Chapter 15: Nanda Parbat
"I forgot how long this stupid flight was" Sara said, drumming her fingers on the armrest and looking out the window "I'm bored" she sighed loudly "Hey, do you think some day people will be able to teleport wherever they wanna go? 'Cause I would be all about that" she paused, waiting for an answer "I'll text Cisco and ask. Maybe he can start looking into it, right?" after receiving nothing but silence, she directed her gaze away from the window and to the woman sitting to her left "Nyssa? Are you even listening?"
"Mh?" the woman asked, looking up from her book and finding her fiancée's annoyed expression "Were you saying something, beloved?"
The blonde rolled her eyes and reclined her seat, using her wide brimmed hat to cover her face "Go back to your book, nerd"
She heard a hearty chuckle and lifted the hat to peer at the woman sitting in front of her "Shut up, Talia"
That simple statement made the woman laugh even harder "Well, aren't you a treat, little bird"
"How's this for a little bird?" she flipped her off, lowering her hat over her face again, but keeping her middle finger up.
"I have to admit, sister, I couldn't fathom what you saw in her all those years ago, but she really is something else. I can see now why you are so fond of her"
"Yeah, your sister is also really fond of this one" the blonde said wiggling her finger.
Nyssa elbowed her, but Talia was laughing again "This shall prove to be a rather interesting trip"
"Can you please put that finger down, Sara? Inappropriate innuendo aside, what if Damian wakes up?" Nyssa asked in a low voice, glancing at the boy sleeping comfortably behind them.
Sara scoffed under her hat, but kept quiet and did what her fiancée asked "How long till we land?" she asked after a few minutes, obviously getting bored again.
Talia smiled and checked the route on her iPad before responding "Our descent shall begin any minute now"
The blonde pulled her hat up and stared at her "Really?"
"Yes, Sara"
"Where are we landing this time?"
"Dushanbe" Nyssa was the one to answer now.
Sara frowned looking at her "Isn't that a little too obvious? We weren't supposed to do that back then"
"I trust no one is expecting or even interested in us visiting Nanda Parbat, beloved. There is no reason that suggests we should land anywhere farther"
The blonde stared at her for a few seconds, disbelief written all over her face "I can't believe you just said that. If we die, I'm kicking your ass for jinxing it"
"Fair enough" her fiancée said smiling.
Talia got up from her seat and moved closer to Damian, carefully waking him up, right before the Captain announced they were about to start their descent. The boy buckled his seatbelt, straightened his seat, and in a few seconds was asleep again.
"Lucky tiny assassin" Sara mumbled when she heard him snoring lightly again.
Both sisters smiled and resumed their reading, leaving the blonde to her thoughts again "So, then what? Another plane? Death car ride?"
"Death car ride?" Talia asked confused.
"Long story, you don't wanna know"
"Helicopter" Nyssa said smiling, remembering the 'death car ride', as Sara liked to call it.
"Cool! Who's gonna pilot?"
"I can't believe I'm stuck in a helicopter with her"
"I repeatedly offered to teach you how to pilot one, Ta-er al-Asfer, and you refused every single time. You have only yourself to blame for this situation"
"I go by Sara now, just so you know"
"You'll always be Ta-er al-Asfer to me"
"Whatever, Zindy"
"Don't call me that"
"Children" Talia mumbled pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.
"She started it" Sara said folding her arms and pouting.
"What exactly did she start?" Talia asked, while Nyssa continued to ignore their discussion.
"She doesn't even remember" the pilot said smirking.
"I do too!"
"Why don't you enlighten us, then, Sara?"
"We were in… Metropolis…? Doing the… thing, with the stuff. And you said… something that pissed me off and then… Fine, whatever, I don't remember; but I do know I wanna kick your ass, so that's enough for me!"
