No updates Monday, Tuesday, Thursday as discussed on those stories. Next weekend as normal.

Cover Art: Solace O'Autumn

Chapter 35

Three days in a row posing as Guitar Cutie meant three days more than he'd ever posed before, so at least he could be sure the news of her being in Vacuo would be getting out into the world. Jaune, dressed pretty, walked into one of the largest banks in Vacuo alongside Sun. Saphron and Terra had called ahead to arrange the meeting and transfer the charity money, since there was no way the bank would have enough money on hand otherwise.

As such, they were greeted by staff who expected their arrival, and a markedly increased security presence since the bank didn't want to inconvenience or lose their new biggest-ever customer. The money would be staying in the bank even once Sun owned it after all, only being used by bank transfer when it needed to be. That now made Sun, an orphan street rat, their best customer, and the bank showed it by bringing all sorts of food and treats to a luxurious private office and asking Sun and her if they needed anything.

Jaune waved them off with a smile and Sun with an awkward laugh.

He'd been scatter-brained all day, but Jaune figured it was fair given the guy was about to inherit more money than most saw in several lifetimes. Sun must still have been thinking this was some kind of dream he couldn't wake up from, maybe a coma.

But the constant good food made available for the kids proved otherwise.

Soon, a rotund man in a suit entered. He looked sweaty and overly hot in the outfit, but that was more due to the heat in Vacuo than his size. It was obvious he was dressing to impress, which was a little ruthless of his employers since most people in Vacuo wore looser, breathable desert clothes for good reason. Even so, the man smiled and shook their hands, and looked happy to be there with them. He was probably being paid serious bonuses for dealing with them. Though it'd probably cost him his job and his life if he somehow insulted or lost their custom.

Luckily for him, that wasn't likely.

"Good morning. Good morning. I'm Rasheem, the bank manager here. It's a pleasure to meet you both. Guitar Cutie and Sun Wukong, isn't it?" He shook Sun's hand as well. "You've become as much a celebrity as she in these last few days, Mr Wukong."

"I... I have...?"

"Oh yes. Everyone has wanted to know more about you after the fundraiser and there have been no shortage of news stations telling what they know."

"Uh. What is there to know? I'm just another nameless orphan."

"Not quite so nameless anymore – and you'd be surprised what captures the imagination. People have learned of your little gang, of how you protect local businesses in exchange for food for children, and local archaeologists have told of how you and yours risk your life to help explore old temples for money which you then spend on said children."

Sun shifted awkwardly in his seat. "Uh. That's not... criminal, is it?"

The bank manager paused to consider that. "Well... it might count as graverobbing, but that's besides the point. If anyone tried to charge you, half the world would come down on their heads. Yours is a story of a boy with nothing sacrificing everything to help those around him, now rising up to help others. It's an inspiring tale. I've heard they want to make a movie about you."

Sun let out a strangled sound.

Jaune smirked.

Yes, feel my pain. This is what fame feels like, Sun. Suffer in it.

He'd become famous by association – which was as funny as it was sad, since Sun's tale, inspiring as it was, probably wasn't all that unusual. There must have been a lot of wonderful people in the world who were kind and generous and did great things, but who were never recognised because the general populace didn't care to look. What marked Sun as different wasn't anything he did, but the simple fact that a famous person highlighted it.

And it sucked to think people cared more about fame than good people, but it was just how the world worked. He wasn't anymore immune to it, having never heard of Sun before he ran into him the first time.

Rasheem laughed. "You may want to make sure you get a cut for that movie, Mr Wukong. Our team of advisors can help you. And that's what I'm here for today. You've inherited a large amount of money and, if I may be frank, likely have no idea what to do with it or how to even access it."

"Y—Yes. Just that. But I know I want to start an orphanage proper!"

"That sounds wonderful, sir, and we can help you with that. I'll be happy to have business advisors put to you who will help you with all the paperwork, including registering it as a charity organisation. Because you cannot just start an orphanage – it has to be a business or a charity. That's where we can help. We know how the business structure works." Rasheem paused and looked to Jaune. "But first we need to get the legalities out the way. Miss Cutie—"

Jaune winced.

