Shadows within darkness

Many Thanks to



Lamica (*slurps soup* And feeling better already, thank you^^ I´m glad you like it! I hope I can update soon again, but I´m still a bit stuck with the next chapter...)



Ainaloth (Awww, thank you, I´m happy you enjoyed it *glomps back* ^^)



fyrbyrd (Hahaha, I love it when Vincent makes Yazoo purr as well XD And no, you didn´t tell me that you have that story! But what is Sentinel? Never heard of that, I think... Well, I´m glad you liked the chapter and thanks for updating yours as well^^)



Rina76 (hehe, thank you^^ I´m still trying to find a good way with smut, where I don´t have to be so super descriptive but let the characters talk instead, since usually my smex isn´t very dialogue based... I love fairy tales, and yesh, Yazoo´s still the same XD It always ends with sex^^)



for reviewing and to Golden Kitsune for the wonderful betaing!





38



Another heavy storm roared over the fields, scourging the air with rain and hollering around the castle. A blazing light disrupted the clouds, followed by deep grumbling thunder and briefly a cloaked, black figure could be seen, standing in front of the high castle.



If it hadn´t been for his superior ears, Yazoo wouldn´t have heard the rapping at the gate, but so his elegant brows furrowed and he laid aside his book, listening again if he had misheared. No one had ever come to this abandoned area, the earth was too stony and sandy for anything to grow here and the villagers avoided these parts because of the wild animals.



But there it was again, a strong knocking against thick wood.



The vampire contemplated what to do.



Vincent was still out. Besides, he wouldn´t need to ask for entrance. Maybe it was some wanderer who had lost his way and was asking for shelter… A thin smile crept over the man´s lips. Now, this would be a fortunate coincidence, since he also happened to be a bit thirsty… And if he hurried, Vincent would never know. What the eye did not see, the heart did not grieve over, wasn´t it?



Grabbing for a candlebearer, the vampire made his way out into the front curt, and shielding the flickering candles from the rain and wind, opened the viewing panel.



"Who is there?"



"Just a lost wanderer, seeking for shelter from the rain."



"Hn," Yazoo eyed the female through narrowed eyes. Albeit she was pumped with blood, he wasn´t fooled about her obvious dead condition.



"What do you want, blooddrinker."



The woman remained silent for a moment, before her pleasant, soft voice reached his ears again.



"I do wish to speak to Vincent Valentine, please."



Yazoo snorted inwardly. So much for his lover´s promise that no other vampire would show up before their door ever again.



"He is not here."



"Oh. Would you mind letting me inside and wait for him then?"



Yazoo contemplated that for a moment. If she would have meant any harm she would have attacked him from the shadows and not knocked at his door first. As Vincent had told him, bloodsuckers did not need an invitation to infiltrate other bloodsuckers houses, as Sephiroth had taken advantage off. And he was a little curious too, maybe she could tell him about Vincent, about his past and things he still refused to tell.



With a creak, the vampire opened the door, letting the hunched figure in and locking the gate behind her again, then motioning for her to follow him. He lead her to the salon, setting the candlebearer aside and gesturing towards a seat.

His guest finally got rid of her cloak, revealing to be a tall and breath takingly beautiful woman with brown long hair and dark eyes, framed by long lashes.



"Thank you very much, you are too kind," she said gently, lying her black coat over the offered armest and taking a seat by the fire to dry her long, white dress. She wore a pearl necklace around her delicate neck and her hair was drawn into a high ponytail, wrapped up with a pale green yellow ribbon, while her bangs hung into her angelic face freely.



"I assume it suffices to offer you something to drink," Yazoo said dryly, sitting down in his own chair opposite her.



"Yes, thank you though."



Well, at least she had some manners, unlike their other ‘guest’ who had ruthlessly invaded their private quarters.



"So, what brings you here?" the silver haired teen asked interestedly, seizing her up thoroughly. Since he hadn´t met any blood drinkers aside from Vincent and Sephiroth, he had absolutely no idea how old she was as a vampire. He guessed her mortal age to be somewhere around 25.



"I just wanted to visit an old friend," she said politely, observing him herself.



"I see. Then what do you want from him?"



"Nothing, I really just want to see him again and maybe talk a little about old times."



"Really. What kind of ‘old times’?"



