JAWBREAKER

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣

"So, you didn't like it?"

"I didn't say that," Warren sighed. "I liked it. A lot, actually. But my heart is on the battlefield, not the Clinique counter."

"I'm gonna pretend I know what that is."

"Gods, you're such a boy," she groaned.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"In your case, it is."

"Hey!" he protested.

Warren just smirked and held her hand above his head. He'd grown since last summer, but she still had a few inches on him.

"Call me when you catch up," she teased. "I bet you couldn't even lift Ra—"

Then an idea sparked in her mind. "Percy, can I see Riptide for a sec?"

He looked at her skeptically. The boy was extremely fond of his sword, it was like a part of him. He didn't just go around letting people use it.

"I guess..." Percy fished the ballpoint pen out of his pocket and put it in Warren's palm.

"Okay, now you take this," she gave him her enchanted drachma.

"What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious? I want to fight."

"What!"

"Not for real," she rolled her eyes. "I just want to see how you do with Ravager."

"You're insane."

"C'mon, Jackson. Just flip it."

His thumb stroked over the warm metal in his hand. He'd only ever held the coin once before, for luck while he was fighting Ares. Percy did think the axe looked pretty cool...

"Fine."

With a flick of the wrist, Percy tossed the coin into the air and it shimmered in a flash of light. He wrapped his hands around the shaft as it came falling down, and was immediately yanked to the deck of the ship.

"Fu-! How do you even lift this thing?!"

"Try doing a pushup for once," Warren laughed.

With a great deal of effort, he lifted the double sided labrys. Warren reached out and repositioned his hands so he was gripping it correctly.

"What does it feel like?" she asked.

"Heavy."

"Besides that! Really focus. Listen to the blade."

He thought she was crazy, weapons were obviously inanimate, but nevertheless he closed his eyes and concentrated. The axe was hot in his grip, just the way it was as a coin. And then he felt it. A slight pulse against his palm. A nudge. A heartbeat.

"Whoa, what?" he whispered.

"Ravager is soulbound to me," Warren said. "Just like Riptide is soulbound to you. That's why they always return to our pockets. It'll follow you wherever you go. It's not just a tool, it's a piece of you."

"I-I can feel it," he said in amazement. The longer he held the axe, the lighter it was feeling in his hands.

Ravager was adjusting to him. Whatever part of Warren's soul, however small, recognized him as a friend. Just as Riptide trusted Warren back on Circe's island.

"Children of Ares have a special connection with weapons," she explained. "We're half decent at all of them, even without practice. They respond to us, I guess. They're not really alive or anything, but when I held Riptide it felt different. Like it was...happy."