A Tale of Four Sisters

By the time Kristianna gets to the lake, it's too late.

Shaylida's already in the water, bobbing up and down like a cork. Babelle's sitting on a nearby rock, playing with the icicles in her long, black hair, and Callise is mid-cannonball.

None of them see her yet, so she takes a moment to steady herself. She specifically asked them not to jump in the water until she arrived. It's all she asked, and because of that they agreed last time that if any of them were running late, the rest would wait before diving in and having fun, but did they listen? Obviously not. They never listen.

After a few calming breaths, she flies out from behind the bushes.

"There you are!" Callise shouts, waving her arms enthusiastically. Her wavy brunette hair is almost black now from the water. It always get so dark when it's wet.

"About time…" Shaylida chimes in. She's drifting on her back now, and doesn't even look in Kristianna's direction. She hasn't changed out of her dress, which is made from grass blades. Her dark golden hair billows out in the water all around her head.

Kristianna glares. She loves her sister, she does, but whenever Shaylida embodies summer, she acts like a spoiled brat who's better than the rest of them. She knows it's not Shaylida's fault. Each of their personalities shift when they embody a different season, that's just how it is, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.

"I stopped to get these," she replies evenly, holding up the fruit for Callise to see. Callise responds by squealing loudly and flying out of the water, making a beeline straight for her sister. "I was passing by the eastern isles on my way, and I know you love these, so I thought…"

"I love you so much!" Callise shouts gleefully, scooping up the large purple fruit in her arms.

Kristianna smiles awkwardly as Callise kisses her cheek and flutters off to devour her snack.

It's a horrible thing to admit, but she feels closer to some of her sisters than others, but not all the time. It's strange, because every six months, they essentially become different versions of themselves, and sometimes those versions don't get along very well. Currently, Kristianna is embodying the season of spring. Her hair is light green and her eyes glitter gold. This version of herself doesn't get along with the summer version of Shaylida, but gets along really well with the autumn Callise and the winter Babelle. In turn, winter Babelle and autumn Callise don't even talk to each other, while both of them get along swimmingly with summer Shaylida.

It's all very complicated, but it's something they've lived with for thousands of years, ever since they all blinked into existence.

Not that any of that matters right now. Not today. Today is the day that's exactly six months from their last seasonal swap, which means these current versions won't be together for that much longer.

"Does everyone know what season they want this time around?" Kristianna asks, following her train of thought out loud.

Callise nods, mouth full of fruit. She swallows quickly. "I want summer. It's been forever since I've touched a plant that didn't start changing color immediately. I want to make things come more alive."

"Same here." Babelle chimes in. "I'm tired of being so cold. I want spring, if that's okay with everyone. I love my spring look best."

"That actually works out really well because I'm okay with holding winter for a while. There's nothing quite like being able to make your own sledding course."

Shaylida sighs from across the lake. "I guess that means I'm taking autumn from Callise. Wonderful."

Callise frowns. "There's nothing wrong with autumn, Shaylida. Besides, your autumn dress is gorgeous! It's literally made from yellow and red leaves. You're always a knockout as autumn!"

Appealing to Shaylida's vanity, that's always a good move when she's in her summer form.

"Hmmph. Fine." Shaylida replies.

The four of them don't spend a lot of time together. It was different, centuries ago. They were inseparable, but as time goes on, especially when you're immortal, you can't help but get tired of being around the same three people. Pair that with other spirits not wanting to be around you out of spite and jealousy, well… it sounds awful, but it's just fact. Kristianna doesn't love her sisters any less, and she knows it's the same for them, they just… like to branch out, nowadays.

But they still see each other here and there throughout the months, and they always meet up for the seasonal swap. Always. Its tradition, and no one wants to break it. Every six months, on the solstice, they perform the ritual that's been a part of who they are since the beginning.

Kristianna's sick of thinking about the past though. It doesn't matter. They're all together now, for today, and that's what's important. "Has anyone drawn the circle yet?"

All three of her sisters shake their heads.

Lazy asses, Kristianna thinks to herself as she floats over to a small clearing beside the lake, close to where they've been hanging out. Grabbing a stick off the ground, she begins to draw the circle, making sure that it's perfect and not uneven whatsoever. Then comes the symbols.

