Neris

[INTRO - night sea, rigging creaks, hull groans, low tide pulse]

[NERIS - unseen, dark soprano, liquid and intimate]
Up the ropes and rigging high,
Little captain chased the sky.
Aft and fore and stern and prow,
Tell me what you’re seeking now.

[MIRA - bright mezzo, breathless, high in the rigging]
North Star keeps the sailor true.
Silver road and midnight blue.
Every light can be a guide
If you’re brave enough to ride.

[instrumental - minimal ]

[VERSE 1]

[NERIS - dark soprano, silk over danger]
Up the ropes and rigging high,
Pretty captain, pretty lie.
You keep counting heaven’s teeth,
While the real world waits beneath.

North Star.
Southern Cross.
Eastern Crab with claws of frost.
Names you gave the dark to tame it.
Names you whispered so you could claim it.

[MIRA - bright mezzo, enchanted]
North Star.
Southern Cross.
Eastern Crab.
Western swan.

[BRINE - smoky alto, urgent]
Mira, get down.
Wind is turning.
Lines are pulling.
The mast is burning with strain.

[MIRA - bright mezzo, distant]
It’s singing.

[BRINE - smoky alto]
The ship is warning.

[PRE-CHORUS]

[NERIS - dark soprano, swelling]
Come down into the depths,
Where the old roads are.
Come down into the depths,
Past your little stars.

The sea had songs
Before your charts.
The tide had teeth
Before your hearts.

[BRINE - smoky alto, cutting through]
Hands on the rope.
Eyes on the rail.
Breathe with the deck.
Trust the sail.

[MIRA - bright mezzo, torn]
I hear a door
Under the foam.
I hear a voice
Calling me home.

[CHORUS]

[NERIS - dark soprano, wide and hypnotic]
Come down below,
Where the black tides glow.
Come down below,
Where the hidden things know.

Leave your mast.
Leave your name.
Leave your little lantern flame.
Come down below,
Come down below.

[BRINE - smoky alto, counterline]
Stay with the ship.
Stay with my voice.
Stay with the breath in your chest.

[MIRA - bright mezzo, overlapping]
North Star.
Southern Cross.
Eastern Crab.
I can see it.
I can see the path.

[VERSE 2]

[BRINE - smoky alto, climbing now]
Captain, listen.
Wood can split.
Rope can snap.
Hands can slip.

You want wonder.
I know water.
You want thunder.
I know slaughter.

Come back down to decks and beams.
Come back out of silver dreams.
Come back where your body knows
Every hinge and nail and rope.

[NERIS - dark soprano, colder now]
She gives you ballast.
I give you below.
She keeps you breathing.
I make you glow.

[MIRA - bright mezzo, fevered]
There’s a kingdom under us.

[BRINE - smoky alto]
There’s a grave.

[MIRA - bright mezzo]
There’s a calling.

[BRINE - smoky alto]
There’s a wave.

[NERIS - dark soprano]
There is Mira Vane
Before the fall.
There is Mira Vane
Who sees it all.

[BRIDGE]

[STAGE DIRECTION - Brine climbs the rigging as Mira climbs down. They cross halfway. Brine reaches for her. Mira slips past her hand.]

[BRINE - spoken, smoky alto, frightened beneath control]
Mira.
Look at me.

[MIRA - spoken, bright mezzo, smiling through the spell]
I am.

[BRINE - spoken]
No.
You’re looking through me.

[NERIS - whispered soprano, everywhere]
Come down into the depths.

[MIRA - bright mezzo, soft]
All right.

[BRINE - smoky alto]
No.

[MIRA - bright mezzo]
I’m coming down below.

[FINAL CHORUS]

[NERIS - dark soprano, triumphant but tender]
Come down below,
Where the black tides glow.
Come down below,
Where the hidden things know.

North Star fades.
Southern Cross bends.
Eastern Crab clicks
At the edge of the end.

Come down below,
Come down below.

[BRINE - smoky alto, desperate counterline]
Hold the rope.
Take my hand.
Mira, hear me.
Mira, stand.

[MIRA - bright mezzo, surrendering]
Aft and fore
And stern and prow,
All my maps
Are water now.

[OUTRO]

[STAGE DIRECTION - Mira drops from the ship into the black water. No splash is heard. The sea closes too gently.]

[BRINE - spoken, barely voiced]
Mira?

[NERIS - dark soprano, fading under the hull]
There you are.

[BLACKOUT]