By Morrigan (AniMika, for those who don't know my many aliasses)

******

"Sorcerer Hunters, you must travel to a very far away place. It is a city full of sorcerers and white magic, but there is an evil sorcerer hiding somewhere among the Healers. You are to investigate this. Understood?" Big Momma said to her Hunters, all of which (except for Carrot, who was flirting with Dota) nodded their assent. Big Momma concealed an eyeroll at Carrot and sent the Hunters on their way.

"Buh Bye!!" Dota waved as the small group winked out of existence. "Momma, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course, Dota. Have I ever steered them wrong?"

******

"What are you saying Carrot? Speak up, we don’t understand, Brother," Marron said as he peered at his drooling brother.

"Don’t you see Marron? D--Don’t you see the…the…PRETTY GIIIIIIIIRRRRRRLLLLLLSSSS!!!" Carrot screamed as he took off in a mad dash, kicking up dust as he left.

"Oooohhh!! Darling makes me so mad sometimes!!" frowned Chocolate as she stomped her foot angrily. Her sister, Tira, chose to keep her mouth shut.

******

"Oh pretty LAAAAAADDDDYYYYY!!!!" Carrot yelled as he hurtled into town. He passed several girls, grinning and saluting each one, but not stopping until he reached the one to whom he had been originally drawn. He cleared his throat.

"Hey, what do you want?" the girl asked irritably. She had the most exquisite red hair and despite her young appearance, Carrot could tell right away that she was much older than she looked.

"Why hello there, beautiful. What’s your name?" he asked, putting on his most suave expression.

The beauty was not impressed. "What’s it to you, weirdo?"

Carrot’s grin broadened. Oh, so this one is gonna be a tough sell, eh? "My name’s Carrot. Carrot Glaces," he said.

The girl’s eyes lit up. "Food?" she said. Apparently, she had a one-track mind. Oh well, not to worry. Carrot knew exactly what to do.

"No, beautiful, that’s my name! But I’ll get you some food if you want," he said, stepping next to her and taking her arm.

She did NOT like that. "Don’t touch me, you pervert!" she said. And Carrot went sailing into the wild blue yonder.

******

"Can you believe that guy?" Lina Inverse asked as she dusted her hands off. Princess Amelia shook her head.

"Some guys are just pathetic like that I guess," the Princess agreed. Amelia and Lina shrugged and sat down at a nearby restaurant to eat…and wait for Gourry, Zelgadis, and Xellos to return, of course.

******

Tira Misu slouched against the base of a sign that read "Now Entering Seyruun, White Magic Capital of the World and Home of Delicious Frozen Yogurt." She shook her head and looked at her sister. Where on the Spooner Continent was this place? And what had happened to Carrot. They usually would have found him by now.

"Come on ladies, we’re not getting anywhere just standing around here," Gateau Mocha said. Marron Glaces just glanced calmly toward the city. His brother would never grow up.

******

A few hours later, while Carrot was still stalking the beautiful red-haired girl, Marron, Tira, Chocolate and Gateau caught up with him.

"DARLING!!!" sang Chocolate. Carrot’s eyes became impossibly wide and he froze in mid-step. He cringed as he turned around and saw all of his friends running toward him. He hung his head, knowing he could not get away from Chocolate. Seconds later, his arms were bound with strong rope and he was being dragged along the rocky road (excuse the pun) by Tira.

"Come on, Chocolate! Please let me go! I SWEAR I won’t try to run! Pleeeeeese?" Carrot whimpered as he hit yet another rock. Chocolate smirked.

"No, Darling. Not until we reach the inn!"

Carrot moaned and wished he’d never seen the red-haired woman…yes, that wonderful, beautiful red-haired…. "PLEEEEEEEEEEASE CHOCOLATE!!!!!"

"NO!"

******

"Carrot…" came a pleading female voice. Carrot snapped awake. He looked around. In the beds on either side of his, Gateau and Marron slept soundly. Carrot shrugged it off as a dream and went back to sleep.

******

The next morning, Carrot was rudely awakened by a frantic Chocolate.

