I'm sorry it took three days to update and that this chapter is a little bit short. I was procrastinating for like two days..

••••

~{the Aion's floor of the De Rosè building, 2000, two days after he met Lee. }~

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Aion was laying blankly in the middle of their sofa, watching the passing cartoons and Nickelodeon shows that starred on the TV. It's been a day since their first 'adventure' outside and meeting a Lee Fletcher that says weird things such as 'demigod' and calling people 'mortals'. Oh, and has a Pegasus. Aion mostly cares more that he actually defended them from their mother, even though the slap should've been for themselves.

No one had ever done that. Even grandpa never did more than interfere.

Lee called them a friend. Does that mean Aion has a 'friend' now? But that doesn't matter...the golden blond boy hasn't appeared yet.

Even though Aion wanted him too. But they knew that they won't always get what they want (aion learned this long time ago).

The young child sighed, sitting themselves upwards. Then, they fold their feet. They looked up to the upper part of a wall where a clock was hanging.

12 : 08

The maids in charge of lunch should be here soon.

Aion brought themself off the couch, heading to a hallway that will lead to their favorite eating place; the comfy chair that hangs from the high ceiling in their large bedroom.

They climbed in the chair that wasn't touching the ground and sat, waiting for their food till they heard the click of their bedroom door opening, revealing a servant that Aion couldn't bring themself to remember his name, with a tray of whatever the chef chose for today. As the servant placed down the tray on a table near them, Aion stared blankly at it. It looked like the food of today's creamy mushroom pasta. If things went how they hoped, Aion would be sharing this meal with their 'friend', doing things friends would do, like watching movies together, or talking casually. (Aion didn't really know, they only knew what TV showed)

Just as Aion was about to take the first bite of their food, the door opened again. Aion frowned, looked up, then their eyes widened in disbelief and overjoyed.

"Lee?!"

••••

~{the ground floor of the De Rosè building, 2000, two days after he met Aion}~

••••

The son of Apollo arrived at what looked like a really weird but tall building, with Adair Ashbirk, a satyr for him not to look suspicious as a random kid alone in a lobby. The satyr's a red-head, with hair and fur that reminded him of redwood. His horns were fully grown, as he had to wear a dark-green baseball cap. Lee rolled his shoulders, releasing some of his nervousness, as he walked up to an empty counter.

The receptionist smiled a textbook example of a friendly employee's smile and asked politely, "is there something I can help you with?"

Lee glanced at the paper in his hand then at the disguised satyr beside him before sulking in a deep breath. "I'm wondering if I could see Aion De Rosè?"

He caught slight surprise in the staff's eyes before it quickly was replaced with understanding. The receptionist nodded while grabbing a telephone near her. "And what is your name, sir..?"

"Oh, it's Lee fletcher. " he answered, tilting his head a bit as the staff seemed to speak with someone through the telephone.

He heard, "yes, sir…..yes, his name is Lee…..mhm, blonde with blue eyes..yes, of course, sir." Before she looked up at him again and smiled, now with more carefulness than politeness. "Lee, yes?"

"Erm," Lee skirmed then nodded. "Yeah." He confirmed.

"If you want to see young miss De Rosè, just use this key card to use the private elevator that way," she gave him what looked like a silver credit card with no numbers and pointed at a single elevator at the corner of the room. "Her floor is the second highest, level 68."

••••

After Lee let himself out of the elevator and on Aion's floor, he curiously observed his surroundings. It seemed Adair was too. The satyr was sniffing around, and stopped when a person with butler clothes(?) neared their line of sight, appearing to just exited a double-door.

The man-or butler(?) seemed slightly alarmed at the two but quickly changed that to recognition, nodding in politeness, then went in the elevator himself. Lee glanced back at the satyr beside him. Adair was staring at the doors where the person just went out of.

"Do you think Aion's there?" Lee asked, nodding his head to the door's direction.

"Yep," Adair confirmed.

Lee hummed. "Then should we just...go in?" It should've been rude, but they're dealing with a demigod here. Common manners in someone else's home were already wrapped in a box and thrown out the window in some random god's house in mount Olympus.

And so, the son of Apollo carefully opened the door and peeked in, seeing a wide eyed kid with long blond hair and, at least to him, burning orange and swirling yellow eyes.

Aion opened their mouth and exclaimed, "Lee?!"

••••

~{the Aion's floor of the De Rosè building, 1996.}~

••••

"Darling, let mama dress you, okay?" Angelica said, her hands spread out as though she wanted a hug.

Her child shook their head childishly, damp fluffy blond hair getting droplets of water everywhere. "I want Qixing to help me wear clothes!!" They held onto a young Asian women's skirt.

At their mother's frown, Aion's maid, Qixing, hurriedly tried to correct them. "Miss, don't be like that… it's better if your mama does it."

Aion pouted. "No!"

Qixing sighed, lightly pulling herself away while gentle attempting to loosen the young child's hold.

"When did you love someone else more than me?"

The maid froze at the dangerously tight tone of her employer.

Angelica's hands placed itself on her child's shoulders and shook them frantically. Though causing Aion to let go, the five year old was noticeably even more distressed. "She is nothing compared to me. I had just left for a week and..and you prefer this girl more than your own mother?!"

"I- um, miss‐" Qixing tried to speak, noticing the visible unease on the child's face.

But Angelica's expression just had a twisted realization. "Oh, I know. " She glared at the maid. "If she's gone, you'll only love me, right? Hey, sweetie, look at me." Angelica cupped Aion's face far too roughly for a five year old.

Aion hesitantly turned their head to meet their mother's eye. They saw an obsessive desperation in Angelica's what would've been deemed pretty eyes, now just brought dread in Aion's small form.

Their mother smiled. "That's more like it. " but then she scowled. Not even looking at Qixing's direction, she ordered, "You will leave and never see my daughter ever again. I'll make sure of it."

The maid could only bow and quietly exit the room, trying her hardest not to focus on Aion's heartbreaking disappointing stare.

This wasn't the last time Aion had ever tried to befriend an employee...for their mother would resort to worse drastic methods just so her child won't ever like anyone more than her.

...Like that one time a maid was caught bringing in 'boy' clothes...and had to be immediately sent to the hospital after having boiling water 'accidentally' spilled boiling hot water all of her face, chest, and legs.

Right afterwards, Aion cried and begged to be allowed to write a letter on how sorry they were. "Please, grandpa, don't tell mother. I can't just let Ridhah think I don't care about her!"

That was the one time Aion's grandfather prioritized his grandchild over Angelica.