Elsewhere in the woods around the cabin, a very different training exercise was going on.

“Admit it,” Evan said. “You took this from a movie.”

“That's neither here no there!” Dr. Myrden's duck form said, pointing his cane accusingly at Evan. “You're here to try and learn to focus your mental powers. So focus.”

Evan sat cross legged on the ground, holding a rock in his hand. He was supposed to be focusing on the rock and only the rock. And supposedly, once he managed to do that, everything else around him would vanish.

“What exactly is the point of this again?” Evan sighed.

“Your physical enhancement to your agility was a good choice,” Dr. Myrden said. “Because it paired well with the mental enhancement that seems to be the primary focus of your magical power. By mastering total focus, you can make the best use of both those skills. At the moment, your mental enhancement is like an enormous, incredibly powerful supercomputer hooked up to your brain. So unfortunately, anything it does has to go through your brain.”

“I would feel insulted if I wasn't so focused,” Evan said dryly.

“But training your mind to focus, you'll be better able to make use of that computer, which in turn will help you use your high speed and agility in combat. So focus.”

“And what's Betty doing exactly?” Evan asked.

“She's actually focusing,” Dr. Myrden said.

“That's not what I meant.”

“Betty is in a unique position,” Dr. Myrden said. “She's perfectly suited to be a summoner. Not only is that her inclination, but if you take a moment to consider her nodes...”

“Trevor will get mad,” Evan said.

“See this is why I call you an idiot and don't explain things,” the wizard-duck glared. “She has six nodes, and in her central node she has already bound the spirit of a Five Elements Cat.”

“So creatures you can summon live in your nodes?” Evan blinked. “Is that how it works?”

“That's one way, and the way she's best suited for. In any case, the Five Elements Cat is a creature tied to all five of the classical Asian elements. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. That means she's already got a connection to all five, and five remaining nodes. If she can attune each node to a different element, she can have one summon for each element plus it will greatly increase the power of her Five Elements Cat.”

“And you decided to start with water,” Evan nodded.

“Yes. She used water so extensively in the fight with the mutant efreet, one of her nodes was already halfway to being aligned there. So we started with that.”

“My urge to make a joke about nodes aside, is that why she's over there sitting in the river?”

They both looked over to where Betty was up to her waist in water.

“Technically that's more of a deep brook.”

“Did you tell her to sit in the brook?”

“No,” Dr. Myrden said. “I did not tell her to do that. She just did that on her own.”

“I am afraid I am having some difficulty,” Betty said out loud.

“Well I'm not surprised,” Dr. Myrden said. “You're sitting in a brook.”

“I have attempted to summon an entity of water into my node,” Betty said.

“What? Why?” Dr. Myrden sputtered. “Why would you do that?”

“It felt like my node was perfectly attuned so it just made sense to try,” Betty shrugged.

“Well stop that!” Dr. Myrden said. “Come out of the brook and dry off already.”

Betty stood up and made her way to shore, dripping with brook water. Perhaps running would be a better word, she had gotten thoroughly soaked. Her normally bulky clothes clung to her as she made her way to dry land, but she seemed characteristically oblivious to anything having to do with her appearance. She sat down with a wet splat across from Evan.

“Now just try to focus on what you remember the water being like,” Dr. Myrden said. “You don't need to actually be in water for this. The feeling is more important than the actual substance.”

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“If you say so,” Betty said. “Besides, I think I am still sufficiently close to water at this point to have ready inspiration.”

“Yeah I'm getting some ready inspiration too,” Evan grinned. “In fact, I-ow!!!”

Dr. Myrden whacked him in the knee with his cane.

“None of that!” Dr. Myrden said. “You focus on focusing! She focuses on water! Now I'm going to go sit over there because my other selves are taking up a lot of my attention right now and if you're doing this right you'll be sitting here doing nothing.”

“I thought we were focusing?”

“Shut up.”

The duck-wizard waddled away, leaving the two of them on their own, concentrating. They made it a good while before they broke concentration. And, to Evan's surprise, it was Betty who spoke first.

“Oh,” she said. “I understand. You were saying you find me aesthetically pleasing, with my clothes clinging to my body that way.”

“Huh?” Evan blinked. “Oh. Yeah. I guess that's what I meant.”

“Ah,” Betty said, then returned to her meditation. They sat in silence for another good long while.

“Do you...ever think about it?” Evan asked.

“About what?” Betty asked, not opening her eyes.

“About what it would have been like,” he said. “If I hadn't already had a date with Goldie to the dance. You liked me, didn't you?”

“Yes,” Betty said. “I didn't know you knew.”

“I kinda guessed,” Evan said.

“I see. Were you waiting for me to make the first move?”

“No I was....I don't know. Hoping you wouldn't, I guess.”

