As Aria awoke to the comforting sound of the fireplace smoldering next to her, she was surprised to find her headache gone. Slowly sitting up to check if moving agrivated her body in any way, to her relief, the headache of the previous day was over. Still, she suspected that what coursed through her veins wasn't done with her as she felt a strange heat beneath her skin...like her blood had become liquid fire, but her body had somehow muted the effects.

Still, she counted her blessings as she went through her normal routine of praying and reading her scriptures, while she heard the distinct sound of someone snoring in the music room behind her. She wondered if Andrew and Niffty had slept on the floor of the library during the night. She was sure she didn't want to disturb them as she blushed, thinking on the possible lack of clothing on either of them as she stood up from the couch and took the elevator down to her room to take a much needed shower.

As she entered the room, the first thing she noticed was that her sliding door was wide open as the closed, red curtains shifted dramatically as she entered. As she went to close and lock the sliding glass door, she noticed a hair on the curtain unlike anyone's in the hotel. It was a silky black hair, about the length of her finger. Then she noticed the bed was disheveled like someone had slept on top of the blankets.

Someone had used her room recently.

As she became more guarded as she lit up her body with her angelic fire, she checked the closet and the bathroom. Apart from seeing Alastor's handkerchief hanging dry on the shower rod above her, nothing else was out of place. Wondering if Charlie had gotten a visitor while she, Alastor, and Angel Dust had been away, she put the strand of hair she'd found in a plastic bag from her storage space and put it away for later. As an after thought, she grabbed the handkerchief and put it in her angelic storage as well.

She just hoped she didn't have a stalker. The thought of the shadow man crossed her mind before she dismissed it. The shadow man wouldn't have been this subtle as Aria kept that in mind as she showered and chose her original, purple dress she'd worn the first day she'd entered Hell.

Exiting her room, the hotel seemed oddly still. Angel Dust must've stayed with his family, Aria thought as she remembered Valentino and Molly and realized their love for eachother could very well be fleeting as she remembered her own assignment as Persephone in her youth, while Lucifer had been assigned Hades. Of course, by this time, given Aria wasn't the original Lauren Kleinschmidt, it had been someone fairly young who was assigned to fill in for him, since Lucifer was high ranking enough in the eternal worlds to be exempt from story telling duty. Bastard, she thought dryly as she hoped such perks would be given to everyone soon. She had hated the lovesick feelings put upon her that eventually faded in a week. She and the one who'd played Hades had stayed very good friends, though, which they both benefited from.

Aria yawned as her stomach growled, making her think of breakfast as she wandered over to the elevator to get to the large kitchen on the fourth floor. As the elevator dinged, signaling her arrival, it opened to a very silent hallway. The silence followed her all the way to the large, empty dining hall as she entered kitchen, where a very strange sight awaited her.

Thirteen wine glasses of various sizes and shapes were lined up right in front of her filled with various, red substances. Looking around and finding no one there as she walked past the wine glasses to see if someone was hiding in the pantry, the smell of what was in the wine glasses hit her. She was physically stunned as she drew in a deep breath and couldn't look away from the wine glasses. The smells coming from each was filling her with a deep feeling of need as her body yearned for the taste of what they held as she tried to figure out what the hell was going on with her.

"Alastor's shadow?" Arua called in a voice that was high pitched with caution, making his shadow appear very quickly as a quizzical look came over the shadow. "Go get Alastor. I think that syringe had something way more exotic in it than I bargained for. Hurry! Before I drink every glass in here! This is a code red...literally!"

Alastor's shadow nodded with a thin smile as it rushed off, leaving her to force herself to walk away from the glasses as she went over to the pantry. As she neared it, she felt the air go a bit colder, but it didn't mean much to her until she opened it. The pantry was filled with mist. Confused as she looked at the glasses, and then at the mist, she watched as it moved to the ground as warm and cool air moved through it. By the time Alastor had poofed into existence in a cloud of darkness, the mist had disappeared, making Aria feel like she'd missed something important.

"Alright my dear, let's have it!" Alastor said with a grin as he twirled his staff, sporting the same red suit he always wore, making Aria realize it may be the costume he preferred, like how she preferred the purple dress, making her smirk as the radio background played dramatic, thriller music as he grabbed her shoulders. "What's the emergency?"

Aria simply looked at the wine glasses and nodded somberly, making Alastor look to see what she was seeing. The moment his clawed grip suddenly tightened on her was when he recognized the problem. When it got to the point that he was hurting her, though, she let him know.

