Down on the massive, blindingly lit stage of the Sela Grand Basin, Nazir Kal was drenched in sweat.
He was at the absolute tail end of his opening setlist. He had spent the last thirty minutes pouring every single ounce of his soul into the microphone, his rich voice echoing across the endless sea of eight hundred thousand screaming fans.
He was exhausted, his chest heaving with every breath, yet a massive, radiant smile stretched across his face, proudly displaying his signature upper overbite.
He walked over to the sleek grand piano positioned at the center of the stage and took a seat. The stadium lights dimmed, leaving only a single, dramatic white spotlight shining down on him.
Nazir placed his fingers on the keys. He tapped out a fast, rhythmic, incredibly catchy piano intro.
It was a song that had recently climbed straight to the top of the galactic charts. The crowd instantly recognized it, letting out a massive, unified cheer before falling completely silent, waiting for the vocals.
[Queens – Don't Stop Me Now]
Nazir leaned into the microphone, his voice breathy and intimate.
"Tonight, I'm gonna have myself a real good time... I feel alive..."
The Ballad Fake-Out kept going, drawing the massive audience into a false sense of melodic security as Nazir continued to play the gentle piano chords.
"And the world, I'll turn it inside out, yeah... I'm floatin' around in ecstasy... So..."
Standing backstage in the shadows, Dorian watched with a deeply satisfied grin. When he had first seen Nazir, he had immediately noticed the singer's uncanny physical resemblance to a certain legendary Earth frontman.
The raw, untapped theatrical energy and the distinct overbite had completely solidified the idea in Dorian's mind. He had explicitly given Nazir this legendary Queen anthem just to see if the man could pull it off.
Nazir was completely crushing it.
The backing vocals kicked in through the stadium speakers, a harmonized choir.
"Don't stop me now... Don't stop me..."
The music abruptly picked up. The heavy bass and the pounding drums hit the audio mix simultaneously. The sheer kinetic energy was like a rocket clearing the launchpad.
"'Cause I'm havin' a good time... Havin' a good time!" Nazir belted out, his voice shedding its soft intimacy and exploding into absolute, theatrical power.
"I'm a shootin' star, leapin' through the sky like a tiger... Defyin' the laws of gravity!"
Using celestial bodies and apex predators to describe a state of complete, unhinged freedom resonated perfectly with the massive crowd.
The eight hundred thousand fans began to jump and cheer so incredibly loud that one could easily think an actual starship was launching directly out of the basin.
Nazir stood up from the piano bench, grabbing the microphone stand and strutting across the stage with absolute, infectious confidence.
"I'm a racin' car, passin' by like Lady Cadova... I'm gonna go, go, go, there's no stoppin' me!"
Dorian had cleverly altered the lyrics to fit the Accord's universe. Lady Cadova was a highly famous, deeply eccentric Solar mercenary group entirely known for fighting their battles completely unarmored and naked. The crowd roared at the cultural reference.
"Oh, I'm burnin' through the sky, yeah... Two hundred degrees, that's why they call me Mister Harrenheit, hey!"
Nazir pointed out at the crowd, flawlessly integrating the galactic temperature scale into the song. He had warmed up the stadium perfectly. The audience was completely opened up, totally energized, and exactly as the song dictated, ready for a remarkably good time.
"Travellin' at the speed of light... I wanna make a supersonic man outta you, hey, hey!"
As the band reached the climax of the track, the backing vocals began to loop the iconic outro.
"Don't stop me now, don't stop me now, don't stop me now..."
It was the ultimate musical vamp, and it was also the designated cue for the main act to finally take the stage.
Nazir stood at the edge of the stage, breathing heavily, his clothes completely soaked in sweat. He looked out at the endless ocean of jumping, screaming fans.
Several months ago, he had been kicked out of the GoldClick Records building, drenched in scalding tea and looking like a miserable wet rat.
He wasn't a wet rat anymore. He was a superstar.
