It was a quiet day in the town of Ravencroft. The type of day where the sun shines brilliantly, the clouds are small and puffy, and the birds sing in the trees. On days like this the flowers smell sweeter, the air feels warmer, and people go outside to enjoy it. With no new missions from Big Momma, the Sorcerer Hunters really had nothing to do, and without any money coming in they were all getting a little hungry. Even the once ample supply of food from Orion’s pack was beginning to give out. With no other choice they did what they had to do - sell their services to the townspeople for odd jobs.
     A certain Miss Olivia Duft hired the group to perform some household chores and to look after her daughter Ovelia. Chocolate and Tira were all too happy to help with caring for the little girl and help Miss Olivia around the house, since she was expecting a second bundle of joy soon enough. Outside the house Orion and Ice, aka Andrew and Alex, were working to remove a heavy storm enclosure from Miss Olivia’s screened sun porch. Elsewhere in the yard Carrot and Marron worked to rake leaves while Gateau pruned some shrubs and cut fire wood.
     “Bye girls, I’m off to get some groceries at the market,” Miss Olivia called as she stepped onto the porch. “Be sure to take good care of Ovelia and don’t let her get into trouble.”
     “We won’t,” Chocolate and Tira called from inside the house.
     As Miss Olivia hopped down the porch steps she glanced over to where Alex was working, which was on the west side of the enclosure. Alex looked up when he noticed somebody watching him and lifted his cap from his head to run his fingers through his hair.
     “Good afternoon Mister Ice,” Miss Olivia said, smiling cheerfully at Alex, “How is the job coming?”
     “It’s coming good Miss Olivia,” Alex said, squinting in the brilliant sun, “With me and Orion working it shouldn’t take too much longer before we’ll have it opened up for you.”
     “That’s good,” Miss Olivia said as she skipped to the end of her walkway, “I’ll be back soon. Toodles.”
     As Miss Olivia skipped off Alex cast a levitation spell, floating up to the topmost screws on the enclosure. He inserted his screwdriver into the slot of a screw and turned, meeting with enough resistance to nearly wrench his shoulder from its socket. He tried again, with the same results.
     “Ooooh, a stubborn one, ain’t ya,” he mumbled to himself as he gathered power into his hands, “We’ll see just how tough you are against a magically enhanced screwdriver.”
     He turned with all of his might, the driver head slipping from the slot. The momentum from the follow through was so intense that Alex turned himself into a human windmill. When he finally stopped spinning he blinked a few times and dropped to the ground in a heap of body parts.
     “That’s.... one tought.... little screw,” he mumbled as he regained his feet, “it’s gonna take something a little more powerful than that little boost spell.” He pondered for a minute before snapping his fingers. “I’ve got it! I can use an unlock spell!”
     Without further adieau he floated back up to the level of the screws, closed his eyes, and begain to incant the spell.
     “Unmoving doors, by my magic powers open yourselves unto me. UNLOCK!”
     Every door in the town was instantly unlocked and opened. As for the screw’s, they loosened themselves a little bit, but not nearly enough to be freed from the wood. Alex sighed, crossed his legs in mid air, and pondered the problem.
     Inside the house, in her little room, sat Ovelia. In her arms rested a curious doll that seemed to have a life of its own.
     “So Miss Dalia, what shall we do today?” Ovelia asked the doll, looking it in the two creepy black eyes.
     “Let’s have fun with the workmen,” the doll replied, blinking those same black eyes.
     “How shall we accomplish this?”
     “Leave everything to me.”
     The doll’s eyes glowed, and she giggled demonically. Ovelia laughed in her own child like way, only it had a somewhat sadistic tone to it. Outside the window Andrew was working on some of the higher screws using a ladder. Below him was a very overgrown bush, which looked like it could hurt really bad if somebody fell in.
     “Come on you little pain in the butt,” he grumbled as he met a screw that refused to budge, “You’re going to come out of there even if I have to tear you out....”
     The screw loosened itself and came free with minimal resistance. This sudden change in balance caused Andrew to lose his footing and plummet towards the bush. Ovelia and Dalia looked out the window, expecting to see Andrew skewered on the bush below. What they saw was him stop about a quarter of an inch above the topmost branch and float back up to the ladder.
     “Ohhhh, that’s no fun,” Dalia said, “he can cast a levitation spell.”
     “Now what shall we do?” Ovelia asked, grinning evily.
     From the door came Tira’s and Chocolate’s voices.
