The Mysterious Animal

This was technically the first time Arthur had used the Siren's Song. The time he used it to order Kelpie around did not count because he only used Miss S' voice and not really the power of the Siren's Song.

Therefore, Arthur did not know what to expect when he used the Siren's Song on the young woman. He anticipated it would be no different from the hypnosis act he saw on television where the hypnotized would suddenly lean their head downward like they were sleeping and then proceed to listen to every words that came out of the hypnotist's mouth.

Therefore, Arthur was completely unprepared for the things that happened after he used his power on the young woman. First, the young man felt a mysterious force pulling him forward. It was not a physical force but more like a spiritual force that tried to yank his soul out of his physical body.

Arthur tried to resist but the power built up to such a great force that he simply could not resist the pull anymore. The grey room that he was standing in blurred to the background and when he next gained consciousness, he was standing in a pool of nothingness.

There was an emptiness to the space he was standing in. There was no walls and weirdly enough, no horizon. It was as if Arthur was suspended in white nothingness. Before the young man could make sense of what was happening, items started to float by.

The first thing that caught Arthur's attention was a bunch of brown spherical objects. They looked surprisingly similar to the miracle pills the clinic was selling. Arthur tried to reach out to grab them but he realized his body was completely immobile. He was like a spectator watching the stuff go by.

After the pills floated past, the item that came next was a vanity table. It had a mirror and cases of cosmetic. The drawers opened on their own and out floated more make-up products. Arthur spotted a hair dye that had a similar color to the blonde streak in the young woman's hair.

After that went by, there was something that Arthur could relate with. Rolls of cold hard cash. Stacks of money stacked upon stacks of money. The pile of money was so high that Arthur felt dwarfed standing there.

By then, Arthur understood he was in the mind of the young woman. He remembered the details provided by the Book of Thoth on the Siren's Song, it allowed the user to enter the target's mind to control it from within. The young man did not expect the book would mean it so literally.

So far, everything fitted Arthur's understanding of the young woman. She was working at a clinic so that explained the pills. She was interested in fashion, that was the connection with the vanity table and she needed cash to survive in this world like most of us do.

However, what came next confused Arthur. First, it was an exquisite figurine of a man on a horse. It was about the size of an adult's palm and it was painted fully white. The horse was galloping on its figurine base, making its journey to no where.

That alone caused enough confusion for Arthur but what came next only added that his befuddlement. It was a small crystal vial filled with milky white liquid. There was a faded seal on the top of the cap and even without any force being applied to the vial, the liquid was swirling lazily on its own. Against the white background it was hard to tell but Arthur believed the liquid was glowing.

Arthur could not understand their significance. Was the young woman also a jockey? In any case, since it did not directly concern Arthur, he decided to toss them out of his mind.

The next thing that floated by was not an object but a living animal. However, it was one that Arthur had not seen before. He even suspected the young woman made it up on her own.

The animal was about the size of a pig and had a dark, grey skin. There was no fur but a thick, sturdy coat. It had four legs with hooves and its most defining feature was a long snout. In fact, it looked just like a miniature elephant.

Adding to the young man's confusion was the empty sweet wrappers that laid around the animal. The logical conclusion was, it was the animal who ate them. However, there were so many questions about this. Didn't they say candy do not fit an animal's diet? Arthur did not see the sign of other food other than the candy around the animal so it only had candy for survival? And last but not least, did animals in one's mind even have the need to eat?

Just as Arthur was trying to figure out what the animal was and how was it connected to the young woman, the beast turned its head and focused its eyes on Arthur. Everything Arthur had seen so far were inanimate objects, so the young man assumed the animal was just an image in the young woman's mind. He did not expect the animal to be so lifelike.

Arthur could read emotions from the animal's eyes and the most conspicuous one was anger. Arthur's danger sense triggered and he tried to run. What would happen to him if he was damaged in one's mind? Would that affect him in real life? What if he died in here, would he be trapped here forever?

Unfortunately for Arthur, the spell that bound him hadn't been released yet. The animal stomped its front legs on the ground and the floor cracked. It pulled and the floor creased up like fabric.

Arthur thought the animal was part of the young woman's psyche but based on the power the animal had shown, it had more significance than that. Arthur wanted to stay and find out what kind of significance but the animal did not give him a chance.