Shaylida, the book. In all of her forms except summer, she loves to sneak onto the backs of the various lion turtles and read human literature. Most spirits either look down on the humans or ignore them entirely, but not Shaylida. She thinks they have immense creativity and potential. She tries to get the rest of the fairies to read too, but none of them have really taken an interest. Her borderline obsession with reading prompted her to have her symbol changed a couple centuries ago. Before that, it was a stick with a leaf on it.

Callise's symbol has been the same since nearly the beginning: A slice of cake. There was this very inventive spirit way back when who created the first one, and Callise could smell it from all the way across the Spirit World. Everyone could, and many flocked to its source, but Callise was the fastest. She was the first person in the history of ever to try cake, a fact which she boasts about even to this day. She had her symbol changed to cake shortly after that.

Babelle's symbol is a pair of socks, and has been since the start. It symbolizes her love for animals, specifically deer. She came across one once that was entirely brown, but with white feet, like it was wearing socks. She instantly fell in love with it, and kept it as her pet until its natural lifespan ran out. Kristianna still remembers how long her sister cried over losing that deer. Sprinkles, Babelle had called it. She ended up naming one of the earth's oceans after it, the Sprinkles Sea, but the name didn't really stick for anyone besides her.

And finally, herself: A music note. She chose this for herself because, a very long time ago, back in their early days, she sang songs. So many songs, endlessly. Her sisters used to complain that she'd sing more than she actually spoke. The truth is, not to sound conceited or anything, she was good. Really good. Other spirits used to flock to her when she sang, laying in the grasses of the Spirit World and egging her to continue. There was this one song in particular that she created, that even her sisters enjoyed. She hasn't thought about it in centuries. Something about dragon flies—

"Are you done yet?" Shaylida asks, floating in the water next to the clearing.

Kristianna looks up. For the first time today, she doesn't feel annoyed by Shaylida's snark. "You know, I was just thinking… if we all swap to the seasons we talked about before, then it'll be the first time we've all been in our original forms at once in at least a few centuries."

Shaylida processes this information for a seconds before responding. "Yeah, I didn't even realize…"

"Can you get the others? The circle's done and our window for doing this is always so small."

Surprisingly enough, Shaylida agrees without making a sarcastic comment, and swims off to get the others, using her wings to propel herself forward.

The four of them have been switching seasons for so long that sometimes it's easy to forget where it all started. The mortal plane and the Spirit World weren't always connected to one another. The dark spirit Vaatu did that a very long time ago by breaking through the barrier dividing them, and the second he did, he indirectly caused the creation of Kristianna and her sisters. The spiritual energy from their world fused with the natural balance of the earth, and in turn, created new spirits that encompassed both sides. The four seasonal spirits were born from that mixture.

Kristianna remembers the first moment her consciousness came to be. She woke up, floating on a chilly breeze somewhere over the northern half of the planet. She could feel her sisters, scattered across the globe, but of course at the time she didn't know that. She just knew there was something out there, and that she needed to find them. She drifted through the skies, for how long she never knew, until the four of them converged on a mountainside.

Babelle, the spring spirit; Callise, the summer spirit; Shaylida, the autumn spirit; and Kristianna, the winter spirit. Their original forms. The connection between the four of them was instantaneous. Somehow, Kristianna knew they were meant to be together, and the feeling seemed to be the same for all of them.

They spent the next few years getting to know each other, and keeping balance between the seasons. The weather bended to their will. Only slightly, but enough to keep the seasons evenly spaced out. Their powers just came to them, along with the knowledge on how to use them. Everything was easy. Everything was fun. In the end, they erected a small castle on top of the mountain where they first met, and lived there together for a long time.

The first seasonal swap was such an adventure!

It's lost that initial wonder over the years, though.

Babelle and Callise wander into the clearing, Shaylida right behind them. Without a word, they all come to a stand on their corresponding symbols. Kristianna is the last to step in the circle, and as she does so, both Babelle and Shaylida hold out their hands for her to hold.

The circle begins to glow. This process, while doing something so powerful, is actually so simple. As long as the sisters are standing in a drawn circle on the solstice, their seasonal energies will automatically bleed out of them and move down the line, until each sister has successfully switched and taken a new form. It's not that complicated.

