After having promised their mother, Layla, not to use their djinn powers without consulting her first, John and Philippa are leading pretty normal lives.

When Phillipa enters the Djinnverso tournament (also called Djinnversoctoannular, a djinn game of bluffing with 7 astaralgi, or 8-sided dice, the object being to undermine luck) unbidden events are set into motion and she is framed as a cheater.

Philippa discovers that the Blue Djinn's powers to be beyond good and evil come from the Garden of Eden's Tree of Logic.

He is aided by two of his uncles, Alan and Neil, who were turned into dogs by his mother for attempting the murder of their brother, John and Philippa's father, Edward, for his fortune.

In addition, John attains a copy of The Bellili Scrolls, a map to the palace, and of its underground locale, Iravotum.

As Ayesha knew she would, Layla offered herself to become the next Blue Djinn in place of Philippa; Nimrod is also privy to this due to his own conclusions.