Akatsuki: The Second Act (Magi Ja'far X Fem Reader)

Potential

(Y/n)

The last bit of sun slips below the horizon, dipping the courtyard into an inky darkness.

That's the first thing I notice – the pitch blackness. None of the torches in the courtyard are lit like they usually are. All the other times I fought at night, I relied on any light source I could find. Even the moon slipping between clouds at night is enough for me to be able to see and fight. But turns out when Ja'far talked about learning to fight in "limited light", he meant "complete darkness".

The second thing I notice is the sound of a blade being drawn. I dodge just in time before it grazes me, only to realise that it was a mistake a second later. "Should've deflected the blade!" I scold myself as Ja'far's wires coil around my legs, pulling me down. But I know that even if I had thought about blocking the blade, I wouldn't have been able to see well enough to succeed.

But I'm not done yet. The wires pulled my legs to the right, which means that's where Ja'far probably is. Roughly judging his position, I grab the arrow from my back and fire an arrow, pleased to hear the sharp snap of Ja'far's blade breaking the shaft in half before it can reach him.

Good. He doesn't sound so far away. I swipe my bow outwards, successfully knocking him down. The wires slacken just slightly as he fell to the ground with a thud, but it was enough to give me a chance to free my legs. I get up, nocked an arrow, and rushed towards where Ja'far is.

Or, at least, where he was.

I'm too slow to react before he twists my arm behind my back and pins me down to the ground. No matter how hard I thrashed and struggled, it was useless. Whenever it comes down to a contest of brute strength, I mostly lose. Not to mention I was still drained from the magoi training this morning.

Ja'far

Finally, (y/n) stops struggling, letting me help her up. "Several months ago, you would've been able to keep up with me for a lot longer than that," I tell her. Even though I can't see her face in the dark, I'm pretty sure she's let down that mask she puts on during a fight. Her hand shivers in mine, probably from adrenaline. I can hear her trying to control her ragged breathing. "You've quite a long way to go before mastering magoi manipulation AND regaining your speed and strength," I say. Her hand squeezes mine, and I can imagine the frustration in her (e/c) eyes. But when she replies, her voice is calm and controlled. "Hai. I understand."

(Y/n)

I yawn and gaze up at the ashen sky, just shy of turning lavendar. On my shoulder, Irie preens her feathers. Both Masrur and I had to wake up an hour earlier than usual, but unlike me, Masrur doesn't seem tired at all. He's just staring grimly ahead at the thick wall of trees whispering in the early morning breeze – the Sindrian forest.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask him. His stoic eyes soften at my concern. "We've already decided, haven't we?" he says, gently taking Irie from my shoulder. The missing weight immediately feels wrong and foreign to me. Letting out a final chirp, maybe as a goodbye, Irie flies off into the forest to join the rest of her kind. I can't help but think about how strong and free she looks, so different from the baby bird that I had to dive out of a window to save.

I sneak a glance at Masrur's saddened face. As hard as it was to let Irie go, we both know that it was inevitable. Her papagoras instincts were growing stronger everyday, and she destroyed more and more of the (newly rebuilt) palace in her frustration. It was just no place for a wild bird like her.

Maybe that's why Masrur could let her go. Maybe he, a Fanalis, knows what being suppressed feels like.

I stand in front of the forest wordlessly with him, until brighter colours began to splay across the lavendar-grey sky, and it is time to return for my training sessions.

Yamuraiha

"Look at this, guys!" I exclaim enthusiastically, bursting out of my study. I must look a mess after staying up all night to examine (y/n)'s rukh, because Sharrkan starts laughing and pointing at me. With a mental note to get back at him later, I proceed to present my findings to Sinbad.

"Remember the dark rukh that (y/n) used to have? The one that was passed down in her clan? She said that it was a special kind of rukh passed down in her clan. It allowed people to easily cast and exacerbate dark spells, like the ones cast by Al Thamen or people fallen into depravity. Well, look at this."

In one hand, I have the sorting crystal, which is still glimmering in the light of (y/n)'s (f/c) rukh. In my other hand, I hold a jar of fluttering, agitated black rukh, which I'd managed to extract from one of Al Thamen's puppets. Once I pop off the lid, a flurry of black rukh bursts out violently. Sharrkan flinches away from the swarm of dark, evil butterflies.

All of a sudden, the (f/c) rukh in the crystal glow even brighter, swallowing the storm of black rukh in its light. In a flash (literally), the black rukh dissipates.

Sharrkan and Sinbad stood gaping as I conclude," I think (y/n)'s new rukh has the exact opposite effect of her old one. It negates dark magic, which is how she managed to take down all of Al Thamen's puppets."

Sinbad touches his chin, deep in thought, before saying, "It's a good thing we didn't let information of her powers spread." True. The potential (y/n) has is immense. She could be a huge help in defeating our enemies...maybe even taking down Al Thamen completely!

"It is a great power," continues Sinbad. "but only if she masters it."

Author's Note

I'm really sorry for the late update! ;-;  I had some real-life stuff going on. Feel free to give me feedback, correct my grammar/spelling mistakes, etc. As long as your comments are polite and respectful, I'll appreciate it. Thank you so much for reading! :DDD

(Credits to Aenami on Deviantart for the beautiful art!)