Guest 2.0: Glad to hear it.
Guest 1: You're right on thins, but you're wrong about Aphrodite. She's not talking in first person she's talking about the strangeness of being to see where you died.
Guest 2: I Do plan to write a sequel to Assemble, but I'm not sure when yet.
When Oliver opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a cot in some sort of tent. He sat up, looking around before he spotted Thea, seemingly asleep on a cot a few feet from him.
"Thea," Oliver called out.
She groaned before her eyes blinked open.
"Ollie?" she said sleepily as she sat up, looking around in confusion. "What happened?"
"The Monitor," Oliver said as he threw his legs over the side of the cot. "He brought us here."
"Why'd he bring along for the ride?" Thea asked in confusion.
"I guess he thinks you still have a role to play in this," Oliver, not really happy about that.
"Great. And what is that exactly?" Thea asked flippantly.
"Only one way to find out: we have to play The Monitor's game," Oliver said as he got to his feet.
Thea sighed before following suit. They exited the tent, walking into a scene that was very familiar to Oliver. He looked around grimly as Thea started.
"Are we where I think we are?" she asked.
Oliver only nodded before a voice called out to them.
"Oliver, Thea!"
The siblings looked over as Percy and Annabeth walked up the hill towards, Slade trailing behind them.
"I never thought I'd be back here again," Slade said once they reached them.
"Where are we?" Percy asked in confusion.
"Lian Yu. We're on Lian Yu," Oliver said grimly.
"Lian Yu, the island you were stranded on," Annabeth realized and Oliver nodded
"How'd you get here?" Thea asked Slade pointedly, making no attempt at hiding her distain for him.
"I was at home, eating dinner when some men in tactical broke in and tranqed me," Slade said.
Before anyone could respond, there was a Russian curse and exclamation. They all turned around to see Anatoly Knyazev, staring in horror at Slade as he aimed a gun at him.
"Anatoly-" Oliver started.
"How is he still alive? Why have you not killed him?!" Anatoly exclaimed not taking his eyes off Slade.
"Anatoly, we are all on the same side," Oliver said gently.
"The Mirakuru wore off a long time ago," Slade said simply.
"I've forgiven him, just like I've forgiven you. I'm not asking you to trust him; I'm asking to trust me. Put the gun down, you are in no danger from Slade," Oliver urged him.
After a tense moment, Anatoly lowered the gun.
"Should you make one wrong move, I will take out other eye," Anatoly warned Slade, who only smirked.
"I like you," Slade declared.
"Let me guess, you were at your bar when some men in tactical gear burst in and tranqed you?" Oliver asked and Anatoly nodded.
"Was closing up when they broke in. Then I woke up here, in this place," Anatoly said as he looked around in dread. "I never thought I would be back here again."
"So this is the famous Lian Yu."
Everyone turned around at the sound of the voice. Emerging from the tent next to the one Oliver and Thea had woke up in was Roy Harper. But it was not the Roy Harper Oliver remembered. He had a few weeks buildup of stubble on his face and a haunted look in his eyes. He was a haunted man.
"Roy," Thea breathed.
But she was not the only one to greet him. Everyone looked over at Annabeth, who had paled, looking like she'd seen a ghost. Roy looked at her confused until his eyes widened.
"Annabeth?"
Everyone watched confused as Annabeth, as if in a trance, walked up to Roy. Then, to everyone's surprise, she slapped him across the face.
"I guess I deserved that," Roy admitted as he held his face where she had slapped him.
"Yeah, you did," Annabeth agreed.
Then, she hugged him. Roy seemed surprised before hugging her back. At a loss, Oliver turned to Percy, hoping he could shed some light on this. But Percy was clearly as confused as the rest of them.
"Uh…Wise Girl?" Percy called out as Annabeth let go of Roy and stepped back.
"This is Roy Harper," Annabeth introduced as she turned back to her boyfriend. "He was the head councilor of Cabin Eleven when Grover brought Luke and I to Camp."
