Yes. Some of you may recognize this fan fic. If you have no read this before, welcome and I hope that you enjoy it. p

So this USUK fan fiction that is vaguely based off of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast with a vampire twist thrown in. Also, I got inspired by the song Beauty and the Tragedy by Trading Yesterday.

Hetalia (C) Hidekaz Himaruya

Beauty and the Tragedy (C) Trading Yesterday

Beauty and the Beast (C) Many people, including the Walt Disney Company

For I am finding out that love will kill and save me.
Taking the dreams that made me up.
And tearing them away.
But the same love will take this heart that's barely beating.
And fill it with hope beyond the stars.
Only love.

-Beauty and Tragedy by Trading Yesterday

Act 1 - A Beast is Born

The tavern was rowdy and full of life. The pirates all around were flirting and kissing it up with the barmaids who served them, their cups filled constantly to the brim with rum. Each of them was fully intoxicated with only one thing on their mind, attempting to get in the bed with their chosen barmaid.

Only one of their party was not trying to get it on with any of the women in the tavern. It might have been due to the fact that he was the only one of the pirates in the tavern that wasn't drunk. Certainly, he had purchased some alcohol, but unlike the rest of his crew, he sipped his rum slowly, savoring the flavor. He dared not to guzzle it down or drink too much like the rest of his crew, preferring not to make a complete fool of himself. Still, it was probably due to the fact that he was relatively new at this business, having been raised from being a prized prisoner to a pirate, after proving his worth to the captain and crew, only recently.

The boy's blue eyes looked around the tavern, seeing if he could spot his captain who he had seen a few moments before. He had been waiting patiently in a corner of the tavern at the orders of the captain. A brief moment before, the boy had seen his captain chatting it up with a particularly fetching looking lass before he disappeared. The young man sighed and placed his half filled cup of rum on the tray that a passing by barmaid was holding, having had enough of the drink for now. He crossed his arms and continued to wait for his captain to return to him.

He was chasing after a particularly beautiful young woman, a saucy lass with a seductive smile. But it was not her physical charms that had peeked his interest in her. No. It was the information that she claimed to have that had intrigued him, pulling him towards her. She laughed wickedly as he chased her, trying to hinder him from ever catching her.

"Come back here!" he demanded, anger in his emerald eyes. He was so sick of chasing this girl that it made him sick of chasing after women in general.

"Now, now, captain. We both know that you can't catch me. Why don't you just sit down and drink that bottle of ale?" she teased him, indicating the bottle of ale that he had carried with him on this chase.

"I'll make you regret defying me!" he hissed. "I am-"

"An insolent pig," the woman retorted. "Don't think that I can't see what you truly are."

The captain could no longer hold back the fury that was beginning to overcome him. He flung that bottle of ale at the girl. The bottle missed her by a hair, luckily for her. The bottle broke upon impact with the ground. The glass shards flew in various directions and the alcohol seeped into the earth.

The pirate continued to chase after her, following her deep into the forest on the outskirts of the small sea side town.

The boy had waited long enough. His captain was not returning to him, so now it was up to the boy to go find him, since the rest of the crew either didn't care about their captain's whereabouts or were too aroused and horny to do anything other than attempt to make love with some of the barmaids. He drew his sword and headed where he had last seen his captain talking with the beautiful lass. After weaving his way through a sea of drunken men and barmaids he reached the place that he had seen his captain a little while before. In the wall nearby there was a wooden door that had recently been unlocked. Curious, the young pirate opened up the door only to find himself outside.

The boy closed the door behind himself and looked down on the ground, spotting some soft footprints in the dirt path that seemed to be leading away from the tavern. He turned back to the tavern and grabbed one of the lit lanterns that hung around the exterior before he headed in the direction of the footprints.

After an exhausting chase, the captain finally caught up with his elusive lass. The girl had finally stopped in a small clearing in the heart of the forest. The moon shined down on her like a spotlight, drawing all of the pirate's attention to her. She gazed back him with an intimidating grin as the pirate caught his breath.

"I was right about you," she judged him. "You really are pathetic, Captain."

A moment later, she began to transform before him, her flesh encasing of a human being ripping and falling down to the ground in pieces as she became a grotesque creature. A new black figure with blazing red eyes and enormous wings glared down at him, peering past the man's own cold green eyes into his soul.

"You truly embody avarice, don't you?" the demon before him spoke.

The man's eyes widened, frightened by the presence of the demon in front of him, yet unable to run away or fight her.

Thin hands grabbed at him, picking him up easily off of the ground.

"Greed. Lust. Envy," a voice listed off his sins. "What a naughty boy you have been, Arthur Kirkland. A true beast inside. Perhaps it's time to make the outside reflect the inside."

