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He sighed and looked down at her, attempting to be as reassuring as he could be without hurting the poor girlâs feelings, "If you never face your fears, you will never get past them. The only way to get past whatever is going on in that pretty little head of yours, is to go right through them. Whatâs done is done. Letâs not forget that." He looked around, placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, and gently turned her to face her peers, "You may be surprised that youâre not the only one with demons. We canât control the past, but we can control what we learn from it." Heâd leave her to reflect on that. While he hadnât told her that sheâd be going through the training directly, he knew that she was smart enough to read in between the lines.
Like one might a quarter, he tossed the blue token into the air and snatched it up. He did this a couple of times. A womanâs tears didnât really sting him as much, but that didnât mean he wanted to be the source of it. Whatâs with Camp Athensâ females? Gods, he prayed quietly for a male opponent while also hoping it wouldnât start pouring rain. His pea-brained head didnât connect the dots that the weather change might have been part of Ilianaâs lack of control, but he did wonder why it went from sunny to potentially showering.
"Nothingâs going right. The only other thing that could go wrong is I might have to beat up some dudeâs girlfriend," he laughed at himself as he thought of all the potential female scenarios he would be aligned with. Only because he felt that his magnetic pull for the opposite sex hadnât quite weakened yet. He rubbed the back of his neck as he tossed the token on the ground and let it roll away⊠someplace.
Andy stepped into the arena just in time to step on the blue token before it rolled away. She leaned down to pick it up before walking over toward Nick. "I hope you didnât overexert yourself," she commented with a knowing smirk as she dropped both of the blue tokens into his hand. "Iâd hate to embarrass you on your first day of camp," she concluded with a playful grin.
Taking that as a prime example of being flirted with, he accepted the tokens in the same playful manner, only he had the deep rumble of some serious salacious tones, "Are you sure youâre not asking to see if I am available later? Iâm not that tired at all." Since he has uber chest muscles, he did that thing where his pecs bounced around at his command and winked before turning away to distance himself. "I will be available later, by the way, and I donât get embarrassed very easily! Obviously." he called out to her, lifting a hand in a backhanded wave. "Good luck, Princesa." He had to add some additional teasing in there alongside the drawl of his native accent.
Andy just stood there for a moment in shock at the son of Poseidonâs brazen attempts at flirting. She supposed there was a first for everything. "Itâs Andy," She corrected as she rolled her eyes and spun around on her heels. As she made her way to the opposite side of the arena, she took a hair tie from around her wrist and tied her hair back in a ponytail.
Unlike some of the other demigods who might have water, fire, or who knows what at their disposal inside the arena, for her it was quite basic. There were a couple of weapons racks and a table that displayed just about any sort of weapon she could want. Anything and everything was available, but rather than going for the largest and most intimidating blades, she settled for a small, rather basic, looking set of throwing knives. Andy leaned down to faster the holster around her right thigh before turning to face Nick.
He wouldnât dare say it out loud, but she looked like he was going to get his ass handed to him. Itâs always the women that are the most vicious! He wasnât even going to dare ask her parentage.
With one hand in a pocket, he flicked the tokens into the air - together they disappeared, signaling the beginning of the match. While there were no barriers visible to the naked eye, there was a bubble of magic protecting the spectators from whatever their peers would dish out. Nothing could break through it - not influence, fire - nothing.
Much like Andromeda, the son of Poseidon was a basic Demigod. All he needed was what he is already surrounded by; slabs of stone, earth, and himself. The whole water thing was more or less Livâs ordeal, not his. He could do without it. The only source of water glimmered at his feet when he stopped and turned around to face his opponent. He bent low, reached down, and dove his right arm into the seemingly shallow pool. He dragged his arm out, a black and gold hilt with the mighty trident embedded into it, was slowly being tugged out. Eventually, the whole gladius was produced.
"Nice party trick," she humored.
He tossed her a goofy grin, "Anytime."
If Andromeda thought sheâd be dealing with the typical Poseidon kid; envisioning drowning or something of that sort, she was about to be dead wrong. With a smirk, he gestured her to go ahead with the sweep of a hand, "Ready when you are."