"Alastor...you're hurting me," Aria commented patiently, wincing as he came to himself as his smile grew very, very thin as he slowly let go of her and stepped up to the wine glasses and sniffed each one.

By the time he'd had a good sniff from each, the air around him had grown heavy as his static grew. Shadows formed and evil runes appeared. As the radio background rose in volume, his teeth and claws had gotten longer. Aria could tell he was thoroughly pissed.

"I'm guessing it's serious," Aria muttered dryly, trying to find the humor in their situation, making Alastor turn on her with that haunted expression as his claws made grooves into the counter.

"Whatever gave you that idea, my dear?" Alastor said with a hollow laugh as he turned to her and drew dangerously close to the point that his face was almost pressed into hers.

"You're freaking out and you don't do that unless it's serious," Aria said with an ironic smile, since she used to be the dramatic one, giving her a sense of power as she watched Alastor process their situation. "Am I correct in assuming every last one of those glasses is filled with a different type of blood?"

"Did you drink from them? Alastor asked tensely, yet his smile remained, albeit in its thinnest form.

"No, but I wonder now what Valentino jabbed into my bloodstream, along with who slept in my room last night," Aria said thoughtfully as she closed her eyes and sighed tiredly. "Someone set this wine glass parade for me this morning and I think that mist in the pantry wasn't natural. I'm afraid it's gone now, though. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"Mist!?" Alastor cried out as he bolted to the pantry, looking around from top to bottom until he crouched down and picked something off of the floor. "I knew it!"

"Is it a black hair?" Aria asked as she summoned her little plastic baggy, making Alastor look at her in surprise as he nodded at her as he showed her the hair, which, from what little she could gather, was the same length and shade of black as the one she'd found in her room. "Figures. Great! I have a stalker. I thought I was finally free from this, but love triangles keep trying to crop up around us. Oh, I am so done with this shit!"

"I'm afraid this goes beyond a love triangle, my dear, if this is from who I think it is," Alastor muttered tersely with that thin smile of his as he put the hair he'd found with hers as he zipped it up and gave it to her for safe keeping. "Change of plans! We need to get back to Rosie's Emporium. She'll know what to do with the hair we found! Come along, now!"

"Wait! What about breakfast?" Aria asked, still feeling hungry, but Alastor ignored her as he put his arms over her own and whisked her off in his puff of darkness, making her shake her head as she found herself right in front of Rosie's Emporium. "You haven't even had your coffee, yet! You're a beast in the morning without it!"

"Rosie has good enough coffee in an emergency," Alastor said impatiently as his thin smile continued as he rang Rosie's bell as the murky dawn of Hell barely rose over the buildings of Cannibal Colony. "And this, my dear Aria, IS an emergency if it's who I think it is meddling in our affairs!"

"Why, Alastor! And Aria! What a pleasant surprise!" Rosie announced in her outfit from the other day as she opened her door for them, turning the closed sign over to say open as she let them in as she closed the door behind them. "What brings you to me so early in the morning, Alastor? By the shape of your smile, you haven't even had your morning coffee!"

"I need you to brew up your revealing potion and show me who owns these two hairs we found at the Hazbin Hotel!" Alastor answered quickly as Aria gave Rosie the little baggy with the hair in it, while Rosie led them to her little balcony suite as she waved a hand at her coffee pot as it filled itself with water from a nearby sink and started to boil as Aria saw a tin of coffee float down from her cabinet above the sink.

"An intruder already in your midst, hmm?" Rosie said with a smirk, but she didn't rub it in Alastor's face as she graciously took the baggy and wandered off into her endless rows of shelving. "I'll start on this right away! Why don't you help yourself to the coffee pot, while Aria finds a suitable cookie to nibble on. I daresay, she looks peckish!"

"I have a funny feeling that I'm going to go hungry today," Aria said with a sigh as she looked at the selection of cookies before her and none save a very red one appealed to her, but she knew better than to eat it.

"Why, thank you for your hospitality, Miss Rosie!" Alastor thanked her warmly as a red mug floated down from the cabinet as the perfect amount of coffee and hot water combined above them before the brown liquid spiraled into the cup, leaving the coffee grounds to float into the trash bin next to the sink.

"So that's how she makes coffee? Interesting," Aria commented as Alastor enjoyed his coffee, sipping it quite a few times with a look of satisfaction before taking a seat on the loveseat as he patted the seat next to him invitingly.

