[The Crystal Spires. Midnight.]
[Sirens echo through the city.]
[Boots running across marble.]
[A distant Orc war drum.]
BOOM.
[A crystal answers.]
TING.
[BOOM.]
[TING.]
[INTRO — AURELIAN]
AURELIAN:
My father taught me something when I was six.
He took me to the highest room in the Spires.
Pointed down at the city and said:
“One day, all of this answers to you.”
[pause]
I thought that made me powerful.
Grim.
GRIMJAW:
Yeah?
AURELIAN:
Let’s make sure it never answers to anyone again.
[Crystal alarm erupts.]
[VERSE I — GRIMJAW]
I came here wanting fire.
I’ll admit that shit.
Wanted Elf blood running down every step of this bitch.
Wanted mothers in the Spires knowing hunger like mine,
Wanted your towers choking on three centuries of grime.
I wanted revenge.
Not justice.
There’s a difference, I know.
But revenge feels righteous when you’re buried below.
Every chain got a name.
Every scar got a face.
Every dead Grimepriest left a hole in this place.
So don’t ask me for mercy.
Don’t ask me to heal.
I still want these Highblood bastards knowing how iron feels.
But…
[beat pulls back]
If I sit in your chair
when your father’s removed,
What changed?
Different tusks.
Same fucking rules.
[AURELIAN]
Exactly.
[GRIMJAW]
So fuck the chair.
[MASSIVE DRUM]
[HOOK — GRIMJAW + AURELIAN]
GRIMJAW:
NO KINGS!
CROWD:
NO THRONES!
AURELIAN:
NO BLOOD DECIDES WHAT A SOUL CAN OWN!
CROWD:
NO THRONES!
GRIMJAW:
NO CHAINS!
CROWD:
NO THRONES!
AURELIAN:
IF THE MAGIC GOT A VOICE—
BOTH:
LET IT CHOOSE ITS OWN!
ALL:
No masters!
No silence!
No bloodline owns the tone!
Break the locks!
Open the signal!
NO THRONES!
NO THRONES!
[VERSE II — AURELIAN]
I know this tower.
Every passage.
Every seal.
Every pretty little lie they taught the poor was real.
The Lattice sits beneath us.
Seven floors down.
Every broadcast in Noctavia passes under this crown.
Labels.
Stages.
Mana streams.
Every crystal you hear.
They don’t just own the music.
They decide what appears.
What gets amplified.
What disappears.
Whose voice reaches millions.
Whose voice no one hears.
My family didn’t build culture.
We built the gate.
Then charged every creature for permission to create.
And Vanyx Flame?
That was me slipping through cracks,
Thinking leaking little verses somehow counted as attack.
I called myself rebel
from a penthouse suite.
While Orc children got arrested
for possessing a beat.
[pause]
GrimJaw was right.
GRIMJAW:
Say that shit again.
AURELIAN:
Don’t push it.
GRIMJAW:
Heh.
Pretty boy learning.
AURELIAN:
And the dog still needs grooming.
GRIMJAW:
Fuck you.
AURELIAN:
After the revolution.
[Beat slams back.]
[VERSE III — GRIMJAW]
Then tell me the plan.
AURELIAN:
We don’t destroy the Lattice.
GRIMJAW:
Why not?
AURELIAN:
Because millions use it.
Destroy the network,
we become exactly what they say we are.
GRIMJAW:
So?
AURELIAN:
We unlock it.
[silence]
GRIMJAW:
For Orcs?
AURELIAN:
Everyone.
GRIMJAW:
Even Elves?
AURELIAN:
Especially Elves.
They need freedom from this shit too.
[pause]
GRIMJAW:
Goblin?
AURELIAN:
Yes.
GRIMJAW:
Dwarf?
AURELIAN:
Yes.
GRIMJAW:
Troll?
AURELIAN:
Unfortunately.
GRIMJAW:
Heh.
Now you talking.
[THE PLAN]
[Aurelian’s crystalline beat begins.]
AURELIAN:
My blood opens the chamber.
[GrimJaw’s drums enter underneath.]
GRIMJAW:
My beat breaks the seal.
AURELIAN:
Your frequency enters—
GRIMJAW:
Your crystals reveal—
AURELIAN:
No.
Our frequency.
[GrimJaw pauses.]
GRIMJAW:
…
Our frequency.
[The two beats LOCK.]
[Beat slams back.]
[VERSE III — GRIMJAW]
Then tell me the plan.
AURELIAN:
We don’t destroy the Lattice.
GRIMJAW:
Why not?
AURELIAN:
Because millions use it.
Destroy the network,
we become exactly what they say we are.
GRIMJAW:
So?
AURELIAN:
We unlock it.
[silence]
GRIMJAW:
For Orcs?
AURELIAN:
Everyone.
GRIMJAW:
Even Elves?
AURELIAN:
Especially Elves.
They need freedom from this shit too.
[pause]
GRIMJAW:
Goblin?
AURELIAN:
Yes.
GRIMJAW:
Dwarf?
AURELIAN:
Yes.
GRIMJAW:
Troll?
AURELIAN:
Unfortunately.
GRIMJAW:
Heh.
Now you talking.
[THE PLAN]
[Aurelian’s crystalline beat begins.]
AURELIAN:
My blood opens the chamber.
[GrimJaw’s drums enter underneath.]
GRIMJAW:
My beat breaks the seal.
AURELIAN:
Your frequency enters—
GRIMJAW:
Your crystals reveal—
AURELIAN:
No.
Our frequency.
[GrimJaw pauses.]
GRIMJAW:
…
And our bloodlines open the lock.
[The two beats LOCK.]