The Seven Sisters

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. There weren’t always goblins, tricksters, or monsters under the bed. There was no plague, no famine, and certainly no natural disasters. Like many tragedies, all of these evils were brought on by someone hoping to seek revenge. A wrong was done and they were looking to correct it. People do crazy things when they lose someone they love.

It all started with the birth of seven sisters. They were the oldest creation alongside the universe. The sisters represented harmony, doing all they could to maintain balance within the land. They made sure everything was bright and cheery, as heavenly as it could be. The land had not known any evil. The eldest sister was Bloom; she was the maternal figure for the group, always keeping things in order with a firm hand. She was known to be intimidating and calloused; but all of that was a product of worrying about her sisters. Next in line was Ereal; the literal inspiration for the word “ethereal”. She was graceful, gliding through life with her chin up and curls bouncing. Although she was the second oldest, she refused to take on some of Bloom’s responsibilities, fearing a stress induced gray hair more than a familial collapse. Then there was Ever; the adventurous, daring type. She viewed a scraped knee as a day well spent. Glory and Lush; the twins with impeccable brains. They could solve a problem before someone finished asking the question. They were always debating with Flora; someone who would rather argue until the sun comes up then admit she is wrong. Unlike her sisters she saw the world as black and white; either something was or wasn’t, never in-between. The youngest was Jazz; whose name was very fitting. She was full of energy, always seeing whose day she could make better because she was just happy to be included. For centuries their life remained the same every day. They knew their responsibilities and followed them exactly. But nothing can stay the same forever.

By keeping the balance, the sisters made sure all creatures lived in complete unity. There was no food chain, no natural selection, nothing that insinuated one creature could harm another. Eventually creatures would pass away but it was never at the hands of another. All of this was made possible by the power each sister held. They were granted abilities that would aid in their respective responsibilities. Bloom was able to turn a seed into a large oak in a matter of seconds. She was truly one with nature and could bend it to her will. Ereal was in charge of creation. Her imagination was made to produce any living creature, thinking up all sorts of new species. Ever would speak with these creatures, but she was the only one who could understand them. She gave a voice to the little guy, making sure their needs were being met. The twins dealt with the daily cycles, bringing the sun up in the morning and replacing it with the moon at night. Jazz could manipulate the weather to ensure a plentiful crop. She would change the environment so that no one would go hungry. The people loved all of the girls and the sacrifices they made for the community. They hosted large feasts in honor of the sisters’ gifts and the many blessings they have provided. Flora would watch these feasts through her window, her breath fogging up the glass.

Flora was not allowed to interact with the community, out of fear that she would not be able to control her abilities. To maintain peace, someone would have to ensure the people would remain positive and turn away from conflict. That someone was Flora. She had the ability to alter someone’s emotions to whatever she deemed fit. It was always some positive feeling: joy, gratitude, pride, hope, anything that would bury conflict. After Lush brought the moon up and the citizens were asleep, Flora would walk into the crisp night air and ensure the townsfolk would have nothing but positive attitudes the next day. But sometimes it’s better to not know what goes on behind the curtain. The sisters feared that even though Flora would do everything for the good of the community, the people would not respond well to her secretly injecting herself into their affairs. They did not want a war on their hands so they kept Flora locked away where she wouldn’t risk exposing her powers.

For years this arrangement proved effective. The six sisters would go out into the world and keep the citizens content. They would perform difficult tasks but would do so with a cheery disposition and can-do attitude, a gift from Flora. They did this for generations, never growing old themselves. But as time went on Flora realized she had never felt the touch of the sun. Never smelled one of the lilies Jazz never stopped talking about. Never heard what a human actually sounds like. She began to grow tired of her isolation and viewed it as a prison. She begged Bloom to let her go out for just a second, promising she would keep her powers under control. She had been practicing for years, eventually finding an image that would keep everything contained. If she grew anxious, she would just imagine the beautiful painting of a Cherry Blossom tree in her room and find her calm. She had an itinerary planned, a bag packed, but Bloom refused to let her go. All of her attempts failed, and Flora felt as hopeless as ever. She was able to make everyone else insusceptible to pain but could not do the same for herself.

Flora could not imagine an eternity in this cage, so she decided to go against Bloom’s wishes and see the world for herself. She made sure to leave during the morning when Bloom would be at the town common working on the grass. She snuck out of her room and slowly crept her way towards the back entrance. But there was one problem, one big problem. Bloom had one of her Guardian Giants protecting the house right outside the door. Flora alongside her six other sisters took an oath never to use their powers with selfish or malicious intent or the universe would suffer severe consequences. But, in Flora’s eyes she was already being punished and knew she would not do anything to hurt anyone. She waited for one of the maids to walk by the entrance and used an emotion she had known and established far too many times… love. She knew the two really cared for one another so ultimately, she was just rushing the inevitable. She slithered her way into their minds and changed their perspective of one another. It was easy for Flora to make a relationship change from platonic to romantic in a matter of seconds. The guard and maid’s eyes met and being overcome by raw passion, they ran off to be with one another. With a clear path, Flora made her way out of the house and for the first time took in the morning air. She could feel the slight tickle of warmth from the sun. She took off her shoes and watched as the dirt embedded itself in her toenails. She could smell the nearby brook and hear the bird’s early alarm. Suddenly the gentle chirps were replaced by a piercing scream. She could hear the heavy sobs of a small high-pitched voice. She thought this might be what humans sound like.

