Hey, Ryuu here! Sorry I hadn't updated like I said I would and fooled you guys with that hideous author's note. Hope you guys have no hard feelings? Anyways, I need you guys to know THIS SKIPS A YEAR and there will be a part two to this chapter. Pictures of some of these peeps are in the profile under my 'news' down below. I will review your reviews, favorites, and follows down below. ^^
Ryuu
"No, why in all of Solomon, would you do that, dane?"
"Shut up, lemme do what I want for once, dayo!"
"Both of you be quiet, I'm trying to read."
"Nee-sama, I'm tired."
"Chibi's right, when are we getting there?"
"Can you both stop being such babies?"
"B-But I'm only six!"
"Yeah, I'm only fifteen!"
"Why do you get the the last piece, dayo!"
"I'm older than you, dane."
"Oi, why don't I get the piece! I am your aunt and technically your superior!"
"Shut up granny, dayo!"
"What did you just call me!"
"Now, now, you guys, let's ca-calm down. Ehehe..."
"SHUT UP!"
"I-I was only tr-trying to hel- WAH! WHY ARE YOU ALL SO MEAN TO ME!"
"Fuck, don't cry, dayo. You're twenty-three for crying out loud!"
"You shouldn't yell at a lady, dane."
"At least I'm trying to do something here!"
"WAH!"
"Seriously, I can't even read a book in peace."
"Nee-sama, my head is starting to hurt.."
"O-Oi, chibi, don't you dare fai- Gah! Damn, now I gotta carry ya! Oi, wake up!"
"..zzz..."
"Dammit Chibi!"
Alima's eye twitched as she heard the commotion behind her, unintentionally letting out a dark wave of aura that flushed them all quiet and froze them, making them look like horrified statues.
The now thirteen-year old turned around to look at them all.
How did it turn out like this?
Alima sighed as the child on her back fell asleep, a mask hiding the bottom portion of his face from view. The breeze started to pick up as she trudged on, the boy's long blonde hair tickling her shoulders and neck, though the bandages were in place as usual.
She thought back to the few hours before and sighed in false exasperation, "You're quite a handful, aren't you?" The boy muttered a few words that fell deaf to her ears before turning silent once more.
Three hours ago
Alima slammed the face into the ground with undaunting force. She cursed as she looked around, her orange eyes darting from one corpse to another in the carnage. Her eyes immediately shot over to where she heard rustling and quickly walked over, grabbing the hilt of her sheathed sword. Her face was blank, but her eyes widened in surprise when she saw a small child shivering in fear as he looked at her, his body in a fetal position as he tried to cover up as much of his body as possible. Her eyes quickly went to the scars and wounds on his body, the shackles making a sound she never thought could be so disgusting.
Alima unsheathed her sword, scaring the boy even further as whimpers filled the air along with the stench of heavy blood. She rose her sword before slashing down quickly and looking at her handiwork. The chains were cut and the cuffs around the boy's wrists and ankles fell to the floor, off of his marred skin. Alima saw his eyes widen as he felt nothing hurt him and cautiously look up at the girl who was sheathing her short sword once more.
She crouched down to his level, but he quickly scampered backwards, hitting his back on a tree trunk behind him. Alima bit back a sigh and took a good look at the boy. He was no older that five or six with dark blonde hair that flew everywhere, frightened grey eyes looking at her with uncertainty and confusion. His skin was naturally tanned into a bronze-like color and a scar came from the tip of his ear to the corner of his mouth on the right side of his face that looked deep and already about a year old.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Alima tried to use a soothing tone, but it sounded cold, making the boy flinch. She raked a hand through her hair and sighed. This wouldn't be easy, Fritz was always the sociable one. Hell, even Shambal's kids were less sociopaths than her. Shambal's freaking kids. Alima saw him freeze as he realized what she said and looked at her with confusion outweighing fear, "Look, what's your name?"
He looked down quickly and didn't make eye contact with her when he muttered something. She furrowed her brows, "Speak louder." Inwardly wincing at what sounded like an order, she strained her ears to hear his words, " I don't have a name."
Alima frowned, but quickly retracted it, "Well then, how about I give you one?"
His eyes snapped towards her and she restrained her urge to look away, "I want you to be free and was going to take you back to your family, but it seems you don't have one. So I'll give you a name."
The boy's eyes shined slightly, "A name..?"
Alima nodded, "I'll name you Montz, unless you want anothe- Urgh!"
