Man, got to love these new bots spamming PMs offering artist services for cover art – most of which I'm sure would be AI generated anyway.

I assume they're bots since I've had approx one PM a day for the last 10 days.

Cover Art: Solace O'Autumn

Chapter 38

"Is it true you're dating Guitar Cutie?"

Jaune sighed. The question was one he'd fielded so many times over the past few days from waitresses, store owners, even random people on the street. He blamed the media, who seemed to be milking the orphanage story for every click it was worth. The shock factor of the event had worn off, so they'd turned to the next best thing – clickbait speculation and conspiracy theories.

"For the tenth time, Meera, I'm single. I don't even know Guitar Cutie."

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…"

"What's with how long that was? I don't know her!"

"It's just you have an exact replica of her guitar—"

"As do half of the amateur guitarists on Remnant!"

"—and you risked your life to save those orphans—"

"Which any good person would do!"

"—and you protest so damn hard about it."

"Because it's not true!"

"If you say so." Meera scowled at him. He really didn't understand why. "And who was that Cinder woman who brought you back, huh?"

"You literally just answered that question by saying her name."

"I meant who is she to you, idiot!"

"A friend, and a huntress from Haven Academy. Someone who actually agrees with me that Guitar Cutie is overrated. Also, someone who saved my life from Jax and those psychopaths who kidnapped the orphans."

"Fine," Meera grumbled, "She gets a pass." A pass on what…? "But that doesn't change the fact you risked your life. Who does that?"

"Maybe the world would be a better place if more people did."

"It'd be a place with a whole lot less musicians," she countered. "On account of them all being dead."

It was kind of hard to argue with that one. He'd been lucky and had a one-of-a-kind Semblance that let him get away with it, though the whole thing would have never happened without it as well, so it was good luck to fix the bad luck it'd created. That wouldn't satisfy Meera, though.

"Is it enough for me to say I'm sorry?"

"No. I demand recompense."

"In the form of…?"

"You already promised me a day out. Now, you're paying for it all!"

"Of course I am…"

It really wasn't a huge problem given the money he had from Guitar Cutie's works. In fact, it was a remarkably cheap way to earn her forgiveness, and not one he was going to scoff at. If only he could satisfy everyone with it, because Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Penny and Saphron had all messaged him at some point over the night to express their feelings.

Feelings that ranged from anger at him to worry to concern to a general threat to ask General Ironwood to carpet bomb Vacuo if he was hurt. Penny really didn't understand the concept of war crimes yet, which was something he hoped Pietro would give her a patch on before he released her into the world.

"I'll be glad to pay for you," he said, and her face lit up. "How about the weekend? I'll be out of Vacuo today—"

"Really? Where are you going?"

"I figured I'd visit Shade Academy with a tour group. I'm kind of sick of being accosted in the street by people who think I know who Guitar Cutie is or will take them to her if they follow me." Meera apparently found that hilarious and couldn't stop giggling. "I don't know if Shade will be any better, but at least there'll be less people to deal with."

"Hmmm." Meera smirked. "Change of mind! You're taking me with you today!"

"Today? To Shade?"

"Hm. Sure. It's been ages since I've been."

"You've been there? When?"

"In school. It was a field trip."

"You went to a huntress school?"

"No, silly." Meera scoffed. "But our schools did a trip to the academy. We visited police stations, fire departments and all that, and huntsmen are kind of like another emergency service. I think they wanted us to see what our protectors are like so we know the value of our taxes in the future or something. It was pretty cool but there were sixty of us going and we barely got to see anything because our teachers kept dragging us from seminar to speech to class exercise. I want to see it for real."

The company didn't sound at all like a bad idea. Plus, though he wouldn't dare admit it because Meera would probably think him a creep, it might help kill some of the rumours about him dating Guitar Cutie if she was there with him. It might even look like a date. Jaune just about managed to not blush as he accepted.

"—but you'd best ask your grandma first."

Meera went to do just that and came back with the woman, which Jaune was less enthused about. The elderly woman didn't accuse him of anything for once. Instead, she looked him up and down and nodded her head.

"About time," she said, and walked back to the kitchen. "Go have fun."

Evidently, it was not just women his own age that he had trouble understanding.

/-/

There were multiple ways to get to Shade for a tour but Jaune, being both rich and lazy, booked himself and Meera for a Bullhead ride. The alternative was a trip through several caravanserai on the trade routes across Vacuo, which would have been a cultural experience, but also a gruelling one.

