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Chapter 17 - Cody in the House

As Damien and the others approached the apartment complex, they witnessed one of Cody's grand escapes from his apartment. On the old rusted fire escape outside the apartment building moaning and groaning from the weight of a 7-year-old clearly unsafe, you'd have to be pretty desperate to use that as a means of escape.

Damien waved the adult's past him, motioning that he'd watch over Five and for them to go talk to Rey. Damien moved under the fire escape so he could greet Five at the bottom rung of the ladder in the little alleyway. As soon as he stepped off the bottom rung to the ground a rubber ball fell from five's pocket. Damien reached out and caught and as he caught it after a single bounce leading Five to finally notice Damien was there.

"Hey, give me my ball back," Cody demanded. A little rude, but Damien didn't pay any mind to it. Damien smiled and held it out to him. Cody grabs it and gives Damien a nod of appreciation. Damien didn't make a big deal out of it, maybe he had some problems with bullies in the past. The books described how important the ball was. Probably one of the only toys Cody had ever had. Though that thought made Damien think of the disturbing thing he did with the balls when he lost his eye.

"Sup man, I'm Damian. It's cool to meet you like this alone from your Cepan." Damien says smoothly dropping that He know who he is. Cody reacts strongly. A look of fearand distrust appears on his face. He moves a bit closer to the ladder like he'll go for the bottom rung and try to get back up to his apartment.

"Don't worry I'm Garde too." Damien tells him. Which Makes him stop. He calms down a little. Still a little freaked out.

"So it's all real."Cody mutters to himself. Cody studies Damien for a few minutes way too analytical for a 7-year-old the intense training his Cepan put him through showed some results. Cody stood in a loric battle stance, one foot back, arm slightly raised, shoulders even, though his form was slightly off, it was still pretty impressive though if things went as they would have in the original story Cody would of stopped training on the island and lost the progress that he had made so far.

Cody had an expression of fear mixed with denial and distrust Damien knew that before the first scar appeared, Five had all but convinced himself in the books that Rey was lying when he was a kid; they never really made any contact with the Mogs, and he was too young to remember lorien so it would make sense that he didn't trust him.

"So, what number are you?" Cody asks.

"Oh...well...I actually don't have a number, I'm actually not a Loric Garde. I'm the first and only Human Garde. It's a long Story Which is great because that means your charm is still in place. My uncle and I are here to try to take you back to New York because we think your cover is close to being blown. We founded an organization to Help the Loric fight the Mogs." Damien tells him. Damien scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. The distrust in Five's eyes only grew with every word challenged what he had learned from rey about the loric.

"That's Impossible Human's can't be Garde," Cody says after an awkward silence. Damien shook his head in mild annoyance, The way Cody says Human sure Cody didn't believe rey thinking he was some crazy kidnapper but the mild undertone when he said the word probably has something to do with Rey. Damien tucks it away it might prove his Xenophobic Rey theory.

"It's true. I even have My first legacy. I can knock people out if I touch them" Damien tells him. He gives a pouts and an angry glare.

"I don't even have my legacies yet. I Don't know how you know so much about the Loric. Maybe your family was part of the greeters or your with the Mogodorians but there is no way you have a legacy they don't come until Garde are teenagers," Cody says with anger. He doesn't seem to believe that Damien was trying to hurt him, the fear had completely faded from his eyes though he definitely didn't trust Damien he was no longer inching back to the fire escape.

"How about a Bet?" Damien asks him. He gives an arrogant look. After a few seconds.

"The Bet is that we shake hands and I try to use my legacy on you as we shake hands, and if I don't have a legacy, I'll take you to Disney world." Damien tells him. He looks excited, fully believing that Damien couldn't do anything.

"But if I do have a legacy,And you pass out I'll pick you up take you to my car and you'll have to listen to whatever I say for the whole time you and your cepan are in New York. Deal." Damien says, hand outstretched to shake. Damien really digging the whole deal with the devil vibe he was putting off. Cody raises his hand quickly, but right when Cody was about to shake Damien's hand, he paused, But the moment of hesitation came too late Damien moved his hand the rest of the distance.