"It isn't quite as good as Andrew's brew, but it's close enough," Alastor commented with a grin as he finished the coffee rather quickly before grabbing Aria's wrist and pulling her down next to him as he snaked an arm around her waist. "As for the company...I could get used to seeing your face like this every morning...provided you had less clothing on."

"Alastor!" Aria cried out in hushed tones, wondering if Rosie could hear him as she snuggled next to him affectionately, albeit with some embarrassment as he snapped his fingers to send the coffee mug to Rosie's sink. "Not so loud!"

"You agree, though? I can tell," Alastor commented with a devilish glow to his eyes and teeth as he drew her in and kissed her, surprising her as she tasted the bitterness of the coffee on his tongue as she melted into his embrace.

"Gasp! Alastor...not here!" Aria begged as he forced her to lie down on the loveseat as the need in his demeanor skyrocketed as he began to take his overcoat off, making Aria realize how limited his self-control was. "Surely we don't have to do this in broad daylight, in a shop, where the front door is unlocked and anyone could walk in, including that murderous band of cannibals!"

"Hmm...I'll take my chances!" Alastor mused as he began to kiss her neck, but Aria stopped him, looking disappointed.

"This isn't right!" Aria said sadly as she forced him off of her and sat up, looking uncomfortable. "I want you, yes, but there's a time and a place for everything! Rosie deserves to keep some decorum in her own shop and, frankly, this is one of the worst places I could think of to finally have you. Our first time deserves to be special, and for me, I need to be married to you, first, before I'll agree to it."

"You're already married to me, my dear, or you didn't notice?" Alastor asked with a chuckle as he crawled over to her as he put his hands on either side of her face as he rested his head against hers. "You are mine by contract, or didn't you hear what Jesus said to you in the simulator?"

"Wait...you heard that!?" Aria asked, blushing as she realized what Alastor had done with Angel Dust to get an official document setup so that they could legally be together in Hell. "You...you...with Angel and...you want me that badly?"

"I almost had you in the simulator, but your old self, the one who has forgotten everything, was still completely insecure about it," Alastor muttered bitterly, but the smile he wore softened as he caressed her face gently. "I couldn't force you then, but you remember now and, damn it, I need this! I cannot wait!"

"You could use my spare room, you know," Rosie commented eagerly as she suddenly seemed to appear, making Alastor and Aria blush scarlet as they realized they were not alone, making Rosie laugh gayly at their expense. "Hahaha, oh what a wonderful spectacle you two are! So it's true, then? You really are star-crossed lovers."

"...Yes," Aria admitted with a shy blush, holding onto Alastor closely as she looked at Rosie, than away from her as she buried her face into Alastor's chest.

"I was completely serious when I was talking about her to you, Rosie, despite how well I hid it from her," Alastor commented seriously, his smile warm and rich as he held Aria closely as he caressed her hair possessively. "She is finally mine and I want her to know that. We both need this, especially if what you found is what I think it is."

"The hair is from Lord of all Vampires," Rosie commented demurely as her smile grew thoughtful and curious as she looked pointedly at Aria before looking at Alastor. "He is a powerful ally and I terrible enemy to have here in Hell. He ranks higher than an overlord, although he holds a modest section of Hell as an overseer of his people, who are many. Being as it is, Satan ranks higher than him and Lucifer still holds considerable sway over him. As it goes, he has both their ears, and that combination gives him much clout, as you well know. What happened last night, Alastor?"

"Valentino jabbed an unknown substance into Aria's main artery in her throat, and now this morning, she craves the blood of the living," Alastor commented cooly with a conservative smile as he sat up and repositioned himself on the loveseat, but not before bringing Aria into his lap as he held her close. "If Vlad Tapesh seeks my bride, he will have to pry her from my cold, dead fingers! You know what she is and, coupled with this atrocity he has forced upon her, she will prove a terrible blight on this world if a cure for it isn't found soon!"

"Curing vampirism is easy, Alastor," Rosie commented with a laugh as a sly grin came over her face. "I have a feeling what flows in Aria's veins is something far more rare and incredibly lucky to recieve from Dracula. If I may have a drop of her blood, I have the potion here in hand to analyze it straight away!"

"You may proceed," Alastor agreed with a guarded grin as he took Aria's hand as she looked at him and nodded before he pricked her finger with one of his sharp claws, making her wince as a drop of her blood was added to a white potion in a flask held by Rosie.

