Disclaimer: This is chapter 12. If you haven't read the previous 11, I doubt you'll read this.
Will rubbed her eyes as she stared at the landscape around her. There was nothing wrong with her eyes. This wasn't some leftover dream or some hallucination. She was walking on what looked to be like clouds. Will leaned forward gently.
"You're not going to fall through it you know." Hay Lin said conversationally. Will lost her balance and fell over with a thump. "Ooops. Sorry Will."
Will picked herself up slowly, her hands sinking slightly into the ground beneath her. She turned and looked at Hay Lin.
"So you're my Air discipline teacher?" she asked and Hay Lin nodded.
"Oh yes!" she replied happily. Will mentally wondered to herself whether anything could get Hay Lin down.
"You're here to learn how to see!" Hay Lin continued and Will frowned.
"Learn to see?" she asked in a puzzled voice.
"Yes, learn to see. Catch!" Hay Lin said as she threw a cloud at Will. Will caught the cloud with ease and dropped it. The cloud slid through the floor and then there was a whistling noise as it continued to fall. A sudden movement above Will made her jump aside as the cloud she had just dropped crashed at her feet.
"What was that!" Will exclaimed in shock. Hay Lin grinned.
"Whenever something is dropped, it falls down onto you!" she said with a smile. Will frowned.
"You could have warned me!" she snapped. Hay Lin shrugged.
"Now where would the fun in that be?"
"How exactly am I supposed to learn how to 'see' anyway? It's something that people do automatically." Will continued angrily. Hay Lin smiled and her eyes glinting with amusement.
"Well pass my little test and I'll go straight to the next part I'll be teaching you." Hay Lin said. Will grinned. This should be easy.
W.I.T.C...C..W.I.T.C.H
Nerissa and her company made swift progress towards their destination with little trouble. Virtually unopposed, Nerissa walked into the city of Ashthorn, the military and political centre of Prince Phobos's territory in Meridian.
"Why are we here mistress? Surely we have more important places to be?" Shagon asked as he surveyed the busy military activity around them.
"This is where we need to be." Nerissa replied firmly. "First of the three sites we need to go to."
"I do not understand mistress. With all the power of the sword and stone, surely there is nothing more?" Shagon continued, clearly puzzled.
"You will see Shagon. You will see." Nerissa hissed. She looked up at Phobos's palace with an unpleasant smile. "Yes, they will ALL see."
What Nerissa and her companions failed to see was the way a young street urchin noted their presence. Or that the same street urchin quickly slipped away to report to his boss. But even if they had, Nerissa would not have bothered to stop him. She didn't care if she was observed. What she had planned would leave no doubt as to her place in Meridian.
W.I.T.C...C..W.I.T.C.H
"So what's this test I have to do?" Will asked. Hay Lin smirked in a distinctly scary fashion.
"You simply have to avoid the clouds that are coming at you." She told Will in a singsong voice. Will smiled. This would be easier than she thought!
"Okay, I'm ready." Suddenly a blindfold went over Will's eyes. "Hey what the devil!"
"Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them." Hay Lin told her with a giggle. "You have to 'see' the approaching cloud."
"But how…" something big a solid slammed into Will's chest, sending her flying. Another solid item slammed into her side, swiftly followed by another and another and another.
"Have you had enough yet?" Hay Lin asked in a singsong voice. Will growled.
"Yes I've had enough!" she snapped. She whipped off the blindfold. "So what am I supposed to do?"
"Well first you need to put the blindfold back on." Hay Lin told her calmly. Will glared in annoyance, but did as she was told. "Good. Now breathe in and out. Slowly. Listen to the world around you."
Will allowed herself to sink into a meditative trance and allowed herself to listen to the world around her. The wind blowing around them, the sound of Hay Lin and herself breathing. Her own heartbeat.
"Listen. Feel. Hear the world around you." Hay Lin continued. "Use your senses to tell where I am and what's around you."
Will was surprised how easily it came to her. She could feel the change in air pressure as Hay Lin leaned closer and then away. She could hear the air moving around the world around her.
"Are you aware of your surroundings?" Hay Lin asked and Will nodded. There was a slight sound, almost imperceptible, rushing towards her. Will spun and punched hard at the approaching sound. She was unsurprised when it hit an approaching cloud and knocked it aside.
"Hey that was easy!" Will exclaimed and Hay Lin laughed.
"Yes, that was the easy part. The next bit I'm going to teach you is a bit harder." She said as she took Will's blindfold off.
"A bit harder?" Will asked and Hay Lin nodded.
