Author's Notes

This is of course the second part to my original 'Mirrors' fic. However, it wasn't necessarily supposed to have a follow-up portion. It was only through popular demand that this is here now. I aim to please, you know. ;) Anyway, same warnings for shonen-ai/light yaoi content apply. I hope you enjoy!

Mirrors: Part II

The garden was quiet. There was mist rolling about with the breeze, and a gray sky warned of rain. But he just remained still. Unconcerned. Sitting on the moist grass suited him just fine and besides, he had company. The gate creaked as it was pushed aside, the broken latch clacking loudly against the metal. The young knight had found him yet again.

His soft footsteps on the damp earth and his quiet breaths were comforting in ears pained by silence. Still, the scent of his blood alone was an enticement, a provocation of his senses. No. He would try to ignore that. He had to try. That knight was after all just another soul caught up in Walter's ridiculous game. A game he too had played and lost, so many times.

But how could that man Leon, proud and strong, stand to knowingly be part of it, to entertain the absurdity of it all? There was only one possible reason, and Joachim cursed him for it under his breath. He wanted to take him by the shoulder again, perhaps to shake some sense into him, to warn him. To drag him to the rotting underbelly of the chapels, and show him where those who rebelled ended up, where he almost ended up. Perhaps to shake out of him the name of his beloved, so that he could scoff it. Perhaps even, to pull him into an embrace, so that he could savor a mortal's warmth. He would never tire of that warmth. He was always so cold.

"You…" Leon, stern-faced and whip in hand, stopped a few feet from the vampire who was slouched against a side of the garden's stone fence. With weary eyes, Joachim looked up at his visitor. His lips edged upwards in a half smile.

"So, fate has crossed our paths again, eh?" He glanced at Leon's leg, where he had struck him with his blade earlier. The wound had been wrapped tightly with a grayed piece of cloth, but the scent of dried blood lingered, teasing him. No. I cannot. "Where did you find that bandage? It looks filthy."

"Nevermind that. You're free to leave the castle now. What are you still doing here?"

"To be honest, absolutely nothing. You managing to find this place must mean something, though."

"Why? Was it meant to be hidden?"

"No, it's not that." He turned away from Leon as he said this, his voice softening. "It just happens to be the only place he wouldn't go."

"He…Walter?"

"Yes."

"Why not?"

"I don't pretend to know. But it was fine with me." A few moments of uncomfortable silence bridged Joachim's comment and Leon's awkward clearing of his throat. Neither was quite sure of how to continue, but that did not stop Leon from attempting.

"…well, it is a lovely place." He added quickly, "One that I wouldn't mind spending time in."

"Indeed." Joachim sighed. At one time, he would have been able to feel his heart beating to a frenzied pace in his chest, would have felt and recognized the fluttering in his stomach. But now, he only felt a perpetual calm, a cursed lethargy. If his heart beat too slowly for mortal detection or not at all, he was not certain. If he really needed to draw breath, even though he felt no physical compulsion to do so, he was not certain. The only way to bring waves of life and feeling into his pallid shell was to thieve it all from another, to feed. An unfortunate circumstance.

The mist had grown thicker now, the tiny droplets themselves growing larger, becoming a light rain. Joachim's eyes twitched slightly. But he did not stir. What he did not anticipate and found most surprising was Leon actually staying there with him. This was the man he had just previously wounded and threatened, after all. Naïve to a fault, you are.

"You're not fighting me. Why is that?" Joachim looked away.

"I don't know. I suppose I'm too weak to be bothered with that right now." He grinned, widening his eyes a bit as he stared ahead into Leon's. Stay with me awhile. I insist. "Going too long without feeding will do that to anyone."

Leon's own eyes narrowed at this remark, but he felt no real concern, only a curious bout of lightheadedness. He lowered his whip and knelt near the vampire, wondering to himself why he was so quick to let down his defenses.

"That's too bad. I'll put in a good word for you with Walter when I see him." The mention of that name yet again worked to wear on Joachim's nerves and patience. His brows furrowed and his voice grew more solemn, but he remained calm, enjoying his work.

