Chapter Text
"We're on the edge of greatness"
Those words spilled out of Adora's lips as she sang at the top of her lungs. The audience was singing along, and all she heard was that, her bandmates' instruments and the sound of her own voice.
"Turning darkness to light"
The night sky was sprinkled with shining stars, crowded just like the venue that surrounded her. As if they also watched. That, combined with the stage's lighting, almost blinded her.
"We're right beside you"
"Ready to fight"
The music faded when Adora made a rehearsed, dramatic pause and turned her head to look at her bandmates; Glimmer was excitedly holding up her guitar, her shiny pink hair matching her shiny pink makeup. Bow was behind the drums, the black crop top making every single girl and guy in the audience scream his name. Swift Wind, the bassist, with his copper waves of hair and fake colorful wings made of feathers, just smiled at Adora, ready to set the whole stage alight. Turning to the audience again, the vocalist brought the microphone to her face and beautifully shouted:
"We're gonna win in the end!"
The fans immediately went crazy, and confetti started raining down on both the stage and the crowd.
It was the last show of their tour, a small one if you asked them, but Grayskull was quite popular for an independent band. They couldn't complain, not when they had fans like those Adora was currently looking at. She kept singing her parts while Glimmer supported her with backing vocals, besides her guitar. Adora couldn't see it, but she heard her band's enthusiasm when the sound they produced hit her ears. It made her feel alive. No - it was her life. That's what music had always been to Adora.
Her love for singing hadn't taken her or the band much far - yet - but it didn't matter if it did, because Adora never wanted fame or money. She already had everything she could ever dream of, and it made her feel complete.
Grayskull was a self-made band, though it wasn't supposed to be at first. Adora, just like the other members, was cast by an entertainment agency that wanted them as artists, but it was taking so long to make their debut that they all quit and started their own band by themselves. It was harder to build a fanbase that way, but somehow they managed it; after all, each member was so captivating and original that even the haters had to admit the group had its charm.
Swift Wind was not only a good bassist, but also sometimes looked at as a fashion icon - not by as many as he wanted, but still. Bow was the most charismatic out of them all, and the one who wrote the best lyrics for the songs that they'd come up: he was a natural at pouring his heart out. Glimmer, possibly the one more adored by the fans, often went viral for her guitar solos and her extravagant makeup that every fan tried to copy.
And then there was Adora, the vocalist, the face of the group. She didn't like to brag, but even she had to admit that her voice was truly very alluring.
When she sang the last verse and Glimmer hit the last note, Adora waited for the cheers to stop so she could bring the microphone to her mouth again. Bow advised her to say a few words, since the band would not see its fans for a while during their break. She didn't have a speech prepared, convinced she'd be able to just improvise. Facing the crowd, she wasn't so sure about that anymore.
"Hey, everyone-"
She was interrupted by cheers again before she could even begin. Glimmer's microphone transmitted her laugh to the whole venue, which didn't help much. Adora cleaned a bit of confetti off her shoulder before starting over; she still couldn't believe how much love she could get from these people.
"Hey, everyone! This is, unfortunately, Grayskull's last performance before we end the tour, as you know, and I-"
The glitter around her face must have entered her eye. Odd.
"And I just-" Adora tried again; she wasn't the type to get too emotional. Maybe it was the fact that this would be the last time, or that she was feeling so stupid for not taking Bow's advice to write down her words. "I just wanted to say I'm grateful for all of you, and the band means so much to me, that I-"
"Okay, Adora, calm down," Glimmer said with a hint of tease, pulling the guitar to the side of her body. "Do you want me to say for you?"
"No, no, I can do it," she replied. No, she couldn't do it, actually, but she wanted to. Adora took a deep breath. "Getting up on the stage has been my dream since I was very little, and Grayskull and its fans made that possible. I'm really grateful for all of you." She turned to her bandmates. "Mostly for you, though. You're my best friends."
Bow's expression showed off as much emotion as Adora's, while Swift Wind just smiled and shook his head, making his unbelievably hydrated curls fly when the breeze hit his face. Glimmer used her teleportation powers to gather all of them into a tight hug which, Adora was sure, the fans were taking pictures of to post online with a very cheesy caption under it. She really didn't mind.
Glimmer took the microphone from her hands and shouted:
"Good night, Salineas! We'll surely come back for the next tour!"
The crowd went wild again with Glimmer's promise, and after a few goodbyes, her powers took the band to their dressing room in the blink of an eye.