Andy was never really one to throw the first punch. So it was a first for her having to initiate the fight. She could charge him, but Nick was larger and stronger than her. It would be in her best interest to keep as much distance between them for as long as possible. Whether or no her opponent was expecting a quick fight or not, that she didnât know. She might not look like a threat, but unlike him, she wasnât trying to impress anyone either.
She looked around for inspiration to strike when her gaze settled on the weapon racks around her. Andy held out her right hand, tensing it like she was gripping something no one could see. Her fingers curled like claws as her muscles visibly tensed. For a moment it might have looked odd, but when her hand jerked a few inches upwards, every weapon behind her lifted up into the air. She turned her attention towards Nick, holding his gaze for a moment or two before she threw her hand forward. With the motion, every dagger, spear, sword, and any other weapon flew through the air like missiles locked on the son of Poseidon.
The moment all of those extremely pointy items ended up pointed at him, he held his free hand up in defense, "Woah, woah! Was it the pec dance thing? I wonât do that anymore. Damn!" The women here really held grudges, didnât they? Of course, Nicholas was also having fun - both poking fun at himself and the situation.
Alas, every single one of those weapons flew right toward him! He turned away and started to run, and it was quite comical. However, in a second or two after that, he got really serious very quickly. As if he was going for a âjust kiddingâ moment, he turned on his heels and faced the incoming trajectories. He stomped one of his feet hard against the ground, and for a half-a-heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then some invisible force slammed into the weapons, though a spear managed to escape the shockwave and burrow into his left shoulder. "Ah, shhhhhhhiiii-," his would be expletively dragged into a pained groan, and it took another second for the ground to start trembling. It cracked and splintered every which way, causing schisms and sudden uneven ground. Some of the fissures were deep and wide, and others shallow - but the overall arena had become a craggy ground where one wrong step could send either tumbling into the depths.
He broke the spear off at the shaft, leaving the rest in there so he didnât bleed out all over the place. He was dumb as a box of rocks, but he was extremely practical.
The shockwave rolled across the arena, slamming into Andy. The force sent her tumbling backward. She only came to a stop when she collided with the stone wall that surrounded the coliseum. The ground trembled beneath her. It was almost like trying to stand on top of rushing water. Sheâd get halfway to her feet only for a fissure to slice the ground underfoot and knock her off balance. The crack only seemed to grow as she struggled to stand. But before she could gain her balance, the earth opened and swallowed her.
Andy barely managed to grab a hold of the edge before disappearing into the depths below. For a moment or two, she struggled to try and pull herself up, but her upper body strength was abysmal and all she was doing was wearing herself out faster. Her gaze darted around, looking for a solution when she saw a large rock break off from the ground and fall into the chasm. In a test of faith, in herself, Andy released her hold. And while she instantly disappeared from view, she quickly held out her hands toward the rock, willing it to shift course and stop beneath her, catching her fall.
After landing, her hand flicked sending another rock flying through the air, stopping it a little higher than the first like a step. Andy kept repeating this action, bringing more debris towards her, making a makeshift staircase. But instead of stopping once she reached the top, she kept going, raising herself several feet about Nick and the arena. Now with the high ground, Andy grabbed a throwing knife and threw it at her opponent. Rocks froze, hovering in the air like stepping stones as she lept from one to another, circling him like a vulture as she hurled knife after knife.
It would seem that Andy found the weak spot in his ability very quickly, but Nicholas wasnât mad at her for it. In fact, he looked pretty happy! He wasnât trying to impress anyone with his powers. Heâd rather impress the girls with dancing pecs, but thatâs another story. Maybe if he got his ass handed to him, heâd be able to shed off the whole babysitter son of Poseidon image. So while being beaten might anger someone else, he was lowkey grateful for a challenge.
By this time, there wasnât a lot of ground to move around on safely. Nick couldnât manipulate the rocks, but he could do other things. Just as he thought about one thing, Andromeda had other ideas - namely, more pointy objects to hurl at him. The big guy really wasnât all that fast given his size, so two to three daggers made their mark; one sinking into an arm, another into a leg, and the last one grazed his side. The rest he could manage to swat aside with the gladius, or even duck and dance away from in a rather uncoordinated manner.
