8,552Here we goooo…
Cover Art: Solace O'Autumn
Chapter 64
Pyrrha's father was a big and intimidating man.
On first appearances, anyway.
"MY GIRL!" the man cried, picking Pyrrha up and spinning her around. "Seventeen already! Oh, you've grown so much since I last saw you!"
"D—Dad, you saw me two hours ago!"
"And this! This must be Jaune." Alexander Nikos practically tossed his daughter aside and stomped over to him. "Hm. He's kind of feminine, isn't he?"
"Um…" Jaune couldn't help but think any man would look feminine compared to this six-and-a-half-foot chunk of muscle. Nicholas Arc looked like a noodle compared to him. "Nice to meet you, sir."
"He's polite! That's good. Tell me, boy. Are your intentions to lure my daughter away and ravage her?"
"No!"
"Then your intentions are to ravage her here in our very home!" he bellowed.
"W—What!?"
Pyrrha struck her father around the waist with an angry cry, tackling him to the floor. The two instantly began to wrestle, rolling across the room with angry shouting and pained grunts. There was much hair-pulling and grappling involved.
Athena giggled. "Ignore him, dear. Alexander and Pyrrha do this all the time. Really, I think half the reason she had the skill to win all those competitions is because of how much she and Alex roughhouse."
"Uh-huh?"
"And don't worry, Alex already likes you. He's just bored and wants to make Pyrrha blush."
This family was weird. Nice, though. Jaune wondered if the oddity wasn't somewhat intentional on the part of her parents, meant as a way to be not only mother and father, but best friends as well. Since, before him, Pyrrha hadn't had any. Had they seen how lonely their daughter was and changed to take that way? Or maybe they were just weird.
Alexander won the wrestling competition (which wasn't a surprise given he was twice the size and maybe three times the weight of Pyrrha) and stood up with the irate girl tucked under his arm. "Victory!" he proclaimed. "What about you, lad? Want to go for a round with me?"
"I'll pass, sir."
"Pah. In my day young men would oil up and wrestle to prove their manliness." He bounced Pyrrha under his arm. "Maybe you'll strip down and oil up if Pyrrha asks nicely, hmmm? Call it a birthday present."
It was testament to how quickly he was getting used to their eccentricities that Jaune didn't even blush at that one. Pyrrha didn't, either. The girl just covered her face with her hands and sighed.
The humiliation for Pyrrha didn't end there, even if it was taken to the dining room table where a veritable feast had been cooked up by her father while everyone else was out. The man, as well as being built like a bodybuilder, was apparently an excellent cook. Pyrrha's mom had struck gold.
"This is the first time in years I've cooked for a guest! First time in years she's ever invited someone to her real birthday party. Pyrrha isn't good at making friends, you see—"
"Dad! People are interested in my fame. It's not me being bad at it."
"Bah. Excuses. That's what I say. There are bound to be a lot of people who only see you for your money and influence, but that won't be everyone. Jaune's an example, isn't he? I bet there are plenty more you could have befriended in Sanctum."
Nora and Ren came to mind. Jaune was sure they'd be great friends to Pyrrha and he couldn't imagine they would care too much about who she was. Nora might want to spar, but Ren was much too relaxed to be a fanboy.
/-/
"The one hundredth meeting of the Guitar Cutie Appreciation Society begins." Lie Ren struck down a gavel shaped like a guitar. "We will stand today in judgment of our newest member, who made the shock claim of finding Guitar Cutie's latest video to be… mid."
"Guilty!"
"Guilty! Execute him!"
"I just thought it lacked her usual flair."
"Then you admit it!" Ren struck the hammer down. "I find you guilty. You are exiled from the club! Hand over your badge!"
"Awww…"
/-/
Yes. Ren and Nora would be normal friends. Weiss would have been, too. Pyrrha didn't like Weiss because she thought it was all about the fame again, but Weiss didn't need fame. He personally thought it was Pyrrha making a snap judgment.
Her father isn't wrong about Pyrrha assuming the worst in people. Experience has made her cynical. I seem to remember she thought I was only after her fame at first.
"Maybe things will get better in Beacon," he said.
