Ace was totally not having a very good day.

He figured it was because it was a Monday.

He was still doing poorly in history class, while his father taught history at the school he attended, and it was the last class he needed to pass if he wanted to finish his year of training and join the Defense Program. He got a D on his most recent test, and it cut in deeper than usual because his history teacher was his own father, a former soldier in the Defense Program.

He was not smart or well-spoken like his father, Tyreceus. He couldn’t remember things very well, while Tyreceus could remember what he ate for breakfast six years ago, and even what the weather was like.

They did not even look alike.

The only trait they seemed to share, was a similar-sounding voice, and blue eyes. Tyreceus’ blue eyes were an abnormality with his dark skin and curly hair, while Ace’s pale skin, blue eyes, and red hair made it easier for him to fit in as a foreigner.

He wasn’t allowed to take his father’s class last year because the administration believed he would get better treatment. They doubted there was a way he would get more than a C unless his father helped him, or he cheated. Their suspicions of cheating were also verified because many people in training were caught cheating, and Ace was the most recent culprit. To improve his score on his fitness exam, Ace would teleport slightly and quickly, about an inch forward, to make it appear he was running fast, but not too fast.

Soon the faculty realized that Ace was too stupid to cheat academically, so they placed him in his father’s class the next year.

Ace had gotten up to nothing but no good lately, and the recent news of what happened on the SS Andromeda worried his father even more who never wanted him to join the Defense Program. Tyreceus called his son, worried about him, telling him to come home, but Ace wasn't that worried.

Ace chalked it all up to it being a Monday and teleported to his father’s apartment, 20 minutes off-campus so he could get away from the weird bubble that was the academy.

Tyreceus’ apartment was simple and small, with a half kitchen- half dining room, a living room with a teal pull-out couch for when Ace came to visit, and Tyreceus' small room. They didn't need much as Tyreceus still owned his house, albeit far from the academy.

Ace’s father was standing at the dining room table. He was cleaning out his guns and polishing his sword. Ace always wondered why he even bothered. The old sword looked rusted and faded. Tyreceus claimed that he was the strongest sword in existence, but he had never seen him use it.

“Hey Dad," said Ace.

Tyreceus almost jumped out of his skin when Ace appeared out of thin air.

“Please, stop popping in unannounced”, he groaned. “You always give me a scare”.

Ace chuckled, loving every moment he got to bother him. He couldn't believe that there was anything his father was afraid of, after the many adventures and fights he had been through.

“What brings you here anyway? I thought you wanted to be independent in the dorm that I pay for," he jokingly said.

"I mIsSeD yOu ToO," Ace replied.

His father leered at him, and then Ace mockingly returned the same look, until they both started to smile a bit, their relationship sometimes more akin to brothers than a parent and a son.

“Since you’re here you can help me with cleaning my guns. Can you get me another rag from the bedroom? I left some in the closet”.

“Sure.”

Ace walked into his father’s room and looked  around. It’d been a while since he’d been to visit so everything felt kind of foreign to him.

He halted and knew that now was his time to shine. It was the perfect time to snoop around. Ace’s dad had all kinds of fantastical weapons, but he never allowed his son to touch any of them.

Too dangerous, his father always said. You can’t touch anything I keep in there.

Ace hated how his father went on missions and did dangerous things but said he couldn’t.

He was an adult! Eighteen! He could touch anything he wanted!

Ace opened the closet and didn’t see any rags on the top rack. He bent down and looked at the bottom to see them there. He picked them up and saw a panel in the back of the closet.

“That’s weird," he mumbled.

Ace pushed on it slightly and it opened. Inside the false wall were various boxes. Ace’s curiosity got the best of him, and he took out a small cardboard box from the false wall’s opening.

Inside the small box was a watch. It was old but very beautiful and ornate. It was red and black, a strange color for a metallic watch, especially one that looked so old. When he held it in his hands, he felt like it was whispering to him. The longer he looked at the watch, the more he understood it.

That they were old friends, reunited, and that they should never part. They fought frequently, but it would be okay because friends always fought. Ace brought his new companion close to his ear to still know if it was working.

Instead, what he heard was a heartbeat.

“Ace, I’m waiting!”

Ace panicked and stuffed the watch into his pocket.

“I’m coming, Dad!”

He put the panel back into place and left the room. After cleaning and having some dinner, Ace had fallen asleep on the couch, watching TV. Tyreceus sat next to him, feeling uneasy.

Ace was now eighteen and would soon graduate from the Union’s Defense Program. He would leave home and fight meaningless wars and join meaningless conflicts for the sake of the homeland.

Tyreceus tried to convince Ace that it wasn’t the right thing to do, but he knew that he couldn’t stop him.

Ace was relentless in his pursuit of anything he did in his life, and stubborn. He never gave up. It's something Tyreceus loved and despised about his son.

Tyreceus couldn’t make Ace understand the only reason he enlisted was for their citizenship. They were denied citizenship based on their nationality. They had left the Empire when Ace was still an infant and lived on Methuselah. On Methuselah, they didn’t have equal rights. They could never become full citizens.

No one trusted the Empire, and no one trusted anyone from its capital planet, Ionadis. He didn’t want to subject his son to never feeling like he belonged.

So, he enlisted.

Maximilian Slater promised that if he did as he was told he would give Tyreceus and his son safe harbor. But over the years the guilt and the lies had eaten away at Tyreceus. He had justified lying to his son to spare him from the truth. He had helped him forget his memories of the war so he could heal as he grew.

But he couldn’t stop him from growing up and making his own choices.

At that moment Tyreceus was ready to come clean. He knew he had to. Of course, Ace was fast asleep, and Tyreceus was only gaining bravery at that moment because he was asleep.

"Start small," Tyreceus told himself." Admit something small and the big lies won’t seem so bad anymore."

Tyreceus opened his mouth and shut it again, feeling silly being afraid of his teenage son. Ace mumbled something in his sleep and Tyreceus froze up, afraid of rejection more than bullets, afraid that he would wake up. Instead, he simply shifted onto his back and mumbled something about cheese.

He told himself next week he would tell his son his real name.