Once he was just really tired of dodging and swatting at incoming blades, he decided to move out of his defensive position. He crouched down low then propelled himself up into the air. Heâd land on one of the levitating stones, using them in the same way she had. The force of each landing caused the floating staircase to crumble one by one, and when he eventually lept toward the last one - the one that had Andromeda - he barrelled into her with full force. Nicholas knocked them both off of the rock and, together, they plunged into a dark fissure with uncertain depth.
At first, Andy wasnât concerned when Nick began to climb the rocks. She just kept adding to the floating staircase and climbed higher. But before she knew it, the abundance of rocks below began to dwindle and every makeshift step crumbled beneath him as he made his way toward her. She levitated the last rock and as it raised to her, she looked back over her shoulder just as Nick charged into her. Andy gasped as the wind was knocked out of her and the collision sent them both tumbling off the rocks, into the chasm, disappearing out of sight of the other demigods.
They fell so quickly she hadnât a clue which way was up or down. The darkness quickly devoured them, only the small slice in the earth above lending any light or sense of direction. At first, Andy clung to Nick, as anyone would when they thought they were falling to their death. But somewhere during the plummet logic took over reminding her that this was only training and she couldnât die⊠At least she hoped. She couldnât see him in the darkness but she could feel his hold on her. In a last-ditch attempt to get the upper hand, Andy wrestled against his grasp, managing to put her foot against his chest. With all the strength she could muster she kicked off him and sent them both spiraling in opposite directions until they crashed into a pull of water.
The tension of the water stunned Andy as she hit the surface then quickly began to swallow her. Then there was panic. Water filled her lungs where air should be as she frantically kicked, praying she was heading for the surface, not the depths below. She was no daughter of Poseidon. She couldnât breathe underwater. And whatever logic she had left at that moment only replaced with a fear of drowning and a rush of adrenalin as her fight or flight kicked in. As she desperately searched for the surface her hand found the rocky side of the ravine. It was just enough to help her find the light of the sky above and led her up to the surface.
Andy gasped for the air the second her face burst out of the water. Her chest heaved as she coughed horribly. Her hands frantically clawed at the side of the newly made cliff, trying to find anything to grab to steady herself and keep her head above water. When she found a good enough hold she rested her forehead against her left shoulder, trying to catch her breath.
While Nicholas was, indeed, the son of Poseidon, he didnât particularly enjoy being submerged. He could breathe, but he had crashed into the water so harshly, that it felt like he couldnât for a moment or two. To say he was a tad disoriented, to say the least.
Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness just as she heard a ripple in the water. Thatâs when the realization of her predicament set in⊠She was trapped in a ravine with the son of Poseidon. Andy had no idea how big the cavern was nor how deep, but she had to act fast. Faster than Nick. She quickly spun around in the direction of the shifting water and threw out both of her arms. Her fingers curled as her powers reached out and grabbed him. Then in a swift move, she threw her hands up and sent Nick flying up and out of the chasm.
Before he could get his bearings, he was⊠being shot up and out of the chasm!? He didnât even know what hit him - literally. This witchy stuff - he didnât like it one bit. All of his limbs flailed wildly, and strings of expletives bounced off the walls of the chasm; hear to none but Andromeda, and thankfully so. He didnât want to be labeled the camp potty mouth just yet.
The chasm spat him out like a bad meal or something. When Nicholas finally landed - well, you know what they say about big guys falling hard. He slammed against the arena floor; face first, and nearly fell down yet another split in the stone. Most of his body was about to be devoured, again, but he managed to pull himself to safety. He stayed there, like he had fallen asleep. He was tired⊠legitimately exhausted. If he wasnât the son of Poseidon, he probably would have been broken to pieces in the fall. It didnât mean he wasnât in pain, though. Still - he had to move somehow.
Although Nick was out, nothing was stopping him from jumping back in or doing whatever water magic he had up his sleeve. Andy needed to get out and get out fast, but every hold her hands found was too slippery for her to pull herself up and climb. There were no convenient rocks or floating debris for her to make another staircase and she wasnât powerful enough to bend the earth or water to her will. Andy had never used her abilities to levitate herself, but at the moment she didnât seem to have any other choice.
