"Shiva, are you out of your mind? You want to put in a bar?" Said Lydia, a former employee of Achilles and friend of Robin.

"What's wrong with a bar? It should attract some customers." I said walking through my new restaurant, Norath.

"Yes, but it'll cost money we don't have to do so."

"Relax, Lydia. I'll find the money to do so."

"How?"

"I don't know, I just will."

"Why build this place if you aren't gonna be here for more than a day?"

"Look around, Lydia." I said turning around to face her. "Norath was Robin's dream. She may not have acted like it, but she was an aggressive lover rather than a fighter. She wanted to create a safe haven for players, a place with food and a roof over their head."

"Robin was my friend too. I may not have been as close to her as you, but she was still my friend."

"I know... Ok, we'll scrap the bar for now. At least till we get more money."

I walked into my room in Norath, and sat on my bed.

"Ames, what do I do?"

Approximately 36 hours later

Out of nowhere she pulled out a big ass sword and plunged it into my stomach and pinned me into a tree.

"Son of a Bitch! Where the hell that sword come from?"

My health was depleting fast and I would die if I didn't remove the sword soon.

Approximately 32 hours ago

I walked through the town of Mishe, getting ready for the weekly poker game with guys, where I mostly win. I passed a girl sitting on a bench, when I heard the faint sound of sobbing. I immediately turned around and walked up to the girl. This girl looked a couple years older than me, had milk tea brown hair, cute, and judging by the fact she was crying in silence, she didn't want people to notice.

"Excuse me, miss. Is everything alright?"

"Go away. Just leave me alone."

Now, I lived a sister, and I had Robin and Eir. I know when a girl say to leave her alone. Don't. But here in Aincrad, everyone is armed. And my code of survival says: Never mess with a woman that carries a blade.

"Sorry to bother you, miss." I said turning away.

"Wait! I'm sorry for being rude to you. You were only trying to be nice."

"It's fine." I said turning around again. "But seriously, is everything alright?"

"Well, my friend is being a jerk."

"I'm gonna let you in on a little known fact. Men are dogs, and I should know."

"How'd you know it was a boy?" She said giggling.

"You had the look. So, if you don't mind my asking, what was the fight about?"

"His boss has been given him a hard time lately. And he's been taking it out on me."

"He's not hitting you, is he?" I said sitting down.

"What? No. We've been friends since we were little kids. He would never hit me."

I chuckled as I thought about how I was in a similar position as her.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just, my girlfriend and I started out the same way. Childhood friends turned lovers. I'm just reflecting."

"Oh no, it's not like that. That would ruin our relationship." The blushing girl said looking away.

"You're blushing. You've thought about it haven't you?" Without saying a word, she nodded slightly. "Take my advice. Keep your distance, and don't talk to him for a few days. If he truly cares, he come to you with flowers. After that, at some point, get his attention and tell him he's buying dinner."

"Did that work for you?"

"It worked on me. Robin walked into my room, turned off my computer, and dragged me out of my house. Basically she kidnapped me."

She giggled again.

"I don't think I introduced myself. My names Shiva. In the real world, I'm Ben Bellamont."

"Nice to meet you, Ben. I'm Yuuna Shigemura, or just Yuna."

"Beautiful name. I actually knew a girl named Yuna. She was a summoner, I think."

I grabbed Yunna's hand and kissed the back of it, like I always did when I wanted to be weird. And that's when I noticed the lute next to her.

"What's with the lute?"

"Oh, I'm a singer. Sometimes I play the lute as well."

"A singer? Ya know, I own a restaurant and we're having our grand reopening in two days. You could probably come down and sing there. You might be able to get more people to come hear you sing."

"I'll think about it."

And with that, I took my leave.

A couple hours later

I walked into the bar's backroom. Inside was Klein, Agil, three of their friends, and to my surprise, my old friend Jackal.

"Jackal? What are you doing here?"

"Well, when I heard you were having a poker game, I knew I had to come and kick your ass." He said shaking my hand.

"So how do you two know each other?" Klein asked.

"Jackal's an old friend. One of the best snipers I know, he can easily kill three hundred spartans single handedly."

