The Woods

Despite the news of the royal banquet, the mysterious, magical message that Cleo had heard in the garden still weighed on her mind. After hours of contemplation, she could see no solution other than to visit the infamous witch.

After asking a kind magic professor for a favor, Cleo and Anastasia joined Miss Caspian in her office, where she began to chant an unfamiliar spell. Her hands moved in tandem, using magic to lead the enchanted chalk in an elegant dance. There were runes that Cleo recognized, but even with her near-perfect memory and extensive research, she found that she did not know all of them. She was particularly intrigued by a mysterious rectangular rune comprised of two concentric squares.

Anastasia caught her staring intently at the rune. "Do you want to know what it means?" She leaned in, resting her chin on Cleo's shoulder, icy eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Do you know what it means?" Cleo replied, pulling her arm away.

"What do you think?" Smooth as a snake, the silver-haired girl slid her arms around Cleo's waist. "It represents the act of returning or going back to a time or place that you've been to before..." She leaned in, lips nearly touching Cleo's ear. "...or came from."

"The teleportation circle is ready, girls," Miss Caspian called, gracefully leaping out of the center of her meticulously crafted magic circle.

Cleo quickly stepped away from Anastasia, who casually removed her hands from around Cleo's waist.

"Well then, milady. Shouldn't we get going?"

Cleo only nodded in response.

The teleportation spell transported them to the edge of the infamous cursed woods where the a powerful and fearsome witch was known to reside.

"May I ask what business you have here?" Anastasia asked, looking around the dense, forested land.

"We're looking for a witch," Cleo replied, as she tried to make her way through a particularly prickly bush. "I have a request for her."

Anastasia nodded knowingly and the two girls went on their way, helping each other over fallen trees and under low-hanging branches. More than once the path was blocked by thorns and brambles, and they had to circle back and find a different way through the woods.

***

Hours later, the two of them were hopelessly lost. Somehow, they had passed by the same tree stump five times, according to Anastasia. Cleo sighed and plopped down on said tree stump. If they wandered through the forest any longer, they would probably end up finding the Tower of Wishes before they found the witch's hut. After all, the path to the tower was also through the woods.

"Seems like we're the only ones in this forest..." Anastasia sat down next on the stump. She leaned over, resting her head on Cleo's shoulder.

Cleo froze from the contact. "Oh, uh...I guess?"

"So how about we get to know each other better?" With one swift motion, Anastasia had Cleo's back pinned to the tree stump. She brushed a loose strand of hair behind Cleo's ear.

"W-what are you doing?" Cleo stammered, a rosy pink blooming from her cheeks.

Anastasia leaned down, until her body was pressed against Cleo's, their faces only inches away. She exhaled, and Cleo could feel her breath brush against her face. Cleo struggled against Anastasia's firm grip, but to no avail.

"I missed you, Cleo." The beautiful blue-eyed girl murmured, letting out a sigh that sent fluttering butterflies through Cleo's body. Anastasia gently drew a finger over her master's lips. Then, cupping her long, lean fingers around Cleo's face, she pressed her mouth-

But just as their lips were about to touch, a door slammed open and a thick, dark mist rolled towards them like a tsunami. From the depths of the fog, a woman emerged, dressed in a wispy, black dress and a crooked cone-shaped hat adorned by crow feathers and midnight jewels. A small, stone cottage with a quaint, thatched roof appeared in the place of a thick patch of forest.

"You better not-" The woman took in the scene, eerie purple-blue eyes shifting from Anastasia to Cleo, and back again. She sighed. "God, you guys are so...whatever. Just do this somewhere else that's not in front of my house."

Anastasia glared at the witch. She pointed to the black mist, waving her hand dismissively. "Fog?"

"Don't push it." The woman narrowed her eyes at the silver-haired girl. She waved her arms and the thick, dark mist retreated, melting back into her stringy, swirling, black hair. She motioned for the Cleo to follow her. "Come inside."

Anastasia stood up to accompany them, but with a quick incantation, the witch had her glued to the tree stump.

"What's the meaning of this?" Anastasia yelled, as the other two entered the small cottage, leaving her to wait outside, alone.