     “Ovelia, would you like to go to the park?” Chocolate asked.
     “Yeah, it’ll be fun, especially on a day like this,” Tira said, “We’re leaving as soon as Ice and Orion finish with the porch enclosure. Gateau’s done with the firewood and Carrot and Marron are done with the yard.”
     From down stairs came Alex’s voice.
     “Orion and I are done with the porch enclosure,” he called up the stairs, “and he’s putting away the tools and stuff as we speak.”
     “Let’s go to the park,” Dalia whispered to Ovelia, “we can have LOTS of fun with them there.”
     “Ok,” Ovelia whispered back to Dalia, “I’m coming,” she called to Tira and Chocolate as she crossed the room with her doll in hand. When she opened the door she came face to face with a pair of grinning Misu sisters, who beamed at her.
     “We’re going to have so much fun at the park,” Tira said, grinning from ear to ear.
     “As long as Darling doesn’t go chasing any other girls,” Chocolate said. Tira giggled. Ovelia cracked a tiny smile, which was quickly replaced by her usual plain demeanor. The three girls bounced down the stairs to meet the others, who were awaiting them before departure. Tira lifted her glasses and placed them on top of her head before looking around for something.
     “Where’s darling?” she asked in reguards to Andrew.
     “I said Orion was putting the tools and stuff away,” Alex said, “but it shouldn’t take him this long. I wonder if something didn’t happen to him.”
     As he said that a very dirty and somewhat battered Andrew entered, scratches covering his arms and hands, a very nasty one on his left cheek. Tira was at his side immediately, providing first aid to his wounds.
     “What happened darling?” she asked as she dabbed at the cut on his cheek. Andrew winced.
     “The tool attacked me when I was putting them away,” he said as Alex cast a healing spell on the smaller cuts on his arms, “then the heavy porch materials fell on top of me and started to beat me senseless. I can’t remember how I got free, but it involved a mid range explosion.”
     “Oh my,” Chocolate said, “I hope nothing bad happens to the rest of us.”
     “Relax Chocolate,” Carrot said in his nonchalant way, “nothing bad can happen to you when I’m around.”
     “Actually a lot of bad things can happen when he’s around, since he’s the cause of them,” Gateau whispered to Marron. Marron sighed.
     “Should we postpone our trip to the park?” Ovelia asked, pouting as only an actor could pout.
     “No, we’re going to take you to the park and we’re going to have a LOT of fun,” Alex said, acting like his friend Mina Aino, ‘Mina would be so proud of me right now.’
     “Well, off we go,” Tira said, wrapping one arm around Andrew’s waist while taking Ovelia’s hand with her other hand, “We’ll have TONS of fun!!” she added as they skipped out of the house.

     In the middle of the park, on a small hill, beneath a shady tree, on a marble bench, sat a young lady with waist length strawberry blonde hair. She had slightly pointed ears, with large rubies in the lobes. She pushed her sun glasses up onto the top of her head and blinked her emerald green eyes a few times before yawning. She looked a little bit like Chocolate in her wardrobe, except she wore a pink midriff top, a pair of black shorts, and a light green midriff jacket. Her ankle high boots sat on the ground next to the bench, her bare feet and legs curled up under her body.
     ‘Oh boy, Big Momma sure got things messed up this time,’ she thought as she ran her fingers through her hair, ‘Me, Strawberry Limone, is one of the Sorcerer Hunters now. My big sister Runella, or Rune as they called her, was happy to hear that I am one of the chosen ones. But this is my first mission, and I need to meet with the others. Ohhhhh... where are they?!’
     As Strawberry looked around, she soon saw a billowing red dress before she saw Tira, who was the owner of said dress. Behind Tira were Chocolate and Carrot, Marron, Gateau, Andrew, and Alex, who was looking around in an attempt to locate the source of the creepy vibes he felt. ‘There they are,’ she sighed before tipping her head back to look at the sky, her legs moving into a more comfortable position. When she looked up again she saw Ovelia and her doll, Miss Dalia, and instantly she felt a wave of evil wash over her. ‘There’s something about that doll or that girl that is just pure evil.’
     Strawberry was in the process of putting her boots on when Carrot bounced over to her. He was quickly subdued by Chocolate and Tira, who smacked him with a couple of mallets before tying him up.
     “Sorry about that miss,” Tira said, “we hope he didn’t disturb you.”