Kristianna exhales as the calming essence of spring drains out of her. She can feel the same reactions from everyone else. It's in this brief moment, that she's nothing—that they're all nothing. It only ever lasts a few seconds, but it's so strange. So foreign. While the seasons shift through the outer line of the circle, none of them are any season. They're just spirits, existing, floating in nothingness. Some might say, if they really want to get philosophical with it, that this is the only time the four of them are in their true forms. They are without the seasons that dictate their personalities. This might be the only time that they are truly… well, them.

But as the freezing winter chill creeps up Kristianna's spine, causing her to gasp, all those thoughts vanish from her mind. She can already feel herself changing, shifting, and moving away from the spring version of herself. She feels winter's harsh anger and its unforgiving nature consume her.

When the light fades, she looks different. She's got fine blue hairs hanging over her eyes. She brushes them away, momentarily surprised by how pale her skin is. It's always a little bit disorienting when she takes a new form.

"Finally!" Callise squeals, floating up into the air. Her hair is red now, and whips around in the breeze. "I'm so warm. Ugh, I missed this. I should just stay summer for the next century."

"No! I want summer next." Babelle cuts in, as if Callise is taking away her favorite toy. She pouts, tucking a strand of bright orange hair behind her ear.

"Guys, it's fine, we'll deal with that in six months." Shaylida says, floating over and patting Babelle on the shoulder. "If you're still bothered at that time, then you don't have to switch. You can hold onto spring for another six months. Like when Callise insisted on being winter for two years that time. Remember?"

Her words seem to work, because Babelle visibly softens. "Okay."

This is the Shaylida that Kristianna gets along with the best in all of her forms. In her autumn form, Shaylida is calm and collected, intelligent and caring. She knows the right the thing to say at all times and her forethought is something Kristianna admires. She's much more pleasant like this than when she embodies summer.

"Hey, what's that?" Callise says. The other three sisters look over to her. She's standing at the edge of the clearing now, her feet in the water. Across the lake and over the treetops is fire. It blasts into the air and vanishes a moment later, over and over again.

"It could be a spirit." Babelle says as they all drift over. "Maybe Argos, or that other one who's literally made of fire. What's his name again…? Right, Jimmy. It could be Jimmy."

"No… the fire's much too erratic…" Shaylida squints. "It could be the humans… the ones from the fire turtle?"

Kristianna shakes her head. "No, we're much too far from him. The humans only ever stay close to their turtle when they're out looking for food."

"How do you know that?" Babelle asks.

Callise snickers. "She spends a lot of time over there… she has a soft spot for the fire elementals."

Kristianna blushes, as best as she can when she's holding winter. "I do not! Shut up!" When Callise only laughs harder, she blushes even more.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them begins to shake. Not that it really makes a difference since, you know, they're fucking floating and all, but as the trees quiver and the lake water vibrates, the four sisters start to grow restless and scared. What's causing this?

As the earth stops shaking, black tendrils now are seen flapping above the flames, making the entire scene even more strange and freaky. It doesn't make much sense.

"Okay, that settles it, I have to know what's going on over there." Callise dashes forward, jetting across the lake at full speed.

Kristianna shouts for her to stop, but she doesn't listen. Babelle's the second one to move forward, chasing after Callise. Kristianna and Shaylida glance at each other begrudgingly before going after them. This isn't the first time Callise and Babelle have gotten them into some sort of trouble because of their insatiable curiosity. If only there were time to rehash the whole "Let's see what happens if we enter the Fog of Lost Souls" fiasco.

By the time they catch up, Callise and Babelle are standing behind a tree, peering out at a path that's full of life. On one side are the humans, dressed in rags and bending fire, and on the other side is spirits, enraged and screaming. Above them hovers something that Kristianna never thought she'd see up close—a spirit so renowned and feared that she made sure never to cross his path: Vaatu. She's only ever seen him from afar, right before she'd hightail as far away as possible, and he was always in the dominating embrace of his sister, the light spirit, Raava.

There's no Raava here.

But there is a man, with long black hair, screaming at the two sides. He's too far away for Kristianna to make out what he's saying, but it sounds important.

"I heard rumors…" Babelle whispers. "I heard that the dark spirit Vaatu had been separated from Raava, but I didn't think… you know how gossipy tree spirits are, I just thought… it wasn't real."

"Well apparently it is." Shaylida replies, looking unnerved. "And we shouldn't stick around to find out what comes next. If Vaatu's free, that's all the more reason to steer clear."

