The God of Heroes

by AlfyreGree

Percy has lost almost everything and finds himself in a new universe. He's not alone though, and he's definitely not he same as he was before... Eventual PercyxRaven

9. Chapter 9

Percy POV

I looked at the pale faced newcomer for a few moments before remembering that I was currently naked. I quickly sat up while covering myself, before clicking my watch, activating my shield and giving me something to cover my waist with as I stood up.

The look on the new girls' face was interesting to say the least. She had been looking at me while crying silently, but quickly grew a red bush along with the tears, before looking around uncertainly, trying not to look at me but not knowing where else to look.

I tried my best to keep my composure, sitting up straight while holding my shield over my waist. Thankfully my teammates were all on the other side of the shield so they couldn't see anything. They had eventually recovered from being pulled out of the lava pit, and were now watching the interaction silently, with mixed looks on their faces. Kaldur looked intrigued, Robin was trying hard not to laugh, Wally was looking at the new girl with interest, Artemis was blatantly staring at my torso, M'gann was looking everywhere except my torso, and Superboy was simply staring at the new girl cautiously.

Said girl, seemed to still be going through her whirlwind of emotions, before what seemed to be realization crossed over her face. The next second, all of her emotions disappeared, replaced by an emotionless mask of a face, that she kept when she finally asked calmly, "Are you okay?"

I was going to say yes, when I realize that would be a blatant lie. I had just taken a dip in a lava pit, and as I was not as resistant as Tyson, it had left me with a noticeably pinker skin tone, as well as an ever-present stinging sensation, like the world's worst full body sunburn. Granted I was lucky it was just that, but it definitely be an inconvenience.

Nevertheless, I gritted my teeth and answered, "I'll manage. What about you? You were crying just now— "

"It was nothing." She snapped, while keeping her face neutral, "Some embers reached my eyes.'

I raised an eyebrow at this, indicating how obvious it was that she was lying, but she didn't acknowledge it. I sighed at this and simply asked, "Alright then, want to tell us who you are?"

She looked over my teammates carefully, as if assessing their very souls, before answering, "You can call me Raven."

M'gann was the first to respond, "Thank you very much for saving us Raven." She received only a nod in return.

Kaldur walked forward, "Not to be rude, as I am grateful for your help, but what manner of magic allows you to manipulate darkness like that? I've never seen anything like it."

Raven shifted, "I'd… rather not say."

"Uh… are we just going to be okay with that?" Robin asked, looking at me specifically.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Yes. If she doesn't want to share its her choice. We should respect it, especially since she saved all of our lives. "

Raven remained silent at this. Then Wally decided to speak. "Works for me! I like a woman with mystery, so what's with the robe? Just shy or— "

As he began to flirt with her, I felt a white-hot fire in my chest. I wasn't upset that he was flirting with the girl, it was natural for him and I barely knew her, I was furious however that was doing it only moments after nearly getting me killed.

"ALRIGHT!" I snapped, causing everyone to look at me with concern, then shock when I stalked towards Wally, before stopping in front of him so that I was towering over him, "New rule: when we're on a mission NO FLIRTING!"

Wally looked at me in horror, before turning to the side as he said, "W-What? what are you—"

I growled, "Look at me when you talk to me. Why are you looking over there?"

He seemed at a loss for words, so he vaguely gestured to my lower regions. In my anger, I had forgotten all about covering my nudity, as my shield simply hung at my side. I might have been embarrassed, if my anger hadn't overridden that. I used my right hand to grab his jaw and force his head to look up at me so our eyes could meet, as they did so he whispered, "I am very uncomfortable right now…"

I snorted and gestured to the others, who were all entirely unsure of what to do about the situation, except for Artemis, who was watching the scene with undivided attention, "How do you think they feel? Now to answer your question, you will no longer flirt on missions, because if you hadn't been so hell bent on impressing M'gann with your "True Believer" bullshit, I wouldn't have had to take a lava bath! If Superboy hadn't pulled me out in time, it would have been a lot worse than some swinging junk and pink skin. Do you realize that?"

He gulped nervously, "I'm sorry!"

I turned my head so that his face was to my ear, "What was that? I couldn't hear you."

"I'm sorry for making you fall in lava!"

I shoved his face away, causing him to stumble back in surprise, and fall on his ass. "Now apologize to M'gann."

I felt the Martian tense, "Perseus…"

"Don't." I snapped, a little softer, "He's been making moves on you since day one, and any moron can see that you don't appreciate it. He needs to learn. Now, apologize!"

Wally looked at me in fear, then at the others, as if looking for help, but got none. So, he stood up, rubbed the back of the head and looked at M'gann, barely meeting her eyes, "I'm… sorry M'gann."

M'gann only nodded to him with pity, while I nodded in satisfaction before walking over to Kaldur, no longer caring enough to cover up, everyone had seen me already.

When I reached him I simply asked, "May I have your jacket?"

He was still frozen for a moment, before gathering himself and nodding quickly he stripped off his jacket and handed to me, before wincing at what I did with it.

"I'll get you a new one." I promised, as I fashioned the jacket into a makeshift loin cloth. I managed to make it cover both my front and backside before tightening it with the sleeves. It only covered my waist, but it did the job, and only looked a little stupid.

With that over with I looked back at Raven, who had watched the entire exchange silently, with the same unreadable expression, that rivaled even Superboy's, "Sorry you had to see that."

"It's… okay." She responded,

I smiled gently, before turning serious. "Now, as grateful as I am that you got us out of there, I have to ask, how did you get in here? We have the only key that I know of. Do you know Nelson somehow?"

She answered simply, "I have my own means of travel. The towers defense wasn't strong enough to keep me out. But I don't mean any harm. I just wanted to talk to Nelson about a… problem of mine. I guess you heard he was missing."

I nodded, "That, and we need him for something too. Not to be a jackass, but if we do find him, we're probably going to need his help first, as our issue is life or death and time sensitive. Is that okay?"

Before she could answer Artemis finally spoke up, "Wait wait wait! Are you thinking about bringing her with us? no offense to her but we don't know her! maybe it would be better if she waited outside or something?"

