"Brother, you're awake now. The doctor said you just collapsed from exhaustion. You should rest."
Richa guided me carefully, like I was glass that might shatter. He sat me on a wide bed lined with silk. The room was enormous—paintings of gods on the walls, golden vases, polished marble floors.
Not my home. Not my world.
I looked down at my hands. They were slimmer, paler, and younger than I remembered. This wasn't my body.
"Brother…" My voice cracked. "What… what's my name?"
Richa froze, then gave me a confused look. "…What are you talking about?"
"I just… forgot." I forced a smile. "Humor me."
For a moment, his golden eyes softened, as if he thought I'd gone mad. But he answered anyway.
"Your name is Caelum Ardentis."
The sound echoed in my skull, fitting and foreign all at once.
Caelum. The sky.
As if the world itself had named me for what I was meant to become.
Lightning buzzed faintly across my fingertips. The system's window flickered into view again:
[Identity Confirmed]Name: Caelum ArdentisLineage: Zeus (First Descendant)Authority: 1%
A spark lit the room for an instant, startling Richa. He grabbed my wrist, worry etched into his face.
"Caelum, are you… all right?"
I met his gaze and, for the first time, answered with certainty.
"Yes. My name is Caelum."
Inside, I whispered the rest to myself.
And I will make it the name of the strongest demigod this world has ever seen.