Elanore turned away from the girl and started walking back down the tunnel. She did her best to ignore the snake girl slithering up her body and eventually arriving on Elanore's shoulders.
The snake girl leaned forwards until her face was looking at Elanore's upside down. "Hey, don't ignore me, mother."
Ella pushed the girl's face away from hers. "I am not your mother, and you are almost 850 years old. Why are you acting like a child?"
The little girl frowned and slithered off of Elanore's body. "Why are you acting so cold to me?"
"Mistress," Naela said, "do you really know this little one?"
"Little one? She is even older than you! I have never seen her in my life." Elanore studied the girl's face. In her humanoid form, only the cheeks were covered in black scales, but her eyes were the same purple slits. It reminded Elanore of the spell she used in the human capital to vanquish one of those priests. Her body shivered. "Yep, I have no idea who it is."
"Hey, you just lied!" The snake shouted, her legs turning into a slithery tail. For a second she became a lamia and serpented ahead of Elanore. She balanced on her tail, sliding backwards in a practiced fashion while staring at Elanore with a pout. "Are you really going to leave me alone again, mother?"
Elanore sighed and stopped moving. She stared at the girl's pondering, innocent looking face. Her heart was weak to this type of pressure. How many times had she already folded to Naela's cute expressions? She wanted to turn away, but the little girl was persistent.
The vampire looked to Naela for help, but the wyvern was as confused as she was. In fact, she was looking towards Elanore as if the vampire knew what this girl was talking about. Elanore searched through her memory, but she could only find a serpent for one spell. And that was called [Serpent of Devouring].
It was something she obtained inside of the game during a quest. Script Fantasy Online was pretty robust in its spell system. There were spells for mostly anything people could think of, and they could be obtained by crafting them or finding them in books or dungeons. The serpent came from a witch spell tree, and she found the spell inside of a dungeon. Elanore placed her hand to her chin. What was the dungeon called again?
"Mother?"
Elanore sighed. "I was thinking. I am sure there is a misunderstanding here. I am no one's mother. For one thing, you are even older than I am." While her status said otherwise, she was still not content to be 1500 years old.
The snake girl frowned again and slumped down to the ground. She sat down and made herself look pitiful. Her lip started to quiver, and the corners of her eyes filled with little droplets.
Naela grabbed onto her mistress's arm. "Maybe she is lost and confused, mistress? We could bring her with us. That way, we might be able to find her mother."
Elanore sighed once more. "Alright, you can come with us, but there will be a condition. Don't call me mother. Call me Elanore or Ella."
The serpent girl jumped up, immediately changing in demeanor and smiling. "Alright, mommy Ella!"
"Don't..."
Before Elanore could voice her concern about the title something started happening. The snake girl erupted into another cloud of smoke. Though, this time the smokescreen was pink. Oh no, don't tell me.
[Congratulations! You have tamed another creature! Your [Beast Tamer] class has leveled up! You are now an [Expert Beast Tamer]!]
The world was too cruel. Right before her eyes, the little girl changed. The scales on her cheeks became pink. The black hair on her head changed to the same warm pink as Naela, making them look very similar. If Elanore didn't know any better, she might have thought that this little girl was Naela's child. Though, looks were deceiving and this little girl was hundreds of years older!
Little basilisk girl looked down at herself, inspecting the scales on her arms in surprise. "Wow! I became pink!"
"Yeah," Elanore said unimpressed, "isn't that great? You also formed a contract with me somehow! Moreover, why did you start acting different? When we first saw you, you looked ready to riddle us."
"Your scent, mo-...mommy Ella."
"Hey! Drop the mommy already." Elanore started sniffing her arms. "Do I really smell strange?"
Naela moved closer to Ella and sniffed her. "No, you smell pleasant."
The little basilisk girl started laughing. "I don't mean that kind of scent. I am talking about something more intrinsic. I refer to the scent of your magic power. There is no mistaking that. Everyone's magic signature is one for one, so you can only be mother."
Elanore's eyes widened. The only experience she had with magic signatures was her own [Vampire Sight]. If this is similar to that, is it really...Elanore shook her head. Nope! I am no one's mother. Besides, everyone knows that vampires don't birth basilisks.
The only thing she knew that birthed basilisks was wizarding schools, and she didn't know any wizards. Elanore nodded and affirmed her own beliefs. "I have never given birth to anyone, so there is no way I can be your mother."
"It's not birthing in the traditional sense," the basilisk said with a finger on her chin. "It is from your magic power that I was born."
"Well, I don't recall doing any of that. For starters, I wasn't even on this world 842 years ago." Elanore looked towards Naela for more affirmation, but she only got a questioning gaze. "I already told you, didn't I?"
"Yes, mistress, I believe you. However, I cannot rule out the possibility of you being here before. What if you forgot about it?"
The vampire sighed. "It's not gonna be one of those tropes. I remember who my own mother is, and I remember all of those other events on Earth. I have no idea why anyone would endure this kind of suffering, unless they were a masochist. Therefore, I refuse to believe something just because someone said it's true."
"I don't mind," the basilisk said. She ran up to Elanore and wrapped her arms around the vampire once again. "Even if you don't remember anything, I will still travel with you."
Elanore let go of another deep breath. She reached out with her hand and patted the little basilisk's head. Even if she wasn't the creature's mother, she would at least take her along. It was better than leaving her in whatever this place was. Though, it does beg the question why she didn't seek me out sooner. Or why she was even here in the first place.
Much like a biblical snake, Elanore imagined that this small girl was a liar. She was hiding parts of the truth or only saying certain information. Even if that was true, she couldn't resist letting the girl come with them. It was definitely not because of her soft cheeks and fluttering eyelashes, nor was it because she looked like a little Naela.
Elanore looked towards the wyvern in question, and she found Naela staring down at the little girl tenderly. Her initial reaction was replaced by one of care. Is that really all it takes to win you over? A little girl that looks like you? Naela might be a bigger softie than I am.
"What's your name?" Ella finally asked the basilisk.
The little girl shook her head. "I am nameless."
"What? Was your mother really so cruel that she didn't give you a name?"
"No! It's not like that..."
Elanore breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I guess you will need a name if we are going to travel together. That way we can call on you." She placed a finger against her chin. "Though, I have no idea what it should be."
Naela's hand shot up. "Mistress, can I!?" Noticing her own swift reaction, the wyvern became embarrassed, her cheeks flushing red. "I mean, if that's alright with you..."
Elanore grinned and looked down at the girl. "Very well, you don't have a problem with that, right?"
"Nope!"
Naela smiled. "From now on, your name will be..."