My Laughing Coffin [SAO fan-fiction]

Chapter 9: Sin of Spyde

I'd checked all three homes, stared at all the markings for several hours before returning to the original building I'd first stepped foot in.

The first home's etched markings brought me some form of comfort, they acted as a single familiarity in my otherwise unknown environment. I manipulated my menu and tabbed over to a bread roll.

I took a bite into the tasteless crunchy mass and continued to study. Almost three hours had gone by since I walked over from my home in Spyde. I felt so alone here, no one to talk to, with the only noises belonging to me. I turned to leave the room and put my hand on the wall as I walked out. It would've normally been a weary attempt to express my displeasure with failure, but this time, the self extension proved to be much more useful. As my hand slammed into the wall a nearly silent ping echoed through the room. I froze.

"No way... after three hours of searching... did I accidentally stumble on some old bullshit?" I said allowed throwing myself back into the room with enough force to make me stumble.

After regaining my balance, I found myself staring face to face with with a menu reading:

Collect?

《O》 《X》

The image my digital hand had connected with was a symbol no bigger than a quarter. I squinted my eyes stared at the image a bit longer before realizing it was a well. My eyes widened as I collected the item. A notification appeared in front of me.

Items
+Piece of the puzzle (1/3)

My eyes widened as I rushed to the other two houses in order to collect the remaining "puzzle pieces".

***************

"I'm back." I said knocking on the door of the bedroom, the Spydinites outside stirred.

I walked into the bedroom and look at Nomad and Lavender eating dinner. Stale rolls, tender steak with a brown sauce and a glob of butter, and a flask of water. "Hey broski." Nomad said. "Any luck?"

I grinned. "You think I figured it out."

Lavender lit up at the confidence in my voice. I began to explain how I figured everything out. I explained the odd drawings and shapes, the keyboard language, the numbers, arrows, and other odd symbols. "At first I thought most of it was just random things meant to confuse us. I was wrong. What I did noticed, there was a picture of a well in all of the homes. Those markings were actually aligned in a specifc way, which mapped out all of Spyde."

"Ok... so?" Lavender began to get annoyed with my ability to drag on a story.

"The bunker Kiyaba was talking about...it's in this house!" I said, trying to hide my true excitement.

"What!? How do you know that!" Nomad asked, he sat forward in his chair. He was fully engaged.

"The map! The well! It all pointed to this house! I've got the three keys to activate it." I hurriedly manipulated my menu and selected all three Puzzle Pieces.

What fell in my hand were three rectangular stones. Each stone glowed its own unique color. Red, blue, and yellow. "Those stones, what are they?" Lavender asked with a raised eye brow.

I shrugged and turned to leave the room. "There is a well in the basement.... isn't there?" Nomad muttered, he'd caught on and quickly stood to follow me.

"Come on Lavender, I get the feeling we want to be underground for whatever is going to happen." She smiled and stood.

As short as it was, the walk to the well felt epic. Every hair on my body stood tall as we marched down the wooden stairs to the basement. Every step I took felt lighter than the previous, a rush of happiness coursed through me like blood as the crushing weight of Spyde seemed to finally end.

I stepped foot off the final stair of the basement's staircase. The well had an odd effect on it. Particles of a gleaming green light illuminated the dark basement. For the first time, I felt as though I was witnessing magic. Nomad put his hand on my shoulder trying to calm my nerves, in intense moments of emotion I sometimes shake. It could be moments of joy, anger, fear, frustration, or sadness, this emotion of course being pure joy.

I kneeled down by the well and examined the sides. Spaces as large as the stones I carried were chipped from the stone cylinder. Inside the missing spaces were faint markings, each was a mere scribble of a color. Red, yellow, and blue. "Lavender, take the yellow brick and place it in. Nomad, you take blue. I'll take red. Just in case, we'll do this on three just to be sure there isn't some kind of timing system." My comrades nodded in response and gladly took the stones.

"Ready?" Once again I received cheerful nods from them. "One.... Two.... Three!" I shouted, quickly forcing the brick into place.

The stones glowed brighter than before. "Yeah!" I shouted.

"It's working!" Lavender stated with and cheerful scream of disbelief.

"I don't fucking believe it!" Nomad threw his arms up in victory. Another notification appeared. I looked at Nomad and Lavender as we all bursted into particles.

When my vision worked again, I found myself standing next to Lavender and Nomad on a platform elevated above the city. It was a foggy clear color, but what I could see through the glass more breath taking. Spyde was on fire! Spydinites and Spydenots shrieked in pain as they exploded into multicolored particles.

We cheered as the purging of Spyde continued. Fatigue quickly left my aching muscles as I jumped up and down. High fives, hugs, and miniature dances followed.

Nomad laughed once we had finally fallen silent. "What's so funny?" Lavender asked.

"Before SAO, back in the real world I mean, I remember seeing these pictures of homes on fire. They all said the same thing," He chuckled.

I frowned at his odd sense of humor. Normally burning homes wasn't on my list of happy thoughts. Then came his punchline.

"There was a spider," He glances down at the burning town. "But I think we got it."