Percy's legs tensed, the muscles coiling up and stretching the tight fabric of his suit before exploding him upward in a propulsion of power that sent him soaring through the sky.

"Hell yeah!" He screamed out, enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing through his hair. His exhilaration was only fueled by the thought that he was temporarily traveling through Zeus' domain and there was nothing the pompous god could do about it. Technically it wasn't his Zeus' domain, but he liked to imagine it was.

From what he had gathered so far, these new gods were nothing like what he was used to.

For example, his studies of this new universe had lead him to find out the Olympians were so disconnected from the mortal world they no longer bothered to even have demigods.

It was strange for him to comprehend. The gods of his universe would never consider denying themselves the company of mortals, even if it was usually just for a night, but at the same time he wasn't complaining about not having to deal with them anymore. It made him feel… free.

He wobbled slightly in the air as he attempted to land on his designated mark, a task he had been fairly unsuccessful at completing so far.

As his boots made contact with the steel arch of the Metropolis bridge, he resisted the urge to let out a shout of joy for finally hitting his target. Partly because it would have been embarrassing, but mostly because of the chaos that was occurring further down the bridge.

With a grunt, he launched himself towards a section of the railing that had a car and a bus dangling off the edge.

He winced slightly as the bridge shook underneath the impact of his landing. These new powers were… difficult, to say the least.

All of his time training before coming to this world had been focused solely on increasing his power, increasing its strength. Granted, that came with learning to control them, but that progressed naturally with their growth.

This... this was different. He went through many door handles at Mount Justice, much to Batman's chagrin, before getting to the point he didn't crush them in his hand or just straight rip them off the door.

While he had since gotten the hang of everyday tasks, the adrenaline-fueled moments of combat were a different story.

He had been careful to only target heavy-hitters like himself up until this point, largely out of fear of what he might do to someone much weaker than himself.

Which is what brought him to Metropolis in the first place.

"No need to worry, Supe-Per… Fuck it, I'm here to save the day!"

He still wasn't sure if the whole 'secret identity' thing was entirely necessary since he didn't exactly have an identity to begin with in this world, but he wasn't about to go around telling everyone his name. He had dealt with enough bad press as a demigod to repeat that experience again.

It would have made the most sense to just go by Superboy. Others had already called him that, and he even nearly called himself that, but the name just felt… wrong.

Sure, it may have fit his current body, but it didn't fit him.

Several different names had crossed his mind, but he found himself caring more about the subject than he thought he would, which had led to a delay in him officially claiming a title.

His hands gripped the bumper of the smaller gray car hanging off the edge and easily lifted it back up onto the bridge.

Next, came the more difficult task. He flexed his hands as he approached the school bus and gripped the fender cautiously.

Strength wasn't an issue here, but managing to pull the bus up without just ripping off the whole backside was a different story.

The bus groaned in unison with Percy as his feet began to slide across the bridge. He planted his feet and started pulling it back up when suddenly the metal his hand was gripping started slowly peeling off the bus.

He reacted quickly, reaching under to grab onto something and instead creating a hole in the bottom of the bus. Adapting to the situation, he used the makeshift handhold to begin dragging the bus back when he suddenly found it being lifted up above his head by an outside force.

He fell back unceremoniously on his ass and looked up to see the man, or rather alien, he was looking for floating above him and setting the school bus carefully on the ground.

Percy stood with a grimace and wiped the dust off his suit.

"I had that, you know." Percy said, more jokingly than annoyed. Although he was slightly aggravated at the interrupted attempt to control his powers.

Superman glared down at him, obviously not enjoying his humor.

"I didn't want to take that chance, as it is your landing could've destabilized the entire bridge."

At this, Percy slowly started to glare back at the man of steel.

"It didn't," he shot back.

"But it could have; we still don't know the limits of your powers you got from me, not to mention your other set of… abilities."

Percy simply waved his hand nonchalantly.

"You don't have to worry about those; I've spent years honing them. Now your powers… well, I could use some help with those." He looked up at Superman hopefully, but the man avoided his eye contact.

"Batman's got that covered."

Percy's face twisted in genuine confusion.