"Let's get started. I need the money." Agil said.

Two hours later

"Sorry Klein. I guess you'll have to wait to buy Myriam that necklace." I said pulling the chips towards me like Scrooge McDuck.

"Yeah, yeah. Why doesn't the winner go get the next round." He said

When I got up and walked to the bar for drinks, I noticed something. A girl with light purple hair sitting at the bar. Judging by her dress, which was purple and definitely was made by Ash, she wanted to be noticed. I spent years studying people's behavior, trying to learn things about them, and right now, it's like she's screaming with a bullhorn. I honestly can't stand attention seekers. But luckily I've learned to block them out.

"I haven't seen you here before. I'm Strea." She said.

I was a little stunned. Nobody ever talks to me, especially girls, unless they have to. With the exception of Amelia and Sarah. Just this once, I decided to bite.

"Name's Bellamont. Normally I come here to kick my friends asses in poker."

"Oh, I didn't know that they had poker here."

"So tell me, what brings you here? Especially wearing a dress."

"I was waiting for my date. But I guess I've been stood up." She said looking and pouting at me.

"Now who would want to stand you up?"

"Probably a dog, like all men."

"I take offense to that."

"I had a feeling you might. But you don't seem like other guys, and you're probably more of a man than the rest of them."

"No, I just have an IQ of 187 and I'm more mature than everyone."

"Handsome and intelligent? You're full of surprises."

There's something off with this girl. Everyone calls me out when I say that my IQ's that high. Yet she's relatively unfazed by it, and seems to have an interest in me. Deep in the back of my mind I could hear Robin's voice, telling me to move on. We talked for a few minutes. Well, I talked and she flirted.

"How about I take you to dinner. Tomorrow? I know this nice restaurant."

"I'd like that."

I noticed something on her wrist when she got up and kissed me on the cheek. A red hourglass, like the ones on a Latrodectus. A black widow.

'Krosis!'

I went back to the guys to digest what the hell I'd gotten myself into.

The next night

I stood in front of the mirror in my room. I wrapped the chain around my arm and then threw on a nice suit coat that was made by Ash. I took another look in the mirror. If Strea really is The Widow, then she needs to think that she's seduced me. So I decided to get rid of the Dr. Reid look, That I normally had when I was in safezones, and tied my hair back. I walked over to my bed and grabbed the Talon and put it in my back sheath, before walking out. I can't take her to Norath or she might suspect something, so I'm taking her to a fancy restaurant. The owner owes me a favor, so he already made the reservations. As I sat down at the table and waited for Strea, I observed the people around.

"Wow. This place is really fancy." Strea said when she came to the table.

She was wearing a very nice black and purple dress, once again made by Ashley.

"Owner owes me a favor. Everything's free for us tonight."

I got up and pulled out her chair and then we ordered.

"You look beautiful tonight."

"Thank you. You look very handsome."

"So, tell me about yourself." I said pouring us some wine.

"Well I'm a solo player trying to support myself and my little sister."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah. Too young to be playing this game."

I could see the sorrow in her eyes. I think I struck a nerve and perhaps found her weakness.

"Sorry if I struck a nerve."

"No, it's fine. How about you?"

"Pretty boring life. Mother, father, pain in the ass older sister. Bullied alot as a kid.

"That's awful. I have experience with bullies. How bad was it."

"A kid I thought was my friend told me to put on a blindfold on my birthday, I figured they're throwing me a surprise party. He walked me into a room where I was beaten to death with metal objects. I was in the hospital for about week or two."

"That's horrible... But tell you what lover, if you play your cards right, maybe I'll make blindfolds fun again."

I nearly choked on my wine. Of all the things I thought she would say, I never expected her to say that. If she's truly the Widow, than she's one hell of an actress.

"Excuse me, can you send a bottle of your best wine to that table over there?" I said as the waiter came by with our food.

"Why'd you send them wine?" Strea asked.

"The guy over there is going to propose to his date in about five minutes."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm good at reading people, very perceptive."

"Oh yeah? Couple, four o'clock."

"The woman wants to break up with her boyfriend. But he just bought her a nice necklace, and she doesn't want to break his heart." I said without looking.

