【27 - Showmanship Tricks and Real Phoenix Magic! The Third Lieutenant!?】


The teens hid from the arrival of the third lieutenant. They stood behind pillars, Amira crouching as she peered through an indoor plant. Two gentlemen approached, and it was easy to tell who was the alien. Genjin may have been in his forties, a reedy man with a dark comb moustache. His eyes were a monochrome violet. The suit he wore wasn't too different from some of the gangsters, but the red cape was a dead give-away. He kinda looked like… a kooky magician. The other man was old and thin with his receding hair combed back. He had a permanent frown etched in place and gold rings on his fingers. He walked with a black cane.

"Well, well" Ms Snaketail was still sitting on that chair. Amira could see her arm extend, someone bringing her a cigar and flip-lighter.

"Greetings, milady" Genjin stood straight, almost bouncing "You are looking very ravishing" and then he gave a bow. Definitely a showman.

"Spare me the nonsense."

"I must assure you" Genjin looked up while still bowed "of my sincerity. It is our peculiarities that make us beautiful. The oddities of society who are the real gems."

"Make no mistake, Genjin. If it were anybody else I'd have them gunned down for merely mentioning my appearance. But I have heard of your strange preoccupations and fixations, and no, I have no intention of being a part of your circus troupe."

"My cirque," Genjin corrected and finally stood straight. Those amethyst eyes shined. "However the talents of my performers go beyond the physical capabilities of ordinary people. They are not merely… talented in ways of being agents of spies."

A cloud of smoke billowed out as Ms Snaketail regarded him.

"That's him… the leader of the Sword gang…" Simon whispered. The man with the gold rings probed his forehead, as if greatly tired by the magician's theatrics.

"What do you want?" Ms Snaketail asked bluntly.

"We want to know who's supplying weapons to the other gangs," the old mafia boss demanded with a tap of his cane. "It was supposed to just be the Swords, but if all the triads are getting weapons now nobody has an advantage. It just means more bloodshed… and if we get more eyes on us the Augus government will get the military involved."

"Well I agree with you there. How about first, you tell me what you hope to gain by helping this man, Genjin?"

"An influential business partner," the magician answered.

"In a collapsing city with no money? There's nothing here. Cut the crap and tell us what you're after." Ms Snaketail ashed her cigar.

"Timothy!" Heidi hissed. Amira turned her head and saw the teen was shaking. She didn't expect him to storm out and reveal himself, but he did.

"Kettou da!"

The teens gasped. The two visitors were surprised.

Ms Snaketail turned around in her chair, saw the livid boy and sighed "well yes, they arrived here shortly before you did…"

"I want to duel you, lieutenant! We're taking you now and you're going to tell us everything that Urobach's planning!"

The mafia boss pointed his cane at Timothy and unexpectedly the bottom flipped up to reveal a hidden gun. Suddenly everyone had their weapons drawn. The room froze, everyone very tense.

"That wasn't smart…" Ms Snaketail was still sitting with legs crossed, her cigar smoking.

"I'm an old man," the mafia boss explained. He pointed to a gold brooch on his suit: a circle with two crossed swords – his gang symbol. "I didn't get to live this long to be double-crossed by the likes of you."

"I only want to duel Genjin," Timothy continued with hands raised.

"And who might you be?" the lieutenant scrutinized the boy's ordinary appearance.

Heidi, Simon, Lisa, Diego and Amira walked out from behind the pillars. Purple eyes flickered between them then widened "two chosens? Together?"

"There's no violence permitted here." Ms Snaketail puffed on her cigar, no one had lowered their gun. "Take your duel to the roof."

Slowly the mob boss lowered his cane. The other guns in the room started to fall.

"Yoshi," the lieutenant said to Timothy, eyes devilish.

"Take them up," Ms Snaketail ordered a henchman.

With a suited guard among them they made their way back to the elevator. Diego looked back at his grandmother before following along.

"So… are you a chosen?" he asked Lisa.

"Not me. Those two."

"Ah, cool. So not the two guys you're with? One of them your boyfriend or something?"

Before Lisa could respond the mob boss put a hand to his face "this is insufferable. I'm not going up."

"Suit yourself. This won't take long." Genjin assured him.

The six teenagers stood closer on one corner of the elevator while the strange lieutenant stood on the other. The henchman pressed the up arrow and it only took them a few seconds to ascend to the roof. It opened to a starry sky with a cold breeze. Timothy stormed out with determination, his hand igniting with a white blaze.