"Yes. Beacon." Alexander sighed. "I approve, of course, but it'll be sad to see her move so far away from home. The house will be so empty, especially when I'm on hunts and Athena is on her lonesome."
"I could always introduce her to my sisters here in Argus."
"That's not a bad idea," Pyrrha said. "Saphron and Terra are nice and they have a baby boy. I bet they'd love to have mom babysit him."
"Ah, I still remember when Pyrrha was a baby—"
Pyrrha paled. "No."
"I have the photo album—"
"No!"
He'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested in seeing it. Pyrrha was probably super cute as a child. Jaune didn't want to upset her, though, so he politely turned the offer down. Pyrrha shot him a grateful look.
They were meant to be keeping an eye out anyway. His quest made it clear something was going to happen, and he doubted that was warning him about great embarrassment. Most of his quests had been big, dangerous things. Except maybe the one to lose his virginity, but even that felt like a big milestone.
It can't be Grimm inside Argus' walls. Could it be the White Fang after me for Menagerie? Those people who came for me in Vacuo? Or it might not be about me at all. It's Pyrrha's birthday so it could be a dangerous fan turned stalker.
He had to stay focused.
"So, are you and Pyrrha dating yet?"
Jaune's focus was shot. "Bwuh!?"
"Dad!"
"Oh, come on. The two of you are clearly into one another. Strike while the iron is hot, I say. And look at this iron," he laughed, tapping Pyrrha's red cheek. "It's practically burning up! My daughter won't stay single forever you know. Men will be tripping over themselves to ask her out in Beacon. Believe me, she has her mother's genes and that means she'll be popular. I had to fight men off her!"
Athena giggled. "Not as much as I had to fight women off him."
"Women? Pah. Girls, more like. There was only ever one woman in my sights."
"Oh, Alex."
"Athena." Pyrrha's dad closed the distance, cupped her chin and leaned in.
"Us!" Pyrrha cried. "Witnesses! My birthday! Stop!"
Thankfully, the two did stop before they could give Pyrrha a new brother or sister. Jaune tugged at his collar as they apologised. He was no stranger to his own parents getting it on. Given how much his dad was away working, he and his sisters knew to vacate the house when he got back and mom started shaking her hips. Saphron had been slow to escape once, and she'd never been the same – nor would she talk about what horrors she saw.
Jade had joked it turned her gay, though Jaune knew that had been a thing long before. Saphron's room was next to his and she didn't always turn the volume on the radio up high enough to block the make-out sessions with her "friends" from school. That was before she and Terra became exclusive, of course.
"Jaune, I'm so sorry," Pyrrha grumbled. "They're not always like this."
"It's fine. I think it's cute."
"Ugh. Don't encourage them. Can we bring out the cake already so Jaune and I can go to my room?" Pyrrha caught herself before Alexander could leap on it. "And play video games! Nothing else, dad!"
Alexander Nikos would not be cheated.
"As long as you don't play with his joystick too roughly."
/-/
Jaune felt he should have been more awkward being taken into the bedroom of a girl he was crushing on, but it was practically a relief compared to how embarrassing downstairs had been. At least he knew her parents approved if he ever did muster up the courage to ask her out.
"I hate them! I hate them so much!"
She didn't.
"They're fun," he said, shrugging. "Embarrassing, but friendly. I like them. You could have ended up with parents who wanted to use you for your money. Like child actors always seem to end up with."
"Ugh. Yeah, I know. Mom and dad are great. I just wish they wouldn't tease so much." Pyrrha flopped on her bed. Jaune felt too awkward to join her. "Is your Semblance still telling you there's something going to happen tonight?"
"The quest is still active."
"Wonderful. I wish it happened at the PR event."
"Me too. There was a level five-hundred huntsman there."
Pyrrha sat up. "Yeah, and that's still insane. What if he'd been the incident?"
"Then we'd be dead. Luckily, he's your next headmaster. Do you have any dangerously rabid fans we should be worried about?"
"Probably. I have a lot of fans so there are bound to be some nutcases out there. I bet you have some as fans of Guitar Cutie as well."