I looked at the archer with a raised eyebrow, though she didn't meet it as she acted almost blinded by my torso aimed towards her. I sighed in exasperation. Sometimes having a god like physique was annoying. "True we don't know her, but she doesn't know us either and she still saved our lives without a word. I'd wager she knows a hell of a lot more about magic as well, am I right?" I looked at her questioningly, and received a small nod. Then it's settled. Let's get started."

Without further delay, I called out, "We're here to check on Kent and the Helmet, as well as ask for help."

As soon as I finished speaking, the glow of the lava disappeared. I looked in the pit to see a petal plate covering the lava. I smirked then shot a dangerous look at Wally, who was slinking near the back of the group, trying to remain unnoticed as he licked the wounds on his ego. Without another word, I jumped into the pit once more, as I had spied a small hatch on the metal plate, and had a good feeling about it.

The others were obviously not following my logic as Robin called down, "Where are you going? Wouldn't the helmet be at the top of the tower?"

I saw Raven float past them and down to me, still keeping herself shrouded in her cloak as he looked at me with interest, "Could you feel the magic coming from it too?"

I shook my head as I opened the hatch to feel a burst of cold and snow. "Nope, just an educated guess, magic structures tend not to abide by the laws of physics." I looked up at the others, "Well? Get down here!"

They started to make their way down as I turned back to Raven and gestured to the hole, "Ladies first?"

She raised an eyebrow, before shrugging and floating down the hole. I followed after.

We emerged in a snowy mountainous region, gods know where. Raven was looking around calmly while I was quickly steeling myself against the freezing temperatures in my current condition of undress.

The others were soon to follow, with Robin leading the pack. As soon as everyone was in, Raven began walking in a certain direction. I shrugged and began to follow her.

Robin soon found his way next to me, "Hey, uh, Perce? Mind if I talk to you for a minute?"

I snorted, "You already are, what is it?"

The kid sighed before saying. "I don't want to question your judgement but— "

Something tells me you're going to anyway." I chuckled, causing him to sigh again.

"Look, nobody's saying that Wally's flirting wasn't irritating, but it's also Wally. It's just what he does you know?"

I nodded, "I know, but if it causes "accidents" like that, then he can be someone else while other people are depending on him. I know humiliating him like that wasn't easy to watch, but it's the only thing that would get through his thick skull. If I had my way I would have just kicked him off a truck like Superboy, but we both know that would not have the same effect."

The boy wonder was silent for a few moments as we followed the mysterious girl through the snow, but I could hear the gears turning in his head. eventually I just asked, "What is it?

"You're still being cautious of her right? I mean I know she saved us, but— "

I scoffed, "I'm not an idiot Robin, I thought you would have realized that by now."

"Sorry…"

"I know it doesn't look it since we're following her literally without question through a blizzard, but I'm not completely convinced she's on our side. Especially with those powers."

Robin nodded, "Yeah…you don't get to control darkness like that without a little darkness inside you."

I smirked, "Perhaps. It might not mean anything though, we all have a little darkness in us. if we were in my world, I would assume she was a child of Hades. She has the pale skin, the gloomy attitude, and though I haven't seen it personally, I'm pretty sure controlling shadows is one of their powers. As it is however, what she is is anyone's guess. Obviously, the demigods of this universe are different, with Wonder Woman as Exhibit A."

Our conversation was cut short as Raven stopped in front of what appeared to be a floating cane. The cloaked girl examined it with interest before reaching a hand out of her cloak. I noted that her hands were as pale as her face, as well as that most of her arms were covered in black sleeves, that extended to a few of her fingers. As she was about to touch it however, the mysterious object shot forward, straight tat me.

Using my enhanced reflexes, I managed to catch the thing before it slammed into my face. I then felt a strange new power flow through me, though I had no idea what to do with it. I looked at Raven for help. She simply stared at me as she answered, "The cane is a magic channeling device. Basically, like a wand. Kent Nelson is rarely seen without it, which would mean that since it's here…"

I sighed, "He's in trouble. Why am I not surprised?"

"But why did the cane fly to him?" M'gann asked curiously.

Raven frowned thoughtfully, "Based off the magic surrounding it, it's likely been waiting for someone with powerful magic to help return it to Nelson."

"But then wouldn't it have gone to you or Kaldur?" I asked, "I mean I have my powers, but spells, magic, that's out of my skill set while you're over hear talking like you can see magic in the air."

Raven shrugged, "The cane thinks you're a better fit."

I looked down at the cane in my hand, and couldn't help but wonder if it was a bit stupid. It definitely didn't complete my look, with the jacket loin cloth and the bright pink skin that was gradually beginning to repair itself. "So, what now?"

I got my answer in the form of the cane, which suddenly jerked into the air carrying me along with it. I tried to let go, but it seemed to have a grasp on me as well. As we flew into the air, a portal appeared in the air above me, leading back into the crisscrossing web of stairways inside the tower.

I landed on one of the stairs, rather but quickly recovered as I realized the cane wasn't in my hand anymore. I looked up and saw on a separate stairway, several yards away, was Kent Nelson, restrained by some matador looking Hispanic guy, holding a what looked like a wand. Next to them was some skinny pale boy, wearing a suit, and sporting a hairdo that would make Wolverine jealous. On his shoulder was a creepy ginger cat, and they were all looking at me with interest.

The boy spoke in a raspy, somewhat annoying voice, "Well, you don't see that every day. What are you?"

I blinked as they all stared at me, but Kent simply smiled, "Right on time." He then flew into the air, leaving his bonds behind, and shot towards the cane, which floated a few feet in front of me.

As he took the cane, Raven and the others exited the portal, either via flight of being lifted by another. Kent chuckled at this, "And you brought friends, perfect!"

"No matter!" Matador yelled as he and the creepy cat boy, "You won't escape that easily!"

"Yeah!" the boy shouted, "Get back here and give me that helmet!" He then started to summon red fireballs in his hands and launch them at Nelson.

On instinct, I got in front of the man with my shield, but before the attacks reached me, they were stopped by a glowing shield in front of me, I looked over to see Nelson holding his cane out to summon the shield. Once the barrage ended however, he gasped and started to fall. I grabbed him before he fell and held him in my arms. "Are you alright?"

He coughed slightly, as more fireballs came towards us, only to be blocked by a shield of darkness, courtesy of Raven. "Oh, I'm alright… just a little exhausted. They've been torturing me for days now…" He trailed off as he glanced at my torso, "Though I suppose you know more about that than I."