He was too speechless to reply. The demon's hands released him, allowing him to fall down into the wet grass. Arthur's insides start to burn and his body was soon consumed in pain.

There was the sound of the ripping of fabric. His back felt like it was on fire. Wicked appendages burst out of his back, the large wings of a bat. Kirkland writhed in agony, his eyes beginning to turn the same cruel red as the demon's.

"This is the monster that you are," the demon told him, over the man's tears and screams from the pain. "Fitting, no? You are damned to this cursed life."

With that the demon disappeared, leaving the monster in the bitter cold, alone.

Avarice and lust for power. Those emotions can awaken a horrible monster inside us all.

Arthur Kirkland now knew that the meaning of these words. There was only one way to break the spell, for him to feel true love for someone and earn their love in return. But who could ever learn to love a beast?

The village of White Raven was a quaint, rustic village in the countryside. It was the sort of place in which everyone knew everyone else and their business. It had several restaurants and shops, charming houses, and a small square in which the villagers would meet to discuss important matters. The entire village was run by the mayor, Feliks Łukasiewicz, and his partner, Toris Laurinaitis.

Although the village was appealing in appearance, White Raven had a dark secret, it was plagued. The occasional civilian or two would turn up dead, completely drained of blood. This plague was believed to be the work of some beast that lived in the forbidden forest at the eastern edge of the village. Livestock were sacrificed to this creature in hopes of pleasing it. Unfortunately nothing came of that as humans and livestock were being killed and drained of blood like water, despite the various warnings that were given to people to not go out at night unless it was an emergency or to never enter the forest under any circumstances.

Feliks assembled the people of White Raven for a meeting one evening, much disturbed by the news that he had been recently informed of. It was truly sickening to hear.

"Ladies and gentleman," Feliks addressed his citizens, his Lithuanian lover at his side. "Like this beast or whatever the heck it is has killed someone else. This is totally not cool!"

Toris stepped into to assist Feliks.

"The beast has killed a young girl, little Susie Miller. She was found dead this morning, the characteristic puncture wounds in her neck," he said. "We should work to prepare another sacrifice right away. That is all, unless anyone else has something to say."

No one spoke up.

As they left it started pouring rain. A storm had come to the land.

The village needed a hero. Little did they know that one was coming soon enough.

Screams. He heard screams of the young man who was now at his disposal.

"Captain!" the boy said desperately, gazing up at the beast who had tackled him to the ground, holding him captive. His blue eyes did not waver, staring at the monster before him not with fear, but with confidence and bravery. "I'm here to save you. So please let me help you."

The sword that he had carried with him lay a few feet away from him, useless to assist him now.

The monster seemed not to hear him, overtaken by the euphoria of the music that was the boy's blood pumping. The beast moved his head down, sniffing the boy's neck, before he dug his two fangs into the soft tan skin of his prey. The boy let out a small cry from the pain, but allowed the vampire to do as he pleased.

"It's alright," he said. "Arthur, I lo-"

He was cut off, the blood being drained from him at a quick rate. Soon enough his heart stopped pounding and the rest of his body went limp and silent. The blood lust filled filter that covered the monster's eyes cleared and he saw what he had done. He stood up and backed away from the boy's body in horror. He let out a pained scream, tears coming to his eyes.

Running. The young man had to keep running, despite the pain that he felt. The cold rain poured down in thick sheets, soaking him to the bone. The combination of the rain and harsh winds had made him run in an attempt to find shelter from this storm. Luckily, he had yet to see any lightening or hear any thunder. Still, he knew that some was on its way.

He had come to the countryside to escape, to heal. It was true that this boy, Alfred F. Jones, was a mercenary, a soldier who would fight for a price. Scars on his body showed the horrors of war that he had witnessed. He was only seventeen when he had entered into that business. Jones had multiple reasons for becoming a mercenary, one of the most prominent was to obtain money so that he could feed and clothe himself. The young man had to get by on his own while he searched for them, that person. Shortly after collecting his reward money from his latest battle, he had come to the countryside for a brief break as he had enough to survive for a little while while he searched for them.

He had lost track of where he was. At last he caught sight of a castle rising out from the forest in front of him. Immediately, the boy ran for the castle. Once he was at the door, he knocked and continued to knock, praying that someone was there and would let him in to take refuge until the storm was over.

After several moments, the door creaked opened. There was no one in the doorway. A clap of thunder gave this mercenary the sign to go into the castle, despite the eeriness of the whole situation.

Seconds after he entered, the main door slammed shut behind him, making the self-proclaimed hero jump a little at the sharp noise.

