Both of them noticed us as soon as we began moving. Annabeths face as she looked at us was incredible. Not only did she pale until a sheet of paper would look dirty compared to her face, but her expression went slack. Almost as if she was just going to fall unconscious.
*Pampf*
Oh, would you look at that. She just did. Good for her. It's the only thing that is currently stopping me from drowning her unconscious ass. She's going to get whats coming for her.
Ares, a bit further away from Annabeth, immediately checked if either of us had the backpack with us.
"So it really was you two that stole it..." he began, probably wanting to follow up with some useless insults. Instead I threw a potion at him. It was in a glass vial, one that was as thin as possible to ensure it would break on contact. Inside of it was something that simmered violet with slight golden glimmer inside.
"Ares, I know what's going on. Don't even bother denying it. I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you will give me Hades Symbol of power. If you win, I will give you the lightning. What do you say?"
"Percy, I know you're strong and all, but seriously. Do you actually think you can win against him? That's practically suicide."
Grover tried to stop me with reasoning. It was ineffective.
"You can't make that deal, Perseus. You don't have do bolt."
"Believe me, I have it. If I didn't I wouldn't have proposed it."
Ares stared at me. Eyes glowing behind his shades. Then he huffed. "Very well. I accept. First blood wins. Satyr, get lost."
He seemed bored as he said it. Like he knew he would win. He probably couldn't imagine ever losing to a simple demigod.
However, there are some interesting things that he was currently ignorant of. Challenging the divine always forces the divine to restrict their power to the limit of the mortal they were facing. Those rules applied to every challenger. Even if a monster were to issue the challenge the rules and restrictions would still apply. Unfortunately for Ares, he was unaware of my total mortal limit. Mind you I did not only have access to my class skills still, but also to my magic and even the domains. And we were at a beach. Not to forget the passives that were still active.
Sure, I couldn't allow to cause a phenomenon related to my domain, so I would still be limited to my connection to the sea but besides that and as long as I was able to channel everything through the sea as my medium, no divine being would notice or question my abilities.
Ares still thought I was a normal demigod so even if he wasn't as restricted as with others, he probably wouldn't notice and fight with the limit a normal demigod would have. Poor guy.
We approached each other. And then we began circling each other. Our blades gleamed from the sun above. Then Ares struck first. His blade a simple dual bladed sword, was stabbed towards my midsection. I redirected it away from my body and towards my right. Making him come closer to me while exposing his right side to me. I kept my eyes on his sword arm and shoulder while I drove a fist into his ribcage.
He barely stumbled and immediately rolled away from me. I tried to land a low kick while he did so but he was already outside of my reach. Then suddenly, as quick as a snake, Ares slashed his sword horizontally at my legs, which was still partly raised. I dodged back as quickly as possible.
Both of us, once again at a respectable distance from each other, stood straight. Ares now looked at me like he actually saw me for the first time. Still not as a threat but he now saw that I was atleast good at what I did.
Suddenly Ares moved forward. It was so quick I almost missed it but, thanks to my ability to see a bit into the future, I knew it was coming.
I took a step back, getting barely out of reach but not being stupid enough to allow his sword anyway near my skin because I had seen how he swung his sword, not completely utilizing its reach.
That fucker just tried to bait me into doing something badass, only so he could then try and "suddenly" extend his range and win. But not with me. Not with a third world war at risk. Ares and I dealt blow after blow. There were a lot of weak points and even openings in his fighting style. It gave me the impression that no one had ever taught him how to fight. Sometimes during the fight we would end up at a distance from each other and then Ares would prepare to attack again. Be the first to land a hit. But each time I could see all the different possible attacks he would try. And they would reduce in amount, like a giant web that rapidly lost all its strings with Ares as the centre/starting point of each string. And they would reduce until only one attempt remained. One that he would then use in reality barely a second after.
Eventually I began to realize that I wasn't just seeing possible futures but I was also seeing his decision making in real time. The almost strategic narrowing of Attack plans.
Our blades clashed fast and almost whip like. Sparks and loud metallic sounds would emit whenever they met. Regardless if they were at knee hight, overhead or even behind his or my back.
Finally I took one last step back and then I felt the ocean leaping at my heels. But our battle continued uninterrupted. Ares didn't notice as the usually blue water of Santa Monica slowly turned darker and darker. He didn't notice as the sand on the shore slowly began to turn obsidian like. He didn't notice the hurricane forming above us. He didn't notice as the clouds began to turn from Grey to black and when he finally noticed something amiss, it was only when the mist began to roll in.
But it was to late. We were already far away from the shore, standing on a platform made out of almost solid water. Not ice but water with enough surface tension that it allowed us to stand on it. Then finally it was time to break his pride.
The wind picked up, making the mist move in fast and hypnotic patterns as it covered me and obstructed his view. The mist was so thick one couldn't see their hand in front of their eyes. The hurricane finally touched the surface of the water, building a wall of mist while "almost" clearing the centre of the hurricane from the fog. But there was still a bit of it inside, but it was only gathered on the floor and barely reached up to his thighs.
I was no where to be seen.