“It’s crowded here,” Luhan commented.

The small, vintage bar-like cafe was half-filled with people. Considering the rather narrowness of the room, it was a full house.  The three sets of tables left outside had occupants despite the beginnings of drizzle.

Tao hummed in agreement.

At the moment, there wasn’t much of a line. Only one girl stood between them and the register. She had long blond hair and spoke loudly.

“Owner-nim, have you seen Chen?” she leaned onto the counter.

Her camera dangled from her neck, nearly touching the polished wood of the counter. Luhan looked behind her at the menu. It was limited. The menu had the basics: espresso, coffee, latte, and such with a moderate number of blends that seemed seasonal. The upside was the low prices.  

He noticed how the owner frowned at that inquiry. His arms crossed over his chest.

“I haven’t,” he answered simply.

“I see,” she pushed off the counter, “I heard he hung out here. . .”

“Sorry for invading your space,” she apologized. Her fingers formed a salute as she left.

Luhan stepped forward as she passed. He was mildly struck with the eye patch she wore on the right side of her face.

“Hello,” the owner smiled at them. It was a kind smile that made one appear younger.

“Hello,” Luhan nodded in return.

“One coffee, house blend, medium,” Luhan ordered.

“Hot chocolate, large,” Tao chimed in.

“This would be under?” the youthful owner inquired.

“Luhan,” he said, handing over the bills.

They sat at the counter since they were the only seats left open.

“What did you want to talk about?” Luhan questioned.

“Um…” Tao tapped his fingers against the counter.

Luhan sighed. As he waited, he traced the patterns on the wooden counter. He heard Tao’s short quick breaths as the younger man sorted out his words.

“Hyung,” Tao began, “Haven’t things been a little weird lately?”

“Weird?” Luhan parroted.

“Yeah,” Tao dropped his head.

“Well, there’s Orange,” Luhan responded, “if that’s what you’re talking about?”

The little striped ball of joy had been wreaking havoc on all their lives. Between caring for her and classes, Luhan was surprised anyone had time to breath.

Tao shook his head more harshly.  

“It’s different,” Tao explained, “Something feels out-of-place.”

His fingers tapped a harsher tone against the counter.

“It’s like there’s something out there. . .,” Tao struggled to clarify.

Before Tao could finish, the owner delivered their drinks in white ceramic cups. They lapsed into a silence as they sipped at their warm drinks. Luhan frowned. Tao was the sensitive type but it was strange that the two of them felt the same unease.

Chen walked through the storm without an umbrella. Water came down in waves of energy that filled the hollows of his body. Chen sloshed through puddles, bathing in the pools of energy. The downpour washed over him, a baptism that cleansed the bitterness of his half-repressed memories.

The rain filtered out the useless voice of humanity. There wasn’t a street teeming with chattering humans or the screaming of humanity’s toys. There was only the sound of rain hitting the concrete that coupled with his deep breaths. That was rarely interrupted by the hurried pace of a weak person escaping the rain.

As Chen walked, he fell into a trance. The vitality of the storm filled the cracks in his self. It buzzed through his veins. He gorged on it like a leech on blood. For the first time in ages, Chen felt alive. He wasn’t surviving; he was living.

I need to thank the guy’s short fuse, Chen thought.

Maybe he’d just settle into a bench to enjoy this moment. That would be nice to settle into a world where he could taste power dancing across his tongue. Chen slowed his gait to linger in the rain. As he turned the corner, he felt a set of thin fingers grasp his arm. In the next second, he heard a sharp cry as he slammed the owner of that arm into the wall.

It was a girl; he lessened the pressure applied to her by his forearm. He looked into her eyes. He couldn’t tap into it. It wasn’t that she had an impenetrable wall guarding her mind rather there was an endless abyss where it’d be.  The air around her was pitch black, an absolute void.  He released her.

“You’re not human,” Chen growled.

“I’m Krystal, nice to meet you too,” the blond woman rolled her eyes.

“What does another god want with me?” Chen glared.

Only a deity from a different pantheon would be unreadable. Pantheons rarely crossed paths even if they occupied the same areas. It was dangerous when deities met. A deity seeking out another deity was nothing but trouble.

“I need you help finding someone,” Krystal stated.

Her fingers grasped her camera tightly. She slunk into a wall to protect it from the rivets of rain. As her hair, eye patch,  and clothes absorbed the moisture, Krystal seemed to be using her abilities to keep the machine dry.

Clicking his tongue, Chen commented, “Even you can do that yourself.”

“He’s from your group,” she whispered.