It took an immense amount of focus, but slowly and shakily, Andy began to rise up from the water toward the surface. Occasionally sheâd lose her hold and fall a few feet or bump into the side of the chasm. But eventually, she slowly emerged from the dark fissure. Her focus was wavering until she couldnât hold on anymore and fell to the ground, landing on her hands and knees.
Andy stumbled to her feet and quickly closed the distance between herself and the son of Poseidon. Nick, still on all fours, scrambled towards his gladius trying to reach it before she got to him. But she was faster. She kicked his weapon out of reach before he could grab it, then waved her fingers in the air, using her powers to knock him over onto his back. Before he could try to get up, Andy straddled his upper torso, pinning his left bicep under her knee and his right wrist under her foot. Then, with the last bit of energy and power she had left, she conjured a dagger into her right hand and held the blade to his neck. Then everything was still. She didnât move or give him an inch as she struggled to catch her breath.
He held up both of his hands in surrender, "Ah, deadly, beautiful - I would say I like my girls feisty, but I think I will take a pass on this one,". The laugh that passed through his lips was one-half nervous and another half an attempt to make a joke out of a defeat. It was fair. Just because he was the son of Poseidon didnât mean that others couldnât prevail over him. Heâs a pretty humble guy - on the outside, but he did feel the pang of bitterness as his pride was severely injured. He could hide that emotion, though.
With the fight won, Andy tossed the dagger aside. She didnât have the energy to partake in Nickâs flirty banter. She slowly moved off of him but didnât have enough strength to get to her feet, instead rolling over onto her back. The next fight could wait a minute as she caught her breath.
Nicholas also needed a few moments, and when he finally decided to get off of his feet, he stood himself up. He offered a hand to Andy, but he was respectful about it. With his signature stupid grin, "I almost had you. Congratulations on your win." With that said, he turned away from her to allow the next fight to commence. There was nothing left to say, and his ego was a tad bruised.
Andy propped herself up on her elbows, coughing up whatever water remained in her lungs. Once the fit stopped she saw the offered hand and took it, allowing him to help her up. "You did," she agreed with a weak laugh. As she turned to walk away she snapped her fingers and a towel appeared on both her shoulder and Nickâs. She didnât say anything or look back at him. It was like a silent sorry for kicking your ass gesture. She hesitated at the entrance to the arena and wrung out her hair and clothes best she could before returning to her seat beside Trinity with an exhausted groan.
He dragged himself out of the arena and toward Blair. There was a lot of space for him to stretch out, so he laid on his side and put his head in her lap. He looked like a baby, to be honest. A big beefy manbaby that just got his ass kicked and now he needs some consoling from a woman heâs only known a whole⊠four hours. He pulled the towel over his head and just laid there, his arms crossed over his chest in grumpy defeat. Between Blair, Andromeda, Evelyn, and Veronica - heâs kind of had a full day.
Blair watched the spar⊠Kind of. Fighting and swords werenât really her thing. There might have been a fleeting moment where she felt a small amount of concern when Nick disappeared beneath the ground with the brunette. But after all, it was his doing they both fell in the first place so he had to have some sort of plan. She was honestly a bit surprised that he lost the fight, but Blair just chalked it up to fatigue from their afternoon activities.
Her brows raised curiously when Nick didnât return to his seat but made his way right toward her. They werenât a couple after one not-so-quick hook up in a cramped office were they? In any other circumstance, Blair might have made a sarcastic quip saying as much, but he came toward her like a dejected puppy and she actually felt sorry for him. She grimaced a little at the fact he was drenched and she wasnât particularly in the mood to be wet herself, but at least he kept his head wrapped in the towel so she wasnât entirely soaked. After a moment or two, she settled and even offered him a lick of her lollipop. Candy made everything better. He just stayed under the towel. At least Blair's lap was comfortable.
The arenaâs magical properties morphed it back into repair, and it was - once again - typical. It awaited the next pair.