A few seconds later, Arun woke up in a big dark room. He felt like he was inside a temple : the white marble walls were lined with columns arranged regularly, and the floor was tiled with elegant patterns. Everything in this room breathed luxury.
The only source of light that allowed the vet to see where he was was the blue flame he spotted in the center of the room, resting on a pedestal. He had never seen a fire of that color before, but he thought that if he was surprised at every novelty, he would never finish.
Approaching calmly from the flame, Arun wondered where he could be, and especially what had happened to Mrs. Shantura and Astera. He scanned the room again without finding any trace of anyone else here.
Enlightened by the light of the flame, a silhouette appeared in front of him. A woman approached calmly, taller than the vet, across the ice-cold brazier.
Once she was close enough, Arun could see that the figure of this woman, although similar to that of a human, was misleading. Indeed, a black beak was in the middle of her face, replacing her nose and mouth. She was wearing a long dress of the same dark color, but looking closer, it was a set of feathers that covered her body. Moreover, what Arun thought to be arms were actually wings, which she held back. Finally, her long legs were terminated by claws similar to those of a bird, and not human feet.
"Astera, is that right?" The vet was beginning to grasp the situation he was in. His head ached a little, and he had trouble thinking, but he did his best with what he had available.
The woman in front of him nodded, and the voice of the raptor he had heard earlier echoed in the luxurious hall.
"That's right, I see you're not like other veterinarians, do you know where you are right now?" The powerful voice of the vulture was intensified by the echo of the walls.
"No... I have no idea." Arun no longer heard Mili's voice in his head. Yet the cat had managed to talk to him from a distance, a few minutes ago... Was he so far away?
"You are in the world of pets, a parallel world in which only the spirits of pets can penetrate. And yet you are here too. And I think I am right if I say that you are not a pet." Astera walked away a bit, her footsteps resonating in the room. The woman, or rather the raptor, since it was only her spirit that appeared to the vet in almost human form, made a great theatrical movement with her two wings.
Immediately, other flames, similar to the one Arun was standing in, lit up all over the room, lighting it with an almost sinister blue light. Now it was possible for the veterinarian to contemplate the entire room, and especially the great work that had been done on the walls.
Everywhere around him were large frescoes engraved in the rock of the temple. Arun had no idea what they symbolized, but all represented birds of different colors, sizes, and shapes.
"We are in the Bird Temple, and in the world of pets, every large animal family has a temple like this. A place of communion and spirituality that is not possible to visit normally." Astera explained, turning to the vet who was still gaping at the majesty of the place he was in.
"Only birds are allowed to come to the Bird Temple, and only under certain conditions. It is here that their spirit can begin the journey to Magna Rosa, the holy land of the pet goddess." The information Astera gave the human was hard to swallow... Arun was far from suspecting the existence of all this, the world of pets, and a certain goddess.
Astera approached Arun again, glaring at him. The presence of the human in the temple was apparently the reason for her dissatisfaction.
"How did you come here, human?"
Arun rubbed his neck for a moment, trying to think about his answer. It was probably the [pet pact] that brought him here... He had gone from one complicated situation to another. How to explain the events to Astera without revealing the powers of his system?
"Well... Let's say I have some abilities that are useful for a veterinarian, to help pets get better. By the time I fell into the void, I had only one solution left. It was to use one of the abilities I didn't know yet... And I think that's what brought me here." Arun tried to explain the events clearly without saying too much. The woman seemed half believing his speech, but she resigned herself. After all, he had to tell the truth. No human was ever in the world of pets before...
"I understand better... That said, you can not stay here. Materializing your mind as you do it costs energy, and I do not know how long you will hold before you disappear. You have to go back to your world." Astera said, moving away again.
The vet had no idea how he could do that. He did not really know by what magic he had arrived there, so how to leave... And Mili was no longer there to give him directions.
"Wait!" Arun walked around the pedestal that was holding the flame and grabbed the raptor by the arm before she went too far. She was forced to turn around and at this distance, the young man noticed a new irregularity in Astera's appearance.
In her human form, her belly was swollen, like that of a pregnant woman. Arun had an illumination at that moment, remembering that it was at the moment when he had directed his hands towards the belly of the vulture that she had suddenly moved and pushed him aside.
"You are pregnant ?" The veterinarian said in a stupefied voice.
Astera released herself with a sharp blow and stepped away, glaring at the young man. What she tried to hide as best she could was finally discovered.
"Yes, I am. That's why I'm forced to distance myself from my mistress." Confessed the raptor, sighing. She was not doing this to hurt her, but because she did not want to mix her up with all that.
"I understand the situation better... However, not telling her and trying to hide it... It wasn't a solution that could stay effective for a long time." The vet put his hand on his chin, thinking. He had more and more trouble thinking. His energy was really absorbed by the world he was in...
"And what solution would have been better, then?" Cried Astera, angry at the young man, and also at herself. "I do not want to leave her and make her suffer, but I have to leave the city to lay eggs..." Tears ran down the cheeks of the black vulture who was helpless, not knowing what to do.
Arun sighed as she finally relaxed her feelings. For humans as for animals, crying was always a liberating act. Although the majority of animals can not cry, that being said...
The vet approached Astera and took her in his arms. She was taller than him, and also wider. But he knew that the warm presence of someone in a moment of weakness could help a lot, so he did not hesitate.
"The best solution is to tell her. It's brave to keep everything for you, but you can't bear that weight indefinitely. You have to let her know, and maybe at that moment, a new solution will appear !" Arun spoke in a comforting voice, in order to appease the raptor. However, he felt weaker and weaker. He was about to disappear...
Mili's voice echoed through his head, breaking the silence of the room.
"[Pet Pact] : completed ! Astera's [affinity level] has been increased."
A soft light surrounded the vet and the woman, hot as a blanket of cotton. Astera gently pulled Arun a little away, sobbing, and gave him a last, calm smile.
"Thank you, human."
The light surrounded them entirely, and both the vet and the raptor disappeared from within the temple. The flames went out, leaving the imposing room empty again.