The thunder and lightning were raging heavily outside as Jongdae went to get fresh water. However, for the past few weeks, he hadn't been able to enjoy this play of nature like he usually did. He didn't even spare a glance to the window as he walked back to the dark room, kneeling down beside the bed.

With gentle, careful moves he laid the wet cloth on his mother's burning skin. Her fever had risen again.

She had fallen asleep. Jongdae didn't know whether he wanted her to be awake. She was in pain all the time, the sickness nearly driving her insane. This was the only time his mother seemed at peace.

Suddenly, she coughed and her eyes fluttered open. Jongdae hurriedly took her hand.

"How are you feeling?" His voice was trembling, but he didn't care. He couldn't lose her. He didn't have anyone else.

"Don't worry about me, darling." She smiled, even though he could see the tremendous pain in her eyes. Seeing her like this was ripping his heart to pieces, but he couldn't help her. He couldn't do anything.

"Jongdae." She called his name like he was the most precious being to her and he did his best to fight back his tears. He raised his head to look at her and caressed her hand.

"I'm here, don't worry. I won't leave you. I will find something to cure you and we'll soon be able to look outside again in nights like this, listening to the thunder," Jongdae promised her, his voice breaking.

His mother smiled warmly, giving him the warm feeling of being safe and loved. But what she said next made his entire body freeze like ice.

"I don't want you to be sad when I'm gone, dear."

"What are you talking about?" Jongdae asked, feeling like a helpless little child once again. "I wouldn't know what to do without you! Please stay strong, I will find a cure, I promise..."

"Promise me something else, darling." Her skinny, weak hand made an attempt to cup his face, but soon sank back down to her side again.

Wide-eyed, he nodded.

"Don’t stay here when I’m gone. You have been forced to stay here for too long because of me. You will be sad, and I know you aren’t used to being around many people. But try to get to know other people, make friends and live a happy life. Don’t stay here completely alone.”

Jongdae was stunned. Her voice was weak, but he could hear the determination in her voice. He could see in her eyes how worried she was. She coughed.

"Promise me," she demanded.

Nearly choking, Jongdae tried to collect himself, remembering the words she had told him just seconds ago.

"I promise."

She nodded, a nearly unnoticeable movement, before she looked at him again.

"I love you so much."

Jongdae was sobbing now, not caring about the tears that left his eyes, only looking at his mother in disbelief, who was closing her eyes again.

"I love you too, but please... Mum? Mum!"

She didn't react.

"No... no no no no no, Mum, I need you, don't leave me, please!" He screamed, but it was too late. She wasn't breathing and he couldn't feel her pulse.

In complete shock, he sank to the ground, the sobs shaking his whole body. She couldn't be gone, she wouldn't... What had she done to deserve this? What had he done?

The pain in his heart slowly grew, until he thought it would tear him apart any minute. And, secretly, he wished it would.

The sound of the thunder accompanied him while he slowly lost consciousness.

 

 

Jongdae didn't have any tears left to cry when he threw the shovel to the ground, falling to his knees. He had buried her not far from the house they had lived in, on the hill where they had always watched the stars.

His mother had taught him to love the night sky. She didn't know many names of the stars; they would just make up stories out of the constellations they saw. It was her who had taught him to love the thunderstorm, despite its dangers. Everyone feared it, and they had every reason to do so. But she had shown him its beauty, how unique the thunderbolts were, how bright and fascinating.

He closed his eyes, the rain drenching his clothes, but he didn't even notice it. What was he supposed to do now? Everything seemed so dull, the world seemed to have lost all of its beauty.

Even the sky cried as Jongdae curled up, wanting everything to end.

In this exact moment, a blinding lightning bolt shot down to earth, so bright he was able to see it behind his closed eyes, accompanied by deafening thunder.

Jongdae's eyes shot open as he noticed a burning stench in the air. It was the house! The lightning had hit his house and in no time, it was engulfed in flames.

The boy could only watch as the house he was born and grew up in burned to ashes, knowing that, in no time, no one would be able to see that someone used to live here.

With his own storm raging inside his heart, the boy stood up, his backpack in his hands, and quietly bid goodbye to his home.

His face didn't give away any of the feelings that accompanied him as he followed the lightning, silently begging it to bring him as far away as possible.

 

Luhan was already sitting at the kitchen table when Junmyeon left the guest room the next morning. His eyes were staring at the wall, and his face didn't show any sign of whether it had worked or not.

"Let's wait until everyone's up," the boy suggested. Junmyeon only nodded. He wasn't sure if Luhan was able to sense that or if he just took no answer for a yes.

After a few minutes of waiting, he got bored. He was curious about what had Luhan found out, and he knew at least Sehun wouldn't be woken up easily, so he executed the plan he had prepared for yesterday.

"How mature of you," was Luhan's only comment.

"Stop reading my thoughts."

It took him a while to make it work, but finally, the water from the bowl he had prepared left its container, split into three parts and disappeared into the two guest rooms. A few seconds later, there were three surprised screams.

Junmyeon was still chuckling to himself when Jongin teleported in front of him, his hair and face dripping wet.

