a/n: this chapter is particularly heavy on allusions and symbolism, so dont disregard any of that.
they all have a purpose.
Metamorphosis. The dramatic change in appearance and character.
Molting. The shedding of feathers, skin and the like in order to allow for new growth.
The way those words rang familiary in Haise's mind is far too unusual - it wasn't as if he was immersed about the meaning of those words when he grazed over them in a book he had picked up recently, but rather the thought and the idea of change was what captivated him. Change? Rebirth?
Like Athena. Athena and her birth from Zeus' head, clothed in armor and ready for war.
That's right, change - the butterfly that soars the sky on quick, vivid wings from flower to flower and the snake that cranes its head up, licking at the air with a forked tongue, a centipede that casts aside its old skin with a rapid twisting of the body.
Lately, Haise sees more of that boy in his sleep. The boy with the hair of moonscape and a mask of a bird's beak over his face. A third-eye. Temptation; like the coriander flower. He finds the boy in a field of flowers, his garden, sitting calmly in a chair, where daffodils line the checkboard floor in its creases, sweet olives, carnations and lilies scattered alongside. Vines run deep with the cracks of the floor and the walls.
"They say ignorance is bliss," He hums, leaning forward to pluck a carnation, bright red and pretty. The petals swayed - there wasn't any wind. "But I know you, Haise. You can't run from your destiny. To be ensnared is to live."
Haise opens his mouth. Once, twice. Closes it again. "What are you trying to say?"
The boy laughs, loudly, like bells (but it's not the pure ringing Haise hears when he wakes up).
"Stop being weak. Stop lying to yourself." And then just like that, the flowers lurch forward and swallowed him.
It started raining after that.
Haise wakes up in a daze, light barely starting to shimmer its way into his room.
Outside, he hears the call of turtle doves. No bells as he stumbles to the bathroom, no summer cicadas.
When Haise stares at himself in the mirror after a splash of cold water upon his face, he only sees that boy staring back.
Smiling back, mouthing something he doesn't quite hear.