Simon awoke with a deep sense of urgency, gasping for air as he launched himself up. When he woke up, he could not tell where he was.
"Jör! Jör!" He shouted.
Loudness be damned, he couldn't tell where he was; he couldn't even tell the time. Jör, however, was still deep inside her slumber, unnoticeable by anyone else besides Simon.
He swiftly took her out of his pocket, shaking her awake.
"Jör! Wake up!"
"Young Master... May you allow me to slumber a tad longer?"
"It's not the time for that! What happened? Where am I?!"
"My memory fails me, Young Master. I was too weak to do anything against that woman. My energy takes a long time to properly restore itself. However, if I do remember correctly, you were out for a couple of hours."
Even with Jör's strong sense of time within her sleep and presence, she couldn't tell what was going on either.
Just like the woman had said, Simon was a lost bird. That meant he had to get back to his flock, Leo and Haruto, and quickly.
There were too many problems arising, though. Why did they drag him out here? How did he know they weren't still watching? What exactly did they take from him besides one of his gloves?
And most importantly, how would he counteract her ability? Simon couldn't tell whether it was some kind of hypnosis or not, but he had to figure out how it worked.
He couldn't dwell on this for long, placing a now enlarged Jör onto his neck. He had already come up with a plan.
"Jör, I'm going to show you to the rest of the group. Don't show your real form, or say a word. I'll just tell them I found an oddly lazy, friendly snake."
"Lazy? How crude of you, Young Master." She hissed.
Simon began to scout his surroundings. He was in a surprisingly comfortable room, littered with stuffed animals, posters, and other belongings.
The clutter was somewhat disgusting to him, but that was not important. He glanced out the window, finding himself in an unfamiliar neighborhood. He had been to many places in New York, but this was new.
Simon's head felt like it was spinning, a heavy mist covering his thoughts.
(What is this? What did she do to me?)
Was this deeper into the town Project Icarus was occupying, or was this an entirely different city? He had seen the previous city a few times on a map, but this was completely different.
Additionally, the streets were already crawling with Hollow Beasts. These must've been five times stronger than the ones he had encountered near the supermarket.
Each of them was deformed, stitching body parts of different animals. They were grotesque, blood spilling from their limbs that didn't fit their unnatural bodies.
However disgusting they were, he still had to walk through them. These Beasts were surprisingly quiet; most of their vocal cords didn't work.
With the way their bodies were built, it was impossible for them to even scream. Simon searched every room of the house carefully, but he came up with nothing.
After a while, he exited the building to find yet another note.
He unfolded the paper, reading its contents.
"You awoke quickly. Go further east, and you will earn what you seek. Return west, lose everything. Stay, and you die."
Simon exhaled with dread; he didn't want to guess the result of going west or staying.
(Wait... I awoke quickly?) Simon carefully examined again.
(Does that mean she's inside my head? No, if she is, I should stop thinking.)
That was a difficult task, especially for Simon. After all, his mind never stopped; he was forever cursed with an excellent brain. It made him grunt in frustration before giving up on it entirely.
(They'll get tired of listening eventually.) With that, he began to let his mind roam about.
He only confirmed this thought as he replayed the scene back to himself. The woman had said he thought too much, that it hurt her.
Simon couldn't begin to try and decipher this, but he now knew he had some type of advantage.
This still didn't stop his paranoia, however. A deep sense of it washed over him, like he was lost deep at sea. He shoved the note into his pocket; there was still some way it could come in use later.
Simon had no fear walking straight past the Hollow Beasts, however deformed they might be. He didn't have the strength to fight them, but Jör's aura alone was enough.
It was as if a dragon was roaring at a deer; they wouldn't dare to even approach her. However, unexpectedly, it seemed like the Beasts did not care about her aura.
Of course, they still did not attack, but they seemed to be more afraid of Simon. The more he walked through the crowd, he noticed their eyes were the same lifeless depths as the woman's.
(Could this be her Signature?) He asked himself, averting his eyes downwards.
He soon pushed past the Hollow Beasts, and they didn't dare to follow him. The walk east was rather unpleasant; there was nothing for Simon to observe.
He wanted desperately to examine the area fully before doing anything else — but there was still the possibility of an arrow pointing towards his head.
"Tch."
Even still, he spent his time calculating everything, down to every step he took.
(Eighty doors... I've walked past eighty doors so far, that's eighty possible escape routes.) He counted yet again.
He didn't dare to look back; this could've been the test they set him out for. It was too late to think about what this test could be; it was already happening in front of his eyes.
He found a blinding blue blade atop a broken water fountain. At the base of the fountain, the same woman from before sat patiently.
"You listen quite well, don't you? Don't try to attack me, it'll be useless."