.^^ Repaired Axe Jarnbjorn ^^

— James —

It was the end of the school year, before I was allowed in a sanctuary again. I spent my time wisely, studying the weapon and it's magical properties, as well as the Dwarf Heart, in all my free time.

Mum had been all for taking both from me, when I'd come through the portal, but Athenos had looked at her like she'd gone entirely barking mad.

His rebuttal went something like -"Are You Fucking STUPID?!? Oh, yes, let's try to take a magical God Relic from someone who has magically BONDED WITH IT through a QUEST! Oh yes, that's a grand idea! Won't end up killing us all, either! Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? Oh! I remember! BECAUSE IM NOT A FUCKING MORON!!!"

It was a hilarious argument, like most of their arguments were. He always won arguments, though, which was getting boring. Luckily no one even bothered to ask about Qin Long, Who disappeared as soon as everyone's eyes were off her.

Everyone agreed, after a long debate, that I was grounded until it snowed, and that apparently didn't happen much in Greece, where the water from the sea was too hot, even in winter, to allow snow to fall on any other than the coldest days of the year, in January and February.

I was released onto 'probation' (meaning I still wasn't allowed to travel outside of Miami, New Orleans, or Greece,) at the start of summer, after almost five months studying dwarf magic, and my new weapon.

I had posed the question to Kiana, one day, if Dwarf Magic was actually a mixture of Wild Magic and Ancestral Magic, because that's what it seemed like, and she had refused to answer: basically confirming it, in my opinion.

Immediately upon my release, I was in the Miami sanctuary, the axe proudly across both of my shoulders. (The handle was seven feet tall, and the blade was about three feet more, making it more like a giant pole-axe than a battle-axe, but considering the size of its original user, it was actually well proportioned.)

The Deeps fogged my breath, but I didn't feel the cold, really, as I was so excited.

The elder saw me coming, sitting on his throne, and chuckled. "Ahh, the hero returns triumphant! Come, you seem to have done the bulk of the aesthetic work, so I will finish the rest." He stood easily, completely restored from his sickness, it would seem, and led me into a room made of ice.

In the center, a small fire burned, bright and blinding white, like a captured star, but exuded no heat, paradoxically. I reached for it, and he gripped my wrist, his hand engulfing my entire forearm easily. "That is not wise. What you see is the Star of Atropos, a continuous collection of all the heat in this city, the Deeps or Depths, however you wish to call it. Touching it will freeze your body solid."

I grinned. "Sounds like my kind of spell... where can I get one?" I asked.

"Jotunheim has several, all over the realm. It is how the planet stays frozen, despite its proximity to the sun." He nodded.

"And that's the power source for all your magic! That's why you don't have magic in your body, you use an external source!" I exclaimed, excited by the prospect.

He nodded. "Well done! Yes, indeed... now I will show you what no mortal has ever witnessed... because honestly, I'm old, and I say Fuck the Rules." He shrugged, grinning, and set the axe into the ball of light.

I smelled something burning, and frowned when I saw my crystal wood supplement, the part that was healing the rift between the two halves, melting/burning.

"A prodigiously strong tree, to survive the Star..." he nodded, and thrust his hand inside the barrier, growling in pain when his skin cracked slowly, pouring blood onto the break.

He yanked his hand back, and I watched in awe as the break healed seamlessly. "What next?" I asked, thinking about the Fire-Giant arm in my bag.

"The dwarf heart." He nodded.

I handed it over, and he clutched it in his bleeding palm, crushing it, and thrust his hand back into the ball of light.

The Golden dust filtered through his fingers, alongside his blood, and the axe hummed, glowing and suddenly snuffing out the Star.

He shivered, pulling the axe out, as the Star stuttered back into existence, like a power outage being fixed.

Then he held it out. "It is yours, if you can Claim it once more. Now, though, it is restored. This is the Relic that has slain thousands of Jotun's, and bathed in their blood. It is not a child's weapon."

"Good thing I'm not a child." I frowned, and gripped the axe.

Blinding pain ripped through my arm, but it was just like the Chrysalis, which I remembered vaguely, in some repressed way. I gripped it tighter, pulling it from the Elder Jotun's hand, and then set it in my bag.

"Well... I will need to Master it, obviously... but I will do so. I appreciate your help, and the quest." I bowed my head.

He hummed, and nodded. "It was most intriguing... but I must ask, how did you finish it so quickly?"

I grinned. "Trade Secret of the Parthenos Clan, I'm afraid. And the hint you gave me, 'Aim for the Heart'. What did that mean?"

He blinked slowly. "That's how... you were supposed to defeat the Risen Dwarf. How did you beat him, otherwise?"

"Brute strength combined with Relics of my own creation. I'm a Craftsmith." I explained.

He laughed loudly. "I see! So my hint was not only unnecessary, but useless! HA! It would seem I owe you one more Favor... ah, here's a way to repay it! To hold that axe, it must recognize you as it's Master. Even if it's just for a second, you have to overpower it."

"But it's the Axe of a God of Thunder." I said slowly.

