Your sleep was interrupted by an annoying tapping sound. Though it wasn’t very loud, you could not fall back asleep with the constant noise. Slightly irritated, you got out of bed and searched for whatever was making the sound. You glanced at the clock as you stood up and groaned. It was only 6am!

 

Yawning, you walked to the window, where the sound seemed to be coming from. You pulled aside the curtains, revealing the dawning sky. You marveled at the beautiful sight for a while, and then your gaze locked on a small brown bird perched on your windowsill. So that was the tapping noise you heard… You were about to let the curtain fall again when you noticed that there was something wrapped around its neck.

 

You opened the window and the bird stepped inside. You stretched out your left hand and it obediently hopped onto your palm. You twitched a little at the feeling of its tiny claws and giggled. Then, using your right hand, you slowly stretched it towards the bird. You moved slowly, trying not to scare it away. The bird, however, seemed to be used to such movements, and stayed as still as a statue. You gently nudged at its feathers to get a better look at its neck. It was a ribbon. You lifted the small ribbon necklace over the bird’s neck, and a note emerged from underneath its feathers. Though you were confused, you knew that this was no coincidence. Someone was trying to send a note!

 

“Thanks,” you said to the tiny bird, who chirped in response. You put your hand outside the window, waiting for the bird to fly away.

 

“Go on,” you coaxed. “Fly away, birdy.”

 

Suddenly, it exploded in your hand, leaving ash all over your fingers. You stared at the remains of the bird in silent shock, and then you let out a bloodcurdling scream.

 

Everything around you turned mute as you stared at your hand in horror. You almost didn’t hear the sounds of Daehyun pounding on your door. After a few moments, you finally took notice of the loud banging. Very slowly, you walked over to the door and opened it, still staring at your right hand.

 

“What’s wrong, Hana?! What happened?” Daehyun shouted urgently. His parents appeared from behind him, looking at you with concerned eyes.

 

“I think… I think I know what my power is,” you said miserably, revealing the ashes of the dead bird. “I think I just killed it!” you began to sob loudly.

 

Daehyun’s parents looked at each other before turning to you. “Dear, can we see that?” Mrs. Lee gestured to the ashes. You dumped the ashes on her outstretched hand, still sobbing.

 

Mr. Jung touched the ashes, and to your surprise, he put it to his mouth and it. You stared at him in horror, tears still rolling down your cheeks. What the heck was he doing? Why was he eating the ashes of that poor bird?

 

Daehyun reached out to you.

 

“Don’t touch me!” you screamed, backing up. “What if something happens to you?”  Daehyun looked shocked, but didn’t try to touch you again.

 

“It’s okay, Hana.” Mr. Jung said softly to you. “It’s not ashes. The bird didn’t die. You didn’t do that, and it’s not your power.”

 

You stared at him. “B-But it exploded in my hands..”

 

Mrs. Lee held out the “ashes” for you to see. “It’s dirt, honey.”

 

“D-Dirt?” you sniffled. “How can it be dirt? It was alive..”

 

“It’s a power. Earth manipulation. The bird was brown, right?” you nodded at Mrs. Lee. Your eyes stopped watering, though your nose was running. You continued to sniffle loudly. 

 

“The bird wasn’t really alive. It was made out of dirt, and then animated temporarily with another power. My guess is that this is the work of Amber and Henry. Amber’s power is earth manipulation, and Henry’s is animation. Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s them. Only they would send a message like this. Ah, was there a message, Hana?”

 

You nodded and handed Mrs. Lee the ribbon and note. She and her husband opened the note and read it. Daehyun stood next to them, reading the note as well.

 

“Oh my,” Mrs. Lee said.

 

“Today? At ten? That’s in four hours! We’ve got to prepare!” Mr. Jung gasped.

 

Mrs. Lee groaned. “The house is so messy, too.. Looks like I’ve got a lot of cleaning to do.”

 

“Don’t forget about me,” Mr. Jung smiled at his wife. “I clean too, you know. In fact, I usually do most of the cleaning.”

 

“So,” you said softly. “It really wasn’t me? My power isn’t anything like that.. right?”

