It had been almost 4 months since I had brought in the animal and I had finally found a perfect diet for it. Besides the scare of it slowly resembling a cockatrice but without the reptilian wings or snake-like tail and the fact that it was a mystery as to what it was. I had figured out that it was at least a male because of its close resemblance to a male cockatrice.

I had tried to give him multiple names to no avail and I know he didn't like them as he hadn't been registered as an animal I'm either taking care of or owned. He was also brilliant compared to most creatures.

I had seen him open up my pantry using a stick one time. That was so surprising I thought I had imagined it until he had eaten some of my bread. That instantly set me off as I had just fed him while I hadn't eaten anything yet.

Enough reminiscing, I had to give him a name otherwise anyone could come in and take him.

I sat him down and I began to list all of the names I had prepared for him.

"Alright let's begin. Albert, Yurex, Gandaggery, Scarecrow the Second, Charley Charles Charleston, Ca-" He had pecked me right after I finished with Charley Charles Charleston, so I guess that's what he wants. "You want Charley Charles Charleston?" I asked him and he nodded.

I knew he was smart but to be able to pick out his name is amazing. It's not unheard of though but it's rare enough to make me happy that I have him.

"Okay then. You are now Charley Charles Charleston. That's a bit of a mouthful so I'll be referring to you as Charley." I was met with a crow of delight from Charley.

"Alright Charley, let's set a bond now that I've named you."

Right as I reached out to touch him, he butted his head against my palm and then my entire world went yellow.

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"This is really bad. Really really REALLY bad." I had never seen a human name a Divine Beast before, and it also had to be such a ridiculous name. What was I going to do? My attempt to contact went, well, bad. Charley had ended up crowing through the link and I fell unconscious for a few days.

Anything with that much power was probably more powerful than me, which led me to do my best to not interfere, but now he had such a stupid name. What was I supposed to do?

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Oh no. Now he's contracting him, I need to bring up that human right this instant or things are going to go bad very quickly.

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"Greetings Derxin. We need to talk about what you've done." said a floating duck.

I looked at it and couldn't help but snort. "Is something amusing?" It said to me.

Oh god, the way its mouth moved when it talked, was just so funny. I couldn't help but start laughing.

The duck just looked at me with a bit of annoyance, and that set me off even more. It had drawn on eyebrows and that didn't even seem to fit the head. Everything about it was just so fake-looking.

The duck looked down at itself before sighing and saying, "I guess this form wouldn't work considering you're an adult. It seems to work on children though."

It then changed into a realistic duck now standing over 10 feet tall and looking down at me.

That got me to stop laughing and now I was looking on with worry. I knew what He was now. I got on my knees and bowed down before saying, "I am so sorry Mr. Eldwern. I had no idea it was you and I beg to be forgiven."

It looked down at me, sighed, and then spoke, "Kid, I wouldn't even be able to harm you if I wanted to. Charley is able to knock me out with a single noise. If something happened to his caretaker I'd most likely end up dead."

"Huh?"

"What, you didn't know? Are you telling me you just brought in a random creature to take care of without thinking of the consequences?" It was looking at me pretty hard and I had no idea how to answer it.

"Oh my god, you really did, didn't you? What if it had grown up to be a monster strong enough to destroy your entire town? Well, he certainly is capable of that, but I doubt he would. He's still young."

I couldn't help but blank at that. I was taking care of something strong enough to kill a Divine Beast with apparently no struggle. I couldn't help but start to worry.

"What am I supposed to do if even you can't do anything? Am I just supposed to do whatever he wants?"

"Well, no. As the caretaker and basically guardian of Charley, he can't exactly refuse you. I had wanted to pull you up before you had finished the contract but I was too late. You'll feel the differences once you go back down. The only reason you're up here in the first place is because you established a link to the divine through Charley and that had destroyed your body. I'm keeping your mind from destroying itself in the agony that is rebirth."

Well, that was certainly not what I was expecting. I thought I had been brought up here to be punished. Not to be kept from becoming a vegetable.

"So, what am I supposed to do once I'm back?"

"Well, I don't know. Having a bond with a Divine Beast is something that happens for leaders of a faction, but to be in a guardianship role for a Divine Beast has never happened before. This could go terribly wrong, or it could be the spark of a new era for us Divine Beasts."

"Will Charley listen to what I say now?"

"Well, you'll be able to understand him now due to your link, and he might treat you as a parent due to you taking care of him. You're more of a mother than most creatures are to their own young. I've seen humans treat their children with less care than you've treated Charley with. I doubt he'll do anything that might harm you."

With that to digest, I noticed I felt stronger all of a sudden.

"Well, it's time for you to go back to your body. Say hi to Charley for me, will you? I'd like to talk to him without him hurting me."

"I'll, uh, do my best."

And with that, I found myself back in my house.