He flashed Hestia's hearth eyes ability combined with somnokinesis, seeing the has a very weak fire in him. Sure, he was unaffiliated with the gods, So his flame would be smaller but these 8 months with this ability he had learned to read the flame, with the brightness of the flame damien had leaned to use it as a half assed lie detector but the size of the flame that was directly related to the "hearth" a person had experienced in their life, just like Hestia in the PJO books the "hearth" was abstract built of emotions and concepts like Love, Joy, Connections, Excitement and Hope, His flame was too small for a kid, older people get the more jaded and the fires dim but kids are supposed to be inferno's.

'I'm going to make sure from now on he has a great life.' Damien promised to himself silently. 'He won't want or need anything, and that little fire in his chest will definitely grow close being anywhere near Ella. Though hopefully not for the reason Setrakus Ra is hoping for'

Damien picks him up and puts him over his shoulder, even though Damien was seven, his strength was already at the superhuman levels, and he carried him back to the car. Damien had hit him with a good strong wave of energy with his somnokinesis. he'll be out for the next hour unless Damien wakes him up but it might be better if he doesn't might be easier to deal with rey. With any hope they'll be on the plane by the time he starts to stir. 

Damien pushes him to the middle and straps him in. Damien doesn't know which door the other will enter and doesn't want him to fall out of the car by pushing him up against a door. Damien gets in next to him.

He pull out his DS and starts playing this brain teaser game. He knows its not the best DS game but since its still 2003 they haven't even released it yet so the game selection is pretty weak. The only reason He even had that is because this worlds version of Nintendo is a subsidiary of Swift Co. He bets Cody is going to love that since in the original version, one of the reasons he followed Ethan was his love of video games. Damien starts to hear a low rumble from outside the entire car is shaking lightly. Damien reaches for the door handle of the car door to see what's up.

As soon as his hand touches the cool metal the car starts shaking violently He retracts his hand and reaches for Cody trying to send a wave of his somnokinesis to wake him up and get out of the car quickly think, it's a bad idea to leave him as a soon as He grabs him the car stops shaking for a single moment causing him to pause from using his ability and then the car violently flips on its side like it's been hit by a semi going 50. Damien black's out when his head hits the ceiling of the car.

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Damien's wakes up groaning. He looks down and notices the black smoke covering Him and Cody. He reach out to him and the smoke moves with him.It's DIfferent then his usual umbrakinetic energy like his arms are made of pure darkness.

He thinks about them returning to normal trying not to freak out but failing his breathing speeding up his heart rate spiking, but after a few seconds, they start to return to normal, similar to how his shadows recede when he stretches them but different. Cody is still knocked out, so he knew that he hadn't been able to wake him before they got hit and knows that an hour hasn't passed since the accident or Cody would have woken up naturally.

Damien could feel a warm trickle from the top of his head. He shot a hand out to cody to wake him out using his somnokinesis to wake him back up. He hoped to be on the plane when he woke up after Simon and Janus convinced rey but If they were in danger, it would be better if he was awake and able to run if necessary.

Cody opens his eyes quickly like he just drank three shots of espresso. He quickly realizes that we are inverted and looks at me for an explanation.

"We are under attack. We need to get out of here, stay calm, stay behind me, I'm strong, if you listen to me we will be fine," Damien tells him, talking slowly, looking him directly in his eyes. A look of intense fear comes on his face, but the words do help a little, and Damien manages to get a small nod. Damien turns, climbs the seat, and reaches down to pull cody up using the cup holder in the middle seat as a foot rest, just able to put his head through the broken window of the car door. Unable to see anything, as there was too much smoke, but whatever hit the car had to be ridiculously powerful, it had been enhanced with loric tech. He noticed how cold it was since damien had ice abilities didn't feel it but Cody was shivering so bad that Damien thought he would vibrate through the metal like the flash.

Damien thrust the door open, reached down for Cody, and managed to pull him up, pulling him to stand on the side of the turned-over car. They slowly climbed down from the vehicle. Cody, appreciating the help, was a lot more receptive to Damien since the situation was dangerous. As Damien looked around at who hit them, He sees a beautiful woman that seems almost ethereal, surrounded by ice and frost, standing in the middle of the street.

