Carrot placed his hands on his hips and looked around. "This is boring, and stupid, and what kind of a sorcerer would hang out at an art fair?" He commented as Marron viewed a sculpture of two lovers appreciatively.

"The kind of sorcerer we are looking for," Marron reminded his brother. Carrot’s eye caught a painting nearby. His eyes flew open and he leaped high into the air.

"Yeeeeooossaaa!" Carrot exclaimed with his tongue hanging out. He ogled a nude painting hanging from one of the displays. "Now this is art."

Carrot was promptly bashed in the head. He let out a yelp as he hit the ground. He lifted his head to be faced with Tira. "I can’t believe you, Carrot. That painting is an expression of the beauty of the human body and all you think about is…oooohh. I can’t believe you!"

Chocolate nudged Carrot as he stood up. "You know, Darling, if you’d like to see a nude painting I’d be more than happy to pose."

Tira’s face reddened. "Chocolate, behave yourself!"

As Chocolate, Tira, and Carrot squabbled, Marron continued his examination of the sculpture. He was so engrossed in his scrutiny that he did not notice the girl walking to him from behind.

"Do you like it?" a small voice asked. Marron turned his head to see a very pretty, blue-haired girl. "It took me a really long time to make this. My subjects didn’t like to stay still very long," she expressed.

"It’s beautiful. It’s made of Pemstone Gem, isn’t it?" Marron inquired, pointing at the glittering rock.

"Yes. It’s very rare, Pemstone is, but I was able to find some at the edge of a village path that was seldom traveled."

"You are very talented." Marron remarked. The girl blushed and thanked him for the compliment. Then she asked him if he would like to see some of her other artwork. Before Marron could answer, Gateau approached him.

"Come on. We’re setting up camp."

"Very well," Marron replied to his friend. He looked from Gateau to the girl. She seemed disappointed that he could not stay. Gateau turned to leave, and Marron told her "I would like to see some of your artwork. How about tomorrow morning?"

The girl's eyes brightened. She reached out her hand and introduced herself as Julia. After Marron introduced himself she said, "I am staying at the cottage by the cliffside on the edge of town. Could you meet me there in the morning?" Marron agreed. Gateau called for him to hurry up cuz they were leaving. Marron waved goodbye to Julia as he walked away. Julia watched him leave with his friend until she could no longer see him in the distance. Then she skipped happily to her cottage.

Bren listened to her sister talk about the guy she met all thru dinner. Bren sighed as she scrubbed a rusted pan.

"And he's coming here tomorrow… Isn't that exciting?" Julia waved her arms and leaned back in her chair. She caught herself before she toppled backwards.

"That's great, sis." Bren said. "But remember that he's just coming to see your art."

"I know that." Julia said, aggravated.

"I just don't want you to get any ideas in your head."

"I won't."

Bren nodded and continued scrubbing.

The Sorcerer Hunters surrounded the campfire Gateau had made from the firewood he had gathered. Carrot was sent to get provisions and he came back to camp with…

"Corndogs?" Chocolate eyed her meal on a stick.

"Couldn't you have gotten something a bit healthier, Carrot?" Tira questioned.

"Hey, It's all they had." Carrot bit into his corndog. "This is pretty good."

"Let's go over what we know." Gateau began after downing his own corndog. "Someone is using unknown magic to kill off men."

"And all of the poor young men came to the art fair and never went home," Chocolate confirmed.

"Which leads us to believe the sorcerer is an artist in the fair." Marron added.

"That means we must find him before more men disappear." Gateau finished.

Carrot raised his hand. "I think that our sorcerer is a she." He declared. The others stared at him quizzically. "I mean, who wants to kill off a bunch of men more than an angry woman."

"I think Carrot is right," Tira agreed.

Chocolate nodded her head. "Shocking."

Gateau went on. "I think the best way to find our sorcerer is to get in with the art fair participants," He hit Marron on the back causing him to choke briefly on half his corndog. "Which our friend, Marron, is already doing."

"Yeah. What's with you and that girl?" Carrot asked his younger brother. "She was staring at you like you were a big piece of woman candy or something." He nudged Marron in the ribs.

"She's just a friend. She's a nice girl."

"Come on, Marron. She wants you, and if there's one person I want to see get laid almost as much as me it's you."

"Either way, Marron, she could be the ticket to finding the sorcerer." Gateau concluded.

