Lin —already fading.
But the seventh floor? No girl has ever described it. Those who ascend return with eyes like novas and a terrible, gentle smile. They take up their posts in silence. They watch the horizon.
They arrive as girls. They become something else.
Outside, the world grows old and forgets the Tower exists. Wars are fought. Songs are written about other things. But high above the clouds, the girls keep their vigil, because the Tower told them what sleeps beneath the earth—and what will wake when the last girl finally walks out that unlocked door.