[Intro — low strings, controlled pulse] The numbers came in before the light None of them were good
[Verse 1] Seven gates were never just seven gates The map kept showing rooms I hadn’t counted I formed this order to fight a finite war And the war kept adding floors below the bottom
Some had families waiting in the east Some had already started watching exits Some went still and didn’t say a word Some just kept on sharpening what they carried
[Pre-Chorus] I never asked them what they carried coming in I never promised any of them anything beyond the siege I came here for the names I memorized When I was young enough to still believe in something
Those names are gone All of them Gone before the morning
[Chorus] Discourse and division in the grey before the light comes Half of them are leaving and I cannot blame them for it Half are staying because they don’t know where else to go I am standing somewhere that is neither
[Verse 2] I had made a list before the Crimson Order Faces, locations — every name accounted for Whatever was written past the Seven in those notes Had nothing left to do with my own war
This was not my ceiling to collapse I am not the weapon for a longer fight I cleared the only debt I ever owed anyone I have more than earned the right
[Pre-Chorus 2] I’ve read the room and done the counting and I know it I’ve earned the end of everything I built inside this camp I can feel the words already forming in my throat The order is fulfilled I am done I only have to say it
[Chorus 2] Discourse and division in the grey before the light comes Half of them are leaving and I cannot blame them for it Half are staying because they don’t know where else to go And I opened up my mouth
[Bridge —violin and Piano only] The camp went still the way camps go still before announcements
A raven crossed the sky At the exact moment I drew breath I had not called it I do not expect anything from anything anymore
I watched it land I watched it stay
[Outro - piano only] The words dissolved before they left me
Dawn broke anyway
I was not sure what came out I was not sure I spoke at all
I whispered — “Pandora”