Siren's Son ASMR Oneshots

Simply Divine - Part Eight: Vox

I only allowed my anxiety to be free for two minutes. Then I stuffed it back down into a box, shoved that box into the deepest corner of my mind, and stood up.
The place the divines convened looked like a cave with smooth walls, white-framed portraits hung at wide intervals. Two big, blue-grey couches rested at a right angle in the center of the glossy black floor. There were four doors hewn from greyish wood throughout the cave, but not one of them so much as budged when I jiggled the handles.
The locked doors only further compounded the feeling of being trapped. I ignored it. I had to do something, something that felt helpful. I scanned the room for something that could help me somehow, but either the divines were neat freaks or this wasn't a room they left stuff in, because the room was bare but for the objects mentioned previously.
Eventually, I finished looking and sat down on one of the blue-grey couches.
I curled my knees up to my chest and closed my eyes. The day's events had exhausted me, but it wasn't safe to sleep here. Every part of my brain knew that.
Hours passed, fading one into another like the rise and fall of the tide.
The tide. Funny how I could use metaphors like that when I'd never even been to the sea.
I never got to see the sea.
What if I died here? What if I never got to see the sea? That's something everyone should see.
I curled deeper into myself. Slow, deep breaths helped me push back the lingering anxiety. I leaned my head back and sighed, staring up at the ceiling- and stopped.
A white mark was carved into the rock above my head. I squinted at it.
I couldn't quite make it out. I probably needed glasses, to be honest, but I'd never gotten checked.
Fixating on the little white mark - and hoping it would distract me from everything else - I clambered to my feet and stood on the couch. It brought me close, but not close enough. My feet kept sinking into the cushions, and I still couldn't see the mark clearly.
I stepped up onto the back of the couch and balanced atop it. I wobbled, but my arms were just long enough to reach the ceiling and use it to steady myself.
So there I was, perched on the back of the divines' couch, touching their ceiling and peering at a skinny white rune a couple inches from my face.
I didn't recognize the rune, which didn't surprise me. I just wanted to see it closer. I ran my fingers over the engraved surface, puzzling over why the divines would carve a mark like this into the ceiling of all places.
Just then, soft singing drifted to me. I brushed it off, so quiet that I could call it my imagination, but then it grew louder.
"Upon one summer's morning, I carelessly did stray / Down by the Walls of Wopping, where I met a sailor gay. / Conversing with a young lass who seemed to be in pain / saying "William, when you go I fear you'll ne'er return again." / My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold / There's nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold."
I froze. If I climbed down now, the approacher would hear the noise, but if I stayed...
I didn't have to make the decision after all. The singing reached the other side of one of the doors I'd checked earlier, and before I could do anything to fix my rather compromising position, the door opened.
Vox, divine of sound, entered the room, still singing. The sound, deep and rich, trailed off as his purple eyes landed on me.
"Um. Hi," I offered nervously.
Holy shit, this is Vox!
My surprise took its toll. I overbalanced, and my hands slipped from their stabilizing touch on the ceiling.
I yelped. The floor rushed towards me so fast, so abruptly. Even as I fell, broad arms caught me and set me on my feet. He somehow anticipated my flailing the second he touched me and was quick to retract his hands, retreating a step.
"Uh, thank you," I said breathlessly.
The divine said nothing. He simply regarded me with somber eyes partially blocked by violet strands of drooping hair.
Then I remembered my current vendetta against the divines. I was way too exposed right now, and I needed to rectify that.
I stepped farther away and straightened my tunic. I raised my chin and tried to put on a guarded expression.
"You're Vox," I said.
He inclined his head. "And you are Aspen Delacruz."
I bobbed my head. "Yup." Then I half laughed. "Aren't introductions supposed to go the other way around?"
He sighed, seemingly bored. "No introductions are necessary."
"Well, if you know who I am, you know why I'm here," I plowed ahead.
"Because Nix brought you here," he replied.
"Were you with the others, talking about me?" I asked.
Vox nodded.
"Could you maybe give me a tip as to how the conversation's going?"
His violet eyes met mine for a split second. "There are two main possibilities. Either we keep you here or we kill you. Most of us agree that returning you now would be a risk."
I tried not to show my fear. "Oh. Okay."
I could feel the divine's eyes on me. "You seem unruffled."
"I'm not," I said bluntly. "I'm extremely ruffled. I'm just not showing it. Nevertheless, thank you for telling me. Now I know what to hope for, not that it'll make any difference in the outcome."
Vox shrugged. "How very pragmatic of you."
