Alright, here we go! The six prologues are the two oneshots split into easier reading and with a few minor changes here and there. Mostly grammar that I fixed up, but I thought I'd mention it. Oh, and the scene at the end of prologue six, which was originally in Tifa's oneshot as a third-person, is now rewritten in Cloud's first-person. It has a few more tidbits of information, so I'd recommend reading it.

And if you haven't read the oneshots in 'Words Aren't the Only Way,' then let me give you fair warning. This story is rated 'M' for language, sex, eventual blood and (possibly) gore, and Cloud's nasty thoughts. Hey, it's an AU, right?

Also, all chapter titles are lyrics of Nightwish or Within Temptation songs. I am addicted. Really, I am. If another song gets in there, I'll give fair notice and an explanation why.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Prologue 1
The Hiding Amaranth

Flame. Nothing but those frickin' flames. Day… Night… It makes no difference to me. It doesn't make a difference to anyone in Orcus. This hell is exactly that. Those mortals have no idea what they're missing… At least they're smart enough to complain about their realm day in and day out.

"Iurgium!"

Hm? What's this? Aerith is never this excitable… My gaze raises and spies the sight of her brown hair approaching. I reply, "Yes?" Hn. My blond hair shifts back forth as I give my head a shake. Mental note: talk more often. Maybe my voice wouldn't sound so hoarse then.

She laughed. "Iurgium, we have new orders."

"Oh?"

"Mm-hm… We're going to… the mortal realm!"

My eyes roll automatically. "Yippee. I'm so happy."

"Oh…" She held a small box out for me to take. "You'll need this."

Hm? What could this be? I open the case and lift the object within. A new rosario? Why now? A raised eyebrow sends my curiosities to the girl across from me.

She smiled. "This one has a stronger spell. It'll keep your already frayed powers in check while we're topside."

"Did you make it?"

"Naturally. Well, the charm was made by an artisan, but I made the spell."

"Mm." Great. Not a new one. It took me long enough to get accustomed to the one I have now. Now it won't just be the hunger under control. This one will probably block my flare powers, too.

She turns to leave and calls over her shoulder, "Alright, Iurgium. We'll leave next week. And remember when packing, Gaia is much, much colder than Orcus!"

Another thing to love about the flames of hell. Wonderful. Now, the only thing that could possibly make this worse would be if-

"Cloud!"

-she showed up. Dammit, she's more of a devil than the Dominus himself. I give a sigh, "What the fuck do you want?"

The dark-haired girl grinned widely, floating a good two feet off the ground. "Hiya, Cloud! Is Aerith chewing you out because you failed again?"

My middle finger rose slowly. "Screw you, Yuffie. Damn succubuses are a disgrace to all real demons."

"Oh!" She fell back dramatically, still hanging in the air. "You hurt me so, Cloud Strife! Master of all failures!"

"You repulsive things use seduction and sex to your advantage. It's disgusting."

"Oh, and lusting after the blood of mortals isn't?"

"At least we have rules to follow… There's a small selection of mortals we're allowed to feed off of. We can't just go off and do what we want to who we want."

"Hm. And what about your other sides?"

My eyes narrow to a dark degree. "I am a vampire! Nothing more, nothing less!"

She nodded wisely. "Uh-huh. We all know you screwed up. Don't deny it, Blood-Sucker!"

Walk away. Just walk away. That's all you can do when she gets like this. I turn sharply and march through the heated caverns in the direction of the vampire district to get some sleep.

……

One week later, I waited by the Magnus Aditus with my gear packed, rosario equipped, and Aerith and her werewolf companion standing nearby. I watched as the three Aditus masters opened the portal to the human realm with the powers unique to an artisan.

The passage opened in a series of three ripples echoing across the glass surface. I felt a prod in my shoulder and knew it was Aerith without even needing to look. I pull myself to my feet and pull my travel sack over my shoulder.

Aerith waved a hand and shouted, "Pendēre!" At the sound of her voice, the heavy trunks packed with our belongings slowly rose from the cavern floor and floated along behind her as she made for the gigantic mirror. Her raven-haired companion, Zack, followed behind her with a grin and a thumbs-up for his werewolf friends on the side.

I give a sigh and follow them to the realm of eternal torment. At least to a vampire. Snacks all around, but no excuse to sate my hunger. Another sigh and I pass through the gate.