Besides, Meera's grandma might be less enthusiastic if he vanished with her for a week.

Meera was wearing a shimmering green satin wrap with see-through veils over her bare shoulders and bright golden sashes. It was vibrant and colourful, and she seemed to enjoy his eyes coming back to it every now and then. He felt underdressed in comparison, though she had told him he looked very handsome. It was more the cultural differences, since Jaune's jeans and dress shirt looked so pedestrian compared to her.

I'd love to be able to wear clothes like those and pull them off, but everyone would look at me strange if I did it back home. One thing Vacuo definitely has going for it is its fashion. I have to give them that.

And the food. Daaamn. He'd always thought vegetables were the boring food group, but it turned out it was just the way they cooked them back home. Locals in Vacuo would have scoffed at simple steamed and roasted veg too. They made them into spiced curries, wraps, stews and pastries that were to die for.

"What are you thinking?"

"Just how great Vacuo is," he answered. "The people, the food, the fashion, the birds—"

"Birds? We're in the middle of the desert. There are barely any birds here."

Jaune sighed blissfully. "I know. Isn't it great?"

"Uh… Sure…"

Their flight only took two hours, compared to the days travelling on foot would have taken, and Jaune even managed to not throw up – a new record. Most of that was Meera distracting him with conversation, giving him something to focus on other than his upset stomach.

When they landed, Jaune sucked in a breath.

Atlas had been magnificent in its technological glory.

But Shade was gorgeous.

Set between two cliffs in a narrow ravine with a sparkling oasis in the middle, Shade stood out solely because it was an explosion of greenery and flowers in the harsh desert. Tall desert roses and vines clung to the cliff faces that stood opposite one another, and within which had been carved rooms creating a whole school.

Open windows with bright curtains fluttering out looked into student dorms, and open archways spilled out from solid rock onto rich grass. Sculptures had been carved into the rockfaces of faceless figures standing tall with weapons planted, representing the huntsmen and huntresses trained at the academy. Meanwhile, the natural oasis had been drawn into manmade wells of marble, and even a small pool where a few students were lounging.

The whole school was covered in cooling shade, as per its namesake, but a thin line of sunlight down the middle showed that, perhaps for two hours a day when the sun was at its highest, the sun would beam down on the school and light up the narrow channel between the ravines.

Meera slapped his arm. "Take pictures!" she said.

"R—Right!" He snaped some to share on the group chat later. He'd have hated to miss it. "Thanks for reminding me. It's incredible."

"Hmm. Vacuo is the poorest nation so a lot of people wonder why anyone would want to stay and study here when they can apply for one of the richer schools." Meera smiled proudly. "This is why."

The air was warm but not stifling when they stepped off, unlike back in Vacuo itself where there wasn't much shade other than canopies and awnings erected by people, and those were usually in front of shops or cafes to force you to buy something. The city might as well have had a pay-per-shade deal going on. Here, it came naturally.

Meera grabbed onto his arm and pulled his elbow into her, securing herself at his side as the few others visiting the academy came off the Bullhead. Almost all of them were much older than they, except for one baby carried in a woman's arms.

"Welcome to Shade Academy!" their tour guide announced. "It's currently lesson time so you will have to stay with the group and not make too much noise, but in an hour it will be free periods for lunch and training, and you're all welcome to look around to your heart's content. Now, if you'll all follow me I'll tell you the history of Shade Academy and its tumultuous founding three hundred years ago!"

/-/

The history of Shade was interesting as a curiosity, but Jaune really liked the architecture and sights a lot more. Luckily, there were plenty of opportunities to stop and photo it, and the guide knew that was why many of them were there. He knew the popular spots and took them around, pointing out the most picturesque scenes and even taking them up to the top floor where they could take pictures of the oasis from above.

They saw students in lessons and some training but were kept away from the latter, partly for safety's sake but also to not disturb the students. It wasn't long before a low gong was sounded, however. Shade evidently didn't use a tinnitus-inducing bell, for which Jaune rated the place even higher.

Students spilled out the cliffs and onto the oasis, taking full advantage of the beautiful weather and cool water to relax after their lessons. Unlike Atlas Academy, there were no strict uniforms among the students and people wore what they wanted. It might have been a cultural thing or just an acknowledgement of how brutal a school uniform would be in the desert, both to keep cool and to keep clean.

