- Lucifer, Poseidon, Zeus, Eros -
The water's unstable surface meant little to most of the crowd. They weren't quite sure what was coming so they cheered even louder. The look of horror on Eros' face would have been a signal to the crowd to be worried but staring at the god's section of the coliseum was forbidden.
"I know you hate him but surely not enough for THIS?!" Eros was desperately whispering to Zeus.
"He knows what he's doing," Zeus responded unconvincingly.
Lucifer was maintaining a strong face for the crowd. Truthfully, he knew what was coming, and that he should just surrender right now before it happens. The reasonable part of his mind wouldn't stop shouting at him to surrender but there was one thought, one dangerously petty thought, that overwrote his reasonability.
'Let them see what their god is truly like!' Lucifer thought. 'Go ahead, do it! I've survived worse.'
Poseidon let out a slow breath as he brought his hands up. The unstable surface of the water shot up at Lucifer in the form of hundreds of thousands of little needles. The watery needles shot up like a waterfall in reverse. The sheer force behind the attack was revealed to the audience the moment a needle came in contact with Lucifer's body, tearing the archangel's skin.
Lucifer shot down a jet of flame to mitigate the damage coming his way with his left hand. He couldn't hope to block most of the attack unless he used his blue flames, something he had no intention of doing. At the same time, he used his right to shoot another jet of flame, launching backward. His skin was torn as the needles came in contact with his flesh. The moment he had space, he started to fly around the edges of the arena.
As Lucifer flew near the stands of the coliseum, stone walls rose up. He flew as fast as he could, focusing purely on speed and control instead of offense. His goal was to show Poseidon's desperation while also staying alive. He was just barely able to outrun the attack. The stone walls to his side were torn apart by stray needles.
Poseidon stayed in the center of the arena. He had only used one hand to create the swarm that was tracking Lucifer. His other hand was setting up for the finish.
'USE THE BLUE FIRE!' Poseidon shouted in his mind. 'USE IT, FALLEN! IS YOUR LIFE WORTH SUCH PATHETIC PRIDE?!'
Lucifer had done laps around the arena, narrowly avoiding the swarm. He knew there was more coming. He was preparing himself for whatever it was Poseidon was creating.
'Y'know, if I didn't hate you, I would compliment your skill,' Lucifer thought as his eyes darted around the arena, looking for Poseidon's next move. 'Shame that talent is so often wasted on your type.'
Poseidon was one of the greatest opponents Lucifer had ever faced. In a different context, this match would have been a point of growth for Lucifer, showing how far he had come. What it had become instead was a battle of bitterness versus pettiness. The deafening cheers of the crowd would make it seem otherwise but for those who understood this situation, there was no mistaking the danger the two combatants had created.
Lucifer knew the Olympians' rules on flying too high in the coliseum. He didn't want to disqualify himself just yet. The uproar of the crowd was filled with too much joy, too much ignorant happiness to what was actually happening for him to stop now. He wanted, needed, to show them what it was their god was doing.
Lucifer flew straight down. He boosted his speed with flames, giving him a fair amount of distance from the swarm. He landed on the dry ground and went to shoot himself toward Poseidon. At that moment, it wasn't what he felt that sent a warning to his mind, but what he hadn't felt. The look he saw on Poseidon's face told him he had made a grave error.
Poseidon's grin was faint, nothing more than a slight curve on the edge of his lips. As difficult as it would have been to notice, Lucifer saw it. It was enough to give away that Poseidon was ready to end this. The water had completely returned to the lake and with it, Poseidon's trident. From the waters rose an eight-headed hydra.
"Why isn't Eros speaking?" One spectator asked.
"I know, we've never seen the full eight heads of the hydra before," Another spectator added.
"Hold on, Eros isn't above the arena anymore!" Another spectator pointed at the empty space that Eros had been occupying.
The loud cheers of the crowd were slowly shifting into confusion at the lack of their announcer. While the fight had been incredible, the strangeness of Eros's absence stood out too much.
"DO YOUR JOB, BOY!" Zeus was shouting at Eros. "The crowd's cheers are starting to die down!"
Eros looked over at Lucifer with an intense stare of worry as he spoke under his breath. "I wonder how much they'll cheer when they see Lucifer's corpse..."
Zeus grabbed Eros by the scruff of his cloak. "WHAT WAS THAT?!"
Eros looked up at Zeus with fear. "He's going to kill him. He's going to kill him, and bring the Rider's wrath down on us..."
Zeus released Eros with a shove. "Maybe you're unaware of how durable archangels are, or maybe you don't trust my brother? The former is understandable, the latter, however..."
Eros's eyes bounced between Poseidon and Zeus. "Look at him!" he pointed. "Look at him and tell me you 'trust' what he's doing!"
Zeus couldn't quite see Poseidon's face from where he was. What he saw seemed to be a mostly expressionless face. Had he seen the grin on his brother's face, he would have stepped in sooner.
