The Arcana Club

Emmy took the front of the group, then me and Cindy behind her, with Nerves, Van, and Cas in the back.

“Knock,” Nerves ordered, leading to a glare from Emmy.

“We have to figure out how much of her is Spring,” Cindy said, “Autumn doesn’t know if she’s Spring’s host consensually or not, and if she isn’t, who’s in control most of the time.”

Emmy knocked, immediately entering a defensive position.

The door opened to a mostly normal woman. She had a gentle look about her, older, though her hair remained dark, and an intimidatingly large smile. Her clothes looked a little dirty, slightly outlining an apron.

“Carolers?” she asked, “In July?”

“Only in December, ma’am,” Cindy said, “My mom made an offhand comment about wanting to know how you manage to grow things in this environment, so my friends decided now was the time to ask.”

I avoided a surprise expression because we hadn’t thought about a cover story for if she turned out to be normal.

“Well, I have nothing else to do today, so I can head over if she’d like.”

“Uh, yeah, I’ll call her,” Cindy said grabbing her phone. We heard it ring for a minute.

“Hey, mom. You know that house awhile down with all the plants?”

There was a beat of closed silence.

“Well its resident is willing to talk about making things grow in the desert with you, if you’re still interested.”

The woman watched expectantly.

“Yeah, we can clear out the backyard first.”

She put down her phone, turning to Spring’s host.

“Would you be willing to give us an hour? The backyard’s in disarray and mom doesn’t want new guests to see it.”

“I could help clear it out,” the host offered.

“No, thanks, just come by in an hour. We’re that house down the way.”

“I see. What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Cindy, ma’am.”

“You can call me Leora. My grandkids call me Yaya.”

Cindy nodded.

“Great. We’ll head back now.”

Leora closed the door, and we walked away.

“You’re backyard isn’t a mess,” Van said.

“I think we need to clear out the obstacle course, Van,” I explained.

“Oh,” their eyes widened, “Should I dismantle it?”

“No until we get back,” Nerves said, “We don’t want her to see you go at mach speed. Old white ladies aren’t always great to superhumans.”

“Are we superhuman?” Emmy asked.

“We’re certainly not normal,” I said.

Leora had become a regular part of our Session Days. We’d go early to help her with her plants. Then she’d help us with the Roddenstein’s plants, then after she left, Van would carefully return the obstacle course so it didn’t disrupt the new garden, and we’d train.

My time had stabilized, so now my training consisted of trying new combinations of Fire and Wind, while trying not to harm Leora’s work. The current project was a sort of flaming dust-devil (though much shorter) that had admittedly singed some of the plants, but Leora had blamed the marks on the sun and watering at the wrong time before. We were lucky to be in a desert state.

Inevitably, the dust devil lost control, and I tried to stop it while keeping it away from the plants, and therefore targeting the obstacle course, specifically Princess’ portion.

Luckily they had a decent warning, and jumped off just as I was able to snuff it out. The dust devil took a minute to dissipate naturally as we all ducked away from it.

“Were you trying to kill me?” Nerves asked. I froze as he hadn’t spoken to me directly in almost two weeks, including in-game.

“N-no, I…” I wasn’t sure how I’d lost all ability to talk to him.

“Learning curve,” Cas covered, “Summer’s powers are the most dangerous, and I encouraged her to do it.”

“Why would you do that?” Nerves asked.

Xe shrugged.

“It seemed cool at the time.”

“Xe’s taking too much credit, all xe told me was that Fire and Wind could combine into something dangerous. I chose the dust-devil on my own.”

“But I encouraged it,” Cas claimed.

“Then let’s take a break,” Cindy said, “Before the destructive duo destroys our house.”

She prompted everyone to sit around a nearby rock.

“What does everyone think of Leora?”

“I like Yaya,” Van said, “I’ve been helping her with an irrigation design that won’t over-water the plants.”

“She’s nice,” Nerves said, shrugging.

“I like her garden,” Emmy said.

“It’s hard to think that she’s technically working with the light brother,” I admitted.

“Yeah,” Cas sighed, “If I hadn’t seen the way the plants seem to lean toward her, I would think Summer found the wrong person.”

Cindy nodded.

“You all understand that’s more dangerous than her being mean.”

“Why?” we asked.

“Because if we like her, then we won’t want to hurt her, and if we don’t want to hurt her, then Summer’s going to pull her punches against her sister.”

“I didn’t want to hurt Spring in the first place,” I defended, “I just want to save her.”

“Which will involve fighting her,” Nerves said.

“I know, but…”

“Do you really think Spring’s going to be nice to you because you’re wielding her sisters? She probably wants them as much as you want her.”

Nerves was right, and so was Cindy. We’d gotten too close, making it easier for Spring to crush us.