With the tour group dismissed to look around however they wished, Jaune and Meera headed back down to the oasis itself, where Meera dragged him to one of the fountains and climbed on the side. Since other students were doing it, she kicked off her shoes and put her feet into the water, then urged him to do the same. It would have felt wrong or against the rules in Atlas, but no one here seemed to mind. He removed his boots and joined in, enjoying the relaxing sensation.

A few students looked their way, but it was mostly just to figure out if they were new students. Once they saw the lanyards around their necks that marked them as visitors, they tended to look away. Not all, though. A few guys looked at Meera a little longer – no surprises there – and quite a few more girls looked at them as well. Jealously, in fact. They were glaring at Meera. He didn't blame them, she looked great in her dress.

"I think some of them recognise you," she teased.

"Stupid newspapers and their stories," he groaned. "I'm tempted to go and do an interview if only to point out I worked at that casino and that's how I found out about the orphans."

"Why don't you?"

"Do you think it'll make a difference? They have their story."

"Mmm. True." Meera giggled and kicked some water toward him. "Might be too little too la—"

"FAKER!"

Jaune heard the shout but didn't really react to it seeing as how it obviously wasn't aimed his way. Or at least he assumed it wasn't. No one had accused him of that since, to his knowledge, he'd never faked anything. Well, other than being Guitar Cutie, but that was different and no one knew.

And yet four girls stomped their way toward the fountain, pointing right at him.

"You!" they yelled. "You there! Faker! Thief! Scum!"

Jaune pointed to himself. "Me…?"

"Yes! You!" One of the girls, a blonde with her hair swept down one side of her face, planted her hands on her hips. "Who else do you think we're talking to?"

Literally anyone. Jaune looked to Meera, and she shrugged back. "I think you have the wrong person," he said. "We don't actually study here. We're tourists—"

"You're Jaune Arc, aren't you?" asked another girl, this one with purple hair.

"I… Yes, I am. And you are…?"

A team from Shade was the obvious answer. Four girls, including the two from before but another with dark red hair a few shades darker than Pyrrha's and one with black hair and a fanned-out skirt that glinted with metal. Not all of them appeared to be armed, but they were definitely all huntresses. And for some reason they were accosting him.

"We are—"

The blonde jumped back among her team, followed by the one with purple hair. For a second, he thought they expected an attack from him or Meera, but he soon realised that wasn't the case. The blonde threw one hand high in the air and held another to her mouth as if holding a microphone.

"DEW!"

The one with purple hair grabbed onto an air guitar and struck a pose. "NEBULA!"

The redhead drew a dagger – worryingly – but then started drumming in the air with it. "OCTAVIA!"

"AND GWEN!" said the last, also holding an air guitar, but with her fingers posed in a manner more associated with a bass. "AND WE ARE—" she shouted.

"THE INDIGO CUTIES!" they shouted in unison.

They held their pose, all smiling wildly, legs planted wide, arms in the air, and glitter thrown from Dew to rain down around them.

Jaune stared.

Meera clapped, but it was a polite sound, as if she felt someone should clap or it would be too awkward. One or two students nearby joined in so as not to make the scene any more embarrassing than it already was.

"You're a band, then," Jaune said. "That's cool. But why—"

"And you're a fraud!" Dew accused, bringing her hand, previously pointed skyward, down to point at him. "A fraud who is trying to cash in on Guitar Cutie's fame!"

Oh no…

He'd run into fans wanting him to introduce them to Guitar Cutie and fans wanting to follow him to see if they could catch a glimpse of her, but this was his first time running into protective fans who wanted to defend her from him.

To protect him from himself.

Jaune felt like weeping.

"There's no way someone like you would ever be good enough to be Guitar Cutie's boyfriend!" Nebula said. "You're not even that good looking!"

Why did that feel like a compliment…?

"—and you're with another woman too," Octavia said. "Unless…"

Meera laughed. "Unless I'm Guitar Cutie? You know, ignoring my skin colour, my hair, my eyes, the fact I can talk, my height and my build—"

"Yeah, you're not her," said Gwen. "You couldn't hold a candle to her. Your body isn't half of what hers is."

Meera's laughed died.

Her hands, wrapped around his arm, loosened a little as she shrank in on herself.

"Bullshit!"