Her face, though a mixture of fierce rage, it took away from her beauty. Damien did some quick math. He was currently in Canada, Ice powers, Beautiful woman, Strong enough to casually destroy loric tech, and filled with rage. He quickly made a guess of who she could be, Khione, the goddess of snow his brain easily making the connection. Though he wished it hadn't.

"Go tell My Uncle Simon and the others to follow the Evacuation Protocol Delta" Damien says to Cody. Knowing he was in deep trouble.

"who.." He starts to say. But Damien stops him.

"No time.RUN," Damien says as seriously as possible. Cody hesitates. He looks confused but Damien's seriousness scares him a little and he decides to trust him he runs off to the front of the building. Khione just watches with a sickly sweet smile. Damien scans her with his ability.

Name: Khione Goddess of Snow Age=???

level: 490

str:??? agi:??? vit:???

Int:??? charm: ???

Powers and Abilities

[Error Level Difference too low to show information]

The only thing showing is the Level, and that is terrifying, she is at the top of Weak minor God's based on the system power scale. Fear only passed over his thoughts for a moment. Woody Harrelson from ZOmbieland POpped in his head time to nut up or shut up.

"Did you have to wreck my Car Khione?" Damien asks in fake nonchalance, hoping to catch her off guard that he recognized her. Her smile wavers a little. Damien takes a few steps away from the side of the car to face her. A small plan starts forming in his head but a bit of a hailmary.

He plays it cool, making a big deal of slowly straightening his Blazer(his trench cloak transformed), and then his tie, and then He transforms his watch into its sword form, doing it slowly for dramatic effect, His shadow twitching on the blade making the Dark darker letting the shining stars in the blade shine brighter, then like a magic trick while her eyes were on the blade he connected his shadow the the shadow of the turned vehicle to give him a bigger pool of shadows to use from as well as letting his eyes shine to keep her focus away from the ground.

He tried to look as intimidating as possible. She looks mildly amused the sickly sweet cruel smile still on her face. She shoots an icicle at him, not a real attack not fast, more like a test to see his reflexes. He thinks. He easily raises his blade to block it.

"Did your father send you?" Damien asks. "I doubt it, you don't have the hockey player or the Frenchman with you."

Where the previous comment cracked her icy shell. This breaks her icy exterior altogether; she has a look of pure shock. The smile momentarily dropped from her face. It lets Damien move closer a few feet, He was probably just out of reach to be close enough to launch an attack if he got serious and launched all his power into a single somnokinetic attack through his shadow with power he had absorbed from Cody's fear to give him a power boost and almost his entire mana reserve and divine energy reserve He could probably put her to sleep long enough to buy him enough time to get away.

"What do you know of my father and brothers, you disgusting child of night?" she says. She has a look of utter hatred. It looks very strange on her ethereal, beautiful face. With his eyes, he tries to see the warmth in her heart, but even for a goddess, it's smaller than anyone he has ever seen, a dying ember right before it is completely extinguished. It would have made him sad if it weren't for the murderous rage in her gaze. She probably had never felt loved or cared for, true love or even compassion her entire immortal existence.

"I know enough. If I were you, I'd run on back to Daddy before he loses his position as the North wind because of your insolence in not listening to the decrees of Olympus." Damien says. Mostly bullshitting, but Vestia had told him the fates had said he needed to survive and even though he felt some undertone of negativity at Camp Jupiter, the gods themselves hadn't tried to hurt him directly. Well maybe a few monsters, but that happens to every demigod.

He knew that the gods were at least staying out of his way when He went to Camp Jupiter. Her father Boreas, reports straight to Zeus, If Zeus wanted to kill him why do it in Canada when He lived right under the gods noses in New York She didn't get orders for this; she is going rogue, just like she does to the crew of Argo 2.

She drops her scowl for a moment contemplating, He takes a step forward. He is finally in range. Damien notices something as He looks into her eyes he feels that there. Though he hadn't had as much progress with fear empowerment as his Ice, Sleep, and shadow abilities he could sense fear. She was soaked in it, probably of Mount Olympus she doesn't fear her father much because she's a spoiled princess.

