Birth of Homunculus

 Of course, everybody who is around now knows about the homunculi, and we see them all around us, and we recognise them with ease. Hardly anyone remembers the old days, where they weren’t around, or when they were new to the world and used to hide themselves in all sorts of strange places. I was surprised to learn of a time like this too, and now I will tell you the story I heard, about this curious time when humans and homunculi first lived on the same earth, and neither of them knew it!

Lasha looked like any other boy his age, except maybe a little smaller. He was almost ten and only just reached the height of his mother’s waist. With that being said, she was a very tall woman, wolf-like, with long dark hair. Although she was mostly gentle and jovial with Lasha, and all of her other children, they tread quietly in her presence, and always followed her instructions. She appeared rather indifferent to them sometimes, her intense eyes usually avoiding theirs, fixed on one or another distant object. None of the children knew her name, as she never said it, and it did not exactly matter. Lasha had two older sisters, twins, and a brother who was the oldest of all the siblings. The sisters looked just like their mother, floating around behind her wherever she went, like her afterimages. When she desired to be alone, they set out to be alone too, running off somewhere away from Lasha and Levan. Levan was the oldest, standing slightly taller than their mother, with a head of thick, black hair clipped so short that it pointed wildly in all directions. His eyes were deep set and shadowed by his thick eyebrows, so that no one could really see them unless he stood out in the midday sun on a clear day, or looked squarely into fire. Lasha looked at these figures, his family, so close yet so alien, as if they were from a different world than him, as if they stood behind glass, refusing to come close to him. He first saw an unpredictability in their behaviours, a strange incongruence that he could not explain, as if they all emerged from a mysterious realm where there were no other humans. One faithful day, he came across the thought that maybe he was the one from the mysterious realm, and his family were perfectly normal humans after all. He decided he should put this dilemma to rest and clear his mind of it, as there was no way to find out which way around it was, or if his family was secretly just like him in ways he couldn’t see yet. He was only a child after all, and his siblings were teenagers, and his mother was old. Of course they would seem odd to him, as odd as frogs would be to tadpoles. So, there was Lasha, alone and quiet as the adults worked in the day, and at night chatted and laughed at jokes he couldn’t comprehend, and threw him the odd task or errand. He didn’t get in their way, enjoying the peace this separation brought him, sure of the fact he would join their world some day.

 He set out walking just as the sun was about halfway up the sky. There was nowhere to walk outside of their home other than straight into a deep forest of pine, so that is where he went, travelling in an almost perfectly straight line in between the tall trees.

Lasha’s mother had no problem with her children going into the forest.

‘Who am I to close off that whole big forest from you? God?’, she’d say playfully, adding more wood to the fireplace. ‘If you think you’re lost, you’ll be able to smell the smoke from the chimney and walk in that direction. That’s what I did when I was young, and that way I never got lost.’

‘What about in the summer?’ asked Lasha. She thought about it, but clearly wasn’t able to come up with any good answer. 

‘In the summer just look where you’re going. How hard can it be to remember your path? Just don’t go far if it’s close to nightfall.’

It was not at all close to nightfall, but Lasha decided quite soon that he had walked far enough. He found three twigs on the ground and laid them down in an arrow shape, pointing back to where he had come from, back to his home. Next, he laid himself down in between two trees, as perfectly still as a corpse, closing his eyes to shield them from the harsh rays of sun that streamed through the emerald green branches, casting upon them a halo of orange. His body felt wonderfully weightless and warm against the thick moss. 

