The End Of All Things (An Arrow: Season 8 Fanfiction)

Chapter 22: An Army of Ghosts

Oliver walked out into the clearing in his suit. Edward Fyers was ahead of him a few paces, speaking to Billy Wintergreen in the Deathstroke mask when he noticed Oliver. 

'You are as foolish as ever, Queen!' Fyers exclaimed. 

'Surrender!' 

'I suppose that means that you're not here to surrender to me.' 

'I'm the one who killed you, Fyers.' 

'I'm pleased to return the favour, a task you've made much easier by coming alone.' 

'I'm not alone.' Out of the bushes came out several of his teammates. John, Laurel, Rene, myself (Athena/Evelyn), Mia, Dinah, Connor and Yao Fei. 

'It doesn't matter how many people you have,' Fyers shouted from across the clearing. 'The outcome is the same. Kill them!' Billy and Fyers' men rushed forward, and so did our team. 

One moment, we were fighting the soldiers. The next, they were gone. Rene removed his hockey mask, and we all stood around, looking at each other. 

The next day... 

Oliver walked into the tent as we were all packing stuff up. 

'I just connected with ARGUS,' he said, and all of our eyes turned to him. 'Lyla organised a rescue boat just before everything happened, so - so we're all going home.' 

'Did Mom - did she know what was going to happen to her?' Connor asked. 

'No. No. She was just as surprised as the rest of us,' John replied. 

'Novu just loves surprises, doesn't he?' Laurel snarked. 

'Whatever Mar Novu has planned for Lyla,' John mused, 'she can handle it.' 

'How much time do we have before the Crisis?' Mia asked. Oliver looked at her. 

'Not long,' he replied. 

'Should probably finish packing before the boat arrives,' John suggested and walked off to prepare. 

'Agreed,' Roy said with a grunt as he rose off the seat he was on, his newly amputated arm in a sling. 'No more island vacations.' 

Later... 

Oliver walked out to the edge of the shore, where John stood, looking out at the vast ocean ahead of him. 

'Thinking about where Lyla went?' Oliver called out. 

'Can't think about anything else,' John replied. The two of them stood together, looking out over the water. 'I know this is a sacrifice she has to make, for the multiverse.' 

'I feel like I'm always asking you favours,' Oliver replied. 

'Anything you need, Oliver, always.' 

'I need those kids back in 2040 somehow, some way, before whatever's gonna happen happens.'

'Yeah. I was thinking about the same thing. I'll make sure they get home safe.' 

'Two more things,' he said. 'When this is over, track down Felicity and... just tell her that I don't want... Mia and William kept separated. I think that they deserve to grow up with each other.' John nodded slowly.

'I'll tell her. And the other thing?' 

'Take care of Evelyn, please. She told me that like my death, her fate was final. She commits suicide in the future. Whatever you can do... please, try to make her passing easier. And just try to make sure she's happy.' 

'I will, Oliver,' he said. 'You know, Oliver, I once told you a long time ago that a soldier never lets a brother go into battle alone. I think that's why it was so hard for me to accept the idea that you weren't going to make it out of this. I felt like I'd be failing you.' Oliver shook his head slowly.

'You could never fail me, John.' 

'I'm gonna stick by you for as long as I can, but I know you have to do this alone.' 

'Every mission has an end.' 

'I wish this one didn't.' 

'I couldn't have done any of this, any of it, without you,' Oliver replied. 'You've always been my rock. You've always been Evelyn's rock.' 

'You don't mean the best man you've ever known?' John quipped. 

'I also mean that.' The two smiled at each other and hugged. Stepping back, John spoke. 

'Let's get out of here, man. Don't want to keep the boat waiting.' 

'I'll be right behind you. One more thing I've got to do.' 

Sometime later... 

Oliver walked in front of the makeshift rock graves that he'd constructed all those years ago. He heard footsteps and looked up to see Mia and myself walk into the clearing. 

'Hey,' Mia called out. 

'Hey,' he called back. She stopped a couple of paces away. 

'William told me I might find you here.' 

'Figured you'd be the first one on the boat,' he said. He frowned, noticing her face change. 'You okay?' 

'My whole life, I heard nothing but stories about you. You know, this legendary Green Arrow and his team. I should have been proud of you because you and Aunt Evelyn were heroes, and... all I could see is that that is the reason that you weren't with me, and it's - it's kind of hard to let that go.' 

'I never meant to cause you any pain. Your mom and I just wanted to protect you.' 

'I know. I - uh, I understand that now.' The three of us looked over the graves. 

'For a very long time, I have hated this place,' Oliver admitted. 'Just - I'd think about all the people it took from me. It would just make me so angry.' 

'But you're not now?' 

'I'm still a little bit angry,' he replied, and the three of us let out a quiet chuckle. 'This island taught me to survive. It turned me into someone else, somebody better than the person I was before. So despite my feelings, there are no stories about the Green Arrow to tell if I don't make my way to Lian Yu, and I'm also not standing at this moment looking at my daughter.' 

'Thank you for letting me be a part of your story, even if it was only for a little while,' she replied. She looked at me. 'Thank you, too.' 

'You're welcome, kiddo. You're gonna make me cry,' I said, wiping away a stray tear. A tear spilled down Mia's cheek. 

'Mia, something tells me you're gonna create your own stories,' Oliver said. The three of us hugged. When we pulled back, Mia sighed. 

'So what now?' 

'We need to get back home and just be prepared for whatever's coming next,' Oliver replied. 

'Okay,' she said. Just then the sky above us turned a pinkish colour, but not the nice sunset kind. The sky above cracked with lightning and thunder. 'Dad...' she said warily. We flinched, shading our eyes at the bright light suddenly appearing before us. When it disappeared, Lyla was standing before us in a blue uniform. We stepped forward. 

'Lyla?' I asked. 

'Not anymore. I'm now a harbinger of things to come.' 

'And that's-' Mia began to say. 

'Yes. The Crisis has begun.'