"The table behind you?"

"Two men, best friends. One of them is sleeping with the others wife, and they're close to discovering it."

"What color underwear am I wearing?"

"Knowing your color scheme, I'd say black or purple. But, since you think you're getting laid tonight, you're not wearing any."

"What? I'm not getting any tonight?" She said in a joking tone and sipped her wine.

"I'm gonna kill you, you son of a bitch!" The man behind me said.

At this point all hell broke loose and people started fighting. I grabbed Strea and we ran out of the restaurant. I took her to the hamlet of Coral on the 22nd floor and up a hill overlooking the lake. We're outside of a safezone, so if she's going to kill me, this is where she'll do it.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I said.

"Yeah, it is."

Strea then turned and wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me.

"Sorry about this."

Out of nowhere she pulled out a big ass sword, plunged it into my stomach and pinned me into a tree.

"Son of a Bitch! Where the hell that sword come from?"

"I'm gonna be honest with you. I really did have a great time tonight."

"God, I hate it when I'm right."

My health was depleting fast and I would die if I didn't remove the sword soon. I clenched my fist and create a clone in the tree behind Strea, that jumped and drop kicked her in the head, then pulled the sword out of my stomach. Once free, I climbed the tree to get a tactical advantage.

'From what I hear, she's very strong. Without my gear I may not stand a chance, and I can't open my menu without alerting her to my position. I wouldn't be surprised if she could cut down these trees with that greatsword of hers.'

Strea threw some knives, knocking me out of the tree. She charged towards me, greatsword in hand. I dodged the swings and slashed her ribs. I flipped backwards to dodge one of her attack and she managed to cut my hair tie, causing my hair to get in my eyes and allowing her to knock me back when I landed. I evaded her attacks again, while keeping the hair out of my eyes. I wore her down and once she was slow enough, I knocked the sword out of her hands, wrapped the chain around her wrist and dangled her from a tree.

"Ya know what's got me stumped, Darlin'? Why am I still alive? Normally your victims are dead a few hours after meeting you. But you went out to dinner with me. And you sure as shootin' weren't trying in that fight."

It was then I noticed it. Her cursor was green, even after she attacked me. I looked her over and noticed her ring.

"Take off the ring."

She complied, removing the ring and tossing it on the ground in front of me. Her cursor changed to orange when she removed it.

'This is not good.'

"So tell me why I'm alive." I said as I picked the ring up.

She didn't answer and didn't struggle to get free. She just dangled there.

"If you don't answer me, I'll have no choice but to probe your memory."

"I don't want to be the Don's assassin anymore. I just want to be alone."

"Don has your sister, doesn't he?"

She didn't answer, but I could see it in her eyes.

"I'll make you a deal. I'll release you and help you find your sister. If you get me information on the Don and du Casse."

"Why do you want Casse?"

"What did they tell you about me?"

"That you we're a loony that stated a war against them."

"Of course they would. Here's the truth: I'm after du Casse and the Don, because Casse slaughtered my guild and murdered my wife right in front of me."

"No, that's not Casse's MO, he just robs people. Reaper and his Coffins kill people."

"And what do you think he does when they don't give him their things. Only he didn't rob us, just murdered us. Unprovoked."

"I didn't have anything to do with that. I just want my sister."

"And you'll get her, as long as you stay out of my way and not harm anyone. I'll let you search for your sister in peace. And if I hear anything, I'll let you know."

"Deal. Now let me down."

I walked into my room, tossing my coat and on the bed, and looked up at the ceiling.

"Crow! Get down here!"

I heard the sound of crows cawing behind me and when I turned around, Jason was there.

"Catch." I said tossing him Strea's ring.

"What is it?"

"The ring that the Widow was using. It turned her cursor green."

Crow held the ring in between his thumb and index finger.

"The item ID is all screwy. Where'd you say you got it?"

"From the Black Widow. Said the Don gave it to her."

"If the Don has a something like this, we're screwed."

"That's what I thought."

"And if he can replicate it-"

"He could go everywhere, have spies everywhere, overrun the towns, and know what everyone is planning."

"We're gonna have to make a choice: Go after Reaper or the Don."