"How come you know my name?" Stella said with a calm voice despite her shocked expression.
Zane smiling, replied, "It is one of my talents."
Einsamer didn't mean to interrupt their conversation, but in his mind, even she was a professional singer. It was impossible for someone to identify a person through their voice the first time hearing it in person, not to mention Stella was so good at changing her voice with a variety of ranges. She wasn't an average person or singer.
"But how? It is impossible!" He asked.
Zane didn't look at Einsamer, her one eye fixed on Stella but she replied to him "A mystery left untold is more interesting, let just say I am just lucky to have this talent gifted by God."
It was undeniable that she was special, but even her answer was exceptional. At the same time, no one said anything, and waited for Zane to continue talking.
"You must be wondering why someone like me initiated the conversation with a small band like you, right?" She said.
It was unreasonable for someone like her to come here just to lecture or even look down on them, so they all seemed curious about her intention as well.
Everyone within Renegade3 had that question in their mind at the moment, except Setsuna who already made the connection between her words and tone as well as the news she read about the music festival tomorrow, she intuitively came to the conclusion.
Setsuna said with an excited tone "Don't tell me you are planning on letting us join the music festival at Zero Zone tomorrow?"
Despite her childish behavior, Setsuna was a very quick thinker and was always the first to notice things that most people didn't, she picked up the small hint in her words and her expression.
Her exclaim made everyone look at her with both amazement and doubt with her words.
But the reply from Zane confirmed her words "That is right." She then extended the card ticket before Stella, hinting at her to take it.
Since she didn't want to be indecisive, she immediately took the opportunity that represent before her. Stella took the ticket which was a scanning card, on the card there was a word
[Fourth participant of the midnight Saturday rock festival]
Einsamer leaned over to read the word on the card and was amazed that his band now be able to participate in the third concert on the Zero Zone island which had a Ten thousand seat capacity. This was a great start for them, an opportunity that no one in their band foresaw.
Meanwhile, Bridget also looked over and saw the same word, immediately he shouted subconsciously "What? fourth concert! We are not that famous yet."
There were five stages on Zero Zone Island, ranked based on the audience seats, the first was for an international band, the second was for a well-known band on Tellus, and the third was for a band that was well-known in Singa Sanctuary continent, the fourth was for a band that was gaining the popularity in the vibrant city-Sector 0.
After handing the ticket to Stella, Zane said with a smile "My crew will contact you for the gig before it happens." She then turned around and said to Stella "You have the same eyes as Suzuna, the eyes of an achiever."
Then she stepped forward and climbed onto one of the black SUVs, the SUV levitated to the sky and took off with several other nearby SUVs as guardian vehicles. Meanwhile, Stella looked down in deep contemplation as if she heard a word that pierced her heart.
After all, she didn't want to be compared to the solar system diva, she was her own person and wanted to be unique from Suzuna.
She then handed the card to Einsamer by pushing it against his chest "You keep it."
"Ohh, ok." Knowing her, Einsamer accepted the card ticket and put it into his jacket pocket.
Suddenly Setsuna noticed something was heading her way as the footsteps of many people echoed throughout the area.
"Fuck, let's run!" She shouted to her friends.
Bridget understood the situation, and remotely started the engine of his flying van from a far away.
After Zane was gone alongside her crew, finally the crowd turned their attention toward Einsamer and his friends causing them to run with all their strength, and escape toward their vehicle Bridget quickly took off into the sky as soon as all of his friends entered the van.
As they flew over the island landscape filled with many building complexes and alleyways filled with piles running across the wall of the building and battery generator boxes emitting blue and red light, a girl's voice could be heard breaking the silence of sweat and exhaustion from their run for life.
"Damn, who knows what will happen if we get pressure to dead by those people. Why did they suddenly run toward us?" Setsuna said in an exhausted voice as she wiped the sweat on her forehead.
Ginevra who sat in the front seat raised her gentle voice "Right, I guess being noticed by the public is not a good thing after all."
Setsuna giggled at her words, meanwhile, Stella just sat silently next to Setsuna and didn't laugh but instead gazed at the city with her eyes drifting away as she remembered Zane mentioned about Zena. She wondered if she could reach the level of Suzuna but at the same, she had knowledge about what would happen to this world, this was what weighed her.
