The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

PK Pandemonia Arc: Chapter 87 - The Stone which pelted Both Birds

27 February 2022

Katalysis, 43rd Floor

POV: Rakuno

I got up from my straw beanbag with half my face covered lightly with straw.

I checked my HP gauge. It was still full, thankfully. If Tori would do anything to me, I'd have heard her opening the cell door first anyway.

For some reason, I seemed to be dreading the need to pull myself up. Looks like the straw in Aincrad really could make for a makeshift bed, not that it could compare to a real bed, of course.

What got me up were footsteps sounding off in the underground prison again. I sluggishly pulled my body up, as I witnessed the sight of a familiar face brushing past my cell.

I'd recognise that red head anywhere. And now, she's here, sandwiched between the Council members.

Oh, shit. That's really bad news. Don't tell me they'd caught on to the fact that Kira's a traitor.

For a second, her eyes met mine, before she went past my cell. I went to grab the cell bars to look at her figure drifting further away from me.

A lonely set of footsteps lagging behind had me turning towards the opposite direction. Tori stopped by right in front of me across the bars, watching the restrained redhead with disappointment.

"About time we needed another resident here, huh?" She regained her cheerful demeanor as she turned to me.

"Why don't you become a resident here yourself?" I retorted. "You like being here, don't you?"

The Council leader gave me a stare, before smirking. "I look forward to more of your humour today."

The both of us were back to how we sat in our conversation yesterday; Tori on the nearest chair that she pulled over, and me sitting on the straw stool that I created.

She plopped onto her chair, looked at me, and gave me a slightly quizzical look.

"You seem relaxed for someone who's about to be executed soon."

"How soon will my execution be, then?" I asked with all of genuine curiosity. "If the Gladiorium is today, the least I can do is to cry and sob for you to spare my life."

Tori rested her face on her left arm, amused at my strange remark. "And yet you're not doing that. How very peculiar."

"What's more peculiar is the fact that I'm sitting in this cell anyway." I tilted my head up to lock my eyes with hers just right under the flap of my hat. "Well..... Let's just say that I should have died more than a day ago, but you delayed that."

"What, so you're saying that I should kill you now?" Tori leaned back in surprise, which she was obviously faking.

"That's really not your style, is it?" I inquired. "When your method of killing your victims is to have them drown in despair in a dungeon cell for a few days before executing them in front of an audience."

"Damn, you really got that right through and through," Thr Council leader nodded as if she was praising me. "Except for the part where you're supposed to drown in despair. I can't control how my victims feel about being trapped in a cell, of course."

"Is that what you always do before a Gladiorium?" I asked.

"It's the usual drill," Tori lifted a leg and rested it on her other one. "I also have heart-to-heart talks with my victims, like what we're doing now.

"It's something that I can only do here, after all."

"Something that only you can do here?" I caught up on that strange remark. "Just what is Katalysis, then? What's that something?"