‘Alright, enough of this,’ Lasha soon thought, preparing to open his eyes, get up, and go home, when suddenly a strange scent wafted towards him, and the ground seemed to shake ever so slightly. So slightly that it was less of a shaking, and more of a vibration. Lasha’s heart sped up. A rush of adrenaline seized his limbs, as he stood up as quickly as lightning. As his eyes darted open, he noticed his arrow had disappeared. Before he could comprehend what he was seeing, a faint sound of bells came from somewhere in the trees. A cloaked figure came into view in the distance: A small, old man carrying a golden incense burner, like the ones Lasha had seen in church. His face emerged like a tortoise’s would, from the pit of his hunched back. The deep wrinkles made his skin resemble tree bark. He walked with slow, intentional steps, and many like himself came into view behind him, until there was a whole procession of men in view. Only the man at the front had an incense burner; the others had their hands bound behind their backs with rope. Their footsteps were perfectly in sync, and a symphony of bells jingled with each step.

‘They must have them tied to their feet,’ thought Lasha, still frozen in amazement. Before he knew it, the jingling ceased and the leader of the procession was standing right in front of him. Lasha jumped to the side, snapping back to his senses.

‘I’m sorry sir! Please proceed,’ He said, bowing his head apologetically before turning around and beginning to walk away. The men said nothing, and resumed walking. Lasha’s walk soon turned into a frantic, wild run. 

 -

It was not without trouble that Lasha eventually found his way back home. It was dark now, and he’d been running around the forest for many hours, his legs sore and his throat scratchy from rapid breathing, his insides twisting and writhing. 

‘Lasha!’ There came a voice from the darkness, so loud and deep that the trees seemed to rumble, inhumanly loud. 

‘I’m here!’ Lasha called out as loudly as he could, which was not very loud at all. 

‘Lasha!’ Called out the rumbling voice again, now closer. Lasha turned around and caught sight of a faint light in between the trees, a candle, seemingly hovering far above the ground. As Lasha ran towards the light with all his remaining strength, a towering figure came into view behind it.

‘Levan!’ Lasha screeched, his voice cracking as he stopped in his tracks abruptly.

‘There you are. Come on.’ Levan motioned with his huge hand for Lasha to follow him, and after a short and silent walk, they were home. Levan and Lasha, as always, were laid out on mats on the floor of the main room in the house, ready to go to sleep. The women were already in their bedroom for their night when they got home, so Lasha didn’t have to explain himself to his mother. He doubted that she’d reprimand him anyways, since after all, he did get home safely in the end and all was well, as he lay there silently watching Levan reading in the candlelight. 

‘Levan, is there a monastery somewhere close by? Somewhere in the forest?’ Asked Lasha. Levan didn’t look up from his book.

‘Don’t think so,’ he muttered. ‘Why?’

‘I saw some monks in the forest today. They had incense, and bells tied to their feet.’

‘Well, if you saw them, there must be a monastery somewhere.’ Levan yawned, shut his book, and blew out the candle.

‘Would you ever become a monk, Levan?’ 

Levan chuckled under his breath.

‘I don’t think so. Would you, Lasha?’

‘Yeah, maybe.’

‘Now, that would be funny.’

Lasha was almost offended. 

‘Why? I could be a monk!’

‘They have to take an oath of silence, you know. You wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone ever again. Besides, they don’t let little children who get lost in the forest join,’ teased Levan.

‘I could take an oath of silence. Watch. I’ll do it right now. I won’t talk to you again.’ Lasha rolled over on his mat, away from Levan, facing against the wall.

‘Alright, whatever you say,’ muttered Levan, already almost asleep.

-

That night, Lasha had a curious dream. As if from an outside perspective, he saw his sleeping body levitate up from his mat on the floor, his bedding falling off of him soundlessly. The front door opened by itself, and Lasha’s body floated out of the house, slowly and steadily. Outside, the sky was a cold, greyish blue, like it usually is early in the morning just before sunrise. There was not a single cloud in sight. Lasha floated up high over the dark sea of trees, his body now rotating so that he faced downwards, towards the earth. He floated over the forest like that for some time, until he saw a great structure emerge from amongst the trees. This structure was a large, cube shaped building constructed from rough, grey limestone bricks. It was rather unremarkable, and only had a few small windows on each side, dotted about seemingly without order. The cube was surrounded by a tall wall made from the same stone, a wall much taller than the building itself. A thick strip of what looked to be incredibly tall grass circled around the structure, like a luxurious carpet, dividing it from the wall. Just as Lasha’s body was approaching the inner structure, an incredible wind began blowing, as if someone were sweeping the earth with a huge broom. Lasha watched his body getting blown back in the direction of his home. He became frustrated, wishing to be able to fight the wind and reach the inside of the tall walls. Suddenly, his consciousness entered his floating body, and he flailed in the wind with pine needles blowing into his eyes and mouth, rapidly being dragged back home. 

