I watched the sisters—my sisters—leave. Van—Invention—leapt up, grabbing me from my fall before landing on a nearby building to set me down.
“I’m so sorry, Invention,” Cindy—Death—said, “But we should probably head back down. None of you will be able to hold this for long without major exhaustion.”
“After all that effort for a catapult.”
I stared at the ground—the roof. What was going on here?
Death pointed out the coffee shop we sometimes went over to.
“Meet me there after you transform back, drinks on me.”
Invention slammed their face.
“Ow.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t do that, then,” Death said.
“I forgot to tell mom I was leaving. She’s gonna be worried sick.”
“Just say you went to get drinks with everyone and forgot to text her,” Nerves—Princess—said, “That’s what I do.”
“Figure your problems out when we get there,” Death ordered, “Now go and change!”
Princess floated me down to an alcove before stepping out onto the sidewalk proper. Then he turned back into my friend.
“So, Princess…” I said.
“I didn’t choose it, and at least I didn’t end up with the same exact name!”
“Yeah but at least I’m cool, not covered in pink glitter. Are you sure it’s all gone?” I sifted through his hair.
“No, but that doesn’t really matter, does it. We’re superheroes.”
I stopped in the sidewalk.
“What?” Nerves asked.
“We’re superheroes. We’re superheroes!” I spun around before catching up to him, ignoring everyone now staring at us.
Nerves gave me a sarcastic thumbs-up. I rolled my eyes.
“Emmy seemed to know everyone’s names,” I noted after calming myself, “Did you have that too?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed, “You didn’t?”
“Nope. Well I knew who we were fighting—”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Well we were fighting my sisters.”
“River?”
“No, maybe. I don’t know how this transformation thing works. But like they were my talisman’s sisters. I was Summer, they were Winter, Spring, and Autumn.”
“Yeah, I didn’t know that. I just knew who the people on our side were.”
“I think I started figuring that out before we left, though I still have no idea who Emmy was.”
“Lupus,” he answered, “The wolf constellation.”
“Is that why her face was so weird?” I formed a snout with my hands.
“Probably. You also had some fire hair going on.”
“I did?” I touched the sides of my hair like there could still be remaining embers.
Eventually we caught sight of our stop, and were waved over by Van, who was with the other two, and an extra person next to Cindy that couldn’t be more than ten.
“This is Cas! Xe’s Nonbinary too!” Van yelled as we came in hearing range. Cindy seemed to tell them something we couldn’t hear that made them cower.
“Hi.” I waved as we stepped up.
“If you’re paying, what’s the max drink size?” Nerves asked.
“What’s the max your parents will allow?”
“Looks like we’re getting smalls.” I said, reminding the others that Van had a limit for their own health. We all gave our usual orders.
“Fine by me. This is Cas, my younger sibling. Xe knows everything about the history of Mystics and talismans because mom handed xer a book once.”
“I have an email correspondence with the royal family,” Cas bragged.
“Of England?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Not that Royal Family, but they are in England. The Mystic ‘Royal family’ are the families that supposedly came from Talisman. We’re sort of a part of it—whatever.” Cindy swatted an imaginary fly from her head.
“I’m our excuse for coming here,” Cas said, “Cindy doesn’t want our parents to know she’s been tasked by Talisman himself.”
I was glad to look around and see everyone else also confused.
“Don’t we wield talismans?” I asked, “Why is there someone named that? That’s confusing.”
“Cas, Explain things,” Cindy said in a tone that said this wasn’t a new discussion.
“Talisman is the person who makes the talismans. He’s reincarnated every so often, but before that happens he can use the talismans to communicate with us Mystics, descendants of talismans and occasionally Talisman. He also uses them to monitor problems, including the one that made him send Cindy over here to recruit you guys.”
“So we’re part talisman?” Emmy asked.
“No. The talismans were once human.”
“That’s so much worse,” Nerves said.