He shrugged. "And thus why none who claim it are ever able to make full use of it. Then, when they die, I reclaim it, and return it to its home, broken and waiting."

I chuckled. "Not this Time. I'll be back, with the axe."

"Mm... I hope so. I'm getting old, I want someone to actually use the damned axe I worked so hard to find in the chasms of Jotunheim, all those centuries ago." He grumbled.

I laughed and nodded, walking out into the market, and beginning to sell the non-useful or cheaper treasure from the Vault. I racked up a hell of a mint, and deposited half into the joint bank account me, Mum, and Athenos shared, where they apparently thought they were going to put my 'earnings', for taxable income purposes.

The other half was placed in Qin Long's account, through a separate vender and account number, to prevent Athenos from tracking it.

She called me immediately. "What the fuck is that blasphemous amount of money in my account?"

"Research Funds. Hire an assistant, if you like, and if it makes us work faster." I hung up, and then walked through a portal into my private room.

Athenos had his back to me, staring at my maps. "Sorry for invading your privacy... was looking for you, then felt the portal open..." he murmured.

"You know about this place?" I asked.

He chuckled softly. "Knew about it? I built it for you. And furnished it. You made good use of the porn, yeah?" He smirked.

I blushed, coughing into my fist. "None of your business."

He shrugged. "Sure, True... all of these are sightings of the rebels?" He asked, getting back on track.

"The White ones, yes. Red is where a conflict happened, and the clear one is supposed to be Invisible, where they weren't there at all or I simply couldn't find them, while Blue means I missed them, and they Ran, but I found their base. The Blues and Clears are 'in the wind', so to speak." I explained.

He nodded slowly. "What's the Giant Silver Grouping in London for?"

"The first place they were all seen together, a little over a Year ago, last September. They had an argument with Aunty Durham, publicly, which is why people remembered it so vividly." I hummed.

"Right, because it was a public argument, which by unspoken law amongst Fae, Doesn't Happen." He nodded, understanding.

"Exactly. So we think that's when the Rebellion started to gain speed. Two Ünterqueen's, six River Fae, and four Forest Fae, all died of unexplained causes, in the three months following, when they were recruiting. Those are marked in Black." I sat down in my seat.

He conjured one of his own, and nodded slowly. "So that's why you have a Magical Private Investigator of payroll?"

"You met her, and got curious, then went digging?" I sighed.

"Pretty much. I knew half of your money was disappearing, but I thought you were spending it in the market for Materials, like the rest, but maybe a Black Market, one I couldn't trace. Then I thought, maybe he's paying hookers, what do I know?" He grinned and shrugged.

"I'm 14."

He shrugged again. "We all have physical needs. Some of us have more complex needs, that pretty much only a very small niche of people will fulfill for anything other than money."

"Ew." I screwed up my nose at him.

He shook his head. "Not being nasty, just saying... one of the women I work with told me I should be more open with you, about myself and my sexuality, if I wanted you to do the same. I dunno, but transparency never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it, eh?"

I blinked slowly. "What?"

"What? Transparency never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it?" He asked.

"No, the other part? You think I'm gay?" I asked incredulously.

He hummed. "It crossed my mind. You overplay your masculinity a lot. Made me think you thought you had something to hide. But honestly, don't make me play the Olive Oil bit, Okay?"

I snorted. "I'm not gay, Athenos."

"Oh... alright." He sighed, sounding almost disappointed.

"Why does that disappoint you?" I asked.

"Because I'd hoped for a little transparency. But it's cool, you know, everyone deserves their own privacy, and all." He shook his head.

"Athenos... I'm not gay. I'm not trying to hide anything about my sexuality. I'm serious." I cocked my head, confused.

"See, I'd like to believe that, but your aura is entirely silver right now, and I can't not see it, as much as I'd like to leave you your privacy." He shrugged.

"What's a silver aura mean?" I asked.

"It means you're hiding something." He shrugged again, faking nonchalance. He was actually hurt by me failing to confide in him.

I sighed. "Look, I am honestly happy that you are asking me this because you really want me to confide in you, but you have to understand my position, here: I don't have a Damn Clue, Myself, and therefore telling you anything would be weird, and subject to change on a dime. But one thing that's true, is that I don't think that I like men."

He smiled. "Alright, that I understand, and I appreciate your candor! Now, back to the less weird conversation that involves blood and murder and is probably not as good for our bonding and mental health than the other, uncomfortable topic!"

I laughed and shook my head. "You're so damned weird."

"Ah well. At least you know where you stand with me, at all times." He nodded seriously.

"And What's that?" I asked, curious.

"I am the Shoulders of a Giant, here to raise you up to previously unattained heights, and climb previously unclimbed peaks." He said just as seriously, in Greek.

"Yeah... the Chinese Government wasn't too happy about that one, though, so we might wanna cut that part down to more of a once-in-a-lifetime-Family-outing thing." I shrugged, dissipating the tension as he cackled at the memory.

—

I stared down at the axe, and hummed seriously. "Alright... how to overpower, with raw Magic, a God-Weapon... annnnnnnnd... Idea!" I shouted, banging my head against my desk.

