Thank you everyone for reading the chapters up to this point. This is going to entail a lot of chapters because I really wanted to get into the character's heads and flesh them out as much as I can. I hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them for you. So now, I present to you the seventh chapter of this installment. J

CHAPTER 7

Ra's Al Ghul was conversing with Sarab when Felicity stormed in to break up their conversation.

"Hey! I need to talk to you!" She said with fire and determination in her eyes as well as her tone of voice. She was not intimidated by Ra's Al Ghul. Maybe she was being naïve or stupid, or maybe she was trying to prove her strength and fortitude due to her love for Oliver, or maybe it was just adrenaline pumping through her veins, but she was not afraid to face the man called "Demon's Head" which, by all accounts, is justifiably so because he was just so intimidating.

"What you are doing to Oliver is perverse… what you're making him do and I will not stand by and let this happen!" she continued still irate at the fact that Ra's Al Ghul was making Oliver give up his life to him.

Ra's, however, was amused by this girl. He perceived that this girl has wit and a fire within her which reminded him of his former love, a long time ago. Instead of trying to kill her, knowing that this anger and frustration from her was coming from love towards Oliver, and the fact that Oliver might back down from their agreement if this girl was hurt, he instead turned to Sarab and said, "Leave us."

Sarab, then bowed, and before leaving the room, he gave Felicity a curious look as if he was thinking that Felicity was crazy and asking for a death wish.

Once Ra's Al Ghul and Felicity were alone, Ra's then said to Felicity, "You have a great fire within you. I can see now why Oliver loves you as much as he does."

"If you know what love is, you would not be ripping Oliver away from his friends and family." Felicity replied.

"I am merely helping him fulfill his destiny." Ra's said in response. Ra's really has a strong belief in the League's prophesies and would go to great lengths to fulfill them, even if it means going to extreme measures like killing his new heir's sister.

"I know of the "survive my sword" prophecy and I could really give a damn." Felicity replied having a different point of view. She was not really a prophecy or superstitious kind of woman and she couldn't care less about the League's beliefs. She could not and would not lose Oliver because of some prophecy to this man and she was sure not shy to inform him of it.

"Me, John, and god help me Malcolm are not gonna let this happen and we have means and resources and we are willing to go to war to get Oliver back." She said, more out of desperation than anything. Of course they have all of this but she knew in her heart that they have no chance against the League. However, desperate love can make you say and do stupid things and at this point, Felicity's love for Oliver is desperate and currently grasping at straws. She was struggling to let Oliver go.

Ra's Al Ghul, the perceptive man that he is, knew that Felicity was struggling with her desperation and letting go of her loved one. Ra's understands this sentiment after living for centuries and experiencing a lot of things during his lifetime. In order to diffuse the situation and help Felicity come to grips that he now owns Oliver, he decided to tell a story of his own.

"Many lifetimes ago, I loved a woman immeasurably, and she loved me. We were bound by love and matrimony and had a son and a daughter. I felt that I was the luckiest man in the world for my life was bliss. One day, man appeared at my door and offered me a choice: To come with him quietly, or to see my wife and children tortured and then killed. And I left without a farewell and to spare them pain, I endured an agony worse than death."

Felicity was taken aback, she did not expect this from a man like Ra's. She had always known Ra's as a stone hard killer and thinking that this man had a wife and children prior to joining the League gave her a new perspective of the man's character. However, she will not falter in her stance and called out Ra's with her opinion about the story that was told. "It sounds like you gave up too easily."

Ra's then said, in order to help Felicity realize her situation, "If there's one immutable truth about life, it is often cruel more than it is fair. And all your posturing and threats of war will merely delay the inevitable and will cause you to forfeit the opportunity that you have which was denied me. You need to tell Oliver goodbye, tell him how much you love him. Do whatever your heart needs to express and do it now before he is lost to you forever." He then looked into her eyes for a moment, remember the time wherein he was not able to say goodbye to his own family before walking away, leaving Felicity to her sorrows.

As for Felicity, she was heartbroken at the inevitability of her situation. She was going to lose Oliver and there was some truth to Ra's words about life being cruel. Maybe she needed to say goodbye to Oliver. Maybe, she was indeed going to lose him forever. Her heart is not ready to let her love go but her mind is coming to grips with the fact that Oliver was going to give his own life to Ra's Al Ghul to protect everyone that he cares about. She decided to use her head and go to Oliver's quarters. Felicity did not want to leave Oliver feeling that she did not love him in the same way that he loved her.