Chapter 78

-Domrémy-

Jaune was in the kitchen cooking with Beryl. All was good until Jaune heard Terra, Saphron and his mom Amarilla talking about his embarrassing years. He wanted to head to the living room and stopped them from telling any more embarrassing stories, but he didn't want to make Beryl sad by leaving the kitchen. So, he let them embarrass him, but there was a price to pay for embarrassing him, they will see, Muhahahaha!

"Jaune, what should I do to make this better?" Beryl asked.

"Hmm? That's simple. Separate the egg whites and the yolk," Jaune said.

"But won't I just be mixing it back later?" Beryl asked.

"Yes, but…" Jaune then explained why it would taste better when he mixes the egg whites and yolk later rather than now.

"Oh! I get it!" Beryl said while righting down what Jaune told her.

You may be asking as to why Beryl was the one cooking lunch for the family? That's because she wanted to. According to Beryl, she won't improve unless she takes every opportunity to cook. That way, she can develop her skills faster and have people to critic the food.

After cooking lunch for everyone, Jaune and Beryl called the family to the dining room. There, Saphron and Amarilla were still telling Terra and Adrian about his embarrassing moments in life. Jaune took this moment to pay back Saphron.

"Hey, mom. Since we are talking about our childhood, why don't we show Terra our child photos," Jaune said with a smirk on his face.

"That's a wonderful idea!" Amarilla said with glee. She loves showing people the pictures that she took of her children when they were younger.

"No!" Saphron shouted.

"Why, Saph? Is there something wrong?" Jaune said, still with a smirk on his face.

"Nothing!" Saphron said. She didn't want Terra to see her horrible pictures. Some were downright embarrassing, and some were just horrifying.

When Terra saw the pictures, she laughed, and she laughed hard. For you see, Saphron wasn't a very photogenic person back then. Hence, every time Amarilla took a picture, she would always have a weird or horrifying face. Even Adrian laughed at her mother after he saw the picture. And this whole time, Jaune was smirking as Saphron looked at him.

"This is payback, isn't it? Since I was the one that caused mom to tell Terra your embarrassing stories," Saphron asked, blushing due to the embarrassing photos.

"That's right! Plus, I love it when you have that embarrassed look on your face. It makes you look cute," Jaune said. Those words from Jaune just made Saphron blush even more.

-Menagerie-

Blake was having a wonderful time with her parents drinking tea. It was relaxing and quiet until her mom, Kali, had to open her mouth.

"So, Blake, honey. You seeing anyone?" Kali asked. Blake choked on her tea while Ghira's attention was all over Blake to hear her answer.

"Mom! Can't we talk about something else?" Blake diverted.

"Okay! So, when are you planning to give me grandbabies?" Kali said with a teasing tone. She didn't need Blake to answer her first question directly, as she can already tell.

"Mom! Why would you ask that?! I'm still too young to have a child!" Blake said.

"Come now, honey. You're already eighteen. That's old enough to have a baby," Kali said.

"Can we drop this subject, please? Dad looks like he wants to murder some," Blake said.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm perfectly normal," Ghira said with his eye twitching, then his teacup shattered in his hand. He was pissed since he couldn't get any clue on the bastard that was dating his daughter.

"Really, dad? Besides, I believe you'd like the person I'm going out with," Blake said.

"Really now? Please do tell who this man or woman is, so that I may break him/her…I mean so that I can greet him/her," Ghira said.

"It's Jaune," Blake said.

"Son of a Bitch!" Ghira shouted.

-Mantle-

"So, Penny. How is Beacon?" Pietro asked.

"It's wonderful! I made so many friends thanks to Jaune and Ruby!" Penny said with a cheerful smile on her face.

"I see. I hope they're treating you well," Pietro said.

"They are! Especially Jaune. He would help me with issues I didn't understand, especially when it comes in the feelings department," Penny said.

"I see. He isn't taking advantage of your innocence, is he?" Pietro asked.

"Oh, heavens no! Jaune's a gentleman all the time. The only time he won't be able to help is if I have a female-related issue, he would ask the girls of the group for help instead, but if it is urgent, he is knowledgeable enough about females to explain everything to me. After all, he has seven sisters," Penny said.

"I guess that's what I could expect from the Arknight of Remnant," Pietro said.

"Arknight?" Penny asked, confused.

"That was the name people gave Jaune when he was travelling Remnant. He would help the small settlements from Grimm and bandits. The people would say that he was like a knight in shining armour due to his white colour scheme and the fact that his last name is Arc," Pietro said.

"How come I didn't have such data when I was still a synthetic?" Penny asked.

"That's because the settlements that Jaune went to didn't have good access to the CCTS. Hence, they couldn't upload such data," Pietro said.

