Hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving. Consider this my gift to you all.
Jinero: Yep, RIP Stan Lee.
Guest 2.0: I can assure you Roy is not a son of Athena, but he and Annabeth do have a past. I've been wanting to have it happen, just couldn't find a good spot until then.
Nanda Parbat
Morning
"The son of Artemis. I had heard rumors, but I never thought they were true," Talia said as she, Oliver, Thea, Percy, Annabeth and Thalia were left alone in the clearing.
"I guess karma comes back to bite you, right?" Thalia said bitingly and Talia glared at her.
"Careful Huntress. I may not be one of Artemis' hunters anymore, but I have not gone soft," Talia said in warning.
"You were a Hunter?" Oliver deadpanned.
"For a time," Talia said as she turned back to her former stupid. "Shortly after I parted ways with my father, I encounter Artemis and the Hunters. Artemis offered me a place there. I stayed for a few years but I knew that my place was not with them. So your mother and I parted ways."
"But like all her former Hunters, Artemis has certain conditions when letting someone leave the Hunt," Thalia said and they turned back to her. "Talia made an oath to Lady Artemis that she would do no harm to innocent women. Her alliance with Adrian Chase violated that oath."
"And Talia aligning herself against Artemis' son probably didn't help," Percy noted as he glanced at Oliver.
"No, that just made her angry," Thalia agreed as she glanced at Talia. "Once this is over, you will come back and face Lady Artemis' judgement."
"We shall see," Talia said with a smirk and Percy and Annabeth saw lightning flash in Thalia's eyes.
"For now, you owe me a debt. I'm here to collect," Oliver said as Talia turned to regard her former student. "I was sent here by a cosmic being known as Mar Novu. He told me to search for a weapon and since this is the former headquarters of the League-"
"You think you may be searching for a weapon in the League's possession," Talia noted and Oliver nodded. "I do not know of any such weapon that would interest a cosmic being. But if the League did have possession of what you seek, it will be found underneath the Karan Shah."
"The what?" Percy asked.
"The League's stronghold," Oliver translated.
"It has since been destroyed," Talia said, to their disappointment. "But my father kept the League records in the catacombs, so with any luck, they're still there, waiting to be found."
"Good, then let's go," Thalia said as she glared at Talia. "After you."
Ohio
Same time
Barry and Patty walked through the store, picking up supplies as other customers eyed them oddly. To be fair, neither had had a shower since Medea and, after several days of fighting off monsters, probably looked like they'd gut anyone who looked at them wrong.
As they were passing some other customers, they overheard a conversation.
"I'm telling you, it was the biggest bear I've ever seen. It picked up two deer with one hand, each, and ate them. Seriously, I was lucky to get out alive," a guy was telling someone.
Barry and Patty exchanged a look. The Mist could hide the Minotaur, but not its presence. There was no doubt to either than this 'bear' was the Minotaur, hidden by the Mist.
"Excuse me? Where did you see this bear?" Patty asked with a flirtatious smile as she walked up.
Nanda Parbat
Afternoon
With the light from Percy's sword, Oliver, Talia, Thea, Percy, Thalia and Annabeth walked down the corridor of the former stronghold of the League.
"Love what you've done with the place," Thea said sarcastically as she brushed aside a cobweb but Talia ignored her.
"Assuming the Karan Shah hasn't been plundered, we're likely to find what we're looking for in 'The Chronicles of Al-Fatih'. He was the first Ra's al Ghul. According to legend, he was bestowed primordial knowledge by one of the sky gods," Talia explained.
"Or he was a demigod," Thalia noted and Talia nodded.
"Also possible. My father kept a secret room with his most valued possessions, including information on Al-Fatih," Talia said.
Talia pressed a spot on the wall, which sunk. A section of the wall moved, opening up as it revealed a hidden room.
"Anyone else feel like we're in an Indiana Jones movie? " Percy asked as they entered the room.
As they did, they saw several items thrown about and no weapons. It had been ransacked.
"Looks like we're too late," Oliver noted grimly.
"So Novu sent us here on a wild goose chase? Great, this is just perfect," Percy said annoyed.
"Calm down Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said.
"Yeah Kelp head. If this Al-Fatih is anything like the gods, he's not going to leave a weapon from them lying around with the rest of his crap," Thalia added.
