Luhan was the first to react.

“Xiumin!” he yelled excitedly and ran over to give his friend a hug. A few others looked like they wanted to greet their friend as well, but thought better of it.

“Where were you this time?” Tao asked eyeing him warily.

“The Alps?” Baekhyun suggested.

“Bottom of Chile?” Sehun was next to guess.

“Try northern Siberia,” Kai called out from the top of the stairs. He was wrapped in a thick blanket, yet Chloe could still see him shivering slightly as he walked down the stairs. Chanyeol and Lay were right behind him.

Kris whistled softly while the others all shot Xiumin incredulous looks.

“Really?” Suho asked, wide eyed. “Dressed like that?”

Xiumin shrugged in response and took another sip of his smoothie. No one bothered to ask where in Siberia he managed to find one.

“Found a few cyclopes around there. Anyways, Kai told me there was news.”

Kris clapped his hands together with a cry of “there is!” He waved everyone into the living room. Chloe took a seat on the edge of a couch, with D.O. sitting to her right. Despite her general wariness of the boys, she felt strangely okay--comfortable even--with D.O. being so close.

She was quite unsure what to make of that comfort, though. D.O. had a different aura from the others. Chloe had a sneaking suspicion that he had a slightly different origin from the rest. Maybe he was a bit more powerful? Maybe he was a slightly different creature? A nymph of some sorts? Come to think of it, Tao didn’t feel right either. Kris transformed into a full-blown dragon and Luhan had held Chloe with a power she had never heard of.

“So you guys know how there are different versions of mythology?” Kris’ voice broke Chloe out of her wandering thoughts.

“Sure. You mean like Egyptian mythology?” Chanyeol asked.

“Norse?” Sehun followed up.

“Roman?” Xiumin added on innocently. Kris and Tao shared a look.

“Yeah,” Tao answered. “Like those.”

“Okay but what does that have to do with us?” Luhan spoke up. “They’re not real. The gods that exist originated in Greece.”

Kris and Tao tensed.

“Are any of you aware of how our world interacts with the Puran one?” All the boys gathered looked amongst each other, but no one answered Kris’ question.

“Puran?” Chloe asked shyly. “What’s Puran?” Her question brought all the attention onto her, making her suddenly wish the earth could swallow her whole. With a twinge of irony, she realized she might’ve been able to do just that about a year ago.

“Who’s the girl?” Xiumin asked. He was looking at her curiously, as if he hadn’t noticed her presence before. His sunglasses were now holding up his wet hair and Chloe found herself staring into a beautiful pair of