The angel girl lead us to the entrance of the Withered Bramble, running as fast as she could. "By the way, what's your name?" Haruka asked, as the girl looked up at her. "My name is Estelle." The girl bowed. "Do you know where your brother is?" I asked.

"Yes. I remember the area to an extent." She grabbed her staff. The staff was very beautiful. It was silver and white, accented with a vine twisting around and through it, and topped with a large, graceful pink rose.

"What magic do you have, Estelle?" I asked. "I have a variety of support spells in my arsenal, but I can only do so much before I run out of energy. I'm still a tad tired from my escape earlier, so I can't guarantee any enchantments, but I will be able to heal you two." She smiled.

"Cool, we ready?" Haruka asked, as we both nodded. As soon as we stepped foot into this dreaded forest, the light had abandoned us, and the only light in this darkness were ominous mushrooms and flowers that gave off a faint glow. "It's kind of pretty...!" Haruka looked around in awe.

"I would like to make something clear to you two." Estelle stopped in her tracks, and turned around to face us. "Turn around, please." She said, as we turned around. The entrance was gone!

"This forest is alive, despite its appearance. Every time you enter a different area of this place, the forest casts an illusion. For example, if I enter a clearing in this forest, and then exit from where I had entered, I'll end up in a different place in the forest." She said, as we turned to face her. "So it's basically a maze with no exit or entrance." Haruka thought. "This forest is very much alive." Estelle knelt down, as her hand began to glow with light, as she touched a tree's roots. The roots she used magic on crumbled to dust, as a loud hiss echoed through the forest. "It's a creature of malice, intent on trapping all who enter." She said, standing up.

"I told you that something wasn't right about this place!" Haruka pointed at me. "Hey, I was just curious." I shrugged. "Anyways, enough from me. Let's get going." Estelle smiled, as we nodded.

As we ventured through the forest, it gradually got darker over time. "W-whoa!" I heard Haru shout, followed by a thud. I turned to see her on the ground. "I tripped." She smiled, getting back up.

Haruka was always clumsy, so I really wasn't surprised that she had tripped.

It's how she broke her right horn, after all.

Soon, we started hearing squeaky voices. Estelle stopped us from walking ahead, before taking cover behind a tree to listen in to the voices just around the corner.

"He sure struggles a lot, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, would be a lot less painful for him if he'd just give in already."

"There's no doubt about it... They're talking about my idiot brother..." Estelle spoke, quieter than a whisper. "Well, how are we going to find him with these faeries blocking the way?" I asked, as she looked down in thought.

"Aren't faeries good creatures, though?" Haruka said, puzzled. "Most of them are, yes. You can tell that these are tainted with the impulse of this forest, because they are dark purple instead of their normal greenish-white hue." Estelle said, as we observed. "Their wings are also wilted, see?" She said, as we nodded.

"Man, you sure know a lot!" Haruka said loudly, as she grinned.

The faeries looked in our direction. "You fool!" Estelle facepalmed. "Intruders!" The faeries hissed, as the began to glow. "Holy barrier!" Estelle whipped out her staff, and casted a spell. A sparkling shield appeared in front of each of us, before turning invisible. "Go!" Estelle shouted, as we nodded, ready to attack the faeries.

Haruka took one, and I took the other, as we froze and burnt them. With ease, me and Haruka had eliminated the targets.

"Well done, let's keep moving." Estelle said, as we neared the final clearing. "There!" Estelle ducked behind a tree again.

There were around 7 faeries, accompanied by a woman. The woman had a vines for hair, and wore a beautiful purple outfit.

"It seems we have visitors. Come on out you intruders, I know you're there." She smiled, as we came into view. Just behind her there was a blonde haired boy wrapped in roots of a tree. "Keith!" Estelle went to run for him, but me and Dante stopped her. "Who are you, and why have you imprisoned a kid?!" Haruka shouted. "My, my... Did you lose your manners on the way here? Anyhow, I am Cecilia. As for why we have imprisoned this adorable child, well..." She stroked the boy's cheek gently with her fingertips.

Estelle clutched her staff like her life depended on it, as she gave the woman a spine breaking glare.

"We were told that this boy was the son of one of the greatest mages of all time. I was simply hired by a cute man to forcibly take his magic away from him." She explained. "But you just had to get in the way!" She shouted, as her eyes glowed red. "Enchant: Resistance!" Estelle casted a spell that gave us three protection against most spells, as the woman sent out a shockwave of dark magic. Thanks to the resistance spell, we weren't affected by it. Haruka and I took care of her faeries almost too easily. "Huh, that's odd. The faeries boasted about how tough they were, but they aren't even close to being tough. How disgraceful." The woman scoffed, as spiked vines shot up through the ground, grabbing Haruka and I. We were immobilized, as the vines slowly squeezed us tighter and tighter. The thorns on the vines began to close in on our bodies.

"Hang on!" Estelle tried using an offesive Fire spell to set us free, but the vines weren't affected. "Tch..." Estelle growled, as the woman snickered.

"There's no point in taking his magic!" Estelle shouted. "Whys that?" The woman asked, as Estelle glared.

<Estelle's POV>

"There's no point in taking his magic!" I shouted.

C'mon Estelle... Think...!

I glared at this outrageous woman opposing me.

What can I do...?

Wait... Maybe I can-- No! I was told to never use that spell unless I was in extreme danger!

But, Keith is in extreme danger...

I decided to wing it, and started to cast only  one of the most powerful spells in my arsenal...

Meteor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh man

I suck at writing battle-scenes...

Anyways, I apologize about the terrible skills, but I tried. XD

So! Hey guys! It's me, Waffles!

I actually really like Estelle as a character. I mean, she wasn't too popular in the original, but I'm making every character different, and loveable.

So! With that out of the way, I'll see you guys in the next chapter! See ya!

o7