"What are you doing?" Heidi asked. After getting no response she jumped and caught his arm "Timothy, please!"

He stopped, slowly turned to the frightened face of his girlfriend.

"…I can make him give up Magris's location or at the very least rid us of another lieutenant."

"Or you could die and accomplish nothing!" Heidi hissed. When he tugged his arm free her fight began to soften "please… don't do this…"

"Sorry." He walked off to get some distance. Genjin trailed after with a smirk.

The teens went to find a place to stand on the sidelines, Amira pulling Heidi after her. The henchman stood by the elevator with arms crossed.

"You ready, freak? Let's do this!" Timothy yelled after they took their marks.

The tables manifested, the shields shimmered in the night, both set mana before Timothy summoned first.

"Marine Flower!" the blocker's blue tentacles wormed forth.

Genjin smirked, he was also playing water but mixed with darkness. His draws remained theatrical, pausing between card-plays as if to build tension.

"Melnia, the Aqua Shadow!" the water-darkness creature raised itself from a pool, a hooded liquid-person on 1000.

"A slayer that can't be blocked?" Timothy drew "I cast Energy Stream and draw two!" he added the cards to his hand and ended.

Simon nudged Heidi who seemed terrified "Hey, don't worry. His draw skills helped him beat me, right?"

"Right…" she couldn't bear the thought of losing him after they'd been fighting so much. Heidi tried to keep in mind this wasn't his first time duelling a lieutenant so she'd calm down.

Genjin added mana with a flourish "Melnia break his shield, ike!" A far panel was flung into pieces that scattered in the night.

"I summon Hypersquid Walter and La Ura Giga, Sky Guardian!" Another two creatures joined Timothy's side. Marine Flower couldn't attack so he had to end.

"I summon Soderlight, the Cold Blade!" Again Genjin played another water-darkness creature that couldn't be blocked, this one on 4000. A quartz scorpion scuttled forth. "Melnia break another shield! You're falling behind there, boy." Genjin's moustache twitched with a smirk as light rippled out. A translucent purple fist collided with another panel and it broke, a card popped off the table and Timothy added it to his hand.

The ex-disciple added mana then "I summon Illusionary Merfolk and draw three!" Now he was holding six cards in his hand "Hypersquid Walter suicide with Melnia, ike!" As the cyber lord dived, its huge palm was caught by Melnia, they both wrestled until reducing each other to slime. Timothy drew yet again and ended his turn "There's more to winning duels then just getting ahead at the start!"

"So you plan to spam me with creatures soon, is that it?" His purple eyes were wary but he didn't lose his performance façade, drawing another card and holding it high above his head before reading it. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you now a marvellous spectacle…" Even with the quirkiness, his flat eyes held the same evil as the other lieutenants. "Now I will play: Original Heart, the New Moon Pulses!"

This card was also water-darkness, but it was a castle. He fortified a far shield, unleashing the strangest castle Amira had ever seen. The whole thing seemed to be alive, a huge red flower pulsing with white light beneath it. It was surrounded by blue wiring. Timothy's expression said it all.

"What the hell is that?" Heidi yelled. "It's stuck to his shield!"

Amira turned to her with surprise "you haven't unlocked castles yet?"

"The last thing I learnt was cross gears, and that was ages ago. What?" Heidi demanded at Amira's stare.

"…I assumed you'd be ahead of me, since I don't play very often. Haven't you explored your spirit connection with Mars?"

"What are you talking about!?" Heidi turned to face her fully.

"Man… turns out we have a lot to talk about," Amira muttered.

"And you'll have to save it for another time, ladies. After all I'm the one performing and you are the audience," Genjin spoke tersely "This castle helps me draw and get the cards I want for God Linking-"

"-God linking!?-"

"-so my main strategy will soon become apparent."

Timothy recovered faster than Heidi "I bet that castle has an ability that stays active until that shield gets broken?"

"Correct."

"I figured."

"Soderlight break his shield!" a quartz tail whipped down and shattered a panel, Timothy turned away as pieces cut his shoulder and arms.

He still can't block, Amira thought. His blockers have been made useless.