“After they died,” Cas continued, “For whatever reason, Talisman deemed them worthy of a resurrection of sorts. Pieces of their souls formed the basis of a talisman, and as it grants power to each wielder, it takes a piece of their soul at their death-bed, so you all get to live forever.”
“Cool!” I’d always wanted to be immortal.
“Wait, this thing is stealing my soul?” Nerves said, pulling the bow charm out of his hair. “I didn’t agree to that.”
“It isn’t stealing it. Once you die, a piece of you keeps living on through it. You essentially live a little bit forever. It’s also not reversible once you transform once. Some talismans have been worse off for just that reason.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Van asked, suddenly cradling the pin on their beanie, “Am I going to hurt you?”
“Probably not. They’re tougher than you are,” Cindy said.
“It’s not so much hurt, as changing them. Talismans lean towards wielders with a specific trait, but that falls with so many other traits of a human, and some of those make the totems worse, like morally. That’s what happened with the sisters.”
“What?” Emmy asked. “Who are the sisters?”
“Well they’re also called the seasons, because that’s what they represent, but most of the families call them the sisters because they were each a sister of Talisman in their first lives. Like how Cindy wields the brides because they were each married to an individual reincarnation of Talisman.”
I pretended to understand any of that.
“So Summer’s the reincarnation of God’s sister?” Van asked.
“Talisman isn’t exactly a god, he’s just a well revered figure. Mystics are also not the reincarnation of whoever their totem once was.”
Nerves raised his hand.
“Yes?”
“Why do I have the pink one?”
“Because you either need its influence, or share a valued trait, like leadership or something. Don’t worry, you aren’t the only boy Princess has chosen, though not all of them end their time with her still a boy.”
“Okay.”
“Do you know why any of us got the totem?” Emmy asked.
“You probably already have an affinity for animals or mythical beasts, since that’s what constellations generally flock toward.” Cas moved xer arm to Van, “You probably like making stuff.” Nerves, “You’re probably somehow repressed.”
“What!?”
Cas ignored him, moving on to me. “You have the same name.”
“That’s it?”
“Never ignore the name affinity,” xe said, “Names especially have power for totems. The power of your name, if it is your true name, can make it easier to wield a totem. It also means you’re more likely to see underneath a transformation, since you don’t need your name supplanted, you won’t supplant others’.”
“Is that why I didn’t know anyone’s transformation name?”
“Probably.”
“But I recognized the sisters because they’re my—her—sisters.”
Cas nodded.
“And you probably haven’t met them before; or if you have, they didn’t transform in front of you.”
“Well, Winter seemed familiar.”
“Maybe you know her.”
“Maybe it’s River,” Nerves said.
“River wouldn’t be a chosen one.”
She especially wouldn’t be chosen before I was. I wouldn’t be chosen because she was chosen. That couldn’t be it.
“Whoever they are, they’re likely not even realizing what’s going on. Light totems tend to control their hosts completely.”
“Wait,” Emmy said, “They’re the light totems?”
“Of course. They’re following—”
Cindy clamped her hand over Cas’ mouth.
“The totem they all follow is associated with light. We are not associated with him, so if we’re anything, we’re card totems or whatever.”
“That makes less sense.”
Cas pulled off Cindy’s hand.
“The divide is between two brothers. The elder is light associated, and is kind of evil, like without further hosts is straight up evil, and the other is Tarot, who’s associated with the major Arcana in tarot decks.”
“Why aren’t we dark?” Nerves asked, “If we’re going to divide it.”
“Because the totem of darkness is aligned with the totem of light,” Cindy explained. “They were married in their first life, and she’s stayed loyal ever since.”
“Chiaro?” I asked, unsure of where I’d learned it.
“Don’t say that name if you can help it,” Cas said, “Like I said, names have power, and the light brother is awake more often than he isn’t.”
“Like he’s possessing someone?”
“A very unlucky someone.”
