Much like how the Tree of Life divided the universe into two, the gods of the world were similarly halved. In the west there were pantheons of gods: in Greece and Rome and Scandinavia, and in the East the deities are similarly mirrored. On ornate clouds of the Orient were pagodas housing various divine beings, each with their own element or power to control.

A newly made (well, as new as deities can be—this one was at least half a millennium old) council of deities became the focus of many humans in recent times. This pantheon consisted of 12 deities: six of the Eastern-North and six of the Eastern-South.

The Eastern-South gods focused on intervening and scouting among humans.

The oldest among them took the form of a pot-faced toddler, wearing what the richest Chinese households clothed their first-borns in. Minseok was the god of food and frost, so cooks and housekeepers prayed to him for preservation of food.

Minseok’s close ally was Chen, the god of thunder and mischief. People prayed to him out of fear that he would strike their houses. It was said that during lightning storms, they could hear his sharp song cutting through the clouds.

Wufan took either the form of a dragon or a handsome youth, and despite his laziness, would fly around the earth scouting for the rest of the league.

But Luhan, the Deer of Telekinesis, did the best on-ground scouting. Not only was he lithe and quick in his deer form, his ability to move objects helped him to and move aside trees to find whatever deeply-hidden treasures the council needed.

Tao was the god of opposites and time. Fearsome in one light as the protector of the twelve, his fighting skills were beyond legend, but he was also the most compassionate among the twelve, too. Tao often slowed down time or travelled backwards and forwards in it to aid humans or his friends. Sometimes, during his moments of sadness and deep thought, he disappeared to the past, where he sat in as a spectator to old memories. It is said that Tao's Tears had the ability to heal any physical wound.

Lay, the god of healing and medicine, was in charge of keeping these tears in the horn of his unicorn form. As time passes, the horn accumulates more and more healing power. When ordered to do so by the council, Lay would touch his horn to a human to prolong their life.

These were the six gods of the Eastern-South, and their equivalents were the gods of the Eastern-North, who are in charge of controlling the elements.

The most popular and prominent god of the six eastern-north gods was Kai, the god of movement and teleportation. It was said that he liked to leap around the world from heiress' chamber to heiress' chamber, in order to bed beautiful young females. His “conquests” would then continuously give him offerings. No female could resist him because of his irresistible aura and sensuality. Witness accounts say his dancing skills are unlike any other human's.

The leader of the eastern-north gods, Suho, blatantly disapproves of his comrade's actions. As the god of water, he may have many forms--hot, cold, steaming, invisible--but he is always constant. The rivers flow, the ocean waves, and the rain falls without fail because of him. Suho knows better than to confront Kai directly, though, since Kai is bringing in the most number of offerings.

Kyungsoo, the god of earth, usually manages to smooth things out between the two. Though not the youngest god, the innocence of the unmarred, earth at its creation still glows in his eyes. Even when chemical toxicity poisons parts of him, Kyungsoo always continues to believe the best of everyone. He pushes plants through the soil even if humans have corrupted the very same spot before. Because of this aspect of him, he is also called the god of faith.

Baekhyun, the god of light, is between the extremes of Kai and Suho. Though he does not neglect his duties as the bringer of light and illumination, he is also not as uptight and constant. Different parts of the world receive different amounts of light and darkness, and different types of bulbs give off different types of light. Therefore, many see the shifting nature and wide spectrum of light as expressions of Baekhyun's creativity. Artists see him as their muse, their god of creativity.

Not much is known about Sehun, the god of wind. He is somewhat consistent in his duties, but occasional outbursts ravage twisters and tornados across the land. Even his fellow comrades never know what he is thinking, since he keeps a stony poker face most of the time. Though he is the youngest, he is never treated as a lesser—always as an equal or more, because as much as the rest of the council would like to deny it, they are afraid of him, for the power he shows now will multiply with age...

One deity, though, is favored among the underdogs and the honest and the hopefuls of the world. Chanyeol is the newly-initiated fire god. He is awkward with his height, quite thin, and often too jolly—even dorky—for a god.

This is the human part of him that the population identifies with. What they hope to achieve however, is the amount of power that the dorky god is allowed to wield. Meteors that are thrown across the sky in fiery arcs; the inner heat that ignites between lovers; the flames that cook and feed entire continents—to the people, the icon of Chanyeol holding his fire-sword ineptly, but with a concentrated, earnest face is encouragement for the ordinary to become spectacular.