While the music continued to pulse through the stadium, Nazir raised his microphone, his voice booming with pure, unfiltered hype.
"Ladies and gents!" Nazir shouted breathlessly. "The composer who wrote that song... the one you have all been waiting for... PERCIVAL!!!!"
The crowd, already riding the absolute peak of the song's energy, erupted into a deafening, earth-shaking roar.
High above the chaos, inside one of the luxurious, glass-bottomed floating platforms, the atmosphere was much more refined.
Gil Nothos and Rita sat in plush velvet chairs, looking down at the spectacular light show and the roaring crowd. Despite their usual stoic, highly critical demeanors, both of the veteran musicians had genuine, incredibly proud smiles plastered across their faces. They were watching their student finally conquer the summit of the musical world.
Gil glanced over at the elegant woman sitting beside him. He casually smoothed the lapel of his expensive suit.
"Don't even start," Gil said, his tone dripping with smug superiority. "He is my student. He clearly favors my tutelage, considering he gave me the ticket first."
Rita didn't even bother looking at him. She simply maintained her elegant smile, reaching into her designer purse and pulling out her sleek silver datapad.
She tapped the screen twice and casually held it up for Gil to see. It was a chat history log with Dorian.
"Perhaps," Rita murmured smoothly. "However, he asked me if I wanted one first."
…
In the blink of an eye, an hour and a half had already flown by.
The concert was an absolute, unmitigated triumph. Several top-tier artists from the Sela system had already come out as surprise guest stars, performing their Percival-produced hit tracks alongside the masked maestro himself.
Backstage, the logistics were a highly coordinated dance. Thankfully, Ratik wasn't managing it alone. She had called in a favor from Raja. The impeccably dressed Head of Public Relations for Round Table Studio had seamlessly transitioned from handling corporate gaming journalists to wrangling high-maintenance pop stars.
Raja stood near the stage exit, handing a bottle of water to the latest guest artist who had just stepped off the platform, completely buzzing with adrenaline.
"Waaa! That was so incredibly cool!" the young artist practically squealed, vibrating with residual energy. "Please, please let me know when the Composer is done with the concert. I absolutely have to thank him personally for this opportunity!"
Raja, utilizing his flawless, media-trained smile, smoothly intercepted the enthusiasm. "I will see what I can do. But it is pretty tiring up there carrying a show of this magnitude. I am sure you know how exhausting it gets."
The artist chuckled, wiping sweat from his forehead. "I guess! I'll just stick around with the others for now, though."
Raja offered a polite nod, watching as the artist bounded over to a corner of the backstage area where Nazir Kal and two other singers were excitedly chatting about the crowd's energy.
Just then, Ratik walked briskly past Raja, her eyes glued to the glowing schedule on her datapad. Her face was incredibly pale.
"This is it," Ratik muttered grimly.
Raja gave her a sympathetic wince. It was time for the final, unscripted segment of the night: the impromptu Q&A with the fans. Ratik had spent the last two months desperately trying to persuade Dorian out of doing this. Unfiltered, live interactions with a crowd of nearly a million people had absolutely zero chance of not becoming a PR nightmare. But Dorian had just offered his usual cheeky smile and insisted it would be 'fun'.
Now, Ratik stood by the main control board, her fingers hovering over a dozen different contingency protocols, ready to cut the microphones and kill the lights the exact second things went south.
Out on the massive stage, the heavy orchestral music faded out, leaving only a soft, ambient acoustic loop echoing through the stadium speakers.
Percival stood at the center of the stage, the sleek metal mask securely covering the upper half of his face. He raised his microphone.
"HELLO SELA!!" Percival's voice boomed across the basin.
The crowd answered with a roar so loud it physically rattled the ribcages of everyone in the venue.
Percival chuckled, placing a hand on his hip. "Hoo... you guys are loud. Little did you know, I actually asked my sound engineers to install localized dosimeters around the stage to calculate the sheer volume of this crowd. I'm using the data to decide which planet I should do my next tour on!"
