"Orion?"

My hands felt over ever inch of his face, trying to get him to move, to say he was okay.

It felt like my heart had been ripped out.

His mouth was slightly open. His hazel eyes shone with unshed tears as he stared up at me, trying to say something.

"Quinn."

It was the softest mumble of a word. Slowly, the light left his eyes and he just stared unseeingly into space.

"Orion!" I shouted. Desperation clung to my voice. "Orion, look at me!"

"Orion?" Please no.

"Please?" I whispered.

There was no movement. No opening of his eyes, no rise and fall of his chest.

No heartbeat.

"Please?"

Never had I said a word so sadly before. The dead boy on the ground-- the dead man on the ground was the only friend I had ever had. The only one who I was myself around.

The only one I--

He was it. The only person I needed.

And now he's dead.

Tears slipped from me as I clutched his head to my chest, trying to get him to wake up.

It was hopeless. He was gone.

Mortal life is so fragile.

Carefully, I laid his head on the ground. The bickering of my sisters had yet to cease.

They haven't even realized what they've done.

Something inside me snapped. The numbness I felt from Orion's death vanished, and something else came back full-force.

Pain.

I thought I had felt pain before. Breaking my arm, scraping my knee. But that was physical pain. This was something different.

Nothing compared to the pain of losing Orion.

Nothing.

"Summer! I told you, that was mine!"

That was it. That was the final push I needed.

I shakily pushed myself up from the ground and looked up at my sisters. My parents stood back, not doing anything.

Not doing anything.

The bowl.

As if I were in a trance, I started to walk toward the bowl in the center of the cave.

"Ox, what are you doing?"

Finally, someone noticed me.

But it was too late.

I plunged my fist into the bowl, feeling the slimy film engulf my hand. My arm shook as a jolt of electricity ran up to my shoulder and swirled around in my body.

The exhilaration was back. But this time, it brought something else.

Revenge. Grief.

My sisters still fought their petty fight. They were arguing over who got the year to themselves. Their shouts were loud, but mine was louder.

"Silence!" I bellowed. My voice echoed around the cavern powerfully. I flicked my eyes downward for a split second. I was hovering in the air.

My sisters immediately stopped fighting and looked at me.

"What, Ox?" Autumn's usually sweet voice rang out from the small circle the four made.

I snarled, their name calling--for once--not bothering me. "Who killed him?"

They all looked at each other and shrugged. Then Winter tugged on Spring's hair.

They didn't even look.

I waved my hand in the air and bellowed again, this time with no words. All four of my sisters were thrown against a separate part of the walls of the cave.

"Stop fighting! You have killed someone!"

"So what?" Those two words were in unison, coming from every direction. Every single one of my sisters.

They really don't care.

I could feel them straining to move, trying to release themselves from my power.

It wouldn't work.

"You have killed the one person who I have ever called a friend. He died because of your selfishness!" Autumn started to open her mouth. I waved my hand and silenced her quickly. "All of your selfishness. For that, you will pay."

"Mother! Father!" Winter screeched, unable to stand it any longer.

Always running back to mommy and daddy.

I turned my head to the side, looking at my parents. Their eyes glistened with tears, but they didn't move to stop me.

They can't. It's against the ritual.

That made sense.

I turned my attention back to my sisters. "Because you have already chosen your 'power', I will tell you this. With the power in me, I will make it so you each have one-quarter of the year to yourself. After your one-quarter, you will return to as you were before. You will it see each other all together again. The only ones you will see is Mother, Father, and me."

A small pang of sorrow hit my chest as I uttered my next words. "Now, go."

There was no "poof" like you would believe. The four of them just vanished.

I slowly floated back to the ground. My breaths came out is sharp gasps as I made my way over to the body of Orion.

I knelt down over him and gently touched his face, savoring the feel of his skin against mine. Carefully, I reached up and closed his eyes.

"You, Orion, rest with stars you love so dearly."

With tears falling down my cheeks, I bent forward and pressed my lips against his forehead.

Within moments, he was gone. I watched his body dissolve into small pieces of light and float up to the ceiling of the cavern.

Then disappear.

My whole body felt as if it were on fire. Heat traced up my arm and into my chest, hitting my heart. I bent over and touched my forehead to the ground lightly, trying to get the pain to stop.

"Mother," I groaned. "What's happening?"

It hurt to even speak those few words.

My mother bent down next to me and stroked my hair back. "You've used up too much magic. I don't know what's happening."

Tears squeezed from my eyes. "Mother, Father," I gasped. "Please."

My father knelt in front of me and grabbed my mother's hand. He whispered something into her ear.

He straightened and touched my shoulder. "Equinox, we can spare enough power so you can choose your fate. You must choose quickly, otherwise, you will die a human's death."

I nodded, unable to speak. They both touched my shoulder with their fingertips. Immediately, the pain retreated.

"Choose. We can no longer help you."

I thought for a moment. My sisters already have one-fourth of the year to themselves. I can do nothing to change that.

A smile pulled at my lips. I know what I'll do.

The pain was starting to make its way back to me.

"I choose that for one day in the time that my sisters have, I take over their duties. On that day, I will control what they controlled. I will make the day slightly longer than most days."

I added as an afterthought, "Because some people enjoy reading late into the night. Some people enjoy long days."

And I can see Orion.

My parents smiled at each other. They both kissed my cheeks at the same time.

"Now go," they whispered into my ear. "You perform your duties as the Equinox."