Before you began reading I would like to say that this story is not for everyone so heed the Rated M labeling, because if lemons and D/s make you uncomfortable this story isn't for you. I've also played with the characters a little. Aro is much more powerful here than in Twilight, so is Bella. I promise to explain the changes. For instance, I will explain why Aro becomes a tactile telepath later on.

I hope you like it.

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The Hierophant

Knossos - The Island of Keftiu –1532 BC

Though the darkened village Aro raced to get back to Kitane.

Around him was chaos. Dark ash from the volcano still blackened the sky, making it hard to breathe. Running water flooded the streets almost coming up to his waist. People were everywhere trying to help the injured and digging dead bodies out of the rubble. Their panicked thoughts hit him like a swarm, screaming through his skull with a thousand cries. It was almost too much.

Aro had never really learned how to block out other people's thoughts, and if there were too many it was almost disabling, making it hard to even think.

When he got back to the temple, he found the place had been ransacked. The floor was littered with dead bodies and smashed idols. A young postulant had her throat slit and the blood pooled across the alabaster floor like a giant fan.

Aro growled in rage, his fingers curling into fists. How dare they! He should have never left. He should have known the people would turn on them. After all, they were the guardians of the wind. They should have prevented this. Instead, they had displeased the gods.

Racing through the corridors, Aro searched for other minds, but the place was disturbingly empty. Everyone was dead. But then a tiny voice touched his mind and he stopped.

Didyme

Softy, he called out to her.

A tiny shadow peeked out from behind a potted plant. Aro knelt down and opened his arms. "Come to me, little one."

The little girl ran to him and buried her face in his cloak. She couldn't stop crying.

"It's all right. I'm here," he soothed, picking her up, brushing her dark hair out of her eyes, kissing her forehead. "Where's your mother?"

Didyme could barely speak through her sobs, pointing up to the throne room. Aro nodded and carried her up the stairs.

The two guards that protected Kitane had been slaughtered along with her two postulants. Her two snakes were decapitated.

Kitane lay in the middle of the floor in a puddle of blood. Her fine embroidered gown was torn, and her white, ceremonial face make-up smeared, the black lines of kohl streaking down her cheeks. At first, he thought she was dead, but then he felt her. Her thoughts were faint and sluggish, nothing coherent, but she was alive.

Quickly, he set Didyme down and lit a lamp, kneeling on the floor beside her, placing his fingers on the pulsing vein on her neck. She was so weak, she practically had no pulse, and she was in pain. He could feel it. In some ways, it was almost worse finding her this way still suffering.

Investigating her wounds, he found a two-inch gash on the side of her skull where she had been bludgeoned with an ax.

"Quick, Didyme, get me some salve and bandages. They're in the infirmary."

Didyme nodded and ran out of the room.

Gently, Aro cut away Kitane's black hair with scissors, cleaning the wound with a damp cloth. Chips of bone were logged in her tissue and the flesh surrounding the laceration looked swollen and purple. Carefully, he removed the bone fragments, putting her skull back together, fitting the pieces in like a jigsaw puzzle.

Didyme came back with the bandages, her eyes filled with dread. "Is she all right?"

"No," he said simply. "But we'll see what happens."

Padding Kitane's wound with dry spider webs, he wrapped her head in bandages and then folded his cloak, placing it underneath her head like a pillow, covering her with a blanket. Blood kept seeping out from her eyes and her nose in tiny trickles. The tissue inside her skull was swelling.

She'll never recover, he told himself, but to his shock, she opened her eyes, her pupils dilated. She looked around confused, but then she turned to him. "Aro, is that you?"

"I'm here, my love," he said, clasping her hand.

"They attacked us. They were so angry."

Aro nodded, hesitant to speak, afraid that his voice would betray the cold rage that was running through him.

"I'm dying, aren't I?"

"Yes," he said softly.

"I told Didyme to hide in the cabinet."

"I found her. She's safe."

Kitane sighed. "You'll take care of her, won't you?"

"I swear it," Aro said, taking her hand, gazing into her glassy, unseeing eyes.

He wanted to remember everything about her… her face, her voice, the touch of her hand. Embed her in his mind so he would never forget.

"Tell me, Aro, why have the gods forsaken us? We did everything we were supposed to, followed every ceremony and made every offering. Yet they still destroyed us."

"The gods are cruel," Aro said simply. But in truth, he didn't believe in the gods anymore. Now he just believed in survival.

"What will happen to me," she said. "Now that I'm dying."

"I'm sure the heavens will make a place for you." He squeezed her hand.

Kitane nodded and closed her eyes.

Aro was afraid to move her, fearing it would just make her worse. So he stayed there on the floor, watching her, holding Didyme in his lap.

By morning she was dead.

Aro was consumed with guilt. Why did he insist on going back to check up on his family? It was a wasted trip. Everyone was dead on the east side of the island, his father, brothers, and sisters. They were all killed by the massive tidal wave that nearly buried the island.

In one day he had lost almost everything. His family, his possessions, his property, his faith and now his lovely Kitane.

To think she had faced her attackers alone. He would never forgive himself.

However, he did still have his beloved Didyme and he vowed by all that was divine to protect her. However, his human days were numbered.

.

.

'

Story Notes

Just a little historical perspective on Crete. It has been widely speculated for years that the ancient island civilization on Crete is actually the remains of the great kingdom of the legendary King Minos. Consequently, when archeologist Arthur Evans excavated the ruins of Knossos back at the turn of century, he called these people the Minoans. There are also two areas on the island that have several underground tunnels which have been speculated to be the famous Labyrinth that housed the Minotaur.

However, while some stories that were thought to be myths may have historical backing like the Trojan War, none of the theories about King Minos have been proven. So I decided not to even go there.

The Egyptians called the Minoans the Keftiu. They were traders and craftsman, and they seemed to be at peace for none of their structures had fortified walls. Knossos is actually starting to look more like a temple than a king's palace. There are intricate sculptures of Snake Goddesses which point to the Minoans worshiping female deities. For that reason, in my story, I won't have Aro call his people the Minoans. I also have made Knossos a temple and Kitane a high priestess.

Somewhere around the middle of 1500 BC, a massive volcano erupted on the island of Thera, which blew a hole right through the middle of the island. It was like an atomic bomb going off. Crete, which is quite close to Thera, would have witnessed the whole thing. The sky turned black with ash and a giant tsunami crashed into the island. Crops died. Boats were destroyed. The people were trapped. There's archeological evidence that Minoans practiced cannibalism around this time. This was a horrific event. It practically destroyed them.

For my story, I didn't want to go into deep detail about what happened since this is just backstory. Needless to say though, Aro's been through hell.