Barely after the words had left Catherine’s mouth, did the book start to glow mysteriously. Out of surprise she dropped the book and soon was forced to shield her eyes from the intense light. As it finally waned the maid saw in place of the book a female figure.
Catherine assumed she was at a similar age as her. She wore a fairly out-of-date mage uniform, which did a bad job at hiding a very shapely figure that Catherine was admittedly a bit envious of. Especially when she noticed the slit in her dress skirt that gave a peak at her thick thighs. The mage aesthetic was completed by thick glasses, a witch’s hat and slightly unkempt, purple hair that went down her back.
“Uhh… What happened? Where am I?” she groaned.
Catherine’s maid instincts activated and she helped up the mage, as she explained, “I found a weird book in this library and when I read out a spell from it, you suddenly appeared here.”
After making sure she was able to stand on her own two feet, the mage bowed towards Catherine, “Thank you for releasing me. I knew it was a bad idea to spend the night alone working on this spell, but I wanted it completed in time to show it off during the next moon festival. I hope I didn't miss it. Oh god, here I am going on tangents again, where are my manners? My name is Paige. I’m a young witch-in training here at the guild. I assume you're one of the adventurers the guild enlists for material gathering. I’ll ask them to give you a bonus for my rescue and…” Paige finally took a look around the desolate library. “What... happened here?”
Catherine fumbled with her hands as she tried to find the right way to phrase her next words. “Paige… you might’ve spent a bit longer in that book than you think…”
As Catherine relayed to Paige what Melissssa had told her about the dungeon, said gorgon was lounging on her own tail and critically watched the young maid. Out of all the books she instinctively picked the one that had a soul trapped inside. Coincidence or something else? Maybe I’ve dismissed my theory a bit too early…
Meanwhile Catherine had finished telling Paige everything. “So… I spent several centuries in that book… while everyone I knew moved on without me… and now they’re probably all dead or worse…”
“If you need a shoulder to cry on or some–”
“No, no, don't worry. We always were aware of the risks this particular type of magic included… I just need a moment…” Paige took a deep breath. “Okay, as thanks for rescuing me I’ll help you reach the center of this dungeon. I know the layout of this guild like the back of my hand.”
“Sorry, little mage, but we don't need you, me and Cat have already covered everything,” Melissssa chose this moment to finally speak up. “The layout of this place has changed quite a bit since it became a dungeon. Frankly, you’d just be dead weight. I would have already turned you into a statue, but then I’d have to carry you all the way up to my atelier. So how about this? Cat and I continue and quickly finish her business, while you go up ahead and wait for us on the first floor, the room with all the stone statues.” The more Catherine heard her talk, the firmer she became in her conclusion that the lamia is just really lazy.
“B-But I can still be useful with my magic,” Paige sputtered. “Please don't leave me alone here, where I know nobody.”
As Melissssa and Paige continued their argument, Catherine soon realized that she'd have to put her foot down and make a decision or something bad might happen soon.