When Jack reappeared, everything appeared to Thalia in a blur. He had dropped them in the Infirmary. At least he had had enough sense for that.
Thalia dimly heard a scream; probably from a nurse, and heard Kevin's voice shout for Seto. It only took a moment for Thalia to feel Logan leave her side and she looked up absently. Before she could take in any of the scene, she felt someone pull on her arm and she was practically dragged out of the Infirmary.
"Are you okay?" Kevin asked.
Thalia stared at him for a moment in shock, then nodded slowly. "I... Yeah... I'm fine..."
"Not hurt?"
"N-No."
"Good..." Kevin sighed in relief. Then he smiled slightly. "Now for the million dollar question... You're back at the base. Are you here to stay?"
Thalia thought for a moment. She needed to find Toby and Nick. But if they needed help...? She had clearly displayed in the dungeon that she wasn't the best fighter. Nor was she as quick thinking as she could be.
When she had been staring into the face of death, she had merely stood there, watching the arrow be readied on the Teuthidan's bow. Not the best tactic.
She remembered what the Commander had told her; she could learn to hone her senses of leadership and become the fighter she knew she could be.
She looked at Kevin and nodded once. "I'm staying."
Kevin grinned and patted her shoulder. "I'm glad to hear it!" He said. "Now let's go tell the Commander."

"How are repairs going?" Commander Sky asked.
"Nearly done. Thankfully, the Teuthidan attack wasn't as damaging as it was in the past." His other General besides Ty, Jason Provst, replied.
"Good. Thanks for leading the repairs, Jay."
"No problem." Jason replied with a small nod. "You know, we should really just out together a repair team at this point. That would be really useful, actually..."
"If I could step in..." The two men looked behind them to see a familiar teen leaning in the doorway. "The mission was a success. One casualty, but he'll be alright. Seto's got him now."
"Good! So who did it?" Sky asked.
Kevin stepped out of the doorway, his arms crossed. "Her name is Xandra, and she is now the leader of the squids. And before you ask, we did investigate the cave. However, Lieutenant Keyes and I discovered rather quickly that you hadn't supplied us with an escape route, Commander."
Ty raised an eyebrow at Sky.
"Oh..." Sky said although the name Xandra made him flinch. "My bad..."
Kevin smiled a bit and uncrossed his arms. "Luckily a friend of mine had another friend who was able to help us."
"Oh really? Who?" Sky asked.
"Commander, if it's alright with you, I'd like to stay." Thalia said as she suddenly entered the room.
Sky raised an eyebrow, attention directed now to her even though she had intruded. "I thought you needed to go home."
"When I got back to Mistral, I found it destroyed. I don't know where my brother is, but I've had word he's alive. But I learned that this woman, called Lady Xandra, is leading the Teuthidan Army, I think. We went in to deceive, and despite what I thought were good tactics, she told me to tell you that she wouldn't be so easily deceived."
Ty looked confused. "I thought that Owlet...?"
Sky just sighed and ran his fingers through his hair; a signal that they could talk about Owlet later. "Thank you for your help." He said. "So are you really sticking around?"
Thalia nodded. "With your permission, I'd like to stay and learn to fight like your recruits."
Sky smiled a bit. "Permission granted, Vaerin Kal." He said. He glanced at Ty. "Ty, why don't you show Kevin to the mess hall?"
Ty nodded knowingly and left Sky's cabin with Kevin close behind. Once they were gone, Sky looked at Thalia. "Do you remember what I told you the other day?"
Thalia nodded.
Sky smiled a bit and went on. "I told you that you could learn to sharpen your senses of leadership." He said. "I had a mentor once too, who taught me all those things. So I was thinking, and I realized that if there was anybody who could teach you, it wouldn't be the instructors. It would be me. The instructors would show you how to be a recruits; and follow orders with a team of others. Those are all fantastic traits that I'll still teach you to do, but they wouldn't teach you how to stand up and lead others with tactical cleverness and a brave mind.
"It'll be hard. You'll receive training every day, and I promise you you'll have many a sleepless night of anticipation, if you're half the leader I was when I started. It's your choice. Do you want to learn to be a leader?"
Thalia hesitated. She had never thought of truly being a leader. But it did seem rather intriguing to be able to be the guide for others. After all, leadership was in her blood. Her father was a Skylord Captain and her mother had been a lead doctor in some army before she died.
Thalia realized that leadership, if foreign to her, was truly where she could fight well. She nodded. "I accept."
Sky smiled. "Good." He said. "Meet me in the training hall at six AM tomorrow. We'll start your training then."
Thalia nodded and started to leave his quarters, but before she could, Sky spoke once more. "And Thalia." Thalia turned to look at him from the doorway. "I'd say hello to a certain Lieutenant Colonel Venom if I were you. She submitted a formal grievance of your departure.."
Thalia smiled knowingly, then nodded and left his quarters. Sky smiled after her before leaving the room.