"Okay I have more than enough cards now" Timothy drew "La Guile, Seeker of Skyfire!" The electric gold torso of his 7500 mecha thunder shone bright in the darkness. "Illusionary Merfolk suicides with Soderlight, ike!" Those delicate ribbons began wrapping around the struggling scorpion. Soderlight pulled the Merfolk toward it and they were both slain in a flash of white. "Turn end."

"I summon Foreign Ways God Kaikai!" The future-card was demonic and purple, skin sleek and rubbery like a fish. It was on 4000. "Whenever you cast a spell I draw. Thanks to my castle's effect I draw after summoning a God." He added the prize to his hand "Turn end."

"Timothy!" Amira cupped her mouth to shout. She could tell he was unnerved facing card types he'd never seen before "That God will combine with another creature, you have to destroy it!"

He drew then summoned another mecha thunder "Gandar, Seeker of Explosions!" A metal fiend wielding two electric hammers snarled with 6500 power. "Alright La Guile, double-break his shields!" A gold gauntlet charged with yellow light before firing bolts through two panels. His castle was burned away. The concrete behind Genjin charred black and an air conditioner vent was struck. The lieutenant's cape fluttered and he reached for a glowing trigger.

"Emergency Typhoon!" A blue hurricane started whirling in place, he drew two cards then discarded a blocker. "Just what I needed, you have my thanks dear boy. I summon Evil Ways God Kiki!" A blue amphibian appeared, looking curiously similar to his other creature. With a smirk tilting his moustache he dramatically yelled with a wave of his hand "God link!"

A flurry of blue lightning began streaking across the roof in all directions. For those who'd never seen Gods being linked before the spectacle was especially terrifying. Timothy hid behind his forearm and squinted before the energy receded. Genjin's creatures were now merged in the middle, their powerful presences greatly compounded.

"Enjoy the show?" Genjin asked "My combined God may only have 7000 power, less than La Guile, but it has a host of other abilities now too. All in time. Turn end."

Though wary Timothy snapped "Shut up! Laveil, Seeker of Catastrophe!" His third mecha thunder entered play between the others, its lower body was a spinning tornado. An 8500 blocker that untaps at the end of his turns. "La Guile, double break his shields!" As Timothy turned his card yellow lightning rocketed out, crashing through two panels and forcing the lieutenant to turn away. Just like before he managed to claim a trigger, the pieces reformed into his gloved hand.

"Aqua Surfer sends Gandar back to your hand!" The surfing 2000 creature rode in on a wave that crashed into the Seeker of Explosions. The card bounced back to Timothy's hand before he could use its tap effect. The surfer turned with ease, sailing back to its summoner.

"Turn end…" Timothy's previous stress only seemed to be mounting. It was just as they'd feared – he hadn't come into this duel level-headed and it was affecting his playing.

"Alright I draw…" Genjin's linked Gods giggled wickedly and emanated a dark haze "Every time I draw you must discard, that includes at the start of my turn." He explained and the teen scowled as he discarded. "And next I cast the spell Teleportation to send your remaining mecha thunders back to your hand as well!" the water spell shone as he held it, water whipped up and bounced them away. Only the blockers Timothy hadn't used stayed in play: Marine Flower and La Ura Giga. "Next spell Virtual Tripwire taps your Marine Flower! Aqua Surfer go for his shield, ike!"

A digital blue slime pulled his cyber virus down. Timothy's fourth shield went, this time he revealed the card "Thought Probe, I get to draw three!"

Genjin laughed "No you don't, stupid boy!" The lieutenant watched him turn over the card which wasn't glowing "Linked Gods become one creature, so technically I have two creatures in play not three. Your spell can't activate." He laughed again "Kaikai and Kiki, attack!" The wicked Gods giggled and flew up, firing twin beams of purple and blue.

"La Ura Giga, block!" he twisted his card and the steel jet veered to protect him, barely in time. The card flew to his discard pile.

Heidi was failing to restrain herself "he should've used that blocker to take out Aqua Surfer instead!"

Amira nodded "A misplay perhaps… he wanted to save his last shield."

Timothy still had a lot of cards in his hand, they dearly hoped he'd be able to pull out a win and save himself. The brunette-boy glared forward "Okay, I'm going to win with these three cards. You ready, freak? I summon Belix, the Explorer and Emeral!" The bright gladiator unravelled tendrils of light; as the helmeted cyber lord appeared Timothy replaced his last shield. "I cast Diamond Cutter, I have three creatures to attack with and you only have one shield!"