"We're still back at square one," Percy pointed out.
"Not necessarily," Talia said as she walked over to a scroll on a table, laughing as she unrolled it. "The Chronicles of Al-Fatih."
"So, the looters just happen to leave behind the one thing we're looking for?" Thea deadpanned.
"They were probably looking for weapons or jewels. They would see no value in a scroll," Annabeth noted and Talia nodded in agreement.
"I like this one," Talia said with a glance at Annabeth before looking back at the scroll. "She's far smarter than your usual company Oliver."
"You can insult my friends later. What does it say?" Oliver asked.
"'The phoenix is reborn in the fire. The path to your destiny follows'," Thea read and Oliver looked at her in surprise.
"You can read Arabic?" he asked.
"You speak Russian," Thea shot back and Oliver nodded, conceding her point.
"Good, we all speak a second language. But what does it mean?" Percy asked.
"To join the League, your old self must die so that your new self may be reborn," Oliver said as they looked at him. "We have to burn the scroll."
"The scroll is centuries old," Talia said affronted.
"Yeah, we don't care," Thalia said as she placed her hand above the scroll.
A spark of electricity struck the scroll, lighting it on fire. After a few moments, a small sphere, the same size as a tennis ball, emerged from the ashes. Talia picked it up, examining it, noting the markings on it.
"I believe this is a map to Al-Fatih's tomb. It stands to reason that he would attempt to take his secrets with him beyond the grave," Talia said.
"So a scavenger hunt then? Why can't things be easy?" Thea complained.
"Actually, your situation is more difficult than you think."
The group whirled around as a woman dressed similarly to Talia entered the room, followed by similarly dressed men and women.
"Athena," Talia greeted as Oliver and Thea tensed.
"You have always been treacherous Talia, but bringing outsiders into our sacred heart is a betrayal of the highest order," Athena hissed as she eyed the ball in Talia's hand. "I'll take that."
This was not going to be easy, Oliver knew. Percy and Annabeth's weapons wouldn't work on mortals. Even between himself, Thea and Talia, this was not going to be easy to get out of.
"Relinquish it or perish," Athena commanded.
"Not gonna happen," Percy said as Talia smirked.
"Talia," Oliver said in warning.
"As you wish," Talia said as she tossed the ball to Athena.
"I knew we couldn't trust you," Thalia sneered at Talia as Athena caught the ball.
"Attack them!" Athena commended and her assassins drew their weapons.
Thalia raised her hands and a stream of lightning shot out of both of them. The torches the Thanatos Guild were holding were struck and an explosion of fire and lightning followed. The Thanatos Guild had to avoid the sparks and, when they looked up, the group of six had fled.
Ohio
Same time
Patty and Barry leaned down in the woods the man in the store had directed them to. On the ground was a pair of footprints, bigger than any human or animals, leading further into the woods.
"Looks like you were right, it was close by," Barry noted. "So what now?"
"We follow the trail. But we have to be smart about this. Like you said, it almost killed you last time and turned me into Medea. I'd rather not have a repeat performance," Patty said.
"Why do I think you already have a plan?" Barry asked knowingly and she smiled in a way that made his heart skip a beat.
"Because Athena always has a plan," she said simply.
Nanda Parbat
Not long after
"Athena showing up right when we did can't be an accident," Oliver noted as the group of six made their way down a corridor.
"No, and neither was her giving Athena the sphere," Thea said as she and Thalia glared at Talia.
"If you're accusing me, I'd like to point out two things. First, Athena and I are blood enemies," Talia pointed out.
"And the second?" Thalia demanded.
"Athena was likely trailing her," Talia said as he gestured to Thea. "The woman who has declared war on her."
"Okay, fair point," Thea said with a sigh.
"But why would she care about some rusty old scroll buried with Al-Fatih?" Percy asked.
"She wouldn't. She would care about else is buried with him, namely his sword as revered as the ring of Ra's," Talia explained. "Whoever wields the sword commands absolute devotion, clearly she wants to use it to restart the League."
"A sword that's revered…that belonged to a man who claims to have primordial knowledge that he received from a god," Annabeth said as Oliver's eyes lit up in recognition.
"This sword might be the weapon we came here for. And even if it's not, we can't let it fall into Athena's hands," Oliver said firmly.