"Now then, Fallen," Poseidon moved his hands closer together, "I recommend you surrender or use that blue fire of yours NOW!"
The hydras opened their mouths and shot out eight matching swarms of water needles. Lucifer didn't turn around to look. He could hear what was coming. He closed his eyes and pictured the silhouette of a man in his mind. The silhouette placed a sword to his throat and spoke in a commanding, condescending tone.
''You will always be my greatest, most consistent mistake.''
Lucifer exhaled a breath and created words with fire. "You're pathetic."
With that, any chances of Poseidon sparing him were gone. Lucifer shot himself into the air and hovered in the center of the arena. He closed his eyes and said one last thing to himself.
'I won't die. Not here, not to you.'
The loud shouts of the man from before were barely audible over the confused questions of the crowd. Lucifer could faintly hear what was being said.
"CO...ON...DEV...! ARE...OU...EAL...OING...T...DIE...F...IS?!"
Lucifer didn't pay any thought to what he was hearing. He needed to focus so that he didn't do all this just to die. He crossed his arms in an x shape and pointed his hands outward. He tucked his head behind his arms as flames shot out from his palms and wrapped around his body in a sphere.
The approaching swarms slammed into Lucifer's fiery bubble. He quickly wrapped his wings around his head. He knew his body would be suspended by the swarm once it started to hit. His flames did stifle some of the needles but not enough. He was being ripped apart piece by piece. The only part of him that wasn't drenched in blood was his head.
The swarms that were ripping Lucifer apart looked like a powerful rainstorm had been trapped in a rotating sphere. The crowd couldn't see what was happening on the inside, which led to more confused questioning.
"What is Lord Poseidon doing?" One minotaur spectator asked.
"Isn't this attack a bit much?" One satyr whispered.
"Just one of those swarms was able to tear up the walls of the arena..." Various spectators started whispering.
Eros projected his voice at a volume several times louder than before, "WE HAVE A WINNER!"
The intense noise of the announcement led to Poseidon looking back at Eros. The swarms let up on Lucifer for just a moment. Even inside his violent cage of water, he was able to hear Eros. He shot blue flames from his hands and started to properly defend against the violent swarms of water needles. He had accomplished what he wanted with this match, now, he just needed to survive.
Poseidon didn't stop his swarms. Everyone in the crowd had heard Eros's announcement and was now questioning what Poseidon was doing. While none were brave enough to outright say something, a feeling of unease spread quickly. No one was cheering anymore. Everyone was watching the sphere of water, nervous to see what was left of Lucifer.
Zeus had gone to strike Eros but stopped once he noticed his brother was still attacking Lucifer. "What is he..."
"I TOLD YOU!" Eros shouted.
Zeus looked at Eros with anger, then worry. He looked at his brother, knowing he had let things go too far.
Lucifer was still alive inside the sphere, barely conscious, but fighting back against the swarms. He was receiving far less damage now as his blue flames destroyed the water. He knew that he should up the output of his flames to completely nullify the attack but something told him he shouldn't. Something in the back of his mind told him to wait for just a second longer.
The sound of a powerful bolt of lightning shooting into the sky drew everyone's attention immediately. Poseidon turned around and looked at Zeus. He stopped his attack and turned back to look at Lucifer.
Lucifer fell out of the sky, his body in tatters. He slammed into the ground and quickly stained the dirt with his blood. As he lay there, he started to shout in his mind.
'STAND UP! JUST STAND UP FOR TWO SECONDS! THAT'S ALL IT TAKES!'
While the crowd looked down at Lucifer's body with horror, Poseidon had to stifle his smile. He felt pride in having defeated Lucifer so thoroughly. He would have raised his arms in victory if not for the current air of the coliseum. He knew the situation well enough to not make more of a scene. His stifled smile quickly shifted to a grimace.
"He's...alive?" One minotaur spectator wondered.
"How?" A group of satyrs asked.
"I've seen corpses that look better..." A being wearing a blue cloak said.
Lucifer dragged himself onto his feet. He stumbled as he tried to put weight on his legs. It wasn't fast or easy, but he finally stood up. The left corner of his face had been torn apart by the swarms, taking his left eye with it. He did everything he could to stare into Poseidon's surprised eyes as he took a slow step forward.
Eros flew down next to Lucifer. He put his cloak on Lucifer's body and propped Lucifer's arm onto his shoulder. His white toga was quickly stained red. The warm feeling of Lucifer's blood trickling onto his body sent waves of guilt through his body.
"I'm sorry," Eros whispered to Lucifer. "You deserve better than this."
"Finish the announcement, boy!" Poseidon ordered Eros.
Eros looked at Lucifer with great pain in his eyes. He lowered his head as he projected his voice.
"WITH AN INCREDIBLE FINISH, POSEIDON WINS AGAINST THE..." His voice stopped.
"Say it," Poseidon said in a menacing tone.
"...AGAINST THE FALLEN!" Eros's projected voice finished.
Lucifer's voice was barely audible, "Mon...ster."