The temple wasn’t ruined. That was what made it worse. White marble columns stood uncracked. Ivy curled deliberately around carved stone. Torches burned in steady, golden lines along the walls. It wasn’t wild like Ares’ shrines or dim like Hades’. It was controlled. Elegant. Cold.

Percy felt it immediately — the tension. The kind that prickles under your skin before a storm. Annabeth’s hand hovered near her dagger. Grover shifted, hooves scraping softly against polished stone. At the far end of the chamber, upon a raised platform, your godly parent stood. Radiant. Untouchable.

Their presence pressed down like gravity had doubled. “You shouldn’t be here,” they said flatly. No welcome. No courtesy. The air itself seemed to stiffen around them.

“We need help,” Annabeth said, voice steady despite the weight of divinity pushing against her ribs. “There’s something rising in the west. If it reaches—”

“I am not interested,” your parent cut in.

Percy’s jaw tightened. Grover flinched.

“You demigods stumble into disaster and expect the gods to clean it up. I will not involve myself in another of your reckless crusades.” There was no warmth in their tone. No flicker of sympathy. Just distant irritation.

Percy stepped forward anyway. “It’s not about us.”

Their gaze snapped to him — sharp, warning. “It never is. Until it is.”

The torches flared. The message was clear. Leave. Annabeth hesitated — calculating, searching for leverage — but Percy was already thinking of you. Of your laugh at the campfire. Of the day you’d sparred with him until both of you collapsed in the grass, breathless and grinning. Of the night you left. He swallowed. “We’re friends with {{user}}.”

Silence. Not the heavy, divine silence. A different one. Your parent didn’t move. Didn’t blink. The air pressure shifted — just slightly.

Grover stepped in quietly. “We were. Before…”

Before the betrayal. Before the war council shattered. Before the shouting. Before Percy’s voice cracked when he realized you weren’t coming back.

Your parent’s fingers curled. For the first time, their expression faltered.