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“Aw, I didn’t think you’d be so scared!” Hu Tao snickered, holding onto Aether’s back as he carried her back from the haunted house to the rest of their group. “I’ve never seen you freak out so much!” She shook her head. “We’ll have to work on that if we’re ever going to be a serious couple you know.”
“Hey! You’re back, how was it?” Lumine beamed as her brother returned. It was Halloween night and the moon was hidden behind the clouds, leaving for quite a scary atmosphere! Lumine had heard of a haunted house and decided to make a stop on the way to a halloween costume party hosted by one of the other cheerleaders, Yoimiya and just had to drag her brother and friends to it.
Lumine and Aether had spent countless hours arguing on their costumes. As with every year, they had to match, but while Lumine wanted to royalty, Aether had wanted to be bunnies. In the end, Lumine managed to convince Aether to be a prince while she was a princess. She’d dragged Ajax into being her knight, while Aether had done the same for Hu Tao. Except while Ajax looked more like a proper knight, Hu Tao was instead an undead knight, a choice Lumine hadn’t expected, but Aether was happier with. Accompanying them was the princess’ lady in waiting Ganyu, and Dutchess Keqing.
“It was pretty average, but this guy somehow got spooked by all the oldest tricks in the book! Aiya Aether, the blood didn’t even look real!” Aether groaned and pouted.
“I was just trying to make the actors feel better.” He lied, crossing his arms. “They put a lot of effort into it, you know.” Aether turned his head back to look at the girl on his back. “And it doesn’t help when you start crawling your fingers up my arm.”
“Oho? So I scare you more than the actors and the house, do I?” Hu Tao grinned proudly, hopping off his back.
“Hey! I never said that, I simply-” Lumine turned from the pair, grabbing Ajax’s arm, beaming at him.
“Come on Ajax! It’s our turn!” She pulled on his arm, lifting her skirt up to keep from tripping on it- again.
“W-Wait-! Lumi!” Aether reached out, catching his sister’s attention. “Maybe you should sit this one out, it might be too intense for you!”
“What?!” She huffed as she turned toward him, undisturbed when Ajax collided into her side. “I can handle it! I’m not afraid of anything!” She scoffed as both boys snickered. “Ajax will be the one scared!” She crossed her arms, looking away.
“Whoa now, girlie. You’re the one who gets scared by horror movies. And not afraid of anything? What ab-”
“Shhh! Shut it Ajax!” Lumine whined out, slapping his chest. “Nothing scares me, you’ll see! You’ll be the one who jumps into my arms!”
“Lumi seriously, it’s okay if you don’t go, you don’t have to-” Aether reassured, reaching for his sister.
“NO! I’ll be fine! Stop worrying about me! This princess isn’t afraid!” She reached for Ajax’s hand, huffing out. “I’ll be fine.”
“Aether, just let her go. She’s opening herself up to it.” Keqing reasoned, a hand to her hip.
“Is it that bad?” Ganyu asked, peeking around Keqing to Aether.
“Not too bad, but Lumi is pretty easy to scare.”
“I AM NOT!” Lumine stomped away, dragging the taller male with her.
“You’re both such chickens if you think those cheap gimmicks are scary.” Hu Tao groaned, looking at her date.
Lumine dragged the ginger quarterback to the haunted house, gulping at the shrill scream coming from inside. "You don't have to do this, moya printsessa. I'm sure if we ask the guy at the door they'll let us stand in there for a few minutes and-"
"Aw, Ajax! Are you scared?" Lumine glanced over her shoulder, a smirk on her lips. "If you are, we can tell them you are."
"Excuse me?" She let out a squeak as the boy lifted her off her feet and turned her toward him. "Are you calling me a coward?" He expected her to cower and admit her fear, but instead she hardened her gaze and stared back at him.
"Well you're intent on getting us to stay out of it." A dark chuckle left the ginger before he turned her back around, pushing her toward the house.
"Alright. Then we're going in. First one to scream is the coward. Deal?" Lumine blinked before straightening and leading him.
"Deal. Try not to pee yourself, or I might tell the rest of the cheerleaders."
"Oh? If that's the case I can't wait to tell them you pissed yourself. Are they still going to let you be at the top of the pyramid after?" Lumine scoffed, the couple walking in silence until they reached the door.
"Welcome to Walnut's Haunted House." Recited a rather bored looking employee. "In this haunted house we allow our workers to grab and pull on you. If you would like to opt out of this, we also have a no touch patch you can wear to stop them. There's no food or drink inside, and you are not allowed to hit any employee, nor are you allowed to take any of the decoration." The man sighed out. "Now, would you like the no touch experience or the full experience."
Lumine looked up at Ajax, catching the concerned look in his eyes. He really thought she couldn't do this, didn't he? "Full experience. We're not babies." She smirked at Ajax as he looked at her with surprise.
"That'll be thirty dollars." Ajax reached into the pocket of his armored trousers, pulling out the money and handing it to the employee before he opened the door. "Have fun and be safe." Lumine stared at the door, even as her boyfriend passed her.
