16

Flynn preemptively laughs, then tells the joke. "Well, I swam here!" Yes, that is indeed how he got here. You try not to roll your eyes. It would be more acknowledgment than the joke deserves.

His follow-up laugh, though, breaks down into wheezing coughs before he can continue. "Being serious, now, I helped Tephra. And of course, when she explained that she was saving the lives of all merkind…I knew I had to help her. Be her hero. We easily tracked down Cinza, got the Orb back." He gives a weak smile. "And now, here I am."