Jaune's laughter punched through it. All eyes turned to him, surprised by how wild and hysterical his laughter was. But, in his defence, they'd said something really stupid. Guitar Cutie's body…? It was his body with some padding on his chest, and while Jaune accepted he was fit by the standards of most men – not by the standards of most men here, them being huntsmen – but the average civilian, he'd looked at his disguised self in the mirror and without the lens of his Charisma affecting him.

And he was not hot shit. Not as a guy or as a girl.

"Meera is ten times hotter than Guitar Cutie," he said, and her jaw dropped open. "And, I mean, I can't even believe you're saying her body is in any way worse. Are you blind? Slimmer waist, more shapely, so much curvier—" Meera's face flooded bright red, her eyes spinning and fixing on his chest. "—and don't get me started on her face. You'd have to be pretty basic to say Guitar Cutie—" Aka, Jaune Arc in a dress, "—is prettier than Meera. Frankly, I think you four need to get your eyes checked."

The team of girls stared at him in a mixture of shock and anger.

Meera, meanwhile, was swaying like a leaf in a breeze. Her lips kept moving, releasing a quiet noise that sounded like "Uwawawawawawaa…"

Honestly, though. Him a prettier girl than her? Bullshit. These people were addled by her music, probably addicted like Willow had been. They wouldn't know a pretty girl if one attacked them on the street.

"That's it!" Dew snapped. "We challenge you to a duel!"

"I'm sorry, but what? I'm a civilian and you're huntresses—"

"Not that kind of duel, you attention-seeking fraud!" Nebula said. "We're talking about a battle! A battle of the bands!"

"But I don't have a band…

"JAUNE ACCEPTS!" Meera roared, recovering her senses but, apparently, not her blood pressure. Her face was a dark shade of red. "And he'll wipe the floor with you skanks! Bring it!"

"FINE!" Dew yelled back. They were both shouting despite being less than two metres from one another. "We'll give you two days to gather your band and then we'll meet in Vacuo for our showdown! The public will judge who is better! When we win, he has to publicly distance himself from Guitar Cutie and admit that she's the better guitarist!"

Fine with him.

"—and you have to give up the guitar forever!"

Hang on a moment…

"And when Jaune wins," Meera said. "You have to get down on your knees and praise him as better than Guitar Cutie! And… And you have to rename your band the Jaune-digo Cuties!"

The band recoiled as if struck, but quickly recovered. "Fine! It's not like he'll win anyway!"

"Fine! Agreed!"

Meera and Dew shook hands angrily, and then the four stomped off, shouting a warning that they'd make sure the world knew they were cowards if their backed down. Before they were even gone, other students were talking excitedly about it. It looked like the Indigo Cuties, despite their oddities, actually had a small following in the academy. That didn't bode well.

"Hussies," Meera said, finally turning back to him. "You'll kick their butts, right?"

"Oh sure." Jaune smiled tightly. "One small problem, though."

"What? I've heard you play. You're awesome."

"Meera. I don't have a band."

"Huh? But didn't you play on a band in the casino?" He shook his head. "It was just you…?"

"Hmhm."

"Oh." Meera gulped. "But… I mean… how hard can finding bandmates be, right?"

"Good question." Jaune planted a hand on her shoulder to stop her running away. "Tell me, Meera. What instrument do you play?"

"I… don't…"

"You're about to learn."

Meera gulped.

/-/

Cinder hardly expected Jaune Arc to call so soon, but she answered anyway, more than happy to have an excuse to leave the packing of their clothes to Mercury and Emerald. Really, what was the point of putting up with her minions' nonsense if they didn't do all the heavy lifting for her? There was none.

"Jaune. Is all well?"

"All is sort of well. I was just curious if you'd left Vacuo yet."

"Not yet. Why?"

"Weeeelll… you're here to try and look for Guitar Cutie, right?"

Cinder hummed. "Yes…"

"And she's a musician who loves music."

"Allegedly…"

"Right. So, there's this event going on in two days – a battle of the band's kind of thing. I'm not saying she's going to be a part of it, but maybe this is the reason she came to visit Vacuo, you know. To see others play."

Cinder paused. The reason…? It was an interesting point. Guitar Cutie's complexion in the videos had made it abundantly clear she didn't live in Vacuo and was just visiting. Cinder hadn't put much thought into the why, just assuming it a vacation, but maybe Jaune was onto something, and the girl was here for a reason. A music festival sounded like a good reason for an avid musician to plan a trip to visit Vacuo.

"You think she's here for the battle?"

