Headed by a Snake

"Friends, then," Haelvia shrugged while silently thanked the fates.

The prospect of having a new friend was wonderful.

Including Coraline, Haelvia had *amassed* a total of two friends in the Eastern States. Granted, one of them was Gaheris, but the second was a living, breathing--

"Eh?" Haelvia tilted her head, "An elf? Oh, you're the-- the girl we rescued a few suns ago."

She winced at her own clumsy words. She'd almost called Coraline a xeno... which would have been terribly rude.

Tyrion stereotyping against non-humans and mages was ingrained deep in Haelvia's psyche. Granted, she knew it wasn't fair. Everyone knew it wasn't fair. People are people. Elves are people. In theory, Elven Witches are people, too.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I probably should have started with that," The ball dipped apologetically. "Sorry. Was just excited to talk to-- y'know, another human being."

"But..." Haelvia raised an eyebrow, "you're... an elf?"

"That's... fair," The elf-sphere paused-- "But you knew what I meant, Elle!"

"Sorry, sorry~" Haelvia snorted in laughter before sighing again-- in relief.

Thankfully, Coraline didn't seem to be offended. She was... surprisingly easy to talk to.

"Bea~tri~ce," The Coraline sphere sang, "Show our new friend what we look li~ike."

The glowing ball began to crackle and pop as flames spilled in an arc on its opposite side... With a final, dramatic fwoosh, the expelled flames took a vague humanoid shape-- and it held the original fiery ball in its small palms.

Coraline looked like she sounded... a small, cute, and petite girl with long, pointed ears flaring diagonally upwards.

She... didn't have clothes or hair... or a face, though.

While it was mildly disconcerting, Haelvia decided to give the mage the benefit of the doubt. A summoner communicating by proxy reasonably had certain limitations.

⊰ friend ⊱

The fire elemental tilted its head, its voice warming Haelvia's heart.

As in... her body temperature literally spiked up at the Beatrice's notion of 'friend.'

Haelvia nodded and gave a wry smile.

Counting Beatrice, her number of friends in the Eastern States had tripled. Granted, zero of them were human, but Haelvia had decided that she didn't need to make human friends to be happy.

The little ball in the fiery figure's hands continued to glow as it transmitted Coraline's voice.

"Your guild got me out of a really rough spot," She explained. "I *specifically* wanted to travel overland because... well, traveling by sea got me attacked by pirates... mmmmultiple times."

"So... the brigands we chased away?" Haelvia asked.

"Yep. Pretty much land pirates," The figure twirled the ball in her hands for emphasis, spinning it on a finger. "You have noOoOoo idea how dumb I felt. My luck's pretty garbage-- so it was only a matter of time before I encountered a bandit raid."

Haelvia placed her palms together, tapping her fingers, "I know it's expensive... but did you consider going to Whitehearth by airship?"

"Last time I traveled by air in the Holy Country, five people died and two went to prison."

Haelvia patted the dagger on her hip. It was still there, "Uh huh?"

"I did meet my boyfriend on that trip, though. Ooh! And he says-- err, I mean, he *is* part of Sol Invictus."

Sol... Invictus...

The name of the legendary gladiator guild had just entered the conversation. It was surprising, but not... ironic? Haelvia was literally humming their theme song when Coraline approached her.

"Sol Invictus?" She asked. "*The* Sol Invictus?"

"I dunno. Probably?" The fire elemental shrugged as she playfully tossed her flame ball between either hand, "My boyfriend, Lone, definitely belongs to a company named Sol Invictus-- but the name's registered under the Adventurer's Guild in Alizeau."

She-- or Beatrice, pointed her thumb at her chest, "I'm a researcher. So I did the research. The guild could *plausibly* be what's left of the old Sol Invictus. It's under new management, though-- obviously."

Haelvia nodded in thoughtful agreement. If the gladiator's guild roster was still the same, everyone would have to be decades past their primes.

She scoffed at the thought, "How about the leader, though? I'm picturing some old, stubborn gladiator pit master that still thinks physical punishment is the most effective way to teach."

"His abs are made out of chiseled rock," Coraline replied.

Though Haelvia couldn't see the elf girl's face, the smugness in her response was obvious.

"...I.... see..." Haelvia forced a gradual, polite smile... "Are you... into... older men, Cor--"

"Wait!" The fire elemental raised her open palms. The little ball pulsed in panic, falling in front of her hands, but remaining suspended in the air. "It's not what it sounds like! The leader-- Sir Tychon is really young. He looks like he's our age."

"Sir... Tychon? That's..." Haelvia furrowed her brows in thought... and her heart started beating with excitement, "That's-- not a name from the Fairytale Kingdom?"

"Yeah, it's not," Coraline nodded, "He's definitely from the Holy Country-- wears Tyrion armor, has a Tyrion sword... Oh! And he's also a Decanus-- or former Decanus?"

Haelvia's heart palpitated in excitement. If the leader of Guild Invictus was as Tyrion as he sounded, it might very well have been the same adventuring company she was looking for.

"So..." She raised an eyebrow... "what's your relationship with your boyfriend's superior?"

Beatrice staggered backward, her palms holding her head.

...It looked like that was the wrong question to ask.

"We're-- we're just friends!" The girl sputtered, "It's... it's not like that! I'm loyal! I would never cheat on my boyfriend! Loyalty loyalty loyalty!!" .

Haelvia placed her hand on her chest... but her mouth twisted into a grimace.

That word, loyalty, came up again...

It was a shame that relationships between younger persons-- herself included, were doomed to fail.

It was none of Haelvia's business to point that out, though. She hadn't known Coraline for very long... but, since they were friends, Haelvia definitely wanted the insistent and honest elf to succeed.

But besides that...

Coraline's reaction was... adorable!

It made Haelvia want to pull the poor, flustered girl into a comforting embrace... and she probably would have if the elf wasn't communicating via fiery proxy.