Chapter 2

2 Years Later, July 2024

Lisbeth sighed as she leaned against the glass counter of her shop. She hadn't had a customer all week, and Agil wasn't due to drop off her ore shipment for five days. She wouldn't even be able to work on her commissions. She sighed again. She wished Kirito and Asuna would at least drop in for a visit. Looking outside, she noted with dismay that it was still raining. It wasn't likely that any of her friends would show up. She leaned her head on her arm, her left eye being able to see through the glass at all of the weapons and armor she had for sale. Her life's work; at least her life in here. With a weary nod to herself, she decided to close shop for the day. Maybe she'd just message Asuna.

She had just turned around to head to the back to put out the forge's fire when she heard the door open and the bell ring, signaling her that someone had come in. She spun around quickly, giving her biggest smile to her prospective customer.

"Hey there!" she said in an overly-friendly voice that sounded creepy, even to her, "Welcome to Lisbeth's Smith Shop! Please have a look around and see what I…"

She couldn't finish her little spiel when she laid eyes on the stranger. He was dressed all in black, just like Kirito, with a black cloak covering his equally dark leather-looking armor. His hood was pulled back, and she could see his dark, wavy hair was soaking wet, and he had an exhausted look about him, as if he'd come a long way. She then noticed his sword, strapped firmly to his side. She frowned when she noticed it was a rapier.

She saw him take a moment to look around. He hadn't seemed to notice that she'd completely lost her tongue in his presence. When he turned his head to look at the far end of shop, she got a slightly better view of him. She noticed, a little embarrassed from where her mind was wandering, that he had beautifully full lips. For a guy, at least. She looked down as he walked forward, trying to keep her inappropriate thoughts in check, as he examined the high-end weaponry she had along the wall. She noticed him stop in front of a particular sword, an enormously powerful weapon called Green Destiny.

The stranger stared at the weapon for a long while before finally picking it up, hefting and twirling the Moderately heavy blade in his hands. After a few moments of indecision, he brought it to Liz.

"Do you have anything better than this?" he asked, and she noticed his voice sounded as soft as a summer breeze.

She gasped when she realized what he had just said. Anything better than that?! It was a level seventy or higher only blade with massive bonuses to speed, accuracy, and critical damage, a fifty percent chance to paralyze for fifteen seconds, as well as the ability to drain an opponents' energy skill, significantly lessening their accuracy and agility. She couldn't help but wonder of he was, at least slightly, insane.

"Look, do you even realize what you have there?" she asked incredulously, shocked at how nonchalant he was treating her best sword.

"Yeah," he said, hefting the weapon again, "It's pretty good, but I'm looking for something a little better, and lighter. Preferably a rapier-class weapon."

She crossed her arms petulantly, not pleased by having her best items brushed off by this stranger.

"Look, this is floor forty eight," she said, her childishness getting the best of her again, "You won't find anything better then that below floor sixty. If you're going to be picky, I suggest you try there…or the frontlines."

He didn't seem to notice her outburst, or if he did, he didn't seem to care. Instead, he hefted Green Destiny one last time, before slamming its blade in the floor. She squeaked in surprise at the sudden movement, not knowing what he was going to do next. He surprised her again by simply crossing his arms like her, and sighing.

"I just came from there," he said, a tiredness entering his otherwise dreamy voice, "I couldn't find what I was looking for."

He looked up, straight into her face, and now she got her first view of his eyes. They startled her more then she had been before. They were gorgeous. A sea water blue with a pure violet ring wrapped around the iris. Though he had a hard stare going on at the moment, she noticed that his eyes had a softness to them. Very unusual for non-civilian gamers after two years. Especially those who took on the frontlines, as he claimed he had. There was something else there too, buried deep, so deep she almost couldn't identify it at first. It hit her mere moments later. There was sorrow there. She shouldn't have been surprised. Every player had sorrow in them. They'd been trapped in this nightmare for almost two years, now. But there was something different about him. His sorrow seemed deeper, like it had taken root long ago and had spread throughout his being. Like he'd had it for a while, maybe even before the game. She decided she didn't want to know, but the least she could do was try to accommodate him the best she could.

"Look," she said, softer this time, trying not to be as immature as before, "What do you want specifically?"

For the briefest of moments, she could have sworn she saw the barest hint of a smile cross his face. She became a little uneasy when he drew his sword, but fought it down. He hadn't been aggressive so far. She would give him a chance. He looked at both weapons, hers still buried tip first into her floor, as if coming to a decision. With a lightning fast twirl, he had the handle of his rapier held out to her. Liz squeaked in surprise, but otherwise did her best to remain calm.

"You do custom jobs, right?' he asked, looking back up at her.

"Yeah," she replied, glad that now this day seemed to be a little less boring. She tentatively took the handle to examine his sword.

"Do you think you could make a rapier with as much base damage as that," he said, then pulled her sword free from the floor, "And with the same enchantments as this?"