“Oh.”

“No that's not what I mean!” Evan said. “I was just...happy with the way things were. And scared of having that conversation. And I thought...”

“You did not expect me to begin dating Trevor.”

“....yeah. I guess that's what I mean.”

“You were taking me for granted, on the supposition out friendship would remain as it always was forever.”

“I sound kind of terrible when you put it like that,” Evan sighed.

“I do not think you are terrible,” Betty said. “However, you are irrefutably short sighted, selfish, and intentionally abrasive.”

“Thank you,” Evan said dryly.

“But you are also one of my two oldest friends,” Betty said. “And I would not want to jeopardize that either. Your objections to pursuing a relationship between us were not wrong. I will admit I was upset when you turned me down, but things have turned out well. Trevor and I are together, though he has not yet lust overcome him. Kyle is being significantly more sensually proactive with Betty. And you have Goldie.”

“Whatever's going on with Goldie.” Evan shook his head. “I know, Kyle finding that lamp has brought all kinds of magic into our lives, but when I think about things going forwards...I dunno, maybe I wish it could have been simpler. That none of it happened, and I'd gone to the dance with you, and whatever.”

“The road not taken is very easy to focus on,” Betty said. “But if things are good now, maybe we should all be happy with that.”

“I suppose you've got a point,” Evan said. “I just...what are you doing?”

“I am going to try to bond a familiar of the water element,” Betty said, scraping a circle in the dirt with the edge of a stick.

“He specifically told us not to do that!” Evan said.

“I do not recall you being a stickler for the rules,” Betty said. “I believe I am capable of doing this. I remember from when I bound Moonlight. Besides, when I focus on my nodes the one I have fully attuned to water feels...strange.”

“So you're just going to summon...what?” Evan asked.

“I am not certain,” Betty said. “We will soon find out.”

Betty sat cross legged in front of the circle, palms held together, as she started to recite the spell. Within a few moments there was a soft blue glow, and something that looked like a bubble with fins and eyes bounced into existence withing the circle.

“Ah,” Betty said. “Success.”

“What are you doing?” Dr. Myrden demanded, waddling over. “Dammit! I've got chaos on every front now! You actually summoned a water spirit?”

“It would appear so,” Betty confirmed.

“Well fine,” Dr. Myrden sighed in frustration. “Bond it, I guess. It's an unformed spirit. Not a bad choice, it'll grow with your power over time until it finds a permanent form. Now that you've summoned it, go ahead and try to bring it into your node.”

Betty nodded, and with a surge of power that felt like flowing rivers the bubble creature floated in Betty's direction, swimming towards her chest.

It bounced off.

“That was not supposed to happen,” Betty said.

“No it wasn't!” Dr. Myrden said. “You've been doing this already, haven't you!? You tried this before!”

“No I did not!” Betty said. “This was the very time I intentionally summoned a magical being without supervision.”

“Well it would only get rejected like that if you already had something living in your water node!” Dr. Myrden said.

“Maybe she did it by accident,” Evan suggested. “That's how she summoned Moonlight in the first place.”

“Well it doesn't matter now we've got to get rid of the water spirit!” Dr. Myrden said. “Before....”

“DECIEVER!!!!” The bubble spirit shrieked in a voice like a boiling teakettle. “LIAR! CRUEL TEMPTRESS!”

“...it gets angry and morphs into a vengeful spirit,” Dr. Myrden sighed.

“But you're an incredibly powerful wizard right?” Evan said. “You can handle this no problem.”

“Yes but I won't,” Dr. Myrden said. “You two made this mess, you two get to fix it.”

“Oh dammit,” Evan said, grabbing a rock. The creature had, by this point, expanded into a huge glob of boiling water, with parts spreading off that looked like tentacles. He threw the rock at it, which splashed through without doing any damage.

“Dammit!” Evan said. “Betty, help! Summon Moonlight!

“I wonder what is living in my node?” Betty said thoughtfully.

“I dunno, summon that I guess but this is getting out of hand!”

By now the creature was eight or nine feet tall of boiling, raging water. Evan grabbed another rock as a blue light began to glow around Betty, and something shimmered into existence.

“Oh no,” Evan said. “Oh no, it can't be. It couldn't be. Life wouldn't be so cruel.”

“It is!” Dr. Myrden cackled, jumping up and down, flapping his wings joyously. “It certainly is! Well done girl, you have excellent taste!”

Between the growing monster and the rest of them now stood...a duck. The duck was a pure white, so pure it almost glowed, cut with a few bands of tranquil ocean blue. She had what looked like a tiara of glistening blue gems on silver, and she carried a staff made in a similar way.

“Yes sorry about this,” she said. “I didn't have a lot of options at the time. Nice to meet you again, Betty. It's me. Quakfina.”