"It will only take a few seconds aaand...done!" Rosie stated cheerfully as the liquid changed into a black Aria had never seen before as ribbons of rainbow like how gasoline rested on water permeated the liquid, making Rosie gasp in delight! "Why Alastor, she's been given a rank and title! I high one, too! There's no need to purge her of this! What an honor!"

"I want her to have no part of it!" Alastor snapped out, his smile thin and toothy as he stood up, bringing Aria up with him, but Aria pushed him away, looking suddenly miffed and angry.

"If it's a gift and not a curse, then what gives you the right to tell me I can or can't accept it?" Aria demanded as she folded her arms in front of her and glared at Alastor's strange behavior. "What exactly is going on?"

"You've been given the rank of Lady of All Vampires, my dear Aria," Rosie commented with a wide smile as she clapped her hands with excitement as she reached out and held Aria's hands. "You won't have to hide as an angel with this rank and title given to you! Sure, you'll need to choose the blood that will give you the added perks and benefits you'd like, but it's a one time thing. It means Dracula has adopted you into his court and given you certain protections, especially from other vampires. Given that he's the most powerful vampire in recorded history, you have gained some powerful allies here in Hell! Oh congratulations are in order! A feast and a dance should be arranged in your honor!"

"Never!" Alastor snapped as he tried to grab onto Aria, again, but she was ready for it this time as she stepped away from him, looking bewildered, which left Alastor looking stunned as he suddenly looked like he was at a loss. "Lady Aria?"

"...You're hiding something from me," Aria insisted sadly and angrily. "You have something against Vlad Tapesh and it isn't these accursed lockets. You have history with him...you have something going on with him and I need to know what it is. Now...or I walk away from you and seek him out myself!"

"No!" Alastor cried out, suddenly looking nervous as his smile looked feeble like he really needed her not to leave the shop. "Just give me some time! I can fix this!"

"Fix what, Alastor!?" Aria demanded as she stared him down as angelic fire started to lick at her shoulders and arms from her agitation and anger. "If this title and gift will make things better for me and Hell, if only temporarily until the story is over, what's that to you? This is standard protocol for a being who remembers themself during a story. You know this!"

"You can not retain this rank and title and still be able to stay with me, Aria!" Alastor replied evenly as his smile grew cold and bitter. "I have worked too long and too hard to make it so I could withstand the light you demanded I gain! I even enjoy it, now! Crave it, even! Now the darkness has touched you and if you retain their gift, we'll be at odds with eachother once more! We'll be on opposite ends of every story all over again! Do not believe them for a second when they say you'll only need to feed on the blood of the living only once!"

"...Are you serious?" Aria asked as Alastor nodded with a very serious smile on his face, making her look at Rosie with deep disapproval. "You were going to encourage this, knowing it would end up like this? You aren't ignorant of our long and checkered history! I can tell by how you've manipulated the both of us!"

"I am one of the lower ranking vampire's, my dear," Rosie answered with a knowing smirk, but she rolled her eyes at both Alastor and Aria as she summoned a cushioned seat to sit on as she looked at both of them serenely. "Of course I would encourage your demise and fall from grace! The power given to one newly fallen deepens the powers of darkness. Be it as it may, though, the purging of the gift given to you, Aria, is an easy enough task. I still have this year's boon from the vampire courts. Dracula can be summoned and this gift purged, but what do I get out of it? I will not do this out of the kindness of my heart. This is a heavy price I will pay if I don't get something in return. However, it will all be worth it if you can convince the Lord of Vampires to give me the gift he offered you instead. That will be the only way I will be willing to waste my boon on you foolish, lovesick lovers...no matter how cute you both are!"

"That's it, then?" Aria asked as Rosie nodded primly, making Aria sigh as she sat down on the loveseat, feeling suddenly drained as her tummy rumbled, while Alastor sat down next to her slowly as he watched her carefully to see what she would do next. "Then summon Dracula. I won't endanger or belittled Alastor's profound sacrifices on my behalf, especially since I was the one that instigated it all in the first place! I'm so sorry, Alastor! I had no idea. None at all! I'd forgotten so much!"

"I forgive you, my dear," Alastor cooed affectionately as he put his arms around her as his radio feed played a comforting, slow, jazzy tune as she sniffed back tears, feeling completely foolish as he wiped her tears away. "Now, now, don't cry! Smile, my dear! You know you're not fully dressed without one!"