Kristianna agrees, and grabs Callise's arm. "Come on, let's go." She tugs her sister back, until they're all the way back through the bushes. The last she sees, Shaylida's trying to prompt Babelle back as well, but their sister doesn't seem to be having it. She's too interested in what's going on, and Shaylida's getting irritated. But Kristianna keeps going because if she doesn't, Callise will just get sucked back in.

"You know being near Vaatu is a terrible idea." Kristianna chides once they're back near the water. "That thing is evil beyond our greatest comprehensions, and without Raava keeping him in line, he's even more dangerous!"

"I see you've taken to winter already." Callise mutters bitterly as she crosses her arms.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that whenever you embody winter, you become a bitch. You lose you sense of fun and wonder, and you just sit around judging the rest of us. At least when Babelle is winter—"

"You hate Babelle when she's winter! You literally ignore her the entire time!"

"—she's tolerable, but you?" Callise huffs. "You act holier than thou. You can be even more insufferable than Shaylida in her summer form!"

Kristianna gasps. "Take that back!"

"Make me."

Kristianna's about to do just that, but she doesn't. She doesn't because she's just noticed that Shaylida and Babelle haven't caught up to them yet. They've had time to stand here and bicker, which means… something must be wrong. Maybe Babelle has decided to be even more stubborn than usual. She can be like that, in spring.

"We don't have time to argue, let's go help Shaylida drag Babelle back here—and don't even think about stopping to watch again."

The two fairies move back through the trees in silence, ignoring each other. When they reach the tree where Kristianna last saw her sisters, all she sees on the path beyond it is chaos. Spirits, dark spirits, are fighting against the humans. The humans blast fire, trying to defend, but it's futile. The corrupted spirits are slashing them down one by one. Blood and entrails stain the gravel below them.

Callise whimpers and folds in on herself. Before Kristianna can say anything, she watches as her sister points towards the madness.

There, slashing apart humans like their nothing, are Shaylida and Babelle.

But it's not their Shaylida and Babelle.

They've been corrupted by Vaatu's dark energy. They've grown taller, their forms glowing and pulsating with dark magic. They don't look like Kristianna's sisters anymore. Their wings are blood red—which, Kristianna realizes, is due to them actually being covered in blood. Babelle is using hers to slash human limbs off. The gleeful squeal that erupts from her is horrific. The man from before, the one who was yelling, is nowhere in sight.

Kristianna can feel Vaatu's power from here. It radiates all around, corrupting the spirits and twisting the humans' emotions. He's feeding off the destruction, Kristianna realizes. When the fighting started, his powers must have surged, corrupting Shaylida and Babelle, who were still too close. Kristianna and Callise had been out of range, and therefore spared.

Callise tries to fly forward, but Kristianna holds her back. "No! We can't go out there, if we get too close we'll be corrupted too… we just, we have to…" She doesn't know what to do. If they sit here, then their sisters will continue ripping people apart, and when Vaatu leaves, they might be returned to normal… only to remember the things they've done. If they jump out there to fight though, they risk being changed as well, and that saves no one.

Shaking, she holds Callise in place, and the two watch in horror as the fighting continues.

It takes a long time, but eventually the battle ends. What remains of the humans is scattered across the ground. The trees are singed from the flames, and many spirits have been destroyed. The rest took off. At one point, both she and Callise lost sight of Shaylida and Babelle. The fires were too high, and it became too hard to see through them.

The two of them step out from the forest once they're sure Vaatu is gone. He flew off not long before the battle wrapped up, and his leaving seemed to wind things down. Now, as they stand in the wreckage, all they do is cry. Kristianna's hot tears cause steam to rise off her cool skin.

"Do you think…" Callise whimpers. "Do you think they were destroyed?

Kristianna shakes her head defiantly. "N-No… they have to be around, somewhere… maybe they ran off into the forest, and are turning back to normal… we'll find them."

"But Kristianna, I can't… I can't feel them."

Kristianna discovers this to be true. Ever since the four of them came into this world, they've felt the same connection between them. It's what first led them to each other from the far corners of the world. It's what's kept them bonded all these millennia, even when they decided to spend time apart. They could always feel each other, sense one another's energies, but now…

The only presence Kristianna can feel is Callise's.

They search for a very long time. They fly through the entire forest, both scanning it relentlessly for their lost sisters, but in the end, they turn up nothing. There's just no sign of them.

