Chapter Text
1
“Are you sure this is…y’know, a good idea?” Emmett asked as he sat on the dressing table, looking around at the room.
“You’re the one who came up with this stupid idea,” Jaelyn rolled her eyes as she put the last touch on her makeup, “So if this ends up being an absolute dumpster fire we’re blaming you,”
“Aw, c’mon, Jae,” Victoria grinned, twirling a drumstick in around her fingers as she perched up on a chair, “Don’t tell me you’re scared ,”
“I am not scared and I don’t know where you got that idea,”
“Sure thing, clown face,”
“You take that back, Stick Figure!”
“Oh you did not just call me that!”
“So what if I did!?” Jaelyn fired back, only to start yelling as Victoria hopped off the chair and started tugging on her pigtails, “You absolute heathen! Let go!”
“Aww, what’s the matter? Can’t take a lil’ ruff an’ tumble?” Victoria sneered, “Make me bi-!”
She was cut off by a hand smacked against her mouth, which was then subsequently bit, causing the sisters to start fighting physically rather than just words.
Emmett shook his head as he continued messing with the strap of a guitar. He loved his sisters, he really did…but the fact they went at each other’s throats like this did get a bit old. It wasn’t as bad as people would think though! Jae and Vicky just…had a habit of…snarking back and forth when one got on the other’s nerves. They still cared about each other at the end of the day though.
He looked around the room, doing a headcount and frowning.
“Hey,” he started, “You guys seen Cyndelle?”
Jaelyn and Victoria stopped fighting, the latter on the former’s back and pulling her hair much like reins on a horse. Jaelyn took this as an opportunity and shoved Victoria off her, grumbling as she went to redo her hair.
“Nope, not really seen her,” Victoria shrugged, dusting off her jacket, “Aw, bloody hell Jae! You got your stupid foundation on my jacket!”
“Maybe next time you won’t jump me like a baby koala,” Jaelyn sniffed as she grabbed the curling iron, “And don’t pull my hair next time! I know you’re big into the grunge look, but I am very much not,”
“Yeah it doesn’t suit you either,” Victoria stuck out her tongue before turning back to Emmett, “We got about what, half an hour? Probably should go find her?”
“I’ll text the Boss and see if she’s seen her,” Jaelyn said, putting down the curling iron and grabbing her phone.
“Thanks, Jae!” Emmett beamed, “C’mon, Vicky, let’s go find Cyndelle.”
They spent about fifteen minutes searching for Cyndelle with no luck whatsoever. Their youngest sibling was…often times very elusive and hard to find. Popping up in places that she had no right to be or wasn’t in before. Emmett chalked it up to her being so small compared to the rest of them.
“You don’t think she ran outside do you?” Victoria asked.
“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “She hates the rain and it’s like, biblical proportions flood out there right now.”
“So she’s probably managed to stuff herself in a vent or something, fun. I’m not climbing in after her this time,” Victoria deadpanned, “Last time I did that, I was sneezing dust bunnies for a week .”
“I don’t think she’s hid in a vent,” Emmett reassured her, “She doesn’t like getting her clothes dirty. It was just that one time!”
Victoria opened her mouth to protest when both of their phones chimed. The two siblings immediately pulled out the phones and unlocked them to see a message from the same person.
Tessa: Found her! Backstage, behind the big ol’ loony lookin’ squirrel cutout.
Emmett gave a grin, his golden eyes lighting up as he typed out a quick response.
Self: Thanks, Tessa! We’ll get her!
Tessa: I’ll get Jae 2 stall 💛 Break a leg u lot!
“Right,” Emmett grinned as he stuffed the phone back into his jacket pocket while Victoria did the same, “Shall we go?”
“Yeah, sooner we get her all ready sooner we can get this over with,” Victoria nodded.
The brother and sister duo ran down the hall towards the backstage area. They could hear music from the group before them playing and somehow managed to sneak back past the Security Detail to snoop around.
Emmett felt Victoria tug on his jacket and he looked at her as she pointed. He followed her gaze to a very goofy looking animated squirrel cutout. He gave a nod and the two of them made their way to it.
“...Lil’ Buddy?”
He managed to crawl between wall and cutout, seeing a bundle of fluffy ruffles and gold stuffed near the back. Two pale golden eyes looked up from between a fluft of white hair.
