It was a calm, sunny day in the small village of Brias. Among the children playing in the wide green fields was a boy named Cafra. Compared to his friends, he was the laziest and the shyest. never the strongest, never the loudest, always lingering a step behind. The boys were pretending to be warriors, charging through the tall grass with wooden weapons in hand.
Erlo: "Yo, Cafra! Behind you!"
Amon: "I got you now! You're dead meat!"
Amon leapt forward, swinging his makeshift axe. Just before it could land, Erlo rushed in and blocked the attack with his wooden sword.
Amon: "Hey! That's not fair! Why do you always back him up?"
Erlo: "Because I already beat Ric, and you were wide open. Perfect chance."
Arja: "Stop whining, Amon. It's just a game! Hahaha."
Amon: "I'm not whining. I'm just saying Cafra always needs to be saved."
Kael: "That's kinda true. We all know he's not as strong as us, right, Cafra?"
Cafra scratched the back of his head.
Cafra: "Uh... yeah."
Kael: "Relax, I'm just kidding."
Gil: "Hey, anyone want to watch anime at my house?"
Arja: "I'll bring snacks!"
Cafra: "My sword's broken. I'll fix it and come over later."
Amon: "I can help. You know I'm good at making weapons."
Cafra: "It's okay. I've got it. I'll let you know if I need help."
Erlo: "Alright, we'll wait for you at Gil's house."
Cafra: "Yeah... see you later."
Cafra climbed up to his tree house and placed his broken wooden sword on the floor. Instead of fixing it, he lay down and opened his favorite manga, letting time slip by. Suddenly, the sky began to change. Clouds rolled in silently not gray, but silver-blue, pulsing faintly as if alive.
It started to rain. It didn't sound normal. Each droplet hissed softly when it touched the leaves. Curious, Cafra reached out his hand. A single drop slid across his skin and he noticed that the raindrops glows faintly.
Cafra: "What...? Something doesn't feel right with this rain."
Thin streaks of light crawled along the bark of the tree house.
Then, a flash. A blinding streak tore through the clouds, roaring as if the sky itself had split open. Cafra shielded his eyes, heart pounding. He noticed something from afar, something was falling from the heavens.
Cafra: "Is that a shooting star?"
Without thinking, he scrambled down the tree house and sprinted toward where the light had fallen. Walking through the tall grass in the fields he searched. A moments later he found it. A small crater lay scorched into the earth, smoke still rising. At its center rested a crystalline stone, glowing softly, wrapped in thin arcs of golden electricity that snapped and hissed in the air. The arcs slowed... dimmed... almost as if the stone were breathing. Then they vanished. Cafra hesitated only a moment before grabbing it. He shoved the stone into his pocket and rushed back to the tree house.
Under the glow of a lantern, he placed the mysterious stone on the floor.
Cafra: "Hmmm... is this... a meteorite?"
He muttered, turning it in his hand. Suddenly, the stone pulsed. The air charged. Every hair on his body stood on end. A very bright light flared, flooding the tree house in white. BOOM! The stone shattered. A blast of radiant energy erupted, dazzling him. Cafra screamed as the energy rushed into his body. When he opened his eyes, he see his hands glowing, tiny sparks flowing around him. But he didn't notice right away in front of him stood a mysterious figure made of pure radiance. Before he could even react, the figure faded, dissolving into light and merging with him. Cafra collapsed.
The next morning, Cafra woke up in his tree house. Confused about what happened. He wondered.
Cafra: "What happened.. ...Was that a dream?"
The sun was shining as usual. Confused, he climbed down and went outside. He saw his friends were gathered nearby, whispering excitedly. Erlo spotted him first.
Erlo: "Cafra! Where were you yesterday? We bathed in the rain and even went to the beach. We were looking for you so you can come with us but we couldn't find you!"
Cafra: "I... fell asleep after we played in the fields."
Erlo leaned closer and whispered.
Erlo: "Come to the tree house. You need to hear this."
They all climbed into the tree house and gathered around. They shut the door and windows and lit up a candle lamp. Erlo starts talking.
