Arrow AU's & Drabbles

My Name is Oliver Queen (Part 1)

Al Sah-him marched into the dimply lit room, heavy black ropes sweeping the dense brick floor. The coolness of the ornate room hit him in waves despite the dense attire that cloaked his broad shoulders. Impassively, he walked up to his master with stony sapphire eyes.

Master. Oliver Queen would have accepted a blade through him before this man, this demon, was his master. But Oliver Queen had been weak. He'd learned to love. Love had gotten him killed. Thea. He'd break whatever fathomable limits he had to to save her. And so he had. 

Now, Oliver Queen was a character of the past.   

Al Sah-him, Wareeth Al Ghul walked up to the Demon's Head, who faced the pit of water in the centre of the grand parlour. Ra's al Ghul observed his reflection in the emerald waters of the pit. The slight crushing of grit under hard boots notified him of the boy's presence. 

"Al Sah-him," he murmured, his back still rising towards the boy. 

"Yes?" the boy responded in a clipped, numb tone. 

"You have disappointed me, boy." 

The disappointment dripped from his sulky words, coating the Heir in guilt and shame. Al Sah-him felt his eyebrows pull together as confusion invaded his blank state. 

"I'm sorry. But I don't understand."

Ra's slowly craned his neck to look at the boy. Decorated elegantly all in black, adorned with ornate pieces of metal and silver, his Heir stood, planted in the room. The flickering shadows consumed most of his dark demeanour, enhancing his high cheekbones and tightly working jaw. Ra's slowly shuffled his feet to move towards Al Sah-him. The two men were close enough so that they could read each other's eyes. Ra's read a lost past, a blank slate in his eyes. He marvelled as a small smile broke through his lips. Quite rare as it was for the Demon to smile, Al Sah-him's darkness, his passion, strength, never failed to impress him. 

"I have decided for you and my daughter to unite. To wed. Did you understand, Al Sah-him?" 

"Yes." It was an automatic response. No thought, no consideration behind it. Al Sah-him's movements, his speech, were all mechanical; automatic. He lived to serve. Oliver Queen no longer existed. 

"I cannot have you wed my daughter if there are still remnants of Oliver Queen existing in you, Al Sah-him." Ra's slurred his words with anger. He rounded them with amusement and madness. 

Al Sah-him's eyes flashed with something indescribable. The flare was too slight and short to notice, it was almost non-existent. 

"I don't understand." 

"Yesterday, Al Sah-him, when I appointed you the task of gathering Nyssa, you faced the people protecting her. For a warrior such as you, there shouldn't have been a delay. I am told that Serab was ordered to search all of Nyssa's guardians."

Al Sah-him tilted his head in old habit. It was a sign of understanding. Ra's peered into his eyes. Willed him to confess what he had done after that. At the boy's persistamg silence, he understood. When he'd first accepted the place of Ra's al Ghul, he denied the instances when the man that he'd been before broke a chink in the armour of the League. Al Sah-him was doing the same. 

"All were searched. Except for one."

A pause hung in the stale air of the room. A silence that was anything but silence. It was the boy's master willing him to challenge him. 

"Except for Felicity Smoak."

The sudden twitch in Al Sah-him's jaw did not go unnoticed. The same flare from before flashed, but he did not avert his eyes. He did not dare shatter the silence. 

Ra's shuffled around, encircling around his Heir. 

"There are pieces of Oliver Queen floating upwards, Al Sah-him," he whispered, eyes unmoving from his face. Ra's wished to explore and notice every movement, every twitch of muscle that could expose Oliver Queen. The weakness of Al Sah-him. 

"Oliver Queen is dead."

"Not completely, boy.

I will not tolerate resistance or delays in your duties because of betrayals caused by Oliver Queen. I will also not tolerate your previous body's unmoving affection for Ms. Smoak cloud the bond of blood between you and my beloved daughter. 

I may be rash with her at times, but I do love my Nyssa.

Oliver Queen's trust, his undying faith in Felicity Smoak allowed him to serve her as an exception. No one is an exception, Al Sah-him." 

Ra's stood to his right. Al Sah-him craned his neck to face him, eyes heavy with madness. Heart empty. 

"What would you wish me to do?"

A smug ghost lingered on the Demon's face. "I would like for you to extinguish the last remaining part of Oliver Queen. The most important one. As confirmation to my soul, so that I know that Al Sah-him is truly fearless. Truly indestructible."

"How?" clipped, sharp responses that could shatter glass, came from Al Sah-him.

"You will kill Felicity Smoak.

And henceforth, you will end Oliver Queen.

Forever."