She ran towards the noise and could see a small human with a red button nose and sporadically moving limbs. She went over to the child and put her hand on its stomach, hoping that maybe it would be distracted by that feeling and stop crying. It did not work. She began to make funny faces since she knew that made people happy. She even sang a happy song to try and soothe the young one’s crying, but nothing worked. Flora knew that moments like this were why she was created. She was called to help this infant. She put her hands over the child, a purple fog radiating from her hands, engulfing it. She began to get inside the child’s mind when a large human ripped her away. They screamed at her asking what she was doing, scared she was trying to hurt their baby. Flora tried to alleviate their anguish by using her powers, but another adult had heard the first human’s cries and now witnessed Flora use her powers. She continued this pattern until the crowd of two turned into eight, then ten, then fifteen, and Flora was too overwhelmed to help everyone. The people became disgruntled and began to surrounding Flora, threatening to hurt her, something no creature had done up until now. It was as if all of the negative emotions Flora had been suppressing in the citizens bubbled to the surface and were now directed at her. Not knowing what to do to remedy the situation, Flora ran back to the palace with the townspeople on her heels. The giant was now back at his post, surprised and embarrassed when he saw Flora out of the house. He let her run back inside and stopped the angry mob from following her.

Completely distraught, Flora ran back to her room and just sat. For the first time in history, she felt nothing, no emotion at all. The townspeople screamed outside her window, calling her a coward and demanding she come down and explain herself. They questioned her authority; they even questioned the authority of the sisters as a whole. Quickly, the townspeople went from being fans of the sisters to being sworn enemies. They feared the power the sisters had and how they would use it against them. Horrible things can be done out of fear. As the day came to a close, the small crowd went back to their homes and Flora’s sisters returned, completely unaware of the events that transpired that day.

For once Flora was happy to go out and complete her tasks. She hoped that if she gave the citizens back their positive emotions then they would forget why they were angry, and everything would go back to how it was. Flora would stay inside to ensure peace. Flora walked out into the night, her only source of light coming from the moon. She focused and channeled all of the power she could. She completed her duties as she had done thousands of nights before and returned to the safety of the palace.

Flora was unaware just how deep fear can run. After her interaction with the citizens, three men in the crowd went back to the blacksmith’s shop. They needed to find a way to protect themselves from the sisters. Not having magic, they fashioned a tool out of metal that would hopefully hurt the sisters long enough for them to be able to flee. The men were filled with a white-hot rage that they had never experienced before in their lives. They had never seen or imagined something like this sharp sword, but then again, they had never experienced true negative emotions before. The men filled the shop with this peculiar golden metal and got to work.

The sun rose and Flora got up early to wish her sister’s luck with their tasks. She felt relief for correcting her mistake and was happy for the first time in a while to complete her indoor chores.

That day was a particularly important one for Jazz. It was the turning of a new season so that meant an entirely new variety of crops and large amounts of rain to support them. Jazz went to her second field of the day, past the bakery, a few feet from the blacksmith, right before the jeweler. As she dug her feet into the soil, three men grabbed her and put a sack over her head. Suddenly her vision went blurry. Jazz hazily woke up to find herself in the common, tied to a large Oak tree. Panicked, she whipped her head around to see a group of townspeople gathered around her in a circle. She tried to move her hands out of the ropes and was met by another hand trying to do the same. She looked to her right to see Bloom and then to her left to see Glory. All of the sisters, except for Flora, were tied to the tree as well.

Flora went through her day as usual. She read a book, written by Bloom, about the wonders of the seedling. She then cleaned the cabinets, drawers, she even began to wipe down the windows. As she worked on the windows in the front of the house, she noticed a large gathering of people. She thought it was strange but assumed they were cheering Jazz on as she brought everyone into a new season. She continued cleaning the windows and saw the children’s park was empty. She thought it strange since that was Bloom’s favorite place to stop on Tuesday afternoons. She then noticed that not only was the children’s park empty but so was the space around the fountain where Ereal stays. The large cliffs overlooking the ocean where Ever goes on adventures. The bench outside the apothecary where the twins go through all of the curious objects they had just acquired. Flora was very confused and began to become overheated and faint. This was something she had never experienced before. It was as if her heart was racing a mile a minute but could also stop at any second. She grabbed one of Ereal’s scarves and ripped a curtain off the rod. She threw those items over her head to try and hide her identity from the townspeople. She sneakily slipped out the door while the guards were changing shifts and made her way to the common.

As she got closer, she noticed the citizens speaking in a tone very similar to what she had heard the day before. The blacksmith showed off his latest creation to the audience. He held it high and proud as he discussed just how indestructible the sisters are. He spoke about Flora, grossly over exaggerating the events that transpired. He painted her to be a baby killer, an enemy to all mankind. Flora kept her mouth shut, hoping to not cause anymore trouble. As she got closer, she heard a familiar voice: Bloom. She heard her sister try to reason with the men, saying how she cares for them and would never do anything to hurt them. They only wish to protect and help. The blacksmith let out a boisterous laugh and got in Bloom’s face. He spoke about her being righteous and arrogant. As he did, Ever tried to raise her hand and call the animals, but it was of no use. Without her hands, her magic was ineffective. The blacksmith stopped the theatrics and prepared the crowd to see something wonderful. Before Flora realized what was going to happen, the blacksmith swung his arms back, the forwards, plunging the sword right into Jazz’s heart.