"How funny," the boy murmured while pulling back one of the chairs. "I'll pay you back, just wait."

When the other two boys entered the room a bit later, they didn't even comment on what had happened. They were solely looking at Luhan, who finally straightened up.

"It worked," he said instantly. He didn't let them much time to compliment him, however, when he continued: "We're twelve."

"Twelve people with powers?" Kyungsoo asked with wide eyes.

"What powers do they have?" Sehun asked eagerly.

"Is that important now?" Junmyeon tapped his fingers on the table out of impatience. "Why do we have them? What does it want from us?"

Luhan hesitated. "You know... the tree didn't really talk to me. It was more like... he showed me pictures and-"

"He showed you?" Jongin interrupted promptly. "You were able to see?"

On another day, Luhan would have sent a few rocks after him for interrupting, Junmyeon was sure of that. But not today. He seemed... lost. Which was reasonable, if he had truly been able to see in his dream.

"I- I saw everything." Luhan's voice broke. "The tree showed me other people with powers... some of them died. I think something like this has happened before, but there were always only one or two people at one time."

"But now there are twelve of us?" Jongin asked with big eyes. "Why?"

"The Red Force has always been trying to get hold of the tree, for scientific reasons," Luhan answered promptly. "Which was the reason why my father moved here. He protected it. But over the past few years, they've made huge technical progress and they've never been so brutal before. I think they're preparing for something big, something they need the tree for."

Jongin whistled. "So... it expects us to stay here and protect it from the Red Force?"

Luhan shrugged. "I guess so."

"What did it show you about the others?" Kyungsoo asked eagerly. "Where are they?"

"On their way," was the answer. "I only needed to contact one of them, he seems to live far north, and he hasn't received his power yet. I guess he will get it soon."

"This means the tree... somehow did influence our minds," Junmyeon mused. "It's aware that we've only received these powers a few days ago and might not be in the state to win a fight just yet, right?"

"But that's why we have to train!" Sehun exclaimed. "It will take some time until we're complete, we should make use of this chance!"

"He's right," Kyungsoo claimed to everyone's surprise. Junmyeon had assumed he was the one the wariest of his power, seeing as it was likely to be difficult to wield. But maybe that was exactly the reason for him to want to train. "These powers are dangerous," Kyungsoo continued, looking at them seriously. "If something happens and one of us loses control, he could injure or even kill somebody by accident. The sooner we learn how to use them correctly, the better."

No one had any objections. Their powers had shown up in moments of emotional distress for everyone, moments where they had been blinded by their feelings. Back then, except for Luhan's case, no one had been hurt severely. But what would happen with twelve people like this in such a small place?

Since they had agreed to train their powers, everyone went outside after a short breakfast. Junmyeon really wasn't looking forward to this. It was enormously difficult to train something when there was no one who could tell you if you were doing it right. In a way, their powers seemed to work in similar ways, but no one knew how much they were able to do with them, or how to use them. To him, it seemed like one of those dreams where you were running after something, but you didn't even know what it was. Just, this time, it seemed like all of them were blindfolded and left alone to stumble in the dark as well.

"Tell me about it." Luhan had spoken loudly, which caused everyone else to throw him bewildered looks. Junmyeon would have scolded him for reading his mind and taking his last thoughts personally again, hadn't he noticed the unusual undertone of his voice.

"Was that... was that a joke?" He couldn't believe it.

Everyone was staring at them with curiosity written all over their faces by now. But Luhan didn't answer and just turned around, aiming for his pebble pyramid. Still, the satisfaction on his face before he left was obvious.

"What a weird guy," Jongin murmured, still throwing glances at Luhan's back.

Kyungsoo shrugged. "I guess we'll get used to him sooner or later."

They stood around for a while, not quite sure how to start.

"So... your power is earth?" Sehun asked Kyungsoo. The short guy was the only one who hadn't shown his power yet and Junmyeon had to admit that he was quite curious about it.

Kyungsoo nodded. "I've only used it twice so far, though, and it didn't work when I tried to do it on purpose."

"That's my problem as well," Junmyeon claimed, relieved that he wasn't the only one with difficulties. "I tried to remember the situation to evoke the feelings I had at that time. It helped a bit, maybe you could try that out."

"And what if he doesn't want to remember it?" Jongin asked protectively, stepping closer to his friend. Junmyeon recalled what they had told them about their departure and he shook his head.

"That's not what I meant. The important thing is to remember the feelings that caused your powers to break through. Not the situation itself."

Kyungsoo inhaled deeply. His gaze was focused on the ground. He sat down and pressed his hands flat on the grass. "I know what you mean. I'll try."

Jongin wore a cautious expression as he made a few steps back. Was his friend's power that strong? Just to be sure, Junmyeon did the same and observed Kyungsoo's movements with curiosity.

Sehun started fidgeting out of impatience. Junmyeon shot him a glare. It was difficult to even get a feeling for your power, and even more so to actually make use of it.

But as Kyungsoo's concentrated expression made everyone go completely silent, Junmyeon was able to hear something. He brushed it off as the wind or something at first, but it was unmistakeably coming from the ground. A few seconds later, the cracking noises seemed to break through the surface.

