Mia was enjoying the music in her ears and the voice of the singer Jaja-Swag as the singer hit high notes on key words of the language she was singing in. She had already finished the cold drink which had been sitting on her lap and left the empty container on top of the mini-fridge inside her bedroom.

She didn’t know exactly why her Uncle Felix had turned up with his patron god but in all honestly she had seen him enough over the years that she’d learned to treat the Nightbringer with a total lack of respect and care.

Yes, she knew it was a god in power but after it had connected with her Uncle she wondered if the connection worked both ways. He had never married except for sometimes bringing a new girlfriend to their house on occasion or someone special to him for a few months before he’d break it off saying that they didn’t connect or something.

In some ways, he was exactly how Mia wished she could become, living his life as he wanted, dressing how he wanted, with close to the same power of a demi-god at his disposal all in exchange for cooperating with a being of power.

That last part was the hard part for Mia to accept, she knew that if she accepted the offer of that Shadow Crow being then she could have walked straight into school tomorrow with light, pale skin and gorgeous long hair. She would have even been a little taller, more confident with the power of a god crackling through her fingertips. Not that she would be allowed to show off the power or actually do any harm or damage with it. The rules of the gods were specific on that.

Her world didn’t have any real superheroes or supervillains for good reason. Any god who acted against the natural order with a bonded host was shut down almost instantaneously by whole pantheons who simply wanted human society in her country to continue with pure stability on a bedrock of pure faith.

‘Maybe I should try and get back into Godspeak and ignore that tiny part of me which keeps trying to get my attention. It’d give me and Sis something in common at least. But...it’s kind of boring. And fake. So much fake, fake stuff around me. Faked music using demi-god power, fake rocks thrown at me for having an actual opinion and a fake Uncle who only turns up when I’ve done something wrong.’ said Mia as she lay in her comfortable chair with her headphones on her head.

The music of Jaja-Swag had been fresh to begin with but the interruptions and the frankly worst day she’d had in school and all the stress had soured it. And then she was going to have to eat dinner with her little sister and her friend as they asked questions.

There was a knocking sound. Even with her headphones on Mia heard it as she decided to call out.

‘I’m busy! I know dinner cannot be ready yet.’ said Mia as she looked at a clock hanging on the wall her Mum had brought her along with her priestess outfit when she had been in her adoring phase a few years earlier. The time was four-thirty roughly and she was used to eating dinner at least an hour from now.

Despite the busy schedule of both her parents, even with her Mum working from home but locked away in her design studio on her own floor and her Dad sometimes away on business he’d always be back in time for family dinner.

The knocking sound continued and even increased in volume as Mia called out again, if she was going to have go get out of her comfortable chair and take off her headphones just to open the door to her little Sister or even her Uncle she’d be annoyed. Not massively but enough that her mood would be a bit worse than it already was.

Granted how she’s already been through a lot and was taking some time to herself to cool down Mia thought she was dealing with it really well. The school hadn’t said anything or her Mum and Dad would have been in her room by now, the school Priest hadn’t done a thing and she’d even had a god trying to push her will and she’d ended up telling it off.

‘I need space! Space! Space! Personal space! Not the lyrics to a song! This me just me singing along!’ said Mia as she timed her voice to the beats of Jaja-Swag in her ears.

The knocking carried on as Mia planted her feet on the floor and suppressed the urge to scream for her to be left alone. She wasn’t overly emotional but when she was she took after her parents, they tried to express it through their work rather than argue at home.

Then the knocking stopped suddenly. The only sound was the silence in her ears, she didn’t remember turning off the music but it was though she had become deaf. Touching her fingers to the headphone they vibrated as the musical beats were still there and she played with the volume controls for the song.

‘The volume turns up and I can hear my own voice but there’s nothing coming through the headphones. Mmm...Nightbringer. I said back off. Turn it back on. Dinner is going to be difficult enough without Mum finding our you told Uncle Felix to turn up to talk to me on purpose. I do not want to deal with an argument between him and Dad. Not today, not in front of my little sister and friend. Not in front of me. Are we clear?’ said Mia as she continued to play with the headphones.

After trying she simply sighed and turned them off before looking around her room for another distraction now that music was out the question. She’d grow tired of the new song anyway, her Dad might come and listen to it and share his thoughts but a side effect of always wanting new music was that she grew bored of it easily.

Mia threw the deactivated headphones on one of the two red lounging chairs in the room before considering whether she wanted to find another device to listen to music on. Or she could eat an ice-cold snack from the small fridge in her room or pick up one of the various books she’d collected which lay on her bookshelf.

The Nightbringer might have thrown a tantrum but she knew that he wasn’t going to cause her any actual harm or distress. His main purpose as a god was to protect the innocent and punish those who broke rules and deserved punishment.

The fact that he’d directly tried to push her into a course of action which she had already been considering was more of the fact that the god had showed an interest in her. Perhaps if her Uncle had chosen to discuss her joining his small temple as an intern or even on a part-time basis she could have discussed it.

As it was, Mia did not want to be pushed by anyone at this time. When the time came for her to choose a god or goddess then she’d like to be established by herself rather than using borrowed power. The temptation to become a demi-god was still there though.

‘Book or drink...not in the mood. Seriously, not in the mood at all. I just wanted to listen to some music and be left alone and now I have to consider the situation back in school when I head back on Monday, likely assignments which I’m pushing to the back of my mind and then the interest of a god. Oh, and add talking to myself on top of that. You still listening to me Nightbringer Crow Thing? I said go away.’ said Mia as she crouched down in front of her small mini-fridge considering which cold snack to eat.

