My mind spun, trying to reconcile the data dump from my system with the earnest, worried face of the boy in front of me. Aiolia. My younger brother. If he was Aiolia, then I… I had to be…
My eyes widened in dawning horror and awe. Aiolos. The Sagittarius Gold Saint. A legendary hero famed for his righteousness, a man who would one day sacrifice everything to save the infant goddess Athena. A character whose heroic spirit was so potent it echoed through the entire series.
[Role Assimilation Complete]
[Assigned Role: Aiolos – Sagittarius Gold Saint (Provisional)]
[Canon Status: Altered Timeline]
[Omnitrix Sync with Host Body Attributes: 37%]
The system's confirmation felt like a physical blow. Provisional? Altered Timeline? What did that even mean? C.C. had said I would remain myself, that I'd just be given a native identity. She never said I would be body-snatching a main character.
"Is this a bug?" I muttered under my breath, my modern slang feeling alien and out of place in this world of myth. "Did the system glitch and shove me into the wrong guy?"
A translucent panel flickered in my vision, a direct response to my question.
[Role Merge Variance: 12%]
➤ Cause: Dimensional Narrative Override – High-Importance Character
➤ Benefit: Increased Local Influence; Accelerated Access to Power Structures
➤ Risk: Greater Narrative Targeting by World Antagonists
So, it wasn't a bug. It was a feature. The system had taken the path of least resistance and greatest potential, slotting me into a pivotal role. The benefits were obvious—who had better access to the Sanctuary than a future Gold Saint? But the risks… being targeted by world antagonists in the universe of Saint Seiya meant having cosmic-powered gods and their ridiculously overpowered minions trying to kill you. I had just painted a giant, shimmering, interdimensional bullseye on my back.
I took a moment to get my bearings, my senses slowly adjusting. We were at the bottom of a deep, winding canyon. The air was thick with a cool, damp fog that clung to the ground, obscuring the path ahead. Towering, ruined pillars, remnants of some ancient, forgotten temple, jutted out from the canyon walls like broken teeth. My Omnitrix, ever the diligent archivist, was already at work.
[Passive Scan Engaged]
[Location: Sanctuary Periphery – Ruins Zone Gamma-4]
[Artifact Trace Detected: 0.03% Longinus Energy Residue]
My heart skipped a beat. A trace. It was faint, almost nonexistent, but it was here. The shard had passed through this area. This desolate training ground wasn't a random starting point; it was the beginning of the trail.
I looked down at myself. I was wearing simple, tattered training clothes—a sleeveless tunic and loose-fitting pants, both worn thin from use. Aiolia was dressed similarly. We looked like a pair of destitute orphans, which, according to the memories now settling into my mind, was exactly what we were. A brief wave of self-pity washed over me, immediately followed by a surge of grim determination. I had survived being a foster kid in New York; I could survive being a demigod-in-training in ancient Greece. I had to.
"I'm alright, Aiolia," I said, forcing a reassuring smile. My voice sounded deeper, more resonant than I was used to. It was Aiolos's voice. "Just pushed myself too hard. You know how it is."
Aiolia's face lit up with admiration. "You're always pushing yourself, brother! That's why you're the best trainee. Everyone says you're destined to become a Gold Saint!" His praise was so pure, so untainted by jealousy, it was disarming. He was just a kid who idolized his older brother. The thought sent a pang of guilt through me. I was an imposter, wearing his brother's face.
I needed to change the subject before I said something wrong. "Come on. We should head back before the instructors mark us as late."
"Right!" Aiolia nodded enthusiastically.
He turned to the sheer canyon wall beside us, a cliff face that had to be at least thirty feet high, and crouched. For a split second, I saw a faint, shimmering aura envelop him, a light visible only to my system-enhanced senses. Then, with an explosive burst of power, he leaped.
He didn't just jump; he flew. His body shot upwards as if launched from a cannon, his feet finding impossible purchase on the vertical rock face before he pushed off again, landing gracefully on the canyon rim moments later. He turned and looked down at me, grinning.
I stared, completely awestruck. I'd seen it a hundred times in the anime, but watching it in reality, feeling the displaced air from his jump wash over me, was something else entirely. The raw, casual power was breathtaking.
My turn. I took a deep breath, crouched, and tried to imitate his movement. I jumped.
I managed about three feet of air before gravity reasserted its dominance with comical authority. I landed with a pathetic thud, my ankles jarring.
A new system prompt appeared, a diagnosis of my failure.
[Host Musculature at 84% Potential Output]
[Limiter: Neural Motor Adaptation Delay]
[Analysis: Core consciousness is not yet synchronized with host body's Cosmo channels.]
[Recommendation: Engage in Local Combat Drills to Unlock and Harmonize Cosmo Flow.]
Aiolia, bless his naive heart, didn't laugh. He just looked confused. "Brother? Is your leg hurt?"
"Just… a cramp," I lied, my face burning with embarrassment. "Give me a hand."
He quickly scrambled back down to help me. As he supported me, recounting our shared history to fill the awkward silence, my Omnitrix dutifully logged the information, building out my new identity.
[Background Data Received. Updating World Map & Relationships...]
[NPC: Aiolia (Future Leo Gold Saint)]
[Trust Level: 78% → 82%]
[Notes: High combat potential; naive disposition; fiercely loyal to user's host identity. Can be leveraged for training assistance and intelligence gathering within the Sanctuary.]
He spoke of how we were orphans, found and brought to the Sanctuary for our unusually high Cosmo potential. He talked about the Grand Pope, the benevolent leader who saw greatness in us. He described the structure of our new home: the Temple of Athena at the peak, the Papal Hall, and the Twelve Zodiac Houses that served as the final line of defense, home to the twelve Gold Saints, the pinnacle of power.
"Everyone who comes here is a Fighter," he explained, his voice filled with youthful reverence. "But only a few, the ones chosen by a Saint Cloth, can truly become Saints. The others remain Fighters for life, the guards and soldiers of the Sanctuary. But you, Aiolos… everyone knows you'll be chosen. The Sagittarius Cloth is just waiting for you."
The pieces clicked into place in my mind. The system had given me the perfect cover. As Aiolos, a Gold Saint candidate, I would eventually have access to the most restricted, high-security areas in the entire Sanctuary. The Gold Saint armories. The Zodiac Houses themselves. The places my Omnitrix had flagged as the most likely locations for the Longinus shard.
My embarrassment at failing to jump faded, replaced by cold, hard strategy. Aiolia saw an older brother. The Sanctuary saw a prodigy. But I was neither. I was a scavenger, an interloper with a mission. And my new identity as Aiolos wasn't a burden.
It was a key.