words
She is a strange girl, my Micteca. Reserved in her own way and yet capable of such outburst on occasion. Perhaps it is her upbringing, no wolf who was a child when the sky fell will ever recover from the loss of that. Young minds....they can be so easily damaged and broken and fractured. It does not mean we are not affected, wolves like me, older- but we have seen death and destruction before, by the time my age is reached our minds are already scared and marked and lost perhaps- to some of this world. We are not so readily affected for we have lost our parents and siblings long ago. For a child, the devastation of mass loss is.....well.....horrific. I will not deny that. I teach my children and grandchildren to be strong, to hold their heads high and carry on. They are Angel-born, Assassin-born and they were bred to live and thrive and survive. But that doesn’t mean they are not marked in ways that cannot be seen. Physical scars are one thing, emotional and mental scars are another. They all have them, the children of the disaster, this generations leaders. They are forever and permanently scared like no generation before. Kane and Isola, Chance and Ava, Malina and Azrael, Kali and Durga and Tenshi and Clementine, Amaterasu and Zildjian and Sinopa, Ferox and Seraphiel, Calista, Fallen and Lucid- and that is merely those who were of Trenus. They lost everything, home, family, friends and siblings, so did I but it isn’t the same for someone such as myself, it leaves scars of scars, for those children- it burned and scalded flesh that had never been marked before and left wounds that will never heal. That alone explains Micteca. It explains her insecurity and her need to be loved- I can see that within her, just as I can see a coldness in Malina, a dark fury in Ava and an emotional wreck with good hair in Azrael. They are the Broken Generation and for once- I don’t think I can fix them, not all of them, not anymore- but maybe I can help at least Micteca. I can give her purpose and a way to make her parents proud.

I chuckled at her exclamation as we walked side by side, the girl so small next to me yet indeed i had every intention of showing her how to use her size to her advantage. She is small and light and quick and indeed, though she may be tiny in stature- she has a full set of adult teeth. She is capable of great damage and will be forever underestimated. She will surprise them all. I grinned down towards her however at her words, tail flicking against her. With this apprentice I need not be rough and harsh, with Micteca, there was no need to be tough- just clear and concise- always. They would need her, the Assassins- when I wasn’t here to lead them anymore. When Malina became Master, she would need Micteca’s guidance. I spoke softly once more.

“That means, Micteca, that when I no longer lead the Assassins, when I am no longer here as will happen one horrific day- they will need you, they will need you for what you know. When I am gone, Malina will lead- I had always planned on it being Eris, your Mother, yet that is not possible now and Malina is more then I could ever have hoped she would be. She will lead and you will advise her, you will make sure she does not break from our laws, you will watch over them all like a Guardian Angel, Baby Girl- you are the Keeper of our laws and our knowledge and you must understand, above all things, that what I will tell you is utterly forbidden to be told to any other then Assassins, you must never, never give this information to another not of the Art or not an Angel. It is an unforgivable sin. Forbidden.”

I had no intention of scaring her, yet every intention of causing her to understand the seriousness of this situation. This job was not a game, she would posses knowledge as old as time itself and Demons would seek it, we have been far, far more successful then they and there are reasons why, secrets, ways in which we have managed to all but destroy them completely while we thrive. So much to learn- so little time. Although I have no intention of dying any time soon. I waited then, for the answer I knew would come, for I never doubted the girl, a smile gracing my lips once more.

“Bonum valde. You will make your parents proud.” (Very good.)

If she knew much, if any of the ancient tongue I aimed to test it, watching for her reaction, after all, she would need to learn it, it is her birthright and within her blood to do so. It is the language of our Art, the language of Angels, forbidden to Demons. A gift only to those born as we are. I believed she knew it, but I intended to make sure.

“Then we will begin and we will start at the beginning of our history, a very, very long time ago when true Angels, winged wolves of snowy white, fought against the Demons of fire. They say that is what Demon Marks truly are, touches of fire left over from their immortal forefathers, just as many of us bare Angel Marks, bloodstains to remind us of our calling. White is the symbol of purity, Black is the opposite, though this does not mean every black wolf is a sinful creature, for Devil May Cry himself is of the Art, an Assassin, an Angel by association, but he bears no Demons Marks. He merely comes from an assassin line that learned to wear black. Sneaky really. My line is very, very old and very, very pure and that is why I was so careful when choosing my mate. I choose another Angel, one of another old line so that our children would be exceptional, born pure to continue that- but breeding is a lesson for later, bloodlines will take an entire month to learn. For now we focus only on the first story, the first war, many years ago.”

“The immortal Angels and Demons fought vey fiercely for a long time. Angels fought for peace, fought to save the lives of the mortals on earth, mortals are wolves like Amir, normal, regular. Demons fought for the right to consume and feed upon them. The Angels did much agree with that. They fought in the Heavens, they fought in Hell and they fought here on this earth and in this land and the Angels discovered that the Demons had been sinful, breeding with mortals, producing mortal Demons, cannibals without any unholy power, but born black with the marks of fire who fed and prayed upon mortal wolves. So the Angels did the same, they choose the purest mortals to breed with, producing the beginnings of our line, Mortal Angels, Earth Bound Angels, born pure but without wings, born with Angel Marks, Blood Marks the signs of immortal touch, the sign of the Assassin, for Angels and Assassins go hand in hand, the Marks a symbol to never forget our duty to defend those on this earth from cannibals, Demons. The True Angels returned to the heavens to fight and we were left on earth to fight a war that still continues. That is how we began, Angels on earth, Assassins, Guardians, bred and designed to keep safe the mortals of this earth, idiots though some of them are. We have been winning that war for a long, long time Micteca, but they are coming back. Do you understand, so far?”

Violet eyes looked towards her, expectant, waiting for her questions. Better to take this one step at a time.