He woke up on his mat, his eyes itchy and his whole body covered in a cold sweat, as if it had really been battered by wind in the night. After taking a moment to realise he was awake now, he quietly got up, threw a knitted poncho over his cotton robe, and walked out of the front door.

-

The sky was that cold, greyish blue, just like it had been in Lasha’a dream. He felt a certain haste as he walked through the forest, as if it was very important for him to reach the structure before the sun began to rise. He began to run. It was not before long that the grey, brick wall suddenly came into view, towering above the pines. Lasha was shocked, wondering how he had never found this structure before, having lived in this forest all his life. He walked up and touched the stone, and its coldness coursed through his whole body. He pulled his hand away with a shiver and began walking around the wall in search of an entrance. 

‘Halt, young man!’

Lasha spun around and saw the monk who had led the procession a few metres away from him, standing squarely in the middle of a gap between two great pines. This time, he held a long wooden staff rather than an incense burner.

‘Entrances are rarely where you’d expect them to be. Follow me,’ said the monk, beginning to walk away from the wall. Lasha followed obediently. The monk removed a large sheet of moss from the ground, revealing a trap door. The pair entered and walked down a steep staircase, where a faint golden light emanated from somewhere below. As they reached the bottom, a corridor was revealed, its walls lined with candles. There were numerous arched passageways leading in and out of the corridor from either side, where monks scurried back and forth, chatting gleefully. They carried all sorts of things with them: books, measuring apparatus, beakers, flasks, wicker baskets of paint brushes and metal tools and fresh fruit. Each monk stopped and allowed their leader and Lasha to pass, bowing their heads respectfully before resuming their stride. Lasha noticed that the wall way seemed to be widening, and the ceiling seemed to be higher above his head with each step. Before he knew it, the hallway had opened up into a long chamber, lined on each side with a multitude of stained glass windows. Undeniably, light streamed through these windows, although it was unknown to Lasha how this was possible. The floor was a glorious mosaic of all the colours of the world, some that Lasha had never seen. The walls and ceilings were painted ornately, and a grand, golden incense burner stood in the centre of the chamber, where the mosaic made a deep, blue spiral pattern beneath it, deep as the abyss itself. 

‘Do you like our church?’ Asked Lasha’s leader, presumably the head monk. 

‘It’s beautiful here,’ Lasha looked around in awe. ‘But it’s strange. It’s like no church I’ve ever seen.’

‘Our faith is an uncommon one. In fact, it is less of a faith and more of a devotion.’

‘A devotion to what?’

‘Humanity, in all its forms.’

The head monk motioned for Lasha to follow him to the first in a row of stained glass windows. It depicted two figures, a man and a woman, standing atop the back of a huge bird that carried them through a vast, dark void above barren land. 

‘Longer ago than anyone could imagine, humanity had its humble beginnings. None of us can know what it was like then, of course, but most humans still live the same fate as the men and women of that brutal time. A fate at the mercy of nature, of some or other beast, of the animals of the forest that they so ardently strove to be separate from.’

The monk talked as he led Lasha across the hall to another window. This one portrayed a deep sea scene, where the water was black as night, with only the faintest ray of sunlight penetrating the darkness in the form of a bright streak of blue glass that descended diagonally over the the subject of the painting: A grotesque, spiny fish with the face of a human man.

