A young, Asian girl sat at the kitchen table of the apartment she shared with her mother, the latter of whom was out shopping. The lights in the building were off, and so the girl read from the open textbook in front of her by the light of a candle. The table was square, tiled, and cluttered with many different papers. This girl seemed the model student with her head always in a book. Yet, upon the book she was supposedly reading, sat a small pad of paper on which she was doodling.- various symbols of various peoples from various MMO's.

It was just another cold, dark night for her, seemingly alone in her home doing her homework. Or so it appeared.

Seth inhaled a deep, greedy breath. His fingers twitched in anticipation as they clutched an old-fashioned gun. Within it were three shots- two blanks and a lead bullet. Lead was a thing of the distant past, and yet Seth loved it- every part of it. It was simple and unique in this world. It was perfect for killing.

He now stood on the fire escape outside of the young girl's apartment. An icy breeze swept past him down the alley, and Seth shivered, though whether it was from excitement or the cold, not even he could tell. “I…am…justice,” he whispered.

Why would he not be? These people were scourges to the planets. They glided their way through school with no effort at all. It seemed as if their every moment was spent studying, and yet, when it all came down to it, they were on the Uninet playing games more than anything else. It was people like these, people who had everything come to them easily, who caused the rest of the population to suffer.

Seth pulled out his phone. It was small and round, and fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. There was a tiny LCD screen at the top, with a single button underneath. You pressed it to talk to the machine. You could do a number of things- check the time, the outcome of the previous night's sports game, or even find the meaning of a word by simply speaking it. Seth pushed the button to get the information he desired.

“How may a help you?” the phone asked in a quiet voice.

“Information on my location”

“ Your current location is a back alley on Maple St. in the city of Cruxean. Cruxean is the most advanced city on the planet S-342, however it is still only the equivalent of your home planet Septhos from over 300 years ago.”

Seth smiled. That meant there wouldn't be any advanced security systems to avoid.

“Tell me the current time of the western hemisphere of planet S-342.”

“Ten twenty-five and four milliseconds, post-median.”

Seth swore. The girl's mother would be home in a matter of minutes! It had already been well over an hour since she left. If he didn't hurry in-

“Shit. A slang word used as an exclamation of frustration, terror or both. It can also be used to describe-”

He pushed the button on the phone again, and it turned off. He had to act fast. There was no room for mistakes. He began to creep up the fire escape- slowly, carefully. All of his feelings of excitement or happiness were gone. He was angry now: angry at the time, angry with himself, and angry with the young woman he was about to kill.

It was only one or two minutes later that he arrived outside the girl's living room window. Now, he had to be very quiet. If he gave away his presence before he arrived within house, the girl would have the police at the door within seconds. It was vital that he made it through that window soundlessly. Carefully, he pulled on he bottom to lift it up. It was locked.

“Damn,” he breathed.

The only way left was to break through the window. He brought his elbow up to the thick glass. It was a breathless moment, one where you're not quite sure where things are going to go once its passed.

Then, the window shattered in a waterfall of tiny shimmering particles. And with it, shattered Seth's breathless moment. Everything happened quickly after that. The young girl screamed the high pitch scream characteristic of most young girls, and Seth could almost taste her distress. He lived off of it.

“It's time for a nap,” he whispered.

“Onegaishimasu! Don't hurt me, onegai!” she cried.

“Broken already? You're no fun,” he cackled, and pulled the trigger. The shot rang out in the night, disrupting the peaceful silence previously present. But, the girl did not die. She sat, in the corner of the room now, with tears in her eyes and fear distorting her face. Though, upon realizing she was alive, she looked up at Seth with a look of gratitude.

“Don't give me that,” he growled. “Sheesh! Chicks like you really are no fun!” And, he pulled the trigger a second time. This time however, it was not a blank that left the barrel.

Blood splattered the wall and the girl slumped to the floor, her eyes blank and lifeless. Seth grinned, and his own, gray eyes shimmered in a sick happiness. Could any other action give one such a feeling of euphoria? Was it possible to feel happier than he was now? But his happiness was short lived. He had to leave before the neighbors came and broke down the door, or worse, the mother returned from her shopping venture. He was out of the window in a flash, his long bleached ponytail swishing, nearly gracefully, behind him.

'It's all just a game…an amazing, exhilarating game. And here I stand, the main protagonist, more than ready to face my archenemy. But when will he rise?'

+++

Seth entered his run-down hotel room. The walls were painted a sickly yellow color, and the carpet near the bed was stained with who knows what. Frankly, Seth didn't want to know. He entered the bathroom off to the side of the door and examined himself in the mirror. His plain white tee shirt was crisp and clean. He had made sure not to allow a single drop of blood land upon it tonight. It was the last clean one he had left, and he wasn't about to go shopping on such a backwater planet. Tomorrow morning he would leave. He had overstayed already.