"—your agents have signed all the relevant paperwork but we'll need a signature from you handing over the money. Would you be able to provide that?"

Jaune nodded and signed the paperwork as requested. Since it was symbolic, he signed it with a made-up signature. He made sure to write it as "Guitarc" to prove a point, but Rasheem simply smiled and called her "Guitar Cutie" again.

Damn it. The name was clever. He'd spent time thinking about it!

A lot of the prep work was boring stuff, but that was fair. Sun hadn't grown up like a normal person so he didn't really know how to open a bank account, and he also didn't have normal things like a fixed address, any way to receive post, or even a wallet to store a card in. The bank had been prepared however and had arranged a temporary fixed address at the bank itself and had also offered – and paid for – a decently sized house for Sun and the many orphans to stay at until they could arrange for Sun to buy a permanent home.

The bank was really pulling out all the stops to please Sun, which made sense now they knew it wasn't just the money but the reputation. Rasheem didn't want for him and the bank to be included in the movie as antagonists who upset Sun Wukong. The shareholders were probably equal parts celebrating their arrival and also bricking themselves at the thought of how screwed the company was if this somehow went wrong.

So, it was boring but it was for a good cause, and Jaune forced himself to sit and smile and not look bored as Rasheem and Sun went over everything. Rasheem even promised to have a selection of decently sized manors available as a portfolio for Sun to look over tomorrow, and to arrange for the construction of a whole new orphanage if Sun decided he'd rather do it that way. With the kind of money he now had, he could afford to do things however he wanted to.

It's curious the quest hasn't completed yet, Jaune thought. He'd arranged the handover of money, yet no update about the kids being saved. Must be because they're not physically off the streets yet. Maybe it won't count until they're literally all in this new house, or even until the orphanage is fully built.

It was arbitrary, but it made some amount of sense. Just because he'd arranged for them to be helped didn't mean they had been just yet. The quest must have been waiting for every i to be dotted and every t to be crossed.

Eventually, miraculously, it was done. The final papers were signed and Sun was not given a card, having nowhere to keep it, but was instead given a small and safe amount of money to have on his person, and then assured that an arrangement had been made with a local food supplier that Sun could order food en masse and in person without a card at all. The money would be taken from the charity bank account directly.

Technically, it would not belong to Sun, but Rasheem had been insistent that Sun be paid from it even though Sun had been against it. They'd both agreed to let it happen when Rasheem explained that Sun would be a pauper himself if the charity owned all the money and he made nothing, and that there was a reason charity bosses received payment. They still had lives of their own to lead.

So, Sun relented and received a year's advance on his generous new salary, and Rasheem assured them that any new employees – likely to be Sun's own older friends – would also get a similar deal. With seven billion on hand, it wasn't like paying them early would make a dent in the money available.

"I still can't believe this is real," Sun said, as they stepped outside. The flash of photographers temporarily blinded them. Someone must have caught them entering the bank, and it looked like news had spread. "And now I'm famous all of a sudden," he groaned. "What's that all about? I can't be famous. I'm a nobody."

Preach, brother.

Jaune patted the boy's shoulder in silent sympathy.

"Guitar Cutie!" cried several people at once. "It's her! It's really her!"

"I love youuu!"

Sun laughed. "At least I'm not getting it that baaa..." Sun paused as several girls pointed at him, squealed when they noticed him looking, and took photos of him. "Never mind. When did everyone go insane...?"

If Jaune ever found the answer, he'd tell his new friend.

/-/

Back at the hotel, Jaune got to escape being a woman but didn't get to escape Guitar Cutie news, as Meera yanked him down onto one of the tables and talked his ear off about how her grandma wouldn't let her go and see Guitar Cutie at the bank, and how this was, apparently, an act so cruel that Meera felt she was unloved.

"It's just some guitarist," he said.

"Jaune, no!" she cried. "It's not some guitarist. It's Guitar Cutie! They named the instrument after her!"

Jaune's eyebrow twitched. "No, they did not."

