Jamil begins Book 6 being unimpressed by Leona, reluctantly paired up with him and not looking pleased when one of the first things Leona does it throw one of his hair accessories into Tartarus in order to estimate the depth.
They begin with Jamil trying to protect Leona from potential hazards (“You’re the second prince of the Sunset Savanna and a housewarden. It only makes sense that I should take point…I’m worried, okay? I wouldn’t be able to bear the responsibility if anything happened to you…”) and Leona dismissing him.
Jamil consistently tries to take on dangerous roles by himself and act as a shield for Leona, and they get into an argument when they are attacked by a phantom that Leona had been trying to lure into a passage but Jamil interferes, getting injured in his attempt to protect Leona.
Jamil is not pleased when Leona observes that he has been “saddled with extra weight” by partnering with Jamil, with Jamil saying that Leona will “be in for a very rude awakening if he keeps acting like this. And then he’ll rue the day he ignored my advice.”
In the next section Jamil realizes that he is burning through his magic reserves and must conserve his energy, but still disapproves of Leona breaking open cages and handling phantoms on his own.
When Jamil tells Leona to stay away while he investigates a seemingly empty cage Leona saves him from an attacking phantom, and Jamil reluctantly admits that continuing to work with him is “tactically sound.”
Leona sends Jamil on ahead to find the thunder spear during an attack by the ice titan and Jamil only reluctantly fetches Leona as he has been instructed rather than try to wield the weapon by himself (Leona: “Looks like this time a certain good boy managed to keep his hand outta the cookie jar”).
While descending into Tartarus Jamil offers to carry the thunder spear after it has recharged and Leona loses his patience, though he still saves Jamil from another phantom attack.
Leona explains, “You’re not being thoughtful or careful. You’re just bein’ pushy,” and accurately evaluates Jamil as one who looks down on those around him while still being “a far cry” from the two second-year housewardens: “So what do you bring to the table?”
Jamil continues to disapprove of the way that Leona deals with the phantoms in Tartarus but gradually comes to realize that Leona’s methodology is effective, whether he likes it or not.
After some teasing Jamil, too, loses his patience, telling Leona that he has no idea what he has been through. But Leona is perceptive, as we see in a vignette where he reads Jamil’s facial expression well enough to accurately guess that Jamil has unpleasant opinions about him and even that he is a danger to Kalim.
Leona says that he knows a little about what Jamil is dealing with, and points out that Kalim’s money gives him a special form of power, as money is the greatest source of charisma there is, which Jamil has not considered.
Later Jamil asks if he is being a burden to Leona and Leona, in a moment of being more perceptive than even he might realize, asks, “Were you repressed growin’ up or something?”
Leona uses Jack and Ruggie as examples of how Jamil, too, can still do better than he is (“After all, you’re not like me”), giving Jamil a lot to think about: “Is he right about me…?”
As Jamil tires out he loses his customer-service demeanor, and Leona says, “It’s just you’re showin’ your emotions more. You’re not bothering to hide your annoyance…it’s a lot better than your usual, sycophantic attitude.”
When Leona teases Jamil about giving him extra work Jamil starts to apologize and Leona responds, “You can’t let some random quip destroy your self-esteem. You know better than that,” later reflecting, “I can’t tell if he’s thick-skinned or just the opposite.”
Jamil starts to reevaluate his opinion of Leona in Tartarus, admitting that he is impressed: “He’s got more than magical talent, too. He also has a vast breadth of knowledge and calm judgment…Leona’s magic really is incredible. It’s so potent and efficient. And I thought I could protect this guy?”
In their second battle with the ice titan Jamil finally allows Leona to lead the fight without argument, and later thanks him, admitting that he has been arrogant. Having realized what it is that Leona was trying to teach him Jamil says–“I’ve always judged those around me as stupid, incompetent, lazy, or just plain good-for-nothing,” (Leona: “Wonder who that last one was aimed at”).
When Leona asks if he sees himself more clearly now Jamil says, “Yes. I haven’t even caught up to my peers. Which means…I have more room to grow than anyone else, right?
(Leona: “Hahaha! Listen to you!” – Jamil: “Heh. Didn’t you say shamelessness was a strength?”)
