Smallscale

In his dreams, Symon found himself alone in darkness. He was deep underground, with mud and dirt crowded against his body, giving him barely enough clearance to move. Claustrophobia soon overcame him; the air in the cavern felt stale, hot, and suffocating. He had to get out. Through the aerated dirt he could feel the smallest cold air flow, so he started pushing himself in that direction, crawling slowly and clumsily, and clawing at the dirt to move it out of his way. He dug for what seemed like eternity until light began to leak through the small cracks in the dirt. Pushing away that last barrier between him and freedom, he pulled himself up from the hole.

 

What he found was not the surface, but just a large beam of light that poured down from a hole at the top of a much larger cavern. This beam of light perfectly illuminated a massive boulder. Its surface was decorated with the fossilized remains of a long extinct beetle and surrounding its form were runes engraved onto it in a language he didn’t know. The massive monument had an ominous aura that shook Symon, but he proceeded crawling forward. His body felt far too heavy to even stand up.

When he stepped into the light, he reached up an arm to touch it, only to find that what was supposed to be his arm was a large insectoid claw instead. He looked down in horror at the rest of his body, at his round belly and wiggling legs. He was not human, but a disgusting, lowly cicada nymph. But before he had time to panic, he felt a searing, tearing pain in his back, like something was about to burst out of his body.


He awoke with a yell. He was drenched in sweat and his heart was beating out of his chest. He looked down, hoping that everything was a nightmare, but still found himself with those dark, leathery ‘miinu’ arms. He let out a whimper, realizing that this indeed was his reality now, and sat back up in the bed, hissing at the pain in his back.

“You okay?” Aniso’s voice called from nearby. Symon rubbed his eyes and looked around the room, finding Aniso idly tending to the pot of cooking food, which smelled even tastier than before. It made Symon’s stomach growl ferociously. Aniso gave him a sympathetic smile. “Sounded like you were having a nightmare there. I thought about waking you but…”

“Aniso..? Where’s… the doctor?” Symon asked weakly.

“Oh he had to go out and get supplies. I offered to do it for him but he insisted I stay and watch over you while he was gone. You were out for a while. Like, the whole day and then some. It’s already morning again.”

“I see. So everything yesterday really happened. Fantastic…” His stomach let out another painful growl.

“Sounds like someone is hungry. Good thing I made food.”

Symon slowly propped himself up into a sitting position. “I cannot say for sure, but it certainly feels like it’s been a while since I’ve eaten.” 

“Well then let's not waste any time.” Aniso poured some bowls of the stew and handed one to Symon. The stew had a greenish-yellow color to it, with mushy golden chunks in it. He stared at it for a moment before Aniso nudged him. “Go ahead, it's good I promise,” He assured.

 

Symon took a bite from the stew, and was immediately impressed by its flavor. It was a savory mix of simple spices unlike anything he’d ever tasted before. Before he knew it he was shoveling the food in like a starving animal. The feeling of food in his stomach was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

“H-hey… is it that good?” Aniso teased.

Symon sniffed and wiped his eyes. “I-I apologize, I’m not sure what's come over me.”

“Hey, you’re alright. You seem like you’ve been through a lot.”

“It feels like it. I just wish I could remember anything. Say, what is this anyway?”

“Oh it’s grub stew!” Aniso beamed.

Symon thickly swallowed. “ Wh-what? ”

 

“Oh yeah it’s made with grub meat and chopped basil with a little bit of ginger and salt. Very easy dish but it’s always super delicious,” He explained proudly, but then quickly noticed the growing look of horror on Symon’s face.

Symon’s stomach twisted at the realization of what he just ate. He put the bowl back on the table and tried to hold back the new nauseous feeling in his gut.

 

“Hey, you still have half a bowl left,” Aniso pointed out. “Is it bad?”

Symon flinched, “Ah-! No I didn’t mean to imply that I- I just.” He placed a hand on his stomach. “I think I need a moment to get used to all of this. This body and world is very strange to me. Everything feels so… wrong.” He hugged himself.

