AN: this is the second part in a four part series. It's the prequel to the first part, 'Lust and Wrath'. It has also been split up into acts when I wanted it to be all one piece – it was just getting too long, I didn't want my readers to have to go through a ridiculously long piece of work all in one sitting.
So here it is. I tried to capture the mindset of a newborn homunculus as best I could. Enjoy.
-
What just happened? Suddenly, in a burst of energy, it was there. It had no recollection of anything before hand. No development in the womb of a sacred mother. No slow, gradual and careful easement into creation. No birth. Not even darkness. Just this very moment. The exact moment its life was made. It was like a twisted, undeveloped fetus, ripped cruelly from the womb half done, the other parts slapped on in a sloppy and unprofessional manner, then hastily thrown into the world as this mess. Something obviously not crafted by the gentle and caring hand of nature, but by the rough, impatient hand of man.
There was no thought; the brain was no where near ready to comprehend and carry out something so civilized. It wasn't even fully prepared to send messages to the rest of the body, which was equally as underdeveloped. It was struggling just to perform the simplest tasks. But it was a fast learner. Breathing. How was that done? It gasped in desperation, subconsciously knowing it was sending signals to the organs in its unfinished chest. Finally, after so many tries, an inhale. Then an exhale with a loud hiss. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. The pattern was down pat and became the first achievement.
A twitch here, a twitch there. This was the first acknowledgement; that it had limbs. It tried to move but this proved to be far more difficult than breathing.
Then, three of the senses began to kick in. First there was touch. It became aware that the temperature of the floor it lay on was lower than the air surrounding. Thus, the first feeling was cold.
Hearing following. At first, it all sounded distant, but gradually the sounds became louder and easier to make out. Although it could not understand the words, it understood that sound was being made. One word, which it somehow seemed to understand, stuck out:
"Roy! Roy!"
And so, the first sound heard was Roy.
Finally, came the much anticipated sight. A realization that there were lids that could be opened and closed came to the brain, and it focused on those. Like doors they opened and light poured in. The eyes quickly learnt how to focus, and the creation saw its first sight.
It happened to be a face. Short black hair, a ridiculously long, pointy strand in the front, a bit of a beard, and most striking of all, dark purple eyes with narrow slits for pupils. It was also a face locked in disgust, and at the sight of the disgust, the creation felt its first 'emotion' way ahead of schedule: shame.
"What the hell…? Mother! What have you done to my Roy! Where is he?!" the face screamed in horror.
Another face came into the picture, with features that were quite different; tender and soft, with a few wrinkles indicating age. It was also far more dignified and distinct.
"Calm down Wrath. You're going to hurt his feelings."
Wrath looked back at the new homunculus with disbelief.
"No…that can't be…that…thing can't be my Roy!" he yelled.
"Well, no, it's not your Roy. Your Roy is dead." Mother replied.
Wrath's face twisted up in a collaboration of emotions.
"What!? But you said…!"
"You came to me Wrath and asked me to give him new life as a homunculus like you. And that is what I did. This new life of his will no longer be called Roy. Instead, he will be Lust."
Wrath did not seem to approve.
The newborn homunculus however, since he was unable to understand a word they were saying, was busy discovering there was another part he could breathe through. Upon this discovery, the sense of smell went into use. A harsh fume of various minerals mixed with blood wafted in and became his first smell.
"I still refuse to believe this thing is a homunculus like us, never mind the man I love." Wrath went on to Mother.
"Oh? And why not?" Mother asked.
"Look at…it! It's hideous! It's just a mass of parts! It's your fuck up!"
"Wrath!" A new voice objected. "Watch your tongue! After Mother worked so hard and lost god knows what this time just to bring back your little boyfriend-!"
"Don't you talk about him like that!"
"It's okay, Sister." Mother said coolly to her young apprentice, who stood just a little off to her side. "He just doesn't know.
"I assume you've forgotten then, Wrath?"
"Forgotten what?"
"That when I first found you, you looked exactly the same."
Wrath's eyes went wide and he remained silent for Mother to explain.
"As did Gluttony, Greed, Envy, Pride and Sloth. You all looked like that at first. Eventually, you take on the shapes you have now."
Wrath was silent. Then: "Really?"
"Yes."
"So…you mean that eventually, he'll start…looking like Roy again?" he asked, glancing at the newcomer.
"I guarantee." Mother smiled. "But…not unless he gets these…"
She motioned her head at Sister, who quickly went to fetch the bag prepared for this human transmutation. She brought it back to Mother, who slipped her hand inside and pulled out a handful of red stones. She turned to Wrath. "Do you want to feed him?"
The question caught the homunculus entirely off guard. "Huh!?"
"He's your lover after all. Here. Hold out your hand. Just show these to him, and let him eat them off your palm. I'm feeling rather weak; no doubt I lost an organ this time. So, you give them to him."
Her hand was outstretched to him. After a moment of contemplating, he hesitantly positioned his hand under hers and allowed the red stones to drop into it. After a small jab from Mother ("Refrain from eating them yourself, though."), Wrath slowly approached the new homunculus, Lust.
The aforementioned homunculus was starting to finally make a limb move, when he noticed the first face he ever saw kneel down on one knee before him, hand outstretched. His eyes were drawn to the red. What were those?
"Come on…eat them…" the face ordered awkwardly. But the command could not be comprehended.
"Eat." the face said again, getting annoyed. He shoved his hand right under the newborn's nose.
Finally, the creation got the wild idea of finding out what that big hole in his face lined with jagged edges was for, and begun to eat the red stones.