Leona again teases Jamil, ordering him to find food, refusing plain water, and demanding a bed.
Once Leona starts preparing orders for when they return to school Jamil finally interrupts, possibly catching on to Leona’s sense of humor, and saying, “I’m not about to accept a life spent attending to someone else. I never have, and I never will!”
Jamil and Leona’s overlap in Book 6 comes up in Book 7 when, watching Jamil battle through darkness to reach Malleus, Leona asks if he is not running off on his own again. When Jamil explains that he is delegating certain fights to Kalim Leona says, ” Considering the way you kept spinning your wheels on the Island of Woe, that’s some impressive progress.”
Jamil responds, “It’s called personal growth,” saying that he will show Leona what he can really do.
amil’s sense of hierarchy and societal expectations does not keep him from insulting Leona, such as during Fairy Gala when he comments on Leona just barely learning to walk on two legs. When Leona says he doesn’t appreciate the attitude after he rescued the group Jamil responds, “Are you sure that wasn’t just you doing your normal thing?”
After Ortho reveals that he had Leona play a video game that is popular with housecats and literal lions Jamil represses a laugh, but when Idia and Vil tease Leona for it he silently reflects, “These guys…they close in like sharks smelling blood in the water”.
This observation does not keep him from mocking Leona himself later on, however, and he comments on how the failed password of “dour lion” was “so spot on” (Leona: “Everyone’s a comedian, huh?”), and reminds Leona about Vil and Idia “having a field day at (his) expense.”
When Sally refers to Leona as “such a well-mannered young gentleman” during NBC Jamil responds, “Are we talking about the same person?”
Jamil and Leona seem to get along during NBC, with Jamil watching Sebek turn into a pumpkin from a distance and refusing to step in because Leona was already en route (Leona: “Yeah, you guys all give me extra work”).
When Skully begins to have an emotional breakdown Leona orders Jamil to “get a little rough” if he has to in order to knock him out and keep him from over blotting and Jamil immediately agrees.
When Sebek insists that he deserves credit for capturing Skully, Jamil and Leona come together to tease him about telling Malleus “about the pitiful way he was rolling around when he was a pumpkin.”
They come together again later on to scold Sebek for acting so recklessly, getting captured and then saved and never saying a word of thanks, successfully coercing Sebek into saying, “…you have my thanks” in small font. At the end of the event they join together in teasing Sebek some more about Zero’s attachment to him making him look more dependable (Sebek: “These two make everything so difficult…”).
Leona possibly references Jamil during Playfulland when Kalim volunteers to join in a game requiring physical prowess, saying, “If you hurt your hand, SOME people’d never let me hear the end of it.”
It seems that Leona would have preferred having Jamil join in the group for the Cloudcalling tournament, but as they did know where he was at the time they had to settle for Kalim.
Leona tells Kalim not to tell anyone from his hometown about the tournament and “especially not Jamil,” using the excuse of, “Jack’s gonna be feelin’ all ashamed about this, so we don’t want word spreading” (Vil: “…If Jamil were to find out, he’d definitely put a stop to this.”)
When Kalim says that he is excited to show Jamil his lion garb outfit for the tournament Leona says that Kalim ought to take it back to NRC (“Jamil will love that”) and Lilia observes, “Poor Jamil. He’ll be gritting his teeth while Kalim brags.”
After seeing Grim consume a skewer of shrimp (“He ate it shells and all”) Kalim decides to do the same but Leona refuses to let him, saying, “Think of poor Jamil.”
After the tournament Jamil reunites with Kalim, asking what he was doing there in the first place, and Kalim reveals it was supposed to be a secret.
Jami; responds, “So someone swore you to secrecy?,” and accurately accuses Leona of being behind it all. Leona responds, “You make me sound so shady. All I did was allow my ‘friend’ here to do me a kindness. Isn’t that right, Kalim?,” and Kalim agrees, saying that Jamil should try the tournament next time, too.
Leona agrees that Jamil would “make a great player.” (Jamil: “I NEVER want to visit Sunset Savanna again.”)
Twisted Wonderland Reference Note 