Headed by a Snake

Chapter 681 Old Story

?Coraline Heartsong was a proud elf, descendent of millennia of elves... and rightful heir of her ancestors' Elven grace and Elven beauty.

It was a simple matter-- the simplest matter, in fact, to stand in one place, proud and tall of her lineage... without tripping on her own feet.

Simpler still, a *proper* elf could certainly... backflip or something, if they fell... landing on their feet, of course.

In that moment in time... Coraline was a very bad elf.

As she fell, her face smacked atop the hard-wooded librarian's desk with enough force and fury for her nose to bleed.

Everything was numb. Then everything hurt. The fake tears turned into real tears... tears of pain and embarrassment.

She... she was just going to go home. She'd eat dinner and go to bed. If she woke up early, she could go for a morning jog before work...

"Wh-whoa?!"

The gnome stood up on his pillowed chair... and bumped into the bookcase behind him. Coraline took a vigilant step back... and watched as a series of falling tomes buried the old librarian in a heap.

Oh.

That was... not what she was trying to do.

It was fine, though!

Coraline wiped her nose... and grabbed the book that looked the most old, ancient, and might've-even-been-cursed.

When sincerity didn't get her what she wanted... random acts of violence would! And it was okay... because she was doing it FOR LOVE!

So she ran. She ran for her life, forbidden tome of knowledge, tucked beneath an arm.

...She felt terrible, mid-run, though-- and not only because she had been neglecting her morning exercise for over a moon.

She waved at one of her seniors and told her that the librarian was ilms away from death by book.

It would be best if he didn't die-- but all things considered, it was probably how the old gnome would have wanted to go out.

One good deed for one evil deed.

That was the laws of equivalent exchange!

...

? Half-a-bell later... ?

Coraline shut the door to her apartment room... and locked both door locks... and charged her mana into it to activate the protective seal-- just in case.

After lighting the oil lamp in her room, she loosened the buttons on her blouse and fanned off her perspiring chest.

She'd ran nearly all the way home... but that was the price she had to pay for safety.

Plopping on her bed, she stared at her desk... and she admired her things while she rested.

She didn't have much to brag about-- the cost of living in Archangel was... really high.

Still... they were some of her most important possessions...

Her old wand was propped up in a used wooden display case she got at a thrift store. It was a basic wand that was really only good for zero-circle spells... but it was nice to think back on how much stronger she'd grown since her mother gifted it to her as a kid.

Bleigh. Coraline hadn't written back to Mom in over a moon, though...

At the corner of her bed was a half-finished handmade doll of her boyfriend. She kept telling herself she'd finish it, but... she kept putting it off for another sun.

Pinned above her desk was a charcoal sketch of her and Lone. They got it at Cersei's Rest... the last time they were together. It was smudged because... charcoal... and she was a dummy and had creased it twice to make it easier to transport.

"I'm doing this for you, you know," Coraline sighed... "I just hope you appreciate it."

Even though her comfortable bed wanted her company, she forced herself to sit up... and opened the Ancient Tome in her lap.

...A bookmarked page detailed the story of the forbidden child of the Elf God.

It was all in Elven... and unfortunately, it was a story she already knew.

The Elf God had a daughter born out of wedlock.

The tome said that she was an ugly and unsightly child... born out of evil-- with plenty of exaggerated text to describe the unnatural, aberrant birth.

It was different in other sources. Supposedly, she was born of a different father... and out of treachery.

A mad, jealous wizardess was spurned by the Elf God... She used magic to disguise one of her servants to seduce the Elf Goddess.

The Elf Goddess was seduced-- probably because she was a normal woman who just wanted to do her hot husband.

When the Elf God found out... instead of punishing his wife for her infidelity, he turned his anger upon her child... and cast the baby into a deep well.

The result was even more cruel than it seemed... because for a child with the blood of the divine, a watery well was not enough to kill her.

It was probably... a magical well, too-- or something like that.

