The Duty of the General

Halloween Special (2024) - Haunted Houses

"cyno?" you looked around the house for the man, having just come home from the akademiya for some leyline research. "cyno? hello?"

"i'm in here," cyno called from his office.

you walked inside, curious. "oh hey." there was a map he was looking at, his gaze intent. "what're you looking at?"

"apparently there is a house that's been quite active recently. screams can be heard from inside at night. it's relatively new too, which is strange."

"screams? that's not good," you said, growing a little concerned. "when did that house show up?"

"two days ago," cyno said. "this seems serious."

"did you want to go investigate," you asked him.

"yes," he said. "i think that would be a good idea."

"alright then," you said. "should we just leave a bowl of candy outside for the kids that stop by?"

"if you'd like. but i don't think anyone would willingly waltz over to the house of the general mahamatra."

"you never know," you shrugged. "but let's go."

after leaving the bowl out, you and cyno headed out to the site of the house which was...

clearly a haunted house. it even had a sign that read: HAUNTED HOUSE.

"oh what? cyno this is just a-"

"it looks dangerous," cyno said, already into work mode. "we should proceed with caution."

"no cyno it's literally just a haunted house," you said.

"... haunted house?"

"yeah, have you never heard of one," you asked him.

he shook his head.

"how was i in a coma and i still know more about these things than you," you deadpanned at him.

"because i was working," cyno returned your blank stare with one of his own.

you scoffed. "well whatever it is... it's not something to be worried about. it's for fun."

"fun? what's fun about a place infested with spirits?"

"they're not spirits. it's just a 'scary house' run by people. they just try to jumpscare you or make you feel on edge. it's part of the halloween spirit."

"i could throw them into the desert with some eremites. would that work," cyno asked you.

"... no... no cyno," you said, almost baffled by how innocent he sounded while asking the question. "maybe we should come back when it's open so you can experience it."

"sure," he said. "that way i can inspect the integrity of it."

you sighed a little. oh here we go...

timeskip - 4 hours later

cyno and you came back into the haunted house, waiting in line for your turn. it seemed to be pretty popular, since the line stretched and wrapped around the corner. after waiting for around 30 minutes, it was your turn. the ticketing booth worker seemed intimidated.

"t-two tickets?"

"yes," cyno answered, handing him 4000 mora for both of your tickets. "are you running all of this?"

"n-no no! it's just an experiment run by the akademiya where students measure the emotional response to stimulus in a halloween setting," the booth-worker said.

clearly he seemed on edge because well... cyno wasn't known for being the most... outwardly friendly.

"i see," cyno said. "thank you for the intel."

"n-no problem!"

"honey," you said, while at the house's entrance. "you're scaring them too much. lighten up, we're not here for work, remember?"

"was i not light?"

"... not... quite..."

"hm..." cyno thought about it. "is it what i'm wearing?"

you looked at his t-shirt momentarily that had a pumpkin on it with the words "i'm doing just vine" ("i'm doing just fine") written on it. it was the most dumb shirt ever, but it was hard to separate the shirt from its wearer.

"no it's not that. just try to relax a little more," you said, trying to direct him.

he held your hand. "i'll try."

you smiled and pecked his cheek. "there's a good start."

a small smile graced his lips.

then, it was you and cyno's turn to enter the haunted house. however... it didn't seem that scary.

probably because all the akademiya students who were running it seemed more scared of cyno than he was of them. despite the fact that they wanted to jumpscare you both, it was like poking a tiger. they had no idea if he was here for leisure or if he was going to crack down on anything that he found unsafe or unethical.

which... there were plenty of things that would seem "unethical". for example, there was a mechanical doll that was getting "sawed open" by a "mad scientist" - also a mechanical doll - with fake blood everywhere. cyno seemed to pause momentarily to look at it, and you could have sworn you heard several akademiya students gasp or stop breathing.

"this place doesn't seem scary," cyno said, his lips by your ear since the music was a little loud.

"it's not," you replied, calling over the sound of the music and screams from up ahead.

"why are others so scared," he mumbled. "i thought you said that people come here because it's scary."

"e-everyone has different tolerances," you justified, not wanting to tell him the reason behind the lack of jumpscares.

"... i guess that's true."

the two of you walked out, barely fazed by any of the haunted house's horror elements. probably because all of the students had seen cyno and decided not to take their chances at jump scaring him or risk the repercussions.

"looks like that house is safe," cyno said, holding your hand and walking home with you. "and not scary at all. was that scary for you?"

"no," you said. "it's because i've done so many. i kind of expected most of it except for the loud banging and crashing."

well... i'd rather not tell him that he definitely made it less scary. that'd hurt his feelings.

"hm. me too," cyno said. "but... even though i don't really understand the appeal... it was fun."

"really?"

"yeah." he kissed the back of your hand. "although i do think that the students could be scarier by holding up failed tests or expulsion letters from the akademiya."

"then that'd only be scary for the scholars and us," you chuckled. "it's supposed to be for the public."

"the idea wouldn't be bad," cyno said. "but in any case... i always enjoy being with you, Y/N. no matter what happens, it's always more enjoyable by your side."

you couldn't help the smile that spread over your lips. "now you're just trying to be sweet."

"it's true though. i always find myself entertained, Y/N. even in lame haunted houses."

you couldn't help but laugh. "yeah?"

"yeah. we should do this again next year," cyno said. "maybe they'll up their game."

"maybe," you agreed. "only time will tell."