I ignored the remark, "What should we do? Who are those people."

The man sneered as he watched the pair fend off my teammates attacks. They were holding their own for now, but they were without their full equipment, and their opponents were definitely skilled, and well equipped. "Abra Cadabra, a fraud passing future technology off as real magic. Pathetic really."

I nodded as I watched the man shoot lightning out of his "wand", sending Superboy Flying. I then noticed the creepy guy fending off attacks form M'gann, "And the kid? Is that tech too?"

"No." Raven stated as she stood in front of us, surveying the fight, "That's Klarion the Witch Boy. I've… heard of him in the magic community. He's a true Lord of Chaos."

I raised an eyebrow, "That sounds like a bad thing."

"It is," Nelson agreed as he struggled to stand up, "He's the natural enemy to Doctor Fate, a lord of Order. Like Fate, his powers are powerful enough to have past civilizations mistake him for a god. I'm sure you understand more than most the implications behind that."

I tensed and stood up to face him, "What's that supposed to mean?"

He looked confused, "Sorry, you are the one I saw on the news, right? Perseus the demigod, form another dimension?"

I felt myself, "R-Right, yeah that's me."

He then glanced over at Raven, "And you're… Raven. I believe I've heard some rumors about you."

The girl looked over at him with her constant poker face, "What kind of rumors?"

"That you were a powerful new magic user, and a heroic one at that. Of course, there are other stories…" I noticed Raven tense considerably, "…But I don't think they are very important."

Raven nodded to him, when a loud noise alerted us to the fact that Artemis was now trapped under a cage of electricity. I started to go to help her, when I felt a hand on my shoulder, "We haven't much time, I'm sorry but you'll have to save her later, right now they're buying us precious time,

Before I could ask what he meant by that, I felt myself fall through another portal, and land on what looked like the top of the tower. A moment later. Kent and Raven Followed

I felt myself glaring at the man, "What the hades do you think you're doing?! They're losing! They need help!"

"I'm aware." He responded, "Which is why I brought us here." He then gestured behind me. I turned to see a strange golden helmet floating several yards above the tower roof.

I blinked, "Is that— "

"The helmet of Fate." Raven concluded, before looking at Nelson. "Are you going to put it on?"

He looked surprised, before smiling sadly, "If necessary. The thing is, every time I put on that helmet, my life span increases several years. Most men would be okay with that, but…"

"You're wife." I stated, remembering the briefing on Kent, "You want to see her soon don't you?"

He smiled and looked at his pocket watch, "More than anything." He suddenly turned serious, "I won't lie however, whoever puts that helmet on will face some danger."

"What kind of danger?" I asked.

"Whoever puts it on, might never take it off." Raven responded.

I looked at Kent, who nodded sadly, causing me to groan, "Gods damn it…. Not to sound cocky but is the helmet really necessary? However powerful Klarion is I'm sure I can think of some way to take him down."

"Perhaps," he responded, "But this will be the quickest, and most efficient. I know it's a lot to ask…" I then realized that both he and Raven were looking at me expectantly.

"Wait a minute! Why am I the one who has to wear it? Raven is obviously more suited for magic than I!"

"So you say." Raven stated ominously, "Also, my type of magic doesn't really mix with Doctor Fate's. however, if you end up refusing, I will make do."

I deadpanned at the situation I found myself in. "So basically, do this life-threatening thing or else some innocent girl is going to do it for you?" I asked.

"It does sound pretty bad when you put it that way." Kent said apologetically. Meanwhile Raven had a strange glint in her eye when I called her innocent. "However, I'm afraid I must ask you to decide quickly, no doubt Klarion will soon find us and make his way here."

"Sooner than you think!" A familiar raspy voice called out. Then before we could react, a red fireball flew towards Kent and hit him directly. He stumbled back a bit, before stabbing his cane into the ground, setting up a glowing dome shield, before collapsing.

I managed to catch him again, but I instantly knew it was in vain. I could see the light draining from his eyes as he gasped out, "I trust you'll make the right choice…"

I stared at him in disbelief, "You just met me!"

He chuckled "True. Funny how that works…" and with that he gave his final breath.

I set him down gently, as Raven looked at the body with a bit of shock shown on her face, the most emotion I'd seen on her since we first met.

I noticed the Cane slowly dissolving from the bottom up, no doubt indicating the time left on the shield. Outside the Witch boy was furiously shooting fireballs at us, as the Helmet was included inside the dome., but all of his attacks bounced harmlessly off the dome.

I looked over at Raven, who was staring at Kent, before looking at the floating helmet, which seemed to be giving me a smug look, "Fuck me..."

Raven seemed startled by this and looked over at me, "Excuse me?!" She soon calmed down however, as I was walking towards the helmet. "Are you sure?"

I looked over at her, "We've established that I don't have much choice. Just do me a favor: whatever happens, make sure that the others are okay, agreed?"

She stared at me for a moment before nodding, "I promise."

I sighed and reached for the helmet, as the cane was about to run out. Klarion noticed this and started growling, "No, no no no no! get your hands off that helmet! It's mine! I want it I want it I WANT IT!"

As the dome finally broke, I lowered the helmet over my head, just as a barrage of red flame encased my mostly naked form. Then everything went black.

Or at least, it got dark. I felt my body beneath me and started moving, "Hello? What is this place?"

"I knew you would do the right thing." I whirled around and reared back a fist towards the voice, only to see Kent Nelson, standing smugly with his cane and looking suspiciously alive "Woah now, you'll give this old man quite a scare. 109 years isn't' easy on the mind you know."

I was still entirely weirded out by the situation, but at that I couldn't help but respond, "I know."

Kent raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by—"He suddenly doubled over, clutching his head in pain. I rushed to his side worriedly, "Kent? Kent! What's wrong?"

After a moment his head shot up, gasping for air, before he looked at me with horror, "You… poor boy..."

I stepped back a bit, "What's going on?"

He kept staring at me for a few more minutes before shaking his head, "Sorry I… I suppose should explain first. This place, is the helmet. When you put on the helmet of Fate, Nabu, the lord of order takes over your body, and your soul goes here.

