Sword Art Online Version Vongola

Level 8 The mystery in the labyrinth

The very earth trembled beneath his feet violently, as Natsu pushed his body forward, fear gripping his heart. He could hear loud cries, pleas for help and mercy from the end of the long hall he was running to. It was tearing him apart, the raw terror in those voices. He wasn't sure he was ready to face anything that could generate that kind of fear.

The faithful presence of Ken and Basil at his side helped a little, the others only a step behind them. He spotted the black coat of Kirito a few meters in front of him, his blade already drawn.

"What in the nine hells did that idiot think he was doing?" cursed Buzz's voice from behind him, but the sound was mostly lost in the sound of his heartbeats in his ear.

"We are almost there." panted Basil, exhaustion clear in his voice.

Before long they reached the boss room and Natsu's heart fell as he looked around. Several players were lying on the ground, some in the middle of standing up while some laid there unmoving, caught in the effect of paralysis. But the truth was there were too few of them. They know about the 40 person team Kibaou sent, yet no matter how he looked, he could barely spot fifteen people left. It was a heartbreaking sight.

"Lookout." cried out Kirito in alarm. Looking up Natsu met with an enormous black arm descending straight at him.

He tried to move, willed his legs to move with all his heart, but he was stuck in place. All he could do was watch as the end came closer and closer, his friends' cries echoing around him. He didn't want to die!

-0-

"No!" cried out Natsu, as he jumped out of his bed, terrified, part of him still in the grasp of the nightmare. He panted on the floor, shivering as he slowly recognized his room.

Despite his protest, the others gave him a large room with a big double-sized bed, saying if he was the guild leader he should have the room to show for it. Aside from the large bed with orange covers the room was sparse, with a pretty standard looking desk and a few decorations such as a dresser without any practical function, an empty shelf, or two. It was not much, but it was his, his little retreat in this virtual world.

Finally calming down, he was able to stand up, looking around the darkroom, with only the faint light of the moon providing some source of light. The clock at the edge of his vision read 4 am and Natsu couldn't help but let out a weary sigh. He knew himself well enough to know he wouldn't go back to sleep, no matter how tired he felt.

He left his room and began the trek down to the kitchen. Thankfully the rooms once closed were soundproofed, so he didn't have to worry about waking up the others. Still, he couldn't help but shiver as he walked through the dark, silent corridors.

He was never any good with anything horror related. He was so frightened when they encountered skeleton themed mobs on the 23rd floor for the first time, that he clung to Buzz like a koala bear and didn't let him go until they arrived back at the mansion, much to the older man's annoyance. The nightmare he just was woken up from also didn't help.

Stepping into the kitchen, after a quick manipulation of his menu he ignited a soft, small light, dismissing the darkness. Natsu approached the fridge, opening up its inventory and scrolling down to the item he was looking for: warm milk.

One of the most convenient things about the system that most items stored in an inventory remained in stasis, its status not changing with a few exceptions. Thanks to that, he didn't need to bother having to warm his milk, instead, he could simply bring up the pre-heated one that he could enjoy to his heart's content.

Natsu just finished his glass of milk, when a voice sounded just behind him.

"Can't sleep, kid?"