"Hmpf, Walter. You still have much to do before you're anywhere close to reaching him. And none of it will be easy." Something about those words struck Leon, causing him to pause. Joachim's eyes were steady and gentle, a distinct change. He recalled them earlier, during their first encounter. They were furious and wild – certainly frightening. But now, as he searched them, he could find no obvious signs of malice. They reminded him of Mathias' eyes, so tranquil and focused. Mathias. Sara. Sara - the one still waiting to be rescued, the one he had to rescue. A renewed sense of urgency.

"…all the same." Ignoring his faintness, the blond knight stood up and began heading back to the gate. But he did not get far. Once again, he felt a pressure on his arm and shoulders, a familiar pressure. The vampire's clutch was painful, and he could feel his arm throbbing as he fell backward onto the ground. His eyelids fluttered, and all became mingled splotches of light and shadow through them. Though he had not heard any footsteps behind him, he knew what was happening. Joachim knelt over his body and smiled. He ran a hand through his yellow hair, twisting the ends with his thumb and forefinger.

Leon looked up at him and fumbled for words. Being in this particular situation a second time was something that he found at least slightly embarrassing, and frustrating. "Why…why are you…!" But the vampire just hushed him.

"Quiet, now. Why do you always ask 'why' all of the time?" One hand slid up the knight's thigh; the other grabbed his jaw and forced his head back, exposing a milky throat. The vampire leaned into the pulsing flesh and brushed his lips over it. How he wanted to clamp down on the skin below him, wanted to call the blood to the surface and take it into his mouth. Warm. Thick. Rolling down his throat.

What it was about Leon that had him so fascinated, he did not know for certain. He was a beautiful human, but then again, so many were. Nevertheless, he could feel his own excitement build rapidly. So many times before with Walter, he was the one made to be passive, to be had. Not this time, he chuckled to himself. He had the knight under him, under his control, and he could now experience for himself the physical rush that dominance evoked. The hand on Leon's thigh crept higher, now caressing the center of the knight's growing pleasure. The blond could not deny the effect this was having on his body. Indeed, the stiffness under the vampire's hand was most telling, and this pleased him to no end. He pondered removing the cloth barrier altogether.

"Uh…you…" Leon's whimpering had already begun. But it only served to make Joachim more determined.

"If you want this to stop, then quit encouraging me with your racket." He tightened his grip, causing Leon to writhe even more. The combination of this and the vampire's teeth nibbling up and down his neck was intoxicating, and felt himself squirming upwards to meet his touch.

Joachim, himself gasping and groaning, increasingly hungered for a release. But in order to reach his, it would require stealing Leon's blood once again. His neck was there for the taking, naked and perfectly vulnerable. All he needed to do was lower his head and bite into the flesh, and the crimson bliss would be his.

But, he hesitated. Even as he brought his head down, hovering inches above veins running full, he could not go forth and gratify himself. If it was out of empathy, of sympathy for a fellow knight, a fellow pawn, he was not sure. And even if it was, he would never have admitted that aloud. Pride was a terrible thing, and as much as he knew God shunned it in men, he never could strip himself of it.

More likely, though, it was out of his unbridled spite for Walter. Killing or mortally wounding the only one who could defeat the Master Vampire would grant him no real satisfaction. He wanted the redhead dead more than he wanted Leon's blood. More than anything else.

Joachim released Leon's jaw from his grasp and then backed off of his body, moving a few feet away. The blond struggled to stand, reeling from the pain in his back from the initial fall. The vampire, amused by Leon's irritation, offered a hand to help but the knight just slapped it away.

Leon clutched his whip and raised it in front of him, daring the silver-haired man. Though he did not speak, his eyes and pulse told Joachim everything.

"Go on. End it, Leon. Take my life. You and I both know how much you desire to." He said, with an apathetic grin. Leon just took a step to the side, still holding his whip in front of him. He did not return the smile.

"…I have to find Walter. That is my priority. I have no qualms with you if you do not get in my way."

"Quite generous, honorable of you, considering... But then, I'd expect nothing less."

"However, I have trusted you for the last time."

The rainfall began to ride on a crisp wind, a wind that cried as it moved around the castle walls. Joachim grinned, still watching the blond. "Then I have done my part."

Leon paused before he turned and exited the garden silently, turning his back on the vampire once more and for the final time.

As the rain bit at his skin, Joachim chuckled and leaned his head back against the stone wall.

"Look out, Walter."

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