I felt my eye twitch as I stared at the man, but he simply continued, "When you put the helmet on, it seems my soul was sucked in along with yours, due to my long connection with it. Since our souls are both residing in such a small space, your memories…"

He trailed off and wouldn't meet my eyes while I sighed in annoyance, "you know I'm really getting sick and tired of people digging through my head. they should learn it's not a great place to be."

"On THAT WE CAN AGREE." Nelson commented.

I then had a thought, "So Nabu is controlling me right now?"

The old man nodded, "Indeed. it's actually quite the fascinating occurrence: a god possessing another god."

I rolled my eyes as I looked around the dark landscape, looking for something, I didn't know what, "Yea well, you should tell Nabu that I don't really take kindly to being possessed. How much longer is this going to take?"

Kent shrugged, "Not sure, let's find out."

I wondered what he meant, until la large image appeared before both of us, showing what was going on outside from the perspective of Doctor Fate. He was doing battle with Klarion, and by the looks of it, winning easily. Every attack Klarion through was blocked by the appearance of a golden glowing ankh symbol, which then countered with a devastating blast of its own. This all happened with astounding speed as well. By the look on Klarion's face, and the barrage of insults he through at fate, he wasn't happy about it. Though Fate wasn't paying attention to her, I could see Raven out of the corner of his eye, cautiously sending in small attacks of her own, though for the most part staying a safe distance away from the clash.

"Fates pretty good." I commented as I watched the fight, only for Kent to snort, "What?"

The MAN LOOKED AT ME WITH A MIX OF PITY AND AMUSEMNT, "Fate can only dish out as much punishment as his host can handle. Too much magic channeled and the host will fizzle out. I was pretty up there according to him, but this… I've never even scratched this level of power.

I blinked before looking at the fight again, "Really? I wonder why…"

"I think the answers obvious: you have the blood of a god!" I snapped towards the man, causing him to hold a hand up in surrender, "Right, don't like that word very much… I mean it literally however. That "ichor" running through your veins. I couldn't give a decent analysis as pair of souls, but what I've seen in your memories, it undoubtedly holds unmatched magical potential."

I wasn't exactly sure what to say to that, of course it made sense, but so far I hadn't been all that more magical than I was as a demigod.

As we watched the battle, Klarion soon found that he was hilariously outmatched, something that both enraged and confused him, before he shouted, "No fair! Something about that host is cheating" He then picked up his cat and burst into flames, growling, "We're out of here!" before disappearing.

I breathed a sigh of relief, as fate then went and took care of Abra Cadabra, via magically stripping his clothes and equipment away. This freed the others of their electrical prisons and lifted a weight from my chest I hadn't realized was there.

We then teleported back to the roof, where Nabu just… floated there.

I was about to speak up when I heard Raven say what I was thinking outside, "Alright, it's done, you can release the host now."

The view focused on the mysterious girl, indicating Fate was looking directly at her, when he responded, "No."

Raven grimaced at this, but I didn't know what happened next as I had whirled on Nelson, "Excuse me?"

The old man simply sighed in exasperation, before looking up and calling out, "That's not the way Nabu, you know it!"

The deep voice of my current captor responded inside the helmet, "Perhaps, but it may be a necessary evil. With the power this host possesses, there may be no one who can match our power. Also, I don't appreciate being left on a shelf for decades at a time, isolated in this helmet."

Nelson cringed, "That was my mistake Nabu, not his, don't punish him for it. He can find you a new host, one more willing, and in the meantime, I can stick around and keep you company."

"No." Nabu responded,

"I agree," I stated, surprising Nelson, "Why should you have to wait even longer to see your wife?"

Nelson smiled warmly, "Don't worry kid, a few years, even a few thousand years, will be nothing compared to the eternity I spend with— "

"Screw that." I interrupted, as I turned around, looking above us where the voice came from, "And I'm fucking furious that I have to bargain for my own body in the first gods damned place! Who do you think you are?"

Nabu answered simply, "I am a Lord of Order. I will defend the universe against Chaos by any means— "

"It was rhetorical!" I shouted, "But I'll tell you what you will be when I get out of here: a paperweight, and if you're lucky, maybe a popcorn bowl."

"Percy please!" Kent pleaded, "He can be reasoned with!"

"He shouldn't have to be!" I exclaimed. "Let me go right now!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that child. Perhaps I could make it more comfortable for you however. I can see all the hardships you have faced, I could— "

He stopped talking and I tensed up at the sensation of pressure on my limbs, "What's that?"

"Oh dear…" Nelson said worriedly. I followed his gaze to the image of outside, where I saw Raven floating in front of Fate, with her cloak open, and revealing what was underneath. And let me just say… whoa.

I would never have guessed that with the hood and the long sleeves, that she had nothing to cover her long pale legs, but upon seeing them I couldn't blame her. they were quite impressive. The rest of her strange garment was all black, with a belt around her waist with several more of the red gems. As she floated in front of Fate however, what caught my attention the most was the way her cloak billowed out and emitted her dark magic, closely resembling the wings of the bird who shares her name.

She also had a hand out, sending her dark magic to wrap around fates body, causing the pressure I felt, as apparently since it was my body, I got to feel the pain. On her face was a look of uncertain resolve, as she stated, "Let him go! You can't trap him like that."

Nabu spoke back to her with a dangerous edge, "Know who you speak to child. I have forgiven your heritage, and vile magic since you assisted me, but should you go against me, I will not hesitate to eradicate you."

"WHAT?!" I shouted before rushing to Kent, "How do I get out? You have to know someway right?"

Nelson winced, "I'm afraid not. We are entirely at Nabu's mercy, and he is merciful, so if we just— "

Just then I looked back to see my other teammates now backing up Raven, obviously having been alerted to my situation. Then Fate spoke in his booming voice, "I have no quarrel with you children, but this body could mean the universe's eternal salvation, to that end I will go to any means to secure it."

"Oh bullshit!" I shouted at the entity, "You just don't want to leave the body cause you like it. Well Nabu, you can see my memories, right? Why don't you look and see exactly what my opinion is of godly possessions?"

Nabu was silent for a moment before responding, "I am not like your Kronos. And you are not like Luke."

I felt my eye begin to twitch, as this guy casually dismissed one off the most impactful moments of my life. I was about to retort, when Raven began to attack, along with the others.