She took a step back as to balance herself as the boy jumped and hugged her around her midriff tightly. Alima bit her lip as he looked at her with tears in his eyes, "Thank you... Nee-san."
.
.
3
2
1
.
"Eh?" Alima looked at him with wide eyes, "EHH!?"
She tried to push him off. For a five year old, he was stronger than he looked, "W-Wait, what do you mean 'Nee-san'?"
Montz gave her a pitiful look, "S-So you're going to leave me a-after naming me? T-That's cruel.."
She was taken aback by his expression and choice of words and shook her hands, "N-no, bu-"
"Yay, you're my nee-san then!"
Alima's eye twitched.
..How did she get into these kinds of situations?
...
"So, he-Montz I mean, stayed with her?"
"Yes, in fact, he was quite good with words and got what he wanted when Alima didn't really mind what he wanted."
"Wait, how did he know that she was a girl?"
"They say he was a magician, others say he was just guessing, some said he could tell by the sound of her voice. No one really knows how he figured it out."
"...For some reason, I don't believe that."
...
Montz opened his eyes wearily and yawned, a slightly heavy blanket put over his body as he laid down on the floor. He then realized he was alone, scaring him senseless. His breathing started to accelerate as he started to panick. Where was the nice nee-san? Was he wrong about trusting her? Did she disguise her Rukh so well that he couldn't sense what she was actually feeling? No, that wasn't possible, but then why did she leave him alone? Did she change her mind that quickly and leave him because he was useless baggage for someone like her? Maybe she dee-
"Ah, what's a little kid doing here?" Montz jumped, but quickly tried to become as small as possible when he saw a large male in front of him staring at him with a small scowl on his face. He whimpered and tried to get away, but he was roughly grabbed by the hair, forcing him to retaliate with a weak scream. "Hm?" He smirked victoriously as he saw the scars around the boy's wrists and ankles, "It seems the brat used to be a slave." Montz gasped in pain as the older male pulled with more force, "Maybe we could sell you for a bit more- HYAA!"
A sword sliced clean through the wrist of the man so quick that they didn't even see it coming, nevertheless hear anyone, "What do you think you're doing?" Orange eyes looked at them half-lidded that made them look lazy, though her pupils had a slight hardness to them, something that made the two cower in total fear.
A pungent smell entered their senses, making Montz's throat lurch. Aliima looked unaffected though, instead pointing her sword at the man who was wailing on the floor as blood poured out, "You dare try that again, or any of your comrades," She spat out the word, "I'll do more than enough damage to make sure you all can't do anything ever again."
The flab-filled man whimpered and tried to get up, but fell on his side. He tried a multitude of times before Alima got sick and tired of watching him, instead slicing his head off. Montz watched in horror as the head rolled over to him, a blank look in their eyes. "A-Ah..." He made a choking noise before throwing up all the pieces of light food Alima had fed him.
The said girl sighed before going over to pat his back when he slapped her hand away from him. His eyes looked at her with mixed emotions of fear, disgust, pain, slight trauma, and other slight things like happiness, thankfulness, but what was most prominent was the lost look in his eyes, the discomfort and all of his trust gone, "Don't touch me."
Her eyes narrowed at the boy, "Montz, do you know why I did that."
He glared at her, "No, and I don't care. You didn't just kill him, no you just had to cut his hand off before slicing his head off like it were nothing didn't you! You're just like them, a monster! You don't even know how to value lives-"
"Then what would you have done," The scent of carnage along with bodily fluids was now forgotten although it laid heavily in the air as he gave her a look, "What would you have done seeing someone you'd just saved from men like him," She started to take small, but meaningful steps towards the boy, "grabbing a fistful of their hair and look at them with money grabbing eyes, ready to sell them into what they had just gotten freedom from. What if they were so scared, looked so abandoned, that they were ready to give up as they screamed in pain," Alima's steps were quickening, "What if that child was only your age and was about to leave this disgustingly intricate world of lies, love, pain, and knowledge? What if," She was in front of him now, a breath away from his face, "What if they were about to be lost without ever having the chance of being found? What if that child was just like you, scared, alone, different, and special."
Montz looked at her with teary eyes, making her freeze. She didn't mean to scare the ki- "Oof!" Alima took a step back as she regained her balance and looked down at the boy hugging her thighs with bone crushing strength, "N-NEE-SAMA," She blinked. Did she hear him right? "I PROMISE I WON'T DO THAT AGAIN, I PROMISE ON M-Y LIFE! YOU'RE NOT A MONSTER NEE-SAMA," Nope, it seems she didn't hear incorrectly.. dammit, "I PROMISE, I PROMISE I'LL BE GOOD! J-JUST, JU-WAHHHHH!"
