Summary: "With a new year comes new beginnings," his master says, showing a gentle smile far more real and genuine than any other that his Master has shown. The sight brings Mohamed back to a memory of blood-soaked sand and heaps of ash before him, where a child of no more than 10 years old saves him from this pointless destruction.
The Eternal Empress: It's the New Year! Yayyyy! Ironically, I went back to my old fandoms, Shaman King, and realized how beautiful the manga is. Mohamed Tabarsi was one of my favorite characters simply because he was one of the most loyal subjects of Hao, next to Peyote. So I dedicate my first fic of 2019 to him.
"It's the New Year's celebration everyone! There's going to be a festival around the nearby shrine, so take this day to relax and enjoy the festivities." Hao merrily announces during his morning greeting, disregarding the lack of response and serious looks from his followers. Only Yamada and the BoZ brother are excited over the event - which is expected given they're they're locals of this place. But for the rest, who see the picture beyond the celebration, the New Year is nothing but a countdown to the upcoming Shaman Fight.
Mohamed Tabarsi sees no difference between New Year's day to the rest of the days in the calendar. A mercenary does not have time for idle or days which he can rest; a quick break can mean a shot to the head or a loss of a limb. And while Mohamed is not a mercenary anymore, old habits die hard. Each day is an opportunity to strengthen his shamanic powers and be a better contender for Master Hao. It doesn't sit well with him to spend a day for trivial things such as celebrations.
But then Master Hao's words are absolute, so if he says that everyone needs to take a break and go to the festival, then everyone must do so.
By the time of their arrival, the festival is already teeming with people - humans clueless of the omnipotent being before them. But tonight, Master Hao cares none for that. He lets the BoZ brothers drag him to games to play and allow Yamada to roam around to take photographs of scenic places. Master Hao even ropes the Hanagumi to play some of the games, where Marion had won a stuffed bear and beat her sisters fair and square. And while the others chose to stand-by and watch, Mohamed can clearly see the relaxed smiles on their faces despite being surrounded of the beings that they hated the most.
Only Master Hao can only induce this effect to this kind of people, those who've been hurt and hated and rejected for seeing beyond the bigger picture.
When the festival comes to a close, their group moves to a secluded spot to watch the fireworks in peace. Master Hao chooses to sit in the spot next to him, knowing eyes fixated on the sky of faint, twinkling stars.
"With a new year comes new beginnings," his master says, showing a gentle smile far more real and genuine than any other that his Master has shown. The sight brings Mohamed back to a memory of blood-soaked sand and heaps of ash before him, where a child of no more than 10 years old saves him from this pointless destruction. With eyes full of stars and fire as his guard, the child extends his hand to Mohamed. Come with me, he says. There is no life for you here.
"Yes." Mohamed simply replies, because there are no such words to express how grateful he is for the food, the water, and the shelter; for the nights when he can sleep with his both eyes shut and the days where he doesn't have to fight and kill for survival. As the first of the fireworks burst into the bright colors of red and blue, Mohamed swears to his life that he'll do whatever it takes to help his Master win the Shaman Fight.