"OH CARROT, WAKE UP!" she screamed as she shook him out of his sleepy world. "It’s Tira…she’s…"

Carrot frowned. What did she mean? Despite Chocolate’s attempts to burrow into his arms, Carrot firmly pushed her away.

"Chocolate, listen to me. What happened? Come on…Chocolate…Choc--DAMMIT! Tell me Chocolate!" Carrot said as he shook the crying Chocolate. Her crying intensified in volume. "Aww, Chocolate, come here. I’m sorry I yelled," he said, opening his arms to her. She sobbed for a little while, then wiped her eyes and sat back up.

"Thank you, Darling. Come with me now, and I’ll show you…well, just come on," Chocolate said as she finished wiping her face off. Carrot stood, pulled on his boots and followed her out the door. She led the way into hers and Tira’s room. Tira lay sleeping on one of the beds. Her face looked calm and, Carrot noticed, rather pretty.

"Tira?" Carrot asked as he tried to shake her awake. There was no response. Carrot felt her neck for a pulse and found a steady one. She wasn’t dead, at least. Gateau and Marron appeared in the doorway, awakened by Chocolate’s frantic sobs. Both were dressed, but Gateau, at least, still looked quite asleep. Carrot put his face close to Tira’s and felt a faint breath on his cheek. He slapped his forehead.

"Well, Darling?" Chocolate asked anxiously.

"Well," Carrot began seriously, drawing nervous glances from everyone in the room, "She’s asleep."

THUD.

******

"This is an easy one, it’s just a sleep spell," Lina said as she bent over the sleeping girl, "Detoxify!"

Tira sat up with a start.

"Hominahominahomina! Oh, preeeetty lady…" Carrot drooled from his ropes in the corner. Chocolate kicked him.

"What he means to say is thank you, Ms. Inverse. How much are you asking in return?" Marron interjected. Lina pondered. She walked over to the drooling Carrot.

"Well, no one has ever shown this much…interest in me before, so I suppose my payment will be a full course meal paid for by the drooling boy," Lina said finally, pointing down to Carrot. Carrot’s eyes went impossibly wide.

"REALLY? The pretty lady wants dinner with m…m…me?" Carrot said happily, his voice rising to a soprano.

Lina laughed, "Sure, but you're buying!" Marron shook his head, but Gateau was the one who spoke.

"Just make sure he gets back as soon as you can. We ARE on a mission here," Gateau said, flexing his muscles menacingly. Lina cocked her head cutely…Carrot melted.

"What kind of mission?" she asked innocently. Marron shook his head.

"It does not concern you, Ms. Inverse. Please, just collect your payment and be on your way. Marron untied Carrot, much to the dismay of Chocolate and Tira, who had been whispering in the corner.

"It does concern me. Are you bandits? Are you Hunters? What? Because I HATE bandits!" Lina demanded, hands on hips. The Sorcerer Hunters exchanged a group- wide "Look™" and Marron spoke again.

"Ms. Inverse, if you must know, we are looking for a very dangerous and very evil black mage whom we were told was hiding out here, in Seyruun, among the White Mages. Any help you have would be greatly appreciated," Marron said seriously. Lina stood with her mouth hanging open. That could be her they were describing. She decided to start an investigation of her own, just in case they found out she could do black magic.

"Well, I’ll start looking with my friends and I’m sure we’ll come up with something," Lina said. She then, took Carrot’s arm and led him out of the inn. Time for FOOD!

******

Lina and Carrot ate an early lunch, for which Carrot gladly paid, and went to find Lina’s friends. She convinced Carrot that her friends could help so off they went. Eventually, the two came to the palace. The guards took one look at the woman on Carrot’s arm and let them right in without a problem.

"Wow, you’ve got some influence, Lina," Carrot said.

Lina smirked, "Well, my best friend is the Princess of Seyruun, so I suppose that might have something to do with it." Of course, part of the reason was that the guards were afraid of her, as many people were.