“W-W-What are you…do-doing here?” Cyndelle’s voice was shaky and Emmett could see tears slipping down her cheeks, “A-A-Aren’t you supposed to go on in a few minutes?”
“We all are, yeah,” Emmett nodded, “You, me, and our sisters,”
“...Y-You don’t need me,” Cyndelle stammered, “I-I’ll just…m-mess up. A-And then I’ll d-dissapoint Tessa an-and everyone…an-and it’ll be my fault…”
“Hey,” Victoria leaned down into view, looking at her youngest sibling, “No one’s gonna think you’re a screw up. If they do? I’ll use their heads as a snare,”
Cyndelle gave a soft, almost barely there giggle as Emmett offered his hand to her. She gave a sheepish little smile as she took it and he pulled her out of her little hidey hole. Thankfully, she wasn’t covered in dust bunnies this time. Her dress was still quite clean, save for a little dust which Emmett and Victoria quickly brushed off.
“See? Good as new!” Emmett smiled, “Ready?”
“...Not really…b-but I’ll…be right I think?” Cyndelle admitted, “Oh…Oh dear…I-I need to get Celeste!”
“Don’t worry about that,” came Jaelyn’s voice as she walked up, grumpily lugging Emmett’s guitar and what looked to be a much smaller instrument case, “I got it. And it’s tuned.”
Cyndelle gave a happy smile as she darted towards Jaelyn, grabbing the instrument case and gently setting it down on the ground. She then wrapped her arms around Jaelyn in a hug.
“Thank you!” she trilled before rushing back to the instrument case and popping the latches. Her delicate fingers reached down, grabbing what was now revealed as a violin, dark in color save for a flurry of silver stars that raced down the side and top. Cyndelle grabbed the bow and a block of resin, making sure the bow was properly done up as she took a shaky breath.
“Oh! There you are!” another voice called, making the four Elliot siblings jump and look back at one of the Security members, “You’re up, break a leg!”
“Thank you!” Emmett beamed as he waved. As soon as the Security guard left, Emmett grabbed his sisters and put them in a strong hug, “No matter what happens…I’m glad we did this. Even if I did have a moment of uh, insecurity earlier.”
The quartet’s phones chimed.
Tessa: U lot look great! Got the stage set up 4 u 2. I’ll b watchin’ from the sidelines. Have fun!
The four all grinned at each other as they fired off rapid responses.
Emmett: Thank you, Tessa!
Jaelyn: Thank you, Boss.
Victoria: Thanks, Tess!
Cyndelle: Thank you, Tessa~! 💛
“Righty-o,” Emmett grinned, “Let’s knock their socks off, yeah?”
Victoria idly twirled her drumsticks around her fingers as Emmett and Jaelyn finished getting ready. The dark, rumbling chords of Jaelyn’s bass and the higher, singing chords of Emmett’s guitar clashed and wove together in simple harmony for warm up. Cyndelle was currently sitting on a stool next to Victoria’s drumset, kicking her legs back and forth and humming quietly to herself to warm her voice up. Her violin sat on her lap, but she wouldn’t need it for this song. The next one…maybe. If they needed to do that one anyways.
To be honest, Victoria hoped that they wouldn’t. That they’d be one and done and she could get back to her books. But Emmett wanted to do this. So did Tessa. So she agreed.
She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and letting herself sink into the persona she wanted to be for this. Snarky, sarcastic, rough around the edges. A cutting blade designed for punching.
Not Victoria, but V.
“Alright, you all ready?” one of the talent scouts asked, “You do know this will be recorded and performed live, right?”
“Yep!” Emmett nodded, giving that easy smile, “Just means that more people will like us,”
“Or more people will laugh at us if we screw up,” V smirked.
“Oh hush!” Emmett pouted.
“Right…so,” another talent scout asked, “What’re your names and what’s the band called?”
“Right! I’m M, and these are my sisters J on the bass, V on the drums and Cyn’s one of our singers,” Emmett, rather M, explained, “We’re uh, the band Absolutely Solved,”
“N, J, V and Cyn,” the third scout nodded, writing down everything they could, “Got it. And you’ve got the required three pieces yeah?”
“Of course,” Jaelyn, J now, stated, smirking at the fact that Emmett’s stage name had been changed and he was just…rolling with it, “Though I’m pretty sure we might convince you with one,”
“Three is still a good setpiece though!” Cyndelle, Cyn, smiled, “I-It might um, give them a taste of what we’re all about!”