Her Mum had been in her room today, or her Dad had as the contents were mostly avocado based chilled smoothies. Healthy for sure but none of them had the sugar kick that she was badly craving to take the edge of her mood.

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A knock caught her attention. Then it occurred again.

Mia stopped moving as her ears heard the sound. This was different when the shadow crow god had tried to get her attention. The same as the headphones, she knew then that the sound was coming from an outside source. This knock was inside her head. There was no other visible noise within her room.

The light inside the mini-fridge turned off as the power cut out. The air didn’t chill and the room didn’t darken. Her eyes fell upon the small cube which she had first thrown onto a pillow, it had moved position but she didn’t remember breaking it into pieces. Half of it had crumbled apart as it lay on the floor of her bedroom by her feet.

‘I did not touch that. Nor did the Nightbringer make me do it despite insisting on it. I know that it was a recording of me in the classroom talking but it was the only copy made. How do I know that? Hortius. Was this you Hortius? Reaching all the way down from your rooftop shrine just because another god intefered in the running of the household? Yeah, no to you as well. You can turn the music back on my devices now and switch my mini-fridge back on. I like my drinks chilled, not half-warm and soggy.’ said Mia.

A knock came again and this time Mia decided that inside her head or not, or the influence of an outside god like Hortius she might as well answer.

‘Doors open. Come in then if you have something to day.’

A voice talked then. The same one which had whispered to her when she had been sleeping, dreaming deeply of ancient times and of the beginnings of the gods of her country and how they had spread and taken over human society. Not through force and blood but through action and support and the power of belief in higher beings.

Shaking her head Mia decided her best course of action was to ignore the voice. Obviously she had undergone some serious trauma in school and her mind was playing tricks on her. She grabbed half the remaining small metallic cube on the floor and attempted to squeeze it apart before she found that despite her fingers wrapping around it it was far too strong for her to break.

Putting her hands over both ears Mia recalled the song from Jaja-Swag which she had been listening to and began to sing some of the lyrics which she had liked. This was the voice which had talked her once and told her the same sentence over and over again until she knew it inside her heart.

It hadn’t spoken directly like this though, more of a deeply repressed belief inside her mind which had snapped open and made her more aware, more questioning of the rule of the gods. There were wars Mia knew, conflict with other countries but they were usually settled between fights between the demi-god representatives of the countries. Actual full-on invasions hadn’t happened for such a long time that it was all entirely reflected in history.

‘Not real. I’m having a breakdown, an aftereffect of the Nightbringer trying to impart power to me. Not real. And if you are a ghost then you can take the same route that I told that god. You can leave me alone, turn back on all my electronics and leave me in peace. Wait, you’re not a god. That means that if I tell my Uncle Felix about a strange presence in my head or even approach the shrine to Hortius on the roof then they’ll be aware of you. Yeah, I’m beginning to get a little bit of practice with not being told what to to do. Get out of my head.’ said Mia as she resisted the urge to cover her ears and curl up on one of her red lounge chairs.

She took the small metallic cube over to the window of her room and stretching up on her toes of her shoes, opened it and pushed the half-broken device through the window. The Nightbringer had wanted it broken and she’d broke it.

‘All done. Out of sight and out of mind. You can go back to sleep again ghost and I will tell any gods I meet or any shrine I pass about you interrupting me. Bye!’ said Mia as she took her arms down and took in a few breaths.

A humming noise indicated to her that the mini-fridge had been turned back on and was resetting and the music from her headphones on the red lounge chair behind her showed her that her hearing was either back to normal or the electronic devices inside her room had been turned on again.

Mia decided to leave her bedroom, if she was lucky she could try to explain to her Dad about exactly what had happened in school before he became too emotional and got her Mum involved too heavily. She had been able to get into the school based on her academic grades and stayed there but in truth she was growing bored of it and as she got older the other students in her year were becoming more and more focused on the demi-god games.

At fifteen years old she wasn’t old enough to work directly but she could have a clear indication of her career path ahead if she chose one. The incident today would be a reflection of either her strength of will in stating her chosen beliefs and be appreciated or it had been reviewed by a panel of priests and priestesses of various gods could have serious consequences for her future.

As for the sudden voice in her head it was more of a novelty. She hadn’t senses any hostility, no desire to push her, simply someone who was old and lonely. Mostly. Besides, she couldn’t express her actual feelings in front of her family or the friendships she’d let lapse.

For a second, she understood the value of having the patronage of a god. A presence within you which protected you, gave you power and also someone just there to talk to and reflect with.

Before she opened the door to check on her family dinner preparation Mia decided to tidy up her room a little. She’d learnt from an early age that to please her parents, especially her Mum it was far easier to be proactive and do her household tasks without being asked.

Besides, the thought of a voice in her which belonged entirely to her was appealing. If the ghost or being which stated it wasn’t a god had the power to turn off electronics and her hearing then it could do other tricks as well.

Mia began by pushing both the red lounge chairs into the centre, then throwing away the finished cold drink into a rubbish bin as she made her bedroom more presentable.

‘Builder. I’m not going to tell on you to any gods as long as you agree to do what I say. Wait, talking aloud your name isn’t going to make a host of gods descend on my parents house is it?’ said Mia.

The voice deep inside her mind chuckled, reminding her of her grandfather who had died when she had been young. She didn’t recall him much but she was told he had sense of humour and was a kind man.

Mia knew the answer at once.

‘Give me advice. Silently. I’m not going to talk aloud unless we’re in private and we both know they’ll think I’m mad if I do. Maybe I have gone mad. And then you can teach me the trick of turning off technology. I could pass myself off as a disciple with that ability.’ said Mia as she stacked books lying on the floor back on her bookshelf with a smile.