Frosty Arrow

Chapter 15

Oliver was currently standing outside the monastery Nyssa had directed him to, preparing himself for what he was about to do.

Then he walked into the monastery to find students sparring.

"Where is she?" Oliver demanded of the students.

"Who are you?" One of them asked.

"A former student." Oliver said.

"Former, as in you have no business here." the same student said as they rushed him, but Oliver cut through them like cake.

"Enough." Talia called from the top of the stairs, causing the fighting to cease.

"Leave us." Talia said to her students, who did so grudgingly.

"Our business ended 5 years ago Oliver." Talia said as she walked down to him.

"That was before your sister informed me that Ra's al Ghul was your father." Oliver said.

"So, you know." Talia said angrily.

"I do and I am sorry about your father's death. He was an honorable man, kind of. But when I killed him, I was so caught up in my rage and anger at what he tried to do to my city, to my family, I didn't give proper consideration to his beyond Nyssa's, since she actually helped me take your father down. But Talia, you should know that I searched for another way. I didn't want to kill Ra's, but he forced my hand. He turned my city against me, killed innocent people and even went so far as to drive a sword through my sister's chest, just to get me to become his successor." Oliver said.

"You weren't just killing my father to save your city, you were following League tradition." Talia realized.

"Yes, his final words before he died was that he chose me well. But I am ashamed to say that I did not do right by him. I gave control of the League to a man I trusted even less than your father, since while I didn't agree with what Ra's stood for, I did respect him as a fighter, a teacher and an opponent, since he proved that despite his methods, he still had honor. The person I entrusted the League to had no honor. But I corrected my error." Oliver said.

"Yes, you did, though I do wish my sister hadn't disbanded the League." Talia said.

"Nyssa sought to be free of her father's legacy, something I know you understand." Oliver said and Talia nodded.

"I did not know the full details of my father's death. I thought you just killed without a second thought." Talia said.

"I didn't. I tried to find another way to stop him, but in the end, it became clear that he was leaving me no choice. So I finally did what he wanted me to do and killed him. And I am very sorry for doing that." Oliver said.

"I forgive you. But Oliver, I wish that you had come sooner." Talia said.

"Talia, what did you do?" Oliver demanded.

"About a year ago, a man sought me out wishing to be trained by me. He wanted to get revenge on you for killing his father." Talia said.

"Talia, you didn't." Oliver said, facepalming.

"I'm sorry Oliver, but I had just learned of my father's death and I wanted revenge on you as well, so I taught him everything I did you." Talia said.

"Who was the father?" Oliver asked.

"Justin Claybourne." Talia said.

"I checked, he didn't have any children." Oliver said.

"None of the legitimate variety." Talia said.

"Great, so Justin Claybourne's illegitimate son wants to kill me." Oliver said.

"He doesn't want to kill you Oliver. He means to destroy you utterly." Talia said.

"What is his name?" Oliver demanded angrily.

"He calls himself Adrian Chase." Talia said as Oliver headed out before turning back to her.

"If anyone I care about gets hurt because of this, I'll send you to your father in hell. As slowly and painfully as I can, letting the monster you taught me to channel out to play." Oliver said before storming out.

One thing that bugged me about Talia is that considering how loyal she was to Ra's, she had to have known League tradition and known that the only reason Oliver killed her father is because he asked him to. She obviously still respects the League's ways, so why wouldn't she abide by them? Anyways, it also occurred to me that if Oliver had just apologized to Talia for killing her father back when he confronted her about Prometheus, he could've gotten her to back off her vendetta against him.