Dante spun around, eyes wide open. His face flushed a brilliant shade of magenta. He looked at the young blacksmith that had confronted him, a purely puzzled Lisbeth looking back. Her brow furrowed, a slight frown forming.

"Well? What are you doing here?" Her tone was turning confrontational. Dante started to speak, then realized he had no logical explanation for being here at this hour. Well, not one that saved face, anyways. Her expression was becoming more and more skeptical as his was becoming more and more frazzled.

"I uh.. I'm here to-" God what am I doing here "-see if I could.. uhm-" Talk to you? Say hello? Introduce myself? "-purchase a sword!" DAMMIT WHY DID I SAY THAT IT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE IT'S TWO IN THE DAMN MORNING. Dante's exclamation was followed by a long, loud silence. His eye twitched, and the weight of Aincrad crashed down on him. His face was very near tomato red. He closed his eyes and sighed. I'm an idiot I'm an idiot I'm an idiot I'm an idiot.

And then, there was laughter. His eyes opened to a doubled over Liz, cackling away. Dante glared blankly. He didn't exactly know how she was going to react, though this certainly wasn't it. She looked up at him, words squeezing out between fits of laughter.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" She stood up straight, still giggling a bit.

Dante grimaced. Flinging his hand to cover his burning face, he took a step back towards the bridge. This was stupid, he thought to himself. As he turned, he felt a tug on his cloak. Looking back, there stood Liz with a firm grasp on his white hood and an endearing smile on her face. Dante's mind was scrambled, and his attempts at words made that apparent.

"Well," Liz began with a sly smirk, "I may not know why you're lurking around outside my shop, but if you're really here to buy a sword then I guess you're a customer!"

Dante's shocked emerald eyes widened.

"And if you're a customer, then I guess I can't turn you down!" Her smirk slipped into a wider business smile. She proceeded to the door, and tapped on the display menu that popped up. After punching in a password combination, she opened the door and stepped inside with the door left open behind her.

Dante stared hard at the open door. This cannot be real life. There's no way this is happening. I'm drunk. I'm dreaming. I'm dead.

"Are you coming in or not?"

Wide eyes settled into a wide smile. Well… it's a pleasant dream at least.

Dante walked into Lisbeth's Blacksmith shop, and closed the door behind him.

"What kind of sword are you looking for?" She asked, a somewhat playful tone in her voice. Dante was completely aware that Liz was completely aware that he was a complete liar. But if only to prolong their first documented interaction, Dante felt inclined to play along.

"Uhh.. something light. Like a long dagger, or possibly a one handed short sword? A rapier even would do.I'm not crazy about bulk." Dante said, browsing the walls decked with weapons. This is a lot of very fine weapons, a few even exoctic looking ones, he thought, She's an even better smith than I was told.

"Well, I've got more than a few blades that I've forged using Speed-Type metals. Check this one out, I call it my Maste-," She stopped, the playful voice dropping away. Dante looked up at the main desk to see Liz grasping at an empty peg on the wall. Her hand fell slowly to her side, her chin tucking into her chest. Dante walked up to the counter.

"Uhm.. Are you okay?" He asked gingerly. As she turned quickly towards him, Dante thought for just a moment that he saw a tear forming in her eye. But once facing him, she gave a nervous laugh and flashed a bright smile.

"Of course! I just remembered something from the other day. How about something like this?" She briskly walked past him, avoiding his eyes. Dante recognized the maneuver. He'd executed it countless times before. Curious, he followed her to a rack in the corner of the room.

"This one is the first sword I forged after opening the shop! It's called the Luminaria. Completely one-of-a-kind, it's forged using three different kinds of Speed-Type metal!" She turned it towards him and held the blade out, gesturing Dante to take it. His inner blacksmith squealed.

The blade itself was long and narrow with a flat top, and held a reflective chrome color so polished that Dante could see his mirror image perfectly. The handle was comprised of black leather strap that made its way down to a brilliant, shining sapphire at the bottom of the hilt. The guard was a square, bluish-tinted metal. The sword was gorgeous. He couldn't suppress a grin.

"Do you mind if I inspect it? You know.. for durability?" He asked. Liz shrieked, causing Dante to jump back. The sword clattered to the ground, having slipped out of his hands. His eyes worked up from the blade on the ground to Liz's face which was a mix of horror, confusion, and concern. He quickly waved his hands like white flags.

"It's ok! I just want to appraise it is all! It's not like I want to test it out or anything!" A nervous smile cracked onto his face. She looked at him a bit nervously, then sighed and picked up and handed over the blade again.

"Sorry, I had a customer recently who broke a sword just testing it out.." Dante noticed her eyes avert his again. His eyebrow arched as he pulled up his appraisal menu for the Luminaria.

"It was your masterpiece?"

"What?"

"The sword that was broken. The one that's supposed to be on that empty peg behind the counter. You were about to show it to me earlier, then remembered it had been broken. Am I right?"