I watched helplessly as my friends faced off against Nabu. At a glance, I saw that their tactic was to knock off the helmet. It wasn't bad, I wasn't sure if could have come up with a better one, but it definitely wasn't going well.

Kaldur, how had apparently brought his water controllers, was attacking with water maces, lunging at me from every angle. M'gann soon realized her psychic powers were no match for Fates magical defenses, and had instead chosen to use her morphing abilities to extend and morph her limbs into powerful weapons. Superboy was doing what he always does, charging in with brute force. Robin and Wally were working together a bit, with Wally running around Fate occasionally striking by himself, and occasionally launching the boy wonder at the sorcerer from out of seemingly nowhere, so he could use his agility and precision to land a good strike.

Unfortunately, Fate was dodging most of these attacks and occasionally using an ankh shield to block with ease. it was so easy for him in fact, that he was only doing it with a fraction of his attention, while the rest was focused on the one true threat: Raven.

I must admit I was impressed. She was managing to keep up with him pretty well in the air and on the ground, using her powers to fly herself wherever she wanted. Her own magical attacks were fast, precise, and powerful to boot. A few hits even managed to put a crack In Nabu's Ankh shield. All the while she had the same look of calm. I was beginning to think she would be able to do it, then Nabu went on the offensive.

He suddenly set out a golden shockwave, sending all the team members flying away, flight capable or not. The only one who stood up against it was Raven, who hid behind a shadow barricade. As I looked closely, it seemed that her dark magic was repelling its golden magic slightly. Not enough to give her an advantage, but enough for a chance. Now however, it seemed that chance was wasted.

"ENOUGH!" Nabu shouted, "You foolish mortals have no idea what you're doing! What grandeur you are fighting against! Now however, you never will. Starting with you, demon spawn." He lifted his hand towards Raven, who floated back warily, as an enormous ankh appeared in front of her, large enough to cover the others as well.

As the magic charged up I felt my heart beat painfully in my chest. I somehow knew that many of them wouldn't survive the following attack, and they were still too dazed from the shockwave to dodge it. On instinct, I knelt down and pressed my palms against the floor, before channeling an earthquake into the floor, shaking the floor. I then turned to Nelson, who was looking at me with a strange look of awe. "You should go and see your wife now. You won't want to be here in a few moments."

Nelson nodded slowly, "I'll take your word for it. Very well then, good luck. I look forward to seeing how you do. Inza and I will be sure to send you our support."

He then faded away, leaving me unsure of whether to feel good or creeped out, but decided to think about it later.

I remembered the feeling from Mt. St. Helens, and focused on that. Feeling a power build up in my chest as my earthquake grew stronger and stronger. Soon Nabu asked in a confused, and slightly worried tone, "What are you doing? How are you— "

"Just a bit of advice," I interrupted, "and something I really wish everyone would get through their thick skulls already. I am a child of the Sea. And the Sea doesn't like to be contained."

I then released the built-up power, and exploded.

Third Person POV

Raven was having a confusing day.

Her original intention for that day was to find Kent Nelson for advice on her many issues. Instead she found that A: he was missing, now dead. B: someone else was also looking for him, and one of them was the same guy that had shown up after her encounter with her "siblings" in metropolis. She remembered him partly because of the strange magical aura he radiated, and partly because he noticed her.

She was trying to observe the aftermath of her encounter without being noticed. Until then, her stealth abilities had kept her hidden from everyone she had ever come across, yet this guy looked directly at her as if she was standing in plain view.

Of course, she had retreated right away, initially irritated that she was spotted so easily, but she soon began to realize that there might have been more to it.

She would never find out what it was however, if the guy was forever trapped in a golden helmet, possessed by a Lord of Order for the rest of eternity. To make matters worse, his vessel seemed to grant Nabu access to incredible power, only deepening her curiosity all the more. So, she did her best to help the strange group of powered teens remove the helmet, though she suspected it wouldn't be as simple as a mere lucky shot.

That was pretty much her only motive in helping him. She wasn't so foolish as to fall prey to some silly emotion like other girls who would have been simply dazzled at the sight of the naked man. She could admit freely that he was undoubtedly attractive, but she had enough control not to let it affect her judgment. What interested her more at that moment was the several hundred scars littering his torso, no doubt the result of meticulous torture.

It was something she would have to think over later, as at that moment, she was facing an unreasonably large golden ankh, preparing to blast her and her newfound allies to nothingness. She knew that the only option was to dodge, but doing so would require her revealing her portal trick. She had already shown them her dark constructs and flight capabilities. She didn't find them untrustworthy per say, but she made it a point to keep her cards as close to the chest as possible for as long as possible.

Nevertheless, she prepared to cast the spell to portal them all out of the blast, only for the enormous ankh to fizzle out and disappear.

She blinked in confusion until she saw Doctor fate clutching his head in pain. She wasn't sure what was wrong until she looked closer and noticed that he helmets itself was shaking violently.

Fate groaned, "How are you doing this!?"

"What's happening?" Robin asked her, as he had just picked himself up. Unfortunately, she had no answer for him, as she watched the sorcerer stumble around in pain.

Up until now, Fates voice had been a combination of the deep voice of Nabu overshadowing the quieter voice of the host. Now however, the voice of Percy was starting to stand out more as he yelled, "Stop it… stop that… STOP!"

As the others watched helplessly, the shaking helmet continued to pester Nabu, until it started to leak.

It was just a little at first, some water dripping from the sides, but then Fate stopped struggling, looked straight ahead and opened his eyes, to reveal that they were glowing sea green.

Raven stared at them in wonder, as they seemed to look right through her. Something about the way the glowed stirred something inside her, an urge to go towards it.

She was so caught up in this feeling, that she was truly startled when the light suddenly went away, as the helmet literally shot off of Percy's head on a water geyser, that was coming from Percy's head, engulfing it entirely. once the helmet was off however the water started spraying in all directions, coming from every part of his body not covered up.

The water gathered on the roof of the tower, quickly filling it up, getting all those who could not fly truly soaked, before it started cascading over the sides of the tower.

Once the spray finally died down enough so everyone could look at Percy without being sprayed in the eyes with water, everyone looked to see that Percy was no longer there. Where he had been standing was the now empty helmet of fate, and his jacket/loincloth, both floating in the water.