Alima sighed exasperatedly at the child. She just leaves for a few minutes to scout out a town and when she comes back, she kills a slave trader and finds that somehow she made him want to stick to her person even more... such amazing luck she had. (Note the sarcasm.) Now she had to deal with the kid instead of leaving her at Reim with Shambal like she was going to.
"Oi, ch-chotto matte," Alima pushed back the boy as gently as she could and looked at him with wide eyes, "Montz, since," She took a deep breath through her nose and kneeled in front of him, "Since when have your eyes and hair been this crimson color?" His eyes widened, "Eh? He frowned, "What are you talking about nee-san? You're being weird, I'm not a Fanalis."
Alima took out a small compact mirror and gave it to him for him to take. He took it curiously, but quickly dropped it, "W-What?" She bit back a question and pushed it to the back of her mind, instead patting the boy on the head, "Don't worry about how, you can figure it out when you settle down."
He smiled mischievously, "You mean when we settle down." Alima rolled her eyes but gave him a small, barely visible smile, but it got what it was meant to send, making Montz grin widely at her, "You know nee-sama, you look more like a guy when you smile like that, but it's cuter than a girl's." She twitched, "How do you even know this stuff if you were a slave since birth?"
Montz flinched before he gave a secretive smile, "I may be a six-year old slave nee-sama, but I'm not blind." Alima shivered, remembering a certain purple haired man in his early twenties and the boy that was also a Fanalis slave, before snickering. Montz looked at her curiously but she shook her head, deeming it nothing.
It seems now that she and that 'Sinbad' both were quite similar in a way. A spine-shivering shudder made it's way onto her. Yeah, no. That man was made her feel like a child, as if she were five all over again. And it made her feel disgusting.
...
The doors creaked open and a male of around nearly six foot walked in, red hair flaming behind him and red eyes staring straight. He walked with finesse no one in the slums could ever walk naturally with, and his aura was downright serious. The man, around his very early twenties, bowed before the Emperor before rising up, "Emperor Koutoku."
The elder man in front of him watched his every move, "You've come at the perfect time Kouen." He gestured to the servant maid in the corner to usher out with a sheathed short sword, "Tell me, is this..." Koutoku eyed the five held back prisoners behind him, "yours?"
The first was a male with a scowl on his face around a few years younger than Kouen, with sharp features and dark eyes and hair, though his eyes were a light caramel brown. The second was another male that looked very similar to the boy next to him, most likely a twin, with a shorter, neater hairstyle and darker, milk chocolate eyes. The one in the center was a woman who looked around her mid-twenties with light brown hair and equally light brown eyes, though having a mild need of a growth serum and looked like a small child next to the boys next to her (seriously, she was only around 5'2, 5'3 if she was lucky and the two twins looked around 5'11). These three seemed to be part of a group, though the other two were highly strange and peculiar, but partners of their own.
The boy next to the woman was around fifteen with an average height (he guessed around 5'6, give or take a few centimeters) with the strangest tone of orange eyes that seemed to be half-lidded and messy ink blue hair that nearly looked black on the top of his head as if he never touched it after getting out of bed. The child next to him tried to stay as close with the boy as much as possible as he had a mask that covered half of his face and red eyes and short darker hair.
Kouen stepped over and approached the leather sheathed sword, an interest piquing inside of him. He was about to pick it up when the mood suddenly shifted to a heavier atmosphere, "Don't touch my blade."
It was the strangely colored boy that had spoken and everyone turned to look at him. Some with fear, like the trio right next to them and the soldiers trying not to shake in their boots. Some looked at him with outrage, like the men of the court and the generals around, though the more ignorant ones didn't back off from their obliviousness to the change in atmosphere. Some looked at her with curiosity, like the emperor (though he hid it well), the first prince Kouen (after all, how would such a person have strange coloring and have a connection so strong to a sword and had the guts to tell off the first prince of Kou?), and the boy right next to him that had a glint of excitement in his childish eyes.
One of the ignorant men stood up, "How dare you speak to the royal blood lineage of Kou i-"
"You're quite correct, they only rely on their blood lineage to gain strength in this empire, do they not?"
Another rose in response to quickly rebuttal the boy, "You dare to speak up to one of the wealthiest families in all of Kou!?"