Calling it a room was actually too much. The space inside the van was rather cramped for the four of them, especially because half of it was being occupied by stage outfits and defective equipment, but they were used to share that small space - that vehicle had been driven across the majority of Etheria, and they almost lived on it already. It wasn't so extravagant, just a large mirror above a table and a slightly ripped couch, next to a minibar.
Bow stretched his arms above his head. "I am so tired after tonight... I love playing with you guys, but I'm glad this was the last show."
"Don't even tell me about it." Glimmer threw herself at a nearby chair as she started taking off her boots. They weren't at all comfortable, but made her a bit taller, and that was, of course, more important. "Though it was fun to see Adora get all mushy."
"I did not!" the singer protested. Her smeared glittery makeup told another story.
"Yeah, you did. Don't worry, girl, everyone loved seeing that side of you," Swift Wind added, taking off the rainbow wings that he made sure of wearing almost every show. Adora went crazy with that very often, since not rarely she'd bump into them during rehearsals, but she got used to it after some time - besides, they were quite popular amongst the fans.
She shrugged, not really worried about what the fans might have thought. She was just... so happy. Nothing could feel better than succeeding in another stage appearance.
Bow turned on the radio and Entrapta's voice came out of it in the usual enthusiastic tone the girl had:
"The situation outside Salineas' show venue is wild! Grayskull fans I have interviewed said the band was, in their words, a 'glittery boom of happiness.' I haven't seen it, but who am I to doubt such a unique description of someone's music?"
Glimmer basically fell out of her seat as she rushed to the radio to increase its volume; she often forgot to use her powers when she panicked.
"Entrapta's here? Like, the Entrapta? Talking about our show? Saying it was good?"
"That's what I heard." Adora also got closer to the radio. Her ears still buzzed with the previous sound of their show, but she didn't let it get in her way.
Entrapta was the host of several TV shows about music and entertainment - also the only one to exist, actually, since her streaming robots were her own personal creation. In Etheria, every artist's dream was to be noticed by her, which was honestly not so hard, since Entrapta went literally everywhere if it meant listening to good music.
"Oh, my God. Entrapta's right outside! Do you think we can reach her if we go-" Bow was already opening the door of the van when Glimmer stopped him, grabbing the boy by his shirt.
"We're not going anywhere. Do you want to ruin the moment?"
"But Glimmer-"
"Shush, you two. There's more," Swift Wind pointed out; indeed, Entrapta wasn't done talking.
Her voice on the radio spoke up again:
"Speaking of 'glittery booms of happiness,'" she continued, "I will change the topic. I'm not here to actually talk about Grayskull - well, kind of. I'm glad to finally be able to announce the new contestants of my new reality show, 'Etheria's Battle of Bands!' Man, I've been anxious to tell you about that for days now!"
"This isn't a very creative name for a show, is it?" The whole band shushed Swift Wind so they could keep listening:
"Stay with me, this'll make sense. You see, this show is a competition for considerably small bands to have a chance to become rockstars. The prize, you may ask, is full financial support for a whole new album!"
"I'm sorry, what?" Glimmer shouted, though the radio couldn't hear her. Full financial support meant money for music videos, actual good marketing, better quality equipment, maybe even support for live shows...
Just imagining the boost this would give to some band's career, Adora's head spun.
"Yes, you heard that right! And, standing outside Salineas' show venue, I'm happy to announce that Grayskull has been the most voted by our committee to participate in the reality."
When the host's words were spoken, Grayskull's dressing room erupted in cheers and shouts and some light crying that Bow couldn't hold in. Adora thought she might be dreaming. One thing was to merely be noticed by Entrapta; another was to be nominated for a crazy reality show she made up. How could she be so lucky?
No, this wasn't luck, she told herself. It was talent and love for her own music.
"Congrats, Grayskull! I must say, we've got high expectations about your performance, so make sure not to disappoint us. Though, unfortunately for you, you'll be competing with six other equally talented bands. One of them, in fact, did a show yesterday..."
Entrapta went on introducing the other bands, but Grayskull just couldn't pay attention to it anymore. The group couldn't do anything but celebrate, Bow hugging Glimmer so hard she was lifted from the floor; Adora observed as Swift Wind grabbed a bottle of champagne from the minibar.
"Are you sure you're in the mood to get drunk, buddy?"
Her bandmate shrugged as he poured each of them a glass.
"Yeah, why not?"