Julia had been up since dawn waiting for Marron. She brushed her hair at least a dozen times and studied herself in the mirror half as many. Her sister watched her with crossed arms, shaking her head. "Why is it every time a guy talks to you, you think it's Prince charming come to sweep you off your feet?"

"B-cuz usually it is." Julia stuck out her tongue. Bren sighed. Julia went on. "Someday I will find the right guy who will love me more than anything in the world."

"Like Alan did?" Bren cocked an eyebrow.

"Alan was a little out of control. He was unstable anyway."

"And Gregory?"

"Greg was a huge mistake. He was really over dramatic."

"You just have a knack for getting involved with the exact wrong guy."

"And there's our wrong guy at the door." Julia said. Bren looked out the window to see a tall, long-haired, very good-looking guy standing outside the door. "See. I told you he was hot."

Julia showed Marron her artwork. He was sincerely enthused and she loved every minute of his praise. Then when he asked her to take him around to the other artists' displays, she was more than happy to. She was surprised though, when touring the fair, the strange questions that Marron was asking the other artists. Later just completely forgot about any of the questions.

Marron enjoyed Julia's company. Usually searching for a sorcerer wasn't nearly as much fun. Unfortunately, finding the sorcerer he was not doing very well at right now. It seems that no one knew anything about the disappearances of those young men. Finally, that evening, he decided to ask Julia herself.

"Disappearances? Why?" She suddenly became very nervous. Marron didn't quite know how to explain without giving away that he was a sorcerer hunter and risk the assignment.

"I have heard some rumors surrounding the fair and I just wondered if you knew about them." Marron explained.

"Who were they?" Julia wanted to know the names of the men that were missing, but she had a feeling that she already knew.

"I think that one of them was named Alan." Marron said. Julia gasped and then turned away, hoping that Marron didn't notice her reaction. He did, however.

"Did you know him?" Marron inquired.

"Uh…no." Julia said. Marron looked in her eyes. He knew she was lying. She knew more than she wanted to tell him. "But I've heard the same rumors." Marron knew he wasn't going to get any more out of her tonight. He changed the subject.

"I enjoyed this afternoon. Perhaps we could do something tomorrow." He wanted to see her again. Maybe then he could learn more about the disappearances. Julia's eyes brightened.

"That sounds great. Maybe you could come to dinner tomorrow night?"

"I'll be there." Marron said before he left. Julia rushed home.

"What took you so long, Marron? Did you find out anything?" Tira asked excitedly.

"I think that Julia may know something. I am going to see her tomorrow."

"Oh." Tira said. She sounded a little disappointed that Marron was seeing Julia again. Carrot, on the other hand, was not disappointed at all.

"Go, Marron. Tell me, did she do anything nasty?"

"Carrot. I do not have anything going on with Julia."

"Sure. Sure, of course. So did she do anything nasty?"

"Brother."

Gateau intervened into the conversation. "Well we didn't find out much. But We did find out that what you said about Julia being involved is true."

"How so?" Marron asked.

"Both of the guys that disappeared recently were her boyfriends."

"Yeah." Agreed Chocolate. "They were always together-Her and her boyfriends. They were obsessed with her."

"So obsessed that they killed themselves over her." Gateau went on.

"We got this from the origami guy," Tira added.

"I see. That means that Julia could be our sorcerer." Marron confirmed.

"Sorry, Marron," Tira said.

"But that’s not for sure or anything," Chocolate reminded.

"We’ll know tomorrow," Marron replied.

Julia spent half the night working. Mixing, pouring, and measuring every ingredient into his little bowl. She worked with the lights out so her sister would think she was asleep. She didn’t want Bren to know. She would try to stop her and Julia wouldn’t let her. Marron was going to be hers. Just as Alan was and Gregory was. She had to hurry, though, cuz she had a feeling that Marron already suspected her of the men’s disappearances.

The others had offered to go with Marron to confront Julia. He declined their offer, saying that it was something that he preferred to do himself. They reluctantly agreed and told him if he wasn’t back by dawn they were coming after him. They wished him well and Carrot told him that when he came back, even if she was a sorceress, he’d better not be a virgin. Marron just smiled at his brother’s remark and headed towards Julia’s.

Julia was waiting eagerly when Marron arrived. She told him that she would do all she could to help him find the missing boys, but wanted to eat something first. "Would you like anything. I am going to pour myself a glass of wine. I could pour you one too." She offered. Marron nodded but was only half listening. She surveyed the room, looking for anything that could either prove Julia guilty or innocent. His eyes rested on a picture on the mantle.