"You coming?" He asked as he turned to her. Snapping out of it, the blonde nodded and lifted the front of her dress to follow after him, locking an arm around his as they entered the building. The door slammed shut behind them, yet Ajax didn't seem to even mind. The house was silent, aside from the creaking floorboards beneath their feet. A dim, flickering light could be seen on one end of the room, a dim red arrow in the back guiding them.
“St-stay close to me, Ajax. I-I don’t want you getting too scared…” In front of the flickering light sat a skeleton in an old wooden rocking chair, though it didn’t move. Perhaps this was just a bad haunted house. Right beneath the light, red, dripping letters, as if to look like it was drawn in blood, read out ‘LEAVE OR ELSE’. “See? This isn’t so b-”
“WELL!” The skull of the skeleton turned abruptly, startling the girl as she wrapped her arms tight around her knight’s arm. Even Ajax jumped a little at the sudden screech. “WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?! A PRETTY PRINCESS AND HER KNIGHT?!” Could it SEE them?! How did it know what they were?! “YOU BETTER RUN, OR YOU’LL BE THE PRINCESS OF HELL! EHEHEHE” Lumine buried her face into the football player’s shoulder, following him as he continued along.
“It’s not too late to back out, girlie. If you want we can turn around and-”
“N-NO! N-No, I’m fine!” She raised her eyes up as they passed from one room into the next, a bright green glow illuminating on the back wall of the new room. ‘YOU’RE NEXT’ was scrawled repeatedly, though what caught the couple’s attention was the floor.
“Ugh… What the fuck is this?” Ajax lifted a foot, feeling the squishy, stickiness on his boot. “Is this… Jelly?” Lumine lifted her own boot, cringing at the gooiness.
“IT’S THE BLOOD OF MY LAST VICTIM! YOU’RE NEXT!” Shouted a green faced goblin as he busted out of the closet, grabbing onto Ajax’s other arm and tugging on him. Lumine screeched and pulled on his arm, though the goblin only pulled harder.
“You can’t have him!” She shouted, pulling on him again. Ajax staggered back and forth as they pulled him, much like dogs playing tug of war.
“FINE, THEN YOU’LL BE THE NEXT VICTIM!” The goblin released Ajax, reaching for the cheerleader, who stumbled back, nearly tripping on her dress.
“Like hell she will!” Ajax wrapped his arms around Lumine, pulling her out of the room and into a pitch black room, away from the goblin. “You still with me, comrade?” He asked as he shuffled a little further into the room.
“M-mhm…” The room suddenly flashed red for an instant, displaying what could only possibly be guts hanging from the top of a fridge and off the countertops. Though maybe it was only spaghetti, there had been balls in the guts, as if meatballs in pas-
Suddenly all the balls opened in the darkness, they were no meatballs, they were eyes. Glowing eyes stared at the couple, seeming to follow them. Lumine gulped, swallowing a lump in her throat as the light flashed again, allowing them to see the blood pouring from the walls, perhaps the blood Hu Tao had mentioned before.
The red arrow pointed down at the back door, so Ajax slowly pushed it open, walking the princess out into the covered garden. Dead vines hung from the ceiling and off the poles supporting the covering, a breeze blew through, carrying the scent of death with it. Or what Ajax assumed to be death, though clearly it wouldn’t be a real dead body, right?
The dirt of the garden appeared freshly turned over, dead vines sprawled out over it. A shovel stuck into the ground, with two freshly dug holes. Lumine looked up at Ajax as he looked at her, exhaling. Cautious steps took them closer to the holes, the smell of death growing stronger with each step.
Inside one hole, laid a coffin, the source of the smell, while the other hole laid further away, though the cover of an extra large coffin could be seen. Both of them jumped at the sound of a bush rustling, focus turning to the bush as it shook again.
“Wh-what do you think that was?” Lumine asked, shuddering.
“C-cat maybe. O-Or the wind.” Ajax replied, taking a step forward while Lumine tried to gather her confidence back up.
Suddenly, arms wrapped around the blonde, pulling a shrill scream from her as she was dragged back. Lumine kicked as she screamed, before being thrown back into the second coffin, the door slamming shut and a latch sounding as she flailed in it. Her scream increased when she realized she was laying on top of a body; and while she couldn’t see in the pitch black, the arms wrapping around her only made her shamefully wet herself in terror as she tried so desperately to slam the door open.
“LUMINE!” Hurried footsteps came toward her, the latch flipping again, the coffin door flying open as Ajax threw it open. She grabbed for him as he pulled her out, ripping her from the body. Never before had she thrown herself into the ginger’s arms so fast, but the fear was already too much for her.
“G-GET ME OUT OF HERE!” She shouted, burying herself into his chest as he held her close. She trembled as he hurried her along, missing the way he shook and the fear in his own eyes. Still, he kept her close as he pushed out of the garden, into the backyard.
