Becoming Immortal

It takes me less than thirty minutes to run from Zakros to Knossos.

Storms following in my wake.

The Grand Ceremony, which Minos holds every nine years. I had barely given it any thought since I moved to Zakros since only children of Knossos are ever chosen.

As I stand in front of the Grand Temple I sense only a single heat source inside. There are no children living in the temple. They are being killed, sacrificed, or moved elsewhere. My son is not there.

I leave the Temple and head over to the Palace, toward Minos.

I can smell his scent throughout the entire city, it's distinctly vampire. I make my way across the city and into the Palace nothing but a blur to any observers.

In seconds I am in the center of the Palace where his scent is strongest.

And there he stands facing me, expecting my arrival. With short dark hair, pale skin, and rose red eyes glittering in the dark, full of amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Newborn! Did your maker not warn you Crete was forbidden?"

"What happens to the children chosen for the Grand Ceremony?" I see a brief flicker of surprise on his face at the question before it is gone.

"Oh? You are a Son of Crete? Someone close to you was recently chosen? Perhaps a sibling? Or maybe an offspring?" He asks me in a mocking voice.

"What happens to the children?"

"Looking at you closer now, there is a remarkable resemblance between you and one of the young boys picked for the latest ceremony." He sighs nostalgically

"The scent of his blood was truly enchanting, I almost just took him for my self" Snickering he stares into my eyes looking for a reaction.

I grind my teeth at the laughter I can hear in his words, forcing myself to be calm and not attack.

"You have remarkable self control for a newborn" He states, looking at me in consideration. "If not for your eyes I would think you well past your first year"

"What happens to the children!" I demand once again.

"So impatient" He sighs "It's been centuries since I last spoke to another immortal, I thought to at least have a small chat before I kill you"

With only silence as my response he huffs in annoyance.

"You want to know what happens to the children? They are locked all alone in a dark room surrounded by the dead, and then they are eaten. Eaten alive, screaming in terror and pain!" He laughs maliciously.

In the blink of an eye he is upon me, ripping and tearing at my neck and limbs.

I let him.

And as my head goes flying through the air, together with my severed limbs and body they transform into a roaring fire.

All my anger and rage given physical form.

I have enough time to catch that flicker of confusion and fear on his face before I'm pouring over Minos, everything from the neck below is engulfed in my flames, I completely envelope him. I can feel his body burning away in my fire.

He tries to run, likely hoping to use his speed to put the fire out.

But I'm no ordinary fire, I cling to him refusing to be snuffed out.

His screams of pain and terror is like a soothing song for my soul.

He runs around crashing into walls, and rolling on the ground before he makes his way outside, trying to find a large enough body of water. But he's too late.

His legs and arms are the first to go, followed by his torso, until all that is left is a pair of shoulders with a neck and head attached.

My fire falls away and swirls back together until my body is reformed. I look over my body in inspection.

Not a scratch on me.

This was surprisingly anticlimactic. Fire with a mind of its own is an effective weapon against vampires.

Looking down at whats left of Minos, venom leaking out him, his head still screaming in pain. Eyes staring at me hatefully.

Well now I know which Twilight world this is. If this was the movies, decapitation would have killed him. In the books the only sure way of killing vampires was dismemberment and then incinerating the remains.

Though vampires can use their venom to reattach missing limbs. What if those limbs no longer exist. There is no such thing as regenerating entire limbs.

I think Minos here will be a very valuable test subject in the centuries to come.

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After burying Minos deep in the ground beneath stone to come back for later, and grabbing a change of clothes I make my way back to the Grand Temple.

I walk through the dark hallways in the direction of that blazing source of body heat.

All I can smell is blood, and what I can only describe as a disgusting wet pig stench.

As I make my way into the center of the temple it opens up into a large round room.

Small skeletons litter the entire ground, the stench of blood and feces is overwhelming.

And in the center of the room stands a large man. His arms, legs, and neck are chained, which then attaches to the ceiling and ground. Matted hair and covered in his own filth.

His head hanging low before I enter, rises and stares in my direction.

"Miss me already Cold One? Time for another one of your games?"

As I continue approaching, drawing closer the man finally realizes that I'm not Minos.

"So the master sends his little pet to have some fun" He snarls viciously at me.

"I have no master, but if you're referring to Minos he is as good as dead, or at least he will be when I have no further use for him"

My words put a pause on his anger before he stiffens, staring straight into my face. And then erupts into an insane laughing fit.

"Hun... Hun... HAHAHAHA! Hundreds of years of HAHAHAHA! Torture! Of this living hell!!! Of him living as a false King! And he HAHAHAHA! And he gets defeated by a little newborn!!!"

This goes on for minutes before he finally calms down. And while waiting I get a good look at the walls of this chamber. Images of bulls and axes. Of men turning into bulls and fighting pale beings with faces covered in blood.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"No one. Not anymore" He says sorrowfully as his body slumps down on itself.

"Then who were you before?" I persist after a moment of silence.

"Minos." He declares looking up at me once more.

"I was called Minos"