"Wealth, money, paper, it's all the same thing. Just having a large number doesn't mean people should do as they wish for you just because you give them a vast amount."
Again, the teenager quickly countered their words and more started to speak up, irritated of how cocky this child was to them, the strongest in their nation. Just a name with some background? Just something you have a lot of that others do not? How dare the little rat tell them what was what. They were the educated ones, the smarter ones.
"Well it seems your education may have been poor in the context of common sense and courtesy since you do not even know how to address me correctly or tell me your name before you ask for my own. Even a snake could do better."
That did it. Everyone burst, forgetting that the emperor was there along with the first prince, forgetting that the child was even a prisoner on trial. They didn't notice even when the Imperial Oracle came in through the door. No, all they seemed to care about was their relinquishing pride that was slowly (coughquicklycough) deteriorating in front of this, this vermin that doesn't even have a proper pedigree. But no matter what they yelled, the boy stayed unaffected, instead staring straight at the first prince, who's lip twitched in amusement over the fact that nearly everyone, no everyone in the jury seats were all yelling, screaming curses, and spitting at the boy who ignored all of this after he got bored of rebuttling, instead taking to staring at the first prince, eyes daring him to touch the sword in front of him.
"Silence!" A hand rose from the emperor and everyone quickly stopped at his word, sitting down with ashamed, shocked faces as they looked at the boy vehemently before muttering apologies to the emperor in their head. Everyone waited to see what the man would do in a tense silence, the seven year old child next to the boy bowing his head in exasperation of the commotion his friend had just put them through.
Nothing was said before Koutoku burst into laughter, scaring the jury, the three people next to the two, and bewildering the said pair as they watched, wondering of his next motives. After a few minutes of his laughter, a grin grew on his face, "You," He looked at the boy, "Are you stupid or suicidal."
The boy shrugged in response, ignoring the gawking he received from the casual movement, "I would say both, but I seem to lean more towards the 'bored idiot' at times rather than the 'psychopathic suicidal'." The emperor roared in another bout of laughter, instilling fear into every single person who knew of his persona except for his son, who only turned tense as he listened the exchange whilst only looking at the boy.
"Tell me," He looked at the boy, "What's your name."
"My apologies for I do not know of your own. I prefer staying away from politics whenever I can avoid it." He narrowed his eyes at the child, "I am Koutoku Ren, the Emperor of the Kou Empire. And I will not ask for your name again. You're testing my patience."
He nodded, "My name will be confidential until all five of us receive a full release without any minor problems."
Koutoku stared down at the boy with his beady eyes, looking for any fear in his soul, but saw none, only what seemed to be determination not to give out as much information as they could. The officials held their breaths, frightened of what will happen, but also wishful that the emperor would execute all of the five on the spot.
After what seemed like an eternity, Koutoku smirked, "Only this once. Though, when I see you again," His eyes narrowed, "You will become part of the Kou military force along with whatever party you may bring with you. But, if you are truly not what I think you are masquerading as," A vicious smirk fell upon his face, "You will become part of the first prince's harem." Alima choked on her spit for a second, but acted as if nothing had happened. She glanced at the first prince in her peripheral vision and quickly didn't look back. His eyes looked hungry for information, as if she were a puzzle just ready to be solved by him. "Now, I will not let you test what minimum patience I have. Your name."
Alima untied the tight rope on the back of her hands and let the rope fall to the floor, "Alima Nader." He nodded, "Very well then, take your sword and those things and leave."
Alima didn't have to be told twice and walked normally over to her sword, sliding it into place on her right side of her ropes, which had to be tightened quite a few times over the years, now having a part of it dangle at the back of her left thigh down to the back of her knee. The girl then walked back to see Montz had already freed the three who looked at them suspiciously, but followed the girl anyways. After all, she was their only escape. Alima nearly sighed in content as she left, feeling the cool weight of the sword right next to her along with the entity of the djinn.
Guards, no matter how scared they were, had escorted them out of the castle by the emperor's order, slamming the door quickly behind them.
Montz shrugged, "' Don't blame 'em. I would've run too if I were them."
Alima mentally rolled her eyes, instead choosing to focus on what was more important, "You three," They snapped to attention, the mature-looking one calculating about her, the girl hiding behind him, and the other guy giving her a ferocious grin and ready for a fight, "Hungry?"
