"Zeus?" She was shocked stiff by the name she had just heard. "I don't understand. Why would you show up here and in such a manner?"

"For an interview." He shrugged. "Isn't that why we are all here? You posted an announcement online and stated that there was a vacancy. What's the point of all this?"

"I see." Zaria calmed herself. Why did she suddenly have the weird feeling that this man before her was the same man who had been protecting her behind the scenes?

Lucy had promised to investigate him, but she was yet to hear a word from her, then this oddball came rolling in.

"Have we met before?" She asked, trying to keep herself sane. "And have we communicated before?"

"Yes. A few hours ago when I submitted my application." He answered.

So that was a no. She was troubled. "Then why did you claim my surname?" Did he know how terrifying that was? She had almost thought that he was her brother!

"About that." He cleared his throat. "As I said, my name was stolen from me. I thought I could borrow yours."

"Okay." She felt drained after just a few minutes of conversing with him. He was definitely not the best candidate to be Desmond's assistant—the last thing she wanted was to have to dispose of a corpse because Desmond couldn't take it anymore and had to tear his head from his neck.

"Are you disqualifying me?" He guessed from her attitude.

"What would you expect?" She held back the urge to throw him out. This interview was taking a toll on her. "Please leave."

"If you insist." He smiled. "Talk to you on Creszone, then." He stood to leave.

"Wait!" She stood to quickly stop him before he could leave.

"Why do you keep messing with me?"

"It's what I'm good at." He grinned. "If you really want an assistant for your boyfriend, no one qualifies for that role more than I do."

"Big words, huh." She frowned at him. The interview was already over.

He silently opened his file which she hadn't really gone through because she had given up on him.

"How could this be?" She was shocked when she looked through it.

"Are you impressed by my qualifications? I'm even much better in person. By the way, I'm only a weirdo with you. I get along perfectly with everyone else." He puffed his chest out in pride.

"No, not that." She gasped in disbelief at his national identity card. "Your name. You really are Zeus. Your surname is Roatta?"

"That's my mother's surname." He confessed, making her frown deepen.

"And who the heck is Zeus Williams?" Why did this sound so confusing?

"Williams… is my father's surname—at least that's what my mother says." He answered her, but instead of clearing her confusion, she was even more shocked.

"What's your mother's full name?" She probed.

"I don't think she is part of my job description but her name is Lucy Roatta."

Zaria almost fainted from shock. So, not only was this man Zeus, but he was her brother too?!

She didn't know that her mother had a son!

She grabbed his identity card and checked his birth details. He was born when she was five years old? This didn't make sense.

"Are you done contemplating? If you are, assess my qualifications." He reminded her.

Zaria blinked. There was no way this idiot could be Zeus. Although he gave her a slightly similar feeling, there was something oddly different. Besides, wasn't Zeus supposed to be an older man with a son? He even talked about a husband! Something felt wrong.

…

The interview ended with Zaria's mind almost blowing into smithereens. She picked out three candidates to look up later. One of them was Zeus, but her major reason was so she would keep a close eye on him. He was Zeus alright, but he didn't give her the same feeling he did when they conversed on Creszone. His voice was different too. She would have thought of them as two different people but it would be too much of a coincidence. If he didn't have a split personality, she would have to find out everything about him.

Luckily he was fit for the job—he was a genius, to be fair—so he would not be a waste of time.

"Get your head out of the clouds." Lucy scolded Zaria strictly later in the afternoon when the latter spaced out while giving a report.

"I'm so sorry." She apologized and gave the rest of the report like a robot who merely had to do it.

"What's going on?" Lucy didn't want this to carry on for long so she asked.

"I met Zeus. The guy I told you about, the stalker who has been helping me." She blurted.

This time she saw it even though her mother tried to mask it. Lucy was shocked. It was as though she didn't expect them to meet.

"Why would you do that? You think he is dangerous so… don't you think it was risky to meet him on your own?" She scolded her.

"I didn't look for him. He found me." She tapped the edge of Lucy's desk gently. "And mum, he is crazy, I swear. He even said such nonsense about someone robbing him of his name or something, so he borrowed mine and named himself Zeus Willaims."

Lucy facepalmed. That damned idiot.

"You have been spacing out a lot today. I hope you're in better shape tomorrow. Do you need to cool it off with some drinks?" She offered, and Zaria shook her head.

"I'll rush home. Dad is still recovering." She smiled, thinking about the latter's rapid improvement. Lucy nodded and she saw her off before rushing home herself.

_

"Dad, how are you feeling?" Zaria asked Theodore who was now out of hospital, and was recuperating at home.

"I feel like a vegetable." He jokingly complained. His daughter had hired nurses to watch over him even though he was at home, and he would think he was still in hospital if Des wasn't there to play with him.

Zaria kissed his cheek with a laugh and sat opposite him.

"What's going on?" He knew that she had something to talk to him about. He was right and she didn't think she could wait any longer to know the truth.

"Dad, when…"

"Mmh?" He probed when she hesitated.

"When mother left, how old was I exactly? It's just that… I'm quite forgetful and… something important happened around that time…" She stammered, hoping she made some sense.

"You were six. You wouldn't recall it since you were so young." He answered, looking at her suspiciously. He was taken aback when she frowned and looked confused. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes. It is." She smiled and kept her thoughts to herself. Not only did her mother have a son, but she also faked his age? Why would she do that?

…

In the outskirts of Imperium stood a grand villa nicknamed The Web by its owner. Lucy made her way to the villa and as soon as the door opened, she stormed in, landing a slap on the cheek of the man sitting on the living room couch.

"That's an interesting greeting." Zeus smiled as he rubbed his cheek.

Lucy launched another slap. "You only had one task. Just one task—to protect her. Couldn't you have done it well?" If the man before her was not her son, he would be long dead from how angry she was.

He pulled away from her. "And what does protection mean to you? Hiding the truth from her? Keeping her from the world, huh? Faking her death?"

"Shut up!" It was a punch this time, and Zeus wiped a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth.

He glared at her. "I have lived under you all these years, mother. I have followed your every instruction." He laughed bitterly. "Even if you pointed at the moon and called it a mango, I would gladly wish to take a bite. But not anymore."

She could understand him, he was not as patient as she was.

"You can rebel if you want but do not put your sister's life in danger!" She gritted her teeth. How could he be so insensitive?

"Of course, I won't." He smiled. "I will protect her. Also, can I get my Creszone account back?"

She glared at him, and he had to clarify. "The point is not the account, mother. Stop hiding behind my shadow and let her know who has really been her friend for all these years."

She smiled and averted her gaze from her son. "I was scared that Zaria would hate me if she found out who she was speaking to, but not anymore."

"Then tell her!" He urged. In actual sense, he wasn't mad at his mother. He just found it unfair that he was not allowed to be close to his sister in the name of protection. "What's all this anyway? If Olphire is not safe for our family, then we can take Zaria and father away to some other place that's safer. Doesn't that go without saying?

"Zeus, if only you knew." She sighed. If it was that easy, she would have done so two decades ago.