     “Think nothing of it,” Strawberry said, smiling, “I’ve been waiting for you guys to get here for some time.”
     “You were waiting for us?” Chocolate asked, puzzled by what the girl before her was saying.
     “Yes, my name is Strawberry Limone, and I’m the new hunter who is to be joining you,” Strawberry said, smiling even wider than she all ready was. Chocolate and Tira gasped, which caused Strawberry to ask, “Didn’t Big Momma tell you I was joining you?”
     “We haven’t heard a thing from Big Momma for a while,” Marron said as he, Gateau, Alex, and Andrew joined the others, “but if what you say is true then there must be a mission.”
     Ovelia took that moment to bounce over to the group. Marron, Alex, Andrew, and Strawberry instantly felt the hair on the backs of their necks stand on end as they felt some great evil in their presence. Collectively they thought, ‘Can this girl be the source of this evil force?’
     “Is something the matter?” Ovelia asked when she saw the four spacing out.
     “No.... nothing.... nothing at all,” the four said, making themselves even more suspicious.
     “C’mon, lets go and have some fun on the swings,” Chocolate suggested, grabbing Ovelia’s hand. Ovelia turned her head to glare at Chocolate, and a moment later she found herself several hundred feet away in a fountain. The others witnessed this and instantly went into battle ready mode.
     “She IS the source of the evil power,” Alex said, his ice scythe forming in his hand.
     “Yes, I am the source of the evil power,” the doll said from Ovelia’s hands. The other hunters took three steps back when they heard the doll speak. “You shall all die NOW!”
     Dalia’s eyes glowed before beams fired from them, striking the ground and such around the startled hunters. Alex heafted his scythe towards the doll as he cartwheeled out of the line of fire. A force shield formed before the girl and doll, the scythe striking this and shattering. Andrew hurled a few light lances at the pair, his weapons also striking the shield and dissipating.
     “That’s one deadly dolly,” Strawberry said as a bow of flames formed in her hands, an arrow of fire forming as she drew back the string. Ovelia glared at her and Strawberry felt a wave of pure power lift her from her feet and throw her into a tree.
     “She’s strong,” Chocolate said as she rejoined the others, “either that girl is a sorcerer...”
     “Or the doll contains the soul of one,” Gateau finished before a force wave squashed him into the ground.
     “This is worse than that fortress, or even that last sorcerer we fought,” Andrew said as he utilized a Flare Bit spell to provide some cover for the others.
     “Big Momma’s gonna owe all of us hazard pay,” Tira said as she transformed. She cracked the whip at the doll, only to have it tie her up and start spanking her.
     “Did Miss Olivia know that the doll was possessed?” Marron said as he sent several magic seals at the doll. The seals burst into flames just inches from the doll, disintegrating into ash.
     “Just getting close enough to use one of the seals will be a great feat of strength,” Carrot said as he grabbed some of Marron’s magic scrolls. He then began to walk towards Dalia and Ovelia, one hand out stretched with a magic seal at the end. For every step he took he felt an incredible wave of pure force strike his body. He gritted his teeth, determined to help put an end to the evil.
     “Provide some cover,” Strawberry said as she began firing Flame Arrows in rapid fire fashion, “It’s going to take teamwork to pull this off.”
     “We might need to transform outselves,” Andrew said as he fired off a Burst Rondo, “Because this will be a long and difficult battle if we don’t.”
     “You guys do what you have to,” Tira said as she freed herself from her whip, “but I’m going to give that brat the spanking of her life!”
     Alex and Andrew broke off from their attack and leapt into the air, their hands to the sky as their items of power appeared. Before they could shout their henshin phrases, though, a wave of force knocked them from the sky and into the treetops. From the trees came the cries of power up phrases, which were followed by flashes of colored light. From the trees came a pair of armor clad defenders of justice.
     “Hear the call of the hunt? That’s a call for me. I am Warrior Orion.”
     “From the silent star, Saturn. I’m Warrior Saturn.”
     The dynamic duo leapt into the air, landing after a dramatic display of aerial acrobatics. In the time it takes to blink they were sailing through the air again, crashing through several trees before smashing into some rocks. Dalia floated before Ovelia as she approached the pair of warriors, her eyes glowing, the little girl giggling with glee. The sorcerer hunters followed a short distance behind, alert for anything that might fly their way.
     “So, you think you can subude me?” Dalia cackled, her face turning from a gentle doll’s face to that of a demon, “I don’t think so, since it’s quite obvious I’m the more powerful one here.”
