---[ POV: Flynn ]---

The fire that had engulfed the young princess had sent the occupants of the corvette into a panicked uproar.

Gwenvar was screaming, from fear and surprise at first, then directly at Flynn and Herman, urging them to do something about it since it was the solution they had brought back that caused this.

She had tried to extinguish the flame herself using the sheets of the bed but they had simply burned to a crisp and Gwenvar found herself with burns on her hand. Fortunately, the padding material of the bed itself was not flammable. Normally, the damage control system of the ship should have activated on its own to extinguish the fire but Flynn had not repaired it yet since it was not a priority.

Herman tried to calm her down but, at the same time, weaved a string of colorful curses addressed to Valsevor in his sentences, making himself hard to understand. Athena was shocked and strangely shaken by the young princess' cries and convulsion. She clung to Flynn, monopolizing his attention and asking if this was normal and if there was something she could do, should do, to help. It was a complete capharnaum of distress and confusion.

Flynn had just come back to his senses and was about to run for an extinguisher when, fortunately for everyone present, especially for the young girl, the fire receded. It left the princess relatively unscathed with the exception of burnt scars on the inside of her hands and in the shape of coiled snakes around her arms. The fire disappeared as abruptly as it had appeared and the young girl jolted upward, screaming. Her eyes opened wide, revealing irises of opalescent gold that shone for a moment before losing their inner light and returning to a more natural and mutated golden color.

Everybody assembled on the catwalk around her stopped what they were doing to turn in her direction. As she realized she had escaped her nightmare, the young princess' scream stopped, replaced by rapid and ragged breathing. Her fearful eyes looked all around with avidity as if she was trying to drink in her surroundings and cling to a reality that had so long escaped her. Gwenvar opened her mouth as if she was about to say something but, instead, she let out a long and relieved sigh that quickly turned into happy tears.

"Amy," she whispered between two sobs. "You're back. I was so scared to lose you."

The woman's head fell on the chest of Amaryllis, both to hide her shameful tears and to hug her mistress. Doing so, she cleared the view of the princess, revealing Flynn, Herman, and Athena standing near.

"Welcome back, girl," said the old man. "You gave us quite the scare right there."

"Princess," saluted Flynn, unsure of how he had to address someone of her status. The only princesses he knew about were the daughters of the Emperor and one had to bow below the waist when they met them.

The young girl observed them, intrigued. She had obviously never seen Flynn nor Athena, but contrary to what the young man had expected, she didn't seem to recognize Herman either.

"What's your name?" asked Athena with a point of excitement and curiosity in her voice. She was only too happy to now be able to communicate with the new arrivals after compiling part of their language. "Amaryllis, they said, right? They said you're a princess. What kind of princess? And why were you on fire? You don't even seem burnt. Flynn mentioned magic. Can you do magic?"

As the AI had just broken a bit of the tension, Flynn allowed himself to relax a bit. He smiled.

Thank you, Athena, but also, relax a bit.

"Whoa, calm down there." He voiced his concern while darting the AI with a grateful but warning look. "Can't you see the poor girl's scared out of her mind? She seems tired. Let her rest a bit, she just woke up."

"Right, sorry. I was happy to meet someone my age."

"You're three weeks old," objected Flynn. "She's obviously sixteen or seventeen."

"Fifteen..." whispered Amaryllis, shyly, while nervously playing with a lock of her waved blond hair. Flynn heard her but nobody else seemed to pick on it. The girl seemed to remember something and brought both her hands to her face.

"Well, it's hard to do the translation. There is no human to AI age chart, obviously," said Athena. "I'm the first one to experience something even remotely similar to an aging process anyway so I can be the age I want," she concluded with a small grimace.

"Whatever floats your boat..."

Flynn observed the young princess. The fear in her large and expressive eyes had been subsumed by confusion and curiosity. Admittedly, there was still a bit of fear and apprehension on her beautiful face but it seemed mostly due to her unfamiliar environment and the strangers that looked at her. She had spent some time touching her own face with a puzzled expression before her fingers found the fine silvery scar that now crossed it. Flynn had seen a look of relief on her face when she had realized she was no longer sporting a large, gaping, and infected wound. She let herself fall back on the bed with an exhausted complaint and hugged Gwenvar before starting to brush the long brown hair of her Warden while throwing discreet and inquisitive gazes toward the trio of strangers.

"What happened, Gwen?" she asked with a trembling voice. "My head hurt so much, and my hands and arms burn. I only remember the sound of goblins' horns in the mountain, but everything after that is hazy. My face is healed. Just how long have I been out? Must have been weeks... And who are those people?"

Gwenvar swallowed one last sob and raised her head. She wiped her eyes and nose with her arm and forced herself to smile.

"Right. I'm sorry for this unsightly attitude, Princess. I was just... I'm just..."

"That's okay Gwen," said the princess with a feeble smile. "You're always so serious. I think it's the first time I see you cry. Even the day I met you, you didn't cry... Forgive me, but that kinda makes me happy. That's just normal for people to cry, you know. I do it all the time, and for stupid reasons... "

Gwenvar tried to contain a nervous but elated chuckle but failed. She poked the princess' forehead and got back up. "Right. don't get too used to it."

She then turned toward Herman. "This..."

Herman made a step forward and offered the princess his most charming smile.

"This is Herman," finished Gwenvar after a moment of hesitation. "He... He is a mage that helped us cure you."

"I am deeply honored to finally meet you, Princess Amaryllis." Herman put a hand on his chest and bowed respectfully. "It was a pleasure to help, and congratulation on your Awakening."

The princess did not seem to understand what he meant at first, but after a moment, her eyes widened.

"I Awakened?!"

Gwenvar stabbed Herman with her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs. Flynn could hear the pained protest of the old man as the air was escaping his lung.

"Don't throw that at her like that! She just woke up!"

"What's your problem, woman? She would have learned sooner or later."

"She needs to rest right now, not worry about things that can be dealt with later!"

Oh, God! It's happening again. I'll start to charge a kindergarten fee if it continues like that.

"Enough, you two. I don't think the princess wants to witness an argument as soon as she wakes up." Flynn turned toward Amaryllis. "My name is Flynn, Princess, and this is my companion Athena."

Gwenvar's expression brightened. She knelt back beside her Ward and took her hand in her own remaining one. Amaryllis realized the woman had only one left and fear flashed on her face.

"Gwen! Your arm! What happened?!"

Gwenvar looked at her stump as if she was just reminded it existed. Flynn could see sadness and regret behind her eyes, but she quickly dismissed the princess' question and instead pointed at him using her amputated arm.

"This is Lord Flynn, Princess!" she said excitedly. "He's the man we've been searching for!"