"Okay, they didn't, but they could have! She's as famous. I heard she and Sun Wukong are getting married—"

"They're not."

"—and that they kissed—"

"They most certainly did not."

"Stop interrupting." Meera slapped his arm and glared. "You're my gossip-buddy."

"I am literally your customer and your guest, and also the butt of your grandmother's accusations. Speaking of which, are you still pregnant or...?"

"Ugh. Don't remind me. She keeps giving me special teas to help soothe the baby. Only good side is she keeps saying I should do less work so the baby isn't in danger, so that's a bonus."

"Meera..." Jaune stared at her. "Are you letting your elderly grandmother believe you're pregnant with my child so you can skive off work?"

The dark-eyed, dark-skinned woman slyly looked away. "Nooo..."

"Meera!"

"Oh, come on. I'm overworked and underpaid as it is. Plus, I've not had a holiday in, like, forever. And it's not like she listens when we say we're not sleeping together. At this rate, we probably ought to start."

Jaune choked on his drink. "W—What!?"

"Ha! Your face!" Meera rocked back on her seat, legs kicking in absolute mirth.

Why was it he was a heartthrob as a girl and the butt of every joke on Remnant when he was a guy? It seemed unfair that his Charisma had guys wanting to ask him out when he was a girl, but when he was a guy he didn't get women interested in him. Instead, they just seemed determined to tease him. Or talk to him, or hang out like Meera kept making him, and how Carmine kept sauntering over between sets.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."

"Heh. You're cute when you're embarrassed." Meera steadied herself, brushed some hair from before her face and leaned in a little closer. "But, you know, we could go out and look for Guitar Cutie together."

"I'm not really interested in finding her, though."

Or in wasting his time looking for someone that would not be found.

"Yeah, but we could still give it a try," she pressed. "And if we can't find her then maybe we can stop out and get a meal. And there's a movie on that I've been meaning to check out."

Jaune eyed her warily. "Are we really looking for Guitar Cutie or do you just want to go to the movies?"

Meera giggled. "Are you suggesting I might have ulterior motives...?"

Yeah, motives in turning him into her little slave. He'd been invited out for shopping and movies one too many times by his sisters to be fooled by this. Meera wanted someone to carry her bags and pay for her popcorn. His sisters did it all the time to him.

"I've got work tonight I'm afraid..." Her smile fell. "But I guess we could do something another day."

It returned.

Damn it, I'm so weak.

"Great!" she said, smiling brightly but averting her eyes. In shame, no doubt. "Then it'll be a day out for just the two of us. I'll wear something nice."

"Why bother? You look fine as you are."

Meera squeaked and flushed red, punching his arm and mumbling about him saying such things when she wasn't ready for them. He didn't get it, especially since he just didn't think she needed to dress up to go see a movie.

You'd think I'd understand women more growing up with seven sisters, but it's like they're an alien species.

At least work at the casino would be normal.

/-/

Work at the casino was abnormal.

But not in too drastic a way.

Carmine and Bertilak were nowhere to be seen, and a lot of the security was absent tonight. Luckily, it didn't seem to have made much of a difference in terms of chaos, as their patrons weren't causing any trouble or running riot. It was just something Jaune noticed by virtue of her absence between his sets.

The bartender didn't know where they were either, simply suggesting that maybe they had a group training day or were busy moving stock around in the back of the building. Like Jaune, he was just another guy hired to do a job and left to it, and both of them were happy to shrug it off and get back on with work.

Until Jaune spotted a familiar person.

Pale skin, black hair, a red dress accented with golden dragons, and a wine glass in hand. He actually struggled to remember her name at first, simply remembering her as the "Fall Maiden" but a quick look at her profile reminded him. It was handy as a way to cheat names out of people and saved on awkward conversations and forgetting them.

"Cinder! Hey. Long time no see."

"Hmmm?" Cinder Fall paused, glass to her lips, and glanced his way. Her amber eyes narrowed in recognition, but it was obvious she didn't really recall him that well.

It would have been a little hypocritical of him to feel hurt about that.