Aniso stared at the man with sympathy for a while, before asking, “Were you really human before?”

“Yes!” Symon answered, as he began to fidget and braid his hair. “I keep trying to tell you, I was born and raised human my whole life and then just yesterday I turned into… this! I don't remember how I got here or how I transformed into a bug.”

“I wanna believe you, but that’s never happened before. I don’t even know if that’s possible.” 

“I understand your doubts. I didn’t know anything like this existed before today. I still wonder if I’m in a very realistic dream. If I had tried to tell myself this story, I wouldn’t have believed it either.” 

 

Aniso frowned, then had a realization. “Wait, you know what? I just thought of something. We have a legend around here that the Rune Stones can grant beings the ability to shape-shift. I thought that was just a legend, but hearing your story, there might be more truth to it than I thought.”

“What are the Rune Stones?”

“Oh right. They are like these fossils that are super magical and kinda hold our entire society together by granting us knowledge and speech and stuff.”

Symon tilted his head in confusion.

“Hold on, I can show you. Can you stand?” He held out a hand to help Symon off the cot. Symon took it and slowly raised himself to his feet. He was still sore, but he could tell that his back was feeling better than it did yesterday. Aniso took him to a back door on the opposite side of the house’s entrance and opened it. 

 

On the other side was a large hollowed out section of the tree that was bustling with different miinu. The inside was set up like a tower, with winding stairs and platforms that led to doors and rooms inside the tree. The other miinu swarmed around about their business, traveling between platforms, speaking with each other, even having a market at the bottom floor where they’d trade food and items. Each miinu was a very unique creature, each decorated with vibrant colors and a variety of physical traits that mimicked a wide range of insects. 

 

Symon watched in awe as these creatures entirely alien to him went about their lives in much the same way humans would. In fact the scene on the first floor reminded him of the market streets he would often find himself in working as a traveling merchant. All the people moving to and fro between stalls of fruits and meat, fabrics and antiquities. The shouting of merchants from the stalls shouting over each other and advertising their wares. People bumping into each other through the tight street. He always thought it was so overwhelming, and the inside of this tree certainly echoed that noise around tenfold. That sound thrummed in his ears and vibrated down his body, giving him goosebumps, and the height of the tower gave him vertigo.

 

Aniso placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Hey, you okay? You’re turning a little green there.”

“I’m turning green? Am I transforming again? Will I turn into a monster?” Symon panicked.

“N-no that was just a figure of- ah nevermind. You just look a little overwhelmed.”

Symon calmed himself a touch. “I am… I-I’ll be fine though.”

 

“Well… if you look over there, you’ll see the stone.” Aniso pointed to the center of the bottom of the tree, Nestled in the gnarled roots that curled into an almost perfect spiral around the base of a large fossil stone. The stone had the fossilized remains of a meganeura dragonfly in it, surrounded by runes. The stone was also decorated with torches and flowers left as offerings to it. 

 

Symon gasped. “Th-that stone! It was in my nightmare!”

“Wait, it was?” Aniso questioned.

“W-well.. not that exact one. The fossil inside was different. But everything else about it was the same!”

“Well maybe it was one of the other ones?” Aniso suggested.

“There’s more?”

“Well, yeah. There’s Miinu settlements all over this region. And there’s five major settlements that have one of these. If you’re dreaming about them, then they must have something to do with why you turned into one of us.” 

 

“How can you be certain though?”

“Well… to be honest, I can’t. But I know who can! The Stone Keeper!”

“Great, more terms I don’t understand…”

“Hey don’t sweat it, I’ll just introduce you to him.” Aniso proceeded to scoop him up into his arms once more. “Going up!”

“Ah-! Aniso wait I-” 

 

Symon protested but was cut off Aniso took off upwards towards the higher platforms. After they landed on the one at the very top he gently put Symon down, whose legs were shaking.

“C-couldn’t we have taken the stairs?” Symon complained.