Chen shrugged, “Don’t see how that is my problem.”

He stepped back, turning toward the street.

“Please,” she whispered, “I don’t want to disappear.”

“What?” he stopped.

“I don’t want to die,” she hissed.

“You’re a micro-gen god,” he mouthed.

Krystal nodded, grasping her camera tighter in her hands. Trembling, a hand reached up  to flip the eye-patch up. There was nothing beneath the black fabric. The expanse of her face abruptly ended, leaving gaping hole where an eye belonged.

Chen’s fingers clenched into a fist. Micro-generation gods were a new thing. Deities were normally born every few generations as they are passed down through faith. As time passed, that period of faith went from eras to periods to single generations. Humanity was crippling them with each passing decade that they gave to science.

Now micro-gen deities were born within a generation, dividing it. As humanity found technology, faith splintered within a generation. At a breakneck pace,people found and lost faith with every passing fad. Beings like Krystal were born from this affair. Humanity created deities, who born from trends, died with them.

The vivacity of the storm did nothing to quell the anger bleeding through his system. Forcing his fingers to relax, he flattened his fingers against his leg. He took a breath and another, hoping that it’d calm his spirit.

Closing his eyes, he reached out into the world with his mind. Quickly, he skimmed the area ignoring the pointless prattling of humanity. It took a bit but he brushed minds with Xiumin. He wasn’t too far off, only a quarter kilometer away. He was in a bookstore.

“Talk to Xiumin,” Chen stated, “he has a better idea of where everyone is than me.”

Krystal left, after Chen rattled off the address. Once she was out of sight, Chen leaned onto the brick wall. His fingers dug into it, creating cracks.

Humans weren’t just satisfied with forgetting them, Chen thought, they had to cripple, maim, and mutilate the little power that his kind had left.

Xiumin eyed the storm, uneasily. It gorged on dark-intentions and fed it back into the earth.

“Excuse me, Xiumin?” a voice called out from behind a bookshelf.  

Xiumin glanced away from the windows. There was a woman that was soaked to the marrow. Strangely enough she wore an eye patch, even stranger she came from a different pantheon.

“Are you asking for me?” he replied promptly.

She nodded, “I’m looking for Sehun. Can you help me find him?”

Xiumin watched her. He did not sense any ill-intent but it was hard to tell when he could not look into her mind.

“May I ask why?” Xiumin questioned.

“I need his help,” she stated.

Although she had done this before, the girl flipped up her eye patch revealing an abyss of an eye.

Xiumin widened his eyes. That was not what he expected.

It was not that he did not want to save her, but Xiumin did not know if he could trust her. Sehun was an important asset.

“I will set up a meeting for you soon,”  Xiumin compromised.

If Xiumin set up a meeting, then he could ensure that that asset was well protected.

The Minute Cafe was teeming with the very being he despised. Chen debated leaving but decided that he wouldn’t surrender this to humanity as well.

“It’s been a while since you’ve been here, Chen,” Sungmin stated.

The older man gestured him toward an empty counter sit. Briskly, he sat down.

“The usual?”

Chen nodded. As he waited, his skin pricked from his proximity to the babbling idiots that populated this planet.  Two of them who were vaguely familiar stared at Chen until he glared back.

He wanted to cover his ears to block out the pointless chatter around him. To distract himself from the noise, Chen settled for visually tracing the words on a new plaque that Sungmin acquired:

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

It was a fitting poem for his mood. He mouthed it silently as he waited for his drink. Sungmin arrived moments later in the middle of his reading.

“The poem is by Robert Frost,” Sungmin commented.

Chen nodded as he thought of how he’d destroy humanity. An ice age would be interesting or perhaps a series of volcanic eruptions.  

“What do you think fire or ice?” Sungmin asked.

Chen blinked, “Both.”

“Half of humans should die of third degree burns, half of frostbite?” Sungmin paused, “Do you think humanity deserves that?”

Chen growled, “Of course, humanity earned death. Look what they did the world.”

“Not that,” Sungmin shook his head, “Do they deserve to go out with a bang?”

Chen coughed, “What?”

“Humanity is so bloated with self-worth that people expect the world to care when they die,” Sungmin clarified, “I think humans deserve to die in silence. There shouldn’t be any fanfare. People should become extinct as every other species goes extinct without anyone noticing.”  

Chen sipped his coffee slowly.Although he couldn’t disagree with Sungmin,  that type of end  was anti-climatic in his opinion. Fire, ice, hail, thunder, and such had a sense of punishment to them. Silence was passive; it was the inevitable progression of life.  

A/n: I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.