“Pretty much,” the first scout chuckled, “Alrighty, ready when you all are,”
“Ready, Cyn?” Emmett asked, offering a hand to help Cyn down off her stool.
“Of course, big brother,” Cyn beamed, walking up and grabbing the microphone, standing on her tiptoes as she unhooked it, “Suppose we should give the name, eh?”
“That’d be nice,” the second scout nodded.
“So, this is titled Through the Stars, From Adversity .” Cyn explained, “And we hope you like it!”
V took that as her cue. Clicking the drumsticks together for timing, one, two, three, four before N and J started in. Cyn took a breath and a sweet, silvery soprano voice soared through the air.
“I remember when on that starry, icy night,” Cyn sang, “ Your breath was silver, your eyes moon bright. You woke me up, you picked me up. You knew me and I knew you.”
N chimed in, his lower tenor sweet and warm as he gave a harmony to Cyn’s melody as they hit the chorus.
“And I say, across these jaded stars,” they chorused together as Cyn swept her arm out, With a sweep of hands on an old guitar, Ad Astra, Per Aspera. From Adversity, to the stars, I will come to you.”
Cyn and N’s voices cut out as a warm, velvety alto voice cut through, rippling and sighing in melancholy silk.
“These days are long, these days are cold,” J sang, “ These days where silver becomes gold.”
V opened her own voice, grinning as she twined her voice with J’s, a slightly higher range that caused a brilliant waltz. “ Our light shines, our light blazes…And our song will be known for the ages.
She caught her family’s eye as she twirled her drumstick again, winking at them, at the camera before smirking and continuing with her piece. N and Cyn joined back, a quartet choir of angels soaring through the small room.
“ And I say, across these jaded stars,” Cyn trilled.
“With a sweep of hands on this old guitar,” N continued.
“Ad Astra, Per Aspera,” J added.
“From Adversity, to the stars!” V finished, “ I will come to you!”
The instruments began to fade, their notes ceasing, leaving just the sound of the quartet’s voices alone in the hall.
“Ad Astra, Per Aspera. From Adversity, to the stars…I will come to you.”
“I messed up. I played the wrong note, I missed that one chord ughhhhh I’m the worst,” Emmett groaned as he pulled at his hair the second they got back into the dressing room.
Their worst or best fears had been realized. The scouts only heard that one song. They didn’t want to hear the rest. One was enough they said.
That either meant that all their work was for nothing…or they had impressed.
“Calm down, biscuit boy,” Victoria sighed as Cyndelle hopped into one of the chairs and started checking over her violin, “They probably heard all they needed to.”
“Regardless of all the mistakes,” Jaelyn sighed, looking directly at Emmett, “I…will admit it was…fun. To do this. So…and I’m only going to say it once…thank you, Emmett, for pushing us to do that,”
“...I’m sorry I didn’t quite catch that,” Emmett blinked, “Did you just thank me, Jae?”
“Don’t push it.”
Their phones chimed, four instances at once in their group chat.
Tessa: OMFG GUYS
Tessa: GUYS!
Tessa: GUYYYYYS! ASDFSADFASDFAWEASFASF LOOK!
A link was sent in the chat and the quartet crowded together as Emmett pressed play. Youtube opened up…and the link was their song.
“...Oh boy,” Victoria winced, “How bad is iiiiiiii-why are there over 3 million views.”
“Look at the comments!” Cyndelle squealed, “‘Where have these guys been!?’ ‘OMG I LOVE THEM!’ ‘They sound so good!!’ Did…did we do it!?”
“WE DID IT!” Emmett crowed, “Even if we don’t get picked up by the talent crew here, we did it! We got people liking us! Look at all those likes!!”
“...Oh fun, I suppose this is going to be our lives now, isn’t it?” Jaelyn asked.
“Hey, it’s better than dusting and cleaning homes!” Victoria gave a sharp grin, laughing as more of Tessa’s texts came through in excitement.
The last one came through and all four went silent for a moment.
“They want us to play where ?!” Emmett choked.
“Guess the Boss is going to have to splurge a little on plane tickets…” Jaelyn sighed, “We’ve got a lot of work to do but…”
She choked off as she was grabbed into a massive group hug that turned into a squealing and jumping party.
It was the start of something new…something that would change their lives forever.
It was the start of Absolutely Solved.
Pictures by AhoNoKio!
Absolutely Solved: Cyn, V, J, N