"It's Jaune," he said. "We met in Argus. I'm the one who overheard about the ambush?"

"Ah, I remember." Cinder sipped her drink and set it back down. "The one who overheard an attempt on my life. A coincidence to run into you again here. I'd ask if you were stalking me but for you being here first. What brings you all the way to Vacuo?"

"I'm travelling Remnant. Argus is kind of my homebase, where I hop back between visiting each kingdom. I picked Vacuo since it's the winter and I didn't feel like freezing my butt off in Mistral or Vale. What brings you to Vacuo?"

Cinder chuckled. "A sensible option. I suppose you could say I'm here on a holiday with my team. My teammates are quite passionate about meeting someone." Cinder's tone made it clear she was not as passionate, and Jaune was immensely grateful for that, since he knew who she'd been tasked to find in Argus.

"Finally, someone who isn't obsessed with Guitar Cutie."

Her eyes narrowed. "How did you know it was her?"

Oops. Jaune quickly recovered and had an easy excuse for his small bit of insider knowledge.

"Every single person in Vacuo is looking for her right now. It's getting obnoxious. They're either fans desperate to meet her, politicians desperate to get her to endorse their campaigns, or greedy idiots looking to cash in on the charity money she raised." Jaune rolled his eyes. "She's just some guitarist. She isn't that special."

"She certainly isn't!" Cinder hissed, leaning forward. "It's ridiculous!"

Her words seemed to surprise even her, and she coughed, pulling back with a startled expression at her own outburst.

But Jaune was too happy to have found a kindred spirit to care.

"Tell me about it! Guitar Cutie this, Guitar Cutie that." He dropped his voice. "Between you and me, I don't think she'd be half as popular if she wasn't a cute girl. Don't tell anyone I said it, but she's only famous because guys fancy her."

It sounded misogynistic to say it, but since he'd literally released both a video as a man and a girl and only one had gone viral, it felt fair. Plus, it wasn't like he was saying all women were like that, just his alter-ego.

And it seemed Cinder agreed because she leaned in again, elbows on the counter and an irritated scowl on her pretty face.

"Exactly," she snapped. "I'm sick and tired of my teammates going on about her or playing her music or... ugh... walking around with her merchandise."

"Ugh," agreed Jaune, picking up a drink of his own. "What kind of merchandise?"

"Mercury has a body pillow of her."

Jaune reeled back. "Ewwww! Gross!"

"Hmhm." Cinder nodded and took a drink. "He keeps acting like that's not what it is, and I keep pretending I believe him – mostly because I just don't want the conversation, or to imagine what he gets up to with that thing when I'm asleep."

"Sheesh. Maybe if he went out and talked to women he wouldn't have to cuddle up to a pillow. And they keep playing the same music?"

"All the time. I'd accept it if she had more songs, but there are only a few online. If I hear those songs one more time, I'm going to force feed her albums to them!"

Jaune laughed. "You should just burn it all while they're not looking."

Cinder smiled harshly. "Believe me, I've been tempted. And you know what, it's nice to finally meet someone who isn't starstruck with some random twit of a girl online."

"And it's good to meet someone who isn't afraid to call her as she is," he replied.

Smirking, Cinder used her foot to push the stool beside her out toward him, and Jaune took it. The two clinked their glasses together. It was said that two people lost in the desert would automatically become the best of friends, and so it felt for them. They were alone in despairing of Guitar Cutie's influence, two outliers in the grand scheme of online crazes. And like the only people in a classroom who didn't own a fidget spinner or a vape, they came together.

"To sensible people," she toasted.

"To sensible people," he agreed, tapping his drink to hers. "Cheers!"

Drinks were drunk, teammates were belittled, songs were sung, and internet celebrities were disparaged. And more drinks were drunk, because they were at a bar and their throats grew dry from the constant complaining about how ridiculous everyone was, and how nobody went out and touched grass nowadays.

Maybe, just maybe, more drinks than were reasonable had been drunk.

And maybe, just maybe, a high amount of Charisma wasn't the best defence against alcohol, but it did a fine job of making sure he didn't suffer in small talk, and that he didn't make a fool of himself talking to a beautiful woman.