It had been a long time since the sisters had gathered for tea. My vision was spread across Autumn and Summer, leaving me dizzy as I watched, but I could understand the dialog. I did my best to stay quiet.

“So, how does it feel to join the traitor?” Winter asked, “What sweet words did she offer for our brother’s cause?”

“You are the traitors here,” Summer said.

“Please,” Spring said. Her voice sounded like a younger version of Leora’s now that I heard it again, “Let’s not speak over poor Autumn. She might think you’re only using her as an accessory for your little sweetheart of a host.”

“Summer’s a better host than Winter’s by far,” Autumn said, “And I don’t have to worry about staying quiet while she goes about her day.”

Spring gritted her teeth.

“You’ve seen who I wield. Do you really think her mind is able to comprehend our power?”

“When did this happen?” Winter asked, “How does she know your host?”

“I knew the Light Brother chose my host with good reason,” Spring explained, “She is neighbor to Death and the other brides.”

Winter almost seemed worried.

“He’s messed with your mind,” Summer said, “You’re proud to be hidden because he’s made you a valuable pawn? The brides are as dangerous as we are, if not more so, and they have allies. All you have is Winter, and she won’t be there in case of a strike.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Winter said, “Water is everywhere, and snow scatters wherever it wills.”

“Snow scatters where the wind wills it to,” Autumn countered, “And I don’t want you near us until you recover your senses.”

“Do you think I endure this because I’ve lost my mind?” Winter asked, “As if we still have them in these forms.”

Did Winter want to become human again?

“Why do you endure it, then?” Summer asked.

Winter took a glance at Spring.

“The Light Brother wishes to be a god. I think he will be a better one than Talisman ever was.”

“And just how could he replace Talisman?” Autumn asked.

“That is none of your business,” Spring seethed, “Do you know the influence one has when beside a god?”

“Leaves you all the likelier to be squashed,” Summer said, “And you’re minions beneath his feet anyways.”

The room became filled with plants.

“Why bring yourself down to his level?” I asked, since we would be kicked out soon anyways, “You’re nature itself, aren’t you?”

Leora’s backyard was a true garden, all but a farm to some extent. I wondered for a moment if separating her from Spring would return the place to wasteland status. Maybe if she didn’t hate me after, I could stop by with Spring to keep things alive.

We helped water some of her plants, move the dead leaves out, and overall made something beautiful look even better.

“Honestly it’s great having you all here. There’s only so much I can do, nowadays.”

We made our comments about how we were glad to help.

“But it feels strange not to pay you all, so I got you a little something.”

Cindy helped her back inside the house as we all stood awkwardly.

“Do you think Cindy’s safe?” Nerves asked.

“No idea,” I said, “Spring seemed angry in my dream; I think I pissed her off.”

“So we stay vigilant,” Cas said, “Make sure she doesn’t catch us off guard.”

“I’m still not sure we have the right person,” Emmy said, “Sure Leora fits the criteria, but Spring looked like a teenager.”

“She sounded like Leora,” I noted. Maybe it was actually one of her grandkids.

“And what do you think of them in your dreams?” Nerves asked.

This was the second time in as many days that Nerves addressed me directly, and this time wasn’t anger at endangering his life. I was relieved.

“They’re angry,” I said, “Oh, and the eldest,” I’d begun making a point of not invoking Winter, as I wasn’t sure what she could learn when we said her name, “Mentioned the light brother wants to become a god.”

“What?” Cas asked, “How?”

“They made a point of not explaining it. Spring kicked us out after Summer made a comment about gods squishing their followers.”

“Here we are!” Leora sang as she and Cindy brought out small aloe vera plants.

“You got us plants?” Nerves asked, excitement and fear combined in his tone. If Spring’s host had worked on these, then who knew what she could use them for?

“They also come with instructions on how to plant them in your own yards.”

“Mom won’t let that happen,” Van said, “Too much chance of injury.”

“That’s why I didn’t get the cactus.”

As they all were passed out, I realized there was one less than there were kids. Van immediately handed theirs to Cas.

“Well Cindy and I can share one,” xe objected.

“Well it’s not like I can treat it properly,” Van said back, “I can plant it in your yard and we can say it’s mine.”

As both their hands touched it, the plant suddenly grew, wrapping around their mouths. I threw mine to the ground as Leora grinned. It rooted itself and attacked me.

Leora, or Spring as it had to be, seemed to have her wrinkles disappear and her hair turn into a thick combination of vines. Her skin turned green and her clothes changed to a darker shade.

“Summer!” I yelled. Burning the nearing leaf. As I backed away, I saw everyone else with their mouths forced close by the aloes.

“Hello little sisters,” Spring said, “I challenge you to a duel.”