Liz looked up at him with wide eyes that slowly closed as she nodded.

"And that's why you're sad? Because your best sword you ever forged was broken? I can understand that. I've smithed a few weapons in my time here too. You spend so much time and energy finding good materials and setting up the smithing process that you become attached to the blades. My friend Alastair still uses the blade I forged for him a few months ago when we were in a guild together."

Liz let out another sigh, then raised her bubblegum head as if to begin a long tale. Dante stood eagerly, intently awaiting whatever Liz had to say. She took a starting breath, but then stopped. Her eyes popped open slightly, and she looked at Dante again with renewed vigor.

"Wait, Alastair from the Knights of the Blood Oath?" Her voice sounded surprised, "I do business with him all the time. The sword that he uses is a Dragon Bone Longsword that you can only get the material for by defeating Gishnakh the Goblin King on a special quest on Floor 61."

"Yes, that's right.."

"In order to get that Dragon Bone ingot, a Master Smith has to be in your party. It's the game's way of preventing blacksmiths from paying people off to go pick up incredibly valuable forging materials, or from high powered players from withholding these materials from someone who can actually use them."

"Ok, still following."

"So if you really did forge that sword, it means that you're a Master Smith. And if you're a Master Smith, then you can forge almost whatever you want. AND if you can forge whatever you want then you didn't need a sword, which brings me back to why were you outside my shop at two in the morning?"

Dante looked at her, incredibly surprised. She looked back at him with hands on her hips and an inquisitive scowl forming on her face. Dante needed a fantastic answer. A perfect answer. The right answer. Taking a gulp, he started.

"Well Alastair spoke very highly of your work, and I decided to come check it out. And I must admit…" Ok, turn on the smolder, " You're an even better smith than he described." He finished with a queasy smile. Liz looked at him in disbelief, then smiled back. Eons passed before she spoke… or so it felt to Dante. Dante held his breath.

"Well, thank you!"

Big exhale.

"I still don't believe you-"

Big inhale.

"-but i guess if you were a total creep you would've tried something by now. Plus Alastair is a good guy, so you can't be that bad!"

Big exhale.

Dante leaned against the wall, closing his eyes. He let out chuckle. A hundred times I'd thought of how I'd go about talking to her for the first time, he thought, and not once did I think it'd go like this. He looked back down at the appraisal menu. The makeup of the sword may have been even more impressive than the exterior.

"This is a brilliantly made sword… The stats are incredible, not to mention the +15 agility, stamina, and speed bonus from using a quicksilver ingot. It's not just light, it's actually a fast sword. It's a smart sword. If you're a speed type player, this is more than equipment. You can base your whole attack off of this blade."

"I'm a pretty good blacksmith, I know," She said mockingly. She looked for something to say as he swung the sword around a few times, different luminescent colors painting the walls with each swing.

"So.. You're a member of the Knights of the Blood Oath?"

He looked over at her, then shook his head.

"Nope."

"Oh, well it's just that you said that you and Alastair were in a guild together. I thought maybe you were in KBO with him and Asuna."

He looked up from the blade towards her. Frowning a bit, he looked up.

"No.. He and I used to be in a guild. The Silver Flags. We were small but everyone brought a different skill set to the table, and together we were a complete group. Alastair was our fearless leader,Ezekiel was our second in command and a complete tactical genius. I was our blacksmith, Jacob was the muscle. And Geoffrey was…" He trailed off. His fist was digging so deeply into itself, he saw just a sliver of the corner of his HP bar go down. He relaxed, however, at the sound of Liz's voice.

"Hey it's ok. You don't have to say anything more if it's upsetting to you..."

"No, it's fine," Dante said, continuing on, "He was my brother IRL. He was our money man. He was a genius, both here and in the real world. His Bargaining, Mercantile, and Persuasion skills were maxed out before the first year of the game was over. A little cold at times, but passionate about his trade. Together, The Silver Flags had so much ahead of them.." He closed his eyes, Geoffrey's face still imprinted there. Dammit Dante keep it together, don't cry in front of her. He slowly opened his eyes and looked straight ahead. The tears subsided, though the memory did not.

As if finally aware of the time, he heard Lisbeth let out a yawn. Dante exhaled again, then looked at her.

"Listen, it's getting-well it's already late. You get the idea. I'll sleep on the sword idea, and come back tomorrow and let you know, ok?" He said, standing straight and tall. Liz looked tired, but at his announcement her brow furrowed, looking almost disappointed in his decision. After a moment, her teasing grin returned.

"Ok, that's fine! But just so you know, normal store hours are from 10:00 AM till 6:00 PM. Try to make it in that time, ok?" Dante laughed, then smiled warmly.

"We'll see what happens! I'll see you tomorrow." Dante turned and headed for the door. He opened the door, but then felt a tug at his cloak again. He turned to face her. She extended her hand.

"I'm sorry, but in all the fun, I forgot to introduce myself! My name's Lisbeth!"