"You're leaving it up to one of the only members of the League with no powers to help me. While you just... what? Sit back eating popcorn and laughing at my failed attempts?"

Before Superman could respond, the comm in his ear started beeping. He turned away from his clone as he answered the call.

"Superman." His face remained stoic even though Percy could hear his heartbeat race and a strained voice yelling through the earpiece. "Wait, Arrow. Slow down!"

He glanced back at Percy before nodding his head.

"No, I'm definitely available. Coordinates?" He again nodded his head, "Acknowledged—on my way." He floated into the air and looked back at Percy with a sympathetic look.

"Sorry, uhm, Percy? Duty calls."

Percy threw his hands up in defeat at the rapidly retreating figure.

"Sure, no problem. I'm sure I wouldn't have been any help anyway. Just a former demi-god with years of battle experience in a Kryptonian body." He sighed and shook his head. "Great, now I'm talking to myself."

He turned and looked around the bridge.

"Now which way is it to the closest Zeta-Tube?"

"Recognize: Percy B-0-4"

Percy stepped out of the Zeta-Tube back into Mount Justice, completely absorbed in his thoughts.

Not only had he been blown off by possibly his only hope at fast-tracking his control over these new powers, but he was also left to roam the city aimlessly for a few hours trying to find a Zeta-Tube to use.

Needless to say, he was not happy.

"Perseus."

He froze and looked up with a scowl, only to meet the ever-present scowl on Batman's face.

"It's just Percy, you know…" He trailed off as he noticed they weren't alone.

Beside him was Wonder Woman, who he already knew, along with two… magicians?

One was a tall man in a black suit, with a yellow vest underneath. He had a red bowtie and a large black top hat on his head. It took only a moment to recognize him as Zatara, and Percy once again silently thanked Batman for the detailed book he had given him.

Beside him stood a girl that he assumed was his daughter. The book mentioned she existed but didn't have any actual information on her.

(A/N: I'm basing Zatanna more on the second season of the series. She's only 14 in the first season, but I'm not waiting that long to start integrating her in the story, so yeah, let's just say she's around 18 already.)

She was wearing white gloves and a matching frilled bow tie. Her tight black jacket ran down her arms and split in the back like her father's blazer and was open in the front to reveal the white button-up shirt beneath with a low neckline on it. Along with that, she had on tight gray pants with black lining around the top, similar to the 'underwear-on-the-outside' look that Superman had.

Percy had seen plenty of goddesses and their children as well, but he decided this girl, with a face structure of a goddess and pale blue eyes framed by her black hair, gave all of them a run for their money.

As these thoughts filled his head, a flash of curly blonde hair and gray eyes shot through his mind. Eliciting a wince and effectively stopping his train of thought.

It was harder for him to look at any woman in that way now. Just watching her die once would have been enough for that, but Kronos made sure it was ingrained in his mind in such a way it would likely always haunt him.

However, it didn't particularly matter anyway. He had learned long ago that looks were deceiving, especially in his former life. It didn't take long for the power of beauty to fade nearly entirely for him.

"Percy," Batman began again, "We have some things to discuss."

At this, the boy put a confused look on his face.

"Really? I assumed you were all here waiting on me so we could go play hide-and-seek." Batman's scowl turned into a glare, so Percy quickly added on, "which you would totally win at, by the way; stealth isn't exactly my strong suit."

'Strange,' Percy thought to himself, 'that didn't seem to help at all.' If anything, it made Batman's glare harden as Wonder Woman rolled her eyes and Zatara's daughter stifled a laugh with her hand that quickly ceased after an elbow to her side from her father.

"This was supposed to be to help you," Batman stated. "But if you don't want it, we can all leave."

"Depends," Percy shot back. "What kind of help are we talking about here?" Wonder Woman stepped forward at his question and began to explain.

"The gods are demanding your presence in Themyscira." Percy winced, which didn't go unnoticed by the woman.

"Not sure what your definition of help is, Bats, but I'm thinking you may have meant hell."

Wonder Woman seemed appalled at his blunt words.

"You dare disrespect the gods in such a manner?" Percy prepared for a comeback, but surprisingly Batman beat him to it.

"Trust me, Wonder Woman, that was far more respectful than I thought he would sound. I told you he wouldn't be eager to go with."

