We entered the shack one after another. My legs were shaking slightly in fear, but I put on a brave face. Chanyeol kept giggling behind me, clearly excited.

The hut was small. I mean, tiny. Of course I didn't expect much from it in the first place, but seeing its size from the inside, I wondered what it could have once been used for. There was no way anything important could have happened in here, when it barely let the four of us walk around without bumping into each other every second. There were a bunch of old furniture stacked against the weak walls. I regretted not grabbing a pair of gloves before we left - it didn't seem like a good idea to touch all this stuff with bare hands.

"Alright guys," I exhaled and pulled out several pages I ripped out of the diary. "We're looking for symbols like these. The diary said 'rocks' so look for them inscribed in stone."

"Why are we doing this again?" Xiumin scratched his head. I hesitated. "They're the best connection to our ancestors that I could find," I mumbled. "I don't know what good or bad finding them will do, but..." But it definitely will make me feel better when I know that they were really here, went through this kind of trouble, and survived long enough to have children like my mom, I thought.

We started looking through the room. Making sure not to touch the creaking walls, I went through the drawers of an old wardrobe. I found an old locket that I couldn't open, unreadable newspaper pages, and a sock. We continued searching for several minutes, before Chanyeol whispered.

"Romi... may I see the symbols again?"
"Why are you whispering?" I asked, handing over the papers.

He shrugged.

"Just felt like the right thing to do in this situation. Because look," he held up a piece of rock with a water drop-shaped drawing on it. My eyes opened wide. We scrambled over to him.

"Whoa... you found one," Baekhyun said in disbelief.

"You doubted my abilities?" Chanyeol smirked.

"No, I just didn't know they actually... existed."

"Now what?" Xiumin asked.

"I-I don't know... we're going to keep it," I took out a bag I prepared. "Let's hope it'll be of some use. Keep looking..."

To my surprise, we soon found all thirteen rocks. One of them was right outside the hut and one was a little further out in the field. I placed them all in the bag and we headed home.

We sat in the yard (I tried to ignore the camera piercing into my back) and spread out the rocks. Although the drawings were carved out by our grandparents, I felt as if we had found something thousands of years old. I delicately rubbed my fingers against one of them, but nothing happened.

"What are they for?" Baekhyun pondered.

"Maybe they're going to give us powers?" Chanyeol suggested.

"Some of us already got powers," Xiumin raised his hand. "We don't need the rocks for that..."

"Maybe they'll... strengthen our powers?" Chanyeol corrected.

"Why would our grandparents want us to strengthen our powers? If they had any common sense, they'd want the powers to disappear so that we wouldn't be in danger like them," Baekhyun argued.

Chanyeol sighed and looked at me for support.

"Romi. This was your idea. Why were these things made?"

I hesitated. Of course I didn't know, damn it! They just caught my eye and I was hoping something interesting would happen...

"Uh... I guess we'll have to find out on our own," I shrugged. "Let's see..." I grabbed the rock that stood out to me the most. It was a circle with two triangles on top of it, kind of looking like a head with horns. I held it in my right hand, then in left, then in both. I tossed it up and swiftly caught it. I shook it violently. Nothing happened.

"Ugh," I put the rock back down.

"Maybe... you have to kiss it?" Chanyeol suggested. I scowled. He grabbed a rock with a bird on it. He pressed his lips slightly against it, but of course, nothing happened. Xiumin laughed at him, while I shook my head. Baekhyun picked a star/cross-like stone and started playing with it. He tossed it up and caught it several times, until one time he lost control over it and didn't manage to catch it. The rock fell to the ground and split in half. A little white marble rolled out of it.

We gaped at it for a moment, before snapping out of the surprised trance. Slowly, Baekhyun picked up his marble.

Automatically, the marble emitted such strong light, I had to cover my eyes not to be blinded.

"What the-"

Baekhyun started glowing and soon he was swallowed by light, along with the marble. Then, as fast as it started, it all stopped. There he was, standing with his eyes wide open, holding a little ball in his hand.

"W-what just happened?" Xiumin whimpered. Gripping the marble in his left hand, Baekhyun gulped and slowly raised his right one. He closed it and opened it again. When he did, a white-colored laser of light shot straight out of his palm, into the sky. Chanyeol fell back in shock, landing on his .

"Whoa, Baekhyun-ah, you're like a superhero! You can shoot people with lasers? So cool!"

Baekhyun was speechless, but slowly, a smile appeared on his face. He nodded at Chanyeol to try it out too. Excited, Chanyeol took his bird rock and smashed it against the ground. It fell apart into pieces and a red marble fell out. He clenched it in one hand and yelled, "Come to me, my flames!"

To his surprise, they did. His entire body set on fire and we all screamed.

"OH MY GOD! CHANYEOL!" I yelled. But he just stood there, watching the marble. And of course, in a moment, it ended. The flames turned into smoke and disappeared.

"Holy cow, I actually have fire!" he hopped up and down in happiness.

"No fair, let me see!" Baekhyun grabbed his marble, and copied Chanyeol, "Come to me, my flames!" But nothing happened.

"Idiot!" Chanyeol whacked him and took his marble back. "This is my power!" He turned to me. "Now, let's see yours, Romi."

I gulped. I thought about the diary. My grandma was afraid to say what her power was. She refused to mention it and only kept saying she feels like some kind of beast or like a monster. As cool as this all seemed, I was truly afraid. But there was no choice. I had to take a marble, or I'd have to wait who-knows-how-long for my powers to kick in. I wasn't as lucky as D.O. and Xiumin, who just kind of got theirs on their own. And I couldn't wait any longer for them. I needed to get them now, and learn to control them before the experiment takes a bad turn.

I took a deep breath. For my grandma, who went through the trouble of leaving this gift behind for me. For my mother, who was worried about me, trying to save me from death. For myself, who finally had the chance to grip things into my own hands and get myself and my twelve new friends out of this hell.