STORY.

diego was born and raised in las almas, mexico, to estephan casiano and jackie salgado.  his parents weren't connected to the growing cartel, la araña, attempting to maintain unrelated jobs - unaware that eventually all work and workers would essentially belong to the cartel as it grew.  a tight knit community, the city was, meaning people stood up for one another - also meaning no one stood up against one another.

it became evident early on that jackie had wanted a daughter, unprepared and disinterested in having to cater to a son, and diego's father was heavily invested in his job that he wasn't around enough to even oversee how jackie behaved towards him.  she did the bare minimum, but as diego aged and she was faced with the responsibility and 'burden' of his learning difficulties, she felt as though god was punishing her.  jackie undeniably had a complicated past and relationship with religion, though it remained entirely a mystery to those in her life.

she heavily indulged this lifestyle, insisting on taking diego to church where she would near-interrogate members on what to do about her son.  she turned to praying, almost all night long, donning dark circles under her eyes from her lack of sleep but jackie was sure it'd work, that diego would miraculously be able to read and write and navigate with no problems.  naturally, this didn't happen, and when the school informed her he was falling behind, she became desperate.

diego would be left alone with questionable, religious men for rigorous sessions of attempting to banish his disabilities, words and water thrown his way along with occasional violence, caned, slapped and beaten for purity.  then, it would all come to a pleasant pause and he'd be asked to read out loud a passage.  if there was an error or a stutter, the process began again.  this continued until he was six years old, and would've gone on longer had his grandmother not intervened.

she would regularly visit them, travelling from tijuana where she lived to see the grandson she adored.  however, due to jackie allowing them minimal time alone and rarely letting diego's grandmother, frida, hold him, she wasn't able to see or feel the lumps and bumps of his injuries, and of course - diego never spoke of them, never dared challenge his mother.

one day, frida is left alone with him for a brief moment.  she was teaching him to play the guitar she'd bought him as a gift, acoustic, with beautiful, decorative swirls and patterned prints stuck on.  as he lifted it over his head to play, his shirt shifted and she noticed the purple streaks along his sides.  shocked, she asked him about them and diego went silent, eyes draining of any comfort.  " por favor, no se lo digas a mamá ( please, don't tell mom, ) " he'd pleaded with her, but it was already too late.

frida pulled up his shirt to reveal further bruises and wounds across his torso, just as jackie re-entered the room.  senselessly, jackie began explaining the purpose of her method to frida but she was appalled and called the police.  jackie was put in cuffs and tucked into a cop car.  he didn't see her again, and frida managed to get custody of him.  she even went out of her way to move to las almas so that diego wouldn't have to uproot and move to somewhere scary and unfamiliar.  his dad remained barely in the picture, as usual, but contributed to the financial side of his upbringing which diego couldn't knock him for.

for some years, diego was at peace.  his grandmother raised him well and he developed a very close bond with her, even becoming very protective as he got older.  she taught him how to play guitar, a hobby he holds dearly for many years to come, and he promises her that when he can work, he'll earn them a fortune so they can live somewhere very nice.  around this time, la araña cartel steps out of the darkness and begins to occupy las almas.  diego's father gets pulled into working for them and frida fears for diego's safety.

she pleads with him not to join them, to go his own way and never succumb to greed.  diego tells her he won't.  as time passes and the cartel oppresses las almas further, fuerzas especiales and the mexican army starts to fight back.

one day, when frida and diego are out buying groceries, they get caught up in the middle of a street fight between special forces operators and cartel.  diego is too close to the gunfire and frida races to pull him away but one of the soldiers mistakes her intentions and fires in her direction.  bullets whizz past diego and he hears his grandmother slump to the ground with a heavy thud.

he is horrified, leaning over her bloodied form as small hands press to the bullet holes, crimson seeping through her dress.  tears fall as he pleads for her to get up, but with her last breath she reaches for his wrist and squeezes, offering a short-lived smile.  i'm so proud of you, it says. behind him, a palm presses against his spine.  he expects it to be one of the special forces but when he turns, it's not.  a cartel fighter frowns at the scene and offers to help move her out of the chaos, the gunfire and shouting continuing in the background. diego stiffly nods and together they drag frida's corpse to the side of the road.

" malditos soldados ( damned soldiers, ) " they'd snarled, " ellos destruyen todo ( they destroy everything. ) " and that was all thirteen year old diego needed to hear to solidify his hate, his rage.  these soldiers would pay for this. he manages to get frida to their home but is unsure what to do with her.  that's when an employee of la araña comes knocking.  they say they are there to help him bury frida, and will even help him in providing a few words for her burial.  diego is grateful for the assistance, but when he's asked if he'd like to return with them to the cartel's base, he says no thank you.

he stays the night in frida's home, alone for the first time - but his pain outweighs any fear.  vexxed, he dedicated all his time and energy into formulating a plan to hurt special forces, to make them pay.  he would see his plan through, spreading lies about a big, juicy cartel meet the fuerzas especiales could not fucking resist and when they arrived, he shut them inside, lit a match and listened to the trapped team burn alive.  justice was served, but it wasn't over for him yet. the leader of la araña would hear of this and summon him, sending someone to fetch him and bring him to his home.

he was presented with an opportunity and offered a job as a cartel scout.  with no money to survive, other than what frida had, and his father unprepared to take him in, diego agreed - breaking his promise to his grandmother.  but there was a debt to be paid, she would surely understand.  diego would spend the following approx. ten years working for the cartel, acting as a scout.  through this, he'd come to meet valeria garza, a special forces soldier prepared to go corrupt and betray her team in favour of the cartel.

he found it difficult to trust her initially, but her sharp wit and lively nature drew him in, as he was sure it did with anyone else.  she was a livewire, but she had a growing disdain for the military - for los vaqueros specifically.  the two worked closely for around a year and diego would come to see her as a good potential leader.  valeria had even commented on how she thought she could do better than the son of la araña and to a degree, he was inclined to believe her.

the back and forth was always kept secret, she trusted him and vice versa, but one day she asked - if i did it, would you support me?  his answer was simple, yes.  eventually, valeria would advise them on an approaching raid, that they intended to capture the son of la araña.  her RED team were supposed to cordon off the city to prevent bloodshed, but she met with diego and his team and led the target to the mountains (by this point, diego had been promoted to hitman), pretending to protect him before executing him.

he hadn't been forewarned this would be the day, but he knew better than to go back on his promise and stepped up to defend her.  during the disbandment of la araña, his father disappears.  from that day onwards, valeria took up the mantle of the cartel, reforming it as 'las almas cartel' and giving herself the alias of 'el sin nombre.'  she made diego her lieutenant and he acted as her right-hand man.  from that point onwards, their goals aligned and diego set his sights on los vaqueros, on colonel alejandro vargas and his team.  they would all burn, he'd promised himself, they would all be punished - and now, he had the power to ensure it.

VERSES.