Kaldur was the first to speak up, "Where did he go?"

Wally rushed to the sided of the tower, wondering if he had fallen off the side with the flow of the water, but found no trace of him.

"This doesn't make sense…" Robin said aloud, "Disappearing wasn't one of his powers!"

"Neither was generating earthquakes," Superboy spoke up, surprising everyone with the significant worry in his voice, "Until recently. Maybe it's another power he didn't know he had? Like water teleportation?"

"He didn't disappear, or teleport." Raven stated.

"Then what?" Artemis asked, "Don't tell me he's…"

"He's not dead." Raven assured her, "at least not yet. He seems to be… in the water."

"What?" Wally asked, "What does that mean?"

"Guys, she's right." M'gann spoke up with a frown as she surveyed the water surrounding them, "I can still feel his mind, but it's scattered all around. It's like… he is the water."

Raven nodded in agreement. While she didn't have mental powers as strong as the Martian girl, she had something of her own: empathy. Well, more like empathy on overdrive. She had the ability to feel the emotions of anyone just by being in close enough range. It was quite annoying for her at times, as emotions are what get her in the most trouble.

This power is also why she found herself weeping uncontrollably when she pulled Percy from the lava pit. Yet another thing that intrigued her about him was the fact that he positively radiated emotion at all times. She had gotten in the habit of closing off everyone's feelings from her at all times, lifting her barriers when she wished, but Perseus… his aura of pain, hatred, sorrow, it had immediately broken down her mental barriers and nearly overwhelmed her. if she hadn't put up a stronger barrier in time, there's no doubt that things would have gotten much worse for everyone involved.

Like any reasonable person, she was incredibly curious as to what could have caused such strong feelings. (She had a feeling it had something to with his scars), but what Raven was even more curious about was how he contained it so well.

Back to the present however, she felt the pressure of his emotions on her mental barriers, coming from all around them. That's when Wally cringed, "So that means we're swimming in him right now? That's disgu— "

"Focus Wally!" Robin snapped, before looking at the Martian and the cloaked girl with concern, "So he's turned himself into a liquid but still retains some form of consciousness? That's not so hard to believe, I've dealt with similar scenarios. Can't he change back?"

M'gann frowned, "I'm not sure. His mind feels… blank. It's hard to tell with it scattered the way it is but I don't think he's conscious enough to do anything."

"Okay, then how do we wake him up?" Artemis asked, "We can't exactly throw a bucket of water over his head."

"I have an idea." Kaldur spoke up, "But I suggest you all remove yourselves from the water before I proceed.

Everyone complied, with M'gann and Raven lifting them out of the water, while Kaldur focused, powering up the eel tattoos running down his arms. Once he was ready, he plunged his hands into the water and sent an electrical shock through the water, remaining still as it went through him as well, knowing that a shock generated from himself wouldn't be able to harm him.

After a few moments of this he stopped and looked at M'gann, who had her hand to her head and her eyes closed in concentration, "Anything?"

"There was definitely a response, but not enough to wake him up, he keeps getting more and more scattered."

The water from his body must be mixed in with all the other water he generated," Robin commented, "And if we don't wake him up soon…"

"He'll get so spread out that we'll never be able to find him!" Wally exclaimed, running a hand through his hair in panic, "This is insane!

"We have to gather water that makes up his body somehow, and send a shock through it alone," Kaldur stated, "Miss Martian, can you use your telekinesis to pick him out?"

She winced as she kept concentrating, "It's too confusing! I can barely tell where any of him is, I don't think I'd make it in time!"

Kaldur turned to Raven, who stiffened as everyone else followed suit, "What about you? I know we just met but is there anything you can do?"

Raven was still for a moment, considering her response, before reluctantly nodding, "There's something I can try…"

"Well you better hurry, since if you don't he may be scattered into tiny impossible to find pieces," Wally said, before adding, "No pressure." He soon received a swift slap to the back of his head, curtesy of Artemis.

Raven gathered herself, taking a deep breath in preparation, before levitating herself above the pool of water, and closing her eyes, raising her hands out over the water and beginning her chant, "Azerath… Metrion… ZYNTHOS!"

Her body tensed as she once again lowered her mental shields, allowing Perseus' emotions to flow through her again, as well as allowing her to search out the bits of water containing his consciousness. She sent out her dark constructs into the water to round up each drop of Perseus, all the while using all of her remaining willpower to keep the emotions flowing through her from manifesting itself in a way she didn't like. She made sure to lower her head though, covering her face just in case.

After what felt like an eternity to her, but was only minutes, she managed to round up all of the water containing Perseus and hold it in the air in a ball of shadow. With the job done, he brought up her mental barriers once more, feeling relief and wiping the tears on her face away before looking back up, "That's all of it."

"I'll take it from here." M'gann nodded to her. Raven allowed her to take control of the water with her telekinesis, before dissolving her magic so Kaldur could gain access to it. He took a moment to charge up once more, before shoving his hands up into the ball of water. As soon as the shock went through it, M'gann inhaled sharply.

No one needed to be told why, as it was made obvious by the now writhing mass of water in front of them, which gradually began to condense, until it took the shape of man

Then, before their eyes, the water turned to the flesh, and Perseus gasped in air, "What the-! Where-? What the fuck…" And like that he fell back unconscious, though now he remained in physical form.

Of course, he was once again fully nude, but no one seemed too worried about that anymore, as they were all just relieved that he was okay.

M'gann gently lowered him back into the water, where he floated peacefully, while everyone took a moment to process what just happened.

The first to speak up however, was Wally, who murmured, "Oh shit…" While looking at Kent Nelson's body, that was floating in one of the comers of the tower.

"Mrs. O'Leary…" M'gann said sadly, greatly confusing the human-demon hybrid.

"Who is that?" Raven asked, then froze as once again everyone looked at her intensely.

Robin spoke first, "Hey Raven, just how good are you with magic?"

Raven shifted uncomfortably, not sure what exactly she should say, "I'm… fairly confident, not as much as Kent was but..."

She trailed off as the others started a heated conversation among themselves. She heard snippets such as, "we just met her" "she seems okay" "what other choice do we have?"

