Disclaimer: You know the drill.

Irma stared angrily at the funeral marker that marked her mothers grave.

Here lies Anna Lair,

Beloved mother and wife,

Murdered for her horse by Swordsmistress Nerissa

"That b%$#h murdered my mother. I'm going to kill her," Irma growled. Although Anna had only been her stepmother, Irma regarded Anna as practically blood. With a flash of blue, Irma vanished.

W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.

The crew of the XV-Dragon had weighed anchor and the funeral service was well underway when a sudden flash of red light landed in the crews midst and deposited Taranee into the middle of the deck.

"Ow," Taranee groaned slightly as she slowly stood up. She looked around and instantly recognised the ship she was standing on. She turned towards the nearest crewmember. "I need to talk to the Captain right away," she said authoritively.

"The Captain's dead," the crewmember replied, "And so is his number one Peter Cook."

"WHAT! How! When! Where!" Taranee exclaimed in shock. The crew simply turned their faces away. One young crewman approached her.

"He was murdered by a swordmistress at the docks of Zamballa when he objected to her killing the Captain," he said and Taranee's face grew dark.

"Do you know the name of the evil b&%$h who killed my brother?" she growled, gripping her sword so tightly it was digging into her skin. Waves of anger seemed to literally roll off of her and the crew stepped back as one.

"Sh-sh-she called herself Nerissa ma'am," a now terrified looking crewman stuttered.

"Nerissa," Taranee growled and the terrified crewman nodded. Before she could say anything else, there was a red flash and she vanished.

"Dear Gods, I wouldn't want to face her now," one crewman said and his friend beside him shook his head.

"No, that girl was SCARY," he replied with a shudder.

W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.

The wind blew eerily across the cliffs of Meridian and the gallows creaked as the sole body hanging from them swung gently in the breeze. There was a flash of green and Cornelia suddenly appeared, sending the gulls in all directions.

"Urgh, I hate teleporting," Cornelia cursed under here breath. She looked up at the gallows and gasped in surprise. She stared, willing the image to vanish like a bad nightmare. After a few moments, she swung her sword and collapsed the gallows, rushing to the corpse that had been hanging there.

"Please, please don't be dead!" Cornelia whispered as she pulled the rope from around the neck, but the body was cold and the eyes had no spark.

"Lillian, please," Cornelia whispered but Lillian's eyes remained lifeless. It was then that the sign attached to the gallows caught Cornelia's attention.

Here awaits the fate of all who oppose Queen Nerissa

"Queen Nerissa?" Cornelia growled. "Queen Nerissa? When I'm finished with her, death will be a merciful release."

A second later, Cornelia vanished once more in a flash of green.

W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.

The graveyard was empty, save for two people, a man and woman standing at a gravestone. The man kneeled down and laid a wreath at the gravestone.

"Do you think it's true? What that b%$#h said? Did she kill our daughter?" Joan asked, her voice wobbling slightly.

Chen didn't say anything. He could not, would not bring himself to belief that his daughter might be dead. He took a deep breath.

"No, of course not. Nerissa must have been lying. Or it's another Easterner girl. I REFUSE to believe that our daughter is dead!"

"But wh-"

"NO! I REFUSE to believe that our beautiful girl is dead!" Chen finished angrily.

"You're right. It can't be, it just can't," Joan said without conviction.

There was a sudden purple flash and suddenly their daughter appeared next to them. Before she could say anything, both Joan and Chen pulled her into a powerful hug.

"Oh darling, we were so worried about you," Joan cried as she hugged her daughter close.

"We'd heard terrible things, things we didn't want to believe," Chen added.

"Like what?" Hay Lin asked as she pulled herself out of her parents hug.

"A swordsmistress came, an old associate of your Grandmother. She said that she'd killed an Easterner Swordsmistress, slit her guts open. She killed your Grandmother," Joan explained sadly and Hay Lin let out a gasp of disbelief. "It's true. I'm so glad that you're okay though."

"Mum, Nerissa almost killed me. I was brought back because I have to see this through," Hay Lin said extremely solemly. She gave her parents a sad smile. "I'll survive, you'll see."

"Hay,n-!" Chen's words were cut off as Hay Lin suddenly vanished in a purple flash.

W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.

In the highest room of the palace, five flashes of colour arrived in the room at the top and five swordsmistresses appeared. Gripping their swords tightly, a wordless exchange took place, vocalised by Irma Lair.

"Let's finish this b&%$h."