"That's doing nothing helpful." Qin Long said casually, typing up a report of some kind.

"Might give me an aneurism, and you'd be free." I snorted.

"I dunno, I like working for you. Good funding, you're not a pervert, you're fun to talk to, and there's constant job security, unlike almost any other Investigator's Firm I could open." She shrugged.

"Well, I'll be happy to help you set up said firm, if it speeds up our work in any way!" I groaned.

"Oh it already has. I have four Agents, upstairs, working leads. They're all seasoned Ogre's and Mages, and soon I'll give them Apprentices, and expand from there." She rubbed her hands together happily, and went back to typing.

"What are you writing?" I asked.

"Well, the sightings have been getting scarcer and scarcer, especially since you and Lady Durham started hunting down the rebels... but two months have made them comfortable, hopefully enough to go out on supply runs and such." She explained.

I nodded and made a call.

Aunty Durham answered on the fifth ring, out of breath. "Hold on, Peter, I've got a call- Oh!"

"Ew! Don't answer the phone during- EW!!!" I groaned, and hung up.

"You're going to have to get used to adults having sex, you know." Qin Long said casually.

"That Woman is my many-times Great-grandmother!!! It's much worse than just adults!" I growled.

She blinked. "True. Okay fine, that's an acceptable response to hearing your Gramma have sex."

"Thank you." I nodded, and accepted the call I was receiving tentatively. "Please tell me you're decent?" I shivered.

"Oh shush, child, Peter is just so lovely at obliging me whenever I like! Now, what did you need? Did you find another rebel Ünterqueen?" She asked hungrily, her voice becoming more a growl.

"No, I did however want to finally share with you all the findings over the last few months. Full disclosure. Come through my portal, when you're fully dressed and all." I opened a portal, facing away from me just in case.

She stepped through, wearing remarkably normal clothes, (though the granny shawl on the young woman's frame was odd,) and sat on my desk. "Share away." She closed her flip phone, and I nodded, ending the call.

The portal dissipated, and I showed her the map, explaining it like I had to Athenos, as well as the information Qin Long had gathered.

She hummed softly, then looked at the axe in the table, and her eyes dilated like a cat. "Where did you get... that?" She asked softly.

"I went on a quest for it. Won it. It's the Axe of Thor. Figured it would be of use to me, if I was hunting Demigods." I explained.

She stroked the metal, barely flinching when the metal zapped her harshly. "Yes... it will be. I underestimated you, the first time we met in an official capacity... I said if you were an Adept by June of this year, I would allow you to hunt for me."

"Yes, I remember that. I ignored you, and began hunting on my own. I've also spent some time in the Dark Dimensions, practicing my Wild Magic and Ancestral Magic, and I think I'm close to recreating True Dwarven Magic." I grinned.

She nodded. "I certainly hope so... you'll need better armor, if you're going to try to fight Demigods. I would leave those to me, but if you believe it is possible... hmph. Oh, and a gift, for your 14th birthday, I'd forgotten." She held out a large black crystal dagger with smoke trapped inside, almost the length of a short-sword.

"What's this?" I asked, not touching it.

"This is Enchanted the Same as that crystal you gave me, and it holds the tortured souls of a few thousand of my weaker enemies, Beasts and evil spirits and the like. Use it for the raw power required to conquer that weapon." She pointed it at the Axe, and pressed the warm handle into my palm.

I nodded and sheathed it on my belt carefully. "I'll make good use of it."

"But make sure you never put souls in this that you don't want tortured. There's a Demon trapped in there as well, who tortures the souls within eternally. A few minutes is a millennia, in that dimension." She warned me.

"Perfect." I nodded.

She smiled and kissed my cheeks. "You've grown quickly. I still dislike your father, that arrogant brat, and I'm still disappointed in your mother, but you... I like you. Continue to grow, my grandson. I am proud of you, even if I do not show it often, or I do not seem the kindest of grandmothers."

I grinned. "If there's anything I'm sure of, it's that I'll continue growing."

—

The power in the dagger was definitely strong, but I think she'd mistaken how strong the Axe was, as well.

I frowned, suddenly getting an idea. "Hey, Qin Long..."

"Hey James." She answered sarcastically.

"If I place Runes on my skin, with something to spread their power throughout my body, instead of allowing it to spread naturally, and possibly kill me, would it be possible to work the magic more efficiently?" I asked.

She shook her head. "You'd need to ask a Skald, and that's not something you should do in the first place."

"Isn't a Skald a type of Mage?" I asked.

"In the same way that Mages are Humans." She said slowly.

"So they're super-Mages?" I asked.

"Sort of. They use Runes in their basic, raw, most powerful form, something only the Gods do. It makes them ridiculously powerful, but they're also extremely secretive about their skills, to the point of killing anyone who discovers their secrets, without joining one of their clans." She nodded.

"Perfect, where can I find one?" I grinned.

She sighed, and muttered in Korean. "Fuck me I'm saddled with a moron for a master..."