Percy mulled over it for a second before letting out a deep and exaggerated sigh.

"No, it's fine. I'm not surprised it's happening; if anything, I'm shocked it's taken this long. My gods, Zeus in particular, would've demanded my presence the second he knew of my existence." Wonder Woman looked at him curiously but didn't respond. "What I'm more curious about are these two," he continued while jutting his head towards Zatara. "I'm pretty sure you're Zatara, but I have no idea how you could help me... no offense."

The magician nodded his head in understanding at Percy's words.

"None taken; I can understand your confusion. My daughter, Zatanna, has found you… intriguing." Percy quirked an eyebrow at this and quickly squashed down the odd feeling at hearing that. "She was with me when we attempted to find out what caused your coma and actually made the most progress."

At this, Percy gave her an impressed nod.

"Very impressive, especially since I don't even really know what happened."

The girl got an excited look on her face at this as she started to explain, "It was pretty simple really; well, what was causing it was simple. Everyone's souls are contained in their bodies, which are like cases that perfectly contain and meld with our souls to create… well, us! But you—" She paused and gained a thoughtful face.

"Your soul and body are like two entirely separate things, which is true from what my father's told me of your situation, but when you were unconscious, your body and soul were basically fighting each other. It's like they aren't compatible, almost like—"

Percy sighed and cut her off, "Like oil and water?"

Zatanna looked excited as he said this while nodding her head. "That's exactly what I was going to say!" She stopped and gave him a curious expression. "But why'd you say it like that? It sounded like you already knew."

"Long story short, the beings that brought me here had a little chat with me and tried to explain it."

At this, Zatanna deflated a little. "Oh… so I'm guessing you don't need any help finding out what's going on then." Percy shook his head frantically at this.

"No—no, that's not what I meant at all. Honestly, that's really all I know about the situation." He contemplated sharing his findings about his Kryptonian powers not working with his godly set of abilities, seeing it was most likely related to this, but it just felt… personal. Not something that everyone needed to be worrying about.

It had always been his responsibility to shoulder the burden. He was the prophecy child; the fate of Olympus sat on his shoulders. Sure, he didn't exactly pick that mantle up willingly, but he had grown used to his role.

There were exceptions, of course, like seeking out Superman for help, but that was more for the sake of those around him than himself. Lack of control over his new powers could prove to be a disaster, while this was more of an annoyance that he could handle himself.

"Perhaps my daughter can be of assistance then," Zatara spoke up while shooting her a cautious glance as if to ask, 'Are you sure?'

"She has learned a great deal under me, and no doubt could learn more, but there comes a time when everyone must be allowed to create their own path." He had a look of both pride and sadness on his face as he spoke, one Percy recognized. "Somehow, she has managed to convince me that it will help her understanding of magic greatly to study your… unique situation. I must admit it's an interesting situation that could help expand the knowledge surrounding souls and their place in the physical plane." Percy also recognized the distrusting look he was receiving.

It seemed, however, the conversation was getting too emotional and drawn out for the straight-to-the-point Batman.

"Zatanna is coming with you. You'll be on Themyscira for an unknown amount of time, and during this time she'd like to continue the research she was conducting while you were unconscious. We believe it would be beneficial to both of you for you to allow this to happen." Percy and the others noticed Batman's phrasing left the decision up to him, seemingly miffing Zatara if his slightly agape jaw was any indication. It wasn't every day that Batman gave room for questioning in his orders, especially not when dealing with a teenager.

Zatanna seemed to completely ignore that part, instead scoffing and whispering so only Percy's sensitive ears could pick up, "It's not like he's a damn science experiment."

She unknowingly said the exact words Percy needed to hear.

"Fine, when do we leave?"

"Immediately." Batman responded without hesitation.

Percy sighed and turned to walk further into the mountain. "I'll go pack my bag."

He had just rounded the corner when he heard quiet voices coming from the group.

It completely went against his nature to spy on people, and he wouldn't have even noticed if he had better control over his super-hearing, but when he realized they were talking about him, he slowed to a stop to listen.

