And all this foolish war...
Characters: Jay Guthrie & Azazel
Date&Time: Christmas Time, 1956.
Setting: Las Vegas, Nevada
Summary: There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited. - Sun Tzu
Rating: safe as an angel's wings
Status: Closed!
It was an image best left to theologians and artist, a scene that in any other world or time- would be thought to be some sort of strange homage to the holidays around the corner. The women commented on how 'sweet' it was, and their men (husbands and handlers) thought it to be either a waste of time, or simply just odd. A frail looking child, no more than ten or eleven sat in the over-stuffed couch surrounded by notes and text books, her head bent down to read the foreign text. Though they were in Nevada, and the fire next to their small study area was roaring, she was bundled up from head to toe, with only her diminutive wings poking out of finely tailored holes in her sweaters and jumper. By herself she looked odd, all knees and elbows with not a trace of baby fat on her, but when coupled next to the man beside her, it was something that nearly demanded to be commented on. He was tall, with a dark red skin tone and a lighter- if darker black suit fitted about him closer than his own skin. An angel and a devil, people thought, what is this world coming to?
Their world appeared to be separate from that of the common man's, ignoring or simply not noticing any stares they may be receive, instead focusing all of their energy in the task at hand. She was not his- as some of the less demur commentators thought, but instead the younger sister of the hell-brand of a soldier, Cannonball Guthrie. He was out of the country at the moment, earning his dues as a low-man on the totem poll for their part of the Algerian Revolution (supplying the appropriate weapons to the 'revolutionaries, of course.) It was considered, and reasonably believed that while the 18 year old was plenty of age to be running in the backwoods of Africa, his sister, though a promising soldier herself, was still too young to be left out on her own. It was for this reason that the Russian mutant Azazel took her under his 'wing' and began her lessons on the more cerebral aspects of war.
She had promise in her mutation, a graceful set of wings which, while still resembled a fledgling's, could carry her weight over several miles. In addition was the uncanny ability to mimic anyone's voice, and with that mimicry convince them to do things they may rather not. It was neither of these aspects that had caught the Russian's notice however, but her possible lineage- for if he was correct, she was one of the Cheyarafim, a line that was not unnoticed by either the writers of the Bible, nor his boss- Sebastian Shaw. If he was correct? The reward would be insurmountable, and who knew what sort of personal gains may be reached?
First and foremost however, she was to be a soldier, and a great soldier (even if an 'angelic' one) must know the histories of war. It was with this in mind that their library was selected for her studies. Sun Tzu's Art of War sat heavily noted next to Machiavelli's The Prince and on top of Vom Kriege and a dozen other strategy books. Though her brother thrived on the more hands-on approach, Jessica Guthrie was inundated by the more intellectual approach. She sat close beside the older mutant, the heavy text balanced on both of their knees as he continued to quiz her in a mix of his native Russian and her own English. "Now моя птичка, where does war belong?"
His hand fell onto the Prussian text, the only hint he would offer her at all in regards to the answer. Her face screwed itself shut, not only trying to remember reading that chapter, but understanding it in it's native German text. When she spoke again, Jessica had unintentionally mimicked his Russian accent, a habit she was trying to get herself out of and regain control of her own voice. "War belongs in society сэр.”
“And where does it not?” He asked, egging her on to continue the answer.
“Science и art.” An easier answer than the first. She smiled, proud of herself for remembering the text. Seeking then to not only gain a smile from her teacher, but more, Jessica picked up the translated Chinese text and began to flip through it.
“But doesn’t Sun Tzu say ‘If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.’ - и wouldn’t that include their science? Isn’t that why one defeats another?” She had studied Truman after all, and how they had defeated the last ‘great’ war, and hadn’t her own father fought in it? Jessica was still rather new to the ‘court’ of the Hellfire club, no more than the sister of a pawn herself, she had little merit of anything, and nothing yet to say of worth. She was intended to learn, dress up for ‘parties’ and entertain the visiting dignitaries, CEOs and guests with her ‘talents’ at mimicry and music. She knew that if she was to ever become someone of notice, someone like Emma or even Azazel himself. Jessica was going to be more than a soldier, and she knew it would be her questions that would get her there.
“Perhaps.” He conceded, giving her that point before returning it with his own, taking the book from her hand to flip to a few other marked, and heavily noted pages. (These were from his personal library after all.) “But Tzu says something else that I want you to think on my умышленное ребенка. And this is not something we speak of to Shaw, nor your brother.”
He paused, finding the correct passages to show her.
“There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited.”
-Sun Tzu