The disowned daughter could not escape her prison... and unless she'd been freed in the tens of thousands of years since then, she was still there.

None of the texts Coraline found detailed any sort of rescue, though...

It might not have even been a well? The Elven word used referred to a modern well... but a literal translation described a spring, deep within the earth.

The story wasn't popular, to depict the Elf God as such a trashy dad. It was probably why that particular tome was considered 'forbidden.'

No baby deserves such cruelty... even an ugly one.

Coraline was pretty sure that'd never happen to her. As much as she complained about her boyfriend, Lone was incredibly handsome.

Well-- maybe not as handsome as Baron Tychon... but Coraline was 100% loyal to her boyfriend!

Hm...

...Nope!

Never!

Wouldn't do it! Wouldn't even consider cheating on Lone! Even though Sir Tychon's abs were chiseled out of ROCKS! And he had weird, predatory eyes that hinted that he was probably wild in the sack.

And besides... Coraline was 1000% certain that she'd be able to tell whether or not Lone was Lone-- even if there was illusory magic involved.

Also, she literally had a Truth-type spell that she could cast once per sun.

Coraline snapped the book closed and mussed up her short blonde hair.

Why were all these hot people in her life?!

She was chaste! She was PUUUURE.

She was a strong independent Arcanist that only needed one man!

Having a harem was grossly unrealistic and only succeeded in the two-silver short-story pamphlets sold in corner stalls!

"Keep thy abs away, foul, handsome Baron!" She squeezed her fists close to her chest. "Cease they seductress-ing, unreasonably attractive female CEO! I do not wish to join the opposite team-- even though that team smells nicer and their members have shapelier butts!"

Coraline growled to herself and began barking, "Wan! Wan wan~!"

She felt like complaining. She needed to complain.

Turning to her oil lamp, she instilled some mana into her voice.

"?Beatrice!? I want to complain!"

The flame in the lamp flourished, forming a vague face of a smaller, younger... her.

It was Beatrice, her fire elemental spirit. Even though Coraline worked harder than anyone else in her previous guild... Beatrice was probably the real reason she was able to get her current job.

She had a letter of recommendation from Baron Tychon... which was surprisingly enough to get her the initial interview.

While she was sure that helped, the super-prestigious Sapphire Tower wasn't a place where words on a piece of paper trumped magical... oomph.

? want? ?

Beatrice's warm voice filled Coraline's mind.

"Yes," Coraline nodded. "Sometimes, I just... want someone to listen to me, I guess? I'd reeeeally appreciate it."

? beatrice . want . . . orange juice. ?

Coraline glanced over to her small kitchenette where a few ripened oranges were resting in a wooden bowl.

"...Okay, I'll make some juice. But in exchange, you get to sit down and listen to me."

? sit? ?

...Err.

Coraline shook her head, "No, nevermind. Don't do that."

If Beatrice materialized in her apartment properly... she wouldn't have an apartment anymore. Everything in it was pretty flammable.

"Beatrice..." Coraline groaned, "I'm a simple girl... with simple pleasures. I just want... y'know, iced coffee... maybe a good book... a single hot boyfriend who loves me. Why are there so many hot people in my life?"

The flame in the lamp flickered and danced.

? beatrice . fire. ?

...Yes. A fire elemental was made of fire... which was hot.

While complaining to her contracted elemental wasn't quite as satisfying as she wanted... Coraline did feel a tiny bit better.

Getting up (and parting from her lovingly loyal bed,) she began the process of juicing some oranges into Beatrice's thick, slightly-charred, wooden cup.

? we . . . have words ?

Coraline looked up, raising her brows in surprise. It was the first time that Beatrice offered to use words instead of communicating through her thoughts like she usually did.

They had practiced before... and the fire elemental wasn't very good at it...

But... Coraline didn't have any friends.

Briefing pausing her delicious alchemical endeavors, she leaned over the kitchen counter and waited for what Beatrice had to say.

",