When we returned to the park, River was waiting for us.
“And just who are you?” she asked, focusing on Cindy.
“Don't be rude,” I chided.
“I’m Cindy. My family is new to the group, and these guys were good enough to welcome me and my younger sibling.” Cas waved from behind the four of us.
“Can’t wait to tell mom you were hanging out with a strange teenager. What were you thinking, Summer?”
I felt a small amount of warmth from my backpack.
“I actually met your mom, and I think you missed a text about coming to meet a new girl around your age,” Cindy said.
River checked her phone.
“She knows I keep my phone on silent.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t,” I suggested.
I focused on River for a little bit more than usual, centering in on her eyes, a very pale blue, just like Winter’s.
“Great to meet you. Feel free to come over and watch us.” She gestured to her two friends. This was too much of a coincidence.
I gasped aloud.
“What now?”
“Nothing. Maybe I’ll stay and watch you, see if you’re really worth all that gear mom gets for you.”
River glared at me, but relented.
“What about your friends?”
“Well Van probably has to go home.”
At that comment, Van ran away from all of us. We could see them apologizing profusely to their mom.
“I don’t mind watching,” Nerves said.
“I’ll probably just draw,” Emmy said, sliding her backpack off.
“I actually kind of like sports,” Cas said. “Can I play?”
River looked down at xer, then showed off her basketball.
“I don’t need to be good,” xe disclaimed.
“Fine. The game is free for all, and the hoop is that cluster of branches over there.” She pointed up in the tree above us. Emmy grabbed her sketchbook and moved further away before sitting down.
“Like we’re all playing for ourselves?” Cas asked.
River nodded.
“Do you want us to choose a smaller hoop for you?” Kei, short for Keira, asked.
“I’ll be okay,” Cas answered.
The rest of us joined Emmy a little ways away.
“Why did you wanna watch your sister play all of the sudden?” she asked as we joined her.
“Because you think she’s actually one of the sisters,” Cindy answered.
“Her eyes looked the same as Winter’s.”
River made her hoop, and looked at me before the ball hit her in the face for standing still.
“Or at least similar.”
“And her two friends make the perfect number to match what we fought.”
Lei, short for Leiana, moved with uncanny grace, jumping higher than the other two despite being shorter. Autumn.
Kei was stable, except when she was climbing the tree to make a score. Cas was imitating her technique. She was probably Spring.
“What do we do?” Nerves asked.
“We try not to let my sister kill us.”
That night I had a dream where I—no, the other Summer—sat under a scorched tree, having tea and a picnic with Winter, Spring, and Autumn.
“So sister,” Winter handed a freezing cup to me—her, “What of our brother’s mistakes?”
“Too many to count,” Summer said, permeating with discomfort.
“You can do better than that,” Spring said, “Why don’t you tell us about your new host. She seems young.”
“As do all of yours.”
“Age is a fickle thing,” Winter said, “You’re rarely the age people perceive you as in my experience.”
“Of course,” Summer said, “How could I forget your time in Los Angeles, with a male host of all things, stayed ageless for years. All those years keeping him from changing sure did change you.”
Winter scowled.
“Always running hot with the accusations,” Autumn said, “We simply changed because we saw an injustice. We want agency.”
“Then who chose your hosts?” Summer asked, “You?”
Winter and Autumn looked down.
“He still chose well,” Spring said, “We are of one mind in these things.”
“It almost sounds like one of you wants to take Scuro’s place by his side. Are things going well between the lovers?”
Summer was hiding something about Scuro. Whoever she was, the forces of light didn’t seem to have her anymore, but most people didn’t know that.
“What’s going on?” I asked. Summer closed her hands over her mouth.
“You brought in an interloper,” Winter accused, “Pretending you were here to talk.” The place was quickly coated in ice.
That final scene was a late edition, I think, planned to be part of the next chapter. I'm proud I put it here instead.