# IV: Circe the Immortal explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Henry Kuttner.

## What happens

Arnsen awakens alone on the asteroid after O'Brien's disappearance. Driven to the brink of madness by loneliness and despair, he searches obsessively until he finds a gem that allows him to summon Circe. She leads him through a hidden passage to a cavern with a pillar of pure energy, where O'Brien is found alive and transformed. O'Brien welcomes Arnsen and puts him to sleep with the help of the crystals.

## Themes in this chapter

### Obsession and Madness

Arnsen's obsessive search for O'Brien and his descent into near-madness from loneliness and despair.

### The Unknown and Cosmic Horror

The alien and incomprehensible nature of Circe, the living crystals, and the pillar of pure energy.

### Forbidden Knowledge and Curses

Arnsen's summoning of Circe using the gem, delving into powers beyond human understanding.

## Character check-ins

### Steve Arnsen

Driven to madness by O'Brien's disappearance; searches obsessively, summons Circe, and follows her to the cavern where he finds O'Brien.

### Douglas O'Brien

Found alive in the cavern, haggard but aflame with vitality; welcomes Arnsen and uses the crystals to put him to sleep.

### Circe

Immortal alien girl who appears among the crystals; leads Arnsen to the cavern and interacts with the jewels and the pillar of energy.

## Key lines

> After that, something akin to madness came to Arnsen. Again the utter loneliness of space crushed down on him, with suffocating terror.

Arnsen began to lose his sanity as the crushing isolation of space overwhelmed him with fear.

_Highlights Arnsen's psychological breakdown._

> He gripped the hard crystal. His thought probed out, forceful and summoning. 'Circe!'

He held the crystal tightly and mentally called out to Circe with intense focus.

_Arnsen uses the gem to summon Circe._

> The pillar shook. It wavered and rocked, coldly white, intensely brilliant, like a living thing blazing with a power inconceivable.

The pillar of energy trembled and blazed with an unimaginable, cold white power, as if alive.

_Description of the mysterious energy pillar in the cavern._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iv-circe-the-immortal
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_27_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters