Grandfather and grandson

Eneas had had an hour to prepare for this meeting. Ever since his mother revealed to him who his grandfather was, he had wondered how to approach him, how to confront him or how to unload on him all the rage that had been transmitted to him by seeing his mother suffer in order to raise him.

However, the more anger he had, the more he wanted to take revenge on that man, and the more absurd that approach seemed to him. What could that man who didn't know him care about his anger and his pain?

He was waiting in the Director's office dressed in his cadet dress uniform; he was waiting standing, of course. The only problem with that meeting is that since the director was there, he had to be very careful with his words; however, it seemed that things would not turn out as he expected.

The office door opened and he entered, closing the door behind him and leaving the two of them alone. The Great Admiral Zeus: Although Eneas had seen him hundreds of times on the news, it was the first time he had seen in person that characteristic beard, that bearing, that breadth of shoulders, and that hard look.

"Cadet Eneas I suppose"

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Grand Admiral Zeus, or should I call you grandfather?"

Delivering a short and direct dialectical blow would measure the waters, or so Eneas hoped; however, Zeus began to laugh openly.

"Haha haha, I like your style, boy, direct and to the point; good tactics will be a matter of genes; in short this saves us from the idiotic part that I had prepared in case you didn't know what relationship united us, I know that this meeting is going to be complicated, just let me ask you if my daughter is okay, then we will talk about what you consider."

"My mother, Aphrodite, she is fine, she is happy and she has no desire to see you."

Zeus knew that there was no use in forcing certain things, so he nodded his head.

"I don't know what your mother has told you, nor am I going to discuss or refute anything from the past; you don't know me, and you don't have to trust me no matter how much you are my grandson, so here we are, you, a cadet with the potential to be a future figure of the navy, and I am a great admiral. I will not beat around the bush, but you would be stupid if you did not know the doors that I can open for you; we just have to..."

"Forgive me for interrupting you, but I don't want from you the power that sent my father to death and made my mother suffer, nor your influence, nor your money, nor anything at the moment that ties you to that tragic past. I don't know you, as you say, but I don't want anything that the pain has implied in the person I love most in this world, who is my mother. I don't know if he is sorry or not, if he is aware of the damage he did or not, but I am not the one who should ask you those questions; it will be my mother one day who will ask them, for now the only thing that can exist between us is summarized in my first question and I am still waiting for your answer: Should I call you Grand Admiral Zeus or Should I call you Grandpa?"

"I don't understand you; you are going to give up all the power, all the help, and all the contacts that I can offer you, but nevertheless, what you are asking me is whether you should treat me as a soldier or as family…"

The face of the great admiral Zeus was one of displeasure. As he came towards Troy, he had imagined the worst scenarios; he had expected that the boy would reject him completely, that he would not want anything, or that he would tell him that between them there was only a relationship of military hierarchy. But the fact that the boy gave up all his power, all his influence, everything that made Zeus the person he was, unnerved him.

"It's easy; since I'm already grown up, you can take me to the park or buy me sweets. I only ask that if you want to cultivate the relationship with me, let's meet up sometime, allow me to tell you how the academy is going for me, give me advice as a grandfather, not as a great admiral, and thus dilute all the coldness that now makes us look at each other with suspicion from the other side of the room. I am not stupid, and I know that from your height you will do many things in the shadows. Furthermore, I only ask that you not openly intercede, that you do not reveal our bond, and that you let me make my way on my own merits. Can you accept that?

Many would think that Eneas was betraying his principles with this approach, but by taking the matter to a personal level, it was where Zeus could most easily take advantage of it. Neither with his contacts nor with his power could Eneas defeat the great admiral; if he entered into that game, he would be a plaything in the hands of the monster. But if what his mother said was even remotely true, that man let himself be carried away by passion and feeling above all else, and there Eneas could maintain control in the game.

The great admiral Zeus had more legitimate and not-so-legitimate children and more grandchildren; however, none of them ever asked him to act as a grandfather, the important thing about him was who he was in the navy, his figure and his power. It had been a long time since anyone in his surroundings simply wanted to be his family. Of the possible dialectical blows that he expected to receive, Eneas did not give him any, however with this, he left him completely disarmed and against the ropes.

"And how is that done?"

"How do you make what?"

"How do you manage to be a grandfather and a grandson, an old soldier and a twenty-year-old boy who don't know each other at all?"

"Well, we can start with the easiest thing. Let's watch the simulation together and tell me honestly what you think and what you would have done based on your experience, grandfather"

Of everything that Grand Admiral Zeus could expect, this was the last thing. They put the playback on the holographic player and began to comment on the simulation. At first, it was difficult for Zeus to get out of his role as great admiral, but as Eneas asked him how he would have gotten out of this or that decision or situation, Zeus began to tell him anecdotes, praising many of the decisions and questioning others. , they could even laugh at some point.

"What did that poor fool do to you to leave him alone with a fighter in the middle of the enemy squadron?"

"Bah, he deserved it; he tried to ridicule me when it was his turn to be the commander; it's his simulation; I only returned the same coin…"

Zeus laughed openly; the boy was not exempt from cruelty and crudeness and he liked that, it was a relaxed hour, an hour in which he got to know his grandson a little better, and he felt closer to him than many others in his life. Family. But they couldn't stay locked up all afternoon if they didn't want to raise suspicions, so they moved forward until they had completely reviewed it.

"Eneas is not bad at all; few would have overcome that situation in combat; the majority would flee, it is a risk, but the type of risk that separates simple officers from geniuses"

"Well, I try to learn; I try to do the best I can; sowing from the beginning is what my mother has taught me... By the way, grandfather, can I meet grandmother?"

This last blow caught Zeus by surprise.

"Of course, if you can, come to Elysium City later and have dinner with us; she will be delighted."

"I agree..."

Jumping into the lion's den was the best thing he could do, it wasn't that Aeneas was stupid, but while with Zeus he could play the emotional battle, even if he still hated him deep down, with his grandmother, according to what his mother had told him, it wouldn't be so easy.

Zeus was a being of passions, Hera was the most dangerous witch that had ever existed.