"Why are you so involved with this particular boy?" Zatara asked curiously, "Do you fear him?" Percy resisted the urge to scoff at the question. Even if that was somehow the case, which Percy was fairly sure it was not, the magician should know Batman would never admit that to them.

"The only ones that should fear him are the ones that put the people he cares about in danger." Batman responded while completely ignoring the first question.

"Because he'll kill them if they do?" Zatanna questioned, causing Percy to roll his eyes. He knew for a fact that some members of the League had taken lives, even if it may have been before they joined and got sworn into Batman's 'no killing policy 'he had heard about. So everyone's constant desire to hold that over his head was ridiculous to him.

Maybe they thought it wasn't warranted, or maybe they were just truly naïve. Either way it didn't make a difference to him. He'd respect their wishes as best as he could, but if it came down to it, he wouldn't hesitate to take a life to save a member of his team, and the thought that the people he was surrounded with didn't seem to agree was unsettling to him.

In his opinion, many of them hadn't actually had to face that choice yet, which is why it was so easy for them to look down upon his actions. However, not everyone grew up in a fairytale land where you can place monsters under arrest. He had only experienced war, and in war, even when you win... you still lose. The only thing you can do is prevent losses, and if that meant killing an enemy, then so be it.

That's not to say he enjoyed it. No, it wasn't just the deaths of his loved ones that haunted him. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the faces of friends and foes alike that he had seen perish.

"You all know my stance on that. We don't take lives. For us to fall into that temptation would be for us to cross one of the major boundaries that separates us from the very people we fight, but..."

The room was silent as he paused.

"For Percy there is no temptation to kill. I've seen his life, even felt some of his emotions. He was forced to learn from a young age... too young... that it's kill or be killed. Yet he remembers every life he's taken and carries the weight of it with him constantly. There's no desire to take lives, and it's not easy for him to do it. He hates it every time he's forced to do it, but he doesn't regret it."

At this point the silence was deafening.

"So... you're ok with him killing?" Wonder Woman asked hesitantly, causing the room to once again fall into silence.

After several moments of bated breath, Zatanna spoke up cautiously, "Can't he probably hear us right now?"

With that, Percy turned and continued his path to his room as countless thoughts swirled through his mind.

Percy groaned while crushing the armrests of the seat he was in.

"So why exactly are you so scared of flying? I mean, even if we crashed, you would walk away without a scratch. Well, from what I've heard, you could probably catch the plane with the water before we hit the ocean." Zatanna's question seemed genuine, but her smirk was telling Percy she was just enjoying making fun of him.

His grip loosened slightly as he was reminded they were flying over the ocean.

"I may have a Kryptonian body, but I'm a son of Poseidon—" He paused as the plane rattled slightly, causing him to completely crush the sides of his seat. "It's just wrong for me to be in the sky... we should've taken a boat."

Percy frowned as he saw the damage to the seat. Batman had been kind enough to let them use his private jet, and he wasn't looking forward to the man's reaction when he saw the damage Percy caused.

Zatanna chuckled in front of him, causing his eyes to narrow in frustration. Not even an hour into their six-hour flight, and she was already annoying him.

"Don't you know some kind of magic that could help with this?" He asked desperately, causing her chuckle to turn into laughter.

"Probably, but you're a big boy; you need to learn to handle this on your own."

As she finished talking, he felt a hand rest on his forearm. He glanced up and saw her leaning towards him, her laughter having died down to a soft smile.

"You need to focus on something else; try talking to me about something."

Percy took a deep breath and tried to think of something he could talk about to distract himself.

"Why are you so interested in me?"

Zatanna shrugged and leaned back to sit normally in her seat.

"It's not really you; it's more your situation, like my father said. I've always found souls and their connection to the physical plane to be an intriguing area of my studies. Astral projection was actually one of the first real skills I mastered aside from some basic spells." Percy hummed in thought.

"So that's why Zatara brought you with him when he was trying to wake me up?"

Zatanna nodded, "Yeah, he actually came first by himself, and when he had a general idea of what was happening, he had me come in to check it out."

"So how can I stop that from happening again? It's kind of... well— He stared at her for a moment before sighing. "It's interfering with my powers. If I want to have any control over water, I have to use a huge amount of concentration to contain my Kryptonian powers."