"You have to understand how to 'see' before you can become invisible." She continued in her happy-go-lucky way. "Otherwise, how do you know?"
Will stared in disbelief. It was hard to imagine the perpetually bouncing girl in front of her ever being 'invisible'. Although air swordmasters were renowned for being able to disappear and it was rumoured, practiced magical arts, Hay Lin was not one to exude stealth however, her restless energy seemed to practically yell out her location.
"Hay-Hay, I'm not magically gifted." Will told her and Hay Lin giggled.
"It's not magic silly!" she said with a laugh. "It's just another trick."
"Really?" Will asked weakly and Hay Lin laughed once more.
"Oh yes. People assume that because we can vanish it's dark magic;" at this, Hay Lin paused and winked at Will. "We like letting people think that, it distracts them from what we're really doing."
"Oh?"
"Well I don't have time to do EVERYTHING that we do. It's just as much a mindset as anything else." Hay Lin continued. "In this case, you'll be cloaking your chi so completely that it'll vanish."
"That's impossible!" Will exclaimed and Hay Lin smiled, her eyes glinting mischievously.
"Are you SURE about that?" she asked and Will hesitated.
"Well…"
"Actually, why don't you test it?" Hay Lin continued. "I'm sure that it's impossible after all."
"We-" Will started but it was already too late, Hay Lin shimmered out of sight and disappeared. "Oh damn."
Will's senses went on high alert, probing and prodding the surrounding environment as she sought out Hay Lin and her chi signature. Will was surprised to discover absolutely nothing whatsoever. A dagger came flying out of nowhere and Will suddenly jumped aside and the blade missed.
"Ha! Missed!" Will cackled triumphantly.
"It was meant to." Hay Lin whispered in her ear and Will jumped.
"Wh-ho-b-" she stuttered incoherently and Hay Lin smiled.
"I have a few tricks." She replied bouncing about in a distinctly hyperactive fashion. "But I'm here to teach you just one."
"Just one?"
"The most important one of all." Hay Lin added. "How to hide your chi. Completely."
W.I.T.C...C..W.I.T.C.H
Nerissa stood at the gates to Phobos's castle and magically magnified her voice.
"Phobos, come out of the castle and kneel before the new ruler of Meridian!" she called out. Her voice carried to all four corners of the city and a crowd of curious onlookers quickly gathered round.
High above her on the castle walls, Phobos sneered.
"Who does this woman think she is?" he asked angrily and beside him, Miranda bowed.
"She is a rogue swordmistress, my Prince." She said calmly. "She abducted your sister a few weeks ago."
"And she has the nerve to come to MY castle, MY city and demand that I bow to HER?" Phobos sneered angrily. "Cedric! Kill her!"
"Yes my Prince." Lord Cedric replied. With a wiggle of his fingers, Lord Cedric's demon familiar grew to enormous size. A giant cobra, it towered over Nerissa and bared its fangs. Nerissa simply smirked and drew out the Sword of Candracar.
"This is your last chance to surrender." She told them calmly. Phobos growled and Cedric made a series of gestures and his demon struck downwards towards Nerissa. It never made contact, slamming into the ground as Nerissa leapt up with lightening fast speed. Twisting rapidly mid-air, her sword swung through the snake-demons neck and sent its head flying. She landed with a thump, slamming the Sword of Candracar into the ground.
For a moment, there was total silence. Cedric stared in disbelief, his mind still reeling from the aftershock his demons death had caused and Miranda was crouched in a fighting position, half expecting Nerissa to leap at them. Miranda knew full well that she was no match for Nerissa, but if it came to a fight, she could buy Cedric enough time to summon up more powerful spells and that was all that counted.
There was the sound of rumbling and the Earth itself began to shake. Rising out of the ground, ghostly soldiers rose and soon Nerissa was at the head of an army.
"Archers, fire!" Phobos yelled and a volley of arrows flew into Nerissa's new army. The arrows simply passed through them as though they weren't even there and the army marched forward.
W.I.T.C...C..W.I.T.C.H
Hay Lin picked up a cloud and squeezed hard. There was a sudden popping noise and the cloud turned bright pink.
"You'd have difficulty sneaking up on me, even if your chi was completely hidden." Hay Lin explained as Will looked at her strangely. "This should do the trick though. It can only see you through your chi. If your chi isn't hidden, then it will respond."
"Okay. Well how do I hide my chi?" Will asked curiously. Hay Lin smiled.
"First, close your eyes and breath."
Will closed her eyes and allowed her breathing to become slow and trance-like.