"You really are a curious one, aren´t you?" the woman laughed, smiling at him with mirth.



"Hn," he smiled his best fake charming smile, inwardly seizing her up with cold eyes again.



"Well, we met a long time ago, but then somehow lost sight of each other."



"Approximately how long ago?" He inclined his head looking geniunly interested .



She looked thoughtful for a moment. "About three hundred years ago, I believe."



His eyes widened a fraction and she smiled at that. "Do not worry, I mean no harm to you or Vincent."



"Assumedly not," he just agreed with a lifted eyebrow.



"Did he never talk about me?" she asked now herself, arranging her coat anew so that the other side could also dry.



"No. He never talks about the past," Yazoo answered impassively, not failing to notice the hurt expression that flickered over her gorgeous face for a moment.



"I see," the mysterious woman said then, looking up at him with a smile again and inquiring curiously. "And how did you come to live with Vincent?"



"Well, he is my mentor. He made me."



The shell-shocked expression on her face would have greatly amused Yazoo, if there hadn´t also been a somewhat weird and indecipherable gleam coming to her face that made him oddly uneasy.



"I… see," she finally breathed, trying to sound nonchalant, but it didn´t quite work. Before they could get any further in their inquiries, the door opened and footsteps approached.



"Is there still some hot water left? I feel greatly inclined to have a -"



The footsteps came to an abrupt halt, as did Vincent´s speech. Frowning, Yazoo turned his head, only to see his lover waver a little, and his blank expression going from disbelieving to utterly shocked. "L-lucrecia?"



*



Worriedly, Yazoo had risen to his feet, offering his mentor his chair, who dazedly took the seat, without even noticing Yazoo leading him there. He just stared at the woman opposite him with wide eyes and as if he was seeing a ghost.



"Hello Vincent. It has been a while, hasn´t it?" She smiled at him, shyly.



He just nodded automatically, until a sharp elbow prodded into his rips and he hurriedly said "Yes".

They remained in an awkward silence in which Vincent stared at their guest, Lucrecia played with the rim of her dress and Yazoo eyed the two with cold suspicion.



"Well," Lucrecia spoke up again after it became apparent that Vincent was in no condition to speak a coherent sentence himself "your apprentice was so kind as to let me in."



Vincent´s gaze shifted towards Yazoo as if he was seeing him for the first time and then his eyes widened a bit as he realised something."Well. He is a good student."



"I assumed that. Otherwise you certainly would not have chosen him. He is beautiful too," the woman answered, sounding as if she was implying something.



"Is he?" Vincent asked, as if the idea had never crossed his mind before.



Yazoo found that to be a very displeasing turn of events and felt that he had to make things clear here too, smiling sweetly at the woman and saying "Excuse him please, he seems to still be a little confused from the hunt."

His hand was sliding around the man´s neck as he added with a smirk to make her know which side the bread was buttered on. "Actually Vincent appreciates my beauty very much and on a rather regular basis too…"



Very suddenly, the silver haired vampire found his hand slapped away as Vincent stood from his seat, clearly able to speak for himself again. "I am sorry, he has that kind of peculiar humor."



The cloaked vampire threw an apologetic look to his old friend, and then grabbed his lovers upper arm to firmly lead him out of the room, making all alarm bells in the young man´s head shrill full force.



"What-"



"I think it is high time for you to return to your coffin, now," Vincent informed him curtly as he dragged him out of the room.



"But-"



"Now." With that he placed him outside the salon, whispering to him in a warning manner "And do not even think about eavesdropping."



He shut the door into Yazoo´s face, leaving him feel utterly betrayed and confused.



*



After he had effectively thrown out his student, Vincent went back to the fireplace and sat down again. The lower half of his body behind his collar and his long dark hair falling into his face and casting it in shadows made it difficult to see his expression, and when he wasn´t speaking again, Lucrecia leaned forward in her chair, asking worriedly "I am sorry, should I not have come?"



The vampire shook his head, briefly closing his eyes and rubbing his temple. "No, I… This is just very unexpected."



She looked to the ground. "Yes, I understand."



Forcing himself to put his restless hands into his lap where he interwined his shaking fingers, Vincent asked suavely "So, what made you come here?"



Lucrecia smiled at him and leaned back in her seat, crossing her long legs "Sephiroth told me that you two had met recently and that you were doing very well. He said that you had even taken in a student. He didn´t mention however, that you made him…" And here they were again.