Though the look in her eyes was filled with murderous anger, Damien also noticed something that was curious enough; the closest word to describe it was obsession. It's this look of absolute desperation pointed at Damien. He didn't know what she wanted from Him, but she won't leave him alone even if she had to offend Olympus to get it, not with those crazy eyes piercing through his soul.

She takes a step towards him He stretches his shadow forward, but it doesn't connect like she has a shield around her protecting her from his shadow. After realizing his plan won't work, he tries to take a step back but she closes the distance before he can even move. She reaches out to grab Damien's face Angling it to look up at her place and look into her eyes.

If Damien wasn't seven He might have enjoyed being this close to such a beautiful woman but since He was seven and she was bat shit crazy and 50/50 she was about to kill him it wasn't much fun.

"Out of respect for the heaven's I won't kill you, but I'll be watching. Entertain me." She says. In almost a whisper in his ear." But you need to learn respect not everything can be solved with that pretty little sword of yours."

She quickly turns to Snow, Leaving as swiftly as she came the snow she left behind twisting turned into twisting into a tornado. It quickly blows into Damien, lifting him off his feet and throwing him into the eye of the small street-wide storm.

As the snowstorm fades, it tosses him harshly into the flipped car. The impact breaking his wrist as his outstretched arm tries to stop himself. The winds and snow stop as swiftly as they started.

'Why'd she wreck my car if she wasn't here to kill me.' Damien thought to himself, the pain in his wrist causing him to wince, he slowly slumped against the vehicle. Then he looks down. His jacket had transformed back into a trench coat but underneath was a white suit similar to what Steven Grant Moon Knight wears, Pure White Slacks, dress shoes, tie, vest, and gloves except no overcoat, or mask, a cool pair of shades tucked into the front pocket of the vest. It left him absolutely flabbergasted.

The suit was very nice and worked very well with the leather coat but it felt kind of creepy that she just changed his clothes. A shiver went through him and not because of the cold. Maybe she did it to mess with his mind he thought to himself. He was just thankful she didn't kill him, He decides to let it go for now the pain in his wrist already lessening It would take a few days to heal but the humbling defeat felt heavy on his shoulder he knew he had been getting cokier he felt safe because he could regularly defeat everyone around him when he spared monsters had been pretty easy to kill but this was a wake up call to how weak he truly is in the big picture of things.

As for Khione he would probably never understand her reasoning for this attack then gift but he wouldn't let it get to him She was a few donuts less than a full Dozen sanity-wise.

Damien sat stewing in his thoughts, not hearing when a tactical team of agents led by a level 7 Agent named Amanda Boseley arrived. The Agent helped him up, asking if he was alright. He nodded in affirmation. After making sure the target of his rescue mission was ok, She tried to ask questions about what happened, but Damien locked down. Telling her it was classified Level 8. She accepted it pretty easily, but he could see the curiosity about the wreck.

To him the battle scene was obvious. The Turned over car, ice everywhere, showcasing some kind of ice storm, but He didn't know how the mist would make them see things. He asked them to take pictures of the scene. He would have His uncle look at the pictures and, seeing from his mist-contaminated perspective, he'd come up with the most believable best cover story to best explain the event.

They made their way upstairs to the roof top to meet the others ready for A Delta extraction which was a helicopter and tactical team sent from the closest S.H.E.I.L.D. outpost. The Arrival time was pretty quick especially for how far they were from the nearest outpost Since it had been 27 minutes from when Damien sent Cody to tell his uncle.

As They Reach the Rooftop Damien sees a peculiar sight Rey was giving him a look of utter hatred and digust. Cody had his hoodie pulled up and strings pulled to the max, doing his best to disappear, Simon is standing off to the side, trying not to get involved, but he seems infuriated at the man. As Simon sees Damien he shoots him a questioning Glances. Damien puts up a hand and gestures around him to indicate that he will explain later. One thing Damien noticed is that there was no look of surprise from the two men he arrived with damien's clothes, like he would have expected but he chalked it up as something to do with the mist.

Though it seemed clear the new loric didn't seem to want to travel together Rey wanted to leave as quickly as possible because of the assumption that the attack is mog related, and Damien does nothing to disuade him of this notion, and the information that Cody must have shared must of been enough for them to be all in favor of leaving as quickly as possible. Soon they found themselves packed like sardines in the flying contraption.

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