The trio blinked, unexpecting the question. The one in front shook his head, "We're fine on our own. We don't need to take up on your offer. After all, we aren't hung-"
Two consecutive growls intervened with the baritone decline, making him glare at the two behind him with icy glares as they looked at him sheepishly. He sighed, before nodding in defeat, "We will appreciate it very much if you did."
Alima shrugged, "Montz needs to eat anyways."
The three were confused at the name before the short boy glared up at them, "Oi, I'm Montz. Don't be such meanies!" He stuck a tongue out at them which Alima caught and twisted, making his eyes widen as he screamed and begged for mercy, crocodile tears falling from his eyes.
Alima eyed him for a moment before dropping his tongue, not even bothering to wipe her fingers off.
...
"So.. what exactly happened with the Koutoku dude and Alima? And who are those weird guys grandpa. I wanna know so bad."
"What happened there is a mystery that will unravel itself in time Nevaeh, and those 'weird guys' aren't just any people."
"Ha? How did they get into that mess with a bunch of strangers and what do you mean?"
"...Well Montz had said he wanted to try some Kou cuisine and since Alina had kept them in the outskirts of Kou in the forest, they went on their way to a restaurant where they saw a commotion. The three were fighting what seemed like soldiers. Montz had thought they were fighting slave traders, fought with them, dragged Alima into the mess (all she did was dodge and parry blows though), and they were caught by the outnumbering soldiers and sent to have a jury in front of the Emperor, who had felt it would be a good day to play the role of judge at that time. Quite interesting what fate could do, don't you think my dear Nevaeh?"
"I guess, I still don't get how those people are important."
"Oh hush and let me continue."
...
"So your name is Ztec," The older boy nodded, "Your name is Astrik," The younger twin nodded, "And you're their aunt, Nala, even though you're younger than the two by a year." A solid nod came from the girl, who smiled weakly at the boy in front of her, Montz.
"Well I'm Montz," he pointed at himself, "and this is Alima, my nee-sama," The three took a spit-take on their water, drenching the poor boy who was still pointing, albeit weakly, at the older girl.
"Wa-Wait a second, so you're a girl?" Alima looked at Astrik without the slightest show of offense, "Does it really matter?"
He waved his hands, "B-b-b-but you're so flat!" Montz snickered as Alima looked away with a hint of a blush on her cheeks, "Actually, nee-same hides it with her bandages, but she's really quite the looker if you see her." At this, all three of them spluttered.
Alima shrugged, "I'm not pretty, don't over exaggerate on how I look just because you've seen me before." The way she worded the sentence made then choke on their food even more. "Now, I need to go pay for the food." As she got up, Montz whispered for them to watch her walk and saw the slightly feline-like way she walked, her hips moving from side to side.
Astrik shoved a bunch of napkins up Nala's nose as she started spurting everywhere, cursing the luck they had. He looked over at his brother and saw him try to hide a blush, "Oh, are you thinking naughty thoughts about Alima?"
Ztec rose an eyebrow at him, a piece of chicken in his mouth. His twin deflated as he saw the heat was from the spicy chicken and frazzled his brother further.
Alima beckoned them over so they could walk out and walk the streets of Kou. She hummed in thought, "So you guys were part of the Zhou Empire, didn't like how your country went so willingly to the Kou, and became rebels?"
They all nodded, "That's ridiculous." They swiftly looked at her with incredulous faces, though Astrik's held one of anger, "How dare you! We didn't like how we were given up so easily. We should have fought for our freedom-"
"And lost many lives in the process, nearly destroy themselves before going to defeat when the Kou finally got the country where they wanted it to be? So many people's lives were saved, but the only choice you had to pay was to be part of Kou."
"How could you talk as if you were there. You don't even have a family!"
Ztec grabbed his twin's shoulder tightly in warning. Alima gave him a shrug, "I guess I don't really remember them. Who I do remember though, are the people who took me under their wing and taught me to be the best I could. They were sorta like a family. So I could say I have one, but I could never say that I could want anything else." She took a breath, "I would want my family to be safe and angry at me rather than dead and only myself or someone else alive to cry and sob about how they all died. I would rather they curse me than be hurt just because of stubbornness." Alima looked over to see the trio less tense, Astrik looking down at the floor with a solemn face. He then looked at her and grinned, "You know, you're not that half bad Alima, dayo!"
His eyes widened as a blush appeared on his face. Alima rose an eyebrow as Nala snickered and Ztec twitched, "Dammit Astrik, we were almost rid of that and now we got it again, dane!"