"Hey Amelia! Zel! Gourry!" Lina shouted down a corridor, "Meet me in the library!" All she got was a sleepy Amelia’s head poked out the door and a thumbs up sign. Lina and Carrot continued on to the library to wait,

"So, what do you do for a living, Lina?" Carrot asked. Lina dropped his arm and turned down another hallway.

"I kill bandits," she said slowly.

"Really?" Carrot asked, "Wow, that must be an honored position!"

"Not really," Lina said truthfully. She found Carrot most amusing.

Lina stopped in front of a large doorway and entered. Inside was the largest collection of books Carrot had ever seen. He wandered away from Lina and browsed through the titles on the books. "White Mages of History," he read. Another was White, the Color of Healing, and yet another was White Magic Made Easy. Apparently, the sign outside of the city was right, this was the white magic capital of the world. Lina was sitting in a large chair some distance away, but Carrot could see the title of the book she was reading; The Lord of Nightmares and the Evils of the Mazoku Race. Carrot was curious and found the place on the shelves where it had been. Three book titles jumped out at Carrot, Black Mages of History, Black, the Color of Power, and Black Magic Spells Volume VI. Carrot looked at Lina out of the corner of his eye.

"Lina, were you reading these?" Carrot asked, pointing to the stack on the floor. Lina nodded and kept on reading. Carrot saw another book on the shelf, one that had been hidden by the one Lina was reading. He pulled it out and read the title, The Infamous Lina Inverse, Dragon Spooker. Carrot's eyes bulged. Was this the same pretty lady?

"Um, Lina, is this about you?" Carrot asked, pointing to the book in his hand.

Lina looked up from her book. "Hmm? Oh, that. Yeah, that's about me. Prince Phil kept it in here until he found out that I wasn't really that bad. Where was it anyway?"

Carrot pointed to the spot behind the books. Lina got up and walked over to Carrot. "Hmm…there's two copies around here…ah! Here's the other one." She took the book out of Carrot's hand and took the other book off the shelf. "FIREBALL!" she said as she hurled the books into the air and blasted them.

Carrot yelped and threw himself out of the way. She didn’t know about his zoanthropy!

"Miss Lina, please don't do that again while I'm around. If one of your spells hit me, my magic'd turn me into a huge angry monster and destroy this library…and probably the rest of the building as well," Carrot said with a small smile. He rubbed the back of his head to see what she'd do next. She just looked at him for a moment with her eyebrow raised. Before either could speak again, three tired looking people came in the room and shut the door.

"Miss Lina, why are we here?" a strange man with rocky blue skin asked. Lina smiled.

"Good Morning everyone!" she waved them all to seats and took one herself. Carrot leaned on the back of Lina's chair, as there was no other place to sit. He dreaded himself for this thought, but…what if Lina was the one he was supposed to kill?

******

Marron walked the streets of Seyruun and found the place fascinating. There were street vendors selling everything from ice cream to magic amulets. He even found a man selling healing spells. The sorcerer hunter walked alone to the end of a row of houses and found a very odd little bookshop. He opened the door and went in.

Inside, the place was covered in dust, like no one had been inside in years. But an archaic looking man was sitting behind the clerk's desk and looked up with a toothless smile as he came in.

"My, my! We haven't had someone come in here for years!" the man exclaimed as he jumped up spryly and ran to greet his customer. Marron noticed with some dismay that the man's feet did not leave prints in the dust. He said nothing however. He allowed the man to lead him around the store and he even bought a small tome about Healers of the first century. The old man took him to a very small back room with more books.

At the back of the room, there was a glowing blue crystal on a silver stand. It flashed brighter at his presence. Marron frowned and turned to ask the old man what it was, but the man had gone. He heard voices from the front room. Apparently there was another customer. Marron could just hear the words, "We haven't had a customer in ages! But, there's another man in the back room I think you'd like to meet." Marron ducked behind a shelf just in time for the little man to enter with his customer.

The customer looked like a priest of some sort, with his robe and staff. His eyes were shut, yet he could see everything. His short hair gave him a feminine look, but only slightly. Marron readied a spell just in case.

