Year 2033, August
14:30 P.M
Goz Beida, Chad, Africa
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Few days have passed without any word from Alicia.
Agatha tried to contact her and even considered to go to Sweden. However, Gheele didn't want her to go. He told us that the enemies might've done something on their part.
Though, at that point, we needed confirmation. Trying to gain information and Inquiring about Amathelia from Alicia would've to be put on hold right then.
"Where in the world is she?"
I found myself saying that out loud.
"Ava?" called Amaryllis.
"Ah, sorry. Just spacing out," I quickly replied.
Both Hope and I visited Amaryllis in the hospital that evening. She was doing quite well when we arrived. However, the stump on the right side of her hips made me shudder.
Looking at it from time to time reminded me of that Alicia. Slowly, anger welled up inside me.
Realizing it might consume me, I took a few deep breaths.
Glancing left and right, Amaryllis's room appeared fairly plain to me. It was expected of course, but her room was small. From the looks of it, five adults could barely fit inside.
The white walls and furniture felt strange to me. It was just too clean, but then again, it was a hospital.
'I need to remind myself that,' I thought.
A thunder boomed outside of the hospital and I grimaced. Rain started to pour down heavily and the three of us there looked at the darkened sky. Water droplets trickled down the rectangular glass window, as lightning flashed far up in the dark clouds.
Amaryllis's white blanket shuffled a bit when she fidgeted at it. I looked at her up and down, taking a mental note of her oversized pale green shirt and pants.
"Isn't it too bright?" Hope asked her, pointing at the white fluorescent light at the ceiling.
She shook her head. "Not really." Her delicate fingers twirled a strand of her long, straight dark hair. "So . . . How's Master Gheele doing?"
I shrugged. "He's fine." My eyes caught sight of Hope pulling a wooden chair to his side. He sat on it and gestured for me to take the other one.
I did so, but my chair bumped into his since we sat so close to each other.
Hope looked at me with his mouth gaping. "A-Ava?"
"Is it wrong?"
He shook his head slowly. "Not at all. It's just . . . You've been acting weird these days."
"I'm not acting Hope." My hand grabbed his right hand. "I really, really, really love you!"
His eyes widened. "Well, this has gotten overboard . . . I mean, you're like a daughter to me."
"What?!" I said that out loud. Immediately, my hand covered my mouth and I glanced at the door.
After a few moments, I looked back at Hope with a pout. "As I said, you're not my Papa anymore."
He smiled. "Still, I can't help but see you that way Ava."
"You two seem close," commented Amaryllis. She giggled after that, and I narrowed my eyes at her.
She cleared her throat. "Sorry about that Ava. It's just . . . Something has changed about you." She smiled at Hope. "I assume you're the reason she's so cheerful right now."
"Haha. Maybe. Ava's a weird little girl after all," he said.
"Wha--" I squeezed his hand. "Who are you calling you weird?" My eyes glanced at Amaryllis.
"How long have you two known each other?" she asked Hope.
"Eh, about two years now I think . . . Anyway, I don't see any wheelchair around here. How do you move up and about?"
"I use those crutches over there. Takes some time to get used to it, but it's manageable."
Hope put his hand at his chin. "Probably need to have a wheelchair. This hospital is quite big after all. Then again, you must have asked help from the nurses time to time right?"
She nodded.
Hope rubbed his blond hair and sighed. "I just wish the doctors actually make use of prosthetic limbs. It's a common thing these days for a patient like you to get one immediately. You don't have to use those crutches anymore if that happened."
She laughed and smiled at him. "You're a really nice guy. No wonder Ava is happy around you. Any lucky girl in your heart?"
"Nah." He waved his hand. "Don't really need one. Ava is like a daughter to me anyways."
I hugged him when he said that. "Hope only needs me in his life. Hmph."
She held herself from laughing again and coughed.
Then, an idea struck me. I moved away from Hope and whispered to myself. "Aegis . . . You can heal her wound, right?"
