Tanya...wasn't really training. Or she was training, but not herself.

What she was doing was sitting on the floor, teaching Goldie baby magic.

Actually, quite literally baby magic. Her father, in duck form, had handed her the spellbook he'd started teaching her when she was in preschool and then sat down to read. It was interesting, watching her father read as a duck. The book was actually bigger than he was, and even though she'd been training in magic since she was a child, she was having trouble figuring out how he turned the pages with his wings. She was pretty sure he wasn't using telekinesis, or making little invisible human fingers. It was almost like he was actually using his feathers somehow...

“Dammit!” Goldie hissed. “This is hard!”

She was supposed to be summoning a small, circular light and holding it for thirty seconds. Tanya had done it by accident before she got the book. And she had to admit, she was getting a little frustrated that Goldie couldn't do it.

It wasn't just that Goldie's magic was low. Goldie actually had higher magic than the average person, to be able to create those sparks of magic between her fingers at all. It was the rest of her friends who were the weird ones, which was probably Kyle's fault. Him and his wish. No, she couldn't complain about that, but Tanya was getting very frustrated with how long it was taking Goldie to get this stupid, simple, basic spell.

Another flash of light, and a fizzling sound.

“Dammit!” Goldie complained.

“Let's try this,” Tanya said. “Instead of pushing the magic out, just kind of...let it go. I think you might be forcing it.”

“Forcing it,” Goldie said. “Yeah. Sure. I didn't even believe magic existed a couple of weeks ago.”

“That's true,” Tanya said, feeling a little guilty for how harsh she was being. “I hadn't even thought about that. I was raised in all this.”

“I mean fair,” Goldie said. “It's normal for you. Like someone who grew up in...I dunno, the film industry. It's all normal as far as you're concerned.”

“Alright try again,” Tanya said. “Let it flow. Don't force it.”

“Right,” Goldie said. “Don't force it.”

Goldie held her hands up again, and this time the light grew smoother, steadier, softer...and then just as smoothly and steadily and softly faded away and disappeared.

“That's progress!” Tanya said, forcing a smile. She felt bad for having to force it. It was progress. She'd definitely been closer...but they'd still been working on this same, simple, easy spell...for over an hour.

“I failed better?” Goldie smirked.

“Exactly!” Tanya said. “Keep at it, I'm going to go check something with my dad.”

“Okay,” Goldie said, turning back to her spell as Tanya walked over to where the bearded duck sat reading.

“No,” the duck told her before she even said a word.

“There must be something I can be doing!” She said desperately. “I don't mind training Goldie, but I'm not working on my own magic at all.”

“That's what you think,” Her father said, turning the page.

“How are you doing that!?” She demanded.

“Can't tell?” He looked up at her. “Then that's proof you need more training.”

“Then train me!”

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“I am,” he said. “It's not my fault you're a bad student.”

“I'm not a bad student!” She hissed.

“Are you suggesting Goldie is?”

“No of course not,” Tanya sighed. “She's doing amazing, for how late she started. But I'm not training anything at all.”

“Yes you are,” he said, turning back to his book.

“I cannot believe this,” she said. “I came here, I insisted you pay me some personal attention, I was pretty eloquent about it I thought...”

“Tanya I am,” he said. “I am giving you personal, private coaching. The best training you can do right now. And I'm telling you that helping her master basic training spells is the very best thing you can be doing for your magic right now.”

“I...” Tanya threw her hands up. “Okay.”

She turned and sat back down across from Goldie.

“Problems with dad?” Goldie asked.

“Kind of always,” Tanya muttered.

“I....kind of get it?” Goldie said. “I kind of don't. My parent's aren't around much, and that kinda sucks sometimes. But they have important jobs, and I see them often enough. I saw them a lot more when I was younger.”

“I know the feeling,” Tanya said. “I mean, I get it. Our family is descended from Merling...”

“Wait,” Goldie said. “THE Merlin?”

“Yes the actual Merlin,” Tanya sighed. “Who was real, and so was the table and the knights and all that stuff. But more importantly, for this discussion, is that we've got obligations dating back thousands of years. And because we're so powerful, we have a responsibility to help protect people, and clean up magical messes. And all that's important. I get it.”

“But it means he's never around,” Goldie said.

“And when he is around he's a duck,” Tanya groaned.

“Yeah my family issues never involved waterfowl,” Goldie admitted. “That's a first for me, I've got to admit. Hey, what's with all the ducks?”

“Oh, it's a whole thing,” Tanya sighed. “Basically, there's a whole bunch of different branches of Merlin's magic just kind of lying around, and everyone in the family is supposed to take one up. Dad decided to use a ritual Merlin invented to make a pack with the goddess Seq....hey!”

She pointed to the soft, smooth, calmly glowing sphere between Goldie's hands.

“You did it!”

“I did it!”

“Oh my god you did it!”

“Oh my god I did it!”

Tanya and Goldie both laughed. Goldie separated her hands, and the orb came with her left hand. She tossed it into her right like a marble, then back and forth.

“I guess I was just overthinking it,” she said.

“I guess so,” Tanya said.

“Hey can I do it again?” Goldie held the glowing ball of light in her right hand and held her left out, palm up, and another orb of light appeared there. “Hey cool!”

She started juggling the tiny balls of light.

“You can juggle?” Tanya laughed.

“Yeah I can,” Goldie said. “But I'm not usually this good. Hey wait a minute...these things aren't falling! They're coming down because I'm thinking about them coming down, aren't they?”

“Uhhh...yeah,” Tanya scratched her head. “Now that you mention it, yeah. I think that's how it would work.”

“Which explains how I'm catching them so easily every time,” Goldie said. “But I bet if I just let them go...”

She tossed both balls into the air and they floated randomly.

“Hey that's cool!” Goldie said, a huge smile across her face. “I did it! My first actual real honest to goodness magic spell!”

“You did!” Tanya said. “And you seem really compatible with it.”

“I dunno how I feel,” Goldie said. “I'm...excited. My mom likes to say she's Jazzed. I just...”

Laughing, Goldie jumped to her feet and held her hands out at her sides. She started spinning around, and from her palms floated hundred of little points of light, in dozens of colors, floating through the air like sparkling snow until Tanya and Goldie stood under a swirling, spreading galaxy of magical light. Goldie was too lost in her wonder to pay attention to anything else.

Tanya was falling down a rabbit hole of confusion.

Not at how quickly Goldie had mastered the spell. It was a baby spell after all, of course she got a handle on it quickly once she'd actually done it. No, what was confusing her was the spell itself. It made sense. Sure, of course you could change the color of the light spheres. That just made sense, it was a little tweak to your magic. Not much more than imagining it true, so simple that just by imagining it true Goldie had made it happen. But She'd never thought of it. And...yes, some of the lights were brighter and dimmer, and some were different sizes. They were still perfectly formed, so Tanya didn't think it was a mistake...no, again, it was a simple little tweak to the spell, simple enough for Goldie to do subconsciously.

She's brand new to this, Tanya realized. I'd never think to fool around with a baby spell like this. But she doesn't know any better. And come to think of it, if you can change it like this, then you could...

The idea for the new spell clicked into place, as did her father's lesson.

I've been inflexible. Rigid. I've been following the rulebook too closely. I haven't been improvising with the magic enough. That's what he's trying to teach me.

She very carefully did not look back. She knew her father's smug expression all too well, she had zero interest in seeing it on a duck.

“This is great!” Goldie said. “What's the next spell?”

“I don't remember,” Tanya said, grabbing the book. “It's been a long time since I did these exercises. Let's see. I'm excited to find out.”