"You got irrationally mad at me for aiding Nyssa during a mission you weren't even a part of" the woman said smiling "More specifically, for something that wasn't my fault whatsoever"
"Oh, yeah!" the blonde exclaimed snapping her fingers and pointing at the other blonde woman "Stockholm! You ran into Nyssa 'cause you went there to get that stupid drug plane!"
Nyssa shook her head at the mention of her name, but kept quiet, having no desire to relive in the slightest the confrontation she had with Sara when she got home after that mission.
The woman nodded "If anyone is to blame for what happened, it should be her father"
"He didn't kiss my girlfriend!"
"That statement is so disturbing, you weirdo" the pilot shuddered and shook her head "What I meant is that he underestimated their target. She found herself dangerously outnumbered and needed my help"
"You could've kept your lips to yourself!"
"And if I did that, we both would be dead now. Probably. It was for like three seconds, Sara. I'm not even into women, you know that" she answered getting frustrated "Nyssa, care to help here?"
"Not particularly, no"
"At least tell her she is being irrational"
"Please, leave me out of this ridiculous dispute"
Sara glared at the blonde woman again "I'm kicking your ass, Loser Killer Shark"
"Feel free to try as soon as we land. But remember our misunderstanding in 1959 and, please, reconsider. I don't look forward to having to fight you again, Ta-er al-Asfer" she shrugged "Oh, and if that is, in fact, what you want to do, at least stop calling me all those stupid names and refer to me as Lady Blackhawk"
Nyssa clenched and unclenched her fists, looking down at her leather clad hands "I almost forgot how good this feels"
Her fiancée, who was walking next to her twirling her collapsible bō staff in her hand, made a point to look up and down her body in appreciation "Can't say I ever hated it"
The brunette smirked and shook her head, readjusting her quiver over her shoulder "I must admit, Laurel and Mr. Ramon have exquisite taste"
"If you lovers are done drooling over each other's battle armor, I would like to be able to walk faster" Talia said from behind them, making Damian Laugh.
The woman was dressed comfortably in her high rank League robes, with Damian also sporting his official gear, that consisted in an all black and white leather ensemble. His sword sheathed at his waist.
The blonde rolled her eyes as they walked faster, reaching the path leading to the temple in a few short minutes. The four of them looked up at the massive structure carved in the mountain as soon as it came into view, and resumed walking to the main gates.
They found them locked, without visible chains anywhere, and Talia huffed in frustration, kicking a loose rock.
Sara looked at the woman smirking and arching one eyebrow "Correct me if I'm wrong, but…" she took a few steps forward, standing on the left side of the doors and nodding when Nyssa did the same on the right side "...didn't you grow up here?" both women got down on one knee and carefully reached inside an almost identical narrow crack on the stone wall on either side of the doors.
Talia watched them frowning "Why is that relevant for our current situation? And what on earth are you two doing?"
Both women stood up, and Sara took a step back, standing next to the other two while Nyssa moved in front of the huge wooden doors "Well, I remember trying to teach you some stuff. Didn't you learn anything?"
"What do you—" she stopped when her younger sister ran her right hand down the door, and stopped when she reached a particularly smooth portion of the wood. Nyssa smiled to herself and pushed softly, the heavy doors creaking loudly before opening in front of them "—Oh"
The blonde smirked and followed Nyssa, who was carefully making her way inside.
The woman looked around and started lighting some of the torches lined against the walls. The great hall looked as massive as always, but strangely empty and unnervingly silent. It also looked like it had been vacated in a hurry, with a few pieces of furniture knocked over, and various random pieces of weapons and decorations scattered around the floor.
"What happened here?" Talia asked, moving with Nyssa to light the torches.
"Merlyn" her younger sister explained.
Damian walked to the center of the room and looked around in awe "Cool being back, huh?" Sara asked, standing by his side.
The boy nodded looking up at her "Do you think our stuff is still here?"
"Well, I sure hope so, 'cause I left a brand new pair of boots and a couple of custom made weapons here" the blonde said, then looked at Nyssa "Do you know if he emptied our chambers?"
