The Second Verse

It's hot... no, scratch that.

It's very hot.

The flames of the fire licked her body, slightly singing her clothes, turning her skin red. Each flicker gave a twinge of pain, slightly abated by the mana subconsciously surrounding her body. Trying to see was a chore, what with the brightness burning her vision; she could barely make out the ground beneath her feet. And yet, she persisted, dragging her foot deep in the dirt.

After all, it was the only way to put out the fire -- the one she had jumped straight into the center of.

Magnesium flames were incredibly annoying to dissipate for a variety of reasons, the main one being its instability. Most fire extinguishers generally did nothing. And water? Only if you wanted to make the situation even worse. If she could use her mana freely, she would've easily cut off its oxygen supply. However, without it, along with all the tinder scattered about, it was a fool's errand. So, that left the other method:

Smother it with dry sand.

Of course, that was easier said than done.

There was dry sand everywhere, even right beneath her feet in this forest. The problem's that it was mixed with many other minerals and liquids -- the type of things that could easily revitalize the fire, or make it worse. As such, she needed a spell to not only separate the sand from the other products, but also have it topple the flames. Such a conjuring would require quite the long formula.

The exact one she was dragging her feet to write.

You could say this was the reason she threw herself into the flames: to save everyone.

However, was that truly the case?

No. It was just an excuse.

An excuse mired by inspiration. A spontaneous stroke of brilliance. An opportunity firing all the neurons in her brain at warp speed. One she had desperately looked for.

And so, she began to sing again.

"What's going on, I can't see the end."

"I'm running into battle with my life long friends."

Though I wouldn't really consider them that. They're more like close acquaintances than anything. Although she couldn't see them, the Vice President, President, and the extras were likely doing their best to keep the fire contained. She wouldn't even be surprised if they had already found a way to get rid of them. They were rather reliable like that. Though, at the moment, they were frantically searching for her too. Well... almost all of them. Microwave had an inkling to where she was, though all it could do was sigh.

"I don't even know who's going to win."

"What keeps me here to stand with my kin?"

Ooh, it's been a while since I last used 'kin'. I'm surprised I even remember it. Even as her thoughts veered off in a random direction, she was still performing a precarious dance, one that could actually kill her for a while. There wasn't enough time to write the formula and then inject mana, so she compressed the two steps into one -- an absolutely stupid, crazy idea.

Could she had asked the others for help? Yes. Could she had let someone with better access to mana do the exact same thing? Also yes. Could she had just done nothing? Absolutely yes. There was no reason to put herself at risk.

But this was the Creator: a person who thrived on eccentricity. And for this unique experience, it was worth more than anything.

"Everything blurs as I protect my friends."

"My body's life is just completely spent."

Her restriction limited how much mana she could delegate where. Her skin had already begun to flake off, blood pooling at the surface, though even that dried up. Working through such pain was impossible for most people, including her. Though, in this case, her songwriting made the injuries a second priority. And, with a little more, she would be done. A little more, and everything would be fine. A little more, and the verse would be complete.

"I'm the last one standing against the wall."

"So what keeps me going to stand up strong and tall?"

Whoosh. She finished writing the formula and filling it with mana. The ground rumbled in response, sand rising into the air, towering over the tiny flame. And then, without warning, they fell, rushing forward like a tsunami. Of course, with her being in the middle of it all, she wasn't immune to the oncoming disaster threatening to bury her alive. But she didn't worry. It was a spell created by her, after all. So just as quickly as the sand came, it disappeared back into the ground, as if nothing happened. The only signs that remained were the sandy circle she found herself within and a few strange metallic tubes scattered around.

As for the others, their mouths had fallen to the floor. Well, the Vice President and her crew's had. Microwave? It was rubbing its temples.

She knew that she should say something, maybe even apologize for something she hadn't done. However, with her mind still working on what she sang, only four words came out.

"Huh, that was fast."

And then, everything went dark.