So it was that Jaune Arc and Cinder Fall stumbled out the casino arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, cheek to cheek, ranting about idiots and morons and stupid bosses making them travel the world looking for stupid guitarists.

"You should quit!" Jaune slurred. "You don't need to take that shit from her! You're a strong, kickass huntress. They should respect you more!"

"I should quit!" Cinder replied, waving her hand like a sword and cutting through the air. The act unbalanced her, and almost dragged both of them to the ground. "She doesn't appreciate me! And Watts... Watts... He's... He's just such a bastard!"

"What he do?" Jaune asked.

"All smug and stuff, like he's so awesome."

"Ugh. What a bastard."

"Yeah." Cinder nodded, almost falling over as she did. "And Tyrian is a crazy idiot who thinks our boss is a goddess or something."

"No better than Guitar Bitch's stupid fans."

"Hmmmmhm. And Hazel is... Hazel is just dumb or something. All brawn, no brain. Doesn't even make sense why he works with us in the first place. Like, what? Why? Says he wants revenge but works for us. No sense!"

Jaune didn't know who this man was, but he knew who Cinder was – his damn, best friend right now – so he agreed wholeheartedly with her. "Idiot. Hey, you know who else is an idiot? Birds. Birds fucking suck."

Cinder's heard whirled around to look at him. "Birds?"

"Yeah, like, fuck birds. Fuck 'em. Keep mobbing me."

"Why?"

"Because they're bastards."

Cinder paused to consider that, tilting her head so that her hair fell in a curtain. Eventually, she nodded. "Makes sense. Maybe Watts is a bird. It'd make sense."

See!? Cinder got it! Man, she just got him.

"Hey," she slurred, pressed into him and stared deep into his eyes. "You wanna come to my hotel..."

Something told Jaune this was a bad idea.

"And do what?"

"Break Emerald and Mercury's stupid guitar thot merchandise stuff."

Something told Jaune this was an incredible idea.

"Yes. Yes, I want this. I have wanted this all my life and never known it." Jaune hugged her tight, and Cinder hugged him back, the both of them wobbling like a tree about to fall. "Can I gut the body pillow?"

"Only if I get to burn it after," she purred.

"How you burn it?"

"Watch." Cinder waved her hand and her sleeve lit up. A spurt of fire came from her finger, but, due to her inebriation, it had the same level of power as a fart. "Fire!"

"Whoah. You're... You're a witch...?"

"I'm a witch?"

"Magic."

"Whoah!" Cinder stared at her own finger. "I'm a witch!" Then her eyes crossed, and she shook her head. "No, wait. It's a Shembrance. Semblance."

"Oh." Jaune laughed. "I have one of those."

"Yeah? What does it do?"

"I play music."

Cinder waited.

Nothing came.

"And then?" she prompted.

"Oh, right." He laughed drunkenly. "And then birds. Fucking birds."

Cinder agreed with her new best friend. "Fucking birds. Let's go ruin Mercury and Emerald's lives for fun and profit."

Jaune flung his spare hand in the air and cheered. "Whoooo!"

/-/

Cinder groaned as something banged on the hotel room door. It slammed open under the weight of the assault, Mercury and Emerald spilling in despite having keys of their own. No, wait, had she locked the door? She hadn't meant to. Cinder tried to recall but her head was killing her.

"Cinder. There's been—" Emerald began, then cried out and pointed. "WHO IS THAT!?"

"Who is who?" she snapped back. "And lower your voice, my head is killing me..." Cinder followed Emerald's hand and suddenly noticed she was not alone in her bed. There was a body cuddled up to her. "Oh," she said, speaking without thinking. "That's Jaune."

"Ah!" Emerald kept pointing, her face going red. "Ah!"

"What?" Cinder snapped. "It's just— wait..."

Boy.

In bed.

With her.

Cinder whipped the sheets up and looked down.

And she was still in her red dress, and he was still in the fancy suit he'd been wearing at the casino. They were clothed, albeit sharing a same bed. Cinder let out a long breath at the crisis averted. Satisfied, she let the sheets fall back over them once more.

