Weak To Fire

2

Y/N hadn't really thought that she would ever be disturbed like that. She had lived in this forest for... what? A few thousand years now? She didn't even know how long. She had lived here for a very long time and no one had ever been so annoying and so insolent as that woman that had just made her way into her forest. She wasn't quite sure what annoyed her about her, but Y/N just knew that something was irking her. And when she used her magic, Y/N knew.

That woman was a damn fire magic user. Normally, Y/N didn't have a huge issue with fire magic users. She tried to stay out of their way, because their tempers could be a lot to deal with and Y/N wasn't planning to get burned (literally and figuratively), but she didn't detest them per se. She could get along with them. She had no issue with them, no issue at all. But this one... Something about her just put Y/N off. Something about her just made Y/N irrationally angry.

Maybe it was the way this woman acted as if the world belonged to her. Y/N hated it - the way she seemed so sure of herself, the absolute confidence that she exuded, how careless she seemed to go about her life (even though Y/N had just been watching her for a few minutes... but sometimes you just knew things about people), how careless she was using her magic. It just gave Y/N all the wrong vibes. With a sigh she dove further out of the water, making sure to keep some sort of control over her form. She liked being in her human form, because it just felt right, but it took a good bit of control to hold onto the water covering her body.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Y/N asked, as she slowly floated closer to dry land. It took quite a bit of effort to control the water around her like this, but the dramatic effect was worth it. The strange woman turned around to her and narrowed her eyes at her, as if she had never seen a water spirit before. Well, she probably had never seen one before today, it wasn't like water spirits like Y/N were hanging every tiny body of water all the time. Still, it annoyed Y/N.

While she was waiting for an answer, Y/N mustered this other woman. She had long and wild looking red hair and piercing blue eyes. Y/N had to admit that she looked quite fiery. If she was to picture what a typical fire magic user would look like, then she'd imagine someone like her. Y/N wouldn't have been surprised if that woman was a fire spirit even, but she could sense that she wasn't. There was a lot of mana emanating from her, but she was a human after all.

"I asked you a question." Y/N said, when she didn't get an answer after what felt like ages. She knew that she could see her. She knew it from the look on her face. Y/N stepped on land and the water that had been surrounding her trickled away, leaving only water in the shape of a long dress to cover her human body. The woman was grinning now and Y/N could see her eyes wandering over her body.

"Who the hell are you?" the other woman asked and raised an eyebrow. Y/N felt like she was about to boil and she wasn't sure whether that was because of the presence of so much mana that was tapping into the element of fire or whether she was just so annoyed by this strange woman. Maybe it was a mix of both things. Either way, the way she was asking the question and the way she was looking at her - it made Y/N mad. It made her feel small and she knew that she was small and petite looking, but she was pretty sure that she could win a fight against that woman.

"I live here. I think I should be the one asking the questions here." Y/N answered. The woman raised her eyebrow again, much to Y/N's annoyance. She just had such an arrogant air about her, it was driving Y/N insane. She hadn't met anyone - human, spirit or whatever creature - that had made her so furious in such a short amount of time. It was confusing, but Y/N wasn't going to back down now.

"You live here? Like, in the lake or what?" the woman asked in the most mocking tone that Y/N could imagine. What was with that tone? Did she think that Y/N was some insane woman living wild in the woods? Did she have no awareness of anything? Y/N knew she had two options here: backing down and figuring out what the hell was wrong with her to get so up in arms about someone using a little fire magic near her lake or doubling down and escalating the entire situation. She usually wasn't the kind of person that demanded a lot of respect from humans, but this one... Y/N just didn't know what was setting her off about her. But who cared?

"Yes. In the lake. I'm a water spirit and you're a nuisance and I want you gone." she told her, crossing her arms in front of her chest. The woman was mustering her once more, her expression softening a bit, before she gave her a smug grin and shrugged. Y/N didn't understand what she was getting at.

"Well, that's a shame, because I was going to spend the next few months in this spot. And I'm not going to back down, because you can't stand humans or whatever reason you have to be so hostile."

"You're going to spend the... Excuse me? Doing what? What could you possibly be doing out here that'll take you a few months?" Y/N asked in disbelief. Would she seriously have to challenge that woman to a fight? She really hoped she didn't, because she could see that she was strong. And Y/N was weak to fire and so was her magic. She was still sure that she'd be able to beat her in a fight, but it might be a close call. And Y/N usually didn't enjoy fighting others. She preferred to stay by herself, have her peace and quiet and spend most of the day in the water.

"Training. Living. Enjoying life. You know, what people do. That is... if you know that." she answered. Y/N didn't even know what to say to that. She couldn't believe that anyone would talk to her like that. She was an ancient spirit after all, not some bratty girl. Sure, she had probably not given off the best wise and ancient spirit impression right away, but... but still. Couldn't a water spirit have a bad day? Fire spirits and fire magic users always had a bad day!

"Either way, since we'll be roommates apparently, I'm Mereoleona. I hope you'll calm down at some point, because otherwise it won't be half as relaxing to stay out here as I would have hoped." the woman said and stretched her arms up into the air. Y/N was still dumbfounded with the blatant disrespect of her. Mereoleona, she said? Well, it wasn't like Y/N cared much. She still wanted her gone. She wanted her gone so bad, it actually hurt to think about.

"I'll calm down once you show me some respect!" she replied angrily. She could hear the water lapping against the shore of the lake behind her angrily. Mereoleona had already turned around and was on her way to some trees. She turned back at Y/N and held up her hands.

"Hey, I'll respect you if you act like someone that deserves respect. You're acting more like a bratty child right now and I have had enough of bratty children for a while." she replied with that same self-assured grin. Y/N especially hated that she kind of had a point, too. She was acting like a brat.

"Damn fire users!" Y/N retorted. Mereoleona had already turned back. She was walking towards her trees and was paying no attention to Y/N anymore. Great. That was what Y/N had wanted, right? To be left alone and to have her peace. But it still irked her that Mereoleona was in her space. And that she was setting up camp in that space right this second, even though Y/N had asked her to leave.

She knew what that meant. She'd have to go and fight her. Y/N hated fighting, she really did. She wasn't the type to be stubborn enough to fight someone, unless she felt incredibly strongly about something. Unfortunately, this was the case with Mereoleona. She wasn't going to do it today... she was way too unfocused and way too tired by now. But she'd fight her tomorrow.