The professor arrives

The wait isn’t long. Before even much conversation can happen, there’s a knock at the door. With a nervous look, Ava hurries over. Gina and Devin stand up, and Keith follows suit.

The front door to the apartment is off to one side of the living room. Ava pauses, seeming to collect her wits before opening the door. The opening door blocks Keith’s view, but the voice he hears is cold and authoritative.

“Ava. I believe you have something to show me?”

The slime girl nods. “Y-yes, ma’am. He’s right inside, ma’am.”

“Show me, then. We will deal with your actions once I see this human you’ve conjured.”

Ava backs away from the door, gesturing towards where Keith is standing. From behind the door steps a vision of a woman, and Keith’s eyes go wide. He finds himself staring at her as she approaches.

She is tall, nearly as tall as Gina, though not nearly as muscular, with dusky skin and piercing red eyes. Her waist length hair is jet black, but shimmers gold in places as she moves. Tall, jackal like ears protrude from the top of her head, and they twitch slightly as she crosses her arms, regarding him curiously. She’s dressed in a tight fitting, long sleeved black turtleneck and black pants, which do little to hide her curvaceous figure.

After a moment, she nods. “Well. Greetings. I am Professor Amelia Theria.”

She extends a hand, breaking Keith’s trance. He takes her hand, noting her strong grip as they shake. “I’m Keith. Apparently you can help send me back, Professor Theria?”

A faint smile touches her lips for a moment. “As you are not a student or a…subordinate, you may call me Amelia, if you’d prefer. As for your question, I will attempt to, yes. It seems that Ava here was unable to end the summon, and so I must see what it is she has done. With your permission?”

She raises an eyebrow, and Keith nods. “You’re the expert, go ahead.”

Another faint smile. “Very well. Hold still, if you would.”

She closes her eyes, holding up one hand, nearly touching Keith’s chest. Her ears twitch, and he can hear her whispering under her breath, though he can’t make out the words. After what feels like a long time, she opens her eyes and lowers her hand. Rather than speaking to Keith, she turns to Ava, who cringes slightly.

“This was no ordinary summon. You didn’t retrieve him from his dimension. What you did was create a full copy of the original. That’s why you cannot return him, because there’s nowhere for him to return to.”

She turns back to Keith, her eyes softening for the first time. “It seems that you are stuck here. I apologize for my inability to aid in this. However, if you’d like, I can give you a quick summary of the world you’ve found yourself in. How does that sound?”

Keith takes a breath, nodding. “I think that might be good. Ma’am.”

Her lips quirk in a slight smile once again. “Wonderful. Please, have a seat, and I’ll explain as much as I can.”