“We could have, but did you wanna walk all the way up here?”

Symon looked down at the steep drop and the endless rows of spiraling platforms below. “F-fair enough…” he resigned. 

 

Aniso knocked on the door and a voice muffled from the other side shouted "Coming coming" preceded by a lot of loud clattering and clashing. Soon enough the door opened to an elderly looking Miinu with graying hair and butterfly wings that appeared tattered and sagged like a wrinkled heap on the ground. The man leaned on a wooden cane and eyed the both of them for a moment. 

 

"Aniso! What a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting a package from you today." The old man beamed.

 

"Package?" Symon questioned.

 

"I'm kinda the mail carrier around here. I should have mentioned that," He whispered back. He cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the old man. "No, Mister Papilo, I don't have anything for you today, but we've acquired a new resident today and he could use your Stone Keeper wisdom."

 

"I don't recall agreeing to stay here- ow!" Symon was interrupted by a sharp elbowing from Aniso. 

 

"Hmm…." Papilo stared at Symon for a long moment, almost suspiciously. His demeanor quickly changed to cordial as he suddenly reared his forehead at Symon's, wiggling his long antennae around him. 

 

Symon sucked in a nervous breath and his body tensed at how close this stranger was to him. "I-I beg y-your pardon. Wh-what.. are you doing?!" He stammered. 

 

Papilo backed up. "Getting your smell of course! What were you raised under a rock? It's how every Miinu greets a stranger."

 

"Uhm about that," Aniso interjected. "That's what we meant to talk to you about. Symon here claims that he was born a human and that magic might have changed him."

 

Papilo burst out into laughter. "Ahahah-! A human-! That's impossible, it's- Actually wait a minute. Let me consult the stone." He then stepped out onto the platform and jumped off, falling straight down like a stone. 

 

"Oh my god he just-" Symon began to shout but Aniso stopped him and gestured for him to pay attention.

 

Just before landing in the center of the tree, Papilo opened his wings and gave one swift thrust which slowed him down just enough to land safely. 

 

"Oh dear lord..." Symon wheezed. "This place is going to give me a heart attack." Almost as soon as he said that he was once more scooped up and swooped down to join Papilo.

 

Papilo reached out a hand and touched the stone. The stone reacted by its rune markings glowing, and Papilo’s eyes glowing in turn. He seemed to be whispering some strange incantation into the stone. At first the conversation seemed calm, but eventually Papilo seemed taken back before releasing the stone, which went back to its normal state. 

 

"Hmmm… it is as I feared. I asked the stone if they have felt any disturbances in the magic, and they have gotten a pulse from the missing stone, but then nothing else," He said.

 

"The… stones told you this? And what missing stone?" Symon questioned.

 

"The Fossil Stones are deeply magical objects connected to the spirits," He explained. "Our people have been able to communicate with the souls inside since the dawn of our existence."

 

"The missing stone is referring to one of the 5 stones that complete the Great Pentagram,” Aniso added. “It's supposed to be this magical field that keeps our magic working, but 5 or 6 years ago one of them went missing and broke the pentagram. It's kinda messed up magic a bit, but we're surviving.”

 

"Surviving is an overstatement. We're fine cause we live so close to one but there's an entire region that's not had magic for quite awhile now and without a stone we can't contact them."

 

"Magic? Spirits? This… is all a lot to take in," Symon admitted. "But... 6 years ago… that rings a bell. It's like… it's like I'm close to remembering something I just can't figure it out."  He began stressfully fidgeting with his braid.

 

"Hey don't worry about it, we'll figure this out," Aniso assured him.

 

Papilo took Aniso to the side. "Aniso, may I speak with you in private?" The two began muttering a conversation to themselves. 

 

Meanwhile Symon found himself eyeing the fossil stone. Something about it was drawing him in, something deep within his soul. While the others weren't paying attention, he stepped closer to the stone. He could almost start to hear a droning hum come from inside the stone, like a heartbeat. He reached out a hand slowly, carefully, and touched the surface. 