Her fiancée shook her head "No. I took the liberty of sealing all three of our chambers shut before I escaped"
"How did you manage to do so?" Talia asked, walking around. She picked up and examined a discarded torn robe, before dropping it again.
"The same way we managed to open the front gate, sister" Nyssa said half smiling "This place has many secrets. Some of which Sara and I accidentally discovered several years ago"
Her older sister raised one eyebrow and smirked "Accidentally while attempting to sneak behind father's back for some 'alone time'?"
"Perhaps"
Sara chuckled and wiggled her eyebrows at Nyssa's sister "Yeah, we had our fun here"
"You are not to wander around by yourselves unsupervised" Talia said with a half smile, making both women laugh "Damian, why don't you go help your khala with our chambers, while Sara and I make sure the rest of the temple is safe?" she exchanged a look with her sister, who nodded and held her hand out for the boy.
"Okay!" he said excitedly and took Nyssa's hand.
"Be safe" Sara instructed her fiancée, stealing a soft, smiling kiss.
"Always, beloved" the woman answered and walked away with her nephew.
"You two disgust me" Talia said and walked past the blonde once Nyssa and her son disappeared down a long corridor.
If that sentence came from anyone else, they would be lying on the ground with their ass kicked by now, but there was no malice at all in the woman's tone; in fact, she could detect some amusement.
"Jealous much?" Sara scoffed, walking with her and lighting some torches, too.
"Do you truly believe I am jealous?" Talia asked folding her arms "Please, Sara"
The blonde smirked and was about to answer, when she pushed the heavy, spiked door leading to the throne room open and stopped dead in her tracks.
Talia bumped into her back and huffed loudly "For the love of God, Sara, move" she tried to shove to younger woman away, but was immediately stopped.
"Do you hear that?"
The woman stopped, sensing the tension and looked around the room. Both of them exchanged a look, and Sara reached for a torch, lighting it up and stretching her arm inside the room.
The annoying sound got louder and they looked up "Holy shit"
"Ugh!" Talia groaned disgusted "Does it have to be bats? I hate bats"
"Seriously, Talia?" Sara smiled amused and moved the torch to see the other woman's face "You hate bats?"
"Oh, grow up, Sara" she looked up again and shuddered. The ceiling was literally covered with countless bats hanging upside down. Their eyes twinkling with the light of the torch Sara was holding.
"Just pointing out the irony" Sara said smiling, stepping into the room to light some more torches.
"I will not discuss this topic further" the woman said from the doorway.
Sara stood in the middle of the room and looked around frowning once all the torches and hanging lamps were alight. She looked up one more time, then back at the walls of the sealed room "This doesn't make any sense" she exchanged a worried look with Talia. The woman unsheathed her sword and stepped forward, at the same time Sara wiped out her collapsible bō and turned to face the other side of the room.
The bats started screeching louder, their wings flapping frantically "If you must know, I am now willing to reconsider your suggestion of burning the whole structure to the ground" Talia said, taking a few careful steps forward, standing back to back with Sara as their eyes scanned the room.
Suddenly the noise stopped altogether and a calm male voice sounded loud and clear "Where is he?"
"Show yourself, intruder" Talia instructed.
"Where is he?" the voice repeated.
"This 'voice from beyond' thing isn't really working for me" the blonde said scanning the room "So why don't you cut the crap, pal?"
"You have an interesting attitude for someone that small" a male figure stepped out from a dark corner "I will ask politely one more time" he moved his hands behind his back and held his chin up in defiance "Where is Malcolm Merlyn?"
Sara quickly looked at him, taking note of the weird looking sword he was holding in his right hand and the quiver full of arrows flung across his back. She noticed he had a bow hanging from his shoulder, and other than that, he didn't seem to be carrying any other big weapon.
"How would we know where he is?"
