Abyss Chrysalis · The Unfinished Metamorphosis
They say auralia found this creature frozen mid-transformation—caught in the exact moment between caterpillar and butterfly, between death and rebirth, between one form of suffering and another.[cite: 5] It was not dead. It was not alive. It was suspended in the act of becoming, its wings half-emerged from a chrysalis that would never fully split. The black metalwork is not decoration; it is the fossilized shell of that interrupted metamorphosis.[cite: 5] ... Metamorphosis is not a destination. It is a state you inhabit forever.[cite: 5]
You wanted to transform, didn't you? To shed the old skin, to emerge new, to fly.[cite: 5] This creature grants your wish—But it shows you what the books never mention: Metamorphosis is not a door you walk through. It is a blade you live on.[cite: 5] Wear it, and you will feel: The ache of wings that are always emerging, never emerged.[cite: 5] The knowledge that becoming is another word for being torn in half, permanently.[cite: 5]