"Very well! Let me go and get that summons done," Rosie said with glowing, red eyes and teeth as she disappeared into her endless rows of shelving as Aria heard a blood curdling scream followed by the swing of an axe as crunching sounds followed, making Aria hide her face in Alastor's chest in horror.

"You wonder why I was adamant against accepting his bloody gift," Alastor commented with a humorless laugh as the crunching finally stopped as Rosie returned covered in blood from head to tow as her entire body became consumed in a black, demonic aura as it bled into every nook and cranny of her shop, making Aria cling to Alastor for dear life as it looked like they hung suspended in complete nothingness!

"I summon thee, or terrible and great Lord of All Vampires!" Rosie spoke in a voice full of evil and darkness as Aria heard terrible things whispering in the darkness she summoned. "I demand my boon be fulfilled for this year! Speak, my Lord! Thy servant demands it!"

"Who dares disturb my slumber in the unforgiving hours of the morning?" A deep and melovolent voice answered as a very tall, very pale man wrapped in a black cloak and suit appeared with short, black hair and black goatee adorning his face as his eyes glowed a demonic red. "Rosie? Of all my servants, you should know better than to awake me at this hour! You will suffer for your insolence!"

"It's not her fault," Aria answered evenly, making Dracula turn and look at Aria with genuine surprise as his bloodred gaze pierced her, making her shiver as she fought to keep her courage! "I insisted this conversation happen now. I don't take kindly to people sneaking into my room and offering me vampire titles without my consent, especially if it'll remove me from the love of my life!"

"You mean your afterlife," Dracula said with amusement as he closed the distance between them in an instant, startling Aria enough to make her hold onto Alastor's hand tightly to steady her nerves. "I gave you a most valuable gift millions here would kill for and you scorn it? How dare you!"

"I have come too far and sacrificed too much to let someone like you steal away the man I love from me through deceit and gifts that will only take away my happiness," Aria answered coolly as she finally found her stride as she glared at Dracula coldly. "I have no need for your rank and title, since I already have what I need to be with my beloved in the realms of the light. I would instead highly recommend you offer your gift to Rosie, who has been most helpful to Alastor and I and I would not see her boon wasted this year."

"Rosie? She is so small in my courts...and yet...I agree that time and again, her meddling in the affairs of Hell has proven both bold and cunning, even to the point that I am forced to admit I'm impressed," Dracula admitted, thinking over Aria's words as he stroked his beard thoughtfully as his red eyes roved over her hungrily. "I had hoped a child of the light would finally choose the darkness once more and harbor in the glorious time of victory over our enemies of the light...but I see that I did not act swiftly enough due to the small window your God cycle gives. Still...I had to try."

"You hoped I would rebel against the God I love for power and vanity?" Aria demanded incredulously as she shook her head at Dracula. "I might have been fooled for a little while, I admit, if you had gotten to me while I was angry, but we both know I wouldn't have sacrificed my love and life with Jesus Christ and Alastor. I also know you've had high hopes to dethrone Lucifer and hoped to gain power over Satan. You're out of luck. I'm done fiddling with the affairs of God. I have chosen to trust his judgment along with the counsel. I see now that you hoped to get me to rise up against the counsel after I put Hell back together in the original storyline before I awoke to myself. If I had continued forward blindly, I very well might've been angry enough to rise against them, thinking I was forced to hurt people, but I know who I am now and my awakening is complete. I will have nothing to do with the darkness. How many times must I deny you?"

"Like I said...I had to try," Dracula stated calmly as he held out a hand as Aria felt something move inside her before she opened her mouth and a black snake with rainbow-like scales burst from her to enter into the mouth of Rosie, making the fire that burned inside Aria's blood disappear as she suddenly slumped against Alastor, feeling suddenly very faint. "It is done. The rank and title you scorned is now upon my servant Rosie. She will be an acceptable replacement, since she has the wit and cunning to organize my forces. You have gained yourself a powerful enemy, Lady Aria. Pray you don't regret your decision going forward."

"Oh, I won't," Aria stated matter-of-factly as she clung to Alastor, trying to not look like she was about to pass out as the darkness around Dracula deepened and gathered around him as he smiled a wicked, red glowing smile.

"We shall see," he said with an evil laugh before the darkness took him as he disappeared from the shop as everything went back to normal.