Montz burst into laughter as he heard Ztec. Apparently, that made it a domino effect, making Nala fall to the floor laughing as Ztec and Astrik argued who's fault it was for getting their speech impediment back. Alima rolled my eyes as I looked around.
The four had gotten to the outskirts of Kou once more and were in the forest. The sun was starting to set so Alima, the only sane person in the group, started getting ready an average sized fire pit and gathered a few bits of wood before lighting the fire.
When she looked at the sun, it was nearly nightfall. Alima looked over to the group to see everyone somehow in a large fight. Her eye twitched, "Whoever doesn't find dinner doesn't eat."
They all froze and looked at her as if she were telling them to kill an innocent baby who had done nothing wrong but being born. She winced at the metaphor, scolding herself before speaking once more as she turned the rabbit around on her stick, "Well, I guess you guys don't want to eat."
They ran as fast as they could, making Alima give a slight smirk in victory, biting out of the rabbit.
"Solomon my fucking ass you piece of shit, dayo!"
"How dare you say such words in front of a child!"
"I've heard worse before, Nala. If you heard what I have, you wouldn't even bother with what Astrik just said."
"Oi, respect your elders why don't you, dayo!"
"Only when you do."
"I agree with Montz, dane."
"You little pie-"
"Finish that and Alima will cut your ball sacks, cook them into soup and make you eat it."
"UWAHH!"
Alima sighed in content. The breeze was really relaxing that night.
She ignored the yells and far away screams.
Yeah, really relaxing night.
I hope you guys enjoyed that. It took me a little, but it's longer than what I usually write so I hope you guys can forgive me! ^^"
Anyways, thanks to those who followed (IwasawaKitsuneko, Kokoro-chizu chan, Konno Miharu, Stellar Nymph, and Twilight Dark Angel), favorited (IwasawaKitsuneko, Kokoro-chizu chan, Stellar Nymph, and Twilight Dark Angel), and reviewed (Remnae[guest])!
Response:
Remnae[guest]:I'm glad you thoroughly enjoy my story! It's fine being critical, it makes me a better writer and yourself, a better reader! ^^ I agree with what you're saying. I kinda didn't do a good job of explaining, but that's practically what happened with Alima at her early age. Her parents were preoccupied and were purposefully left with handfuls so they didn't look at their daughter much by caravan members. And yeah, that's what I thought too, but this is Magi, we've got slaves as an easy way of money, the caravan probably got a lot from a strangely colored girl like Alima. And yes, as you can see, I brought Fritz back ^^
I agree, I'm always looking for mangas like that, but they turn out to be weaker or more sentimental than I'd like. And yes, I'm doing my best to show how Alima changes throughout her years as she grows older.
Yes, though I think he kinda asked for that since he never picked up on the hints even though they'd lived together for 9 months. That lucky butt was lucky Alima had a gift of sorts in gambling in the next chapter, ahahaha. I just thought that would be kinda funny if she was better than him just by watching how he failed.
And she was only 12 or 13 when she met him and he was around his early twenties man, so yeah. She was more intrigued by Masrur than by Sinbad and also the relationship the two have. That comes back up in this chapter. ^^Also, please don't call yourself a measly reader. This fanfic is written so I can get my thoughts out and you guys are the ones willing to read it. Your opinions are more worthy than mine. I might have a poll later on for maybe slight romance mixed in as Alima's pairing, maybe OC, maybe cannon. Who knows.
Mitsuyuki-Hime-
No problem! Though I hope you don't mind this late response. I was a bit tired and didn't see your review. Entirely my mistake! I hope I can make up for it. And thank you very much, you can see more of the connection in this chapter when Montz comes in. ^^ Also, sorry about the 'Flitz Fiasco'. My laptop auto-corrects it to that when I write so I have to make sure it's Fritz, not Flitz, every time. Last time I kinda forgot to... but I fixed it. And yeah, I fixed that in the editing and reviewing over of the chapter. That was albeit confusing in more ways than one, ne? Though Cimeries is a bit of a confusing character in my head. He's kinda... warped. You'll see what I mean when he comes out again. I'm planning on not letting the Djinn go unnoticed/have less screen-time than what idea my head is wrapping around. Again, sorry for the late response and no omake this chapter, but I hope you can forgive me! (From now on I'll be extra careful to see if I missed anyone in reviews and such!)
Thank you all for reading so much. See you in the next chapter!
Peace!
-Ryuu