"Hello?" he called around. "Hey listen, I'm sorry for intruding. I'll just be here until the storm passes."

He received no reply. The American walked further into the house, spotting a burning fire. The embers were kindling nicely.

Alfred was positively drenched. He dug into the heavy bag that he had lugged with him for his journey. Inside the bag was a change of clothes along with some night clothes. Taking out the night clothes, which were mostly dry enough to wear, he changed into them, hanging his pants, shirt, and leggings in front of the fire place.

The young man spotted a chair near the fire place, but ignored taking it, knowing that that chair was probably the master's chair. He was already intruding and he did not want to cause any more trouble for the owner.

The boy settled himself on the floor in front of the fire place and took off his glasses. He fell asleep quickly on the hard floor. Being in battle had taught him how to sleep on hard surfaces easily.

If the boy had been paying any attention, he would have seen two blood red orbs that were watching his every move.

"Well, if this isn't interesting," a voice remarked, poking at the nineteen year old, who slept like a log on the floor. "A little unwanted worm has entered into my home."

Usually he had to go kill them, but this little lamb had fled from his flock, presenting himself on a silver platter before the predator. Stupid human.

The beast bent down, sniffing the neck of the young man. The smell of fresh rain and mud filled his nostrils. Despite this, he picked up on a scent that he hadn't smelt in years, a warm smell that made him unknowingly smile when he smelt it.

The man heard the pumping of the boy's heart,which brought him back. The sound was music to his ears. The young man's neck was singing to him. The vampire swallowed hard. This was the animal that he had become, feasting off of the blood of the living.

The boy muttered something in his sleep, turning over to face the vampire. The beast got a better look at the human. The vampire noted the boy's unkempt wheat blonde hair and his skin that was peppered with fresh scars from his latest battle. The boy had muscular features to him and the beast had to admit that the boy was pretty attractive. It was uncanny that resemblance that this boy shared with him, the one from so long ago, whose spirit constantly haunted the vampire's dreams. But this boy before the vampire couldn't be him. No. His boy was long dead now.

The vampire shook his head. What he was thinking?

He bent down and was about to bite the boy, get this task done with, when the boy's eyes opened. At a speed at which no human could match, he had moved away from the young man to sit in the chair before the fire place.

Alfred rubbed his eyes and felt around the floor for his glasses. When he found them, he put them on and gazed before him. He saw that the master's chair was now occupied by a handsome man.

This man couldn't have been more than twenty three years old in age. Vibrant green eyes stared at Alfred, eyes filled with secrets and history, beneath a crop of golden hair and bushy eyebrows. The man's black outfit stood out against his pale pallor.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," the man purred, his voice clearly identifying him as someone of British decent. "Or should I say evening. You seem to have made yourself quite at home here."

The American stood before the owner and bowed.

"Forgive me for intruding. I was merely taking refuge from the storm," he apologized. "I will leave promptly in the morning."

The vampire gazed at him. He could see the boy's beautiful azure eyes, unwavering, confident and firm. So much like him. But...

The vampire put these thoughts in the back of his mind and tried to concentrate on the conversation at hand.

"You will?" the beast asked. "And where will you be going?"

"No idea. Anywhere is good. I am searching for someone," Jones told him.

"I see. And who might you be looking for?" the vampire asked.

"My brother."

"Ah," he contemplated. "There is a town nearby. Perhaps you may find what you seek there."

"Yes. I should try there. Thank you Mr. uh..."

"Kirkland, Arthur Kirkland," he replied.

"I'm Alfred F. Jones. It's nice to meet you."

"The same name, huh?" Arthur thought to himself. "Have you come back to haunt me then, in flesh and blood rather than in spirit or dreams?"

Alfred held out his hand to shake the Brit's hand. Kirkland took him up on his offer. The vampire's hand was as cold as ice.

"You should go back to sleep, Mr. Jones," Arthur said, his voice having some sort of hypnotic power to it.

"Yes, perhaps I should," the boy agreed and resettled himself on the floor, taking his glasses back off, and falling back to sleep immediately.

Arthur got up from his chair and bent over the pathetic human. Yes, their resemblance was uncanny and yes their names were the same, but that name was common enough. There was no possible way that this Alfred was his from before. Still...

He was ready to get this thing finished with and bite the boy and take his blood, when the monster stopped himself, somehow unable to do it. How could kill him a second time? And even if this Alfred was not the one that he once knew, it would be fun to play with his food, now wouldn't it? Arthur snickered, retreating into the darkness.

"Sleep well, Mr. Jones," he told the sleeping boy.

To be continued...

Just as a side note, the line "but who could ever learn to love a beast?" came from the Prologue of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.