"Well, Ghost, I certainly don't see any man in here. Do you realize what I am?" the stranger asked in a very serious tone.

A ghost! Marron stifled a cough from behind the dusty books.

"Master Xellos! I swear to my master Phibrizzo there is a very powerful human here! There is!"

Xellos opened his eyes and stared the man down. "Do you not know that your oath has no leverage? Your master is dead, killed by the Lord of Nightmares herself. You think to lie to me? Sir, I think you should rethink." The man turned to leave. Marron watched the man named Xellos go. The Lord of Nightmares? Phibrizzo? What was going on here? Marron would not leave without knowing.

"Excuse me," Marron said, stepping out from behind the bookshelf a few seconds later. Xellos whirled around, opening his eyes and instantly closing them again.

"Ah, so you did not lie, shopkeep, excellent. So, are you really all that powerful?" Xellos asked. Without warning, he threw a fire spell at Marron. The Sorcerer Hunter threw out a shield to take the brunt of the spell, but he was still thrown back into the tiny room, closer to the crystal. Xellos smirked and stopped his assault.

"Hmm, a sorcerer, are you? Well, I am Xellos, Mysterious Priest!" the man said as he walked closer and stuck out his hand. Marron took it cautiously and pulled himself up.

"I am Marron Glaces, and I am no sorcerer. Are you a Black Mage?" The purple-haired priest smiled.

"Of course not! I am a Mazoku. You do know what that is, don't you?" Xellos said. Marron shook his head. Xellos walked over to a bookshelf and took down a book. "You must not be from around here, then, hmm?"

Marron shook his head again, "No, I am from the Spooner Continent."

"Ahh, well, you see, Mr. Glaces, I am a member of a race called Mazoku. We feed off of negative human emotions, like fear and hate. We also have special powers that most humans don't have," Xellos said.

Marron thought for a moment. Perhaps Xellos could help him search for the evil sorcerer. He interrupted Xellos' speech, "Excuse me, but I am looking for a dangerous sorcerer hidden somewhere in this city. Do you think you could help me?"

Xellos looked thoughtful. "Well, we could start right here! This shop has not been open for about 100 years. Master ghost, why did you set up shop here in Seyruun?"

The ghost paled (as much as a ghost can do that) and shook his head. "I cannot tell you. Please Master Mazoku, do not hurt me!"

Xellos frowned and turned his back to the ghost. Marron had no time to warn Xellos of the ghost's actions. The blue crystal glowed brighter and brighter. The ghost faded out with an evil smile on his face.

"Sorry to fool you, Xellos, dear, but that's the way it goes!"

The blue light enveloped the entire room, clouding Marron's vision. "NOOOOO!!!!" he cried as he slowly lost consciousness.

******

Chocolate, Tira and Gateau walked into a temple not too far from their inn and looked around. Inside was an unfinished statue of a dragon. Upon closer inspection, Tira could see that the statue was being rebuilt due to an explosion of some sort. The marks were everywhere. Gateau spotted an old woman walking in the shadows and shouted a question at her.

"Hey Old Woman! What's the statue of?"

The woman held a finger to her lips and motioned for the three to follow her. The three Sorcerer Hunters exchanged a Look™ and followed the old woman. Chocolate fingered her coat nervously. Something was very wrong.

******

Carrot, Lina, Amelia, Zelgadis and Gourry walked down a dimly lit corridor. Amelia had shown them a passage from the palace into the temple of Sephied and Zelgadis had surmised that the books there could yield valuable information for Carrot's search. That, and they had heard an explosion a few minutes ago.

******

Gateau made a little strangled sound as the group entered the place the woman had led them. All she'd told them was that this place was very special. It was a friggin book store! Gateau slapped his forehead in frustration. Tira and Chocolate turned to leave when suddenly one of the tomes on the wall began to glow. Suddenly, it exploded and sent the Sorcerer Hunters flying.

******

"This way, Miss Lina!" Amelia said as she led the way down the tunnel. Lina rolled her eyes and HOPED Amelia knew where she was going. Gourry and Carrot trailed along behind. Abruptly, the tunnel opened out into a much larger chamber.