     Saturn and Orion struggled to their hands and knees, their bodies aching from the multitude of impacts they experienced while sailing through the air. Dalia glared at them and a moment later they were crashing into a large boulder, their bodies being held by a force wave.
     “We.... can’t give up yet,” Saturn said, a blue globe of energy forming in one of his palms.
     “What else can we do?” Orion asked, wincing as several of his ribs cracked in succession, “She’s crushing us to a pulp.”
     Saturn managed to get a grasp on the energy sphere, his glaive exploding forth from it. The blade glowed a brilliant silver as he set up his silence wall, which blocked the force waves. The pair dropped to the ground a moment later, both wincing from the excrutiating pain they were in.
     “Darling,” Tira cried, “are you hurt much?”
     “You’ll be hurting worse, you little tramp,” Dalia said as Ovelia turned around. A split second later the hunter found herself sailing through the air and into a tree, her outfit tearing on the branches that were in her way.
     “Tira!” Chocolate cried, sending her wire towards her sister. The wire flipped around in midair and wound around Chocolate’s body, squeezing tighter until blood began to creep from the cuts in her arms and back.
     “I’ll put you hunters out of your misery,” Dalia cackled, her eyes glowing again as she sent Gateau sailing high into the air. A moment later he crashed down, leaving a fairly large impact crater.
     “I am flame, flame is light,” Strawberry chanted, “I am fire, fire is sight. Flame. Light. Fire. Sight.”
     In Strawberry’s mind she broke away the doll’s exterior, revealing the spirit of the sorcerer hidden deep within. A moment later she snapped her eyes open, her flame bow reappearing in her hand. “You, Judialas McKranan, are here by banished to the nether world.”
     “You wanna bet,” Dalia said, her exterior shattering to reveal a very large and cheesed off Brass Demon. Ovelia took one look at what her friend had become and fainted.
     “Sure,” Orion said, his body glowing from a major Recovery spell, his golden bow in hand, a golden arrow notched in it, “On behalf of the constallation Orion I will punish you.”
     “And on behalf of the planet Saturn, I’ll punish you,” Saturn said, his glaive pointed towards the demon.
     “And we’ll punish you just because you beat the crud out of us and made us look bad,” Tira, Gateau, and Chocolate growled.
     “And we’ll punish you just because it’s our job,” Strawberry, Carrot, and Marron said as everyone circled around the demon.
     “We’ll see about that,” the demon began to say, only to find itself covered from head to toe with magical seals, courtesy of Marron. “Hey, no fair.”
     “All’s fair in love and sorcerer hunting,” Tira said, grinning wickedly as she whipped the demon within an inch of its life. Once Tira was done venting her anger Gateau picked up the demon and proceeded to wrestle it and tie it into a pretzel knot. For the coup de gras Stawberry, Alex, and Andrew pooled their talents and sent the spirit screaming into the afterlife.

     Later that evening Miss Olivia returned home to find that Strawberry, Chocolate, and Tira had prepared a large feast for everyone. Ovelia had taken a bath and changed into her night gown, which was covered with little birds and assorted animals. The moment Olivia stepped into the front door her daughter pounced on her and covered her in kisses.
     “Well, I wonder what brought this on,” Miss Olivia said, looking at the Sorcerer Hunters, all of whom turned their gaze away and acted like they knew nothing.
     “I love you mommy,” Ovelia said, hugging her mother, “and I can’t hardly wait for my little brother or sister to get here.”
     “I think we’ll be going now,” Chocolate said, bowing to Miss Olivia, “We have some other things to take care of elsewhere, and I’m sure our boss will be contacting us at some point.”
     “Well, thank you for all that you’ve done,” Miss Olivia said, smiling at each and every one of them.
     “It was our pleasure, ma’am,” Tira said, returning the smile.
     “We’ll keep in touch,” Marron said, bowing as they filed out.
     “It was a pleasure working for you,” Alex said before Andrew dragged him off.
     As the hunters strolled down the street, Miss Olivia said to herself, “Take care, all of you.”

     “Momma, are you sure the hunters don’t need to check in with us?” Dotta asked, flitting about nervously.
     “Yes Dotta dear, I’m sure they don’t need to check in. They’re doing just fine without my instructions.”
     “But Momma...”
     “No buts Dotta. When the time comes I’ll give them an assignment, but for now they’re doing fine on their own.”