She stood there, slightly stunned, and then looked down at the sword he had given her, using her appraisal skill to begin the analysis. Sorrow's Edge, she read as the item's name came up. She scanned it further, and almost dropped it again, in complete awe of the weapon's awesome power. In terms of pure attack damage, it was the most powerful sword she had ever seen. Probably more then anyone's seen. It was a complete beast, despite looking like an ordinary rapier. But she also noticed that there were no enchantments on it, as well as blocks preventing any from being added, even from a master smith like herself. Probably the penalty for being so powerful. She looked back at her sword, scanning it as well. The gears began to turn in her head. After a few moments, she came to a decision. In theory, she could forge a sword as powerful as his, as well as a sword with roughly the same enchantments as hers. But to combine both? She almost balked at the idea. Her pride stopped her though. She never backed down from a challenge. She immediately began going over how she would go about it.

"Can you?" the stranger asked after five minutes.

After another few moments, she looked up at him.

"I…yes…," she said, trying to sound confident, but the prospect was still daunting, "Yes, I think I can."

The stranger smiled, a full smile this time, and Liz could swear her heart skipped a beat. He had an amazing smile, too.

"Good."

"But, there is a problem," she said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"There's only way this could work," she said, making sure she met him eye to eye, "I need to combine two very specific metals in order to pull this off. The first is Silverite."

He nodded. He frowned and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, seeming to at least be familiar with the material. Liz had only heard of it through pub stories. It was extremely rare, and even harder to find in quantities large enough for swords. Ingots went for a pretty penny, and even the information broker couldn't get any reliable leads on where to find a large enough source worth the trouble of locating. She, however, had an ace up her sleeve.

"The only Silverite source worth going after is found on floor thirteen," she continued as she saw him process the information, "I've heard from a reliable source that there's a node at the end of a hidden dungeon located there. There'll be enough ingots for dozens of swords. The dungeon itself is supposedly extremely easy to get through. There isn't even a boss. The only problem is that, aside from being extremely well hidden, it's the largest dungeon in the game. It will easily take a week to get through it, three days to get the ingots, and another week to get out. Most players don't even bother attempting it because it isn't easy to find, and there aren't even any item chests worth going after."

He slowly nodded, knowing exactly what it was going to take to get what he wanted.

"The second material I'll need is going to be Crystallite, found only on floor fifty-five, on the Western Mountain," she said, puffing up her chest a little and remembering the last time she'd gotten her hands on the rare metal with Kirito, "There's a dragon there that eats the crystals that grow around a certain area in the northern face of the mountain, and they're transformed into Crystallite ingots in its stomach."

"I see," he said, sighing and uncrossing his arms, "And let me make a wild guess here…you currently don't have either in stock, right?"

She huffed, indignant by his presumptions, however true they might be.

"You're right, bub, I don't!" she said, her face reddening from anger, "Nobody on any floor will have them in stock! They're that rare! They have to be found!"

With a smile on his face, he held up his hands in a surrender motion.

"Easy, easy," he said, still smiling softly, "I didn't mean any offense. If I get the materials for you, can you make the sword?"

Lisbeth uncrossed her arms and sighed, angry more at herself for her childish behavior then at his thinly veiled mirth at her expense.

"Sure," she said, resignation laced though out her voice as she raised her head, "But it will cost you. Bigtime, buddy-boy."

He lowered his arms, that soft almost-smile still there, but quickly becoming lost.

"That's fine," he said, "What's the damage"?

She shrugged. She hadn't gotten that far in her plans yet.

"Well…," she said, trying to use all of her barter skill to quickly calculate a price, "My conservative estimate is…one and half million. But that will change depending on labor and other factors."

She smiled smugly, expecting him to balk. It would be almost worth losing the commission to see his face bulge at the outrageous price. He surprised her again when he simply said:

"Fine."

She gasped. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. He'd agreed seemingly without so much as a second thought. She would've fainted if he hadn't extended his hand, obviously wanting his sword back. Dutifully, and a little clumsily, she handed it back as he passed hers with his free hand. He sheathed his sword as he turned to leave, she suddenly remembered what was most important about the materials.

"Hey, wait!" she said, then turned red, suddenly embarrassed about what she needed to propose. He turned back around, looking at her quizzically.

"What?" he replied.

"I'm going with you," she said, "I know where both the locations are that we need to go to."

"That's alright," he said, turning back around to leave, "Just send me maps with exactly where I need to go, and I'll find them and bring them back."

She sucked in her breath as she prepared her little speech. It was just like her time with Kirito.

"You need a master smith in your party in order to get the materials," she said, re-crossing her arms defiantly, "They won't show up unless I'm there."

She heard him grunt and sigh.

"I'm better on my own," he said, sounding just like Kirito had during their adventure. It was utterly disturbing to her how much this situation was similar to how she'd met one of her best friends, "Are you sure I can't just go alone?"

"Yup," she said, putting her uneasiness behind her and reverting to her normal cheerful self, "Without me, no metal. No metal, no sword. Come on! It won't be that bad!"