 

“Quite right, darling,” Mrs. Lee reassured, her eyes still locked on the small parchment. You let out a relieved sigh. Daehyun turned away from the note to rub your arm soothingly, and he gave you a small smile.

 

You were about to ask what was on the note when Grandpa Xi suddenly barged in. “What’s going on!” he shouted. “Is Hana okay?!”

 

You let out a tiny laugh while you wiped your eyes. “I’m okay. Sorry, Grandpa Xi. Sorry for worrying you all.”

 

Grandpa Xi frowned. “What happened?” He removed his gloves, reached out to touch your hand, and pulled away a few seconds later.

 

“Oh,” he said. “Don’t worry, dear. It’s just Amber’s power.”

 

“Yeah,” you smiled weakly at him. “Mr. Jung and Mrs. Lee told me. Sorry for waking you up, Grandpa Xi.”

 

“That’s alright,” he said, putting on his glove and patting your hand. “As long as you’re okay.” He nodded at everybody and said, “Well, I’m going to sleep a bit more. Goodnight!”

 

“Goodnight,” everybody replied.

 

He shut the door behind him, leaving everyone else in silence.

 

 

“Well, since you’re okay, I think Chaerin and I will go prepare breakfast, now that we’re all awake. “ Mr. Jung said.

 

“Make sure to prepare for the meeting today!” Mrs. Lee added. “Everyone, take a shower, brush your hair, and dress nicely. Dress to impress, right?” she looked at you and smiled.

 

“Meeting?” you asked.

 

“Oh that’s right; you didn’t see the note yet. Silly me!” Mrs. Lee laughed. She handed you the note.

 

Yesung and Chaerin:

        Sorry for the sudden notice, but our son was experiencing strange symptoms yesterday. He insisted on coming to your house even though he has no knowledge of it. When we tried to calm him down and keep him in the house, he turned violent. There has to be a reason for this. We have decided to send him over. He will be at your house at ten.

                            –Amber and Henry

 

 

You raised your eyebrows. What?

 

You decided not to question the note. You knew you were probably annoying, since you were constantly bombarding Daehyun’s family with questions. You were beginning to understand that if you waited patiently, the answer would be revealed.

 

“So prepare for the meeting, everyone!” Mr. Jung repeated. “We’ll go prepare breakfast now.” He took his wife’s hand and turned to leave.

 

“Wait, can I help you two?” you asked.

 

Mr. Jung turned around. “That’s okay, Hana. We’ll take care of it.” He smiled kindly at you and left with his wife.

 

Daehyun looked at you, waiting for you to say something.

 

“Any idea on what’s going on?” you asked him.

 

“Nope,” he replied. He scratched his head and yawned. “So sleepy,” he said. “I wish that bird had come an hour later. Then I might be less tired..” he yawned again.

 

You laughed and smacked his back gently. “Go take a shower or something, it’ll wake you up!”

 

He nodded. “Okay, I’ll go do that.” He dragged himself out of your room.

 

You walked over to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Then, you brushed your teeth and hair. Afterwards, you walked out of the bathroom and went to the wardrobe. You opened it and stared at the contents inside. Surprisingly, there were a lot of clothes.

 

You ended up picking out a pair of black see-through leggings, white shorts, and an oversized shirt. It wasn’t exactly your style, but you thought the combination looked quite nice. It was the only thing you felt comfortable wearing, anyhow. The dresses seemed too formal, and jeans were too casual.

 

You quickly dressed and went downstairs to eat breakfast.

 

 

Mr. Jung and Mrs. Lee were already sitting down, though Daehyun was not there yet. You sighed in relief. At least you weren’t the last one to arrive… that would have been improper. Although you were living here now, you still considered yourself a guest, and it was impolite for the guest to arrive too late.

 

“Good morning,” you bowed. “I forgot to say it earlier because of the … dirt bird.”

 

“Good morning, Hana,” Daehyun’s parents smiled. “Quite alright, we forgot as well. Sit down! Feel free to eat as much as you like.”

 

You sat down just as Daehyun arrived. He was wearing a black jacket, a white shirt, and black jeans. He sat down next to you, still blinking away the tiredness. “Morning,” he said. “You look nice.”

