Disclaimer: Don't own and never will.
"Where am I?" Will asked as she stared at sea, slowly making waves on the beach she was standing on. "It hardly seems the place to meet s great swordmaster."
"Thank you very much Will." A familiar voice said from behind her. Will spun around and was suddenly knocked off balance as Irma hugged her.
"It looks like Nerissa definitely beat you." Irma said in a deadpan voice, gesturing to the massive hole in Will's midriff. "It's a very annoying habit of hers, killing people you know." Will stared in disbelief at the water discipline swordswoman in disbelief, but Irma continued unabated. "Someone should tell her that it's terribly inconsiderate of her."
Will stared in disbelief at Irma and raised an eyebrow.
"You didn't…take a blow to the head or anything?" she asked curiously. Although the hole in Irma's chest was crystal clear and Will hadn't seen the water discipline swordswoman get hit on the head, she was sure that Irma was sounding crazier than usual. Irma laughed.
"Na, just this thing here. C'mon Will, where's your sense of humour?"
"I think it fell out when Nerissa did this to me." Will replied darkly, gesturing to the hole in her gut. "So where is this swordmaster who's supposed to teach me?"
"Well let me introduce to you, the stunning, the amazing, the truly great," Irma paused for dramatic effect. "IRMA LAIR!"
There was a moment of silence, before Irma started talking again. "I know, I know, I'm just too amazing for words."
"You're not exactly who I was expecting." Will said weakly.
"I know, you thought you'd have to deal with a second-rate teacher like Corny, but no, you've got the best." Irma replied breezily.
"You did get stabbed through the chest by Tridart."
"Details, details." Irma said airily. "If Nerissa hadn't boosted his powers up with that 'Heart of her discipline' magic, I'd have hammered him. Now attack me."
"Excuse me?"
"Attack me. Try to hit me with your sword." Irma said again with a teasing smile. Will looked at he dubiously and drew her blade.
"Ok." Will replied dubiously, before stepping forward and taking a downward sweep. Irma grinned and twisted her body sideways and using her toothed sword, she caught Will's blade and sent Will flying with a jerk of her wrist and a twist of her body.
"By the way, did I mention the fact that your Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu skills aren't working at the moment?" Irma asked with a sweet smile. Will gave Irma a withering glare and muttered a few colourful invectives about Irma, her parentage and her discipline. "Oops, my bad. I'm only here to teach you one thing."
"And what would that be?" Will snapped. Irma grinned again.
"Tut tut, swordmasters should know better than to lose their temper." Irma said with an immensely annoying smirk. "It's a secret move, best shown with this little toy." Irma pulled out a stick with what appeared to be a flat drum on a stick. Hanging at both sides of the stick hung a pair of beads on either side, on the ends of a pair of short strings. Irma twisted the stick side to side and the beads made a rattling noise as they hit the sides. "Figure out the secret of the rattle and the secret of water style swordsmanship will be yours."
W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.
Lillian Hale stood glaring at the ship that was approaching over the horizon. She wasn't supposed to be here, she knew that. When her headmistress and a tall bald man who called himself the Oracle had taken her to a carriage and taken her away to what was supposed to be safety.
They didn't know that Lillian had managed to master psychometrics and had learnt about what had happened to her sister. Nor did they know that she had mastered translocation over land. They CERTAINLY didn't know that she could send seeking spells off in the wrong direction. (As a point of fact, they were currently chasing her cat Napoleon!)
Lightening crackled around Lillian's hair and arms, while fires smouldered in her eyes as the XV-Dragon approached the shore. And slowly, she began to weave her spell.
"Hurt my sister you b#$%#? Well you won't get to hurt anyone else ever AGAIN!" and with that statement, she threw an explosive storm from the heavens straight down to the ship. As the ship splintered into a thousand pieces, Lillian gave a grim smile.
"Was that REALLY necessary?" a mans voice asked behind her. Lillian spun round and came face to face with a tall man with a golden face mask on his face.
"What the…" Lillian's voice trailed off as she looked at the obviously magical construct standing in front of her.
"A little girl like you should know to behave herself and listen to the adults who tried to keep her safe." The man continued and Lillian's eyes widened as she spotted the two black wings on his back. He grabbed her by the throat with one hand.
