My Laughing Coffin [SAO fan-fiction]

Chapter 7: Retaliation

Dusk had draped it's shadowy blanket over Floor 20. According to Nomad, this was when the Spydinites were least active. For some reason, the darkness snuffed their hearing, this caused maybe 25% of the Spyde population to retreat into the catacombs over night.

"Call Lavander." Nomad suggested with a somber tone in his voice.

I nodded and quickly opened a Dialog Request. Lavander answered my request with a lighter voice than last night's call. A more frightened and broken tone in her voice. "Y-yes?" She stuttered through the phone.

I hadn't spent much time with Lavander since meeting her. But this helpless attitude was out of character.
But, I guess that's just the kind of tole that a week of solitude and looming feeling of doom can do to someone.

"We are on our way."

As the words came out my mouth I heard a sigh of relief leave her's.

She relayed the exact house she was in to us. Including window layouts, roof tile color, roof tile style, and she even gave us the date to which she believed the house was based off of. I didn't care about all that, I just told her to light the chimney when we got close.

Of course she wouldn't be sure where we were so this required me to keep the Call open. This also meant during our journey to the center of town, Lavander would have to remain completely silent, or we would die.

Nomad and I made our way to the basement, where the entrance to the lowered waterways leading to Spyde's center awaited us. My silently focused my mind as my companion and I entered the basement. I looked around the shabby old basement.

"Hey Lavander, you there still?" I asked as my eyes landed on the small semicircle grate attached to the wall.

"Yes. I'm here still. Can you guys hurry? I think something is coming..."

"Yeah. On the way," I turned my attention towards Nomad. "Let's go."

Quietly we each unscrewed the four bolts holding the grate in place. I went first, laying on my stomach and using my forearms as an anchor, then pulling my weight towards that arm to make an effective army crawl. I quickly shuffled through the crammed 30ft tunnel with Nomad not far behind me. The only sound was the scuffing sounds of our clothes brushing against dirt, and my own heartbeat violently pounding blood into my head. If you've ever been nervous, you'd understand what I meant by "pounding blood into my head".

It was an unholy mixture between guilt and a sense of chivalry that kept me crawling through this tunnel, which would likely be the cause of my untimely death. I peeked out from the tunnel and looked around. Spydinites lined the streets just as Nomad had described. There was no spot on the house we just left that didn't have a Spydinite on it.

The monsters had a very high pitch hiss, that remained as the only constant sound in Spyde. Scratching sounds from the claws on a nearby Spydinite caught my attention. Forcing me to stop in my tracks. Nomad followed my actions.

We stood frozen in place while the hissing Spydinite passed us. We remained completely silent for the 5 seconds that felt like an eternity. Once the arachnid abomination passed us Nomad and I continued our silent approach towards the center of Spyde.

The Dialog Chat between Lavender and I remained open. The only sound coming from her end however was soft breathing. She must've felt petrified, being alone for so long.

The center of Spyde felt and looked nothing like when we had first arrived. An absolute feeling of death loomed in the air, replacing the previous feeling of eerie uncertainty. The building Lavender was trapped in had become blatantly obvious. The house with not only a lit chimney, but an army of Spydinites and Spydinots covering the entire home. The weight on my chest lightened a bit as her cage came into view.