Moreover, she planned to quit the band so it wasn't a very ideal situation for her either. Somehow she felt guilty for not being able to make her friend's dream come true and stay by their side to actualize it with them.
A few minutes passed, the van finally arrived at the garage and entered it. Then they helped each other take out the instruments and equipment and put them in their proper placement.
Inside the garage, there was Setsuna's SUV, Stella's Zvesda 3 hover-bike and the flying van all parked near each other.
Since it was nighttime, they needed sleep as well. So the girl group headed into the house through the door connected to this garage.
But Einsamer, Bridget, and Shan still stay at the garage talking about creating new songs.
"I think we should create a new song for our tomorrow performance," Einsamer stated.
"Come up with the lyric, then we will work on the rhyme, beat, and melody together," Shan replied.
Meanwhile, Bridget opened his tablet to project multiple screens to work on recording the music and generating beats and drums to match the song they were creating.
It took them about 20 minutes and they finished it after all three of them were talented.
Coming up with an idea was easy, but the hardest part was executing and conveying the idea of the song to the audience.
Therefore they still need Stella and Setsuna on the matter, while Ginevra to add the bass later once the song is complete.
It was then they heard the door open, and when Einsamer turned to look at the person who opened the door. It was Stella, she looked away but headed toward them.
"Geez, I know you guys will work on a new song." She said.
"It is exciting, I can't sleep thinking about tomorrow," Einsamer exclaimed.
Shan said, "You are on time, we need you to read the lyric that Einsamer wrote."
Stella walked up to Einsamer and looked at his tablet's holographic display.
"Well, it looks good. But something is missing." She had a contemplating look on her face as if she was trying to fix something.
Then she typed on the holographic display and replaced the words "Wondering" with "Drifting", and changed the words "World" to "Expanding void."
The combination lyric becomes [Drifting aimlessly within the expanding void, the lost soul searching for the lost paradise.]
"Looking at the lyric, it suits a post-rock genre." Stella expressed her opinion.
Einsamer subtly nodded, acknowledging her knowledge about the meaning behind the lyric and her creativity to come up with an idea on a whim.
"By the way, aren't you going to sleep?" Stella asked while turning to look at him.
Einsamer could feel his heart skip a beat, but he maintained his composure and shook his head.
He replied "No, we have to do our best tomorrow. All I have left now is this band."
Stella slightly frowned and asked, "I have been curious for a while, aren't your main goal to be a judge?"
"Yes..."
The conversation was interrupted between them as a loud noise could be heard coming from a door that was being opened by someone.
Suddenly, someone burst the door open. Her presence made everyone turn to look her way, the long black hair girl with golden eyes that would captivate anyone, dressed in her pajamas walked toward where the music was created.
It was a studio under the overhead storage room, Einsamer was sitting on a chair with a holographic display hovered before him, and next to him stood the short-wolf cut blue hair girl, Stella. Shan and Bridget were working on finding the right beat and rhythm to match the lyrics of the new song.
"You guys are not yet going to sleep?" Setsuna said with a frown.
No one dared to say words that might make her mad, after all the angry Setsuna wasn't something to be reckoned with. However, Stella was the only person who dared to respond to her at this moment.
"Can you sleep when we have a live performance tomorrow that is a golden ticket for our band to gain more recognition?" Stella stated with a smile to appear more friendly to not stir up trouble.
"That makes sense, I will stay a little bit late to help you guys too," Satsuna exclaimed with a neutral smile.
Bridget knowing the disaster that Setsuna could bring with her drum skill that care about no one, smiled half-heartedly at her before he talked to her.
"Don't you work on your novel? It is okay, we can add the drum part later." Said, Bridget.
Setsuna sighed and replied, "I know I am the type of person who is hard to work with, but I am willing to cooperate and learn."
Knowing her, everyone agreed to make her join in the process of making and recording their new song. Surprisingly, during this process of creating new music. Setsuna was weirdly very cooperative, she put on the earbuds and was seen playing drum without external sound to not disturb her friends while the music of the new song playing in the background.