"Well, Amelia, did you lead us wrong? This is most certainly not the temple of Sephied," Lina commented as the group stared at the elaborate frescoes and murals lining the walls. A soft tune of the flute played in the background.

"I…I've never seen this place before!" Amelia said with awe.

A soft, male voice came from nowhere and everywhere at once. "I should think not, my dear, for this is a pocket dimension." A tall man with white robes appeared before them, face shrouded in shadow underneath a hood.

"Marron?" Carrot said, confused.

"Yes, dear brother, it is I. For those who do not know me, I am Marron Glaces, Mysterious Priest," said Marron…or whoever this was.

"Hey, since when have you called yourself a Priest, Marron?" Carrot asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Why brother dear, I have always been a Priest. Are you feeling alright?" Marron replied, cocking his head and waggling his finger.

Lina frowned and her eyes narrowed, "Wait, pull back your hood, stranger." The man removed his hood and Lina's jaw dropped. She fought back the exclamation of surprise that she and her companions felt. "What is the meaning of this? Why have you brought us here?"

"The meaning of what…Oh, the pocket dimension. Well, you see, I cannot tell you that. It's a secret," the figure said. Carrot took a step back.

"Lina…do you know what's going on?" Carrot asked the red-haired beauty. She shook her head.

"No, but I bet we can find out. Xellos, or Marron, or whoever you are, tell me the last place you remember being," Lina demanded.

"Why, Lina, I've been here for hours!" Xellos/Marron replied cheerfully. "You really must see this lovely orb, by the way. It's quite amazing. Just have care. If it starts to glow, you had better run fast in the opposite direction. It packs quite a punch. Well, I'll be off I think. It was nice seeing you all!" With that, Marron vanished, and with him, the pocket dimension. The Sorcerer Hunters were back in the library. However…they were not alone.

******

Carrot and Gourry reached for their swords and Gateau flexed his muscles menacingly. Tira and Chocolate also prepared for battle, much to the amazement and enjoyment of Zelgadis and Gourry. Lina and Amelia poised themselves as well. Carrot spoke first.

"Who are you?" Carrot growled. A grizzled old man with long mustaches smiled placidly at his guests.

"My name is Shinlao. Who are you?" the man asked in a voice seemingly made of paper. His forehead bore the symbol of a sorcerer. Carrot and Tira shared a Look™.

"I am Lina Inverse, and I demand to know what you have done with Xellos and Marron," Lina said, her voice miraculously steady. This man must be the one the Hunters were after. Who else could there be…unless…they had been sent to kill her!

"Well, well! Lina Inverse! Such a pleasure it is to finally meet the lady behind the name. You are well known in many circles," Shinlao said happily. Lina growled. The old man seemed to finally take in the rest of the people in the room. "Aah, well I see you won't go quietly, so perhaps we should cut to the chase, yes?"

Carrot and Gourry drew their swords the rest of the way. A fireball appeared in Lina's hands. Amelia's hands clenched into fists surrounded by a blue aura. Zelgadis drew his sword and chanted his Astral Vine spell. Gateau cracked his knuckles. Tira and Chocolate cracked their whips. This old man didn't stand a chan--

******

Suddenly, monsters filled the room. Trolls, orcs, and goblins attacked all as one. Gourry and Carrot fought side by side, but were pushed back into the hallway from which they had entered. The others were pushed forward until they were nearly all up against the blue orb. Carrot and Gourry noticed at the same moment and shouted warning.

"Lina watch out!" both men shouted as the orb exploded in blue light. Soon, Carrot and Gourry's eyes recovered from the light. Somehow, all their friends had changed.

Carrot's eyes widened. Before him now stood Tira with Amelia's clothes and purple hair, Chocolate with Lina's hair and …body shape (heavenly as it was), and Gateau with rock-like skin. All three stood in the same positions they had been standing before the orb exploded. Marron appeared at Carrot's side.

"I told you to be wary brother," Marron/Xellos laughed.

Carrot and Gourry looked at one another and cringed. How were they going to get out of this?