Son of the Lalan hero

Resigned

I woke up in the infirmary, the sound of the first level cadets had me somewhat annoyed. They were singing a song as if they were in the army. When I raised my face, I saw Lucia, she was trying to get out of the room.

"Uh... Lucia..." In a rather low tone.

She turned to look at me somewhat surprised.

"Uh...you woke up already...."

"Yeah, uh...why am I here?"

"You've been here for two weeks, they were already going to take you to a psychiatric clinic."

"Uh...why?"

"You were in shock. Your eyes were open and you didn't speak. It was very strange, I delayed everything, so they wouldn't take you."

"Why am I here?

"I think you saw how your cousin and uncle died. I everyone knows they were father and son."

"The hero Harrison and Miguel? Them...."

I kept thinking about that and slowly remembered what happened, I got pretty sad, but I tried not to look at her. I couldn't show her my emotions. That would leave me in evidence.

Lucia walked over to where I was and spoke to me again.

"The hero and his son were buried in their hometown, what little was left of them was put in a small box. The explosion was very strong. You almost died too."

She was in tears talking to me about it, it hurt her to talk about it. However, I couldn't show her my pain, I had to pretend I was strong. It was hard for me too, I had been left alone in this world.

I felt someone enter the room, it was one of the lieutenants of the academy. Lucia, seeing him, had no choice but to leave and leave me alone with him.

"Excuse me" said Lucia out of respect for her superior.

When the girl closed the door, the lieutenant began to talk to me, it seemed that he was interrogating me. He took off his helmet and I could see his face, he was a bald, hairless man with green eyes, he had scars near his eyebrows. His look was quite serious, as if he had never smiled. I could see on his uniform his last name Bruyne.

"There are several things to tell you, why did you go out when the blackout happened in the whole academy? What were you doing in that place?" he asked.

"Am I going to be suspended?"

"It all depends on what you tell me."

I was silent for a few seconds, I had to be careful about anything I did.

"Okay, I uh... I wanted to get a piece of a ship.... I think there was a store outside and I went out, since they weren't going to give me permission."

"Why didn't you ask about it to some superior?"

"I preferred to buy the my things myself and do some experiments alone, it was better that way, I took advantage of the moment when the power went out to buy them."

"Mmm, I see, that's your version. The academy is pretty strict, and you deserve punishment for putting your life at risk a second time. I don't know if the general believes you, but I don't Did you follow Miguel?"

"No, I didn't even know he was there, it was coincidence. When I saw him with the hero, I tried to talk to him, but the explosion happened."

"Cadet Nick, even if it's for any reason, I will give you a suitable punishment. So that the general won't do anything to you. I don't think after this, I'm going to put you to do things on the track in this heat. You're going to clean the rooms of all the first level cadets. You're not going to go and get orientation from the second level ones for a week while you do your cleaning duties."

I was relieved, I thought that man was going to be tougher and give me a worse punishment. 

"I understand, Lieutenant, I have no complaints about this."

"You will start from today."

The tone with which he answered me, I didn't like it at all, it made me feel somewhat uncomfortable. Maybe it wasn't what I imagined at first. That man left the infirmary with that usual silence of the people who were in that position. 

After he left, I was left alone and began to think about my father and brother. I would never see them again, and now it was up to myself. Besides, I had to talk to the mercenary who hired him to get out of here and make contact with some family member. I didn't know what would happen to me from now on.

It was a shame for me, remembering how they died, and I couldn't do anything to help them. Tears started to come to my eyes. I felt so much anger and so much sadness that all that started to turn into hatred. I wanted revenge on the people who had done this to them. My only way to find out was to talk to Lucia, but I had to talk to her, without anyone knowing and in a place where no one else would intervene or listen.

[...]

At noon, I went to the room where the lieutenants were. Each one of them was in charge of a group of cadets, and sometimes they changed them. In this place, some of them left the annoying helmets and let their faces show.

They were all of different ethnicities, and you could see the fatigue on their faces. 

Surprisingly, one of them spoke to me. He had a somewhat hoarse voice.

"Cadet Nick, go to the first block of rooms for first level students and clean them with this broom. There shouldn't be a single speck of dirt left."

I was a bit thoughtful. I was already the target of the administrators of this academy and hearing that this was probably going to be quite difficult. I grabbed a broom, a dustpan, and the keys to the rooms. 

I left the room quickly to finish cleaning those places early. I didn't know what I would find in that place, but as I headed towards the room blocks, I could see the first level cadets pretty dirty, as if they had been in a place full of sand and mud. The blankets, no way, had to be changed immediately.

[...]

I began my cleaning work in the first block of rooms. The floor was full of dirt and sand, as if the cadets had been in an intense training session in a muddy place. The beds were in disarray and the sheets were stained. It was obvious that they needed to be changed immediately.

I started sweeping with some annoyance, trying to remove every trace of dirt. As I went along, I noticed that some of the cadets were looking at me curiously. I could hear their murmurs and laughter, but I decided to ignore them and concentrate on my task.

As I cleaned up, my mind was still occupied with my thoughts about my father and brother. I felt a deep sadness and anger at what had happened to them. I wanted revenge on those responsible, but I also felt helpless as I remembered that I could do nothing to help them.

At that moment, I remembered my pending conversation with Lucia. I needed to talk to her privately and without anyone else knowing. But finding a suitable time and place would be a challenge, considering we were surrounded by cadets and lieutenants.

I finished cleaning the first block of rooms and headed to the next. I continued with my task, trying to stay focused despite the distractions around me. The first level cadets continued with their activities and their hullabaloo, and sometimes it was hard to block it all out and stay focused.

I tried to get away from finishing and leave quickly, so I wouldn't clean up again, as the level was muddy.

After a while, when I finally finished cleaning all the assigned rooms, I headed to the backyard of the academy. It was a quiet and secluded place. 

However, I overheard a rather disparaging conversation of what happened with Miguel and my father, several cadets whispering about it.

"So that bastard was Harrison's son and he didn't know it. What a stupid thing to say, well, he deserved it for being cocky. He felt superior to everyone for having a father like that, that's why they ended up the same way."

"Serves him right, a drunk who thought he was a hero and just because he was a famous pilot, everyone loved him and his son who thought he was the best."

I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard those words. I felt a mixture of anger and sadness as I listened to those cadets mocking my father and brother. I could not allow myself to be affected by those comments, but every word hurt me deeply.

I decided to move away from that group of cadets and walked to a more secluded corner of the courtyard. I wanted to reflect a little on my life. I didn't know the truth about my father and I didn't know if it was true that he was still a drunkard, or anything like that. I preferred not to know and to keep the memory of him as an authoritarian and unjust person whom I would never see again.