 

“Good morning, and back at you.” you replied. You picked up the fork and stabbed a piece of meat. “Yay,” you said. “More meat!”

 

Daehyun grinned. “Hey, you’d better save some for me!”

 

“Not a chance,” you replied, munching on the delicious food.

 

Mr. Jung raised his eyebrows. “More meat? You two had some last night? So that’s where the meat went… We were wondering about that.” 

 

“Ah, sorry,” you apologized. “I should have asked for permission.”

 

“No, no.” Mr. Jung chuckled. “I was just making sure. I had just assumed that my memory isn’t what it was before,” he said, tapping his head with the back of his fork. “But now that I know you two ate it, I feel less old.”

 

“Also,” Mrs. Lee added. “You don’t need to ask permission about anything here. This is your home now, remember?”

 

You felt warmed by their words. Daehyun’s parents were so kind! Your face lit up, and you smiled widely. “Thank you. And you’re not old, Mr. Jung. Not even close!” Hearing this, Mr. Jung and Mrs. Lee laughed heartily.

 

“She’s really likable, huh Umma?” Daehyun grinned.

 

“Indeed,” his mother smiled. “A very good trait for the child of prophecy to have. Probably the most important, in fact. ”

 

 

 

 

After breakfast was finished, you placed your plate in the sink and prepared to wash them.

 

“Miss Hana? You don’t have to do those, that’s my job,” a voice spoke. You turned around and saw Ria holding more plates. She placed them in the sink next to you and smiled softly. “You should go spend time with Mr. Daehyun. Or, you can explore the house if you wish.”

 

 

 

You decided to kill time by exploring the various rooms of the house, although you made sure to keep away from the bedrooms, for you didn’t want to be rude and intrude on someone’s privacy. Eventually, you had explored everything. There were a lot of rooms in the house. In fact, walking through the house was almost like venturing through a maze; there were so many twists and turns.  There was just one place you hadn’t gone to yet: the backyard and frontyard. You wondered if the yard had a beautiful garden, like the one in Grandpa Xi’s room.

 

You walked to the end of the hall, expecting to find a door that leads outside. Although there was, you discovered that the backyard didn’t have anything interesting. There were no flowers in the small backyard, only grass. You went back inside, making sure to relock the doors. This time, you strolled to the front side of the house, and opened that door.

 

The scenery was very calm and pretty, although you had no idea where in the world you were. For all you knew, you could be in Australia or something! You reminded yourself to ask Daehyun or his parents where you were later.

 

The front yard had a garden was filled with small, colorful flowers, and the grass was soft and long. You lay down in the grass, bathing yourself in sunlight and smiling as you felt the cool breeze hit your face. You lifted your hand to the sky as if reassuring yourself that this was all real and not a dream. The diamonds in the ring reflected brightly when the sunlight hit it, making it appear as if it were glowing. You lowered your hand and closed your eyes. All this really was happening. It’s all real…

 

Suddenly, you heard a small mew. You lifted your head to see a small cream-colored kitten hopping towards you. It walked unsteadily, as if it had just learned to walk. You sat up and watched the kit slowly make its way to you. You suppressed an ‘awww’, fearing that your voice may scare it away. You waited for the kitten to come to you, and then you slowly reached your hand out to pet it. The kitten squeaked in surprise when your hand touched its head, and you quickly withdrew your hand. However, the kitten stretched its neck towards your hand, wanting more. You giggled in delight and began to pet the cat while it started to purr.

 

“Where are your parents?” you wondered out loud, looking around. There were no cats nearby. “Are you all alone, like me?” The kitten, obviously, did not speak, but purred even louder. You brushed away the negative feelings and smiled at the kit affectionately.

 

You moved your hand away from the kitten, but as you did so, the little cream ball of fur stretched out its paw and tried to grab your hand. You lowered your hand again so that the kitten could rub its head against your palm. As you did so, the sunlight hit your ring, making it reflect brightly. The kitten squealed and attacked your finger, trying to grasp the light. Your heart grew warm as you watched the baby cat play.