She had worked herself up into giddy excitement, hopping from foot to foot. She hadn't been out and about in a while, and there was some new gear she'd forged that she wanted to try out. She crossed her arms again, but this time put on her most endearing smile. To her utter surprise, he returned one of his own, although not nearly as big as hers. This just made her hop around cheerfully all the more.

"Alright," he said as he checked his clock, "I guess I'll head back to town and get a room. I'll meet you here tomorrow morning."

"The only inn is on the other side of town, and its pouring outside. The Teleport Gate is only across the bridge, you could just go home and meet me here," she said as she calmed herself down.

He turned to walk away.

"Don't have a home," he said casually as he began to head for the door.

Doesn't have a home? she thought. Everyone's bought a place by now. Who is this guy? She didn't know what came over her as she called out to him:

"Hey!"

He turned back to look at her.

"Y-you…," she noticed she was beginning to stutter, and forced the words out before she could, "It's raining…and my forge…there's plenty of room down there…and it's warm. And dry. You can sleep down there, if you want. I won't charge you anything."

She noticed him staring, and she immediately looked down at the floor.

"It's the least I can do," she said, her voice almost a whisper, "I mean…if I pull this off, you're going to give me one hell of a payday, right?"

To her shock, she felt a hand on her left shoulder. She gasped as she looked up. She stared into his eyes, and saw a warm kindness in them. It was enough to take her breath away.

"Thanks," he said, "I think I'll do that. I wasn't looking forward to going back into the rain. Only as long as it's not an inconvenience."

Liz brightened up.

"It's no inconvenience at all," she said cheerfully, glad to finally have some company, "It's this way."

He followed her to the back of the shop, and down a spiral staircase. She could tell he was surprised and pleased at the way she had the lay out. It had a coziness about it. A sense of home.

"Well…here we are!" she said with a happy grin, "My home away from home! And…well…uh, I guess my other home is right upstairs, above the shop."

She pointed up to the ceiling to clarify her point. When she noticed he was looking back at her after scanning the room, there was an uncomfortable silence as she suddenly realized she had let a complete stranger spend the night with her.

"Ummm…," she said awkwardly, and starting to back up, "It's…getting late…I'm gonna…close shop, then…head on up to bed. Just…knock on my bedroom door if you need anything, 'kay? There's spare blankets and pillows in the closet over there."

She dashed up the stairs before he could reply. But as her hand reached the handle, it struck her that she hadn't bothered to get a key piece of information. She turned around to look back at him. He had made his way to the indicated closet, and was in the process of removing a blanket.

"W-what's…," she again stuttered, but again forcing herself to get the words out, "What's your name?"

He looked back up, a ghost of a smile still on his face.

"Siren," he said before turning and laying the blanket a few feet away from the heat of the smelter.

"Siren," she repeated, "Well, you might as well just call me 'Liz'. Everyone I know does."

He nodded at her as Lisbeth turned and left the room.

Shutting the door to the forge room behind her, she let her breath out, not realizing she had been holding it. She sighed. What the hell did I just do? she thought. She decided not to think about her poor decision making skills, especially when it came to strangers. She walked across the room and locked the front door. As she made her way to the other staircase leading to her private quarters, she paused briefly to look back at the door to her forge, wondering if she should lock the guy in. After a moment of deliberation, she decided not to. She could lock her bedroom door, and she would notice if he stole anything from her shop. She just wanted to get to bed so she could get up early and prepare for the quest.


Lisbeth finished changing her clothes as she got ready for bed. She snuffed out the candle on the dresser, then made sure to lock the door. Just to be safe. As she got into bed, thoughts coursed unbidden through her mind, keeping her from going to sleep. She consented to just lie still on her back, looking up at her ceiling and trying to sort them out. The chief among them was this mysterious stranger's name.

Siren she thought. An unusual name at best, even for an Avatar. Did he mean like a police or ambulance siren? She didn't think so. That would be dumb. She racked her brain for a while to see if she remembered anything that might be useful. She happened to turn her head, and noticed her bookshelf. Her eyes settled on a dusty old volume. The Odyssey, the spine read. She remembered she had read it the summer before she went into Sword Art Online for her school's assigned summer reading. Wasn't there something in that book about something called a Siren? She racked her brain further.

She remembered something about them being supposedly located on an island off the coast of Sicily. She also remembered that they were supposed to look like beautiful women. Why in the hell would he name himself after that, then? Was he…? No. There must be something else she thought as she drove through every scrap of memory she had of the book, looking for something, anything, that might shed just a little more light on the stranger sleeping below her. Wait. Something fairly important about the creatures came to back to her. Didn't they have something to do with death?...Yes! It hit her like a ton of bricks. They had the most beautiful voices ever, and lured passing sailors to their deaths with the most haunting songs any human ears had ever heard. She frowned. How did any of that information help her? She couldn't make it fit, and she fell asleep pondering the mystery.