The onlookers relaxed. It'd seemed like Timothy's stress over the past weeks had got to his head. Despite his irrationality he still managed to pull out a win.

Heidi sighed "he was the best disciple in the Dawn of the Pheonix after all…"

"Marine Flower ike!" The tentacles whipped out, their clawed tips shattering Genjin's last defence. As the glass pieces re-assembled the lieutenant grabbed at the card hopefully.

He smirked then turned over "Death Gate, Gate of Hell! I destroy an untapped creature, I choose Belix." A terrible door faded to view, sliding open and unleashing multiple fanged serpents. They lashed out and struck, pulling the gladiator toward the door. Its light dimmed as it went, the head of a demonic dragon barely visible beyond the darkness. Once pulled from view another creature emerged from the dark, it was Aqua Guard. "Afterwards I can then summon a creature from my graveyard that costs less than the destroyed creature, so I choose this blocker. My spell is beyond even the DM sets, it came from DMR-02. Our future cards make us unbeatable!" Genjin started laughing again "If it's a show you want, it's a show you'll get!"

"No way…" Timothy now had a blocker between his final attacker and opponent. "Shit!"

"I discarded it after using Emergency Typhoon, and now to end this… Aqua Surfer break his last shield!" A rush of water sent that board hurtling through Timothy's final defence. He desperately held out his hand as the pieces reformed.

"Spiral Gate on your God!"

"Predictable…" the magician shook his head "a weak charlatan trick. If you didn't have a trigger in your hand Belix would've helped you return one from your mana zone. Still only one part goes…" A vortex of water flushed past and afterwards Evil Ways God Kiki remained.

"What!?"

"With 3000 power you won't be recovering from a God very easily, least of all here. Todomeda."

Heidi cried out as Timothy's eyes widened. She ran as a streak of blue lit up the dark. He tried crossing his arms but the impact sent him flying backwards. After hitting the ground with his back he screamed, curling up and cradling his burnt arms. Heidi stopped beside him with tears in her eyes, unsure of what to do as he lay hissing out breaths.

"Ah… I love it when they don't lose consciousness, those screams are so satisfying," Genjin commented. Timothy let out another shriek of pain and the magician chuckled. He turned back to the elevator "Fair thee well, children."

Diego whipped to the confused henchman "Go down with him and bring a medic!"

The suited guy was alarmed but nodded, following the lieutenant to the elevator. The teens all stood in a wide circle around Timothy, hands to their mouths or foreheads. Heidi was kneeling beside him, hand out uncertainly as tears fell.

"Help is coming, Timothy. It's going to be okay!"

He screamed out in pain again, all they could do was wait for help. Genjin was smiling as the elevator doors closed with a ding.

Some hours later Heidi sat with a haunted look on her face. She was in a small room by herself, sitting on a bench. The walls were crowded with wooden cupboards. Amira appeared by the doorway with a sympathetic frown. Heidi only glanced at her and took another sip of water. There was an office-like water-dispenser in the hall with disposable cups. The poor fire duellist had gone pale. Amira turned her head when she saw Diego approaching. When he stepped into the room Heidi jumped up.

"Both his arms got burns and bone fractures," he explained "There's injuries to his chest and stomach too but luckily those aren't as severe. In my opinion he'd be better off letting us treat him here than the hospital, I think we're better equipped and staffed anyhow."

Heidi's gaze lowered and she said nothing.

Amira looked at him "Thank you."

Diego nodded and left them.

Heidi was silent for a while before speaking "…I thought I was going to lose him."

"You didn't." Amira consoled. She was surprised to see Heidi whip around and throw her cup of water at the corner of the room. The angry girl tried to control her breathing and calm down.

"…Simon said we're allowed to stay here until Timothy is alright to walk. Heidi… I know you and Timothy went through a lot to find me… I am sorry."

"It's okay," Heidi didn't turn around and her voice sounded dead.

"Do you want me to show you where the rooms are?"

"No. I can't sit still right now. I feel riled up, I need to do something."

"Diego was going to talk us through his sabotage plan tomorrow." Amira looked to a window that showed nothing but black. It was very late, but she was a night owl anyway. Heidi started pacing and then an idea occurred to the darkness duellist "Why don't you let me explain how connecting our spirit with our phoenix works?"

Heidi stared at her while walking in loops "You think me sitting and listening to explanations is gonna calm me down?"