Finally, with a loud crack, the earth under Kyungsoo's fingers split. The cracks branched out about half a meter around Kyungsoo until it stopped abruptly.

Everyone stared at Kyungsoo as he opened his eyes to see what he had done. His mouth hung open.

"That..."

"That's awesome!" Sehun exclaimed, pointing at the sitting boy. "Can you feel something through the earth as well?"

Kyungsoo frowned at this question. "What do you mean with 'feel something'?"

Sehun cocked his head to the side to ponder over a way of explaining it to him. He motioned towards the sky. "If I try to use my power, I can sometimes feel something... Like, if there is a gust of wind, even if I'm inside the house, or if someone is moving. Maybe you can sense it in the earth if someone walks towards you or something like that?"

Kyungsoo stared at the youngest as if he had told him to fly. "Uhm... I could try it, I guess."

"It's easier than actually causing something with your power," Sehun promised eagerly, closing his eyes to demonstrate what he was talking about. "I can't really explain it... It's as if someone was pulling you... no, that's not it." He pulled at his hair, trying to find the right words.

"I think I see what you mean," Kyungsoo suddenly said. "I can try to do that."

He closed his eyes again, but before he could do anything else, Sehun cried out loudly.

He had repeated his motions, determined to find a way to describe the feeling. Now, he was cowering behind Junmyeon, clinging at his shoulders and shivering.

Everyone stared at him with alarmed gazes, even Luhan was finally approaching them.

"Did you feel it as well?" the older guy asked Sehun. The younger one nodded with wide-open eyes.

"Something is coming." Luhan turned his head towards Junmyeon. "In the air. About a minute away."

In the air? What could that possibly be?

"Stand behind me," Luhan ordered. Everyone did so without hesitation, but got into their fighting stances as well. They wouldn't leave Luhan alone with this. They needed to protect each other.

Luhan opened his mouth, probably to criticize Junmyeon's naive thoughts, and at exact the same moment, hell broke loose.

A giant... thing with wings on its back broke out of the forest, killing a few trees on the way and steering towards the house. Luhan's eyes widened and he and Sehun reacted automatically. Both of them used their powers to redirect the thing before it was able to crash into his home.

The thing - whatever it was - hit the ground a few dozen meters away from them and slid on the grass until it came to a halt.

They didn't exchange a word and made their way to the place where it had landed. The closer they got, the clearer they could see what had caused this uproar.

Finally, they stood in front of three coughing guys. They were trying to get up, but seemed to feel too dizzy to do so.

"Who of you," Luhan's icy voice made them freeze and turn around immediately, “is responsible for almost crashing into my house?"

One of them finally managed to get up. He had to be the tallest guy Junmyeon had ever met. His hair was a mess, and he seemed quite embarrassed.

"I'm really, really sorry," he said, looking at Luhan directly. "I haven't quite... figured out how to do this yet. I miscalculated the distance, that's why I lost control. It won't happen again, I swear."

"How did you even do that?" Sehun asked with his usual impressed expression. "Do you have wings?"

The tall guy hesitated. "You... could put it that way, I guess."

The other two boys had stood up and dusted off their clothes by now. One of them was not exactly short, but even skinnier than Luhan and he had terribly dark rings under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for a week. His face looked a bit girl-ish and the look in his eyes was extremely sad. The other one studied them with a curious expression. He was of average height and build, but he stood a few steps away from the other two guys and seemed a bit awkward, just as if he wasn't sure about how to act in the presence of other people.

"I'm Yifan, by the way, and that's Tao." The tall boy motioned towards the shy guy. "We met Jongdae here not long ago and he was alone, so we offered him to join us."

Junmyeon made a step forward and introduced the others and himself. "How did you know where to find us?"

Jongdae frowned. "Find you?"

"Our goal was to search for people like us," Yifan stated. "But we didn't think we'd meet them so soon."

"What are your powers?" Jongin asked the two other guys curiously.

"Lightning," Jongdae stated curtly.

Tao hesitated a bit, until Yifan gave him an encouraging nod. "Time."

"You can turn back time?" Sehun couldn't believe it. "Must be an awesome power!"

The other guy shook his head wildly, his eyes, b with tears, directed towards the ground. "It's useless."

Yifan shook his head and silently begged Sehun to not ask any more questions. The youngest looked down as well, probably feeling guilty. What had Tao seen that made him wish he could have reversed it?

"There's nothing wrong with my eyes, thank you," Luhan suddenly blurted out, his head turned towards Jongdae. The poor guy winced when he was addressed out of the blue. "I'm just a little blind."

"And a moody thought-reader," Junmyeon added helpfully.

"And he even has a second power," Jongin stated proudly. "Telekinesis."

"You're blind?" Tao couldn't believe it. "But how can you... You don't seem as if it would hinder you at all."

"My powers enable me to sense some things around me," Luhan stated with an annoyed huff. "Now do you want me to explain my whole life to you or can we go inside to talk about why you're here?"

"Can't we do bo-pfh!" Luckily, Yifan had shut Tao's mouth before Luhan. He turned around without another word, walking towards his home. The others followed him.