"What are we going to be doing next?" Snow asks, anxiously. "What's the next step?"
"Emma is on her way here and, judging by your previous conversation, Morgan and Dani haven't driven her out of her mind yet with their yammering." –there are stifled chuckles from those who don't want to admit it was amusing– "We won't need to alter the glyph into anything but the separator." –Alex passes her the rolls– "Thank you, my dear." –she takes three– "If she had succumbed to the corruption, we would have had to set up the summoning glyph."
"Why didn't you just give us that one to begin with?" Killian asks.
"No point." –Mim grins– "You still would have ended up here." –Regina scowls and Robin puts a hand on hers before she can say anything– "That and it would have defeated the purpose of Emma finding her own way. Summoning a brand new 'Dark One' never ends well. It breaks trust quickly." –she sips her tea– "And then I kill the summoner."
"Seems to me you're pretty dark yourself." Maleficent points out.
"I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong." Mim states and Zelena chokes a bit on her tea. "There are grey areas in between."
"That for many remain to be seen." Elsa, Anna and Snow finish.
"What does THAT mean?" Regina snaps and Mim chuckles as she wipes her mouth with a napkin.
"I'll show you." Mim offers, rising from the table.
"And here we start our new lesson in magic." Mim states as a pit forms in the ground in front of Alex.
"Why do we need a 'new' lesson?" Regina mocks as Mim walks around the pit and faces them.
"Because you are still seeing things in black and white," –water begins to fill the pit– "dark and light." –a little bit of earth is left in the center, which then catches fire– "Wrongly, that is all in sight."
"Is there a purpose to these rhymes?" Maleficent injects.
"It makes the lesson easier to remember." Anna explains. "It also helps to pass the time."
"All magic comes with a price," Mim begins, eyeing the fire, "is another, more convoluted way of saying 'magic is all about balance'." –she looks up at Regina– "The four elements are a perfect example of a balancing act."
"How do you figure?"
"What do you consider to be the most powerful of the four elements?" Mim asks, tilting her head to the side.
"Fire." Regina asks as she conjures some in both hands.
"Hmmm…" –a bubble surrounds each of Regina's hands, putting the fire out– "Sure about that?"
"What did you…?"
"I created a vacuum."
"Took the air away." Maleficent clarifies. "Fire needs to breathe as well."
"Precisely."
"I notice you didn't move your hands when you did that." Maleficent points out.
"I don't need them." Mim responds, grinning mischievously. "But we are digressing from our present lesson." –she looks at Maleficent– "While fire, I grant you, appears to be the most powerful," –she looks back at Regina– "I must point out that just by simply removing one of the elements, fire was put out." –Mim holds out a hand– "Fire is a go to for many for the obvious reason of it causes the most destruction in the quickest amount of time, but I have a question." –she crosses her arms– "How can you put out a fire?"
"Besides creating a vacuum around it?" Regina retorts and Mim holds up one finger.
"Throw water on it." Kristoff adds.
"Or dirt." Isaac includes.
"If it's small enough, you could blow it out." Anna chimes in.
"Or stomp on it." Henry states.
"You could also isolate it by taking away objects that would help it spread." Elsa injects. "Then it would die out."
"Would you look at that!" Mim laughs, holding up six fingers.
"What's the point?" Lily asks.
"Fire is quite powerful indeed, but any of the other elements could douse it handily. Of course, you could always say fire is SO powerful that the other elements NEED to be able to put it out, but it still proves my point about a balancing act. In addition," –Mim removes the vacuums from Regina's hands– "fire is less subtle. It is the most obvious destructive power, but the other elements are just as capable of causing mass destruction, only, with them, you wouldn't expect it. Much."
"Earthquakes especially." David puts in. "Or floods."
"Thunderstorms." Regina admits.
"Fire you can contain." Mim continues. "Everything else? Not so much. Also," –a ball of fire rises from the pit, along with the rest of the elements, and they spin in a circle– "Fire could not survive without the others."
"What?" Maleficent asks, defensively.
"Without water, plants cannot grow. If plants don't grow, we won't have oxygen. Without oxygen, we could not even produce a spark." –everyone, except for Snow, gapes at her– "Now could we have this conversation." –she looks at Regina, Maleficent and Lily– "You can certainly be the masters of fire, if you wish, but if you can master water," –the water ball moves to the center, allowing the other elements to revolve around it– "you can control everything."
"Whoa!" Henry and Isaac cry out in unison.
"What could you do with water?" Regina defies.
"I've made a few mummies in my day." Mim answers, grinning.
"Brilliant!" Zelena declares.