Though there wasn't a lyric added yet, but Setsuna could easily tune in with the emotion of the music and play along very well. Her friends looked at her with amazement, they were aware she could be very hardworking but seeing her being earnest in person was spectacular.
At the same time, Ginevra also came out from the door with her pajama, staring at Setsuna playing holographic drums with astonishment. She knew Setsuna could be very talented if she focused on something that she was really in tune with, this moment before her only confirmed her idea about Setsuna.
Everyone looked at her with a smile, knowing this was her true potential if she stayed consistent and focused. After half an hour of trial and error, she was able to come up with a rhyme pattern that matched the song's atmosphere.
Slow and steady then gradually builds up and eventually drops into slowed and echoes, it suits the atmosphere of the song which is set in an apocalyptic world.
"It is done" Setsuna removed the headphones with a smile as sweat was evident on her forehead.
Stella also finished her piano part in just 5 minutes, afterwards it was Ginevra and Einsamer to added the bass and guitar parts.
Now Bridget and Shan opened the music software on their tablet and spent another 10 minutes mixing the drum, guitar, bass, and melody. Both of them had a shocking expression as if they were listening to something unbelievable.
"This is by far our best song that has a dark theme!" Bridget exclaimed.
"Good work everyone," Shan said with a satisfied smile as he navigated through the music software.
Now the only last part to complete the song was Stella's vocal, she took a moment to listen to the complete version of the song and sang it with only the first take.
It came out so naturally, and everyone could hear her singing as the song played in the background. Seeing everyone was so immersed in producing quality songs with their talent, Einsamer couldn't help but feel proud that they were destined to be successful as a band.
In the past, each one of them was a black sheep or trouble maker but eventually, they found each other and created this band aiming to become rock stars with a shared passion for music. Now they had come so far, their dream had almost become reality.
They named the title of the song "Blooming" Despite its dark and lonely theme, it was the idea of Einsamer. Moreover, Stella gave the idea that Einsamer should also sing the third verse since it was his song. At first, he is hesitant to accept due to his lack of confidence when it comes to his voice, but he challenges himself and agrees to Stella's idea.
After finished producing the song, each one of them went through the only door into the house attached to the garage, within the house, there were two floors. The ground floor with living room and a pool, bathroom, and kitchen. On the second floor, there were four rooms, the girls slept in the same room next to the stairs while the guys slept in the same room as well located in front of the girl's room.
Within the girl's room, there was a bathroom as well. Setsuna who had done showering just applied the Nedro spray all over her pajama and skin then she immediately went to bed and slept sideways, exposing her back to Ginevra and Stella.
There were a total of three beds within the room so each one of them was able to to sleep while not having to shave the bed, meanwhile, Stella went into the bathroom and prepared to take a shower. The bathroom was equipped with normal functions such as auto climate and heating floor to remove wet surfaces on the floor when done showering.
As she removed her clothes, her skin was white like a pearl. But there were multiple small scratches on her back like someone used to torture her. Thanks to the Nedro spray, it gradually reduced the mark of the scratch but it still be faintly visible. Nonetheless, she didn't think much of her scratch and took the time to shower.
As she was showering, a flashback of memory of where she sat in the corner of the black and dark room while hearing the cry of one child still lingered in her mind with an anxious expression as she closed her eyes while biting her lips in unbearable trauma. But she quickly snapped out of it as this was only a fragment of her memory that she barely remembered, she had a strong mind after all.
"That vision again, is it a suppressed memory?" She murmured to herself as the water streamed down from her head to her curvy body and onto her toes.
Then she shook her head and said with a determined voice "Stella, don't let anything make you doubt yourself."
After several minutes of taking the shower, she washed herself with her blue towel and put on her pajamas. Then she dried her wolf-cut blue hair and exited the bathroom, making her way to the bed in the middle.
"Goodnight, Stella." Ginevra, the blonde-haired girl said.
"Goodnight," Stella replied and sat on her bed.
At that moment she slightly look at Setsuna's back, as if waiting for the word goodnight from her.
But it seemed like Setsuna had already fallen asleep, Stella sighed and went to sleep but she didn't forget to murmur the words "Goodnight, Setsuna."