A Vampire's Tale

Heheh, ok I was bored in math class so I decided to write this chapter. This one was a little easier to write than the last chapter. But I hope it's a little better. And less depressing. ^_^ Anyway, read and tell me what you think.

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Chapter 13

It was nearing sunrise and I wasn't feeling any better. I was trying to think of reasons for not letting myself burn in the next morning sunlight. I only thought of one reason and that was Sephiroth. I just couldn't let him live unpunished for what he made me do to Cloud. But even the thought of trying to find Vincent and Tifa didn't make me want to stay alive. Sephiroth would've probably killed them by now. It was around then that I realized that nothing really mattered to me anymore.

I stood up and took a breath. An idea came to me, but I was upset that I would ever come up with such a plan. But I guess somehow, it had to be done. I went back inside the castle and walked down each of the endless hallways, searching for Sephiroth. Finally I sensed him on the other side of the doorway that was across from me. I tried pushing the door but it was locked from the other side. I left my hands on the door and an image of the door's lock came into my mind. I pictured the lock opening and I heard a soft click. I pushed the door again and it opened easily. I walked inside. The first thing I saw was Sephiroth's coffin in the middle of the small room.

"Typical vampire", I thought to myself.

I noticed that Sephiroth was inside, already beginning his daily rest. I could already feel that familiar warm feeling, saying that the sun was about to rise. But I still waited. I glanced at the wall beside me and I saw the torch that lit the room. I was instantly reminded of the idea I had gotten earlier. I reached out and took the torch. I held it safely in my hand as I waited for the sun. Even in a room without windows, I started to feel my eyes burning, but this time I didn't feel any weaker. The heat had gotten much more intense but I still waited. I waited until it was only mere seconds until the sun had fully risen. When it came to that time, I set Sephiroth's wooden coffin on fire and threw the torch into the rising flames. I burst out of the room and headed straight for a way out of the castle. I ran straight through the drawbridge opening and I easily jumped across the gap. I ran into the forest with amazing speed but the sun soon caught up with me. I felt the sun's rays directly on my back and it was the worst pain I had ever felt. But I soon saw the small opening of a cave not too far away from me and I silently thanked the gods. I dashed into the cave and I fell onto the cool, rough ground. Right before I fell into my dreamless slumber, I could've sworn that I heard Sephiroth's cries of pain echo over the land.

I woke up the next night and I was in too much pain to move. The sun had done too much damage to my back and I would have to wait until the pain was gone if I wanted to move around again. I began to think about things that I haven't even thought about since the night I became a vampire. I worried about the chocobos in the stable. Did they really have enough food? By the time I was done thinking about the many topics that crossed my mind, I felt like I hadn't been injured at all. I got up and walked out of the cave. First I went to the stable to check up on my chocobos. To my relief, they were fine. Something in my mind told me to release them and let them live among nature. They were all old enough to live on their own now, even Sunrise, the youngest chocobo. I agreed with the idea, but I wanted to keep Sunrise for myself. A gold chocobo would be very useful in case I had wanted to travel. Sunrise was also very special to me. Somehow she reminded me about my life before everything went wrong.

I left her near the stable and I walked to the castle. The castle was in ruins after the fire. I searched for any kind of life among the ruins but I only found a sense of peace surrounding the area. That's when I knew for sure that Sephiroth was gone. I turned around and walked away, never wanting to look upon that area again. I went back to my chocobo and I realized how weak I felt. I thought about it for a while and I found out why. Vampires drink blood. I sighed and I quickly vowed to myself that I would never take an innocent persons life to keep my own. I would only drink the blood of murderers and thieves.

I went into Nibelheim and in less than two minutes after I entered town, a man came up to me with a dagger in his hand and demanded money. I never wanted to kill him, but my vampire instincts easily took over".

"Did you… drink his blood?" Darius asked a bit uneasily. Aeris looked off to the side and nodded.

"It is one of the worst things about being a vampire. You absolutely hate it, but you know you have to do it. Even after all these years, I still haven't gotten used to it. But over time, I was able to do it less and less. I can now go for a few months without needing blood. Someday, I may not need blood at all".

"That's strange", Darius said. Aeris nodded again.

"Anyway, I went to Nibelheim to read books in the town library. I needed to know more about vampires. Being a vampire also gave me the ability to read at an incredible speed. After reading every book that seemed useful to me in a single night, I left town. My questions still weren't answered and I knew if I were going to get answers, I would have to travel all over the world. I heard about the amazing libraries in Midgar and Junon while talking to people in the streets while my mother was still alive. There was no need to stay so I decided to leave the Nibel Mountains and that is when I truly started to learn. Over the next two hundred years, I would learn the answers to great mysteries, read amazing novels, and even look upon some of the greatest pieces of artwork in history. It was also funny to see how music evolved over the years. Back when the first Waltz was written, I never would've guessed that Rock music would one day come into existence. Music was the one thing that brought me closest to happiness. But I never felt true happiness since Cloud died. The memory of Cloud gave me a new interest though. I knew he loved the stars so I started to learn more about them. Soon after, I knew the name of every constellation and every important star in the night sky. New constellations were also discovered, such as the Phoenix. Right now almost everyone knows that in autumn, the Phoenix constellation takes up most of the northern sky. It was so much fun to find out information like this.

But there was one vampire mystery I could not find the answer to. And even to this day, I still don't know what happens to vampires' souls when they die. In many of the books I've read, it says that vampires are the devil's army and that they would return to the devil when they die. But of course, I don't believe any of it. That is the one question I have wanted to answer for most of my life as a vampire. I always liked to think that Cloud turned into my guardian angel and that he was guiding me through most of my life. But things like that are so hard to believe. I'm just so surprised that I lasted this long".

"Did you see any other vampires?" Darius asked. Aeris thought for a moment.

"Yes, I did. But those stories are much too long to talk about in a single night". For the first time in a while, they both became silent. Finally Darius spoke.

"You never found Tifa or Vincent?" he asked. Aeris shook her head.

"No. But I get a strange feeling every time I think of them. It's weird". Darius nodded and looked around the room. He realized that they were the last people left. He took a quick glance at the clock on the wall.

"Wow, it's 4:47 already. It's getting bright outside". Aeris smiled and nodded.

"You should get some rest. You look like you need it", she said.

"Yeah, I guess". Darius paused. "So… the story is over then?" Aeris looked out the window for a moment and nodded.

"That was merely the short way of telling my story. It would take many more nights to tell the whole thing", she said with a smile. Darius smiled back. The story was over but he didn't want to leave. But she was right. He really did need sleep. He sighed and stood up. She continued to look out the window. He walked over to his original seat and picked up his book. He laughed to himself.

"I just still can't believe someone like me could hear a story like…" Darius turned around and he realized he was the only one in the room. He smiled and left some money on the table. He walked out of the silent bar and continued down the sidewalk. The sun was just beginning to show its presence.

He came to a garbage can and stopped. He took one last look at his book and threw it away. He knew that he would never need to read it again.

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I could've ended the fic with this chapter but there's just one more chapter left. I'm probably going to take some time to think about the last chapter and hopefully make it actually sound good. And yes, in this chapter Aeris does seem to be a little out of character. Well, I did write this in math class. I was bored and I needed to write something with a little action. But anywayz, gotta go!

Yunalesca Strife ^_^