Hearing that, the eight hundred thousand fans instantly lost their absolute minds. The screaming and cheering somehow doubled in volume, creating a deafening wall of pure hysteria as they tried to prove Sela was the best planet in the galaxy.
Percival held up his free hand, laughing. "Ah, ah! Too late! The grades are already turned in, people!"
A massive wave of laughter rippled through the crowd, instantly easing the heavy, adrenaline-fueled mood into something much more comfortable and intimate. Percival made a quick gesture off-stage, and a staff member immediately tossed him a clean white towel.
"Huft," Percival sighed, casually wiping the sweat from his neck and lower jaw. "Alright. I guess you are all wondering what comes next in the setlist, right? Well... that's entirely on you."
He walked right up to the very edge of the stage, completely bypassing the speaker rigs. To the absolute shock of the security personnel, the galactic superstar simply sat down on the edge of the platform, letting his legs dangle over the side as if he were just relaxing in his own living room.
"Let's see..." Percival murmured, scanning the front row. "Hmmmm. There. The girl right in the front."
A massive white spotlight instantly swept across the crowd, locking onto the front security rail. It illuminated a young Qerrian girl. Caught entirely off guard, she stared up at the masked composer looking exactly like a terrified deer caught in the headlights.
A floor staff member quickly rushed over and handed her a wireless microphone.
The girl looked around in pure panic, seeing her own terrified face projected onto the fifty-foot holographic screens flanking the stage. She shakily brought the mic to her mouth.
"Uuhh... hi," she squeaked.
"Hi," Percival answered smoothly, his tone incredibly warm and grounded. "What's your name?"
"Uuh... my name is Iva."
Percival gave her a small, casual wave. "Hi, Iva. Thank you so much for coming out today. Are you here alone, or...?"
Iva clutched the microphone tightly with both hands, looking down at her shoes for a brief second before looking back up at the stage.
"I... I was supposed to be with someone," Iva admitted, her voice trembling slightly. "But he is not here today."
"Oh?" Percival asked gently. "What happened?"
"I've broken up with my boyfriend," Iva said, her voice echoing clearly across the silent stadium.
The mood in the Sela Grand Basin shifted so fast it gave people whiplash. The warm, hype-filled atmosphere of the 'Sun-Drenched Soul' concert instantly flatlined, replaced by a heavy, awkward blanket of localized depression. Eight hundred thousand people collectively winced.
Backstage, Ratik's eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated horror. She grabbed two fistfuls of her own hair, looking as if she were about to spontaneously combust.
'A breakup story?!' Ratik screamed internally. 'This is a happy-themed concert! This is going to ruin the entire vibe of the night! I knew this was a PR nightmare!'
The heavy, uncomfortable silence lingered for exactly two seconds before Percival smoothly broke it.
"Aawww, I am so sorry to hear that," Percival said, his voice dropping into a gentle, empathetic register that instantly soothed the tension. He leaned forward slightly. "How are you feeling tonight, though?"
Iva blinked, surprised by the genuine warmth in his tone. A small, shy smile broke through her nervousness. "I'm good. Your concert has really lifted my mood."
The entire stadium collectively melted, letting out a massive, audible, "Aawwwww." Percival chuckled softly. "That is good to hear. Though... was it a bad breakup? Because you have eight hundred thousand people here and millions watching on the net. You can air out all his dirty secrets right now. He can regret it later."
The crowd let out a ripple of slightly awkward, highly amused laughter.
Iva actually giggled, shaking her head. "No, no. It was a really good breakup, actually. He just said he wanted some space. We need to grow on our own, I guess."
The awkwardness in the basin completely evaporated, replaced by a deep, collective wave of sympathy for the young girl.
"So it was his idea, huh?" Percival mused, tilting his head. "Do you want to say something to him right now? I am absolutely sure the galactic net will pass it on for you. Right, guys?"
