The Arcana Club

Ever since I was very little, I’ve always wanted to be the chosen one. In every book I read, there was someone strange who realized they were only different because they were meant to be something else this whole time, something greater than themselves.

My name is Summer Chastfield, and this is the story of how I became something greater.

The morning was normal for a Friday. I woke up late because I didn’t have to do school, I made some oatmeal, and got ready for park day, the day when we go to the park.

My bedroom was made for me… when I was 2. The color on the walls is a pastel pink, but it’s mostly covered up with book posters, some of which I made myself.

My house has two stories, with a staircase covered in photos from camping and field-trips. There’s a photo my mom really loves from when I was seven of me holding up a fish that I later cried about my dad killing—it was still delicious.

The kitchen is open to the rest of house, except upstairs obviously. Basically, everyone could see I was making oatmeal and someone was sure to judge my flavor choices.

“Maple and Brown sugar?” River, my older sister, asked.

“Why do you care?”

“Because you’re already weak-sauce for being a bookworm.”

“And you’re already stupid for being a… sports-brain!”

“All that reading and you can’t come up with a decent insult. I thought it was supposed to make you smarter.”

“I am smart, I’m just tired!”

I turned to ignore her as I pulled my oatmeal out of the microwave.

“Get your own food.”

“I was going to.”

I finished my oatmeal totally ignoring her, and got ready so I was completely prepared for park day.

Our car is an old van, but it fits mom, River, and I pretty well, plus anything we might want to bring to park. I just brought a book on this occasion because my friends finally finished it. I love this book, and I knew they’d love it too.

Per usual, we were one of the last families to arrive, so I ran to the usual meeting spot on the bench near the big tree so we could all talk.

My friends and I are a weird bunch, which is exactly why we’re friends. Nobody else really spends time with us, but we don’t mind each other’s interests.

Emmy is very tan, with long blonde hair, and adores horses. She actually drew us all as horses once, and her mom went to the store to get prints made so we could all have one. She still keeps the original framed somewhere.

Van introduced themself to us a year and a half ago by saying, “Hi, I’m Van, I’m nonbinary. Do you want to see my robot?” They proceeded to show us a video of robot fight, explaining they made the one that lost. Their short hair is always hidden in a beanie that absolutely reeks, and they’re always wearing baggy clothes.

Nerves has been my friend since forever. Our moms founded the homeschool group, so we’ve been going to this same park for years now. Lately, he’s been hiding in a black hoodie and wearing black nail polish. Last time I saw his face, he had black lipstick on and had dyed his hair black, too.

“Did you all read the book?” I asked.

“Yep!”

“What did you think?”

“Illandra was kind of annoying,” Nerves said, “A little too in her head and not paying attention to anyone else.”

“Funny, I thought she was a lot like Summer,” Van replied, “And I liked her!”

“I liked when she was almost eaten by wolves,” Emmy said, “It was a well written sequence.”

“And the horse saved the day,” Nerves said, “That’s mostly why you liked it.”

“His name is Life Wind.”

“What about Illandra being annoying?” I asked.

“I said my piece on that,” he placed the book over his face so he was completely closed off from the world. “I thought Andara was pretty cool though.”

“Andara was awesome,” everyone agreed.

“Illandra was great. She saved the day, and didn’t even need to marry a prince or something like girls in these stories always do,” Emmy, who mostly reads the fairy tale books her mom buys, answered.

“Well generally in these kinds of books,” I admitted, “Romance doesn’t become a problem until the second book in the series, and Prince Warren smiled at her at the end, so I wouldn’t keep my hopes up—not that you should dislike Illandra for that.”

“Maybe it’s just because I’m not a girl,” Nerves said, “So I don’t get it.”

“I’m not a girl,” Van said, “I’m nonbinary.”

“We know.”

“But I still liked it. Nerves just has a problem. Remember when he yawned at my last robot fight?”

“I didn’t get any sleep.”

“Or when he insulted my last horse drawing?” Emmy added.

“You’re usually much more proportional.”

“I said it was supposed to be cartoonish.”

“Maybe you’re the one who’s too in their head,” I said.

Nerves finally dropped the book off his face. You could see black smudges on the plastic cover from his lipstick. He tried to rub it off with his sleeve.

A chill filled the air, somehow making it smell more grassy.

“Did anyone else feel that?” Emmy asked.

“Nope,” Nerves continued rubbing his book.

“Well, you are wearing a hoodie.”

“No one else can tell.” A black girl around River’s age said, appearing behind the bench.

All of us jumped back.

“Hi, I’m Cindy. I’m here to help you kids save the world.”

“Save the world?” I asked.

“Well in this specific case it’s closer to just the park, but it’s a big park.”

“Eh.” Van shrugged.

“Semantics don’t matter. Do you want to save the day?”

“Yes.”

Everyone looked at me, then back at Cindy.

Van nodded.

“Are we the only people who can save it?” Emmy asked.

“Unfortunately, yes, but you’ve got me, and I count for a lot.”

