he's a huntsman and all his work comes from outside."

"Hmhm." Saphron hummed. "So, we want to start a new life in Argus, but mom and dad are going to freak because it's so far. And we both know mom is nervous about you going on this travelling trip, too, despite what she says. Mom still thinks you'll end up in a bath of ice with your kidneys sold."

"Yeah. I gathered that."

"So… we help one another!" Saphron was grinning. "I bet mom would feel a lot more comfortable with you travelling if it was with me and Terra. Not all the way," she added. "Just to Argus. You can head off to Atlas or wherever you like after that. But the most dangerous part of travelling is the bit before you reach the big cities and the major transportation routes. Terra travels all the time so she knows how to handle it all, and mom and dad would know you'd be safe if Terra was looking out for us."

That was true. Travel between Vale and Atlas or Atlas and Mistral was simple - you just took a flight - but travel from Ansel to Vale was much harder. It wasn't like they had an airport they could go to. It'd require travel by road and then by ship, stopping and changing routes at numerous small towns and villages, and it'd be dangerous. One mistake could land you in a lot of trouble. Terra had made the route multiple times to see Saphron so she knew it by heart.

"Aaand I think the biggest worry mom and dad have about me and Terra moving to Argus is that we won't be able to make ends meet, so I was thinking that if I could show her I had a bunch of money saved up…"

Jaune smiled sarcastically. "Which you don't."

"Which I don't," Saphron said, shamelessly. "But what I do have is a camera and a house picked out in Argus, and we could help you make some videos there. You know, build up a catalogue you could release over time. And we could help manage your channel like agents."

"To be clear, you're grovelling to your little brother for money."

Saphron winced. "My favourite brother in the whole wide world."

"Do you have no self-respect…?"

"I have none!" she wailed. "But I also don't have a job because the best I could hope to get in Ansel is retail, and you know that sucks. We live in the middle of nowhere, Jaune. Don't make your big sister become some kind of e-thot!"

"But you're fine with making me one…?"

"Eheh." Saphron looked around nervously. "Maybe?"

Terra sighed. "You don't have to do it, Jaune," she said. "Honestly, I make good money. More than enough to support us. We're just worried your parents will think we're rushing things and being irresponsible. You know they already had a problem with me for having Adrian so young, even if they never say it." And it was a bit rich coming from them when they had Saphron when mom was nineteen. "I don't want them to think Saphron is making a bad decision."

Ugh,

Terra's brutal honesty was super effective.

He knew the two loved one another and had always assumed they'd get married one day, but he'd also assumed they'd stay in Ansel. As had their parents, presumably. It made sense that Terra couldn't keep her job out here, though. She was a CCT Engineer, and that was a lofty position from what he'd heard. Being able to repair and maintain the world's communication systems wasn't like being a typical electrician. Terra's job was in high demand and there weren't a lot of people who could do it. And with Ansel not having a CCT of its own… well, what choice did they have? At least Argus would be more affordable than a major city.

And I'm planning to make more videos as I travel, aren't I? What's the point of that if I can't help my family along the way?

It also wasn't lost on him that Saphron had dolled him up better than Nora had. He'd assumed that was for teasing purposes, but now realised it was her way of telling him she could be helpful. Saphron could make sure he looked even better online, and that'd bring more viewers.

Thirsty degenerates.

Huh. As a bonus, maybe he could make them read the comments so he wouldn't have to. Jaune rubbed his chin, that simply idea appealing to him more than everything else combined. Yeah, he could make them manage the channel. Make them deal with the creeps and the weirdos. Heh, heh, heh.

"You know what…" Jaune leaned forward, smiling evilly. "I think we can arrange a deal of some sort. All I need from the two of you are a few small… concessions…"

"I am willing to make any sacrifice," Terra said, a little too excitedly.

Saphron slapped the back of her head. "What sacrifice do you think he's asking you to make? And stop drooling! He's a man."

"Doesn't look like one right no- ow!" Terra rubbed her arm. "No need to hit me."

"Ahah." Jaune chose to ignore Terra's words for the sake of his sanity. It was his Charisma speaking anyway. "It's nothing much. You just need to manage my RemTube account for me and read all the comments. You would need to be the ones who respond to the outside world."

"That's it?" Saphron looked pleased.

"That's it?" Terra looked disappointed. At least until Saphron's eyes narrowed. "I mean, yay! Great! That's it! Woop-woop!"

"I – we – accept." Saphron answered for them both. "I mean, how bad can it be?"

"Good choice." Jaune tossed them his scroll. "You're welcome to start reading right now while I go and get out of this outfit. Then we can prepare to break the news to mom and dad tonight. I've got a feeling it's going to be hectic."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Mom is going to be hysterical."

Saphron took his scroll and began browsing, as Jaune headed for the door with his guitar. His other sisters were downstairs, allowing him to slip out and to his room without being caught. As he closed his door and prepared to get changed, he heard one last cry.

"They want to do what to my little brother!? Ewwww! Who the fuck does this Winchester guy think he is? I'll kill him!"

Yep. Good job he hadn't bothered reading those comments.

Now they just needed to tell mom, deal with her reaction, and he'd be able to begin his travels!

/-/

"MY BABIES ARE LEAVING ME!"

"Mom, no, we're just moving out to start our own family."

"THEY'RE FLYING THE COOP! EMPTY NEST SYNDROME! I'M ALL ALONE!"

"Mom, it's literally only me," said Saphron. "And Jaune is traveling but he'll come back."

"It's not that bad, Mrs Arc," said Terra. "It's only two out of eight children that will be leaving. Only a quarter of them."

Saphron sighed. "Terra, that won't help."

"A QUARTER OF MY BABIES ARE LEAVING ME! A WHOLE QUARTER!"

Jaune sighed.

This was going to be a long night.

Jaune begins his travelling concert across Remnant in the next chapter. First to Argus, and possibly from there to Atlas. What mad adventures will find him? Who can say. And will Cardin find love with his beloved Guitar Cutie?

Only time will tell.

Next Chapter: 14th January

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