In the end, they all turned back to her and Kaldur spoke, "I realize we've asked much of you today, but we would be very grateful if you did us one more favor."

Later

Raven stared up at the sleeping hellhound in awe. She had seen a lot of things in her 16 years, a lot of bad, and a lot of beautiful, and she honestly wasn't sure yet which this fell into.

The teens had left the Tower of Fate several hours ago, making sure Kent's body was taken care of properly, as well as dealing with the drooling god in their care. Superboy had elected to carry him home, making sure his torso was covered before he slung him over his shoulder unceremoniously. Before he did so, Raven stole one more look at the marks covering his back. What caught her eye the most was the enormous scar running down his spine, as if it had been removed somehow.

Of course, she soon signed that off as ridiculous. No one could have their spine removed and replaced without dying. Though she knew for a fact that resurrections were not out of the question. She forced herself to stop thinking about it as the heroes led her to a secret teleporter hidden in random porta potty. When they started filing one by one she began to have serious second thoughts, but M'gann had assured her that it was completely safe… and sanitary.

She was being taken back to their home base, albeit without knowing its true location, in the hopes that she could help with a "magic problem" they were having. She asked several times for them to describe it, but they insisted that she would have to see for herself.

She had not been expecting a black and white mastiff the size of tank, being serenaded beautifully by a thirty-foot cyclops. It didn't help that he had made some less than flattering remarks about how she "smelled bad", before M'gann assured him that she was here to help.

The rather beefy giant had reluctantly let her approach the "hellhound" as she was informed it was called. He explained to her that she was passed out from mental exhaustion, while her body was responding as if under intense stress.

"So… what exactly do you want be to do here?" Raven asked everyone, who had surrounded her and watched her work worriedly. No pressure, right?

The cyclops named Tyson responded, "Her heart will give out soon if somethings not done. She doesn't have blood or organs, or really anything besides dust inside, so it can't be something chemical. I think she's under some sort of spell or something."

"We were hoping you had some way to detect such a spell within her," Robin said carefully.

Raven looked at them blankly, "Uh… first of all, where did she even come from? I've never seen or heard of something like her, and I've kind of been around with creatures of darkness."

"She's from Tyson and Perseus's Universe," 'Superboy answered.

"Specifically, the Underworld." Tyson clarified, "Which is the Land of the Dead."

Raven nodded numbly, taking it all in. Of course, she wasn't concerned to the underworld part, she had visited Hades Realm before. She never met the god himself, but she had heard that he was a just ruler.

The fact that they were all from another universe was complicated. She hadn't dealt with interdimensional travelers before. Well technically she herself was one, but she was fairly certain that there were entire spheres of dimensions that mirrored each other, making up the difference between two dimensions, like Hades Realm and Earth, and two universes, which apparently had its own version of the Underworld, that included, tank sized dogs.

Nevertheless, she couldn't find it in herself to just say 'Na you're on your own', so she sighed and nodded her head, "I won't make any promises, but there is something I can try."

"Really?!" Tyson exclaimed, almost making her jump as he boomed beside her.

"Yes, but it requires me to meditate first, in preparation. I'll do that first."

Everyone seemed satisfied with this. That was good, considering she had been straight up lying. As she sat down in front of 'Mrs. O'Leary' with her legs crossed, she did not begin reciting mantras or clearing her mind or anything like that, granted she does it occasionally, as it did indeed provide benefits to her mystical abilities, but what she was doing right now was very different.

As she clenched her eyes in concentration, her physical body suddenly relaxed, though remained upright, as her astral form left her body. This form was where she got her name, as it resembled a shadowy raven shaped form. She lifted away from her body and towards the Hellhound, not worrying about freaking the others out, as she could remain invisible in this form unless she wished otherwise. At least, that was what she thought, until she heard Tyson say, "Woah… Is that what meditation is?"

Her avian head looked at the goliath in shock to see that sure enough, his big brown eye was trained right on her.

As the others looked at Tyson in confusion, wondering what he was talking about, she retreated back into her body in panic before turning to him, "You could see?"

He tilted his head curiously, "What? The big bird thingy?"

"What "big bird thingy"?" Artemis asked with a slight edge in her voice.

Raven was still trying to think of plausible story, when Tyson decided to tell it for her, "There was this big shadowy bird thing that came out of her when she closed her eyes. It started going towards Mrs. O'Leary… you didn't see it?"

"No, we didn't," Wally stated, obvious suspicion in his tone, "What's that about?"

Raven looked around nervously, "I-I can explain!"

"Please do." Kaldur stated, also adding a bit of edge in his voice, which made raven the Most nervous "

She gulped, "I… have the ability to send out my soul from my body, I call it my astral form. It will make it easier to detect the spell, and it usually isn't able to be seen by anything unless I will it," She glanced at Tyson at that. After a few moments of blank staring, he suddenly gasped.

"Oh sorry! I didn't mean to look where I shouldn't have!" He stated uncertainly, rubbing the back of his head with a nervous smirk, "Cyclopes can see a lot… to make up for the depth perception."

"No need to apologize, T," Robin stated, narrowing his eyes at Raven, "That's definitely no form of meditation I've heard of. Why did you lie?"

Realizing there was no other way out of this, Raven answered "I didn't want to freak you all out… people tend to freak out at my powers."

It was true. In Raven's past experiences, the more of her abilities she showed people, the more likely they were to give in to fear of her and label her something unsavory. It was because of that that going to Salem to find help had been like swallowing a bitter pill.

She was relieved to find a look of understanding flashing aver the heroes faces. She doubted they fully understood her own plight, but they must have had some experiences who people who feared what they did not understand.

"Alright, we'll let it go," Kaldur stated, "but I implore you not deceive us again, no matter the reason. You will face no judgement from us."

Raven raised an eyebrow at that, but could sense the sincerity in the boy's voice. She wondered how long that would hold up if he could see everything she was capable of. Nevertheless, she nodded, "Fine."

Once again she sat down and closed her eyes. This time when she left her her body, she allowed herself to be seen, as expressed by the several gasps from the heroes, while Tyson just watched intently, unfazed by the shadowy form.

Raven went to work by hovering over Mrs. O'Leary and sending several tendrils of darkness over her body, some phasing through her form to survey her own soul. What she found was surprising to say the least.