"Your words, not mine." Jaune sounded tense, and even a little evasive. "Anyway, I wondered if you'd like to come along."

Ah, maybe that was the reason for his evasiveness. Cinder smirked, amused at the thought of him clumsily asking her on a date. Obviously, she had no interest in such. Jaune wasn't bad to look at and was good company, at least compared to her idiot teammates, but she wasn't looking for entanglements. Jaune was trying to ask her out without making it sound like it, however. Cinder had experienced her fair share of that in Sanctum and Haven from boys asking to spar but really meaning to try and date her.

That said, he still made a good point about this being a chance to catch Guitar Cutie. Maybe the attention-seeking thot was looking to find people who would make good bandmates for her, allowing her to translate her online fame to the many billions that came from tours and concerts. She could allow Jaune a chance to impress her while Mercury and Emerald looked for their quarry. The two were obsessive enough fans to be able to pick her out in a crowd. Cinder would rather be spoilt by a not-unhandsome musician than have to slog around in what was sure to be a mosh pit.

"It sounds like it could be fun," she said, waving for Emerald and Mercury to stop packing. They could delay their travel a few days. "Very well, I'll be there."

"G—Great! That's great!" He was adorably flustered. Cinder held back a laugh. "I'll see you there, Cinder! And thanks! You've really helped me out!"

How cute. He was still sticking to that excuse.

"We're staying another few days," she told her team. "And you'll be getting a fresh chance to hunt down our quarry at a music festival."

"And what will you be doing while we do?" Mercury asked.

"Oh, I'll be working hard as well," she said, the lie coming easily. "Don't you worry about that."

/-/

Sun Wukong paused in the doorway to one of the many, many rooms he now owned. Inside, a bunch of kids were climbing and playing around a huge indoor ballpark they'd spent a ridiculous amount to have installed in the mansion. They were swimming around in it and beating one another with big, soft, fluffy batons, knocking each other into the balls while laughing uproariously.

Joss was among them and rose up like a sharp to kidnap a girl and drag her, shrieking and giggling, into the balls. Several young boys roared and chased after him, and the older boy let himself be caught and "slain" by the horde. Sun couldn't stop himself smiling as he watched it. He'd miss this, when he left for Beacon, but he knew Joss and the others would look after the kids. Give them the kind of childhood they, themselves, had never had but always wanted.

His scroll buzzed in his pocket. Sadly, it wasn't Guitar Cutie.

Awkwardly, it was her boyfriend.

Sun forced down his jealousy and answered. "Yo. Love rival."

"Please don't call me that…"

"Heh. Sure thing, man. What's up?"

"You're looking for a chance to one-up me, right? Show why you're better than me."

"Hmm." It sounded petty put like that, but that was basically what it was. There wasn't much point pretending otherwise. "Why? You calling me out?"

"No—wait, yes. Yes, yes that's exactly what I'm doing! I'm calling you out, Sun Wukong!"

Sun laughed. "Name a time and place!"

"Two days from now and I'll forward you the details."

"I'm in!"

Sun pumped his fist as the call ended, which drew Joss from the giggling children. "What was that about?" he asked.

"Guitar Cutie's boyfriend just challenged me to a contest!"

"A contest of what…?"

Sun paused. "Uh…"

"You were too excited at a chance to show him up and didn't ask, did you?"

"I mean… maybe… potentially…"

"You're an idiot."

"Ah, come on. It'll be something easy, I'm sure. Are you doubting me?"

/-/

"I've found our lead singer and our bassist," Jaune said, planting his hands on his hips. "Have you mastered the drums yet?"

Meera threw her hands, and sticks, in the air. "I have no idea what I'm doing!" she wailed. "You only bought me this two hours ago!"

"I also bought you a book on how to learn."

"It's been two hours!"

"Exactly. Forty-six remaining." Jaune smiled cruelly. "Now play!"

"Ugh. Did our new bassist and singer even know what they were agreeing to?"

"Don't be ridiculous. They'd have never showed up if they did." Jaune knew he was going to suffer for it. "But it's better to seek forgiveness than ask for permission."

"Says who?"

"Dad after knocking my mom up."

"Do you even know if they can play?"

"No," he admitted. But Sun was desperate to impress and good looking, and Cinder... well, Cinder was going to kill him, but she had a body and face that would have every man in the audience paying too much attention to how she moved to worry about whether she could sing or not. " Now less talk and more drumming!"

Next Chapter: 1st September

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