Withdrawing deeper into the shadow of his collar, Vincent made a facile noise, then saying in his calm, sonourous voice "It was an accident. I did not intend for that to happen."



She lifted an eyebrow at that, but replied softly "I did not blame you at all. And as I can see he does you good. You look great."



"Thank you," the other murmured, feeling like everything was very surreal.



"Please, do not look at me like that," she sighed, leaning her elbow on the armrest and propping her forehead on two fingers. "I did not expect you to wait for me forever. It is only natural that you would forget about me some day…" That she said, but the hurt in her eyes, she could barely conceal, spoke of very different feelings to her words.



"I never forgot you and I never will!" Vincent instantly said, looking at her intensily and almost angry as his hands clutched around the armrest.



She looked up at him, smiling a sad smile "I even believe you, you were always such an earnest person… But I see now that there is no place for me here, apart from your memories. Your heart has been taken away from me."



"Yazoo has nothing to do with this," the cloaked vampire said dismissively. "His existence will neither influence nor change my attitude towards you and you know that."



"Do I?" Lucrecia asked, still smiling her sad smile and standing from her chair to stay in front of the fireplace. "Actually there has been no night I haven´t thought about you, about us, and when I heard that you were doing so well, I wanted to see, wanted to share your happiness again… I´m sorry, I really shouldn´t have come…"



She turned around, biting her lip and attempting to grab her coat and run out of the room, but two strong hands held her by the shoulders, and a moment later she was drawn in a thight embrace. As the female vampire laid her head against his broad chest, smelling his unique scent and feeling his arms around her torso, he said quietly. "Please stay here for the night. I suggest we continue this discussion tomorrow night. Obviously we both need time to think and adjust to the situation."



There was a moment of silence that made Vincent fear that she would refuse his offer but eventually she nodded, freeing herself from the hug and uncertainly gracing him with a little smile. The warm light from the fireplace flickered over her gentle features and she was just like he remembered her from so many years ago…



"I will show you your coffin now." He abruptly turned around and grabbed for the candle bearer, more because he wanted to have something to cling to while he led her through the corridors than because they needed the light. Together they made their way through the dark hallways, the storm filling in for the silence between them. Eventually they came to the castles personal crypt in an outhouse. It provided their home with enough unoccupied stone coffins, though both Yazoo and Vincent had settled with wooden coffins. For one night it would do, though.



Gesturing towards one of the burial cases, Vincent sat aside the candlebearer and opened the heavy lid. "I am sorry, it is a bit dusty… If you feel inclined to, I can offer you my coffin instead."



She shook her head, lying her now dry coat into it as a substitute for a blanket. "Do not worry, I am perfectly fine here. Besides, I believe that you and your student have to talk quite a bit."



His face did not show any signs if he shared her opinion or not. As she had laid down, he went to the stairs again, bowing in her direction and quietly took his leave.



*



When Vincent entered their own bedroom, which they had transferred to a less drafty and uncomfortable place, he found Yazoo sitting on his closed coffin, looking at the wall opposite the entrance and being in one of his lost moods.



It wasn´t that Vincent had to complain about it, to tell the truth he did not feel much like explaining anything. He had to get his own confusion back under control, before he could even think about facing Yazoo´s unquestionably frosty accusations.



"She´s ‘that woman’, isn´t she." It wasn´t so much of a question but a dry, plain statement.



Vincent removed the lid from his coffin, only replying "Yes." There was no use in hiding it, and frankly he did not see why he should do it at all. Yazoo might not understand or share his excitement, but that didn´t change anything about the fact that it was there. Actually the cloaked vampire had expected a snappy reply or something sarcastic in return, but there was only a clinical statement.



"I thought you said she was dead."



"Well," the vampire lifted an eyebrow, preparing to slip in his burial case "actually she is. Just not in the sense that you may have suspected."



No further words were spoken, until Vincent remembered something he had to say before Yazoo was drifting off. "On another note: I would appreciate it if you could refrain from making such impudent comments in the future. Our private matters shall remain between us and I will not tolerate another verbal lapse."



There was no answer.



"Did you hear me?"



"I heard you."



"Well then answer."



"Good night."



"…Good night."



TBC