Probably. When you counted your followers in the millions then the law of averages meant some would be a little crazy. He probably had serial killers among his fanbase. People who would listen to his songs one moment and then go kill someone the next.
"We work hard to keep my home a secret from them," Pyrrha said. "Most people think I live and sleep in Sanctum. The official story even has my parents living in Mistral. There's a house we rent there with a whole fake trail set up to it. That's the address where fan mail is sent. One of my agents picks it up and sorts it for me."
"Fan mail, huh. Do you respond to it?"
"Some." Pyrrha looked ashamed to admit it, even if he was sure she couldn't physically have responded to it all. There simply weren't enough hours in the day. "I used to ask them to forward me any from your children, but even that would sometimes be a hundred letters a day I had to write. It took too long. Now I answer a selection."
"Any weird or threatening ones?"
"Probably, but my agents sort them out and don't bother showing me. I know I get a lot of pictures of men's privates but I've never seen them."
"At least your agents are good for something."
"Hmm. They're good people and good at their jobs. I know I talk bad about them but it's not their fault things are like this. It's the whole culture around celebrities. They're just doing what they have to."
"You don't have to convince me. I've seen the fanbase I have as Cutie."
"Yeah." Pyrrha laughed. "But you actually met with some in Vacuo, didn't you? How weird was it spending time with that Sun guy?"
"Awkward but fun. Sun and his lot were super genuine people. I think you'd like them."
"Hard not to from all the things I've heard. The guy was basically a homeless orphan banding up with other homeless orphans to help feed and raise homeless children. I'd have to be some kind of monster to not like him." Pyrrha tilted her head. "You know, I think he has a crush on you."
Jaune coughed and blushed. He'd suspected the same. Not necessarily because of any overt way Sun acted, but because it would be really strange if he didn't at this point. Guitar Cutie had basically saved the futures of all those children and put Sun up for life. Anyone would develop feelings for a person who did that.
There were times he wondered how Sun was doing and whether things were okay with the orphanage. Then he thought of Meera, too. They'd parted on good terms lamenting over what could have been. He knew he should have contacted her, but he'd lost his scroll – which contained her number – and then spent over a month on Menagerie with no way of reaching her.
After that much of a delay, a part of him wondered if she wasn't better off with the clean break than him coming back into her life making excuses for how much he'd ghosted her. As for Sun, Jaune just hoped some of Cutie's fans hadn't become weird about him. Sun was the first man to be included in a video with him and it wasn't unreasonable for some idiots online to assume she and Sun were involved romantically.
"Do you know what the overall opinion of Sun is from my fans…?"
Pyrrha blinked. "Uh. No? They're your fans. I don't really look up news about other celebrities, you know. We can check."
She reached for her scroll and made a few searches online, tapping the spot next to her on the bed so he could finally sit down. There was a lot of news about Sun. It wasn't too strange given he'd been catapulted to fame by association.
Sun had performed several interviews while Jaune was in Menagerie. Most of those had been about the orphanage and it looked like he'd received even more funding from businesses looking to cash in on the positive PR. The SDC was now a backer for the orphanage. Willow's work, no doubt. Sun had even featured on Atlas news talking about his charitable work, and apparently there was talk of a movie in the works based on his early life.
"All this because I made a charity video with him?"
"Fame creates fame," Pyrrha said. "People want to know more about you – Cutie, I mean – but she's mysterious and avoids the limelight, so Sun is receiving it by association. Plus, his backstory is totally sweet enough to make a movie off of."
"It was tragic. Not sweet. And no one cared about his struggles before."
"That's how people are. They're selfish. I bet there are other people like Sun out there giving their all to protect helpless children and they'll die cold and hungry and be forgotten. Sun isn't famous because of what he did. He's famous because you highlighted him to your millions of fans and they adopted him."
That felt so manipulative. So wrong. But it was for a good cause and it resulted in a good thing for the orphans of Vacuo, so he'd have to accept it.
"Any drama over him being with me? Cutie, I mean."
"Hmmm. A little. It definitely looks like there are some rumours of you and him dating, but it's a minority. There are even some saying you should date him, and that he's one of the few men good enough for you, but that's also a minority. It doesn't look like there have been any attempts on his life. Hey, look!" Pyrrha smiled brightly. "He's signed up to attend Beacon as well!"
