Everyone stared dully at the regal looking duck preening herself on the ground in front of them.

“Quackfina!” Dr. Myrden said, waddling up to her. “What are you doing here!? I figured you'd been banished somehow, but I couldn't find you...”

“No, thanks to my contract with you escaping to a higher plane was no longer an option,” Quakfina said. “But my contract had a clause that said I could leave if my goddess called me, or I chose to serve another master. Pretty stupid of me not to include a clause where I could just quit, but that's summoning contracts for you.”

“Guys!” Evan said, pointing at the snarling mass of tentacles approaching them. “Don't we have bigger problems!?”

“Oh,” Quakfina said. “Not really. Betty, would it be alright if I used some of your magic?”

“Why are you asking me?” Betty said.

“Well you are my contracted master now,” Quakfina said. “Generally speaking, contracted spirits aren't supposed to just do things.”

“Oh. Then yes, please. Go ahead.”

“Thank you,” Quakfina said. She waved her staff with the tip of a wing, and the water spirit disappeared. “There we go! Back to the watery plane you summoned it from. That was very irresponsible Betty, I thought you were more level headed than that.”

Moonlight appeared in the space beside them and meowed mourfully at Quakfina.

“Oh come now!” Quakfina said. “I'm sure that can't be right!”

“Meow.”

“Surely the phrase “deranged maniac” is stretching things a little far....”

“Meow!”

“Wait wait wait wait!” Dr. Myrden said. “Hold on a minute!”

“I thought you were happy about this,” Evan said.

“That was back when I thought this was just another duck spirit!” Dr. Myrden sputtered. In his current form, it came out as a series of thin quacks. “This is Quakfina! The second most powerful spirit I ever summoned! How did you get her?”

He glared at Betty, who just shrugged.

“I am curious about that myself,” Betty said.

“Well as I was trying to explain,” Quakfina huffed. “When your children attacked me and seny us all plummeting from the sky...”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“THEY WHAT!?” Dr. Myrden quack-sputtered again.

“You should really pay more attention to what they've been up too,” Quakfina scolded. “Anyway, my contract with you meant I couldn't just leave. I could only leave if I found a new master. And there happened to be someone standing right there with a water-attuned node I could hide in.”

“So that was where you went when you disappeared,” Betty said. “I suppose I understand. Would it be correct to release you from your contract now? You could be free.”

“No I don't think so,” Quakfina shook her head. “I've been inside your soul for a while now, and I have been quite fond of what I saw in there. I am interested in you, and would like to continue as your spirit inside your water node.”

“Thank you,” Betty said. Woman and duck stared at each other for a moment.

“Well I suppose that solves that,” Quakfina said

“It does not!” Dr. Myrden said. “Betty, do you have any idea what she is!?”

“Is she a demon or some other form of evil entity who will attempt to gain control of my body?” Betty asked.

“What? No!” Dr. Myrden said. “But we're talking about a level of power here...”

“More powerful than a genie?” Betty asked.

“Well...no,” Dr. Myrden said. “Yes. Maybe. Is. It depends.”

“Oh she can't access a tenth of my power yet,” Quakfina said. “Besides, I'm here to guide her in learning how to use my power, so when she does have access to more of it she'll know what she's doing.”

“Meow.”

“Really?” Betty asked. “Just having her in the node makes your water form more powerful?”

“Meow!” Moonlight said happily, rubbing his forehead against Quakfina.

“Ah. Yes. This is very strange, now that I'm duck sized. But you are a nice cat.”

“Mrow.”

“You are effectively a cat.” Quakfina said, patting him on the head.

Dr. Myrden huffed and looked between Betty, Moonlight, and Quakfina.

“Okay,” Dr. Myrden said. “The other training groups are giving me their own special brand of misery, so I'm going to call this good enough. Quakfina, you can take over teaching Betty how to use her water node?”

“I can,” Quakfina nodded.

“Okay good,” Dr. Myrden said, turning his attention to Evan. “That means I can focus all my energy on you.”

“Great,” Evan said. “Wonderful. Hooray for me.”

“None of that,” Dr. Myrden said. “Okay, let's see you focus. You will master focus.”

“Great,” Evan grumbled. “Betty gets a magical super duck to play with. I get to stare at a rock. How is that fair?”

“Magic's pretty fair,” Dr. Myrden said. “You get what your talent and your training will give you, when it comes to powers. Oh, and your soul of course. You can choose all you want, but in the end the shape your powers take will be determined by the nature of your soul.”

“Ahah,” Evan said. “So should I read anything into the fact that Kyle's powers are in the shape of a gorgeous woman he is now sleeping with...”

“Enough of that!” Dr. Myrden waved his cane at him.

“I'm just saying that's some pretty bone deep narcissism right there.”

“That's an entirely different situation!” Dr Myrden huffed. “A bond with a magical creature, she's not actually born from his powers. Although what you're talking about has been known to happen.”

“Seriously!?” Evan dropped his rock.

“You dropped your rock.”

“How am I to focus on rocks when you tell me that!?”

“Magic is all about weird,” Dr. Myrden told him. “And people get really weird. Now come on focus.”

“Why a rock?” Evan said, looking over. “Betty is still damp, maybe I can focus on...”

“Do you think about anything else?”

“It's more interesting than a rock.”

“Aren't you supposed to have a girlfriend? I'm not up on all the drama going on.”

“It's...yeah,” Evan sighed. “I just can't stop thinking about if things had been different.”

“I can understand that,” and for once Dr. Myrden's voice was soft and kind. “Any old man understands that. But that Goldie looks like trouble when she's mad.”

“Yeah,” Evan smiled. “Yeah she is.”

“Sounds to me like you're safer with the rock. Get back to it.”