When Jill's lungs took their first breath in over a century, the first thought running through her mind was this is wrong. But she forced herself to take more breaths and focus later on why and how she was now alive.

Around her, she spotted faces she recognised—faces of people she had thought long dead. There, large as life, was Veronica, a woman who had died trying to save Camelot from Morgana the evil sorceress. She had been Jill's idol, even though Jill had never actually met her—she had died when Jill was only a baby. She had been Jill's inspiration to not give up on magic, after…after that day…

She refused to think about that. It seemed to prove that her memories were intact, at least.

Now that all her bodily functions were working, her mind turned automatically to how she was alive. She distinctly remembered dying as a result of stopping the tsunami that Morgana, the same sorceress who had claimed Veronica's life, had conjured up to destroy Camelot. She still shivered every time she remembered the cold water crashing down on her, crushing her body. She forced herself to not think about it.

Instead, she looked round and spotted her father-figure and mentor, Balthazar, leaning against a wall a little way off. Her heart filling with joy, she ran over to him like a newborn colt on unsteady legs and accidentally stumbled into him.

"Jillian, you need to be more careful," Balthazar scolded, placing her upright. "You can't just go running all over the place like that." Jill folded her arms and grinned, waiting for Balthazar to notice. "You could seriously hurt yourself or someone else, not just with your magic, but also if you fell into…them…"

He trailed off. He frowned deeply and stared at Jill who giggled madly. "JILL!" Balthazar suddenly yelled in joy, grabbing Jill and swinging her around happily. "I can't believe it's you!"

As Balthazar put her down, Jill hugged her mentor tightly. "I missed you," she said, tears of happiness coming into her eyes. "You were the last person in my mind when I…when I…"

Jill squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head downwards as more memories of her death flooded into her head.

"Don't think about that," Balthazar said, hugging Jill again. "I'm just glad you're here now."

"But how ARE we here?" Jill asked, stepping back. "I was dead. And now I'm alive again? How?"

"I don't know," Balthazar replied, frowning. "I should be dead too. I remember dying."

"How, if I may ask?"

Balthazar gave Jill a look, which reminded her so much of her days as an apprentice under the strict and serious mentor. "I don't think you're ready for that story."

Jill scowled. "I died before you."

"That's irrelevant," Balthazar said. "I'm still your mentor and I can still tell you what to do."

As Balthazar turned away, Jill mouthed, I'm still your mentor and I can still tell you what to do, mimicking Balthazar. "By the way, Veronica's over there."

Balthazar immediately swung round and almost slammed his hands on Jill's shoulders, looking into her eyes. "What? Veronica? She's here?"

Jill nodded smugly and jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "She was over there."

Balthazar let go of Jill and ran to the place Jill had woken up. Jill spotted Veronica at the same time as Balthazar did. She beamed as she watched their tearful reunion. The two of them were married and had a daughter together. That daughter's name was Genie, and she was Jill's best friend. She was also a sorcerer.

Balthazar had been utterly devastated when Veronica had died. Jill didn't want to imagine what her own death had done to poor Balthazar. He had already suffered the loss of one apprentice in training even before Veronica's death. Losing three people whom he was close to—one of whom was his wife—must have been very traumatic.

Speaking of Veronica, Jill knew her daughter must be around here somewhere. Genie was her very best friend, apart from perhaps one other person (whom she was saving until last because she didn't dare to hope he was here), and Jill wanted desperately to find her.

Pushing through the crowds of Merlinians, she searched for her best friend. She saw a few people whose deaths she had seen or heard about, and it just increased her curiosity as to why and how they were all alive again.

As she turned round desperately in the middle of the stone plaza, she caught sight of the person she was looking for: a girl who was over a decade younger than Jill herself was at twenty-four. She had red hair and freckles, she seemed to be looking for someone too.

"Genie!" yelled Jill across the square. "Genie!"

The ten-year-old girl turned. "Jill!" she cried.

The two girls raced across the square towards each other and threw themselves into each other's arms. Genie was sobbing as she clutched Jill's shirt. "I thought I'd never see you again!" she sobbed. "When you died, I-I was so broken! I didn't eat, I didn't sleep, I didn't want to do anything!"

"It's okay," Jill soothed. "I'm here now. But what about you? Did you live a long life?"

"No," sighed Genie, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "I was killed when Morgana attacked our section of Camelot. I-I burnt to death."

Jill felt Genie shudder, so she hugged the girl tighter. "It's okay," she said again. "You don't have to think about it."

"I heard from Lancelot that my death was what inspired Dad to fight Morgana as viciously as he did."

"Is…is that how he died?" Jill asked hesitantly. "I asked him but he wouldn't tell me."

Genie was also hesitant. "I don't know. I assumed so but I don't know for certain."

"If even Balthazar couldn't defeat Morgana, how did Morgana die?" Jill asked. A nasty thought occurred to her. "Or is that why we're all alive: everybody was killed by Morgana?"

"I heard she was defeated eventually by a fusion of King Arthur and Merlin, the two most powerful people in Camelot." Genie suddenly pulled away and looked Jill in the eyes with an expression that was hard to read. "You know who I just saw?"

Jill shook her head. "Who?"

"Galahad," Genie said pointedly.

Jill took in a sharp breath and stared at Genie. "Ga-Galahad…? He's h-here?"

Genie nodded excitedly, before seeing Jill's expression. Her face dropped. "Aren't you excited?"

Jill bit her lip. "I should be. It's just that…it was hard enough seeing you and Balthazar after my death. I don't want to see how hard my death was on Galahad too."

"If you ask me, that's all the more reason to see him," Genie pointed out. "I'm sure he's looking for you. You need to reassure him that you are okay."

"But I don't want to reassure him if I don't know why I'm okay," Jill said. "I mean, I died."

"So did he," Genie said.

Jill's face creased into a worried look. "He…he did? H-how?"

Genie looked away. "It was between your death and mine. He was fighting some Mayans and he…he was struck by an arrow. Dad did all the healing magic he could think of, but…he didn't make it."

Jill felt the hot sting of tears behind her eyelids. "Where is he?" she asked.

Genie smiled triumphantly and pointed in the opposite direction to the one Jill had come in from. "Over there."

Jill gave Genie one last hug, before running off to see the man she loved.