Immediately, thousands of holo-pads and recording orbs lit up across the front rows, capturing the moment.
Realizing she was suddenly the focal point of the entire Accord, Iva became incredibly awkward again. She clutched the microphone to her chest, her cheeks flushing brightly. "Umm... I don't know. I'm really not good at this. I wouldn't even know what to say... I guess... I just don't know."
Percival offered her a reassuring, completely radiant smile beneath his mask.
"That's okay," Percival said softly. "I will pass on your message for you."
He stood up from the edge of the stage. The crowd murmured in pure curiosity as the Composer walked over to a nearby instrument stand and casually strapped an acoustic guitar over his shoulder.
High above the sea of fans, inside one of the floating platforms, Mar Raila was comfortably lounging on a velvet sofa. She paused with a crystal flute of expensive champagne halfway to her lips.
Her eyes narrowed with intense, glittering curiosity. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand, and purred, "Hooo... what is this?"
Down in the backstage wings, Ratik's jaw was literally hanging open. She stared at the monitors in absolute disbelief. "What in the universe is he trying to do?! This is not on the setlist!"
Standing beside her, Raja calmly adjusted his cuffs, though his eyes were completely glued to the screen. "I think... he is going to sing a song."
Out on the stage, the main lights remained dim. A single, soft spotlight illuminated Percival as he stepped back to the microphone stand. He simply raised his hands and began to fingerpicked the acoustic guitar.
[Ben Platt – Grow As We Go]
It was a steady, rhythmic pacing; a simple, grounding melody that felt exactly like walking down a long, quiet road alone.
Percival leaned close to the mic. When he began to sing, his voice was beautifully restrained, incredibly intimate, and almost conversational.
"You say there's so much you don't know...You need to go and find yourself..."
Backstage, Ratik frowned, her encyclopedic knowledge of the music industry failing her. She didn't recognize the melody or the lyrics.
"Is this... is this one of his backlogged tracks?" Raja asked, glancing sideways at the manager.
"Possibly," Ratik whispered, completely mesmerized.
On stage, Percival kept his gaze locked gently onto the young girl in the front row, singing directly to her.
"You say you'd rather be alone...'Cause you think you won't find it tied to someone else..."
At that exact moment, hearing the precise context of Iva's breakup woven seamlessly into the lyrics, the entire stadium realized what was happening. Ratik gasped. Raja's eyes widened. Mar Raila set her champagne glass down with a soft clink.
'He was making a brand new song, completely on the spot, just to deliver Iva's message.' It was an unfathomable display of sheer, spontaneous musical genius. The crowd was rendered absolutely, dead silent, completely captivated by the raw emotion pouring from the stage.
Percival's voice swelled slightly, carrying a beautiful, aching sincerity.
"Ooh, who said it's true...That the growing only happens on your own?...They don't know me and you..."
Down in the front row, standing under the massive spotlight, Iva clutched her hands over her heart. The heavy, lingering sadness of her breakup seemed to wash away, entirely replaced by the breathtaking beauty of the moment.
The acoustic guitar executed a gentle, highly deliberate pivot. The chord progression lifted, carrying the melody into a warm, ascending register as Percival leaned closer to the microphone.
"I don't think you have to leave...If to change is what you need...You can change right next to me."
The crowd began to fully absorb the lyrics. Down at the front security rail, Mala and Maree Brimen stood completely immobilized. The wealthy twin sisters had their mouths hanging slack, their expensive glowing light-sticks forgotten by their sides. Looking at the glossy-eyed audience around them, one would think eight hundred thousand people had just been subjected to mass hypnosis.
"When you're high, I'll take the lows...You can ebb and I can flow...And we'll take it slow."
It was a profound proposition. He was introducing the concept of the "ebb and flow," offering to become the flexible, accommodating container for someone else's personal evolution. He was offering to shift his own shape to make room.
"And grow as we go...Grow as we go."
It was the ultimate compromise.
On the far side of the backstage wings, the collection of guest artists were left in absolute, paralyzing awe.