"Were you... Were you getting laid while you had us look for information on Guitar Cutie...?" Emerald asked.

Cinder scoffed. "What nonsense are you talking about? I was gathering information at the local casino, and Jaune here happens to be a guitarist. Who better to ask for information?"

That was her excuse and she was sticking to it.

"MY PILLOW!" Mercury cried, rushing past her bed. "WHAT HAPPENED TO IT!?"

"We arrived back to find someone had broken into the room and vandalised our belongings," Cinder lied. "Jaune and I fought them off together. Unfortunately, much of your mutual collections of memorabilia were beyond saving."

That was her excuse and she was sticking to it.

"Noooooo!" Mercury cried, on his knees.

"Unghhh..." Jaune groaned and pressed his face into Cinder's back. "Too loud. Stop."

Cinder was not a woman who enjoyed the art of cuddling. But, on the other hand, she was a woman in possession of a painful hangover, and as such the thought of going back to sleep was a pleasing one, whether or not it'd be with another person. "Mercury, shut up. It was an abomination, and you are better off without it."

"I'll never sleep again!" he wept.

"Idiot. You realise she's some online thot who would never give you the time of day."

"She isn't! She's different!"

"M—Ma'am," Emerald spoke, gently stepping between the dramatically weeping Mercury as he tried to rescue his stuff. Much of it was ash. "T—There's something serious going on in the city that we had to tell you about. That's why we came back and interrupted your... um..."

"My sleep?"

"Yes." Emerald kept flanking at the blonde head of hair cuddled up to her. "Yeah, that..."

"Well, spit it out."

"It's the orphans that Guitar Cutie has been raising money for, ma'am. Some criminal group has kidnapped them and is demanding Guitar Cutie reveal herself to them if she ever wants to see them safe and sound again."

Cinder frowned and opened her mouth to speak.

Jaune beat her to it.

"WHAT!?" he cried, going from asleep to awake in an instant. He tried to lunge out of bed, got tangled in her legs and her sheets, and fell over her. His weight, along with the sheets and gravity, yanked her with him, and she spilled out the bed with a startled cry, the two of them thumping to the floor in a heap of limbs. "Owww!"

Cinder's hangover immediately got ten times worse.

"O—Orphans," Jaune groaned, poking his head up from Cinder's breasts, where he'd fallen and smashed his face. "Explain."

"Kidnapped. Taken. Threatened. Hostages. Guitar Cutie. Boobs." Emerald's eyes were a little lower than Jaune's, and she looked just a little jealous. "In that order. Also, who the fuck are you and what are you doing in Cinder's bed?"

"He's a real musician," Cinder mumbled. "Unlike some online hooker."

"GUITAR CUTIE ISN'T A THOT!" Mercury screamed. "LEAVE GUITAR CUTIE ALONE!"

"If..." Jaune looked to the boy. "If you want to meet Guitar Cutie, then wouldn't a good way of doing it be to help save those orphans? She's going to have to respond and go there, and they must have bad things in mind for her. If you saved her..." Jaune looked ill. "If you saved her, she might even consider giving you a kiss."

Mercury froze.

Emerald froze.

Cinder wished she could go back to bed.

But, no matter how she looked at it, he was right. Her job was to find and bring this stupid internet celebrity back to Salem, and Jaune made an excellent point on how to go about finding her. Rescuing a bunch of brats wasn't her idea of a good time, but it beat having to search the entirety of Vacuo.

Of course, some of them were more enthusiastic about it than others.

"I WILL SAVE THEM AND EARN HER FAVOUR!" Mercury roared.

"L—Like she'd want to kiss you!" Emerald hissed. "I'll save them first! And then Cinder and I can meet her and we'll... we'll... eheheheh..." Emerald blushed and mumbled something under her breath.

"Cinder..." said Jaune.

"Yes?"

"Your teammates are idiots."

"Yes." Cinder found herself unable to disagree. "Yes, they are."

Next Chapter: 11th August

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