He looked at her and smiled amused "You are assassins, aren't you? And this is Nanda Parbat; home of the League of Assassins"
"Who are you?" Talia asked in a growl.
He raised the arm holding his sword, pointing it at her "I will be the one asking questions and you will be the ones answering them"
She scoffed "Or what?"
The man tilted his head and gave them a half smile "I believe you are the one who doesn't like bats?" he asked and noticed her body tense, answering his question "They are fascinating creatures" he looked up in concentration and half the bats started flying in circles over them "Fully capable of responding to the most complex commands"
"Who the fuck are you?" Sara asked looking up "The bat whisperer?"
He chuckled, placing his left hand over his chest, letting show a missing pinky finger "I like you. So I will give you and your friend one more chance. Where is Malcolm Merlyn? Bring him to me and I shall let you both live"
"We have nothing to do with that coward, sorry excuse of a man" Talia spat angrily.
"I do not believe you" he pointed his sword at her again.
"Put that away unless you plan on using it, child. Do you have any idea who you are talking to?"
He grinned devilishly and kept his sword up "Do you?" some of the bats rushed down in Talia's direction, but the woman swung her sword up, literally slicing them in half.
"Ew! Talia! You covered me in bat juice! Gross!" Sara grimaced wiping her face. It took her less than a second to do that, but when she looked up again, the man had his sword at the other woman's throat.
The blonde quickly caught him by surprise, using her bō and knocking the sword out of his hand. Talia used the momentum and swung her sword, but the man recovered enough to move out of the way just in time, getting only a small cut on his shoulder.
He punched her squarely in the jaw, making her stumble back a few feet, then unhooked his bow from his shoulder and quickly shot at arrow, hitting her mid thigh and aiming a second one at the blonde "Don't" he warned.
Talia bit down hard, groaning in pain, and charged at him again. She sliced the next arrow in half while it was in mid air and with a second swing of her sword, she managed to connect with his right thigh, producing a deep looking gash.
The man winced painfully and moved to the side, reaching for the arrow sticking out of the woman's leg and twisting it violently, making her groan in pain before kicking her leg and shoving her away from him.
Sara glanced at Talia, who was now on the floor, both sides of her thigh pierced by the arrow. The woman nodded at her, letting her know she was—mostly—alright, and the blonde nodded back.
"You're really pissing me off, bat freak!" she growled, shrugging off her long white leather coat and twirling her bō as she advanced on him.
He let go of the arrow he had nocked already and she swung her bō, knocking it out of the way. He repeated the action, and she moved to the side this time, avoiding it completely "You missed"
By then he was within her reach, so she went for a quick leg sweep. He blocked her staff with his bow, moving his arm in a wide arc to push the weapon to the other side of their bodies. Sara took advantage of the movement that left him open and delivered a front kick to his stomach, sending him stumbling back a couple of feet.
The man recovered quickly and went for a full attack. He dropped his bow and took a long dagger from his back, lunging at her.
"Mom!"
Damian's voice startled her for a split second, and by the time she could react, the dagger had already deeply sliced the inside of her arm "Mother f—AGH! Son of a bitch!"
Sara unsheathed her own dagger from her thigh and attacked him, blinded by her anger, blood lust and the sting she was feeling from the deep gash that kept bleeding profusely.
They were practically a blur of movement, going back and forth across the room while Damian helped his mother away from the battle.
Talia gripped the arrow tightly, clenching her jaw, and snapped one end to be able to pull it out of her leg. Damian removed the top half of his leather armor, took off his undershirt, and quickly wrapped it around his mother's thigh.
She smiled at her son as the boy expertly applied pressure on her wounds, then turned her head to look at Sara, who had the man pinned against the wall and her bō staff pressed tightly against his throat with the weight of her body.
Before she could shout a warning to the blonde, the man quickly drew a new, shorter dagger from his waist and thrusted at Sara's left side with the remaining of his strength.
A/N: Media available for this chapter. If interested, PM for details.