"We should go north." Kristianna says as the sun peeks over the horizon, signifying a new day. They've been out searching all night. "They'll go to the castle when they don't find us. They might even be there now, waiting. I know we've not all been there in a few hundred years, but… that's where they'd go. Shaylida would insist."

Callise looks doubtful. Kristianna knows that Callise has already accepted that both their sisters are gone, destroyed either by the dark magic that corrupted them or by the fire from the humans. Kristianna's not that easy to convince, oh no. She knows her sisters are out there, somewhere, and they'll find their way back, no matter what.

And so they make their way to the castle, now buried under three hundred years' worth of vines and vegetation. It's not really a castle so much as a hobbit hole built into the cliff side. It was carved for them by the earth lion turtle, who Babelle was having a fling with at the time. Babelle first called it a castle because even though it wasn't one, it felt like one with them all of them in it. She loved to name things…

Loves, Kristianna corrects herself. She loves to name things.

The "castle" is made up of several rooms. The front room has soft cushions everywhere and lanterns hung up on the ceiling to look like stars. Shaylida came up with that. There are five rooms that branch off that main one: A storage area where they used to keep all their food, and personal rooms for each sister. Kristianna's room has a small pool in it, where she used to float when she wanted some time alone. Now, though, said pool is empty, and the room is covered in dust.

Apparently animals have used the place in their absence because she keeps finding makeshift nests and bones strewn about. It doesn't take long to clear, though.

The two of them stay there for a few days. A few days turns into a couple weeks, and from that, about a month. With every day Callise falls more and more apart, while Kristianna becomes more and more convinced that their two lost sisters will return to them.

"You need to stop this." Callise says one morning.

"Stop what?" Kristianna asks, raising an eyebrow.

"You have to let them go, Kristianna. Please. We can't keep doing this. You flutter around here talking about… about…" She takes a deep breath, trying to hold it together. "You keep acting like they're coming back, that there's still hope… but there's not. We haven't felt their connection since that day. They're g-gone."

"Shut up." Kristianna snaps. "Just stop talking!"

"No! I can't keep living like this!" Callise screams. "It's driving us apart! You're so focused on waiting for them that… that you've left me to mourn them on my own! I can't do this on my own. It's killing me."

Kristianna's entire body starts to shake. She's being confronted with truths she doesn't want.

Callise is sobbing. "I need you to snap out of this… I can't… I'm not good at being the rational one, not when I'm summer… I know it hurts but I need you so bad. I can't lose the last sister I have left…"

That does it. Kristianna's resolve shatters and she sinks to the floor, sobbing. The full weight of what they've lost is finally crashing down upon her. Shaylida and Babelle are gone. It's like losing a piece of your own heart. Yeah, they didn't always get along, but they were sisters, and now…

Callise holds Kristianna while she breaks down. She holds her long after that too. For the first time since it happened, they're both finally leaning on each for support.

After a while, Kristianna starts to remember something. A train of thought she hasn't thought about in forever. There's a memory underneath her grief, and she reaches out for it. She doesn't even have to struggle pulling it out, it just comes to her in full force, like it was never gone to begin with.

Still holding Callise, Kristianna begins to sing.

"And I remember, dragon flies…" Her voice is shaky, unsure of itself. She hasn't sung in a very long time. This particular song, even longer. "I remember… dragon flies… I thought they would hurt me, but they just flew by."

Callise looks up, her eyes sad but glowing with a small glimmer of excitement. "I haven't heard that… in so very long," she whispers.

As more words pour of Kristianna's mouth, her voice becomes stronger, and she's reminded of the first time she sang this song. It was in a meadow somewhere, the only light coming from the fireflies in the sky above them. She sang, and Shaylida held her hand while Babelle danced with Callise in the background. It was the perfect night.

A night none of them will ever have again.

"Don't worry, they won't really hurt you, they'll just fly by…"

Not long after that, it's declared that the spirits are to return to the Spirit World, by someone called Avatar Wan, whoever that is. Apparently he has something to do with Raava the light spirit, but Kristianna isn't really bothered to find out more. She and Callise bid farewell to their castle and, along with all the other spirits, head into the Spirit World. Neither of them protest. They just want to get away, to leave the world that took their sisters from them.

Once inside, they find their own little corner to hole up in, creating a magical tree using the powers of their seasons. Both summer and winter blend together to make it so. This will be their new home.

The spirit portals are soon closed, and neither of them look back.