The mana bus rolled to a quiet stop at the edge of Luminaris Events Coliseum—an enormous, rune-etched dome that loomed in silence, its entrance gates dark and shuttered. At nearly 9:45 PM, the surrounding street was eerily empty, save for a flicker of ambient wardlight and the hiss of drifting mist across the polished blackstone tiles.
Lira peered through the window, brows furrowed. “Kael... why are we at a closed arena?”
Kael was already on his feet, coat over his arm, that smug glint in his eyes. “I wanna show you something I’ve been working on,” he said. “Just follow me. Trust me.”
“Kael,” she said, suspicious. “If this is some elaborate prank, I swear—”
“You’ll know when the time’s right.”
He gave her a hand and helped her down from the bus. The icy night bit against her bare shoulders, but she barely noticed—her eyes were locked on the arena’s sealed front doors.
The four guards remained behind as Kael led her forward. At the gate, a lone man sat behind a makeshift ticket booth, flipping through a beat-up issue of Arcana Weekly. A yawning security officer approached them lazily, scratching the edge of his enchanted cuirass.
“No weapons inside,” the man muttered.
Kael nodded at his guards. “Wait here. Full perimeter until I’m out.”
The guards saluted without question.
Kael stepped up to the booth and handed over a pair of paper-thin crystal tickets. The rune-scan shimmered, and the doors parted with a low hiss.
Inside, the air changed. The echo of their footsteps stretched through dark corridors lit only by soft blue guide lights. They took an elevator to the upper decks, exiting into a wide hallway that opened into—
—an empty skybox.
No fans. No lights. No music.
Just silence.
The glass wall in front of them overlooked the vast arena below, completely dark. A vacuum of expectation.
Lira blinked. She turned to Kael, confusion deepening. “Kael, what’s—”
He pressed a finger to her lips, his grin widening. “Keep lookin’,” he whispered.
She hesitated, then turned back to the glass. Her reflection hovered ghost-like across the arena’s emptiness. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then—
FWOOSH.
A streak of light rocketed from the center of the stage and exploded high above the dome, refracting into cascading streaks of color that rained down like stardust.
Lira gasped. “What—?”
She spun to Kael—but he was gone.
“Kael?” she said sharply, turning around in the darkened booth. “Kael!”
And then—
“Everybo-daay!”
Lira froze.
Her blood pressure spiked. Her heart fell through the floor.
“Feel that FIIREE!”
Her eyes snapped toward the arena below just as a series of BOOM-BOOM-BOOM fireburst sigils erupted across the stadium dome, flaring with synchronized flashes of blue and gold. And then—runes blazed to life along the arena’s inner walls. Apparent illusions of massive crowds seemed to flicker into place, rising from the shadows, all of them screaming.
“Everybo-daay—time to rise, don't hide!”
Lira’s brain stopped processing. Her lungs forgot to work.
“Sideroad’s back, ALRIGHT!!”
The stadium detonated in light.
And there—standing in choreographed perfection, under a rotating platform of mana-spotlights and elemental pyrotechnics—were the Sideroad Boys. The actual Sideroad Boys. Fully reunited.
Lira’s legs buckled. Her jaw hung open. Her hand clutched the skybox rail like it might keep her soul from escaping her body.
This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be.
They’d disbanded eight orbits ago in a volcanic feud broadcast live across half of Dravara.
But right now?
They were real.
And they were singing her song.
The world tilted. One second she was staring down from above—the next, the room blurred—and she was on stage facing the Sideroad Boys.
How did she get here?
She was on the platform.
With them.
The lights slammed into focus, dazzling her from every angle. The floor trembled beneath her feet—bass thundering like a war drum, drowned beneath the roar of the crowd below.
Then Kaien—the band’s charismatic lead dancer—broke formation. He strode toward her in sync with the beat, winked, and pointed.
“Are you unstoppable?”
“YEEAAH!” the others roared from behind him.
He vanished in a blink, reappearing instantly back in formation.
Then the shadows behind her shivered.
Sato emerged from the black like a dream—smooth, quiet, grinning like a fox. His voice dropped silk-soft as he leaned in:
“One of a kind, you knoww?”
“YEEAAH!”
Lira’s hands flew to her face, eyes wide and glittering, her breath caught somewhere between a laugh and a sob.
Sato bowed low—and melted into shadow.
A crack of thunder split the air. In his place, Riko exploded into existence, static dancing around his frame, hair windblown from whatever storm he’d just ridden in on.
“You light the dark, it shooows?”
“YEEAAH!”
With a snap of lightning, he vanished.
The others turned in perfect sync, their feet pounding the stage like a war march as they belted the next line together:
“You’re everything we need, now let the fire grow!”
Then—
“EVERYBO-DAAY!”
“Feel that FIIIIIRE!”
“EVERYBO-DAAY!”
Time to rise, don’t hide—
Sideroad’s back… ALL RIGHT!
Storm it up, break it wide,
Turn the dark to blazing light,
Take the stage and own the night—
SIDEROAD’S BACK, ALL RIGHT!
She was crying now. Actually crying. Not cute tears—ugly tears. Her hands were shaking, mascara trailing.
But then—
Kael appeared from behind the line of backup dancers, now wearing a silky silver jacket and ridiculous fad-star pants, mouthing along with a smug grin:
“Lira’s unstoppable!”
“YEEAAH!” the Sideroad Boys chimed.
Malik leapt in from the other side of the stage, throwing a fist in the air:
“One of a kind, you knoww!”
“YEEAAH!”
Sera—dressed in a matching silver jumpsuit and glowing braid extensions—spun onto the stage like she’d trained for this her whole life:
“She lights the dark, it shoows!”
“YEEAAH!”
Then—
“Oh no,” Lira muttered as her father came charging out onto stage, clearly tipsy but beaming with pride, pointing both fingers at Kael.
“Lira’s everything you need—you better marry Lira now!”
The whole stadium erupted in light and fire as the chorus hit again:
“EVERYBO-DAAY!”
“Feel that FIIIIIRE!”
“EVERYBO-DAAY!”
Time to rise, don’t hide—
“LIRA’S BACK—ALRIGHT!!”
Dancers swirled around her. Glitter exploded from nowhere. Confetti fell like rain. Her senses failed to keep up.
The song looped, choreography tight, Kael, Malik, Sera, and Kevyn dancing in sync with the band, their energy infectious.
Lira's every breath hitched. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak.
Then the music slowed, fading into a soft acoustic strum, as Jin, the lead singer stepped forward.
“This one’s for Lira Taryn,” he said into the mic, eyes sincere. “Happy 16th birthday. On behalf of Kael, Malik, Kevyn, and everyone here tonight... welcome to your celebration.”
Lira didn’t respond.
She couldn’t.
She was still crying, standing frozen in a pool of mana-light, her hands to her mouth, soul halfway out of her body.
She had dreamed of this since she was nine years old.
But even in her wildest, most delusional daydreams… not even close.
