The sun kissed Athena's shoulders as she stepped out of the sea, surfboard in hand, droplets clinging to her skin like glittering runes. For a brief moment, she felt peace — a rare fragment of normalcy in her divine existence.

But then… she saw him.

That man again.

The same one who had appeared near the resort. The same eyes that didn't quite belong to any world. He stood barefoot at the edge of the beach, watching.

He wasn't approaching.
He wasn’t fleeing either.
He just stood there — calm, silent… studying her.

Athena narrowed her glowing eyes behind her mirrored glasses. She didn't move, didn’t speak. Her heart remained steady, but her instincts screamed.

“Who are you really? And why do you keep showing up… when I let my guard down?”

Her fingers tightened around the surfboard, not as a weapon… but as a shield — until she could read his intentions. Whatever he was… he didn’t come from the ocean.