"Geez, are you sure these people are wizards? All they're doing is sitting around and talking." Leorio said as he stood with Kurapika in the middle of the noisy hall.

Kurapika sighed. "Well, I guess we can't judge them right now. After all, that girl Wendy did say that wizards help many people and prevent crime. We can assume that they have certain skills and can help us."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not seeing it right now."

Suddenly, they heard a voice. "Hey you!"

Leorio looked towards the sound of the voice. Two older men at a table, one of them smoking a cigar, were calling him over.

"You look like you have no idea what to do. Why don't you sit here with us, just us old timers."

Kurapika tried not to laugh as Leorio realized what they were implying.

"What!? I'm not old, I'm actually a teenager!" Geez, he thought. When were people going to understand that?

The look of surprise was visible on the men's faces. "Um...well, do you two want something to eat? Usually you have to pay but I'm sure you guys get an exception."

Leorio was actually pretty hungry. It was probably almost one o clock and they had had nothing to eat since arriving here. He looked at Kurapika. "You coming?"

Kurapika shook his head. "Not hungry. I'm going to look around for a bit." He made his way to the stairs leading upstairs, hoping to find somewhere quiet.

Leorio made his way to the table where the two men were sitting.

"I'm Macao and this Wakaba" one of the men said, gesturing to him and the one smoking.

"I'm Leorio" Leorio said, sitting down. Suddenly, something struck him.

His medical exams. They were in a month. He knew they would probably be out of here by then but he had secretly been planning to sneak in some studying while Gon, Killua, and Kurapika visited. Now he was in this place without his notes and no access to any of the study books he had back at Yorknew.

"Okay, I have a weird question. Say if someone wanted to get books to study about medicine and being a doctor, where would they go?"

Macao shrugged. "Doesn't sound like something that would be in the guild library. I'd try the library in town, I guess. Never been there a lot myself."

"My friend's been there. You'd have to pay for those sort of books. I assume you don't have any money on you." another voice said.

The person who said that was a teenager with black hair and no shirt, standing in front of the table.

Leorio groaned. This wasn't going to work out. "The truth is, I'm studying to be a doctor and I have an exam in a few weeks. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

The boy sighed. "Look, if you pay it back later, I can lend you some money. But not a lot."

Leorio grinned. "You're a life saver."

"No problem, I guess. Call me Gray."

Gray reached into his pocket. A few moments passed. "Wait a minute, where is it?"

A dark look went over his eyes. "Actually, I'm starting to have a good idea about where it is..."

Granted, the guild hall was actually pretty impressive. He could see a swimming pool and cafe through the windows. And it was a welcome to get away from the noise down below.

It was nice, but they weren't here to have fun. They still had to find a way to get out of here. And soon. The deadline was one month. His boss would go crazy after that. He was hoping to possibly find a way to get more information or at least find someone who could provide some.

Finally, he stumbled upon what he was looking for. A library. It was a bit dusty but there were shelves and shelves of books. Books were the best way to learn anything. Kurapika picked one of the shelf.

The History of Magnolia.

Oh well, might as well learn about this place while he was at it. Kurapika sat down at one of the tables and began to read.

He had maybe been reading for about ten minutes when the sound of footsteps made him look up. A girl with blue hair and an orange dress walked into the library. A surprised look crossed her face as she saw Kurapika.

"Oh, you must be one of the visitors Mira was announcing to the guild about."

Kurapika nodded. He then remembered her surprise expression. "Is it okay for me to be here? Mirajane said we could go anywhere but I can leave."

"Oh, no! It's fine. It's just that other than Lucy, I'm pretty much the only one who ever bothers to come here. It's nice to see a new face."

She picked out another book and sat at the adjacent table. "You're welcome here anytime. I'm Levy, by the way."

"Kurapika" Kurapika said. He then returned back to his book.

Around an hour and a half passed in silence. Kurapika finished the book he was reading. It had been helpful, for sure. Now he was sure that against all odds, He, Gon, Killua, and Leorio had ended up in a different world. A guild called Blue Skull, the poverty of Magnolia, the beginning of Fairy Tail, the two Trade Wars, it was a completely different history. Kurapika stood up to put the book back.

What he saw at the side of the book shelf made him stop abruptly and give out a small gasp.

Levy heard it and looked up. Two spiders were crawling at the side of the bookshelf. "Oh yeah, this place is dusty so we usually get a lot of spiders here. You get used to i-"

It happened so quickly and so suddenly. The next thing Levy saw, the two spiders were lying crippled on the floor. Kurapika was holding two wooden sticks, attached by a string, and there was a small dent in the side of the bookshelf from where they had struck. Kurapika's hands were visibly shaking but Levy couldn't see his face.

At that moment, a young women with long scarlet hair and a full armor had walked into the room.

The red world he was seeing finally returned to normal and Kurapika looked at shock at what he had done. He couldn't believe it. Slowly, he put his weapon back. Looking at his shaking hands, horrible memories came back to him, the same that came every time he lay eyes on a spider.

"Sorry." he mumbled. He had no way to explain himself to these people. He began to walk out of the room.

"Well, those are two less spiders I have to worry about. Thank you."

Kurapika looked back in surprise. Levy was smiling. And so was the women in armor. She began to speak.

"You were pretty fast and swift with those swords. I'm Erza Scarlet. You have talent, I'd love to take you on sometime."

Hiding his surprise, Kurapika answered. "I don't fight people unless absolutely necessary."

"Then maybe not a fight. Think about it as more of a display of skills. I'm curious about what talent you people have and I'm sure you're probably wondering what the world of wizards are all about. Think about it. I'll be outside in the courtyard at 6."

Kurapika turned away. "Maybe" He walked out of the room.

Levy put down her book. "Well, that was surprising. I wasn't expecting that."

Erza sighed. "He has some sort of darkness inside of him."

"How can you tell?"

"Believe me, when you've had it yourself, it's easy to recognize it in others."

He had gone out of control again. There was nothing he could do to keep him from seeing red at the sight of a spider. That was a burden he would always carry with him.

But he remembered the smiles on Levy and Erza's face. They were the type of faces that didn't judge others, that gave others a chance. And possibly... the type of face that had experienced the same anger and pain he had.

A smile came across his face. Maybe, he thought, this place isn't so bad after all.