Percy's bangs were plastered to his forehead. Sweat ran down his face while adrenaline pulsed along his veins. The son of Poseidon opened his eyes to meet Nico's. Hastily he lifted his arm. Riptide blocked dutiful, though not without quivering between its owners fingers. Nico jumped back into the dark, exposing himself no more than necessary - which made follow-ups a true nightmare.

His situation seemed dire. The earth was littered with shallow pits and high rocks where the son of Hades had ripped and pushed at its crust. Nico had morphed the arena into a wicked labyrinth of shadows - his personal playground.

"How? How are you still standing?" Percy yelled into the void. He was panting hard, but with the amount and frequency Nico roamed between the different realms he should have been out of juice long ago.

The other attacked once more. "Conceal don't feel," he smirked, but Percy could see his legs tremble. A small mercy he supposed. Still, the younger wasn't giving him a proper chance to catch his breath, let alone concentrate to formulate an adequate plan. He had to think of something fast and his strained muscles agreed wholeheartedly. The water had been a good start, yet it wasn't enough. He needed - Black iron came dangerously close cleaving his midsection in half. Damn! If he hadn't transformed the liquid at his disposal to support his armor it would have been game over. Nico slipped so easy through his defense right into his personal space. Percy swore he felt the odem of death ghost over his skin whenever the son of Hades made contact. But he couldn't quite hold on. As soon as he tried Nico was gone. He needed more time. That's it!

Suddenly there were tufts of curly hair at the edge of his vision mixed with the sound of air being cut. Nico's next attempt came out of nowhere. Gods' someone should put a bell on him. Not that it mattered.

The impact that followed made Percy's bones rattle. Nonetheless, the nasty bruise would be worth it. Victory was close. He could taste it. The black iron engulfed in water proved him right. It didn't budge. Due to the increasing water pressure he'd just applied, it was glued on the spot and with it his owner was also stuck. He was a genius!

For a moment the boy didn't know what to do. Fight or flight? It wasn't really a question. When push came to shove the answer was clear. Without a second thought, the son of Hades abandoned his weapon.

"Ow!" Percy cursed as he withdrew stumbling. Furiously he rubbed over his eyes. Nico had just thrown a fist full of dirt right into his freaking face. Talk about playing fair. Blinded Percy swung his sword in the vague hope to hit something or at least keep Nico at bay until he was able to see again. Surprisingly, it worked. Just not in the way intended.

The ground beneath his feet quivered. Once. Twice. A fissure opened and pulled Percy down. The earth was swallowing him! For dear life he held on to his tiny water bottle and prayed to all gods above. The unyielding maelstrom of sand and gravel took him in deeper and deeper. It would draw him under. His armor bend and moaned, his chest tightened, and oh no - Percy panicked. He was buried alive! He was drowning, and, and - and then it stopped? Percy blinked. The dirt didn't move an inch higher than his belly button.

"There. Done. You're dead Aqua-Boy," Nico grunted, sounding utterly exhausted.

"Aren't you overdoing it?" The son of Poseidon couldn't help but laugh in relief. The color on his face slowly returned.

"You started it," Nico muttered. With all the time in the world, he picked up his blade and secured it to his belt.

"True," Percy agreed innocent. Nothing was more efficient to kick-start his brain than a near-death experience - after he recovered from the shock of course. "Well then let me finish it too," he chirped while squeezing the object in his hand as hard as humanly possible. It wasn't as good as a seashell but hopefully with enough focus it would do the trick.

Nico's head twisted. He caught a glimpse of Percy - determined and incredibly smug, before a giant blast of water was aimed in his direction.

"Cazzo!"

He managed to raise a wall from the soil which was holding strong for a solid 30 seconds and then crumbled, like a sandcastle crushed by the wrath of an entire ocean. The water came through, throwing him back - almost knocking him out in the process. Up and down changed so fast the whole concept became meaningless. Oxygen, on the other hand rapidly climbed up on his to-do list.

As quick as the whirlpool appeared it vanished and Nico all but hacked out his lungs. He looked like a wet kitten. A wet, muddy, and very very angry kitten. His eyes were glowing with an underworldly shimmer and Percy took an involuntary step back. He lifted his hands in a universal gesture of peace. Oh gods, he'd just poked the bear.

Out of the blue, a high-pitched scream disturbed the match. Both demigods haltered, searching together for the imminent threat. Only now they truly became aware of how big their audience had gotten. The arena was filled to the brim. There were countless campers, countless drenched campers, with soaked t-shirts clinging to their bodies.

Some guys began wolf-whistling, and a huge amount of catcalls echoed over the place, followed by lots of livid yelling.

"Oops."

"Oh gods', Jackson, did you just - " Nico face-palmed. Leave it to Percy Jackson to turn an epic battle of the mightiest demigods in existence into a wet t-shirt contest.

The son of Poseidon laughed madly at the chaos and Nico had a hard time not joining in.

"So, you're giving up?" Percy bugged because he was the worst.

"Fine. Whatever." Nico concentrated and stomped with his feet, returning the ground to his former flat glory. "I think I had enough for today," he said, staggering lightly.

"Nice! That was-"

"Percy! Nico!" Their students stormed towards them.

"That was awesome!" They exclaimed. "The coolest thing ever!"

"I was going to say questionable physics, but yeah of course it was awesome," Percy beamed.