[POLARIS — Verse 1]
I have been fixed in the north
Since before the levels had names
Since before the folds
Since the darkness was only a word
And not a plan
I have watched her
From the first level to the last
From the first crew member
To the one who clapped too loud
And the one who still has the boots
I feel the dark now
The way stars feel dark
In the bones of the light
She is in Fold 7
And Fold 7
Was never where she was supposed to be
[SIGMA OCTANTIS — Verse 2]
I am dimmer than the north star
Most do not know my name
Most navigate by him
Not by me
But she knew both of us
She held both of us
And I feel her trapped
The same way he does
In the south end of everything
Where I have always been
She is in Fold 7
With chickens
And the one who does not know
What he is
And the one who chose to stay with her
When the argument was over
[Pre-Chorus — both stars]
We cannot go to her
Stars do not travel
Stars stay
Stars burn
But we can burn
Differently
[Chorus]
We will burn brighter
Than we ever have
We will burn ourselves out
Just to reach you
Just to cut through Fold 7
Just to find you in the field
Where Vega left you
Come back
Come back
You are the light
You are the night
You are the dusk
You are the dawn
We will burn for you
Until we cannot
[POLARIS — Bridge]
She started with three
Then twelve
Then the ones who showed up with confetti
The boots that were never good boots
The soup that saved a life
The formation from Fold 7
She did all of it
Every pairing
Every meeting
Every march
And the darkness built a cage
From the maps of a man
Who did not know
He was carrying a cage
[SIGMA OCTANTIS — Bridge continued]
She does not know yet
What Aldric is
What every path was
What every level cost
But she will
And when she does
She will need to be found first
She will need light first
We are the light
We have always been the light
We will burn ourselves bright enough
To cut through what was placed
Between her and the path home
[Final Chorus — both, full]
Burn brighter
Burn ourselves out
Just to reach you
Just to get you back
Back to where you should be
Back to the march
Back to the crew
Back to 289
You are the light
You are the night
You are the dusk
You are the dawn
You are what comes after all of it
You are what the darkness built the cage for
Because you are the only thing
Worth building a cage around
We will burn
We will burn
We will burn
[Outro — Fold 7]
In the chicken field
Something warmed
Solara looked up
She did not know what she was looking at
The chickens looked up too
One of them walked in a slow circle
As if it understood
Aldric’s map
Was showing something
For the first time since the void
Two lights
North and south
Burning
“That is new,” said Aldric
Void: “Is it good”
“I do not know yet”
“Is it bad”
“I do not know yet”
Solara watched the two stars burn
She had held them her whole journey
She knew what they looked like at rest
“They are burning for something,” she said
She stood up
The chickens scattered
“Let’s find the door”