I looked at him funnily. I didn't feel like being condescended to by one of my celestial captors, no matter how complicit or otherwise he was. Even so, my opposition to my current situation wasn't the main priority right now. That was escaping.
This probably wouldn't work, but it was worth a go. "Will you help me get out?"
He stared at me. I supposed he hadn't expected me to ask so directly.
"No, I'm afraid not," he said simply.
Even though I'd expected it, I felt angry at the rejection. "Why not?" I demanded.
"Because I don't want to," he said through a long sigh.
"That's stupid!" I snapped. "I've been choked out by Mr. Flaming Hot Garbage, practically strangled by Leo TWICE, sexually harassed by Nix, and-" My voice cut out.
I continued to move my mouth, but no sound escaped. I gaped indignantly at Vox, who had a hint of purple magic twirling around his fingers.
With a snap of his fingers, I felt my voice return.
"How DARE YOU..." I trailed off as my voice raised in pitch like I'd been huffing helium.
My eyes widened, and Vox's eyebrow raised the tiniest bit.
I didn't wait for him to return my voice to its natural pitch. I was going to chew him out, whether I sounded like a toddler or not.
"Don't modulate the key then not debate with me!" I jabbered angrily. "If I wanted to converse with an overpowered grape, I'd visit Montel's vineyard. They pump enough chemicals into those things to rival Leo's monstrosities. I thought you'd- hey, where are you going?"
Vox had turned and started toward the door. "I'm leaving, human."
"Like hell you are! Argue with me, you unholy offspring of a grape and a foghorn!"
He just left the room, chuckling softly.
"I WANT SOMEONE TO ARGUE WITH!" I growled to empty air.
He left me alone, stomping around the cave like a caged tiger. It probably wasn't very intimidating to the divines, but it sure made me feel better.
Not long after that, the rest of the divines appeared in the main room. By then, I had sat down once more and begun picking at my fingernails. I was determined not to look up as they appeared, that was, until cold fingers pressed against the exposed back of my neck.
I jumped to my feet with a yowl. Behind me stood Daz, frost covering his fingertips. He waggled them at me with a grin, to which I gave him a double middle finger before I spun to face the rest of them.
Leo and Rex stood side by side, arms crossed and scowling. Kel and Vox stood way back by the door, looking apathetic. Nix and Daz looked vastly amused by something, and Bek started when he caught me looking at him and gave an apologetic cringe.
I glared at the lot of them.
Yes, even Bek.
"So?" I demanded. "Have you decided what you're going to do with me?"
The Terrible Two (the ones that hated me, not the ones that found me entertaining) stepped forward so that they flanked me on either side.
Faced with the choice of which one to face— an inopportune choice, since I didn't consider it wise to turn my back on either one— I chose Leo. At least Rex I knew was likely to attack while my back was turned. The divine of nature was completely unpredictable.
"You will be staying with us," the green-haired divine replied. "You will be given the necessities for your survival. You will not be mistreated, so long as you extend us the same courtesy. Any attempts to escape, harm us or yourself, or inconvenience us in any way will be met with punishment."
"What kind of punishment," I interrupted, crossing my arms warily.
Leo shared a toothy grin with me. "The kind determined by me."
"Ooo-kay, so not the kind of punishment I want to experience," I said.
"That is correct," said Kel, making me start.
I hadn't realized he was behind me. I turned to look briefly before spinning around again to glare challengingly at Leo and Rex.
"And what of my family?" I exclaimed. "You don't think they'll cause a ruckus once they realize I'm gone?"
"Did you tell them about your encounters with us?" asked Nix with an eyebrow raised and an insufferable smirk as if he already knew the answer.
I scowled at the ground. "Just about Rex, but they didn't believe me." At Nix's smirk, I shouted, "But they probably will now!"
He laughed. "Unlikely. They'll probably think you ran off to join the circus or tried to fight a bear or something. It's not too out of character for you.
Be weird. Make them underestimate you. "Really? Thank you!"
It worked. Like four of them snorted, and I could feel their respect for me diminishing. It shouldn't have hurt, since that was my intent, but it did, because it wasn't necessarily a lie.
I grew serious quickly. "So, are you saying I'm going to stay here for the rest of my life?" I addressed Bek, who seemed most likely to give me a kind answer.
It was Leo who answered. "No, I'm saying that, you buffoon. And the length of the rest of your life depends entirely on your good behavior."
My eyes skipped from Bek to Nix, Rex, Daz, and back to Leo.
"Yeah. I'm freaking doomed."