Erlo: "Arja, tell him what happened to us yesterday"
Arja: "Okay. Listen. After we bathed in the rain and went to the beach, and when we arrived at the beach, we saw the ocean was going crazy and the wind was blowing strong. But we ignored it and still went to go for a swim. Then a few moments later, the rain just... suddenly stopped and everything went calm. We decided to call it a day and got out of the water. then out of nowhere, this coconut tree was about to fall on us. We panicked and scrambled but Amon slipped and fell. We thought he was gonna get smashed by that tree but when Amon raised his hands, this gust of wind came out and hit the coconut tree making it miss Amon as it falls down. We couldn't believe what we saw. It was like something like out of an anime show."
Cafra stared at them, unsure if they were joking.
Cafra: "Stop playing with me guys. There is no way that actually happened."
Gil: "We couldn't believe it as well. But it really happened for real."
Erlo grabs a handful of leaves and placed it on the floor.
Erlo: "Watch closely. Amon, do the thing again so he can see what we're talking about."
Amon nodded, put his hand facing the leaves and focused. A sudden breeze of air blew all the leaves away. Cafra couldn't believe what he just witnessed and scratched his eyes.
Cafra: "Whoa! Wha..? H-How did you do that?".
Amon: "I don't know. It just... happened. I felt I could. I don't really know how to explain it. I'm not the only one who can do it though"
Cafra: "What?? don't tell me all of you can do it?"
Ric: "Yes. All of us can do it. And we were thinking that the sudden rain yesterday has something to do with it"
Cafra: "Wait a minute, so.... I wasn't dreaming. I saw it rained yesterday and then there was this big bright thunder. Something was falling from the sky towards the fields after, then I went out and try to go look for it. And then I found it, It was a small stone. It was shining. I brought it back here and put it on the floor. Then it started glowing... and after that, I don't remember anything.."
Gil: "Where is the stone that you found? Can you show it to us?"
Cafra: "I think it's in my pocket. Let me check."
He wasn't sure but he reached his hand in his pocket to see if its really there. He felt nothing. there was no stone in his pocket.
Cafra: "Where did it go? I thought I put it in my pocket right when I found it."
Kael said, "Are you sure it wasn't a dream? I mean you said you fell asleep after our game."
Ric: "Maybe you just misplaced it."
Cafra: "No. I'm pretty sure I found a stone that fell from the sky. And I put it in my pocket. But I don't know what happened."
Still confused about what happened the day before, he didn't know what else to tell his friends.
Erlo: "Nevermind that. You said you were in the rain yesterday, right? That means you probably got some kind of power like us."
Each of his friends showed their new gained powers. Little bursts of wonder in the dim room. Erlo and Arja flicked tiny flames from their palms, Amon and Ric stirred the leaves with the air. Gil clenched his fists and the wooden floorboards trembled slightly, and Kael raised his hand and a thin stream of water rose from a cup in the corner.
Kael: "Your turn Cafra! Show us what kind of power you got."
Cafra hesitated. He looked down at his hand, heart pounding.
Cafra: "Okay. I'll try."
He focused, remembering the blinding light from the yesterday. He put out his hands. Then.. A tingling sensation filled his fingertips, and suddenly. *Crack!* Tiny bolts of electricity danced across his hand and quickly vanished.
The boys stared at Cafra in amazement.
"Whoa! That was pretty cool!"
Cafra: "Yeah..I wasn't sure I was gonna be able to do it... but i got powers too!"
Arja: "You do! And you just did! That was cool!"
Cafra: "Yeah. But why do you guys think we got these powers? Are we the only ones who got them?"
Gil: "Beats me. I'm just happy we got these power. We can be like the ones in the anime that we watch and fight evil!"
Ric: "Hahaha. Who are you going to fight? Monsters aren't real."
Erlo: "Guys. I know we have many questions about this. But listen, we can not tell anyone about this."
Kael: "I agree. We need to keep this a secret. People won't understand. They might get scared of us when they see us doing something out of the ordinary."
Amon: "We also need to be careful about when and where to use it."
Arja: "Guys. Can we go get some snacks? I'm starving."
Gil: "You're always hungry."
Cafra: "Ahaha. He's right. But i'm getting hungry too. Lets go get some mangoes from Erlo's trees."
Erlo: "We have to ask my grandma first! Or she will chase us with a stick."