The road towards his future (3) – Maritsu POV (3) & Gabriel POV (1)

Maritsu studied hard for his college entrance examination and pushed aside all sadness he felt for his brother's passing. After all, getting good grades for these exams was paramount to the implementation of his plan.

Eventually, his hard work and his years of preparation didn't let him down. He got amazing scores for his exams. Several of the Ivy League gave Maritsu an olive branch. If he accepted their offer, he would get a scholarship and certain subsidies, which would allow him to completely focus on his studies.

His mother and brother would have been so proud. Years of hard work finally had shown the desired result. Too bad, though, he couldn't grasp those olives branches, he already had a different path laid out in front of him. With the grades he had, there was no doubt he would be able to pass the test for the National Military Defense Academy.

It wouldn't be as easy as he wanted, however. He had to pass a psychological evaluation, a medical evaluation, a cognitive test, and, of course, a fitness test. If he passed all of these, he would be assessed by several superiors to see if he had the qualities, he would need to have to be able to become a great officer. After all, being an officer brings comes with heavy responsibilities. He might want to become an officer with a goal in mind. However, he would protect the people he commanded, like he hoped his brother would have been protected by the officer's he served under. He wouldn't take his responsibilities lightly, just because he had ulterior motives for joining the armed forces.

The goddess of faith or luck seemed to be on Maritsu's side. He passed all the tests he needed to pass to enroll into Columburt. Therefore, Maritsu stepped on a long road of training. It might have been a college, but the tests they were put through were absolutely devastating. Some students quit, because the requirements were too high, or the pressure got to them. Some students had to drop out due to injury, which meant they wouldn't be able to serve in the armed forces any longer.

Therefore, Maritsu's training was fraught with blood, sweat and tears. For him, it was really important to stay at the top of his class, because the higher his scored, the better his first appointment in the military would be. Maritsu worked for several years and joined the armed forces at a higher rank than he expected to start.

He started his low-key investigation into his brother's death. One day, several years after he had started working as an officer, he finally managed to find several suspicious people connected to the demise of his brother. When his investigation stalled once again for several years. A war was waged in his mind, the war with the question revenge or justice?

It wasn't the first time this war was waged in his head, but until now justice always had the upper hand. The evidence he had found during his search for answers would all be permissible in court. The fact that his investigation had come to an absolute standstill, however, made him anxious and irritable. The only thing that kept him away from letting revenge win the battle was the fact that there were several suspects. Even if he wanted revenge, he couldn't involve innocent people.

Maritsu gnashed his teeth after having had yet another day when his investigation yielded no results. He wondered if maybe the path of justice wasn't suitable for him, because he still didn't have the answers which he so desperately needed and wanted.

The day had been a very bad day to begin with, and he finally gave in to the dark whispers that had been lurking in his soul the entire time. He would still not break the bottom-line, however. He would find out the real people responsible for his brother dying, and he would never kill everyone who was simply a suspect.

He gave into the idea of revenge and let it swallow the light in his soul for a while and let it darken him. Furthermore, he had tried it the right way, but the right path didn't give him any answers. Then maybe it was time for the path of darkness. All he wanted was to make the people pay who took his brother away. If it couldn't be done by sending them to jail. Sending them to death would accomplish the job just as well.

There were two reasons which made him keep his bottom line and not just kill everyone who was suspicious, were, ironically enough, the values that the army had instilled in him. It was ironic since he joined the army for a purpose, unbeknownst to him though his soul had been dyed by the colors and codes of the armed forces.

Other reasons were, because if he just murdered everyone who could have had something to do with his brother's death, he would become a villain. Those people had families. They were mothers, brothers, father's, daughters and sons themselves. How could he deprive someone of a cherished family member without definite proof, based simply on suspicion? He simply couldn't do it.

However, he also couldn't stand the standstill of his investigation anymore. He just wanted answers, he decided, and he couldn't care less how he found the truths. If he found out the truth, and it couldn't be used in the court of law. He would get his own justice.

Therefore, one evening, Maritsu broke into the office of a person he had deemed suspicious. The person's office he broke into, however, had a higher rank them him. If he was apprehended while breaking in, he would face jail time for what he was about to do tonight. Maritsu might have been in the army for years, that didn't make him a burglar, however. His nerves got the best of him, and several papers fell off the desk down to the floor. Thankfully, it just caused a slight rustle. The offices were deserted at this time and the sound was almost non-existent. He would be fine, he thought to himself. "Let's hurry up!"

He wasn't fine, though. The goddess of luck which had favored him many years ago now seemed to have abandoned him. Just when he was rummaging through the drawers, someone opened the officer door, and it was too late to hide. The lights had been turned on, and he stood frozen in his spot and all he could think was: "It's over…"

- Gabriel's POV-

Gabriel had forgotten something on his way out and walked back towards his office. However, at the end of the hall he seemed to have seen a reflecting light and some rustling. "How could it be" Gabriel thought to himself, nobody should be here anymore at this time, after all, I was the last one to leave. "It will not be a spy sneaking in. That seems impossible, though the security measures taken here are amazing. Only officers and up are allowed in the building."

Gabriel subconsciously lightened his steps and walked towards the office he seemed to have heard the sound come out from. He thought he might have imagined it at this point because everything seemed quiet. Gabriel slowed down his breathing and stood in front of the office. When he looked inside, he saw a shadowy figure. When he knew someone was inside, he figured he would find out who he was and what his purpose was for coming here. Gabriel opened the door quickly and turned on the lights. What he saw in front of him was definitely not a spy, he was too unskilled for that. In front of him stood a young guy frozen in his place. His faced showed absolute despair because he was caught red-handed in the act. What was weird, though, was that the man in front of him seemed to show disappointment, not about being discovered, but about something else.

This made Gabriel wonder. Why was this man despairing if it wasn't about the jail time he was going to face? This intrigued Gabriel. Especially so, since the man in front of Gabriel was a man, he recognized. The man was a lot younger than him, but it was a face Gabriel recognized. It was a young officer who had taken on risky missions and protected the foot soldiers under his command at all cost.

So, what was a man, he had admired for his vigor and spirit. Who had done everything to protect the people under him, sometimes at the risk of his very own life, doing here in the middle of the night? In an office, of a superior, which he shouldn't be in at all? What was he planning to do?