"Really? That's convenient."
"Mmm. More like reasonable. If he's tired of the fame like I am then he probably doesn't want to go to the academy in his homeland. Vale is the closest kingdom to Vacuo, plus it has the reputation of being one of the better academies. Atlas competes but Atlas has a big anti-faunus problem no matter how hard their academy tries to stop it. If I were a faunus, I'd pick Vale over Atlas."
"I guess so. Plus, there's the festival."
"Yes. A lot of people applying to academies this year will want to pick Beacon because it increases their odds of competing. The academy where the festival is being held always has a boost in numbers for that year. And besides, it's not like Sun knows you'd be coming to Vale for it. He doesn't even know Jaune Arc."
That was true. There couldn't be anything unusual about Sun picking Beacon when Sun had no idea he – and thus Cutie – would be in Beacon at all.
"You know, if you're worried about people making life difficult for Sun because they think he's dating Cutie, then there's an easy solution. You can release a video where you confirm you're dating Pyre instead."
"Wasn't the whole point of your alter ego to have a way to escape fame? Becoming my fake boyfriend is a poor way to go about that."
"I'm already resigned to it. I don't mind."
She may not mind but Jaune felt strange about it. Even if it was fake, it'd be like he and her were dating. It'd be the other way around – him the girlfriend and she the boyfriend – but they'd still be in a relationship. Jaune swallowed, suddenly imagining a "fake date" between them which would still involve them holding hands, staring into one another's eyes, and maybe even leaning in for a kiss. Dressed as a man or not, Pyrrha was still Pyrrha. His eyes darted to her lips.
They made his heart race.
"I… uh… I… well… maybe we could…"
Her lips curled softly. "Yes…?"
"If you like, we could… you know…"
Say it. Ask her. The worst she can say is no, and you can always act like you only meant it as a way to hide things. Going on fake dates with Pyre is the same as real dates with Pyrrha. His brain was running wild. Ask. Her. Out.
"Pyrrha, would you like—"
CRASH!
A horrific sound echoed downstairs.
"The quest!" he blurted out, realising they'd both become distracted. "Shit!"
Jaune ran for the door but Pyrrha beat him there with ease, shooting through and down the corridor to the staircase before he'd even gotten out the room. An angry roar from downstairs, likely from Alexander, was followed by the crack of a gunshot. Jaune's heart leapt into his throat and he pushed himself to run, but there was no catching up with Pyrrha.
When he finally did reach the staircase and run down it, Pyrrha was already on the man who had attacked her home. Jaune reached the ground floor just in time to realise he, with little aura control, could contribute absolutely nothing to the ensuing fight.
Alexander and Pyrrha were attacking the man – so Jaune ran to Athena.
"I'm hit," the woman hissed, clutching her side. "My aura did nothing…"
Jaune nodded and hurried away. The melee was a blur far beyond what he could hope to keep track of. Alexander and Pyrrha were fiercely quick, but the man they were fighting was even quicker. He was a faunus with a long, barbed tail, wearing a loose brown coat and otherwise bare-chested. He wielded strange blades affixed to his wrists that extended over his fists. Jaune's Semblance provided additional details.
.
Tyrian Callows
Lvl. 83
Title: The Priest of the End Times
Tyrian Callows is a dangerous madman who sweats his allegiance to the Queen of the Grimm and seeks to carry out her will on Remnant. Possessing a Semblance that allows him to cut through aura, he is perhaps the most dangerous killer on Remnant.
.
Such a high level, and so deadly. Jaune felt his stomach drop.
"He can ignore aura!" he shouted out. "His Semblance lets him cut through aura! Don't let him touch you!"
Alexander, who had been about to catch a blade on his arm, bent back at the last second. The blade still scraped his skin, spraying blood – but it wasn't nearly as much as it could have been had Jaune not warned him. The moment's distraction gave Tyrian all the time he needed to catch Pyrrha by the neck and hurl her away, sending the girl crashing through her own front window and outside.
