Destiny Rewritten

Chapter 65

The following day, Laurel decided to go back to Star City early so she could share the news with her sister and father that she was engaged and Oliver was staying in Hub City partially so he could relearn the magic needed to resist Darhk's magic and partially to steer clear of Quentin until Laurel was able to talk him down from killing him, since while Oliver had gone to ask Quentin for his blessing, Quentin hadn't exactly been willing to give it.

Anyways, now he was in the same casino he'd gone to before, looking for Esrin Fortuna when finally he found her.

"Esrin Fortuna I presume?" Oliver asked as he walked up to her.

"Who wants to know?" the woman asked.

"A man who's had the unfortunate luck to cross paths with John Constantine." Oliver said.

"You know what that man is?" Esrin asked.

"And I know what you are. You're the only one who can teach me what I need to know." Oliver said and Esrin looked intrigued as she gestured for Oliver to walk with her.

"And what is it you think you need to know?" Esrin asked.

"How to resist the magic given by the Khushu Idol." Oliver said, knowing that would get her attention.

"So, it is true. You are the man who saved John Constantine's life on the island of Lian Yu. You're the Green Arrow." Esrin said.

"I am. And right now my home is threatened by Damien Darhk. I'm sure you're familiar with that name." Oliver said and Esrin nodded.

"I see now why John advised you to seek me out. By the way, that bastard owes me money." Esrin said and Oliver chuckled, since it seemed like some things never changed.

"Will you help me or not?" Oliver asked.

"Follow me." Esrin said and Oliver noted how she seemed much more compelled to help him than she had the first time around.

When Oliver found himself back in the same mystical dimension he'd been in before, he honestly couldn't stop himself from saying it and the only reason he did was because no one who actually knew him was around to hear him say it.

"Definitely not in Kansas anymore." Oliver said and Esrin chuckled.

"No, we left that entire plane of existence behind a while back." Esrin said.

"So, how are you going to teach me?" Oliver asked.

"By first explaining to you where Darhk's power comes from. I trust you've seen one of these before?" Esrin asked as she revealed another Khushu idol.

"It allows Darhk to channel his magic." Oliver said, since he already knew this, but even with her magic, Esrin didn't know that.

"Correct. The true source of his magic is death. The more people Darhk kills, the more powerful he becomes." Esrin said.

"And who knows how many people he's killed since he got his hands on the idol." Oliver grimaced and Esrin nodded.

"Fortunately, the tattoo that Constantine gave you will allow you to channel the necessary power to combat this." Esrin said.

"Tell me I don't need to go on a killing spree." Oliver said.

"No. You must combat Darhk's magic with its opposite. He channels dark magic, no pun intended, so counter it, you must use channel it's opposite, light and hope, la Luz Del Alma, the light of the soul. If you can learn to do this, than you can protect yourself against Darhk's magic. However, if the darkness in you is too great, you will only end up feeding Darhk's power instead of blocking it." Esrin warned.

"Got it. Can we begin?" Oliver asked and Esrin nodded.

"I'll hit you with a low dose of Darhk's magic, and then we'll take it up from there." Esrin said and Oliver nodded as she produced a bunch of dark energy from nowhere, just like she did before and just like before, Oliver blocked it as he felt the magic in him activate he felt his eyes glow as the magic didn't affect him.

"Good, that might've just been beginner's luck. Let's take it up a notch." Esrin said as she hit him with more powerful does of Darhk's magic, but this time, Oliver was able to repel it, unlike when he'd tried to learn it the first time.

They kept going at it with Esrin continuing to hit Oliver with stronger and stronger doses of Darhk's magic, but while it required a lot of effort to do so, Oliver managed to defend against it, since he'd done it before, but this time, he was learning gradually and he was beginning to truly realize why Constantine was the way he was. Learning magic was not easy, not that he'd ever thought it was, but the strain it took was incredible.

"I'm impressed Oliver. I honestly wasn't sure you had it in you to master this kind of magic." Esrin said when they finally finished.

"Neither did I. But then again, no one really knows how far they can go until they try. I just hope I can focus on that kind of magic when I finally meet Darhk." Oliver said, since he knew that Darhk would not be easy to kill, even without his magic, but he'd done it before and he intended to do it again. When he and Darhk met in this new reality, only one of them were walking away from it. He'd already saved his mother from Slade, Tommy from the Undertaking, William from Diaz and Sara from Malcolm, but now he still had the most important fate to change. He had to save Laurel from Darhk. He hadn't just asked her to marry him only to lose her all over again. He wouldn't make the same mistake he had before. The mistake of letting Darhk live. He was going to end it. Once and for all.