Percy watched as her eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Honestly, I couldn't answer that yet, but hopefully after I have enough time to study you, I'll have some kind of solution. Like I told you before, your body and soul aren't getting along very well. If I had to guess, your body is constantly suppressing your water abilities, which are linked to your soul, but there may be a way to get them to work together."

Percy sighed and reclined back in his seat.

"Who would've thought that being a plain old demi-god was the most normal part of my life?"

Zatanna chuckled again, bringing a small smile to Percy's face.

After a few moments of silence, Zatanna spoke up hesitantly.

"What was it like?" She asked before hastily adding, "If you don't mind me asking. You don't have to tell me I'm just curious." Percy stared blankly at her, no doubt causing her to worry she was overstepping bounds, but if those thoughts existed, he quickly shut them down.

"Everything happens so quickly you don't have time to really process it." He began. "One day my biggest worry was getting kicked out of my seventh school, and the next I had a god threatening to start a war because he thought I stole something I didn't even know existed."

Zatanna's eyes widened in surprise at this.

"As soon as everything is starting to calm down, you're thrown right into another quest. It doesn't really give you time to stop and think about how you feel, but I remember being bitter," he frowned as he continued talking, "Wishing I could just have a normal life, or even just a normal demi-god life. I definitely didn't fit in with the mortals, but a lot of times it felt like I didn't even fit in with my own kind. It was... lonely, at times." Zatanna nodded in understanding, but Percy was pretty sure she didn't comprehend what he was talking about... she couldn't.

"That's understandable; I remember times in high school when my other life really started to interfere with my normal life, and I was bitter about it too. It helped knowing I was making a difference... that even if nobody knew about it, I was saving lives and helping people." Percy looked into her sympathetic eyes as she opened up to him. "I'm sure yours was even worse. Kids your age were probably worrying about prom and picking a college to go to while you had to deal with stopping a war between gods."

Percy laughed mirthlessly at this, a harsh sound that forced itself out of him.

"I was twelve when that happened." Her eyes widened even more so than before in a look of horror. "When kids my age were learning to drive, I was training relentlessly for a fight against the fucking titan of time—a fight that I was destined to die in, by the way, and while they were all going to prom, I was stuck in another dimension with him while he did everything he could to break me."

Percy didn't even notice Zatanna's eyes darting around in fear while the plane started to shake.

"When they were heading off to college, I was watching my friends die again, and again, and again. I was having my worst fears brought to life to torment me. Do you have any idea how that felt? Can ANYONE say they've been through HALF the FUCKED UP SHIT I'VE SEEN—"

His head snapped to the side, and his jaw erupted in pain.

He looked up and met the eyes of an angry and worried Wonder Woman standing beside him. It took him a minute to realize what happened; he was so caught up in his emotions he didn't even notice the woman approaching them.

"You need to calm down... now! That stunt almost brought the plane down." She said in a deadly calm tone.

Percy realized with a start that he had subconsciously shut down his Kryptonian side and probably caused the storm that was slowly fading outside of the plane.

As he stared out of the window, he noticed Wonder Woman walking back to the cockpit, leaving him alone with Zatanna again.

He couldn't tell exactly how Wonder Woman felt about him, but he figured she was still bitter about his attitude when told he would have to go see the gods. Hopefully that punch helped relieve some of those frustrations.

He looked back from the window and winced harshly at what he saw.

Zatanna was cowering in her seat while a few tears streaked down her face. His heart clenched in his chest at the thought that he caused the sight before him.

"I'm sorry," Percy said softly. "I didn't mean to—I just—" He stopped and got up from his seat. "I-I'll be in the back of the plane. Don't worry, I won't cause any more problems for the rest of the flight."

Before he could take two steps, he felt a lithe hand wrap around his wrist, stopping him from going any further.

"Sit down, Percy." Zatanna said, somehow firmly, with her shaky voice. Percy went to protest before ultimately sighing and sitting back in his seat.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "It's not like me to lose control like that, and it wasn't anything you did. I just... that was my first time actually talking about my previous life." Zatanna wiped a stray tear from her cheek from before while nodding along.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you to talk about that. I know you went through so much, it was... a lot. I didn't realize your life was so—well—"

"Shitty?" Percy asked with a small grin on his face, bringing a matching smile onto hers as she nodded.