He's too strong. He's a higher level than both of them. Can I…? No. Discordant note would hit everyone here. Athena might die.
Jaune began tapping a beat with his foot, using Motivational Song on Pyrrha's father. The man surged forward with renewed strength, but it wasn't enough. Tyrian was faster and stronger than him even with the boost from Jaune's music. The difference in skill was too high.
It's me he wants. He's with the people from Vacuo. He's going to kill Pyrrha's family to get to me.
The Quest had never been about a threat to Pyrrha from her own fanbase. They'd assumed it was because it was set to strike during her birthday party, but the threat was aimed at him. The only reason Pyrrha's birthday had been the timing was because he'd performed at it. That must have made the news, like his battle of the bands had in Vacuo, and drawn these people again. He'd stayed too long, and this time there was no Cinder to bail him out.
"Stop!" Jaune cried. "It's me you want. Take me!"
Alexander backed off, bloody and hoarse. His eyes were wild with concern for his wife and daughter.
Tyrian Callows eyed Jaune with a wide smile. "Acceptable deal. Give me the boy and I'll leave."
"No!" Pyrrha screamed, coming back in through the window. "Jaune, don't!"
"Pyrrha, no!"
His warning came too late. Pyrrha lunged but Tyrian slapped her blade away and caught her by her neck, quickly pulling her in front of him in a chokehold. His scorpion tail came around to press the stinger to her neck.
Alexander Nikos froze.
"I surrender!" Jaune hissed. "I give. Take me. Just spare her."
The faunus cackled. "As I said, that's an acceptable deal. Step over here and outside and I'll let her go."
"J—Jaune. Don't…"
How could she ask him not to? It was a ridiculous display of defiance on Pyrrha's part given the situation she was in. Jaune held his hands up and walked to the door. He didn't know what awaited him, but he knew what would come of Pyrrha if he refused.
There's always a chance I can escape. A discordant note when he's alone with me might do something.
Once Jaune was at the door, Tyrian threw Pyrrha by her neck at her father. As Alexander caught her, Tyrian tackled Jaune with a shoulder into his stomach, winding him and knocking him onto the faunus' shoulder. The madman's long gait carried them quickly away, into the night, as Pyrrha and her family did what they could to recover and give chase.
There was no catching Tyrian.
Is this it…? Is this how it ends? All because of a little music…
/-/
Jaune wasn't sure where they were. Some rooftop, some tall building. A long drop to certain death for sure. He was afraid, obviously, but he kept a defiant scowl on his face. A long drop and a sudden impact might be better than whatever Tyrian had in store for him.
The quest in Vacuo had mentioned a possible end of the world if this queen got him.
Do I have the courage to take my own life? I'm not sure…
"Jaune Arc." Tyrian whispered the name, half-amazed, half-angry. "My goddess talks of you and your music. You and the one called Guitar Cutie. You were easier to find than she."
Tyrian missed the irony.
"What do you want with me?"
"What I want is to kill you," Tyrian hissed. "Your stupid music is all she listens to now. You and Cutie both have stolen my goddess' heart." He reached for Jaune, to strangle him, but his hand shook. "I would choke the life from you if not for how my goddess would react. You're not even a believer and yet she wants you. Wants you to play for her, to spend time in her glorious presence, to be her personal musician." Tyrian trembled. "Unfair," he whispered. "It's unfair. I am the one who has served with devotion. Not you!"
Jaune swallowed. He was beginning to wonder if Tyrian was here to capture or murder him.
"You plan to take me to her. Don't you?"
"Yes. I must. The goddess orders it."
He doubted this person was an actual god. Tyrian came across a little insane, and his status even said he was a madman, so it was more likely rampant devotion to a normal person. An obsessive compulsion.
Pyrrha and I were worried about a crazed fan, and the danger turned out to be one – only it's a crazed fan of someone else entirely. Jaune licked his lips. Is there a way around this? My Charisma let me win one over on Joo-won, but he was a much lower level than Tyrian.
He had to try.
"If you take me to this goddess of yours then you'll only be sidelined even more."
"I know!" Tyrian snarled. "But it is my duty to serve no matter the reward. Or lack thereof."
