Guest: Thank you for your questions. I probably should have stated this more clearly in the previous chapter, even if Nate did not know this. Since the poppy originally belonged to Hypnos/Sleep, it was able to put Wally to sleep, even if his super speed did not make it easy. Thank you for your review.
Zari could not tell where the feeling was coming from. But since this morning, she had a gut feeling that something was going to go wrong today. She had shared her concerns with Nora, though she still wouldn't trust the Darhk girl with her life. Nora did not share the same gut feeling, but she did tell Zari not to ignore it, as it may be right.
Zari left her room and wandered about on the Waverider with no clear goal. She had no idea what she was looking for, but she would know it when she saw it. She did avoid Amaya's living quarters – she did not feel like seeing the body. They'd have to return the body home. It would be better not to mention how she died or how far along their quest she passed away; the only thing they needed to know was that Amaya had died a hero.
Of course, they would try to bring her back. There probably was a loophole they could exploit to keep Amaya alive and save her from that moment. But until then, and in case there was no such loophole, it was best to prepare to tell the Zambesians their leader died.
Her journey through the timeship brought her to where the jumpship was supposed to be. Supposed – the door was locked and the jumpship itself was missing. In addition to this, Wally was laying on the ground, unmoving, covered in something red.
This was bad.
"Guys?" Zari said through the comms. "We have a problem at the jumpship."
Nobody immediately answered her. most of the Legends probably weren't listening to the comms or did not even wear them at that moment. Still, if someone had heard it, they were coming right now. And until that Legend came to her, she should check for a pulse.
She wiped a little bit of the red powder off of Wally's wrist, which induced exhaustion in her. When she wiped the powder off of her, that exhaustion vanished almost instantly. Her first impression was that the red powder that was only sporadically applied to Wally, especially his front and head, was the cause of this situation. He had a pulse and while the silence continued, Zari picked up on some soft snoring and a rhythmic and calm breathing.
He wasn't just unconscious. He was sleeping.
Sara turned around the corner – she must have responded to the message Zari had sent out.
"Jumpship's gone," Zari said to avoid Sara having to ask what had happened. "And he is asleep."
"Sleeping?" Sara said in a confused voice and Zari nodded. Questions arose. What had happened to their jumpship? Why was Wally asleep in the hallway to the jumpship? Whatever it was, there must've been some conflict. Since Gideon would have alerted them of any intruders, someone on the ship had done this.
"Who's sleeping?" Ray asked over the comms. He had been a little busy to pay attention to Zari's asking for help – and he knew Sara was probably on her way – but now he was listening in, he wanted to know why the jumpship was gone and who was apparently sleeping in the hallway.
"Wally is," Sara said.
"I found him asleep," Zari explained, to clear up any thoughts Ray may have had about the situation. She did not mention the red powder-substance that was on Wally, though. What she was certain of, was the correlation between Wally being asleep and the jumpship being gone. Sara suspected about who may have done this.
"Ray, can you check if Nate is still on board?" Sara asked him.
"On it," Ray confirmed on the other side of the line. His line went silent and Sara focused on Wally again. Now she, too, noticed the small amounts of red powder on him. She did not touch it as Zari did, but she did take a closer look at it.
"What's that?" Sara wondered out loud.
"I don't know," Zari said, "but that is making him sleep." And just making skin contact made you feel exhausted. But that did not answer all of the questions. Where did this powder come from? How did someone – probably Nate – get his hands on it to throw it on Wally?
"Nate's not in his room or Amaya's," Ray told the group; just as Sara had suspected, Nate was gone.
So, what had happened? Nate must have had a crazy idea, possibly to get Amaya back. He doesn't share with the rest of the group to come up with a solution together and wants to go on his own. He wants to take the jumpship, but Wally comes to stand in the way. The next events are still uncertain, but Wally eventually falls asleep on the ground covered in small amounts of red powder while Nate has probably left with the jumpship. They should review security footage to know what did happen.
"Sara? The seismograph is going crazy," Ray broke the silence. Another Fugitive was spotted in history. Normally, it would be good news, but not right at this moment. They were missing two Legends now, and possibly a third if Wally didn't wake up soon.
"On my way," she told Ray and then turned her head to Zari. "Can you take him to his room?"
Zari nodded. "Yeah, I'll manage."
Sara did not doubt Zari's strength and so, she left her and Wally behind to go to the captain's office. It was time to see which Fugitive had decided to show its face at such a bad time and how they could take him out. They luckily were on a timeship, so they didn't have to immediately act.
She entered the bridge and walked into the captain's office, where Ray and Nora were already waiting for her. Nora still stayed around Ray or Zari to keep the trust she was gaining with every positive action; still, her past sins and her father's hung around her like a stench she could not get rid of. Sara acknowledged their presence and then looked at the screen.
"Alright, Gideon, where is the Fugitive?" she asked.