The hellhound didn't have a soul in the sense Raven and the others did. The majority of the beings she had come across had a physical form that housed their spiritual form, with a few like her who could separate the two if need be. There were also those with only a spiritual form, and the occasional spiritless form that could not function without the command of another. Mrs. O'Leary seemed to be a mix of the two. Her form being both spiritual and physical. As she worked she asked for any other information about her, surprising the heroes as her voice came from her avian beak, but they got over it fast.

Apparently, the creature could travel through shadows, something that greatly interested Raven, as well as be impervious to most mortal weapons. M'gann explained that in Perseus' world monsters and gods were on a different level of being from mortals, with demigods like Perseus being hybrids of the two.

That was another interesting tidbit: Perseus' apparent godhood. To be fair it wasn't that surprising. The guy practically radiated power, it made sense. She didn't understand why he was so weak in comparison to the gods of myth however, and unfortunately neither did he.

With all that in mind, she gradually gained a deeper understanding of how the hellhound before her worked. The "dust" inside her that apparently all monsters have, was in fact pure mana made physical.

She had no idea how this came to be, or how it fit in with the Greek Myths, or even if the mana of the universe could be condensed and used in such a way. There were spells and rituals that conjured creatures and spirits with magic, but Mrs. O'Leary was magic on an entirely different level. The mana dust powered her, likely giving her eternal life as well as her shadow travel powers.

Raven found herself incredibly fascinated by it all, and wanted desperately to study her more. Perhaps it could lead her to some answers about herself, but right now she had a task to complete, and she had just found the problem.

Mixed in with the mana dust was something similar, but very different. She deduced that it was the supposed, "Ichor" that supposedly ran through Perseus' veins. She found herself slightly doubting that however, as she couldn't imagine how any physical being could hold even a single liter of that stuff inside them. Just touching it with her tendrils was hard. It wasn't exactly painful, but the substance radiated power so strongly that it slightly repelled her own.

It seemed like the mana dust, only as a liquid instead, but this mana seemed to be supercharged beyond anything she'd ever seen. Mana flowed through everything in its non-physical form, it was all around us, even able to be harnessed by those skilled enough, but this was nothing in comparison to the ichor.

Again she had to set aside her desire to examine and research in favor of addressing the problem at hand. The ichor was running all throughout the hellhounds body, mixed in with the dust. All the dust it came into contact with seemed to absorb the power the ichor radiated, but it looked like they were… overloading in a sense, the 'grains' of dust only able to hold a certain amount of power, which the ichor was quickly exceeding.

Raven could tell that this was what was putting the creature under so much stress, but had no idea what to do about it. Removing the ichor would likely be painful and difficult, and quite possibly fatal, but if it remained it would continue to overcharge the creatures essence until finally poof. She couldn't do anything for the creature, and was dreading telling the others that, when she realized she was being an idiot.

With a snap, she receded into her own body and looked at the others, several of whom had gone into various states of unconsciousness as they let her work. They jumped at her sudden movement, but settled down as she began to explain what she had discovered.

"So, either we have another god giving out ichor," Robin pondered, "Or somebody got a hold of Perseus' blood."

"But how?" Wally asked.

"We have been in many battles," Kaldur sighed, "It is only natural that he may have spilt some blood and not noticed in the heat of the moment. We should have become wary of that the minute we knew what his blood was."

"I mean, technically we still don't know, "Artemis added, "but yeah that probably would have been a good idea."

"So, can you fix it?" Tyson asked suddenly, obviously impatient with all the talk and eager to know how to f ix his friend. "Can you take it out of her or something?"

Raven shook her head sadly at the cyclops, "No, not confidently at least, and by the time I can become sure of what I'm doing, it may already be too late."

"So, what?" M'gann asked "She's going to…" She trailed off with a worried glance at Tyson.

"I may have a solution." Raven stated, gaining everyone's attention. She then removed her cloak, eliciting a whistle of approval from the speedster, who was then punched excessively hard in the face by the archer.

Raven ignored all that and gestured to the belt on her waist that sported the round red gems, "This is an artifact that constantly absorbs the magic power of anything it touches." This caused a lot of confused looks so she explained, "My powers tend to get… hard to control sometimes, so I where this to keep them manageable."

"But wouldn't it just suck you dry or something?" Wally asked while rubbing his head where a bump was staring to form.

Raven explained that she was capable of both channeling the mana around her as well as using the power she possesses inherently, as well as charging the latter with the former, so she never truly ran out. It convinced them thankfully, and even was true in some respects. She couldn't tell them that she wore it to make it harder for her father to track her down.

"If I put it on her, it may take care of the excess power the ichor is generating," Raven explained."

"Will that cause issue for you?" Kaldur asked.

"I can manage for now. I know where to acquire a new one, but she needs this now. Alright?"

Once she was sure everyone was onboard and wouldn't freak out when she took it off, Raven removed the belt and placed it around Mrs. O'Leary's neck, like a collar.

Once it was fitted around her, it instantly began to do its work, indicated by a slight glow of the red gems. After that there was a tense few moments while Tyson put his head close to the chest, listening to her heart beat, until finally he smiled, "Her heart is slowing down!"

That elicited a collective sigh of relief, form the heroes, followed by a series of uncomfortable handshakes and a few hugs thoroughly stressed out Raven before everyone finally settled down.

Raven was ready to leave then, gathering her cloak and getting ready to sneak back to the teleporter room while everyone was surrounding the hellhound, laughing and listening to Tyson talk about her.

Unfortunately, she wasn't sneaky enough and M'gann noticed. "Raven? Where are you going?"

She tensed up before looking back, "I…"

"You can't leave before Percy wakes up!" Kaldur insisted, "He'll want to thank you personally!"

Raven winced, she really didn't want to stay any longer, especially with her magic at full strength, but seeing the looks on their faces, she knew they would continue to insist. It had taken a bit over a month between the last two times they found her, so one or two nights wouldn't be that bad… right?

Chapter 9!

Well there you go, a look at how I'm writing. There are several different versions of her, but mine might be a little OC in any case, cause fanfiction.

As for my view on magic and how it works… its my view, that's pretty much the point, it may fit into the standards of DC but it always seems kind of vague to me so I'm taking liberties.

There will be more Mrs. O'Leary plot next chapter