"Yes, if it interests you enough" Amira gave a wry smile before walking to the corner of the room. She held her hand under the top cupboards, closed her eyes and took a breath. Her hand disappeared and Heidi stopped her marching. When Amira pulled out her hand it reappeared again.

"Okay… I'm interested."

They left to find the bedrooms. After it was decided they were Ms Snaketail's guests they were allowed to traverse the building without supervision. After taking the elevator to a lower floor they walked the corridor of what was once a respectable apartment complex. Now the walls were scuffed and marked. Many doors were open revealing henchmen or other associates doing various things: some resting atop beds, groups sitting on the floor and talking, one man was spinning a handgun around his thumb and stared at the girls as they went by. Some of the walls between apartments were partially knocked-down, holes revealing criss-crossing planks of wood. A slim Asian man with muscles beneath a white singlet squeezed left as he passed in the crowded walkway. Another man stepped out of a room ahead, he was bald and very pale, wearing a long leather coat and had piercings on every inch of his face. He walked ahead of them. The girls could see there was very little furniture anywhere, their heads were flicking around at everything they saw as they went.

After reaching a bend they went right, the other direction the freaky piercing-guy was going. Through a doorless room they saw a tattooed man holding a huge iguana, he also stared as they walked by.

"Okay, here's our rooms." The door's number was missing, revealing chipped paint and the wood underneath. Amira had to count from a plaque five doors down. She opened the door to a room empty aside from a couple of beds. Holes in the dirty carpet revealed floorboards, there were small holes that shone light from the other room. Heidi stepped in slowly as Amira went to check the next door down before coming back. "Simon must be out talking to people, and I guess Lisa's helping the nurses with Timothy. There's a group of people getting high on spark rocks down the hall, but I think we'll be fine if we keep the door shut."

Heidi had stepped slowly to the bed, running her hands along the bumpy mattress. There may have been jutting springs and yet "I don't think I've ever spent so long without sleeping on a proper bed before…"

"Makes you appreciate the little things," Amira agreed. After closing the door she walked to the other bed and sat facing Heidi.

"It's scary to travel around for so long with no money on you, I'm not used to it…" Heidi looked up "How can you stand it here?"

"It's dark. A lot of wiring hasn't been replaced in so long that half the places don't have working lights." Amira looked up at the dim bulb above them. "Makes it easier to do this…" Amira flicked on her black hood. After she closed her eyes and started breathing deeply Heidi watched on closely. The shadows in the room started to pull toward her with each inhale and then they latched on. Amira almost vanished, a faint outline remained. She relaxed and became visible again "It's not dark enough in here."

"You have superpowers," Heidi breathed.

"Kinda. I've worked on my spiritual connection with Pluto a little, so I can use some of his power."

"You're a superhero!"

"No, Heidi-"

"The Phoenix was supposed to be my hero name! And now it turns out we're real-life superheroes!"

"No! Heidi…" Amira sighed "This isn't something you can use to fight with or in tense situations. For starters we got to be real calm and enter a sort of trance state."

"Okay," Heidi nodded, listening eagerly.

Amira shook her head but continued "Simon's probably mentioned how good I am at running and escaping. The truth is, I'm not some crazy escape artist. I'm just smart about it. Whenever I got caught and locked up in the past, I'd wait until I was alone and then meditate. They'd come back and notice I was gone, go into a havoc looking for me all over the building, all I needed to do was wait until it was safe and then I could walk out. No working cameras here and they'd leave my cell open for me."

"Wow…"

"It's a small trick. All I can do is camouflage in darkness. Concealing is what darkness does, so after meditating on that aspect of my element I was able to figure out how to do this… It's how I do it that makes this skill useful. I couldn't do it when Kurushi had me because I was in a cage under bright lights and being watched at all times."

"That's pretty crafty."

"Yes. No one knows I can do this." Amira leaned forward seriously.

"What? No one?"

"Not Magris. Not Simon. No one. Keeping this small trick secret is what kept me safe those times in the past."

"So you're telling me because I might be able to do something similar?" Heidi surmised and saw the affirmation in Amira's pale eyes. "Okay… what about the cards they send us? You were surprised I didn't know what castles were?"

"You don't seem to know how the phoenixes work. We chosens share a connection with our chosen phoenix. We have to meditate on them to increase our bond and share the phoenix's power. If Mars was only sending you cards set-by-set it means he had no other way of helping you because you weren't reaching out to him at all."