‘But, humanity is not so unique. There is no line of us and them between animals and humans, or at least, there wasn’t in the past. It is in fact no challenge at all for nature to create human features in any number of strange corners of the universe, and whatever nature cannot fail at, neither can man.’

They walked to another window, which showed a desert where strange plants grew: Plants that looked like people, like faces or arms or torsos, all growing from sprawling roots poorly anchored in grey sand. The monk stepped onto the windowsill, face to face with this image. 

‘Come here.’

Lasha obeyed and joined him. The monk tapped the window twice with his staff before stepping into the landscape, leading Lasha with him. Only then it was revealed how flimsy these plants really were, flying about in the wind, being battered by sand. They looked vaguely human, but showed no type of expression or liveliness. 

‘It is these half breeds that granted us a window into the secret. As did humans as you know them, of course, as they are no less of a halfbreed than these here beings.’

Lasha covered his eyes with his hands, protecting them from the brewing sandstorm. 

‘They’re walking around out there, with their souls passed down from fishes, bugs, rats, wolves, souls not built for human life. The souls of homunculi, on the other hand, are the first souls to reach true human perfection’

The monk tapped his staff on the ground twice, and the pair were transported back to the chamber, where yet another window loomed over them.

‘Homunculi? Surely they are only a myth,’ Lasha muttered, brushing sand off his shoulders.

The window before them showed a forest of towering, dark pines, which dwarfed several figures that stood before it: four wolves and one human baby. 

‘They were a myth, until the human will realised them. Our will. It has been the goal of the monastery for centuries to create the perfect homunculus, and finally, we have achieved it.’

The monk put his hand on Lasha’s back, encouraging him to turn around. Behind the pair, there had gathered all the monks of the monastery, listening eagerly.

‘Congratulations, Lasha. You are the first of our homunculi to achieve true, human perfection, and today you have officially lived for ten years on this earth, hidden in plain sight amongst humans.’

The whole monastery clapped and cheered. The crowd parted, and a particularly small monk walked towards Lasha and the leader, holding a simple, silver crown in his hands. 

‘If there was such a thing as a god on Earth, Lasha, it would be you. Please, take your rightful place as our leader. Once the world learns of what we have achieved, you could even be the leader of the world entire.’

Lasha looked at the silver crown, glimmering in the mysterious, underground light. He looked again at the image of the wolves and the baby.

‘Do I have to?’ He asked quietly. 

‘Do you have to?’ Echoed the leader. The chamber became filled with whispers, echoing across the space like the flow of a stream. 

‘Well, of course you can walk away if that is what you desire. You are free, as a man should be. But know that what you have learned today has already forever changed you, and your life will not be the same. You will also never be able to find us again. There will be more like you, even finer models of what you are, one of whom is sure to be a fine leader to us.’

Lasha looked down at the floor, deep in the valleys of thought. 

‘I want to go back home. Please.’ He muttered sheepishly.

‘Speak up, boy!’

‘I’m going home,’ he said clearly, turning around and beginning to walk out of the chamber.

‘Alright, but remember, that body of yours is our creation, even if your soul and will are your own. You will pay a price for this.’

Lasha ignored the monk's warning, and kept walking, reentering the long corridor. All the candles were now extinguished, and he heard the giggling of monks from the depths. As he walked, a hand grabbed his foot and tripped him up, and what sounded like dozens of people erupted in laughter. Lasha began to run, tormented by hands from all angles, shrill voices laughing and screaming in his ears. They grabbed onto his robe and pulled him from side to side, but eventually let him walk up the staircase, whispering amongst themselves all the while. He emerged from the trap door out of breath, securely shutting it and covering it in moss. To his dismay, it was even darker outside than it had been in the tunnel, and all he could see was solid, pitch black. 

A voice boomed from the nothingness: ‘Lasha!’ 

Lasha opened his mouth, ready to shout Levan’s name, but no sound came out.