Athena sends the owl flying and offers her hand again.

"What would that deal be?" I'm still suspicious, but you can't refuse a goddess' hand twice.

Well, okay. I've no idea what you're supposed to do with a goddess' hand.

I don't meet them often. For now, I let her hook her arm in mine and we walk, god knows where.

I mean, she must know where. But she's still pondering how to present her offer.

"I know how curious your nature is. If you're willing to meet your parents, I'll give you a hint about how we traveled back in time." She flashes a victorious smile at me.

It's like she's that eight-year-old little girl again.

Isn't she supposed to be a serious goddess of wisdom and war? Besides, that's a weak offer.

"What makes you think I haven't figured it out already?"

"Oh?" She raises an eyebrow, her grey eyes probing me. "Let's hear your theory."

"I know that the Stratofortress patrolled the Black Sea." I start, though she's right. It's a mere theory. "The brass must have wanted to test their new top-secret toy in the warzone."

The Russians have loads of old, Soviet-Era equipment rusting and wasting away. It wouldn't have been suspicious if a few more of their gear broke down from being old.

But the Americans would know. They could gauge the effectiveness of the weapon from the captured reports. Of course, the Russians didn't sit idle and sent a drone to observe.

"The crew became too cocky from having a secret and undetectable weapon on board and fired on that UAV." I continue theorizing. "The drone operators lost control, and they collided."

The Stratofortress is a massive and rugged beast. A puny little drone couldn't cause it any harm, but that Tachyon Lance was a complex and fragile system.

If the collision caused a leak, the airframe must have started aging. The crew wouldn't notice it in time, and that explains everything. They took the long route around the Mediterranean.

"When they reached the Ionian Sea, the particles aged the bomber by twenty years. It's too much without maintenance, even for a B-52 and it crashed." That must've made the leak worse.

"Let's assume the damage affected the Tachyon Lance as much as its surroundings." I won't pretend I know how that thing works. I'm not dumb, but that machine is above my pay grade.

"If it generates particles in situ, time speeding up in the machine means it makes even more." Sure, it wouldn't be my first conclusion, but since I did travel in time, I have to assume this.

"The Tachyons reached a critical mass, creating a time bubble that took us back 3000 years. It might've taken us even further if you didn't burst it, but as a side effect, it aged you too."

"That's the Odysseus I know." Athena's smile widens, and she leans against my arm as we walk. Did I play at her hand with this? "It's not bad, but do you know how we sent you into the future?"

"If you managed to pull that off, I'd be more interested in the why, rather than the how." I shake my head, rubbing the bridge of my nose. Why would she bother?

Talking about time travel with a Greek goddess and trying to make sense of things, makes my head hurt. If I accept this situation, does that mean I'm that Odysseus she talks about?

Do I have to go through all that shit he does? I'd rather end it here and now, but that's not my style. She bumps against me, dragging me out of these thoughts.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"It was my half-brother." She says as if it would mean anything, but it's hard to feel depressed when a beautiful woman is in my arms.

"If you are the real Pallas Athene, this can mean almost any mythical creature. Your father, Zeus isn't known for being faithful." Let's hope this won't offend the Big Boss, but it's true.

The Greek mythology is full of Zeus fucking stuff. Yes, stuff. Everything that moves, or even inanimate objects. Goddesses? Humans? Animals? He doesn't discriminate.

Athena lets out a bright laugh too. I hope she can't read my mind though.

"You're right, let me clarify." She pauses, taking a deep breath like someone about to rip off a band-aid. "It was Hephaestus. I asked him to make that machine only for you."

My brain goes into overdrive after that claim.

Two things.

One is if they built a time machine that sent me into the future and then ended up in the Army's hands, that's nuts.

And for some reason, I don't even doubt it anymore.

My only question is, why would she go that far for the Odysseus I know from the myths?

That guy was an absolute loser.

And by far, I mean asking his half-brother of all people.

This leads me to the other thing. It's the relationship between Athena and Hephaestus.

They are half-siblings indeed, with a sick and spicy twist. Athena is the goddess of war, crafting, wisdom, law, and many other things. She is beautiful and wise, I can attest to that already.

Hephaestus is the god of smithing, a real nerd, and the Greek mythology's equal of a hikikomori. And a horny one at that. He helped Zeus give birth to his half-sister.

It gets confusing, I know. Zeus ate a pregnant titan, and Hephaestus cut open his skull. And bam. There was Athena in full armor, like the one she wears now.

And it gets even worse. There is a legend that the god of smithing tried to mount his little sister, but as the goddess of war, she kicked his butt.

He already came though, squirting on his half-sister's leg. She wiped it off with a piece of wool, throwing it on the ground. And here's the twist: Earth, or Gaia got pregnant from that.

Yes. Greek mythology for you. I looked into it too much because of my parent's choice of naming me. Athena took the resulting child and made him the king of Athens.

Well, this is an oversimplification. The important bit is that these two gods are on strange terms. They aren't enemies or anything, at least there are no legends about that.

But would you ask the help of someone who tried to rape you? I know I wouldn't, so why did she do it? All that for my sake? It makes no sense, even if I suspend all my disbelief.

"Why?" This is all I can ask. She pats my hand like a benevolent mother looking at her confused child. Now I want to know the full story.

"I'll tell you everything once you meet your parents, and take your place." She grins after getting me hooked. Damned witch, she knows me for sure, and I walked straight into that one.

"Okay, let's assume it's true. If I'm the Odysseus from the legends, and all those myths are true, why would you go to such lengths for me? A footnote in history?"

"As I said, I'll tell you everything once you accept your place." She pulls her arm away and points into the distance. "Cross Mount Neriton and you'll find your palace."