"I didn't even know you kept that in here," Glimmer commented while taking one of the glasses.
"That's because you're all too boring to drink at work." As he took a sip, Adora rolled her eyes. She didn't feel in the mood for drinking, but did it anyway; it was a special occasion, after all.
She was curious to know more about this reality show. Entrapta had never done such thing before, but it sounded fun and creative, and the prize was very tempting. She was sure the girl hadn't given out much detail to incite their interest even more, and she kind of liked that.
While the group laughed and drank and wondered about what it would be like to win the battle - Bow wanted to produce a romantic album when that happened, while Glimmer was bending towards something more badass, like their last single - Adora heard Entrapta's voice announce the last contestant:
"...Fright Zone. That's right! As a big fan myself, I can assure you they are pretty talented. Have you all ever heard the vocalist's voice? She's like a siren! Though she's a scorpion, actually-"
Adora froze. Her friends were too busy chatting to notice how the recent piece of news affected her, something she was partially grateful for, because they didn't know. Well, Swift Wind did, but he'd have no clue of how that felt like. She was having a hard time processing what it meant.
Fright Zone. They weren't as popular as Grayskull, but they were good, really good. So good Adora always skipped their songs when they played on the radio.
The thought of competing on this reality became less appealing to Adora. Now she felt ambushed. She felt ashamed and was sure that was the emotion that'd take over her every day of that challenge.
She could only hope it wouldn't last long.
"Adora, check this out!" Her best friend called out at the music store.
The ten-year-old girl ran, careful not to bump into any equipment - those were very expensive, and she had no money to pay for them if they were damaged - and reached Catra.
Her friend was pointing at a big, beautiful red guitar hanging from the wall. Adora could even see her reflection on it if she got closer.
The two girls visited that store lots of times a week, though neither of them could afford even the cheapest of the instruments in there. This guitar was new, they were sure. Catra seemed completely hypnotized by it. Adora found it cute.
"You'd look so rad playing this," she commented.
Catra's chuckle echoed through the small store.
"Man, I wish. Maybe I could get it someday. Who knows." Her long, sharp nails ran delicately across the guitar's curves. For some reason, that made Adora's heart beat a little faster.
She was quite aware of how passionate Catra was about playing guitar, and seeing her friend look so enchanted by that instrument made the thought of stealing it for her cross her mind.
She wouldn't do it, of course not. She was no thief, and Catra wouldn't like that at all. Still, it was so unfair that Catra would have to wait years to buy such a guitar.
That was, if Catra actually made some decent money in the future.
Adora thought her friend was good at a lot of stuff, but the thing was that Catra didn't want to do anything that wasn't related to music. She wanted to be a star. Adora was so sure she would achieve that.
While Catra was great with a guitar, Adora was great with her voice. They both said they completed each other in that way, and that they would make it to the industry music together because of that - they were inseparable and nothing could change that, not even fate .
Her friend carefully took the guitar from the wall. She wasn't so sure she was allowed to do this, but no one stopped her anyway.
"Why don't you play the one I taught you that day?" she said, handing the instrument to Adora. The blue-eyed girl took it, holding the object with all the care in the world, afraid she'd break it by accident.
"Really? I don't know Catra, I-"
"Come on, Adora, you practiced. Sit there and play, I want to hear it." Catra pointed at a small chair nearby.
Adora looked at the chair, then at the guitar in her hands.
"Why don't you do it? You're so much better than I am at this."
Catra shrugged. "I'd rather listen to you. Please, for me."
Unable to argue with that, Adora sighed and sat down. Her small hands strummed the guitar's strings until it created the melody Catra wanted to hear. The girl sat on the ground while looking up at her, admiring the sound and the way her fingers moved along the instrument. Catra pulled out a small notepad, certainly filling it up with lyrics once again.
That was another thing Catra was good at. Adora wasn't nearly as poetic as her best friend.
A bit distracted by the sight, Adora came back to herself when Catra glanced at the clock above the wall.
"Shit. We'd better go back to the orphanage. They'll scold us again if we get home late."
Neither of them agreed with the term 'home', but it was the closest to it they had. They put the guitar back in place, leaving it behind while they left the store, heading 'home' before it got too dark.
"Adora?" Her friend asked after a moment of silence.
"Yes?"
"I promise you'll see me playing that thing eventually. But on a stage."
Adora smiled. She wanted to be there to see it.
When it happened, though, about nine years later, Adora was not among the crowd.