"You're only twelve years old, aren't you?" he asked. Lillian nodded as best she could and the man continued. "Well young lady, I knew your sister very well." He paused and tightened his grip slightly. Lillian pulled her magic in to avoid losing consciousness. "Her name was Cornelia, wasn't it?"
Lillian could barely squeak a reply, but the man seemed to understand. Her vision slowly started to tunnel as her magic started to give way.
"You look like her. Especially as you die." The man continued. With a simple twist of his arm, he snapped her neck with a sickening crack.
"Well done my servant." Nerissa said with a smile as the real XV-Dragon floated over the horizon. "Await our arrival."
W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.
Will glared at the rattle as she spun it around in her hands once more. What on Earth could a simple child's toy have to teach her? She pondered. It wasn't magic, there wasn't any hidden ciphers or secret compartments hidden in it. When Will had told this to Irma, Irma simply laughed.
"You're trying to hard Will." Irma chuckled. "Take a swing at me and watch what I do."
Drawing out her sword, Will swung at Irma and again, Irma caught her blade in her toothed sword and turned sideways. Again, she jerked her wrist and sent Will flying.
"What was the point of THAT!" Will snapped angrily
"You need to learn to use your eyes, my dear Will." Irma told Will in an infuriatingly calm voice. She pointed at the rattle. "You need to figure out the secret of the rattle."
Will let out a frustrated curse and Irma snickered. She had been exactly the same when HER master had given her the rattle.
"Remember Will, the secret is in the rattle!"
Will gave Irma another colourful invective, made up of swears that most people didn't even know existed and the last one was physically impossible. Irma grinned.
W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.
Caleb looked down at the still bodies of the five swordmistresses lying on the soft white beds. Bandages and dressings covered their bodies and in the sterile environment of the temples hospital wing, they were pale enough to pass for dead. Only the facts that they were breathing (albeit, with magical support.) indicated that they were alive at all and not merely wax figures.
"Will, if you can hear me, please come back." He whispered to her. Tears began slowly running down his cheeks. "I never got to tell you how much I admire you, how you have managed to slip into my very bones," Caleb paused for a moment. "I never told you that I loved you."
W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.
Nerissa scowled as she looked at the village in front of her. She remembered this village well. It had used to be her home and was the nearest to the town of Heatherfield, where her former friend Yan Lin lived. Drawing her sword, she took a deep breath and motioned for her minions to move in.
W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.
Will's eyes suddenly widened as she suddenly understood the puzzle in front of her. She turned to face Irma.
"Irma! I've got it!" she yelled, Irma motioned for Will to come closer.
"Then show me." Irma challenged. Drawing her sword, Will swung at Irma in the same way she had done before. Predictably, Irma turned her body sideways and caught Will's sword in her toothed one, but before she could send Will flying, Will twisted her body the other way from her sword attack and slammed her fist into Irma's gut. Irma crumpled to the ground.
"That hurt Will!" Irma protested and Will grinned.
"You did ask me to figure out the secret of the rattle." Will countered smirking. Revenge was very sweet. "And I did."
"You did indeed." Irma admitted ruefully. "Congratulations Will, I think your next teacher awaits."
Another white slash appeared and Will grinned at Irma once more.
"I hope the next teacher is better than you!" she shouted out good-naturedly and before Irma could retort, Will stepped through the slash.
"Congratulations Irma, you actually did it."
Irma turned to face Ralph Soresson and he continued. "Although perhaps you could have been more helpful?"
"Where's the fun in that!" Irma protested with a smile.
"Where's the fun indeed?" Ralph replied with amusement. He drew his swords and suddenly his face was serious.
"With these swords come great power and the responsibility to use that power properly. Irma Lair, I entrust you with the heart of your discipline. Use it well."
"I will." Irma replied solemnly as she took the swords. "I will."
AN: I know that some of you will hate me for killing of a kid, especially one that we saw as a six year old in the series (She is twelve in this chapter.) but Nerissa isn't exactly fussy about trying to imprison and use her, so I figured that she would not be too hesitant about killing a twelve year old girl.