 

“You’re so cute.. I wish I could keep you,” you sighed. “I don’t think Mr. Jung and Mrs. Lee will let me keep you, though…” you thought about it for a while, but decided that there was no harm in asking. Even if they didn’t let you keep the kitten, maybe they would help you find the kitten a home.

 

You gently scooped the kitten up and walked inside the house, making sure to close the front door. The kitten was so small that it fit on your palm. You projected your voice and shouted, “Mrs. Lee! Mr. Jung! Can you please come to the living room?” Almost immediately, Daehyun’s parents appeared.

 

“Oh! Is that a kitten?” Mrs. Lee asked, staring at the little cream kitten in your palms.

 

“Yes,” you said. “I was wondering if we could keep it. I found it outside on the lawn… Even if we can’t keep it, can we at least find the kitten a home? It doesn’t have any parents, I think.”

 

“Well.. I don’t see why we can’t own a cat, but we’ll have to take it to the vet first, to check if it has any problems.”

 

“Oh thank you!” you cried, hugging the kitten to your chest. “Thank you so much! I’ll make sure to take care of it really well!” You could not resist calling out to Daehyun. You wanted to show him the new member of the family. He opened the door of his room and came downstairs at your call.

 

You held the cat out to him, but suddenly the little kitten froze in your palm. Out of nowhere, it growled, a loud, scary, deep sound. How could a kitten make a sound like that? You put it down on the floor in shock. You took a step back, unsure of what to do. Did it have some sort of disease? Did you bring home an ill kitten?

 

The kitten growled again, and hissed at Daehyun. Suddenly, the kitten began to grow…   

 

A few moments later, an adult-sized man was in the kitten’s place. He had blonde hair, like Daehyun’s, though the stranger had streaks of blue in his bleached hair. Like Daehyun, this man was handsome as well. The entire family stared in shock. The kitten-man looked at you and embraced you tightly. “Hi Hana! I’m finally here! I’ll protect you from now on! I know I didn’t get a chance to say this earlier, since I can’t talk in kitten form, but you have really soft hands!” He spoke in a voice that was higher than you had thought it’d be. He was so tall… Way taller than Daehyun.

 

You blushed, remembering how you had touched the kitten. Oh my gosh, this was so embarrassing. You had been touching a human boy. Well, not exactly human…

 

“Hello, Mr. Jung! Hello Mrs. Lee!” the blonde haired boy said, still hugging you. He eventually released you from the embrace, though he still gripped your hand tightly. He looked at Daehyun menacingly. “And who are you?”

 

“I could ask you the same thing,” Daehyun replied coldly. “Let Hana go.” You squirmed under the stranger’s grasp, though his touch felt so… right. You don’t know why, but you felt like he wasn’t dangerous. At least, not to you.

 

“Ah, Daehyun,” Daehyun’s mother broke in awkwardly. “I think this is Amber’s child. You know, the boy who was supposed to be visiting today, though he is very early.” She looked at him. “Am I right…?”   

 

He nodded. “I’m one of the six who will guide Hana on her journey to saving the planet,” the stranger with blonde hair said. You gasped and looked at him. This person, like Daehyun, was one of the six? No wonder why you had trusted him so easily. You and him were meant to be together.

 

Daehyun raised an eyebrow. “Prove it.”

 

The stranger raised his right hand. Sure enough, he was wearing a ring that was identical to Daehyun’s.  Daehyun narrowed his eyes, obviously unhappy with the truth. He raised his own hand, the gold and silver ring flashing on his finger.

 

You looked at the boys, rather worried. They obviously disliked each other for some reason. That wasn’t good… The prophecy had said that six people would be helping you.. How could that happen if these two boys didn’t even like each other?

 

The two blonde-haired men glared at each other for a few moments before the stranger’s face broke into a smile. It looked utterly fake to you, though you didn’t mention it. “Well,” he said. “I guess we’re partners then, huh?” He released you and held his hand out to Daehyun.

 

“Please take it,” you silently prayed to yourself. “Don’t make a scene now. You two are supposed to be working together!”

 

Fortunately, Daehyun took the stranger’s hand, his own lips shaped into a strained smile. “I’m Daehyun,” he introduced.

 

“Zelo.”