What Once Wove | The Architect’s Curse | The White Flame

[Intro: ancient voice imitating a soothing whisper, unaccompanied] You almost caught her hand. Did you feel it? [Verse 1: borrowed human warmth, faint subharmonic double] I watched you draw the heavens tight, Your fingers threaded through her own. You gave the dark a thousand lights. You never thought it felt alone. Then came her blade. Then came the tear. How small she looked beneath the stars. You reached until your hands ran red. I reached the place where she came apart. [Pre-Chorus: whispered doubles, delayed consonants] I left her hands. I left her eyes. I took the name She held inside. [Chorus: crushing slow percussion, dissonant choir] What once wove will now consume. She bears my hunger, room to room. She goes where windows glow with warmth. Someone will open their arms. She drinks till the voice in the body is still. Wakes with the same little ache to fill. You will remember. She will not. That is the mercy I forgot. [Verse 2: comforting imitation, unnatural pauses] You find her standing in the rain And lift your hand up to her face. She almost knows what kindness means. Then feels the pulse beneath your lace. Her hands remember how to hold. She draws a stranger to her breast. For one sweet breath, she feels less cold. By morning, she has lost the rest. [Pre-Chorus: layered whispers, human imitation slipping] She calls it need. She calls it choice. You hear her speak. I hear my voice. [Chorus: crushing slow percussion, dissonant choir] What once wove will now consume. She bears my hunger, room to room. She goes where windows glow with warmth. Someone will open their arms. She drinks till the voice in the body is still. Wakes with the same little ache to fill. You will remember. She will not. That is the mercy I forgot. [Bridge: instruments stop, exposed ancient voice, false tenderness] And you... You have a task. A thread comes loose. I make a noose. You tie it tight. Another night. You never heard what I told her. I whispered as she fell: "What once wove will now consume. Carry my hunger from room to room. He will remember. You will not." You hold the heavens in your hands. You cannot let them go. [Breakdown: dragging industrial pulse, overlapping whispers] Keep weaving. She is hungry. Keep weaving. She is cold. Keep weaving. There are footsteps. Keep weaving. Don't look down. [Final Chorus: dissonant choir, calm inhuman lead, warped held vowels] What once wove will now consume. She sees a light in an upstairs room. There is a hand reaching out through the door. You know what she is hungry for. She drinks till the face has forgotten its fear. You count the stars. I count her years. You will remember. She will not. Listen. That's what I took. [Outro: dry borrowed whisper, faint second voice lingering] You almost caught her hand. I let you feel it. [End]