Chapter Sixty-Three – Moosin’ Around

Emily really hoped that whatever form her newest sister came in, she wasn’t someone who cared much for pomp and circumstance. Mostly because their ‘preparations’ weren’t all that fancy, or impressive.

They’d cleared out a space in the living room, a big circle free of furniture. Then that same furniture had turned into a place to put down offerings.

There were Winkies and H-hos and an Oh-Luis cakes on a plate–Emily hadn’t known about those. She suspected that they’d come from the minions when Maple revealed her stash–and a few cookies–which she had known about, they were her go-to bribes–and even some soda. It was enough to start a small party.

The TV was still on, but turned to one of those music-only channels, and they’d all gone through the effort of cleaning the living room up. They’d even cleared out one of the bedrooms. Having an unused room had turned out to be too tempting, and the space had been inadvertently turned into additional storage. Now it was cleared out, and ready for their newest sibling.

“I think… that’s about the best we can do,” Emily said. She pointedly ignored the fact that she was still in her walrus pyjamas and that her sisters were in their own lazy-day wear.

Emily checked on her skill sheet again, just to confirm that everything was in order.

“Is everyone ready?” she asked while re-reading the skill-list. There were some in there that she never really used. Probably for the best, really.

“We’re ready,” Athena said. Next to her Maple nodded, and she got a triple thumbs-up from Trinity.

“Get on with it, Boss,” Teddy said.

Emily sighed. Then with a twitch of her will, she spent that point.

New Skill Unlocked!

Quintuple Quake has been added to your Power’s Skills!

Emily gulped. That followed the same pattern as all the other skills that gave her a new sister. Now all she needed to do was to drop those two magical words and that would be it.

That description was the same as well. “It’s another sister-summoning skill,” she said. Her sisters cheered, but Emily wasn’t sure she felt quite as enthusiastic as they did.

Not only would this be that much more responsibility, it would also make things a lot more complicated. She was on thin ice explaining how she’d gotten a group of four young girls with animal features together. It probably stretched incredulity already. Showing up with a fifth over a month past Power Day? That was improbable to the max.

This was going to be a logistical nightmare too. One more mouth to feed, one more person to carry around.

She shook her head. No, that didn’t matter. It was all trumped by having one more sister to love, one more person to share time with.

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Her more practical side pointed out that it would be one more power, one more mask on her team, and that was valuable all on its own.

“Is everyone ready?” she asked even if she knew the answer she’d receive.

Confirmations rang across the room, and Emily took in a deep breath. She hoped this would work out.

“Create sister,” she said firmly and with more confidence than she felt.

There was a woosh and a tug that she was certain she’d never get used to, then just like that, there was a pop and someone new appeared in the middle of the living room, landing with just a faint wobble.

The first thing that Emily noticed was that her newest sister was… tall. She was just a hair shorter than Emily herself. She was a ginger, though her hair was quite dark, almost brown? It was only really orange where the light caught it correctly, which was still quite nice.

Emily blinked, then forced herself to meet her new sister’s eyes. “H-hello,” she said.

The girl smiled. She had a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheeks. “Hey,” she said with a confident, upbeat voice.

Emily took just a moment to scan her up and down. She looked… older. Not an adult, but definitely in her mid-teens as opposed to the rest of her sisters who all more or less looked like they were on the cusp of adolescence. She had a red, plaid shirt, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and plain blue jeans tucked into sensible hiking boots.

She looked… Emily paused to consider the right word for it, then fell upon it. Outdoorsy. She looked like someone who knew how to start a fire, set up a tent, and navigate through a forest.

“Hmph,” Teddy hmph’d as she stomped over to stand before her new sister. “Alright. Lemme lay the rules down for you. Also why’re you so tall?”

“Uh, I don’t know,” the new sister said with an awkward shrug. “I was born this way, I guess.”

“Huh. Well, it doesn’t matter how tall you are, because the pecking order goes Boss, then me, then the rest, then you, and then, if you’re real good, the minions.”

“Teddy,” Emily warned. “Let’s not start with bullying.”

“It’s not bullying,” Teddy whined.

The new girl stepped forwards, then squatted a little to be at Teddy’s eye level. She grinned, a hand extending out. “How about we just be friends, eh?”

Teddy eyed the hand suspiciously, then shook it. “Friends can be subordinates too, you know!”

The new girl chuckled, but didn’t seem too bothered by Teddy’s Teddyness. Emily was relieved. “We should do introductions,” she said. “So that we’re all on the same page. You’ve met Teddy already. And in order… that’s Athena over there, those three bodies are Trinity, and the girl hiding behind Trinity is Maple. I’m Emily.”

“Hi!” the new girl said with a casual wave. “Don’t got a name yet, but it’s nice to meet all of y’all!”

Teddy tilted her head. “What are you, anyway?” she asked. “Your ears are all pointy-like.”

Emily glanced up, only now noticing the two fuzzy ears on either side of the new sister’s head. They were fairly small, and coloured the same as her hair, so they didn’t stand out all that much. Still, she couldn’t begin to guess which animal had ears like that.

The girl grinned. “I’m a cow,” she said.

“Huh?” Emily asked.

“A female moose,” the girl clarified. She grinned, clearly thinking that catching Emily off-guard had been funny. “Look, I’ve got antlers and all.” With a frown of concentration, the girl grew out a pair of large, glowing antlers.

They sprouted out of the sides of her head, initially just a nub, but they quickly grew up and out, tines spreading outwards and filling in until she had a large rack above her head. One that glowed a ghostly white.

“Are those force fields?” Maple asked.

“I guess,” the new girl said. “I can bash things with them. And I guess I could double up as a coat hanger, eh?”

“I don’t think I want to have one of my sisters end up as furniture,” Emily said. “But… they’re quite pretty. Is that your power?”

“Yeah!” she said with a nod. A nod that was very impressive, thanks to the antlers that bobbed up and down.

“Can we eat the snacks now?” Trinity asked.

All of her sisters, including the new one, perked up at that, so Emily sighed. “Yes, we can start on the snack, but! But! New sister first. This is her welcoming party.”

“That’s nice of ya!” the new sister said. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep a lid on my appetite! Promise.”

Emily stared, her mind hard at work. Her power didn’t name her sisters, but she figured she’d been doing an alright job of it so far. This one might be tricky, however. She couldn’t just rely on puns forever. That was… not very mature. “So, you’re a moose? I don’t think a name like… Moosey would be appropriate.”

The girl chuckled. “I hope not!”

“We’ll think about it,” Emily promised. “We can maybe do a bit of power testing?”

“I wanna fight you!” Teddy cheered.

“And I can see what makes her tick,” Athena added.

“I’mma see if she’s good at not getting stolen from,” Trinity added.

“A-ah, um, I can… maybe make something to test her force fields?” Maple tried.

Emily sighed. “Let’s not fight, bully, steal from, or torture our new sister, please?”

***

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