"It's not good to bottle those things up, as you now know," she said while gesturing to the slowly retreating clouds around them.

Percy knew she was right, but at the same time, "It's how it's always been. The people around me always needed me to be strong. There was always another quest, another problem to solve. It wouldn't have done them any good to see the guy they were following wallowing in self-pity. Hell, it wouldn't have done me any good to constantly feel sorry for myself. It was never my choice to have that kind of burden; it was actually one of the things I was bitter about at first, but I've gotten used to it. Better me than someone I care about." He paused and looked down, looking for the right words to portray what he was trying to say. "My burdens are mine to bear; no reason to drag everyone I care about into my mess."

He didn't know how he was expecting Zatanna to react to all of that, but he didn't expect to see her furious expression when he looked up.

"If you really believe that, then you're an idiot." Percy's mouth dropped in shock; he definitely wasn't expecting that. "Anyone that truly cares about you would never want you to carry that kind of weight around by yourself. That's what friends and family are for: to help shoulder your problems and help you work through them."

Percy took a minute to let her words sink in.

Loyalty had always been his personal flaw, and he never fully understood how that could be a bad thing. It wasn't as obvious as other flaws heroes struggled with, like hubris or lust for power... no, his was more subtle in its effect.

It had been pointed out that he would burn the world to the ground to save his loved one, but that was never a real issue in his mind. It sounded much better than betraying them all to gain more power.

Now, however, he was beginning to see the strain it was putting on himself. Maybe loyalty was one of the only flaws to do more damage to yourself than those around you.

Zatanna made it sound like in his attempt to keep everyone out of his problems, he was actually being... selfish in a way. Not only that, but he could see times looking back where he had shut people out and put strains on relationships to do so.

"You... you may be right."

Zatanna rolled her eyes as a smile formed on her face.

"Of course I'm right; get used to it."

He gave her his signature lopsided grin when suddenly her image started shifting.

Her black hair grew lighter and lighter until

Blonde hair.

Gray eyes.

That smug smirk that drove him crazy yet was so irresistible.

"I'm never, ever wrong. Get used to it."

Wise girl... his wise girl.

He lurched forward with his head in his hands and tried to reel in his emotions.

Zatanna's hand rested gently on his shoulder, and he resisted the urge to shrug it off.

"Percy," she said softly, "I know we barely know each other," he stopped himself from pointing out she already knew more about him than everyone on his team after that little outburst, "but you can talk to me. We'll be spending a lot of time together. As long as you let me keep working with you, you'll have to open up and let me in eventually, or we'll never make any progress. Might as well get the process started now."

Again, he knew she may have been right, but this... this was too much too soon. Regardless of the recent revelation he just had, this was something else entirely—something he wasn't ready to talk about with anyone. So instead he forced the grin back on his face.

"That was nothing, just a major headache probably from that power outburst I just had."

He kept his grin as best he could while Zatanna's mouth formed a small frown. She nodded her head and turned to stare out the window, allowing Percy to lean back in his seat and relax.

If nothing else, at least he wasn't thinking about being in... a... plane.

His hands instantly grabbed the already crushed armrests as his stomach began to do flips inside of him.

This was going to be a long flight.

A/N: Pretty long chapter here considering the lack of plot progression so sorry about that. I felt like I needed to slow down and focus on character development a little more, but don't worry we'll see plenty of action next chapter ;)

Also, Zatanna finally makes an appearance.

Percy still isn't anywhere near ready for a relationship, so don't think I'm rushing him into one. However, I figured it was a good time to start his healing process with a little help from his soon-to-be favorite magician.

A lot of people had complaints about the grief Percy was getting for killing, so I decided to give some insight into that.

And I want to remind everyone that this is fanfiction. Obviously I want to try to stick to the character's fundamental characteristics, but not every detail is going to be the same so try to just roll with it unless I start butchering their characters.

Side note: I'm going to be working on at least one chapter of "Mutant in the World of Gods" before updating this one again, so check that out while waiting for another chapter here, thanks!