[Intro: Surgical piano, monitor pulse, slow horns]

[Verse 1]
White lamps were fixed above a metal bed.
A numbered voice described the tissue dead.
Steel arms aligned the frame around my spine;
Cold needles joined the ruined nerves to line.
A plate descended close above my chest;
The machine decided how my heart would rest.

[Pre-Chorus]
I tried to form the syllables she knew.
A tube returned a ruined sound instead.
The ruler watched behind a pane of blue
And waited for the former voice to end.

[Chorus]
The mask seals the grave where the old name lies,
Locks iron round the mouth and glass on the eyes.
The mask seals the grave, yet orders me to breathe,
A life built over what the armor keeps beneath.
No stone marks the man that the furnace could not save.
The mask is the crown, and the mask seals the grave.

[Verse 2]
Black armor closed in sections at my side;
Each fastening removed a place to hide.
The gloves were locked to artificial bone.
The room grew full while I remained alone.
Red lenses gave the world its edge and light.
The final cover waited out of sight.
Before it fell, I asked where she had gone.
The ruler said, "Her final breath was drawn."

[Pre-Chorus]
He said my anger ended what I saved.
I begged for any proof that he had lied.
The metal circle narrowed like a grave.
No answer came. The final seal replied.

[Breakdown]
You promised.
You knew.
You used me.
I chose you.

[Build-up]
The lenses locked.
The frame came down.
One breath returned.
The mask became the crown.

[Climax]
I tore the restraints from the surgical rail.
The instruments scattered like teeth in a gale.
The ruler stood calmly and lifted one hand:
"Now use what remains. Rise and command."

[Guitar Solo: Breathing rhythm with buried blue-blade theme]

[Bridge]
I heard her say, "Love me before tomorrow."
The memory broke against the metal pulse.
I had the strength to fill the room with sorrow,
But not the breath to give one answer back.

[Final Chorus]
The mask seals the grave, and the grave wears my face,
A black iron kingdom no hand can erase.
The mask seals the grave; every breath serves the throne,
Power enough to command, never power to atone.
The mask is my prison, my weapon, my name,
A crown without mercy, a life without flame.

[Outro: First mechanical breath, armored footsteps]