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Prompt 18: Devil’s Advocate
It was when he heard rumors of the Warriors of Light he began to wonder. Could one of them be the pupil he had searched far and wide for? Even crossing the seas to Eorzea? Could one of them be the one to excise the evil that had festered within him for so long? Setting foott to the dusty trail again, Musoai made his way to the city of Ul’Dah. No doubt with an Adventurer’s Guild there the Warriors of Light would no doubt pass through the city.\
And so, after washing the dust of the road from his throat with the drink Eorzea had to offer, he waited. Some days Musoai would wander the city streets on the chance he would pass his future pupil in the market. Others he spent at the Gladiators’ Guild to train, and occasionally whip the trainees into shape, otherwise he would share some old stories of adventures he had in his youth to the eager guild members.
Then finally, his pupil came.
The youth who had been called “The Lost Son of Doma”. A youth who had been spirited away from Doma in infancy to save him from the Garlean Empire. At least, that was what the rumors said. Musoai bade an Ul’Dahn citizen to direct the boy, called “Calvin, such an odd name for a Doman...mayhap the lad had been given a Western name, to him.
Within the bell, Calvin stood before him. Dressed in a green jacket and leathers suitable for adventuring, an orange bandana tied about his dark hair which had a green tinge to it. He held a leather bound grimoire in his hands and seemed to never had held a blade in his life.
Yet, Musoai saw the potential this youth had. His cup was empty and only needed to be filled.
“I will make you a samurai, my pupil and you will aide me in excising evil from this land.” He stated to Calvin.
“I understand shifu.” the boy said.
“Shifu” ah, so the boy was indeed Doman, perhaps he still held on to some of his motherland, despite not growing up there. Maybe...Just maybe...He could return Doma’s Lost Son home before he would have to do what had to be done. Oh what an honor it would be to reunite a lost child with his home.
As the days passed, Musoai watched as the soft spoken mage he had taken under his wing grew as he became more acquainted with the blade. Before, Calvin said the only blade he had used was a knife. Still, it was a blade, and a knife would always finds ways to serve its holder well.
On his quest, he and his pupil met the Lalafell Momozigo, who offered to help them. Several misadventures, including a wicked gladiator and a wretch who had quite the unwholesome obsession with Hingan culture...And brought forth quite the insult from Calvin that he muttered under his breath. He would have to discipline the lad later for such uncouth words, it would not do for such things to corrupt him.
Under the boughs of the Black Shroud, he discovered that Momozgio had been involved with suspicious money handling and owed many innocents their due. Under other circumstances, Musoai would have been compelled to strike the man down where he stood, but what stayed his hand was the ernest regret Momozigo had as he wept of how he had begun to make amends for wrong doings and the cries of Calvin to spare Momozigo.
“The evil within you has been excised.” Musoai declared after having simply sliced the air over the Lalafells’ head, “Now, you must do all in your power to right what wrongs you have committed.”
And then, his pupil and his companions were falsely accused of poisoning the Sultana. His pupil had discovered a plot against his companions and attempted to warn his friends, but to no avail they were forced to flee the city, to the frozen lands of Ishgard. And there, Musoai followed Calvin.
One day, Musoai heard the terrible news of a pair of lovers who had fallen victim to a lording’s machinations, he was ready to run the wretch through with his blade. But Clavin had bade him to stay his hand and asked the young lord his account of the sordid day.
And so Musoai saw that while Calvin was slow to draw his blade, slow to strike a foe down, he saw why. What Calvin sought out was not always justice, but the truth and if that meant he could keep his katana sheathed and not stain the soil with blood he would.
And on those times when he was quick to draw, he did so with utmost efficiency, not unlike the shinobi, the warriors who struck from the shadows.
He had chosen well.
Now all that remained was to play devil’s advocate so Calvin could excise the evil that had festered in his master’s heart for long…
He felt the rush of air as the blade rushed through the air and heard Momozigo’s cries for Calvin to stop.
“The evil within you has been excised.” Calvin’s voice said.
And Musosai opened his eyes, there was no blood on his pupil’s blade.
He had taught him well.