"I thought I had to increase his power with effects and make him use meteorburn three times…"

"No. That's a very roundabout way of doing it, you could've just meditated on him and built up a connection that way."

"Oh… well… nobody ever told me this!"

"Us four knew all this before we separated, the Dawn of the Phoenix leader told us."

"Narciel…" Heidi muttered bitterly "Makes sense he'd keep this from me. When he taught me the lessons were only about gameplay and creature lore…"

"Hmm no, he didn't want you to know all this power you had access to" Amira replied.

"He was working for Urobach, but he's dead now."

"Oh? The water duellist exposed him to us before we all left."

"So…" Heidi went quiet as she remembered the faces of the chosens in photos she'd seen that day so long ago "You four all got to meet each other?"

"Yes. We didn't really get to know each other, but we were together for a time."

"I see…" Heidi's exhaustion was suddenly rather forceful. She'd started to relax for the first time since Timothy got his injuries, the bed was comfortable under her weight and time was only dragging closer to dawn. She fought to keep her eyes open "So… the powers! What more can you tell me about our superpowers?"

Amira sighed again "I can sense death through Pluto. When there's enough death in one place I can sometimes sense other things too. Sometimes I soak in darkness energy from creatures and this… possession happens, Pluto corrupts me and sort of takes over. Heidi, you can barely keep your eyes open. We should get some sleep."

"But wait… what do you think I'll be able to do?" she was close to zonking out right there.

"I don't know…" Amira's voice started to sound far away. "Sorry Heidi, but I can't think how subtle manipulation of fire is going to be helpful in any relevant way…"

She turned slowly onto her side, head hitting the pillow "Still… would be cool…"

Amira smiled at her "goodnight, Heidi." The darkness duellist lay back and threw the thin cover over her, hoping to get some shut-eye as well.

What followed for the fire duellist was a deep and dreamless sleep. Until…

"Yoohoo sunshine! Wakey-wakey!" It was Simon shaking her. Heidi was still outrageously tired, she swiped at him and he jumped back with a laugh. "Or don't you want to know how Timothy's doing?"

His name floated down, bumping and jostling parts of her mind until the memory came back. Heidi sat up with a groan, scratched at the crust under her eyes.

"Is she awake now?" Lisa stood by the doorway. Amira was sitting on her bed, running fingers through her hair. Simon stood bent over with that obnoxious smile on his face.

"How long did we sleep?" Heidi looked over at Amira but it was Simon who answered.

"About seven hours, it's almost midday."

Heidi groaned, she felt like she'd slept one hour "We better find somewhere to wash up. How's Timothy?"

"They put plasters on his arms. Wrapped his other injuries in gauze," Lisa responded.

"I want to see him."

"He needs time to rest up…"

"I'm his girlfriend! I want to see him!"

"He specifically asked to not be seen by anyone," Lisa admitted with reluctance.

"Oh," Heidi realised what that meant. He didn't want to see her. "Okay. If that's what he wants. I mean, he was already pushing everyone away before this happened. And now…" she clenched her blanket.

The others were quiet until Simon cleared his throat "so yeah, Diego wants to talk to us about his plan to stop Magris and the other lieutenants and we assured him you'd want to be there. So lets go, wash up, get a bite to eat, and make a plan. After all we don't want to keep Lisa from her new lover~" he teased and went to join her at the door. The chosens stood and followed.

"That's quite enough. You almost sound jealous…" Lisa remarked on their way out the door.

"Me? Jealous of Diego? He aint bad but if we're in a competition for you it's no contest." The blonde put his hands behind his head as they walked.

"You really are a narcissist," her dyed ponytail shook with her head.

Behind them Heidi walked with Amira, still picking the last of the crumbs from her eyes.


AN: We finally got a duel! ...but at what cost? Alas! Not dear, sweet Timothy! What plan will the youngsters concoct for their sabotage mission? And why the freaking hell did Heidi go so long without understanding the basic fundamentals of her phoenix and abilities as a chosen? I mean, girl really? You could've.. that would've... ah phooey! Thanks to Acuma and Azure who have been reviewing so quickly! I do have development plans to give my characters further depth, so I hope you like those. And also we have a review from Shuriken who admits to liking my seventh chapter. Hopefully that enjoyment continues! Arigatou ~