“...L-Lumine don’t look now.” He put his hand on the back of her head and pressed her face to his chest as he hurried her along, but Lumine could feel the silk and cotton against her dress. Despite the warning, and the way Ajax tried to keep her from looking, she turned her head slowly, met with a yard of silk and string, large round pod like eggs clustered together, and in the very back, a very LARGE plastic spider.
Another scream left the girl as she was met with her fear, clinging tighter to her knight. She fully shook as he dragged her forward another few steps, eyes never leaving the plastic spider out of terror. At least until one of the egg sacks bursted, spewing small plastic spiders onto the tall ginger. Another scream left the princess as she pushed Ajax back, trying to make a run for it.
What she hadn’t expected was a large spider to rip out of a webbing. She froze as she wet herself again, her knight hurrying after her. Immediately she turned and stole the rubber sword of his costume, smacking it on the spider, a panicked scream leaving her mouth.
“AH! HEY! STOP HITTING ME-!” The spider shouted, but Lumine refused to stop, tears falling as she hit more. “MANI TURN THE LIGHTS ON!” After a beat, the backyard’s lights flashed on, ruining the creepy atmosphere.
“LUMINE!” Ajax reached over her, pulling his sword from her hands as she trembled, turning to him and clinging.
“Alright Ma’am, you’re done.” A man dressed as a security guard said as he opened the door ahead, more light shining from the door. “Come on. You’ve ruined it for yourself.” Lumine looked up as Ajax walked her toward the man. “We’re all just actors, we don’t deserve to be hit like that.”
“S-Sorry…” She muttered, trembling as Ajax lifted her up into his arms to move her easier.
“It’s just a testimony to how scary it is.” Ajax amended, even though he was glad to be leaving, he’d almost lost it when Lumine had been pulled from him, he wasn’t sure being in such a place was a good idea anymore.
The man led them through a room completely covered in blood, a room that surely would be more terrifying in a darker light. He carried the cheerleader through another room with plastic fire coloured strips blowing upward, a room that was quite hot if anyone asked him. Finally, they exited out into the original room they’d entered in, with the skeleton seated in the rocking chair, a skeleton that looked quite plastic.
“We hope you enjoyed your stay. We hope to scare you in the future.” The man outside the house remarked as they exited the house.
“Oh no. Alex, they are not allowed back.” The security guard remarked from the doorway. “You two are banned from coming back!” The door shut, and Ajax was left staring at the door.
“Hey, girlie, we’re out.” He pointed out, but Lumine refused to let go, nor look up from his chest. “... Alright, take your time.” Ajax sighed out, walking toward the group sitting on the curb now.
“Hey! How was…” Aether began before he noticed the state of his twin sister. “Lumine?” She whined out, but refused to look at him. “I told you it was too scary…” He sighed out, crossing his arms.
Lumine jumped as two fingers crawled up her leg, head snapping to look as Hu Tao waved at her. “Ah, you really ARE a bigger coward than Aether!”
“Not funny.” Ajax replied, slowly setting the girl down.
“So what was it that scared you? The room with the werewolves? I thought Wriothesley pulled off a great performance there.” Hu Tao crossed her arms, smirking.
“Knowing my sister? It was the spiders, she hates spiders.” Lumine pouted, but said nothing, looking away.
“Alright, enough. Anyone would freak out after being shut in a coffin.” Ajax reasoned, keeping an arm around her.
“Oh, that?” It pulled you in? Hu Tao ran to that and pretended to fall back as if she were being laid to rest.” Hu Tao beamed at the mention.
“It’s not everyday you get to see a real life coffin!”
“That sounds a lot like you, you’ve always been obsessed with the dead.” Ganyu added as Keqing looked at the haunted house as the lights shut off again.
“Come on, it’s our turn!” Keqing got up, pulling Ganyu to her feet.
“W-Wait, Keqing, I don’t think I want to go in after that-!” She frowned at the purple haired girl.
“What? Really? I’m sure it’s not that bad.” Keqing frowned back, but Ganyu shook her head.
“N-No, I would rather we sit this one out, please.” Keqing smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Okay, we won’t. Let’s just head to Yoimiya’s party, okay?” Ganyu smiled as Keqing turned and pulled her by her hand.
“Yeah! I bet she’s expecting us.” Aether and Hu Tao followed them, Ajax bringing up the rear, until he noticed Lumine standing still.
“You coming, moya printsessa?” Lumine remained in place as the rest of the group went on without the two of them. “Hey, you know I won’t actually tell them that-”
“I-I want to go home.” She said softly, shutting her eyes as she swallowed.
“Really? You seemed really excited to go to the party earlier.” Lumine shook her head, trying to keep herself from crying.
“I-I just… I just want to go home, please.” Ajax approached her again, running his hands over her shoulders.
“Listen, I live closer to here than you do. Why don’t we go to my house? The kids are out trick or treating with mama and papa, so we’ll be alone. Who knows, maybe later you’ll want to go to the party.” Lumine looked up at him again, hesitating before nodding.
“O-Okay…” She took a step closer to him, reddening as he leaned down to place a kiss on her lips before wrapping his arm around her again.
“Come on.”