Area 51

The Elements

Helena and Merlin ate all of the food they had ordered, and even ordered sour cream lemon pie for dessert, but they eventually had to leave. Merlin lingered the most, watching Diana for a while before leaving through the front door, and walking the few blocks back to their house.

Helena wanted to tease him about having a crush on Diana. She wanted to tell him he was just as big a dork as the original Merlin had been, but something stopped her. Something told her that he needed this.

So, she held back from teasing him about it. At least for right now. In the meantime, maybe she could figure out this whole fire magic situation.

Weirdly enough, the more Helena thought about it, the more her natural control over fire magic made sense. She never got cold, even on the coldest day of the winter. Her hands were always unnaturally warm. Sure, she liked going up high, and watching the clouds, but doesn't air feed fire?

"Hey Merlin? Are there like elements that work together?" Helena asked him, sure she had heard something about that from somewhere.

"Well, yeah, I guess you could say that. Like, earth and water work well together because water makes plants grow. And air and fire work well together because air makes fire stay going. But all four elements can work together in different ways," Merlin said.

"How would water and fire work together? They're opposites. Water puts fire out," Helena pointed out.

"Well yeah, but fire can boil water if there's a barrier like a pot," Merlin said. "Try me. Give me any two, and I'll tell you how they can work together."

"Well, what about fire and earth?"

"Volcanoes and campfires," Merlin said.

"Well what about earth and air?"

"Tornados."

"Huh," Helena said. "That's kinda cool."

"Well, that's the kind of stuff they teach at Area 51." Merlin told her.

"What class do they teach that in?" Helena asked.

"That's elemental alchemy. It's an optional class, but it's pretty cool."

"That's really cool," Helena said. 'what other classes are there?"

"You'll just have to wait a week and find out yourself. This is why I didn't tell you everything. I know Sandy said you're gonna be stupid for not knowing everything, but it's so much more interesting if you can learn about everything on your own. Explore the school, learn more things than just how to do magic."

"I guess so. So, can I at least ask you what your favorite class is?" Helena asked, hoping it would be interesting.

"Herbology," Merlin said, and Helena groaned. "I know, you wanted me to say something more exciting, but that's legitimately my favorite class. There's something soothing about just planting."

"But I thought you worked with dangerous plants in Herbology," Helena said.

"Not every class we have is the same as the one at Hogwarts. If you're in anything besides Terra, Herbology isn't required. We have to work with plants, to master out powers. No one else really does, though it's strongly encouraged if you're in Aqua," Merlin said.

"So, what classes are required for an Ignis?" she asked.

"Well, there's definitely a cooking class. Basic fire training, which basically teaches you how to not burn yourself, and all that. Besides that, I'm not sure. Everyone has to take charms, potions, transfiguration, basic defense, and history of magic."

"Sounds alright I guess," she said. Maybe school wouldn't be so bad after all.