"So you're-" Percy started.
"Son of Hermes," Roy confirmed as he eyed Percy. "Let me guess, Percy Jackson right? I've heard all about you."
"Where have you been Roy? You just took off in the middle of the night," Thea said trying to process that Roy had clearly kept a large part of his past from her.
"Well, as Annabeth can tell you, I have a habit of letting the people I love down," Roy said as Annabeth looked away from him. "I was in Hub City when these guys jumped me. Next thing I know, I heard all the commotion outside. What's going on?"
"Long story short, we're pawns in a game being played by a cosmic being known as Mar Novu," Oliver explained.
"Great, another god using me as a pawn," Roy said with a scoff.
Suddenly, there a bright flash of light that blinded them all. When it faded, a blond haired man who bore a vague resemblance to Roy stood in front of them. At the sight of him, Roy, Annabeth and Percy gasped.
"Luke?" Roy breathed and Luke cast a glance over at him.
"Long time big brother," Luke greeted neutrally.
"How? You died," Percy said in shock.
"I did," Luke agreed with a nod. "And I was sent to the Underworld to face judgement. It was deemed that, although I had stopped Kronos, I had also been the one to help him rise. As a result, I was given a corporal body and forced to bear witness to the consequences of my actions. I am not living, but I am shunned by the dead. A Pariah."
"Luke," Roy said his voice thick with emotion and Luke smiled tightly.
"Not your fault Roy. You couldn't have stopped me, no matter what you did. That's not why I'm here, Mar Novu sent me," Luke said and everyone gave him their undivided attention. "I'm here to guide you."
"Guide us?" Oliver repeated and Luke nodded.
"The Crisis is coming. But, before it can begin, there is one more thing you must do son of Artemis," Luke said and Roy raised an eyebrow.
"Suddenly, a lot of thigs about you make sense," Roy told Oliver.
"Artemis? Hermes?" Anatoly looked absolutely bewildered.
"I will explain later," Oliver promised before turning to Luke. "What do I have to do?"
"As I'm sure you've noticed, this island is not the barren wasteland it was when Adrian Chase blew it all to Tartarus," Luke said as he gestured all around them, where it appeared the lush forest that Oliver, Slade, Anatoly and Thea remembered. "This is not an ordinary island. It was once part of the Sea of Monsters but, during the first Titan War, Poseidon battled Oceanus, the Titan of the sea. Their battle caused this island to split and eventually drift here. But it retains the energy of the Sea of Monsters. You need to drain the energy from the island."
"And how do we do that?" Thea asked.
Silently, Luke waved his hands and a tablet suddenly appeared in Annabeth's hands.
"There are schematics for a device that can drain it. There are materials in the tent for you to build it. Ben Turner is on his way with platinum you can use to power the device," Luke said before looking over at Oliver. "Mar Novu reached out to your friend, Lyla Michaels, in order to ask for her help in all this. She has done everything she can; the rest is up to you. But the island, it will resist. You know better than anyone that Lian Yu is not just a name. When we meet again, it will be time for the Crisis."
"Luke…" Annabeth trailed off as he smiled sadly.
"Don't pity me Annabeth. I am paying for my sins," Luke said before looking over at Roy. "Don't blame yourself for what happened to me brother. You can't save someone who doesn't wanna be saved."
In a flash of light, Luke vanished. Everyone was silent as they glanced at Roy and Annabeth worriedly, as they both trembled with emotion as tears welled in their eyes.
The next few chapters will bear some resemblance to Arrow 8x07 but there will e a lot of differences to.
Roy being a son of Hermes is something I have been planning for a while. The next chapter will delve a bit into his backstory and his relationships with Annabeth and Luke.
Luke as Pariah was an idea I got from reading the Crisis on infinite Earths comic. Luke would be played by Alexander Ludwig. Thank you to Bl4ckHunter for his help with the casting.