"I... am honored by the name, Goddess," he finally managed. "Though I cannot claim to understand why you believe it suits me."
Something flickered across Athena's face—was that amusement? "Understanding often follows naming, not precedes it. You will grow into its meaning, or perhaps you already have in ways not yet revealed."
She gestured, and the circle beneath his feet dimmed, the symbols settling into an unusual configuration before fading entirely.
"Your registration is complete. Unusual though it may be."
From within her robes, she withdrew a bronze token inscribed with his new name and a symbol he didn't recognize—neither fully divine nor mortal, but something between.
"This grants you access to general areas of the Academy and basic instruction," she explained. "Additional privileges must be earned through merit, as I explained previously. You will receive minimal resources compared to confirmed divine offspring."
"I understand, Goddess." He accepted the token, feeling its weight—heavier than mere metal, charged with permission and possibility.
"Your quarters are in the western annex, transitional section." There was something almost apologetic in her tone. "Not far from the servants' quarters, but distinctly separate. Fitting for your... unique status."
"Thank you, Goddess." He bowed again, mind still reeling from the name she had bestowed upon him—his own name, somehow impossibly restored.
As he straightened, he noticed her gaze had fixed on his chest, where Aphrodite's pendant rested beside the concealed Forbidden Time artifact. Though he had tucked both beneath his clothing, divine perception often transcended physical barriers.
He tensed, waiting for questions about the pendant's origin. Instead, Athena merely nodded slightly, as though confirming some private hypothesis.
"Belongings of significance often find their way to those who should possess them," she observed cryptically. "Regardless of how impossible the journey seems."
Before he could formulate a response to this troubling statement, she continued: "Classes begin in three days. Use the time to familiarize yourself with the grounds and basic protocols. Your schedule will arrive tomorrow." She paused, then added, "Alexios."
The name again—his true name—spoken with deliberate emphasis. Each syllable resonated through him, connecting past and present, servant and god-killer, disguise and reality.
"I will make the most of this opportunity, Goddess," he promised, meaning every word.
"See that you do." With that, she gestured toward a doorway that hadn't existed moments before. "That will lead you to your quarters. Welcome to the Academy... Alexios."
*
The western annex proved exactly as Athena had described—a transitional space between the servants' humble accommodations and the increasingly lavish quarters assigned to students of confirmed divine heritage. His room, spartan but private, contained basic furnishings crafted with functional quality rather than ostentatious display.
"Better than the servant's cell," Alexios mused, testing the narrow bed with cautious pressure. "Though far from the luxuries afforded true godlings."
A desk of solid oak. A washbasin enchanted to provide perpetually fresh water.
A small wardrobe containing three sets of Academy training attire—simple chitons in neutral gray rather than the personalized colors granted higher-status students. A window overlooking a modest garden rather than the spectacular views afforded to Olympian offspring.
"Humble beginnings," he acknowledged, unpacking his few possessions. "But then, the most devastating forest fires often start from the smallest sparks."
He placed Aphrodite's pendant carefully on the desk, the opalescent rose catching afternoon light in impossible patterns. Beside it, the Forbidden Time artifact pulsed with subtle recognition, as though acknowledging a fellow traveler through temporal impossibility.
"Two pieces of my fractured timeline," Alexios murmured, touching each gently. "One that saved me, one that once protected me."
A knock at his door interrupted his contemplation. He quickly concealed both items within his clothing before responding.
"Enter."
The door swung open to reveal Athena once more, now accompanied by two robed attendants who carried various administrative materials. The Wisdom Goddess swept into the room with characteristic efficiency, her gaze taking inventory of his humble quarters with a single glance.
"Satisfactory?" she inquired, though her tone suggested the question was mere formality.
"More than adequate, Goddess," he replied with appropriate gratitude. "Far better than I deserve."
"That remains to be determined." She gestured to her attendants, who began arranging scrolls and tablets on his desk. "Your preliminary schedule, Academy regulations, maps of permitted areas, and basic instructional texts. Familiarize yourself with all of them before classes commence."
"Of course, Goddess."
Her gaze paused briefly on his chest, where both pendants rested beneath his clothing. Though she made no comment, the slight narrowing of her eyes suggested continued interest in what he carried.
"One final matter," she said, dismissing her attendants with a gesture. Once they had departed, she fixed him with that penetrating gray stare that had intimidated immortals far more powerful than his current state.
"Your name."
Alexios tensed. "You have granted me 'Alexios,' Goddess. I am honored to bear it."
"Indeed. A curious coincidence, perhaps." Her expression revealed nothing, but her tone carried subtle layers of meaning. "The same name Aphrodite had chosen for her son before his disappearance."
The revelation struck like a physical blow. Alexios struggled to maintain his composure, to show only appropriate surprise rather than the shock of cosmic coincidence—or perhaps divine manipulation—that thundered through him.
"I... was unaware, Goddess," he managed, the words feeling inadequate against the magnitude of what she had revealed.
"Few would be," Athena acknowledged. "The name was known only to Aphrodite herself and a few close confidants. She never had the opportunity to bestow it officially."
"And yet you chose it for me," Alexios noted carefully. "Of all possible names."
"Did I choose it?" Athena's lips curved in that not-quite-smile that had confused philosophers for millennia. "Or did it choose you?"
She moved toward the door, preparing to depart. "Consider it merely another unusual circumstance in what promises to be an unusual Academy experience."
Alexios bowed, mind racing with implications. "Thank you for this opportunity, Goddess. For everything."
"Don't thank me yet, Alexios." She paused at the threshold, looking back at him with ancient, knowing eyes. "The path of a defender is rarely easy, particularly when what they defend remains unclear—even to themselves."
With that cryptic statement, she departed, leaving Alexios alone with swirling thoughts and a name that connected his fractured existences like a bridge across time itself.
"Alexios," he whispered, testing the sound of his true name on his tongue after weeks of responding to another's identity. "She named me Alexios."
The goddess who had once fought against him in his original timeline, who had helped forge the chains that temporarily bound him during the final battle—that same goddess had now restored his true name, whether knowingly or as an instrument of Fate's incomprehensible design.
He sank onto the bed, overwhelmed by the day's revelations. The pendant Aphrodite had given him—the exact pendant from his original timeline. The name Athena had bestowed—his true name, supposedly known only to his mother. The repeated coincidences that strained credibility, suggesting forces beyond even divine manipulation at work.
"The Forbidden Time artifact," he murmured, touching the concealed talisman. "Its effects reach further than mere physical regression. It's reweaving the very pattern of existence around me."
Outside his window, the Academy grounds continued their preparations for the arrival of divine offspring. Within three days, the quiet order would transform into controlled chaos as young gods and goddesses, demigods and divine champions arrived to begin their education in cosmic power.
Among them, unrecognized and underestimated, the once and future god-killer would take his first steps toward reclaiming his destiny.
Only now, bearing his true name once more—Alexios, son of Aphrodite, defender and destroyer, servant and sovereign.
"The Academy awaits," he whispered to the gathering dusk. "And so does vengeance."