"Kind of hard to do since Talia gave Athena the sphere," Thalia said with a glare.
"Actually, it's a map. The markings on it were constellations indicating the tomb's location but we don't need it. I memorized them," Talia said as five pairs of eyes stared at Talia incredulous.
"You memorized them?" Percy said in disbelief.
"You didn't?" Talia asked innocently.
"No. Because I'm normal," Percy said.
"Debatable," Thalia said and Percy glared at her. "But Oliver's right, we need to find that sword. So lead the way Talia."
"Hold on," Oliver said and he looked over at Thea, Percy, and Annabeth. "You three aren't coming."
"Like Hell we're not!"
"This is our quest to!" Percy and Annabeth immediately protested.
"If the Thanatos Guild attacks again, your weapons are pretty much useless against them," Oliver pointed out.
"He speaks the truth. Your sword will simply pass through theirs," Talia added.
"Don't help," Oliver told her before turning back to the indignant trio. "Take Thea and head back to where the Hunters are camped."
"Ollie, I thought that you were over the whole 'overprotective brother' thing," Thea said in exasperation.
"It's not about that. A group of three is harder to track than a group of six. Not to mention if Athena is trying to reform the League, you are her chief rival," Oliver pointed out.
"I don't care," Thea snapped.
"I do. Just trust me on this Speedy," Oliver said before he walked off with Talia.
"Here," Thalia handed Thea a small pearl. "It's sort of a Hunter Flare. Smash it under your foot and we'll know where you are. And uh, sorry."
Thalia awkwardly followed after Oliver and Talia, leaving two frustrated demigods and a frustrated Thea.
Later, with the sun beating down on them, Oliver and Thalia followed after Talia as they walked in silence.
"You disagree with what I did," Oliver said knowingly.
"I get why you did it, you're trying to protect them. But Annabeth and Percy are involved in this, whether you want them to be or not. And it sounds like Thea was at war with the Thanatos Guild long before you got here," Thalia pointed out.
"Thea has no idea the forces that are at work here. The last few weeks, my entire life has been turned upside down; I have seen things I never thought were possible. I may not be able to protect Percy and Annabeth from this, but I can protect my sister," Oliver said hotly.
"This is the place," Talia announced, stopping their conversation.
They had stopped at the bottom of a cliff, one that as eerily familiar to Oliver.
"I've been here before," Oliver muttered.
"Yes. Where my father vanquished you. Hopefully you have better luck with the mountain this time," Talia said and Oliver ignored his annoyance.
The trio walked forward when they heard a noise underneath them. Arrows shot out from both sides and the trio ducked for cover.
"The phoenix up there, triggering the spears!" Talia said as she gestured to a pillar at the base of the mountain.
Oliver notched an arrow and fired, hitting the phoenix on the pillar dead center. The arrows stopped as the trio got up. As they approached the pillar, the center slip open, revealing a hidden compartment. Talia reached inside, taking out a cloth. As she opened it up, they saw it was actually a map.
"The key to the crypt of Ra's," Talia said
Hearing the sound of something whirling through the air, Oliver tackled Thalia to the ground as a bronze knife hit the tree next to where she had been standing. They all looked up as China White emerged from the shadows.
"Friend of yours?" Thalia asked Oliver.
"Not exactly. She's working with whatever I'm trying to stop," Oliver said. "She also nearly killed Annabeth a week ago."
White rushed forward and Thalia tried to blast her with a volt of electricity. White dodged it as she rushed Oliver, whirling her knife. Oliver used his bow to block and tossed her aside as Thalia shot silver arrows at her. White used her knife to cut them down before Oliver rushed her.
They traded blows, Oliver blocking her knife with his bow before Thalia fired another arrow. White dodged with a summersault but this allowed Oliver to grab her from behind. With a twist, he snapped her neck. The crack echoed through the clearing as he dropped her lifeless body. Oliver took a few breaths before Thalia spoke.
"Oliver, we have a problem," Oliver looked and saw what had Thalia so alarmed.
Talia was gone. And the map with her.
Anyone else find it stupid how, in 8x03, Oliver didn't see Talia coming. He's been trained by her but didn't see this coming. Right. So I changed that to him being distracted fighting off China White, which finally allowed me to end her. She lasted a bit longer than I intended, but now she's finally gone.