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skyholding · 6 years

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FFXIV A’onisya One-Shot // Dragonfly Keeper

Was really excited to finish this one, mostly because I was even more excited to write the next one-shot, which is actually almost done. (oops) Still, I had fun writing this--any interaction between A’onisya and her carbuncles is a blast. Figuratively. Or literally? Or both. I also wanted to explore someone like A’onisya, who would never call herself a scholar and was probably illiterate at the beginning of her adventures, dive into arcane magics. Hope you enjoy!

Song: Dragonfly Keeper by Phildel

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"Arcane geometries."

A'on glared over the top of her book at the emerald carbuncle snoozing in the sunlight several feet away.

"This book makes you sound pretty fancy, you know," she said. Jewel gave no reply, except to twitch his paws in the air above his fluffy white chest. "Little does the writer know you, uh, manifested arcane entities also snore." When Jewel continued to ignore her, the miqo'te sighed and returned to her studies, face scrunched in concentration.

"Give it your best effort," Thubyrgeim had said when A'on's face blanched at the sight of the massive tome. "Much of this you likely know innately. Now it's time to put words to your instinct, so that it may grow and flourish!" And she'd sent A'on off on her way, which, for A'on, meant curling up underneath a large tree just outside the Limsa Lominsa city gates.

Giving it her best effort.

"Instinct, my foot. I didn't even know you could do this stuff!" she protested after another failed attempt at deciphering the string of glyphs for the book's first spell. She flipped to the second spell, and the third, but each one was as incomprehensible as the last. Throwing the book in the grass beside her, A'on took a swig from her waterskin and leaned against the tree trunk. She squinted at the sunlight peeking through the leaves and felt her eyes fluttering...

Something cold squirmed under her arm. "J-Jewel!" she exclaimed as the carbuncle rolled itself under her armpit and into her lap, mewling. "What in Azeyma's name—" But he had already tumbled off her legs and was bouncing eagerly on his paws beside her in the grass.

"What?" A'on demanded. "I'm trying to—to get this work done—" Jewel chirruped, and she glared back. "I was not falling asleep. I was contemplating." She stuck her tongue out at the carbuncle. His tails twitched as he spun around, leaping away from her. Apparently he was finished with his nap, as she watched him harass a cluster of puk hatchlings in the tall grass.

"H-hey—all right, then, leave them alone," she called when the hatchlings' squeaks grew loud and indignant. Jewel paused for a moment, stared at her, then whipped his tail and threw a small wind blade at one of the hatchlings. It let out a high-pitched squeal and, in a panic, fled towards the river. With an indignant chirrup, Jewel took off after the creature.

"Come back here!" A'on yelled, scooping her book up to chase after him. When he turned at the crossroads, A'on thought perhaps he was heading toward Summerford Farms, where she and her Maelstrom friends had had their ridiculous test of skills. Instead he veered off the path where the grassy plain sloped downward.

A'on had looked over a map of La Noscea in the Drowning Wench, but the areas were hardly emblazoned in her memory. Nor could she remember some of the monsters Baderon had warned her about—until she heard another squeak and thud, somewhere ahead of her off the path.

"Jewel!" She picked up her pace and ran ahead. She didn't notice the vibrant green grass turn to dirt under her feet and the bright sunlight at her back turn to flickering firelight until she had finally caught up with her carbuncle. He was curled on the ground, surrounded by glowing golden creatures, their light glinting off the dirt walls.

She noticed then they had entered some sort of cave. The puk had disappeared, perhaps hidden behind the monolithic structure at the back of the cavern. And in front of it sat her carbuncle, frozen as a mob of creatures approached with a chorus of otherworldly sounds. One of them sported a darker spot on its stomach and was chirping furiously.

"Hey! What're you doing?" A'on shouted, bolting towards them. Her lack of any real plan didn't occur to her until the first blast of energy from one of the bogies sent her flying backward, head over heels into the dirt. Seeing A'onisya on the ground seemed to rouse Jewel. His ears perked up, and he growled back at the creatures, leaping at the one who had attacked A'on.

Coughing, A'on pushed herself up. The bogies had shifted their attention back to Jewel, knocking him back from the dark-bellied one.

She lifted her hand, remembering the magic she had used back in the forest. Magic was magic, right? It was power, force. It could hurt these creatures... whatever it was.

Her stomach churned at that blank. It.

How was she any better than these monsters if she couldn't even name the power she wielded?

Put words to your instinct, so you can grow and flourish.

A'on lowered her hand. This isn't right—I can do more! She snatched the tome where it had landed at her side and flipped past the first few pages—something told her those spells weren't what she wanted. Her fingers stopped suddenly on a spell she hadn't tried before, with characters that hadn't appeared before The runes on the edge of the page glowed with a faint blue shimmer—it felt warm and electric, somehow familiar.

This was the right spell.

She held the book before her and locked her eyes on Jewel.

She placed two fingers on the first glyph. It glowed beneath her touch. Jewel stopped fighting, turned, stared at her, black eyes bright.

She followed the line of characters and twisted her fingers around the second symbol.

A glow gathered around Jewel's paws, the same blue shimmer that danced on the glyphs along the edge of the page.

Her finger moved to the third and final rune. Power tingled up her arm, and the sparks around Jewel's paws enveloped his form. The bogies were by now retreating slightly, unsure what to make of the sudden pulse of magic from the carbuncle and miqo'te.

In her mind, as if lifted off the page, flashed a single word. A'on murmured the sound on her tongue and thrust her arm forward. Jewel leapt upward and spun, his tails whirling. Gusts of air burst forth from him at the center, throwing the bogies back against the cavern walls.

Not taking even a moment to wonder, A'on exclaimed, "Jewel—c'mon, let's get out of here!" The carbuncle was at her heels in a second, and they bolted out the entrance. A'on glanced over her shoulder—her skin prickled, as if someone was watching, following her, but nothing emerged from the cavern mouth. She let her feet lead them blindly down the path, across the bridge, past the tree she'd been studying under just minutes ago, and through the Zephyr Gate into the city.

Only once they were safely inside the city walls did A'on collapse on a bench, gasping to regain her breath. Jewel, completely unwinded, bounced eagerly at her feet, chirruping.

"You little—bastard—almost killed us," she finally managed, but she couldn't help smiling as she scratched him behind his ears. "I guess we got out of them just fine, didn't we, though?" Jewel chirped in agreement, and watched as A'on stretched her arms upward, spreading her fingers. That flicker of magic had long faded from her touch, as well as Jewel's fur, but she remembered how it felt.

With a long sigh, she opened the arcane tome in her lap.

The first spell, at a glance, was as indecipherable as ever. She pressed her fingers to the first rune, and breathed in sharply. The symbol felt... warm, somehow. A gentle hand guiding her onward. Inviting her to open her mind and explore.

Her fingertips itched with a now-familiar spark. Jewel's three tails twitched, and he leapt beside A'on on the bench. He touched his black nose to the book, sneezed, and gazed at A'on with his head tilted.

"Ready, boy?" A'on murmured excitedly. "We've got a lot to learn."

#ffxiv #ff14 #final fantasy xiv #final fantasy 14 #miqo'te #fanfic #writing #a'on writing tag #carbuncle #summoner #short story #fiction #one shot #final fantasy

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