"Visualise your chi as it floats and floats around your body." Hay Lin continued and Will resisted the urge to snort. This was basic stuff, the stuff that most swordmasters learned early on.
"Can you see your chi?" Hay Lin asked and Will nodded. "Good, now visualise it drawing in."
"I can feel it drawing in." Will said excitedly in a voice that would have embarrassed her if she had been with anyone else.
"When you think you've drawn it all in, approach the cloud." Hay Lin told her calmly. With a slight hesitation, Will slowly stepped towards the cloud that was hovering innocently. But as she got closer, it suddenly turned red and Will was sent flying.
"Ow." Will moaned as she sat up and glared at the cloud.
"You didn't get it all." Hay Lin said and Will's glare switched to her. "You need to get ALL of it, otherwise your chi is detectable."
Will growled and focused on drawing her chi in once more and approached the cloud once more. Hay Lin winced in sympathy as Will was thrown back once more.
"We have a LOT of work to do." She said and smiled. "Good thing I'm here."
W.I.T.C...C..W.I.T.C.H
Witnesses would later recall how incredibly fast it happened. In less than ten minutes, Nerissa's army had breached the castle and destroyed the defenders. Nerissa had woven in and out, her sword flashing as it cut down fighters left and right with dazzling speed and her ghostly army tore through the defences as though they weren't even there. Tridart rammed his twin swords into Cedric's chest, while Lady Miranda had her neck viciously snapped by Shagon and Commander Frost, leader of the elite Calvary unit The Hunters, was sliced in two by Ember within minutes.
"Any last words, my Prince?" Nerissa asked sarcastically as she pointed her sword at his throat. Phobos spat at her and with swift turn, she cut his throat. As he bled to death on the ground, she turned to the watching populace.
"All hail Queen Nerissa!" Shagon bellowed. There was a moment of stunned hesitation as the crowd struggled to take in what they had seen. And then, as one voice, they replied.
"All hail Queen Nerissa!"
W.I.T.C...C..W.I.T.C.H
"Are you SURE this cloud only responds to a persons chi?" Will asked with a frown. Hay Lin nodded.
"Of course it does silly!" she replied. "Watch."
Hay Lin walked up to the cloud and pushed it. Then kicked it and even slammed her two cane swords into it. Nothing happened.
"See? Cloaking ones chi is easy enough once you know how." Hay Lin explained. "Now hold my hands, I want to try something."
"Hold your hands?"
"Just do it Will." Hay Lin said exasperatedly. "It's not going to kill you." Will put her hands forward and Hay Lin grabbed them. "Now focus on drawing your chi in."
Will breathed in and focused on drawing her chi into herself. Once she was sure that it was all pulled in, she opened her eyes.
"Okay, now what?" she asked, but instead of answering, Will felt a slight tugging on her chi. Hay Lin had grabbed one of her threads and tugged it. It was so small, it was barely noticeable, but now Will knew it was there, she pulled it in. And all the other tiny threads that surrounded her. Her eyes lit up in amazement.
"Wow, I didn't realise they were there!" Will exclaimed in surprise and Hay Lin grinned.
"Of course you didn't!" she exclaimed. "Most swordmasters barely see them at all. Now try approaching that cloud."
With some trepidation, Will slowly approached the cloud. She reached the point where she had been thrown back before and braced herself in preparation. Nothing happened. Will slowly continued, half expecting to be thrown back with every step she took. Nothing happened. Eventually, she reached the cloud itself and picked it up.
"Congratulations, you did it!" Hay Lin squealed excitedly.
"Why didn't you do that trick at the start?" Will asked puzzled and Hay Lin shook her head.
"When you started, you were pretty bad at it. You had to improve."
"Either that, or you're a sadist." Will countered with a smirk.
"Well, that too." Hay Lin joked. A white slash appeared in the air. "I think this is for you."
"Thank you sensei." Will said as she turned to leave. "I'll see you in the land of the living."
"I'll see you there." Hay Lin replied with a smile that threatened to split her face in two. Without further conversation, Will stepped through the portal, which promptly vanished.
"I wasn't sure she could do it." A voice commented and Hay Lin shrugged.
"I never had any doubts." She countered as she turned to face the owner of the voice. Standing there, Makimachi Misao was holding her twin swords out with a grin.
"Hay Lin, I present to you, the Heart of your discipline. Use them wisely and well."
"I will do." Hay Lin replied as she took the blades. "I will do."
W.I.T.C...C..W.I.T.C.H
Orube looked up at the port city of Heatherfield with apprehension. Now she could finally continue with her mission.