"How did you find such information?" Penny asked.

"There was a person here on Mantle. He was travelling to a small settlement in Mistral. When the settlement was attacked, it was bad, hopeless even, but that was until a man in white armour descended from the sky and killed all the Grimm and bandits alike. There, he asked who the man was, the man answered with 'Jaune Arc' before leaving," Pietro said.

"Oh my. That's quite a tale. Was he able to save the people of the settlement?" Penny asked.

"He did. But not everyone," Pietro said.

-Argus-

Pyrrha, Nora and Ren were having lunch with Dalia. At first, Nora and Ren thought they were imposing on the mother and daughter's time, but Dalia said it was nonsense and that they would love their company as she was alone most of the time. Having more people was a welcome change.

"Ren, Nora, are you two dating?" Dalia asked.

"Y-yes!" Nora said.

"What?!! Since when?! Why didn't you guys tell us?!" Pyrrha said, nearly choking on her chocolate.

"It happened after the Vytal Festival," Ren answered.

"That long ago!" Pyrrha said.

"We didn't want to tell anyone since we wanted to make sure that this was what we wanted. I know that if everyone knew, it would just put pressure on us, and that would cause some issues. That's why we wanted to keep it on the down-low. We were planning to tell everyone before we started the new term," Nora said.

"I see. So, why tell us?" Pyrrha asked.

"I don't know! When your mom asked, it was like I had to tell her the truth or I would have been punished! And the fact when I looked into her eye, it felt like no secret was safe!" Nora said.

"I knew it! I wasn't the only one who thinks so!" Pyrrha said.

"He-he-he," Dalia chuckled.

"Mom! When I asked you when I was a kid, you told me that it was all in my imagination!" Pyrrha said.

"Pyrrha, what are you talking about?" Ren asked.

"When I was a little girl, there was always this feeling that I get from my mom when she asks me a question. Every time she asks me something, it was like I couldn't lie to her, and lying would make my punishment harsher. There was no way I would make my punishment harsher. I wouldn't be able to live without chocolate for weeks!" Pyrrha said.

"Oh, honey. You don't have to feel bad. There isn't anyone that has ever resisted my semblance," Dalia said.

"Your semblance?" Nora asked.

"That's right. My semblance is Truth Seeker. As long as I have Aura, I would be able to make people I speak with tell the truth," Dalia said.

"That's one nifty semblance," Ren said.

"Then, what about the feeling of being punished harsher if we don't tell the truth?" Nora asked.

"Oh, that. That's just something a mother learns after taking care of her children after a while," Dalia said.

"By the way, Pyrrha. How is your relationship going?" Dalia asked.

"It's okay," Pyrrha mumbled.

"Just, okay?" Dalia asked.

"That's because she's a bit timid. Don't get me wrong, she's amazing when it comes to fighting, but she becomes very timid when it comes to romance. I lost count of how many times she tried to ask Jaune to go out shopping only to shy away," Nora said.

"I guess you got some of your dad in you," Dalia said.

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked.

"When your dad and I went to Haven, he would be this hotshot Huntsman-in-training, but when it came to asking me out, he would be this shy, timid, and stuttering mess. I ended up being the one to ask him out," Dalia said, chuckling at the memory of her husband.

"Wait. Dad? As in the man who would always show no fear? That's surprising," Pyrrha said.

"The one and only," Dalia said with a chuckle.

-Domrémy-

After eating lunch, Olive wanted Jaune's opinion on the flowers she was growing. She told Jaune that she didn't know why some of them wouldn't bloom as well as the others. When Jaune looked, he immediately knew why. Not due to his extensive knowledge in botany but because of his connection to nature due to Avalon.

"I see why. You need to add some space between each species. Otherwise, its root would get tangled up, and the less aggressive species would get less nutrition from the soil," Jaune said.

"But I don't know how to move them apart," Olive said.

"Fine. I'll help you. But only this once, next time you need to research a bit more before you plant them, okay?" Jaune said.

"Thank you, Jaune! And I promise I will research more about the species I plant before doing anything," Olive said.

"Good!" Jaune said. He then used the nature energy of Avalon to command the plants to move away from each other. There was no tearing of roots or breaking off leaves. No, the plants moved away from each other while untangling themselves from one another. But that was not all Jaune did. He also told the plants to make a beautiful formation. Olive was amazed at what she saw.

(Garden View)

"What do you think?" Jaune asked.

"Amazing!" Olive said.

"Come on, let's head back inside," Jaune said.

Olive didn't want to leave since she wanted to see the flowers and trees more, but she knew she wasn't allowed outside alone, so she followed Jaune back inside the house.. Though, she was happy to learn that her flowers and plants would grow better now.