 

It was like an electric shock, as soon as he made contact, a pulse of energy rocked through his body, locking him in place. He let out a choked gasp as unknown whispering and feelings flooded his mind. He was hit with an overwhelming memory of pain and fear and sorrow. He saw flashes of images in his mind. Particularly of himself holding the stone from his dreams and the box he had placed it in.

 

Suddenly he felt a hand grab him and pull him away from the stone. Just as suddenly all the pain and visions vanished, leaving only a slight tingling in his fingers. He had come back to find himself on the ground with his arm being released from Aniso's hand. The whole crowd of Miinu down there was now staring at him in shock. 

 

"What do you think you were doing?! Only qualified stone keepers should touch the fossil stones. Didn't I just say that they were powerful magical artifacts? You have to be trained to use them properly!" Papilo scolded. 

 

"I.. I-I'm s-sorry. I didn't know…" Symon choked out, but he was quickly getting overwhelmed by the shouting. The stares from the crowd, the lights, the stunned murmuring,  they were all making his head spin and his thought was beginning to close up. He felt his heart rate spiking and his breath go shallow. 

 

Aniso knelt over him in concern. "Hey are you okay? You were screaming when you touched the stone and you still don't look so hot."

 

"W-was I?" He said between gasps of air. "I… I didn't realize. I'm sorry."

 

"Hey Aniso, move, I'm not done lecturing the man," Papilo demanded.

 

"Um, I think he got the point Papilo. It was an honest mistake." He looked back at Symon. "Let's get you out of here. You look like you need air." 

 

He helped the Symon get back to his feet and guided him slowly away from the stone and out of a hole in the roots that opened outside. Getting away from the crowd relieved a lot of his anxiety but his nerves were still on edge and his stomach reeled. He tried to distract himself with the wonder of the tall flowers and the tiny outdoor decor that the miinu placed outside. Tiny fences marked the border where grass stopped growing freely to leave room for the tiny stone paths. 

 

"Hey, what happened back there anyway?" Aniso asked. 

 

"I just got overwhelmed again. It's nothing to worry about," Symon insisted. 

 

"But the stone."

 

"Listen, I said I was sorry for touching a sacred object of yours. It won't happen again.”

 

“I’m not mad at you, ya know. I’m just worried about-”

 

“Enough-!” Symon snapped. His nerves were raw. “Can we just go somewhere quiet. Please?”

 

“Uh, sure. You wanna rest at my place?”

 

“That would be nice.” He said, before realizing “Where is your place?”

 

“Just over there.” 

 

He pointed towards the koi pond, which from here felt as massive as a lake. A small dock reached off of the rocks into a house sitting in the middle of the water on support beams. It looked like a cabin made from twigs and bark. The wood of the dock creaked softly as they traversed over it. Symon took another moment to look at his reflection in the water, still not used to the strange, vibrantly banded creature that looked back at him. 

 

The inside of the cabin was small, cozy even. The furniture inside were also made from scraps of human trash, it seemed to be a theme here. A small, unlit fire pit sat in the middle of the room. A tiny dining table for two in the corner, and in the back, two small hammocks for beds. All things considered, there wasn’t much here other than bare necessities. A rug made from a handkerchief was the only real decor in the space, and it was likely there just to cover the gaps between the wooden floor boards that went right down to the lake below. Twine nets and fishing gear decorated the walls, and there was a mysterious hatch in the middle of the floor. 

 

Aniso took a seat on one of the beds and gestured for Symon to sit on the other. Symon sat and looked around.

 

“It’s a very… small home you have here. It’s almost the same size as my room back home.”

 

“You must have a big house, ya know, wherever you’re from.” Ansio laughed, “Both me and my dad travel around town a lot. We don’t need to spend time here that often.”

 

“You live with your father?” 

 

“For now, I dunno, I just haven’t felt the need to branch out and make my own place yet. I like things the way they are.”