My vision blurs slightly at the foreign feeling. It's… strange. It feels as though I'm being thrust through water without a surface. All I can see is blue, the ripples of the dimensional rift shifting over my sight in an unsettling way. Light filters past and reflects off the wrinkles in time, making it difficult to keep my eyes open. The moisture of the strip between realms is actually pretty gross. My face forms an unintentional grimace as the fluid soaks through my clothes and presses them to my body.

A grunt escapes my lips as a force throws me out of the passage and I land on my hands and knees on a soft floor. It feels strangely familiar and while I'm trying to figure it out, Aerith's giggles enter my ears. I scowl and stand, glaring at her.

She raises a hand to try to muffle her laughter. "Iurgium… This is your first time through the passage, right? Well, since then, anyway…"

I reach up, twisting my spiky hair free of liquid and toss the limp lock out of the way. "Yeah."

"Well, then, since you're not used to it, you can have the shower first."

I finally take the chance to observe my surroundings and blink at the quaint design of the mortal room. What the heck are these things? So many unusual objects. Aerith scuttles around the small living quarters, taking things from the trunks and setting them around on the counters and other furnishings. She pauses and turns to face me, "Oh, Iurgium?"

I hate the tone in her voice. I reply warily, "…What?"

She smiles widely, "I've enrolled all of us in the local school. Nundinae and I, while we're old enough to remember the last war, we still look young enough to be in a school, so we'll all go together."

I swear my pale skin fades a shade lighter and I manage to mumble, "Human school…? Are you serious?"

"Quite. You need to learn how to cooperate with mortals. It's a part of your training."

Oh, fuck. I had no idea she'd shove this sort of crap on me. I guess I don't really have a choice. I sigh again. "Fine. So what do I have to do?"

"Well, basically, you just have to attend the classes and take their exams. Your grades in this school will be considered when I give your final grade on this expedition."

"…You mean, on top trying to keep my fangs out of all these creatures, I'm going to have learn all the crap they do?"

She waved a hand dismissively. "You won't have any trouble. As a vampire, all your reflexes are high beyond that of a human. Your learning processes are much more attuned, as well. There are a stack of textbooks on the desk of your room to get you caught up to the grade you'll be attending."

She continues at my confused expression, "The human schools are divided up by twelve grades. They start attending school at the age of six and start the first grade then. They increase one grade per year, so, since you're seventeen, you'll be going into eleventh grade. Zack and I will accompany you to that grade so we can help you get used to it. A large portion of your training is how well you can interact with mortals."

Wonderful. Just wonderful. Not only am I going to be surrounded by snacks, but I have to interact with them, too? Without eating? I don't even interact with demons unless I have to. This is going to be one hell of a lesson.

"Oh, and, Iurgium? Your first day of school is next Monday."

……

I tug at the damn piece of fabric threatening to cut my airwaves off and finally give up, biting the thing and tearing it apart with my fangs. Aerith walked past the doorway to see me picking pieces of black cloth out of my teeth and laughs. She shakes her head good-naturedly and teases, "You know, Iurgium, ties aren't mandatory."

I spit a wad of material onto the floor and raise my eyes to hers. "Now you tell me."

She laughs again. "Buttoning your shirt and jacket are, though."

I glance down at my open shirt. "But I never wear shirts."

"The point of being in the mortal realm is to learn how to fit in."

I sigh. "No exceptions?"

"At least wear an undershirt until you get used to it. But you do need to try to blend."

"Yeah, whatever." I shrug my open shirt and jacket off and grab a black undershirt from my dresser. As I pull it over my head, I glare at Aerith as she holds a stack of books and a bag common to mortals—a backpack?—towards me.

She grins. "Have fun on your first day of school!" She turns and shouts to the rest of the apartment, "Nundinae! Hurry up! We have about two minutes to transfer!"

Zack's voice calls back, "Alright, alright! I'm almost ready!"

Aerith turns back to me before she leaves completely. "Oh, do you have your new rosario equipped?"

I nod sharply, "Yeah." Damn thing stings like hell, too. I always hate getting new ones. They take forever to get accustomed to. I sigh once more for good measure and pick up the bag Aerith gave me. After a minute of tying, it finally occurs to me to actually put it on my back. Who knew? Mortals can make sense. I mean, duh! Where else would you wear a backpack but on your back? I'm about to slap my forehead from my own idiocy when Aerith's head pokes back into the doorway.

