Akatsuki (Magi Ja'far X Fem Reader)

(Y/n)

My breathing slowed, my body realising that it isn't drowning and noticing the pain from my wounds. I sat in a spot where the palace guards couldn't spot me. Spread before me was the Sindria sea. Its midnight waves tossed its salty scent towards me. I stared, strangely enthralled by the water.

I remembered playing by the water with my brother when we were little. But that was before we were kidnapped by Al Thamen.

When King Sinbad's right hand man found me, I went back with him silently.

~~~~~~~~~~

During my interrogation, Judal came, just as he'd told me. "I will let you have my little pet?" So my orders are to stay and submit to Sindria's power, then? Very well. I wondered if my role in his plan is finished, or if he still has something else for me up his sleeve.

King Sinbad assigned me to be his right hand man's assistant. Ja'far. Even with part of my face bandaged, I could see his distrust of me. No, it wasn't exactly distrust, but it certainly wasn't trust either. It was more like a...wariness.

Yamuraiha, on the other hand, was much more...talkative. I'd never had someone talk this much to me.

"About Ja'far, I know that he doesn't really welcomed you yet. But please, since you're his assistant now, can you please look after him? He's such a workaholic sometimes."

I nodded quietly since my neck was still injured and I couldn't talk. Hai.

~~~~~~~~~~

I followed him as we walked through the streets of Sindria on an errand. Sometimes, we passed through quiet paths lined with lush greenery. Other times, we had to squeeze through noisy crowds and colourful stalls.

"It's so different from anything I've ever se-" my thoughts are silenced by the sight of the sea before me. It was clear and sparkling, a bright blue during the daytime.

I wonder...what would it be like if I dived in?

~~~~~~~~~~

The man at my feet shook while passers by stared at us.

"You...you're not a normal woman, are you?"

I look down at him silently.

Of course I'm not.

~~~~~~~~~~

That night, I climbed out the window that I left open, ready for the nightmares that seized me every night, and wandered around the more empty parts of the palace grounds until I hear the sound of flowing water.

It didn't take long for me to find a way into the firefly field. For a second, a memory of me as a child chasing those glowing insects flashed through my mind. My brother and I used to think they were stars.

A stream cut through the long, green grass. I fished for the sheet of scrap paper that I grabbed from Ja'far's study and folded it into a lantern.

My parents used to tell me that this is to guide the souls of the dead to the afterlife. Who was I making that lantern for? The assassin I killed. I may not have known that woman at all, but I knew that I was just like her - a soldier of Al Thamen.

I unwrapped the bandages around my face and touched the crescent mark on my face. That's right. A soldier of Al Thamen. Nothing else.

At the faint sounds of footsteps behind me, I got up.

Ja'far.

I stood with my back to him while he talked.

"What I'm trying to say is, I don't know you. I have no idea what your goals or intentions are. The only thing I know is that you've been surprisingly cooperative since your capture besides running away in the middle of the night. I don't know what it is that you're hiding. But...once you're ready to trust us, and once we're ready to trust you, you can come to us."