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"Halt fiend!"
Zagreus sighed internally, then eventually expressed it outwardly in annoyance. What was *he* doing here? The stadium was a good ways away, and it wasn't as if Theseus came around these parts of Elysium anyways.
"Well, what a surprise to see you, King," he responded, slowly turning around to face the arrogance in a bag. He sneered, holding up his sword in a ready position as a bit of a warning.
He was slightly surprised to see Theseus hold his spear up in return.
"HA! I bet it is, blackguard! After all, I'm quite knowledgeable on stealth-"
"Can it," he said simply, ignoring the overly exaggerated gasp of offense. "So what? A duel? If I win I can pass?"
Theseus rolled his eyes, looking thoroughly peeved. "So confident in yourself, aren't you daemon? And what makes you think you can defeat *me*? The best in all of Elysium?"
Zagreus clicked his tongue, sneering a bit. "I mean I have, over a dozen times," he remarked, smirking a bit.
Theseus' eye twitched and he flushed, gritting his teeth. He slammed the butt of his spear into the ground, getting into a fighting position. "You are purposefully delaying our sparring! Stop your witching mind games are fight me!"
With a bit of a bounce and a shake to ease out any jitteriness, Zagreus readied his sword, then leapt towards Theseus in a blast of speed.
A yelp sounded from his opponent as he slashed at his undefended side. Theseus bit out a growl and glared at the bastard son. He aimed carefully at the blur of red and black before striking, hitting Zagreus in the side.
The godling let out a hiss, red blood trickling down his side.
"Ha!" was all Theseus could get out before Zagreus bounced back, going over and slashing once again in the demigod's direction - which was just barely blocked by the swiping arc of his shield.
Theseus pushed him away heavily, landing Zagreus on the ground. He got out of the way before the spear near impaled him, but he wasn't quick enough to avoid getting cut on his right arm.
With a quick dash around, he found an opening and tackled his opponent to the ground, the spear falling out of Theseus' grasp.
Zagreus pinned the blonde in place, near straddling him as he held his sword directly above Theseus' chest, slamming it down, only to have it clatter against the shield. Taking advantage of the miscalculation, the pompous king disarmed him, flinging the shield against the blade, sending it flying off to some corner of the room.
"What will you do now?" Theseus said, arrogant smirk on his face.
Zagreus promptly punched in the face.
That earned him a groan and a hard smash to the skull, the metal of the offending shield vibrating from the impact.
Blood dripped down his nose and chin as he stared down at the equally bloodied king.
They were tense, but neither of them seemed eager to move, both simply catching their breaths.
It wasn't until Zagreus kneed him in the groin that the battle restarted.
There was one fluid motion and the godling's leg shot out, kicking the shield out of the demigod's sheath and away from reach. Then in a hurried struggle, Zagreus went to pin down his opponents arms, but the constant thrashing and angry insults kept him from achieving his goal.
"No! You haven't won! I won't allow it!" Theseus insisted. He tried bucking out of his position but Zagreus kept both of his knees on the other's legs, effectively pinning him wholly to the ground.
"You done?" he asked, breathlessly, earning an angry yell and another desperate attempt.
"Admit your defeat and I'll let you go, King," Zagreus said, having the audacity to look smug.
Embarrassment flooded throughout Theseus and he looked away, trying to hide his reddening face. For once, he stayed silent.
"Come on now, you can be a good boy, can't you?" Zagreus teased, chuckling evilly.
Theseus scrunched up his face and spat up at him, continuing his struggle - but it was no use. Zagreus seemed unperturbed by his attempts - in fact he almost looked amused.
With a sentence that seemed to hurt more than all of his injuries, he spat out "You. Win."
He would never admit it, but earning such a jubilant smile in response to his humiliating defeat almost made the prickling feeling of shame subside.
Slowly, the daemon slid off him, offering a hand to Theseus to help him up.
As the stubborn, *perfect* warrior Theseus was, he didn't grab the hand, simply hauling himself up, his head hanging in bitter defeat.
Zagreus had to laugh at his expression, but gave him a light-hearted pat on the shoulder.
"Cheer up mate, you'll get your rematch at the stadium," he said, wiping away the blood from the corners of his mouth.
Theseus tried not to stare at the smear, quickly averting his eyes.
"O-Of course! And you best be ready! For I shall surely see your downfall there!" he proclaimed, trying to regain that confidence he once had.
Zagreus rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He grabbed his sword from the ground and sheathed it. "Guess I'll see you til then," he said and headed for the door.
Theseus was about to fall to his knees in despair, but Zagreus paused. He turned around looking hesitant, then he headed back over to Theseus. He reached into his pocket and fished out a small bottle of ambrosia.
"I know you probably have boatloads of these, but, I did quite a bit of damage on you, so here," he said not unkindly, handing Theseus the nectar.
The latter looked at the glass bottle, positively dumbfounded. He looked up to say something, but Zagreus had already left.
With a sigh, the king sat down by a pillar, resting his back on it. He cupped his mouth and held up the ambrosia, flushing a little.
Who knew defeat could be so bittersweet.