At first, it was a ginger testing. Then it became devouring. This was when the last sense, taste, came out of dormancy. The red stones were hard and crunchy, but bittersweet. A delicious treat he couldn't get enough of. He didn't know it at the time, but his first taste was human lives. When they were all gone, he wanted more. He now had his first instinct; craving.
Immediately, the stones began to take effect. The lives collected in the stones of humans who had time to develop within the security of a womb were giving this fetal creature what it needed to develop itself. Holes in his body where blood and other fluids trickled out covered and disappeared. A few limbs started the long process of getting in the right position and suddenly weren't too hard to move anymore. The lungs in the chest became stronger and his breathing ceased having a hissing sound. But most of all was the help given to the brain. It had a long way to go, but already the difference was known to the homunculus.
And suddenly, out of a part of his brain far back, locked away before, came a sequence of images. Fire. People. More fire. The face before him. The face before him but somehow different, with bright golden eyes instead of purple and glasses. Lots of fire. It was all so fast, and as quickly as it came, it went back into the far reaches of the brain, locked away once more.
It was thanks to this rapid slideshow that Lust had his first thought, once more, far, far ahead of schedule:
Maes…
-:-
Wrath waited for months.
For months Mother fed Lust red stones, and for months Wrath watched over him, waiting for the mass to become the man he loved and saw die. For months Wrath put up with the harsh words Pride and Envy uttered about their newest kin. For months he tried his hardest to hold in his anger at the two, and nurture Lust as best he could.
And for months Lust developed. Not only did the time in the womb have to be made up for, but so did at least twenty years of life. The body was slowly but surely coming along, but the mentality was a bit of a different story…
Finally, after so long, Lust woke up.
It was acknowledged as his first time waking up as it was the first time his brain had the idea of waking up. Thought. He was thinking. He could comprehend. Not well, but still. His brain was now developed. As was his body.
"Good morning." a familiar voice began overhead.
Lust looked up and saw the face he had seen for months. But only now was he able to understand it was a face he was seeing, the face of a male, and of someone he in truth did not know. He also realized he was lying on a bed, covered with a warm sheet.
"Can you understand me, Roy?" the familiar face asked.
Lust looked up with innocence and confusion. That name called out to some far part of his brain…
He nodded, unsure of what else to do.
"Your body is done…look at you. You're gorgeous. Mother even made you look like you're back in your twenties…" The face looked ready to cry.
Lust sat up, currently ignoring the face. He was busy examining how his limbs were able to move now, and how he was able to command them to move without a hitch.
Then, his left hand was grabbed by the other homunculus in the room.
"Roy, I've waited so long. Now…I know we can be happy…"
He pulled something out of his pocket then, and attempted sliding it onto Lust's ring finger.
And with the innocence of a child, Lust's nails suddenly grew very long.
-:-
"Mother!"
Sister looked up from her preparing of medicine irritated. "It's Wrath again. What'd he do this time?"
Mother merely sighed, then got out of her chair and proceeded towards the source of the voice, no doubt Lust's bedroom.
When she opened the door, she found Wrath pinned to the wall by ten long black nails and Lust sitting oblivious on his bed, as if he didn't have a clue in the world. The nails were his.
"Help?"
-:-
Lust examined himself in the mirror. He brought his hands up and ran them through the mass of soft, ebony hair on his head. How nice it felt. He had no idea he even had hair. Then his attention was brought to his eyes. So much like the familiar face's; purple with narrow slits, but his appeared even darker and were bigger. They seemed more like Mother and Sister's - more 'feminine'. He was unfamiliar with the concept of clothes right now and so was able to examine his body in full nudity this time around. Something in the mirror caught his eye and his fingers migrated to the red marking on his chest; the ouroboros - the snake that eats its own tail. Idly, he traced it, with naturally black, deadly nails.
As Lust examined himself, Mother was having a sit down with Wrath.
"Now what exactly were you doing Wrath?" she asked.
Wrath had swiftly picked up the ring (having been tossed to the ground) the instant he was free and Mother had her back turned. It was now securely hidden in his pocket once more.
"I held his hand that was it." he lied.
"Well, it's obvious what happened. Wrath, you have to understand Lust has the mentality of a newborn child…"
"Still!?" he exclaimed.
"Before he only had animal mentality. Now that his mind is finally working and he's finally thinking, it is functioning like that of a human. That being said, everything is new to him and he will be acting with the innocence of a child. He probably didn't mean to stab you Wrath, but was caught off guard by you grabbing his hand and activated his powers…"
She turned her head and looked at Lust, who was busy watching his nails shoot out, then retract; a power he had no idea he had. "After all…" Mother began. "He's been given the Ultimate Lance. And holding his hand would probably stimulate it."
"So…he's still not ready?" Wrath muttered.
Mother turned back to him and smiled in that maternal way she always did.
"Give him time, Wrath. Just be patient and supportive and you will see."
At that moment, both heard a very loud thud. Turning, they saw Lust on the ground.
"Ah. Still not used to walking." Mother commented.
Upon hearing that, Wrath stood up and headed over to the fallen Lust. Lust, sensing his presence, stared at him with that newborn expression. Without hesistation, Wrath helped him up.
"Then…I'll just have to give him all the love I can…" he whispered. Holding one of Lust's hands in his once again, he lowered his head and kissed it gently.
Mother said nothing regarding Wrath's use of the word 'love', but slight irritation tugged at the lines of her maternal mask.
And then, Lust did it again.
Wrath froze, five sharp nails in his chest once more. Mother sighed, exasperated.
"…looks like we have a very long way to go." he muttered as he lifted up his head, just in time for Lust to curiously 'poke' (more like impale) his forehead.