Light Sisters
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Evangeline and Amherst Light were somewhat well known within their circles. Evangeline had the classic blonde hair and blue eyes of the girl next door, and Amherst was the tall and intelligent brunette one year older than her. They had met through their respective parents, both families belonging to a club which catered to magic users. Though their parents had joked about a betrothal, the young couple came to a sweet and quiet understanding between themselves without any true pushing to that end. Despite Amherst's bold opinions on certain things, he quietly doted on the small blonde, so much that friends ribbed him for being under a spell. He would simply smile good-naturedly and comment on her beauty being enough of one for him.
Amherst courted Evangeline for a year before asking her father permission to marry her. When he proposed, she joyfully accepted. The couple followed their parents' footsteps. Evangeline training and joining a local coven of witches, while Amherst took over his father's antiques shop, one specializing in the tracking and collecting of magical artifacts.
They were married the spring after his proposal and the following year, 21 year old Evangeline found herself pregnant with their first child. Amherst was ever-attentive during the pregnancy, and the pair was blessed with a daughter which they named Autumn. The child became the center of their magic-filled lives, and there was no doubt that they would do what they could to see that Autumn was raised to take up magic as well. The little girl took after her mother in looks, and inherited a bit of her father's steady personality. Sometimes seeming serious, she would then randomly break out in a bright smile known to melt her father's heart. Amherst now found himself wrapped around two fingers.
When Autumn turned five, Evangeline again found herself pregnant. And to the joy and dismay of both her and Amherst, she found that it was with twins. As with her first pregnancy, it progressed uneventfully, and nine months later the family grew by two. A girl they named Summer and a boy they named Winter, having decided to continue the naming theme they started with Autumn. The twins were both healthy, Summer inheriting her mother's looks while Winter had inherited his father's. Summer and Winter were nearly inseperable, prone to giggling from the moment it became a real thing for them.
Again the family grew. The twins were nearing their second birthday when Evangeline became pregnant. Naming the child was little problem once they found out it was going to be a girl. There was only one season left, and to have named a boy Spring would have been odd. Spring was born well, in the spring not long after the twins turned two. From the time she was a few weeks old, it was obvious to Evangeline and Amherst that Spring was so far the most talkative of the four children.
More than happy with their family, Evangeline and Amherst could not see anything going wrong... but that is usually when things do go wrong.
Spring was just over a year old when things began to change. Evangeline again found herself pregnant. And though this was good news, the joy at the news was tempered with worry. A month into the pregnancy, their only son became sick. It started as a simple flu. And yet, nothing the parents tried seemed to help. His fever never broke, the coughing did not cease. After a few weeks, it got worse. Unable to keep anything down, the child began to lose weight and energy. Frantic, Amherst and Evangeline took him to specialists, invited opinions from their peers. There was no apparent cause, and no cure in sight. Their circle of friends suspected the sickness was based in magic, but there was never any proof, for all of their combined skills.
As Winter faded, Summer grew quieter. The three year old stayed near her withering brother, if not next to him as much as she was allowed. Her presence cheered the little boy but, fearing that Summer would catch whatever was causing Winter to be sick, she was allowed limited contact. His condition worsened, and mere months before Evangeline was due to give birth, they buried their son.
They mourned his loss, Summer taking it the worst. Though she was still pleasant, she began to be more quiet and withdrawn. Shy. One of the few people always able to make her smile was Spring, and the older Spring became, the more true that was.
Soon enough, it was time for Evangeline to have the baby. Things went smoothly, and after a long conversation between themselves and Summer, they named the baby girl Winter. She was blonde like her sisters, smaller than the others had been. Evangeline was perhaps a bit more protective of this one after losing their son, but no one really blamed her. It was clear she had no favorites, adoring the four girls for their own unique personalities.
By this time, Autumn was nearing ten years old, and had been studying magic for the past three years. Summer was getting close to beginning her own, and Amherst and Evangeline were happily surprised to see that they had begun to lean toward magic that favored their names and personalities. For Autumn it was an affinity for rock. Steady and strong. For Summer, it was water. Bright, fluid and yet at times serene and calming.
The girls took to the magic easily, and Summer seemed more confident and sure of herself when using it. The sadness of losing Winter began to fade as the girls grew and Evangeline began to loosen her protectiveness toward the girl Winter. Spring literally blossomed into her powers, finding an affinity with plant magic.
Amherst and Evangeline were looking forward to a strong family, proud of their growing brood. Unfortunately, fate had other ideas. As Autumn neared the age of eighteen, and Winter was getting old enough to start her own magic training in earnest, Evangeline came down with a fever. She at first waved it off as the effect of overexerting herself. Between her coven responsibilities and the training of the girls, surely she was spreading herself thin.
When the fever was joined by a cough and nausea, Amherst insisted she get checked out. To their surprise and terror, the doctors could find nothing that would explain her symptoms. The next couple months would mirror the gut wrenching fear they experienced with their son, only this time it was the family matriarch they were losing.
Autumn turned eighteen weeks before Evangeline passed away. Amherst seemed to lose himself after that. He sleepwalked through the funeral preparations, attended the funeral and then... disappeared. It was a huge blow to the girls to lose both parents, and had it happened a year earlier, they may have lost each other. Autumn being eighteen allowed her to petition for guardianship of the other three, and when it was granted, she took over the role of mother. She trained the others to use their magic, made sure they attended school, and took a job. As years went by, Winter became more cold and distant. Spring and Summer grew impossibly close, even as Summer drew unsure of herself.
The fact that their father never reappeared has affected each girl in different ways. Some believe he is missing, one that he abandoned them, and one that he is somewhere dead. They rarely speak about it, and when they do, the subject is changed before feelings get hurt. There is enough butting of heads with Winter without the need to delve into that subject. Spring began taking college classes, and Autumn has her store and the coven. The four have further branched into their own types of magic. Winter left home with little word, studying dark magic. Spring travelled to her own studies, and yet after a few years, they are all back in Paragon, if not all at the family home.