 

“I have no room to talk, myself. I’ve been living with my parents for a while now, and I’m almost in my 30’s.” He admitted a bit shamefully.

 

“You’re that old?” Aniso gawked. “I could have sworn you’d be younger than me.”

 

“Is it my young face?’

 

“Mmm… More like that fact you just had your metamorphosis yesterday.”

 

“My meta… what?”

 

“Look at your wings” He pointed to his back.

 

Symon attempted to look but it was hard from that angle. He’d almost forgotten they were there. “What about them?”

 

“They’re all small and scrunched up. They haven’t been pumped out yet.” 

 

“P-pumped?” Symon stuttered.

 

“Yeah, when you develop your wings they start off all squished inside your old skin and they gotta pump with blood to get bigger.”

 

“ Old skin? Blood?” He groaned, the conversation was making him nauseous. 

 

“Actually, we should probably take care of that. You’re probably having trouble because of your injury.”

 

“I’m… not sure what to do about that.”

 

“Oh don’t worry, my dad taught me this massage that you can use to manually get the blood flowing again. I can help you.” He waggled his fingers eagerly.

 

Symon flinched away from him. “No no. That’s not necessary!”

 

Aniso frowned. “The longer you wait, the sooner your wings will completely harden and you won’t be able to do it anymore. Your wings will be stuck like that.”

 

“I just…” He stammered. “I don’t… I’m not sure about it. I’m still not entirely comfortable with this body.” 

 

Aniso’s face softened. “Look… I get you’re freaked out, but I’ll be careful. I promise you’ll feel a lot better after this.” 

 

Symon fidgeted his hands anxiously.

 

“I’ll go slow,” Aniso continued. “And I’ll talk you through it. Would that help?” 

 

Symon sucked in a nervous breath. “Fine. Only this once.”

 

“It’ll only need to be once. Now lay down on your stomach.” 

 

Symon layed down, arms folded under his head as he stared ahead at the window on the wall. He didn’t like not being able to see behind him, and he felt anxious shudders run through him before Aniso had even touched him. Just his presence back there was unnerving.

 

“I’m just gonna gently press down on these muscles here.” Aniso said before gently pressing his thumbs along the top of his rhomboid muscle and pushing the tissue downwards.

 

Symon could feel something built up under the skin there, it was sore, and he hissed as it was pushed down. But it was a temporary pain, and soon he could feel the relief of something giving, like popping a pimple. He could feel warm blood and fluid entering the veins of his wings as Aniso worked. He was so gentle and delicate with Symon, reassuring him after time a particular sore spot caused him to spasm. He was even careful around the wound.

 

His wings were slowly unfolding, and it felt like a pressure was being removed from Symon’s back. It was nice after a while. He hadn’t gotten a massage like this ever, even when his strenuous job caused his back to ache tremendously every day. This was exactly the kind of relaxation he needed. He let out a small, pleased him, and nearly drifted to sleep.

 

“All done.” Aniso chimed before Symon could pass out entirely.

 

“Already?” Symon whined.

 

“Don’t act like you enjoyed it too much,” Aniso laughed. 

 

Symon slowly rose. His wings felt longer and slightly heavier, and tickled the base of his torso. His back also felt a lot better, even with his injury. Aniso gestured to a piece of broken mirror leaned up onto the wall.

 

“Check yourself out.”

 

Symon stood and viewed his whole body in the mirror. This was the first time he’d gotten a good look at his body in its entirety. He’d truly become just like all the other insect creatures in this village. He slowly traced the seams in his exoskeleton-like skin around his joints. His wings, now on full display and nearly reaching the ground, were black shimmering gold veins throughout. He didn’t recognize himself, and the thought alone brought tears to his eyes. 

 

Aniso immediately came over, putting an arm on his shoulder. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong? I think you look great!”

 

“What has happened to my body?” He sobbed. “I don’t want to be like this! I wanna go home.”

 

Aniso had no words. He just let the man cry.