With a sheepish smile and a rub on the back of his neck, he shook her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lisbeth. I'm Dante."

As the sun shined through his window, Dante sat up in his bed of the Black Horse Inn with a smile on his face. For the first time since February, Dante felt alive. The air seemed breathable, and worth the effort to capture. He had something to think about other than his own self-loathing. This moment had felt like months in the making. Well… it sort of had been.

He opened his menu. 9:59 AM… I suppose I can head on over now.

Popping out of bed, he walked out of the Inn and into the town square of Lindas. With the teleport plaza in the middle, it was much more compact than most other teleport squares Dante had been to. The square itself was about as busy as one would expect from a village of Lindas's size, with no more than 20 players walking through the market. As Dante donned his white cloak and headed down the main road, no one batted an eye at him. He had always liked that about this town.

As he sauntered lazily down the cobblestone path, he thought about the previous night, the active moment, and the future. On one hand, I'm happy I get to see her again… But… I know this can't go on, he thought to himself, I'm finally ready to set off. I've been preparing for months for this.. I can't be distracted now...

Lost in transcendent thought, he quickly found himself at the door of the shop once again. He went to open the door, but found it to be locked. 10:04… Where's Liz?

After a short wait, the door opened from the inside. Liz's frenzied face was on the other side, and she relaxed slightly when she saw Dante looking back at her. He grinned.

"You know Liz, normal store hours are from 10:00 AM till 6:00PM."

"Oh shut your mouth, we had a customer keep the shop open late last night, and I couldn't sleep after that." She fired back playfully. He snickered a bit, then stepped inside after her. The Luminaria was lying on the counter, a polishing rag sitting next to it. She… prepared it for me?

"So, ready to buy the sword?"

"I am! I'm hoping it'll come in handy fairly soon. I'm about to leave on a big quest, so actually I was wondering if you could just double check all my armor too. I haven't been home to my anvil in a bit and I haven't had a chance to do some fine-tuning. I think it's in pretty good shape, I'd just like to get a second opinion." He said. Her eyes glowed along with her smile.

"Of course, come with me to the back and I'll we'll have a look!"

They walked into the back room of her shop, the fire from the furnace casting an orange filter on the whole room. A wave of familiar heat hit Dante's face. He felt at home in the smithy. Liz sat down at her work bench and got straight to examining his light chest armor, gently tapping it all over with her hammer. He sat down on a nearby stool.

"So, Dante, what's this big quest you're off on? You're not with the assault team I'm guessing; they haven't found the next boss yet. So where are you off to?"

Dante leaned back and thought carefully about how to respond.

"I'm..Well… It's not an in-game quest or anything… I'm looking for someone. I told you that I'd been in a guild, and I'm sure you realized that everyone in the guild except for me and Alastair died. Alastair seems to have moved on from their deaths, but I haven't.. I feel the need to avenge them. They deserved better."

Liz looked up.

"I'm so sorry… How did they die? I mean.. if you don't mind my asking."

Dante looked down.

"It's a bit of a complicated story."

Liz frowned, then handed him back his armor.

"Well then, you can tell me on the way!"

Dante clearly looked as confused as he felt, because she further elaborated after seeing his expression.

"I want to come with you on this quest. If an entire guild was killed, you're going to need backup. You seem crazy enough to try it on your own, but I'm not crazy enough to let you. So I'll be accompanying you in order to help keep you out of trouble!"

Dante frowned.

"Liz, I really appreciate that. I do. But I just met you. I can't ask you to risk your life just so that I can go bury the skeletons in my closet. Besides, it's more of a personal thing anyway. You've got no reason to come along."

"Too bad! I've made up my mind! Besides, I haven't been out of the shop in a while. I'm coming with you whether you want me to or not! Consider it your payment for the sword and the armor tune-up"

"What about the shop?"

"I've got enough gold, I'll survive a few days with the door locked."

"What about customer's orders? I'm sure a smith of your quality has a few orders out."

"Finished them all this morning! It's what took me so long to open the door."

"It's going to be dangerous, I wouldn't want to put you in danger."

"That's sweet, but I'm a master mace user. I can handle myself!"

Her tone was getting bolder, his becoming more faint. Dante let out an exasperated sigh.

"Are you always this persuasive?" He asked, finally conceding. She smiled broadly, and Dante made a mental note of how attractive her smile was.

"Your armor is fixed! I upgraded the mobility for you, too. Let me go grab my gear, I'll meet you out front!"

Dante walked to the front of the store and waited. I could just leave her here. I've already got my armor and I don't need the sword… Why am I waiting for her? Though he had no answer, he didn't move. He waited. And when he saw her walk out with an armored sleeve covering half of her red skirt, he smiled. He didn't know why. It was as involuntary as the rhythmic beat of his heart. But there they were.

"Ready to go?"

She looked at him again, a playful grin spreading across her freckled cheeks.

"After you!"