“What do we do?” Nerves asked.

“You’re all in that quickly?” her face changed to concern. “I thought this was going to take longer. I listened to way less strangers when I was your age.”

“Something’s obviously wrong,” I explained, “If we can save the day, we will.”

“Great. Catch up with me when you find your talismans.”

She disappeared. Van pointed in the air.

“How long has that been there?”

A woman in a black cloak wielding a scythe stared down three more. One was all in white, including her hair, the next was in a very basic brown with the wind moving her dress more than the others, and the third was standing on a giant plant, with a lot of bright colors.

“I think since the wind got weird,” Emmy said. She lifted her chain necklace—when did she get a chain necklace?—revealing a wolf pendant.

“That doesn’t seem like something you would wear,” Van said.

She looked at the back of the pendant.

“Lupus.”

Emmy glowed, or more accurately, her skin had turned to starlight, with a halo making her head look like a wolf, and claws on each hand. Behind it all was dark brown eyes looking straight at the problem.

She bounded away, floating high towards the girls.

Van felt their jean jacket, then around their beanie.

“New pin.”

It was shaped like a gear. I couldn’t believe Van hadn’t had it all their life, but they looked confused, and pulled it off the hat. Like Emmy, they looked at the back, and read a name off of it.

“Invention.”

Van almost seemed to get messier. Their beanie changed to a pair of goggles, their jacket was tied around their waist, and they had a bag where they hadn’t had one before. Stains covered their eyes. They seemed to be vibrating.

“I might have an idea what to do,” they said like someone was shaking them.

Nerves and I stared at each other for a moment, then started checking anywhere one of these talismans could be. He pulled his hood back.

“Barrette!” I hadn’t noticed how long his hair had gotten, but I noticed the crown symbol holding it back.

He removed the barrette, then muttered something I couldn’t hear.

What was once covered in black became pink. Even his cheeks looked rosy. His hoodie had changed for a glittering pink jacket, and loose matching pants that almost looked like a skirt. His hair, turned hot pink, was held back by a tiara of pastel pink bows.

He ran away from me immediately.

“What was that?”

There wasn’t anything in my pockets, or my hair. In desperation, I checked my backpack, where I finally found a keychain with a sun. I turned it around. In letters reminding me of Roman inscriptions, it had one word.

“Summer.”

It burned like a hot shower. Like a layer of skin was being pulled back just enough not to bleed. My clothes turned to a dress made of fire, which somehow hurt less than my uncovered skin.

Flames wreathed up my arms, creating fingerless gloves in blue with the same warm cooling effect. My hair changed to flame, hottest near my head, but by now it was comfortable.

My shoes turned to sandals trailing halfway up my legs, with fire trailing behind.

“We are Summer, the unchanging sister,” I said, but something else said it with me.

I was back on the ground. Without my controlling them, my legs ran, going up as we went forward. Emmy was slicing the attacks of the sisters—whose sisters? Were we all sisters?

I felt my balance on the air slip, and Cindy caught me. Her face had become paler, with a blue-ish tint.

“It’s a little disorienting, even when you know what’s going on. Try not to think about what you’re doing until we’re done here.” She hoisted me up, and I was floating on the air. I tried to ignore everything like she said.

Van was on the ground, moving faster than I could see, but building something up. Nerves was still very pink, with an army of birds somehow behind him. The sisters had their attention on him, especially Winter—the one in white, the oldest too.

“Why are you attacking innocents?” Nerves yelled.

“None of you are innocents!” Winter yelled back, “Especially not led by Death herself.”

“Think you’re okay?” Cindy asked.

“Are you Death?”

Cindy nodded.

“And you’re Summer.”

“I know that.”

Cindy—Death—shook her head.

“I have to go fight those guys.”

“Wait—don’t!” I tried to grab her dress but I was already abandoned.

“Do your hosts even know what’s happening to them?” Death asked, coming in close to Autumn—the one in brown, the youngest.

“I don’t think your hosts know what’s happening to them.”

Hosts?

I started falling again, but Emmy caught me.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” I asked.

“These are bad guys. Princess is distracting them; I’m keeping them from killing him; and Invention is building something to stop them.”

“Who’s Princess?”

Emmy looked at me.

“Nerves? Why is he called Princess?”

“You didn’t get all this when you transformed?”

“I was supposed to!?”

Emmy threw me higher than Cindy had, placing me face to face with Spring—the second-born, renewer of all.

“I knew you’d come little sister. Always here to save the day.”

“I am?”

I was Summer.

“Hiding behind your host.” Autumn tsked as winds blew me away from Spring.

“Look at the thing,” Winter stared at me with familiar eyes, “She’s terrified.”

I was not terrified. I would not be terrified.

“I’m just confused.” My hand erupted in flame, and the sisters backed away.

“Let’s take our leave,” Winter said, “There will be time to speak with our sister in our own place.”

“Your own place—what place?”

My hand returned to normal, and I felt myself falling.