One of the veteran Sela pop stars leaned heavily against a road case, staring blankly at the monitors. "Is that... is that what a Maestro at work actually looks like?"
Nazir Kal violently shook his head, his brain entirely refusing to process the level of spontaneous genius unfolding twenty feet away. "This is absurd. It is impossible. He had to have this song sitting in his backlog. He has to."
He transitioned flawlessly into the second verse.
"You won't be the only one...I am unfinished, I've got so much left to learn..."
He pronounced every single consonant with crisp, absolute clarity. He sang as if he were trying to make entirely sure there was zero room for misunderstanding in the message he was conveying to the young girl in the front row.
"I don't know how this river runs...But I'd like the company through every twist and turn."
As he hit the end of the verse, Percival began to ever so slightly change the way he sang. The breathy, whispery intimacy hardened. He began to utilize his resonant belt, pushing the raw, unfiltered power of his chest voice out into the stadium air.
When the bridge hit, the polite restraint completely shattered. The crowd could feel the sheer, agonizing terror of losing a loved one forcing his pitch higher. He poured every single ounce of his soul into the desperate plea.
"I don't know who we'll become...I can't promise it's not written in the stars..."
It was a staggering emotional confession. He was openly admitting that he didn't have all the answers, and that staying together through massive, uncontrollable personal change was a terrifying prospect.
"But I believe that when it's done...We're gonna see that it was better...That we grew up together."
He insisted that the terror was entirely worth the reward.
Percival sang the chorus one last time, his voice slowly coming back down from the resonant belt, fading into a breathless, desperately quiet plea.
"Grow as we go..."
As the final strum of the acoustic guitar rang out, the song didn't cleanly resolve. It ended with the musical question hanging heavy and unresolved in the cool night air. He had made his case, and now all he could do was wait for an answer.
Percival lowered the guitar.
There was a chilling, absolute quietness across the Sela Grand Basin. For ten long seconds, not a single person out of the eight hundred thousand in attendance made a sound. Somehow, through a simple six-string guitar and a microphone, Percival had perfectly extracted the heavy, complicated feelings of a single girl named Iva and forcefully transferred them into the chests of everyone present.
Streams of silent tears could be seen glistening on the faces of the crowd, completely illuminated by the stage lights.
Meanwhile, standing beside the backstage audio monitors, Ratik was furiously tapping away on her datapad.
While everyone else in the stadium was crying, the ultimate manager had instantly snapped out of the hypnotic trance. She was currently ripping the raw audio feed directly from the soundboard, formatting the digital file, and aggressively submitting an expedited copyright application to the central Accord IP registry.
She knew Dorian. She knew this was a completely spontaneous creation, which meant it was currently unprotected intellectual property. And there was absolutely no way she was letting a masterpiece like that slip through her fingers.
⋘ 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂.. .⋙
🎮:
- Stardwey Valley: Completed.
- Hades: Completed.
- Pokémon: Completed.
- Sky: Children of the Light: ◌ Loading…
🎬:
-
♬:
- Your Song – Elton John (ch.9)
- A Lovely Night – La La Land (ch.20)
- Merry Go Round of Life – Howl's Moving Castle (ch.25)
- Small Fragile Hearts – Victor Lundberg (ch. 27)
- Skyfall – Adele (ch. 29)
- No Time To Die – Billie Eilish (ch. 30)
- Yesterday – The Beatles (ch. 32)
- Lovely – Billie Eilish, Khalid (ch. 47)
- Best Part – H.E.R. feat. Daniel Caesar (ch. 67)
- Lovely Day – Bill Withers (ch. 68)
- My Song – Labi Siffre (ch. 75)
- Isn't She Lovely – Stevie Wonder (ch. 89)
- Gotta Catch 'Em All – Pokémon OST (ch. 90)
- Don't Stop Me Now – Queens (ch. 102)
- Grow As We Go – Ben Platt (ch. 102)