"Does she even know I'm here? Were you ordered to crash Pyrrha's birthday to get me?"
"No. It does not matter. She would have ordered it if she knew."
"Yes, but she didn't. Which means you're not technically under orders to take me to her right now. It wouldn't be a betrayal to let me go."
Tyrian eyed him strangely. "No," he admitted. "But why would I? I'll win at least some gratitude from her for bringing you."
"Even if she'll forget about you altogether when I start playing music for her?"
"Yes…"
It wasn't working.
"You know…" Jaune tried another angle. "Music is all about soul. Passion. When a musician plays, who they're playing for is just as important as what. I'm not sure I would be able to play my best music if I was imprisoned under some woman— goddess!" he hurried, when Tyrian looked about ready to explode. "Even if she's a goddess, she's not someone I love. Not as much as you love her."
"No one loves her as I do!"
"Exactly. You're passionate. You're someone who will always work hard to please her. You want to make her happy. Right?"
"Yes." Tyrian breathed out suddenly. "More than anything."
"Then…"
It was a long shot.
All he had were long shots.
"Let me teach you to play the guitar."
"…" Tyrian cocked his head. "What…?"
"Your goddess only wants me because of my music. What if I could teach you to play just as well as me? You'd be twice as passionate so your music would be much better, and then she'd not care about me at all. It'd be you she wants near her at all times."
Tyrian's eyes widened. "Me…? Tyrian…?"
"Yes. Tyrian, the ever-faithful servant of the goddess. One expected to wait on her every hour of every day, to play music as she relaxes. To see her in her most happy of states. To make her happy. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"Yes…"
"Better you than me. I'd be a captive. I'd forever be looking for a chance to betray her. You wouldn't."
"I would never!"
"Exactly." It was working. Jaune pushed on. "In fact, I'd say no one else should be trusted to the position. Not me, not Guitar Cutie. Only Tyrian. Only Tyrian Callows."
"Only Tyrian. Always Tyrian. Alone with the goddess." The man fixed his eyes on Jaune. "And if it doesn't work, I can always cut off your legs and take you to her anyway. You don't need legs to play the guitar, and then you couldn't run away."
"Erk…" Tyrian wasn't as stupid as he acted. "Y—Yes. I suppose you could. But you'll give it your all to learn, right? You wouldn't half heart something like this. I can teach you, but it'll take time, patience, and hard work. We'd need to have lessons. And you'd need to practice in your own time." Jaune leaned in. "You'd have to let me have my freedom back."
Tyrian's eyes narrowed. "I know where you are now, little musician. I hope you don't think I can't find you. Running away won't save you from our lessons. Nor from me taking you to her if you try and cheat me."
"…" Jaune gulped. "I realise."
"Hmhmhm. There's no rush, I suppose. The goddess is happy with her videos that girl playing the guitar. Time aplenty for Tyrian to learn and eclipse her and then take his rightful place at her side. You have until the end of the Vytal Festival." the man declared, standing and taking a step back. "I will find you every few days for our lessons. Run or try and hide and I shall cut off your legs and take you to the goddess. Understood?"
"Yes." Jaune smiled helplessly. "Um. Bring a guitar, I guess…?"
"I shall."
Tyrian leapt off the building.
"What am I meant to do up here on my own…?"
.
Quest Complete: A Birthday she won't forget
Failure: A Deal with the Devil
.
.
New Quest: A Deal with the Devil
Teach Tyrian Callows to be proficient in the guitar before the climax of the Vytal Festival.
Success: Exp. Rep Tyrian Callows.
Failure: Dismemberment. Imprisonment. End of the World.
.
"Great." Jaune said, siting down. "No pressure, then." He turned to a nearby bird perched on the edge of the building. "Hey, can you do me a favour and find a redhead? Let her know I'm trapped on top of a building?"
"Stupid featherless bird can't fly? So pathetic."
"No. He cannot fly. But he can get you a bag of seed bigger than your whole body."
"Red, you say…?"
"She won't be able to speak but she'll probably figure out what's going on if you just land on her head and peck her a few times. Just lead her here."
Next Chapter: 30th March
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