"Presumably, yes. Though, I don't know how much of her stumped leg that will regenerate. Apart from not being a User, her injury has completely healed a long time ago. It might take longer than I would've assumed."
"I see. But it is doable right?"
"Yes."
"Ava?" called Amaryllis. "Why are you talking to yourself?"
I waved my hands at her frantically. "H-Haha . . . Nothing, really."
Hope looked at me, and I nodded at him. His golden eyes flickered as if he had been thinking the same thing as I did.
I stared at Amaryllis. "Actually, I have an idea. My Aegis can heal your leg, Amaryllis."
She jerked her head. "What do you mean?"
"I know your injury has healed, but regrowing your leg anew is not impossible. Aegis Users do that more often than not. My Aegis can insert its chemicals that into your bloodstream and from there, your leg will slowly regenerate."
"Sort of like looking into your whole body to make sure any lost limbs is regenerated," continued Hope.
Amaryllis looked at him and then at me, unsure of what she just heard. After a while, she just sighed. "I would love to have my leg back. If it means that I can work with Master Gheele again, then I have no qualms about it."
I jumped joyfully. "Then--"
"But the hospital staffs will make a ruckus about it," she said.
"Ah . . . That's true. We can't actually tell them about this."
Hope patted my shoulder. "What if, Gheele himself orders Amaryllis to be discharged?" He then looked at her. "What do you think?"
She considered his suggestion and finally nodded. "It will work. But the problem is whether or not Master Gheele will actually do it."
"He will. Don't worry," I convinced her.
Hope and I went back to Gheele's palace after that and proposed the idea to him. Surprisingly, he accepted it rather easily. And so, Amaryllis was discharged in that same evening, and the three of us went back to her room in the palace. It was located in the servants' quarters.
"You share the same room with Helena?" I asked.
Helena was just there inside that room actually, but it sort of came out of my mouth.
"Yes," Amaryllis replied simply. She went over to her bed using her crutches.
"It will be quick, don't worry." I approached her while Helena and Hope stood by at the corner. A crimson scythe protruded out of my right arm.
"W-Wait, Ava. What are you--"
I waved my hand at Amaryllis. "It's fine. My crystals will inject itself into your stump . . . And you might have to restrain yourself from screaming."
She gulped.
"Ready, Aegis?" I whispered.
"Of course."
My scythe changed its shape into a thin, narrow needle. It entered the stump slowly, as it broke itself down inside Amaryllis's body.
"How does it feel?" I asked her.
"I feel . . . Nothing actually." She looked at Hope and Helena. They smiled at her, before looking back at me.
It didn't feel that long, but we waited for half an hour in her room. By then, the stump had grown to form her right leg.
"I can't believe it," she muttered.
Although, the regeneration wasn't as effective as I would've hoped for. Her right leg had completely regenerated, but it was pale white. Compared to her brown skin, it stood out like a sore thumb.
"Don't think too much about it Ava." She smiled at me as the needle dissolved into thin air.
She stumbled a bit when she tried to stand. "I still . . . Can't Believe it."
"I'm just glad it worked out somehow. Though, I was hoping for a better result. Sorry Amaryllis," I said as I stood up.
She took a few steps forward and hugged me. "What are you talking about? Thank you, thank you so much Ava." Her tears fell as she tightened her embrace.
"You're welcome." I returned her hug slowly.
Somehow, a strange feeling started to well up inside me. It was a mix of happiness and me being grateful for what was happening.
Hope and Helena smiled at the both of us.
"Ava." Amaryllis moved away from me, her eyes were still in tears. "Thank you."
I shook my head and showed her a toothy smile. "You're welcome. Um, if you don't mind, can we be friends from now on?"
She giggled. "Ava, we're already friends from the moment you came here months ago."
"R-Really?" I blushed. "T-Thank you."
They all laughed at my response, and my cheeks flushed from embarrassment. But I was happy on the inside, having made friends after all that I'd been through. However, I wouldn't stop just there and would continue to make as many friends as I could.
After all, when I met Aya again, perhaps all of us could be friends too.