The Land of Dawn (ML Fanfic)

Special chapter: A Halloween tribute

Author's note: This chapter is not connected to any of the chapters in the story. This is independent from all the other ones and is made out of pure fun and spur of the moment. This is by the way a Halloween special. Enjoy!

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She leaped from her bed and dropped hard on the shiny linoleum floor; she almost slipped upon contact and yet at the last second, she gained her momentum and kept her balance.

"Marga, would you please bring me a hot cup of tea and a side of saltine biscuits? Now? Like now? I'm hungry!" Nana ordered, disregarding the notion that her old maid, Marga, is still preoccupied by a current errand from her mother, Miya.

The frantic Marga rushed to the kitchen to fetch Nana's needs. The cat elf could only sigh in disappointment as she turned her head towards her companion. Nana was with a friend, and it was Aurora's son, Cyclops.

Cyclops was very timid and discreet, almost seeming to be incapable of uttering even a single word, but Nana, the vivacious, verbose Nana, chose to stay friends with him.

"As I was saying, mother told me that my father Yun Zhao would go on a journey for about a month. That means that I'll be left here, all alone with that old maid. Psh." Nana chimed, rolling her eyes upon the thought of their scantily clad of a maid.

Cyclops did nothing but nod and look at Nana conscientiously. He could not quite understand why they have grown close over the past few weeks. They were total opposites.

If it were not for Cyclop's mother, Aurora, he would not be stuck in Nana's kingdom. His mother was out somewhere, searching for her lost sister and she left Cyclops under Miya's aid while she was gone for the time being.

He was almost to utter something when he heard the doorbell ring.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" A man's voice said.

The two teenagers, Nana and Cyclops peeked at the window beside the door, and saw a lean man standing outside.

He was wearing a black satin overall, with red jixou bands clinging to his arms like extra skin. He had two sharp swords strapped to his back and shurikens were dangling all over his belt.

Nana proceeded to call her mother.

"Ma, someone is at the door. Come quick!" Nana shouted across the vastness of their kitchen. She was too lazy to approach her mother intimately.

Miya heard her daughter's lazy notice and rushed to the front door. She clutched the knob and turned it to the right, opening the deadbolt that led to the other side.

She saw Hayabusa, looking all crestfallen and weary.

"What has happened? Come in." As she ushered Hayabusa inside her home.

The two teenagers retreated to Nana's room, leaving the living room a space for the adults to talk.

Hayabusa's hands were fidgeting, his shoulders were shaking. It took Miya an ample time to realize that the man in front of her had sputters of blood all over his black suit.

Hayabusa kept his head hung low. He could not find his voice. He was too shocked. He was too sad, too defeated to say anything.

Miya, gently patted her friend's shoulders, deeming that it was the best thing she could do to comfort her companion.

She waited for him to say a word, and in those minutes of waiting, his head faced the floor, with hands intertwined and violently shaking.

She waited for another minute, and another until silence filled the room and only Hayabusa's heavy and tensed breaths can be heard.

In a blink, his breathing stop and he looked at Miya dead straight in the eye as a heavy stream of tears escaped from his own.

He reached for Miya's hands and placed on her palms a perforated piece of fabric.

The fabric was silk and it was colored teal, bordered with a streak of baby pink. And it was covered with blood.

He reached for his pocket and got out a blue silk belt that's been lacerated and reduced to almost rubble. He placed it on Miya's palms once again.

"I lost her." He said, as he ever so quietly stood up and left the room.

Miya couldn't take in the news or what she thought it was. Hayabusa left and was nowhere near to confirm her current, racing thoughts.

Did Kagura die? Or did she leave Hayabusa? What has happened? Why was he covered with blood?

As if in cue, his husband Yun Zhao, came descending from the stairs, wearing only a robe and with a bath towel slung on his left shoulder.

Yun Zhao automatically sensed that Miya was worrying about something.

"What's wrong my love?" He asked as he reached the last step of the staircase. He hurriedly went to his wife's side, clutching her shoulders side by side.

"Hayabusa came by and gave me this and after that, he just left. He was not himself." Miya replied, handing Yun Zhao the piece of fabric and the gnashed belt.

"Did he say anything before leaving?" He asked, now perplexed.

"Yes. He said that he lost her. Could he possibly mean that Kagura is dead? Or what? I don't know, honey. I am worried about him." Miya replied, as she stood up, massaging her temples.

"Anything could have possibly happened to Kagura, my love. But I bet that her being dead isn't one of the possibilities. Maybe they just fought." Yun Zhao uttered rather calmly, trying to take control of the situation.

"But Hayabusa was covered in blood when he got here! And that fabric, heaven forbid, that fabric is from Kagura's kimono!" Miya said, her ravishing, wondering thoughts intensified as soon as she said them.

Yun Zhao was almost to reply when they heard the doorbell ring.

The couple rushed to the door and opened it instantaneously.

It was Saber, one of Yun Zhao's closest friends. He was carrying a white sack. None was out of the normal until the couple noticed that a tiny red blotch from the side of the sack was visible.

"What brings you here Sab?" Zhao asked, baffled by the untimely visit of his fellow assassin.

"Have you seen Hayabusa?" Saber said, wasting no time, wasting no moment.

On his hands, encased on the rug sack was something he had never ought to see in his lifetime. It was something he never thought he could possibly witness, let alone find.

"He came here moments ago. Why?" Miya replied, more anxious than before.

"What I am about to show you may haunt you forever. I am truly sorry. Are you really willing to look at what's inside of this sack?" Saber uttered, his left hand shaking from gripping the sack for too long.

"Show us what's inside, Saber." Yun Zhao replied with a firm voice.

Saber let out a sigh, a heavy long sigh that almost lasted for a minute, before he rested the sack on the ground, slowly loosening the knot that held the rug sack shut.

As he pulled the last string that held the opening of the bag shut, he let out a harsh groan and pushed forward the bag towards Miya and Yun Zhao.

The couple peeked inside the sack and upon seeing what was inside, Miya fainted.

Yun Zhao was fast enough to catch his wife before she fell to the ground.

He brought Miya inside and rested her on the sofa. Yun Zhao called for Nana to keep an eye on her mother.

"We must find Hayabusa immediately." Yun Zhao said, his voice ajar and yet he struggled to keep his composure.

Saber nodded as he once again tightened the string to secure the sack.

Inside was Hayabusa's life. Hayabusa's other half.

It was Kagura's head.