Chapter Eight

"Tell me what you've observed," said Lucy.

Flora thought for a few seconds. "Putting water and chemicals on it will beat it down, but it comes back. I don't really know any spells for fighting fire other than rain spells. I can help the forest get started afterward, though."

Lucy cocked her head at the Fairy of Flowers. "Anything else?"

"Well... I can feel the plants' pain as they die, but it isn't as bad when I'm in Enchantix form," she explained, and shook her head. "I really have no idea why."

"That's because of the dark magic involved. In this form you are far more powerful, and the magic is proportionally less," said Lucy.

Flora nodded slowly. "That makes a lot of sense."

"Let me study for a minute," said Lucy. Mirta cast an air bubble spell around her as she went by. She walked over to a burning log and looked closely at the fire. She waved a hand over it, and Flora could see her lips move. Finally the Witch came back over.

"These are the extra elements I see," started Lucy, "Resist-water, burn-hottest, and a move-to-and-destroy-created-objects."

"Then this is a malicious fire!" gasped Mirta, "And this town was the target!"

Lucy shrugged. "Not necessarily. I get the feeling it was done this way as a distraction, to keep the Guardian Fairy busy."

Flora appeared shocked. "You mean..."

"I mean whoever set this had another goal in mind, and needed you out of the way," interrupted Lucy. "I also noticed we are a long way around Linphea from where you live. They likely have the planet itself shielding them from you."

"Then we'd better take care of it as quick as possible," said Chatta. "This could be a danger to the whole world!"

"Right!" agreed Zing, and changed her appearance to a fire Pixie. "I'm ready!"

"What do we do, Lucy?" asked Mirta.

"The only way I know of to stop it is to take away the air," she replied. She waved a hand around herself. "I guess kinda reverse this air bubble spell."

"The problem with that is the air bubble is short range and small area, and the fire is wide spread," said Flora.

"Just have to work with it," answered Lucy.

Mirta took a few minutes teaching the normal spell to Lucy as Flora tried to work out how to reverse it, make it a vacuum spell.

Flora's frown suddenly lifted as she had an idea. She held her palms toward the burning log and her yellow glow appeared. "Vacuum bubble!" she said loudly.

A bubble appeared around the log, but it was unstable, trying to draw in on itself. The fire wavered and went out only a split second before the bubble collapsed with a 'pop!'.

Flora staggered then caught her balance. Mirta went to her as Lucy went to the log. "What happened?" asked Mirta, "I saw it work, but..."

The Flower Fairy shook her head. "It's too unstable. The vacuum instantly collapses, and I'm not strong enough to hold it up against the weight of the air."

"But it did work," said Lucy, turning to them, "The fire on the log is out."

"We can save the town, then," said Mirta.

"We need to find some other way," said Flora, "Just that much was tiring. I KNOW I couldn't last long enough to do that much fire."

"Power convergence?" asked Mirta.

"Lucy couldn't be part of it," answered Flora.

"Oh, right," said a disappointed Fairy of Pumpkins.

"I have an idea," said the Ranger who had met Flora and Mirta and the Pixies.

They all turned to her.

"I'm Kandella, Senior Ranger," she said, "And what we do is dump dirt on it to smother it."

Lucy frowned. "I dunno... the dirt will still have air in it. This kind of spell can be persistent."

Flora suddenly winced. "I should have thought of this before-- Mirta and I can sprinkle fairy dust on it to break the spell, and then it can be put out normally!"

"That should work!" said Lucy.

Flora and Mirta took off, making sure Zing and Chatta were left with Lucy and the Ranger. They flew along the edge of the fire, dust dropping from their wings onto the fire. Lucy observed, then contacted Mirta with the Mental IM spell they had used on the Red Fountain ship.

"MIRTA, IT'S WORKING! THE FIRE IS LOSING THE DARK MAGIC ELEMENT!" she sent.

"GREAT! THANKS!" was the reply.

The two Fairies continued their work until the town was safe and they were running low on dust. Then they returned to where Lucy and Kandella were. They were met and thanked by many of the Rangers and fire fighters.

Lucy had used her affinity to Elemental Water magic to draw water from rivers and streams and douse the fire already treated, and this time it stayed out.

It was late in the afternoon, so the Rangers offered them rooms to take a shower and rest until the morning, which were gratefully accepted. It would take some time to replenish the dust anyway, and the fire could now be handled by regular means.

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It took two more days of work to put out the remaining fire, saving the town and an area where several unique species of flowers bloomed. Some isolated homes were lost, but no lives.

The town's inhabitants came back on the second day, hailing the two Fairies, the two Pixies, and the Witch for their work. Lucy was secretly surprised at how well she was treated, but publicly acted as though they weren't doing enough to thank her. Mirta quietly explained that to Flora.

Finally though they returned to the Guardian Building, tired but happy for the completed mission. Mari assured them no important missions were pending, so they created a report on the fire and Lucy's theory of it being a distraction. The planetary security section promised to look into it.

It took surprisingly little persuasion to convince Lucy to come stay at Flora and Mirta's home. She had agreed that since the fire was the creation of a dark spell, helping finish the mystery was part of the contract. As Mirta pointed out, her friend really had nothing else to do.

Rose stood halfway behind her father as he and her mother greeted the green-haired Witch. Her eyes were wide and she watched her every move. Finally she came out to greet Lucy herself.

"I- I'm glad to meet you, Lucy," said Rose, "You're my sister's best friend, and I want to be your friend too."

Lucy was taken aback, but at Mirta's smile of encouragement said, "Well, Rose, Witches don't have friends as a rule , but I guess one more won't hurt."

Rose smiled and took Mirta's hand.

Lucy settled in quickly, and quietly started helping out around the house; she felt learning Mirta's role in the family was important. She saw that her best friend was very much loved and appreciated; nothing fake about it. She found she was included in family events (if she wanted to be-- nobody ever insisted), and was even relaxing.

Rose got over her nervousness and spent time with Lucy, asking her a lot of questions. For her part, Lucy was patient and gave the girl answers. But she did also teach her that there were certain subjects you didn't broach with a Witch unless you knew them very well.

In town she was left alone by the police, who all knew her by sight, and approached by people who had relatives in the town she had helped save. By the rules of Witches Decorum she was rigidly polite to them.

"Darkness, I'm getting soft-- spending time with Fairies and Pixies on a planet of Nature," she grumbled to herself. But she was enjoying the time spent here, even if she would never admit it to anyone, even herself.

While they waited to hear back from the authorities, Mirta had two dates with Brannan, and each time came home happier. Both Lucy and Flora were glad for her, and kept their fingers crossed.