"The Giant Clytius has been spotted on the Kassandra Peninsula, Greece, in 1912." Gideon pulled up images from the area in that time. Sara leaned on the desk while looking at them.
"Is that the Giant we're looking for?" Nora wondered. She had no idea what exactly was going on. She hadn't heard of the Kassandra Peninsula, nor did she know of anyone named Clytius. But honestly, neither would Sara, if she hadn't asked Gideon to keep any eye on mythological fugitives that had shown up on the radar but who hadn't caused too major time quakes so far.
"He is a giant," Sara said. "He's not the Giantess we're tasked to stop, but he did escape the Underworld, too. He just ended up in a different time than her."
"Okay," Nora said. It still did not make a lot of sense, but within the context, she did understand the situation.
"Gideon, plot a course," Sara said before walking to the captain's chair. It was time to confront their first Giant.
"Shouldn't we wait for Wally?" Ray then asked. Hermes had told them they would be needing a speedster by their side if they wanted to succeed in fighting the Giantess. Clytius may not be a she, but e still was a Giant. In that sense, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to wait for Nate, either.
"What if it hurts people when we could've stopped it." Nora countered, looking him right in the eye. Ray admitted that she did make a good point. Nora turned to Sara, who had shared the same thought. "We should go."
The two women looked at one another. Sara turned her head to Ray.
"Suit up," she told him. Ray left the bridge to go to his room and to put on the atom suit. Sara repeated the message over the comms and told the Legends who weren't present what was going to happen. Then, they were on their way to the Kassandra peninsula.
The Kassandra peninsula was one of three peninsulas connected to the landmass of the province of Macedonia. Several small towns were scattered across the peninsula, as well as a wildlife refuge. The giant seemed to dwell in the environment of this refuge. If someone had seen him, he had to be quite the attraction. If the people had not noticed this giant, then where was he hiding? The trees weren't very high and other than the small forests in the wildlife refuge and on the east side of the peninsula, there was not much that reached higher than the tops of those trees.
The Legends landed in a nearby field, next to the rugged hills of the wildlife refuge. Small roads, barely asphalted and possibly hard to drive on for normal cars, ran through the landscape and provided necessary access to the fields for the local farmers. Once the reflector shields were on, the Waverider blended in with the environment and Wally lay safely in his bed. A note by his bedside explained what was happening, in case he woke up while they were gone.
The Legends, all dressed up for battle, exited the time ship. They walked down the by-road and took a right, so they could enter the wildlife refuge. There were no physical barriers that could prevent anyone from entering the park; the government decreed nobody build anything there and the locals obeyed those laws.
There was one person they had not expected to see. John Constantine was leaning against a lonely tree and seemed to enjoy the afternoon sun, leisurely smoking a cigarette. He had noticed them before, but now they also saw him. And when they did, the group paused and exchanged confused looks amongst each other.
Many things were wrong with the picture. For starters, John did not have access to any time travel device nor was there a spell for time traveling (as far as they were aware) and yet he is in Greece in the early 1900s. How did John get here, and why did he come here out of all the places he could travel to?
"Well, if it isn't John Constantine," Sara said, folding her arms. Only after she spoke did the master of the occult turn his head to the group. He dropped the cigarette stomp and extinguished it with his foot. He then put his hands in his pockets and came closer to them as they approached him.
"What are you doing here?" Sara asked him, using an indifferent tone. It could have easily been confounded or interested. It was best not to approach him with too hostile of an attitude since he technically had nothing to do with anything that happened on the Legends' journey to find Periboea and to defeat her.
"What does it look like," John responded in a grumpy voice. "I'm here to find a Giant. That's what you're here for, right?"
That was true. But how did John know they were here looking for a Giant?
"I thought you didn't want to get involved," Zari asked him. She as well as the other Legends – excluding Mick – were genuinely curious about John(s answer.
"I didn't," John said, emphasizing that verb. "But then something from that world attacked me. I was stuck there! I had to fight my way out of literal Hell and ended up in this time and place somehow." He briefly paused and saw there were still curious looks on their faces. "I've been here for four days now. I didn't try to contact you because I'd heard a Giant had escaped using the same route I had. My captors weren't familiar with the concept of shutting up and I figured you would come to get that Giant one way or another."
"So, do you want to help?" Ray asked, a glimmer of hope in his voice. After facing four Greek Fugitives, it would be splendid to have John Constantine on their side again. It would be that extra piece of firepower they may need if they wanted to stop this giant from doing whatever he was doing.
John nodded, determination in his eyes. "Yes, I'm willing to help you out." He let his eyes go over the group again and frowned. "I thought Nate and Wally would join you in your quest."
"They're otherwise occupied," Sara said. If John joined them on the Waverider afterward, Sara would gladly tell him about what happened that lead to Nate and Wally not being on this peninsula with the rest of the Legends. But for now, there was an enemy in the wildlife refuge that needed to be taken down and they did not have the time to get into that long story again.
John nodded. "I see. Now, who wants to hunt a Giant?"
