Fire

Have you ever seen a fire before? Not one from a spell or a tightly controlled oven. A real fire. One which burned burned wood, flames licking the sky above. Each moved in tandem with the wind, pushing and pulling like a dance. It was only when the air made one more blow, the water fell a bit too much, or the earth rose from the ground that the flame finally breathed its last, leaving behind a mix of black charcoal and white ash.

The fire in front of Microwave and the Creator was not that.

It was chaos.

Well, controlled chaos.

At first, the situation didn't look so bad. The flames had encompassed a small circular area a few meters across, blocked by a deep trench to prevent it from spreading further. The nearby branches and trees were pruned as well, though even then a few sparks still caught here and there. Luckily, they were quickly put out by the President, throwing a bit of sand and gravel to smother its oxygen supply.

But the main cause itself hadn't been solved, only the symptoms. The fire still burned, rather strangely at that. While the flames at the fringes were a familiar red-orange, its core burned hot white, lighting up the underbrush. That wasn't how one should normally look. And judging by the Vice President's expression, she knew that too.

"Hey, Ms. Kazari," Microwaved called out. "What's going on here?"

"Huh?" the Vice President snapped out of her thoughts, spinning around on the spot. Her eyes widened seeing the pair there -- well, the Creator on Microwave's back. "What are the two of you doing here? I thought I told you both to head down to the village."

"Charlotte here had other plans in mind, I'm afraid," it shrugged its shoulders, letting the Creator off its back. It had expected her to chime in, but she remained abnormally silent, staring into the flames with a dazed expression. It was as if she was enraptured, though from what, it couldn't tell.

"I see..." The Vice President also noticed her unusual behavior, wearing a strained smile. She hadn't seen this expression before, but she knew it couldn't be anything good. At least we won't get hurt, she thought, trying to console herself.

"Yeah..." it knew exactly what the Vice President was thinking. Still, there were more important things to handle first. And with its master entranced, it was much easier to act. "So, what's going on here? I'm guessing you were unable to put out the fire?"

"Water doesn't work at all," the Vice President responded. "In fact, it only grew this big because we tried dousing it, like an accelerant."

"That means..."

"It's exactly what you're thinking. A magnesium fire."

"..." it remained silent at her conclusion. After all, magnesium fires were a completely different beast from normal fires. The basic extinguishing methods could easily make things worse, sometimes even inciting an explosion. The only way to stop one was to use some sort of dry sand or powder to suffocate it, or wait until its used up all its fuel. The scouting party had obviously started with the latter.

However, Microwave wasn't silent because it was a magnesium fire, but because it was a magnesium fire in the woods. While it wasn't unheard of for one to start naturally, the amount required to cause a flame of this magnitude would not gather normally. Someone must've started it. The Vice President had similar thoughts, but the 'why' was anyone's guess.

"We don't have the skill nor precision to separate out minerals well enough to put something like this out. Even the trench was only possible because of Chiruno. And it's not like we can leave either..." The Vice President let out a long sigh, never directing her attention away from the burning ball of gas.

"Still, this needs to be reported. Otherwise..."

"I know..." the Vice President rubbed her temples. "Shimoyanagi and Matsumoto, you two head down the mountain and report what's going on. Try to see if there is anyone more familiar with earth spells as well. Us five should be good enough to maintain the same equilibrium. There's nothing else we can do."

""Yes, ma'am!"" they responded in unison, taking off with great speed, though still slower than Microwave.

"My apologies for the inconvenience," Microwave said.

"Don't worry about it. I understand," the Vice President had a faraway look in her eyes. "Plus, she is more skilled than any of us. She'll easily put a stop to it."

"Well..." it averted its eyes.

"...she can't?"

"Not at the moment. She's currently being punished."

"Haah.... of course she is," the Vice President groaned. "So basically she's just a regular troublemaker now. Then, we'll just have to... wait." She looked around in a panic, hoping to find what she was looking for. Unfortunately, coincidence wasn't so kind or random.

"What?" Microwave asked, noticing her paling face.

"...where is Charlotte?"