"Who is this?" Marron asked. Julia looked at the picture.

"No one. Just an old friend." She handed him the wine and he raised it to his lips. Before he took a sip he stopped himself. He noticed a slight, strange color of the wine.

"Julia, what did you do to this drink?" Marron brought the glass to his nose. A funny scent came from the drink.

"Nothing." Julia tried to sound calm, but there was a quiver in her voice. She tightened her grip on the empty vile in her hand. Marron noticed the movement.

"What’s in your hand?" He asked. She turned to run away, but Marron grabbed her arm. He appropriated the vile and held it between his thumb and index finger. "Is this some kind of drug?" Tears began to well in her eyes. Marron’s face softened but he did not loosen his grip on her arm. "Tell me about this drug?"

"It’s a love potion, "Julia explained. "I figured out how to make it from an ancient spell book I found while searching for Pemstone. Whoever takes it is supposed to fall in love with the first person they see."

"You gave it to Alan." Marron deduced.

Julia nodded. "He came to the art fair. He wanted to join it cuz he was an artist too. He was so sweet and kind and so cute. We had so much fun."

"What happened when you gave him the potion?"

"He became obsessed with me. He wanted to be with me every day and night. He was jealous when I talked to anyone but him-even my own sister. I broke it off-told him I didn’t want to see him anymore. He couldn’t take my rejection. He jumped off the bridge."

"And Gregory? What about him?"

"He became insanely jealous too. He wanted to be close to me in every way. He even wore my clothes to be near me. I broke up with him too. He went postal. He came to my room with a gun. He told me if he couldn’t have me, no one would. He said he was going to kill me and himself so we could be together in eternity. Lucky for me, he wasn’t very smart and killed himself first."

"How many others were there, Julia?" Marron asked.

"Eight." Julia said. She bowed her head.

"And you were going to give it to me too." Marron stared at the vile. Julia began crying hysterically when she heard the anger in Marron’s voice. She dropped to her knees and grabbed Marron’s sleeve.

"No! No! No! It was going to be different this time! You’re not like them! You could never be them!"

"You cannot make someone love you. You’re potion did not create love. It created obsessiveness, and jealousy. You want someone to love you for you and not b-cuz of a magic potion." Marron reasoned, but Julia rejected his words. She leapt up from the ground and Marron let her go. Her feelings changed from sadness to rage.

"How would you know? No one loves me! Everyone hates me! I have no one! Everyone leaves me! I have no one!"

"That’s not true. You have your sister."

"I don’t have you." She pushed everything off the table, grabbed the drink she was going to give Marron and downed it herself. Marron’s eyes widened at what she just did. "If you don’t love me, than I don’t want to live." She stated as she took off out the front door. Marron chased her over the hills and rocks till she finally stopped at the edge of the cliff.

"I know you feel alone and unloved, but this is not the way out. Let me help you." He reached out his hand, but did not move towards her for fear she might jump. She turned to face him. "I am a horrible person. Ten good men died cuz I am a selfish bitch. " She looked down at the jagged rocks below.

"That’s not true. Your quest for love was somewhat misguided, but you’re not a selfish bitch."

"Why couldn’t you love me?" Julia sobbed. She and Marron stood there for a moment. Marron was not prepared to give an answer, but Julia had not expected one. Eyes still fixed on Marron; she took a step backwards and disappeared.

"Julia!" Marron yelled as he rushed to the cliff’s edge. He searched frantically for any sign of her but found none. After some time searching, hoping for a sign that she was alive, he finally accepted the truth. Julia was dead.

"All this time our fearsome sorcerer was a frightened girl just wanting love, "Chocolate sighed. "It’s really very tragic."

"She was kind of a nutcase if you ask me." Gateau commented. Tira hit him over the head.

"She was young and had a loveless, traumatic childhood. I feel for the poor girl." Tira said.

"Are we almost ready to go?" Carrot asked. The group, minus Marron, gathered together.

"Where’s Marron?" Gateau asked.

"He’s over there." Carrot pointed over the hill. "He’s been there a long time."

"Is he okay?" Tira asked, concerned.

"I’ll get him." Carrot grumbled. Carrot hiked up the hill to meet his brother who had not moved even an inch from the spot where he had seen him last. He still gazed at nothing in particular, thinking of much.

"Marron, we’re ready to go. You coming?"

Marron closed his eyes and hung his head.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No." Marron answered simply. He spun around and faced his brother. "Let’s go."