She cocks her head at the sight of me but chooses not to comment. Smart woman. Instead, she says, "Iurgium? We need to transfer now if we're going to be on time."

I can't wait. Really, I can't. Aerith walks into my room and grabs hold of my wrist, dragging me back out to the all-purpose room. What was it Aerith had called it? The living room? I think so. Sounds close enough, anyway.

"Iurgium? Over here."

I sigh and walk over to where Aerith and Zack wait. A foreign call from Aerith has us fading away into nothingness as her teleportation spell takes effect. New surroundings fill my vision as we start to appear in a small valley between two mortal buildings.

By the forgotten curse of artisans! Why in the hell do mortals like the smell of metal so much? It's disgusting! I can't even- Yegh!

Something cool touches my arm, sending me through the roof, and I turn to see Aerith standing there with concern written on her features. A wrinkle forms in her brow as she asks, "Iurgium? Do you sense something?"

There she goes again. Flipping out just because my frickin' vampire senses are actually picking up what they're supposed to. She knows as well as the next demon that vampires have naturally sharper senses. I feel a prod in my side, bringing me back to the present. I answer her question, "Just the god-forsaken smell of metal…"

She nods understandingly and turns to leave the alley, a pink backpack strapped over her shoulders. I roll my eyes and shiver. Damn it. Aerith was right when she said Gaia was colder than Orcus. And this is comin' from a guy who has a higher natural body temperature. Aerith told me once that average body heat for humans was about ninety-seven-point-something degrees Fahrenheit and a hundred-four was a dangerous number. A vampire's average runs roughly between one-thirty and one-forty. So, really, I shouldn't be cold at all.

Giving my eyes a roll for effect, I follow Zack and Aerith out of the foul-smelling gorge.

……

Aerith leads me through the halls, staring at everything the way a necromancer inspects fresh corpses. I, on the other hand, find myself sniffing every mortal to see how tasty they might be. Dunno if it's unfortunate or not, but my new rosario cloud's—funny, really—my judgment, making it impossible to tell if they would taste any good.

A giggle escapes Aerith's lips, snapping my attention back to her. She smiles and voices her thoughts, "They've changed this place since the last time I was here. For instance," she points at the tile under our feet, "that used to be a drab white. The red and black patterns are a nice update. And the walls were white, too. They've really spruced the place up."

I blink. "Uh-huh…"

She pauses. "Oh, this is your stop!" She shoves on my shoulder, throwing me towards the small room. I grunt out of distaste, collecting myself and putting my normal scowl in place before turning the knob.

I walk in and glare at the various students already gathered. The old mortal at the front of the room looks up and speaks, "Oh, you must be the new students. Care to introduce yourselves?"

I stand still, saying nothing, before turning and walking back to the third of five rows and stop at the third seat. Aerith's voice sounds behind me, "I'm sorry, sir. He's just shy. I'm Aerith, and he's Cloud."

Completely ignoring the conversation behind me, I glare down at the mortal boy in my seat. He looks up at me. "What the heck do you want, Goth-boy?"

My eyes narrow. "My seat."

"Look, dude, this is my seat. Go find your own."

This guy is really starting to piss me off. Can't he just do as he's told? I know Aerith is watching to see if I'll 'fit in' and I don't doubt that she used her magic to get us in every class together, but I can't resist. This guy is ticking me off. I won't bite… this time.

"Come on, get out of here, you freak!"

Okay. That does it. Did it ever occur to you that mortals might be the freaks and demons are just stuck protecting your sorry asses? Even with my powers bound by my rosario, my hand flies forward with inhuman speed and grips him by his collar. I lift him to the side and drop him on the floor without taking my eyes off the sudden fear embedded on his face.

I drop down into my seat and pick his books up, letting those drop to the floor beside him with a thud. The kid looks up at me and gathers his books in a hurry before grabbing a seat on the opposite side of the room.

Aerith walks over and sits down in the seat behind me. She leans forward to whisper in my ear, "You know we'll be talking about this later."

I shrug a response as the old mortal adjusts the metal and glass objects on his nose before speaking.

Please review!

-Valk