He turned on the faucet and splashed crisp cold water on his face. It was an extremely refreshing sensation, and he reveled in it, though it didn't compare to killing. He glanced in the mirror again. There seemed to be more gray in his hair today then there was blonde. Seth swore that the prominent color of his hair changed from day to day, but since he had no means to prove it, he decided he didn't really care.

“Fantasy Hour Online…” he murmured, and smiled. It was a place of deceit, and yet it was a beautiful haven. And, perhaps today he'd get some information on the woman he was searching for. The one he chased without knowing exactly why. He had only seen her once, and yet, she had captivated him.

He was now looking at the screen to choose his character. Only one name existed on the list- Solomon.

+++

What does it take to truly hide?

Seth asked himself this after the disbandment of the Royalty. He had refused to make a new character- he had become too attached to Solomon to let him go. So instead, he had searched for a way to hide. The prestige of the Royalty was too much to handle. He hated walking into a city only to have all eyes turn upon him. It was every criminal's fear- to be noticed. It had taken him ages to find a conclusion, but one day he stumbled across an old item in his inventory used to change your character's appearance.

And, the princely, blonde haired Solomon had exchanged his appearance for one of death. Silver hair and golden eyes designed for fear. It was this man who now walked around the mid-sized city of Nakiakasu. It was a mid-sized medieval town, bordered by mountains to the east and the sea to the west, and in essence, it was beautiful. Not many people dared travel here, as it was rarely the center of quests or events, and the few that did were in search of rest and a good story or two. The non-player population of the town was about 1,000, but there were on fifty or so players in it at any given time. Solomon was a regular. He had even set the calm town as his spawn point.

He made his way to the Illusion, the town's tavern. It was a small, quaint building, and one of the few made out of stone. Many candles provided light to the Illusion, and the building gave off a very homey feeling. Solomon smiled as he opened the door, revealing a set of very sharp teeth. As soon as he was inside, his worries left. He was in a world of merriment. There were only four or five people within the tavern, but all of them were in good spirits. They danced merrily around the building with extra large mugs in their hands. Solomon wondered what was going on in their player's minds at the moment.

Reaching the counter, Solomon ordered a medium sized mug of rum, paid for it, and walked up the stairs to the left of the counter. This way, he could watch the crazy antics of the drinkers without getting forcefully drawn into them himself. Upstairs, two battle worn heavy swords stood pouring over a map in front of them so intently that they didn't even notice Solomon approach.

'Battle plans, eh? How many beasts are they planning to hunt I wonder…'

“The eastern seas? Hmm…I heard their was a mighty tough challenge taking place out there right now,” he stated as he approached.

One of the warriors turned around, clearly startled. He had a long scar running down the side of his face. “And what's it to ya, eh?”

“Oh, not much. I was just curious to see if the quest was your intent. I'm satisfied now.” He smiled warmly, and then walked off to his usual table in the back corner. Though, clearly the heavy swords weren't done with him. They followed him to his table to continue the conversation.

“Those are mighty fine swords you're carrying around there,” the first one sneered.

“Why thank you,” he said kindly.

“You're really pissing me off, you know that?”

“Oh am I? My apologies. Though, before I completely fall from your good graces, may I impart some advice upon you?”

“Hmph,” said the scarred man.

“If you take part in the quest, make sure you have more than just the two of you. A battle at sea is much more difficult than one in the open land. And, judging by your attitudes I believe I can assume you haven't been playing long.” He smiled kindly once more, and took a deep swig of his rum. The delicious liquid made its way quickly down his throat, and warmed his stomach.

The man looked startled. “Y-you can tell just by-?”

“A party of five or six should do. Oh, and don't forget an Apothecary.” He finished his rum then, and left the loft of the tavern.

“Th-thank you!” the man yelled down after him. Solomon replied with a dismissive wave of his hand, as if to say “no problem.” He didn't know why he gave into the temptation to help people, but for some reason he just couldn't help himself. And though the advice he had given the two heavy swords was elementary, their gratitude still satisfied him.

Downstairs the men were still dancing about merrily. Solomon smiled and left the bar. He'd be back within the hour of course, but the sun was setting now. Solomon loved the grace it carried as it sank down below the horizon.

He walked to the western border, and stood on the edge of the land. The town was built right up to the cliff that hung over the beach, so there were no walls between it and the sea. Solomon was able to stare out at the clam, beautiful waves with ease. It was so beautiful. Its vastness was just as breathtaking within the world of Fantasy Hour Online as it was within the life Seth led. Of course, it was only here that he could truly appreciate its beauty.

And so he stood there silently, and watched the rippling water turn gold, then black.