The Minotaur

A retelling

• Fantasy
• Fiction
• History
• Short story
• Action and Adventure

								
The earliest memory Asterion has is the sun warm like his mother’s smile as she watches him. It wraps around him like a blanket and he welcomes its embrace. He doesn’t look like his mother, the regal queen of Crete Pasiphaë. He doesn’t look like anyone he knows, least like her. Her dark hair curls framed a flawless face, not a blemish or a crack from age. With a prominent nose and angular face, the only way you would be able to tell Asterion was the great queen's son was if you were to look into his eyes. The gaze of cloudy gray matched hers almost perfectly, the only difference being the contrast between the shine of a child and the dull intelligence of an aged woman. Toddling through the soft grass it reaches his nose and tickles him making him giggle, before he is scooped up into the arms of the queen feeling her touch her forehead to his. He holds her face in his small hands, feeling the soft skin and smiling up at her as well. 
Pasiphaë coos to him, he can't quite understand what she’s saying at this moment but is grasping the language quickly as most boys his age do. This feeling he has with her is burned into him, branded into his memories, the safety and happiness he feels with her. The love she has he greatly returns, she kisses all over his face praising him with a smile and he in turn lets out soft mooing noises of affection.
Asterion had this feeling of holding it even when he was brought into the cold dark maze, wide eyes looking around trying to figure out the purpose or why he was brought here. Pasiphaë set him on the ground and explained how they had the entire place to play hide and seek. She holds his face in her hands telling him that if he’s afraid he only has to look at the stars. Asterion is named for the stars, she smiles softly, something behind her eyes is sad. Asterion didn’t understand what she meant, he always felt safe with her. He again touches their faces together feeling her cheeks in his small hands she sniffs closing her eyes for a long time, pausing her words, and taking shaky breaths. The small boy was troubled by this, he didn’t understand she should be happy if they were going to play, she always smiles when they play. Pasiphaë takes his hands from her face standing slowly and telling him to go hide and she would count and come find him. Asterion laughed and ran, winding through the twists and turns of the maze, always taking care to stay close enough not to scare his mother. He can hear her new silver bracelets clanking against each other securing her wrists together and peeks behind a wall seeing Pasiphaë round a corner near him walking in the opposite direction, He lets out a soft noise to let her know he’s close as sometimes his mother needs help. This causes Pasiphaë to sort of stagger her steps, he watches her reach to her face, her body shaking and she starts laughing. He laughs too, following her through the maze tracing the marks she left behind on the wall to guide them.  She must know he’s there because her laughter gets louder the closer they get to the beginning. The ground is wet beneath his feet as he walks, the cold smooth stone feels nice under them. He reaches the beginning with her expecting to play again, it was so much fun to play in such a big and new place. He runs to Pasiphaë just about to reach her when a large slab of stone cuts him off from her, this has to be a mistake. He calls to her in his own special way through the door to let her know she has left him behind, but he can’t hear her laughter anymore. He wonders if she’s looking for him outside, he yells for her again hearing his voice echo off the walls. For a moment panic sets in, Asterion's heart beats fast, and his cries get more desperate, where did his mother go? Why hasn’t she come back? An ache settles in his chest, throbbing and forcing tears to collect in his eyes as he calls again starting to palm the door. Desperation sets in and he starts to pound at it tiny fists colliding with the rock splitting his skin open after a while red splattering the stone while he sobs for his mother’s return. After a while the sun sets, his voice has gone horse and his hands are raw, he sits by the door leaning against it and sniffling. The walls are cold and unfeeling, he shivers in the small corner he has made for himself trying to become warm again, to feel that sweetness when his mother holds him. Wind crashes against the walls of the maze creating a terrible and scary noise, Asterion looks to the sky for a form of comfort his mother tells him he was named for the stars. There were no stars in the sky that night.
Asterion waited for his mother, He went back to the middle of the maze holding the small piece of coal Pasiphaë had marked the walls with. He marked the walls too, passing the time by drawing pictures. The sun, the stars, him and his mother holding hands. It made the waiting easier, the days went faster. She would come back for him; it was something he was sure of he only had to wait. Asterion waited for a long time, his stomach growling at him begging him for food. He calls again for his mother, surely she would come knowing he is hungry. His lips were becoming cracked and dry and his hands throbbed in pain but his mother would come soon to feed him and give him water and patch up his hands. 
Asterion grows so tired of waiting for her, that his stomach aches after spitting up the mud he had tried to use to fill it. He shivers, feeling sick and thirsty on the floor, He can only cry softly now his eyelids falling. He gets ready to sleep again because that’s all he can do is sleep and wait for his mother to save him from the terrible things he is feeling. As he’s drifting off a small drop of water hits his nose, it reminds him of bath time he opens his eyes as it starts to rain. A tremendous downfall storming through, Asterion cups his small hands together watching them fill with the water which he gratefully drinks. He looks at the clouds in the sky and feels a little better.
Toddling soon turned to walking and idle chewing of random things turned into hunting the small creatures in the maze. Frogs and rats have the most meat on them, even small reeds and plants are growing, and some have dire consequences that are hard to navigate alone. His stomach had felt like it was going to burst as he reached after eating them calling once again for his mother, but some were almost tasty. Asterion doesn’t know how long he has been waiting but is sure his mother will be back soon. She will come back for him any day or week now he is sure he won’t have to wait any more years. Asterion is drawing a picture of his mother once again trying his hardest to remember the angles of her face and the curve of her lips although recently it’s been getting harder. There seem to be fewer rats recently too as he hasn’t been able to catch as many recently, Asterion’s ears perk up at the sound of footsteps. He turns to the maze, after exploding every inch he only draws on the center. He believes he hears a woman, his heartbeat picks up and tears appear in his eyes, finally, Pasiphaë has come back for him. He runs to the footsteps wrapping his arms around the woman although something is off, He doesn’t get a hug back. He has such a hard time seeing with the sun out but can smell this person is not his mother, The girl screams, shoving him away from her and calling him a monster. Asterion was confused, who was this person? Where was his mother? Had she done something to her? He has waited so long and now an imposter thinks she can trick him? The anger bubbles through his chest it itches under his skin and swells in his chest making him roar at the girl who flinches, he doesn’t think, but keeps running and pushing her down onto the stone floor her head falls and cracks loudly against the hard rock. She sleeps for a long time, and blood pools around her. Asterion looks over, He doesn’t understand what happened or what he has done. He sits next to her feeling her skin, it’s still warm. He thinks about when he was hugging the poor thing, and when he used to cuddle up to his mother when she would sleep. He lays next to the girl seeing her empty eyes staring back at him, lifeless. He can’t help feeling sleepy next to her, she is still warm.

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