When Venom answered her quarters door, at first she looked pissed that she had been interrupted from whatever she had been doing. Then, when she saw that Thalia had returned, she actually smiled for once and hugged her. "You're back!"
Thalia smiled and pushed away from the hug slowly. "Yeah, I'm back. And have I got a story for you. And a friend for you to meet. Know a place where we can chat?"
Venom smirked. "Yeah I know a place in the village. It's called The Rusty Wheel, it's a cute little coffee shop. I think you'll like it... Seems like your kind of place."

"Well is he gonna be okay?" Venom asked.
"He should be." Thalia replied. "When we've got a doctor like Seto, it'll just be a flesh wound for him. He should be up in a couple of days."
"Good." Kevin said. "I'd hate to lose him. He's a good recruit."
"Eh." Venom shrugged. "We lose recruits every day and Keyes rather annoys me."
Thalia rolled her eyes. "What else annoys you other than Logan?" She asked.
"Good question." Venom said. She opened her mouth to continue, but Jack spoke first.
"Who's this Commander Sky?" He asked. "What's with all this 'recruits' and 'Sky Army'. Last time I was here, Rectify was Commander."
Kevin gave him a look.
Jack looked back. "What?" He asked defensively.
"Commander Rectify has been dead for almost eighty years."
"...Oh."
Venom cleared her throat, changing the subject although Kevin didn't seem satisfied. "So, Thalia, why'd you come back?" Venom asked. "I thought you were going home."
Thalia sighed a bit. "Mistral was burnt down by Xandra, who is currently leading the Teuthidans. I was leaving when I met Jack, who teleported me to a place called Port Colwald. From there I ran into Kevin and Logan, got sucked into the investigation of the squid cave, and was teleported back here. I was gonna go after Toby and Nick to try and find them, but I decided to stay behind and learn more about fighting."
"Honestly, I'm just glad you're back." Venom said. "It's been rather boring without you around and it's fun to have another female to talk to." Venom leaned across the table and spoke in a loud whisper, as though pretending to block out Kevin and Jack. "In case you haven't noticed, there aren't really many girls in the army."
Thalia nodded agreement. "I have noticed that." She said. She smirked. "But we women are the few and the bold. Although small, we stand tall and firm."
Kevin laughed. "That is so true."
Venom rolled her eyes. "You know it, nerd, I could kick your ass in two-point-five."
"Please don't demonstrate that, we can all take your word for it." Kevin said,
Jack smirked. "I can't."
"YOUCANSHUTTHEHELLUP."
"So when are you starting training?" Venom asked, ignoring the two idiots and their blossoming relationship.
"Tomorrow morning, six AM." Thalia replied.
Kevin cringed. "Damn, that sucks. So which division are you training in?" He asked as he took a drink of his coffee.
"All I know is that I'm training with the Commander." Thalia said.
Kevin coughed and spit his water back into his mug in surprise for the second time that day. "You what?!"
"You're training with the Commander?!" Venom asked incredulously, putting her palms flat on the table.
Thalia shrugged. "He told me I had potential." She said mildly.
"Imagine that." Venom said. "Of all people to choose as an apprentice, he had to choose the random traveler who has a knack for getting herself in bad situations and forgetting her sword everywhere."
"Sounds like the Commander to me." Kevin said. "I think she'll do well enough, if she sticks with it."
"What d'you mean?" Thalia asked.
"I mean that Sky has had an apprentice before. It was several years ago, but he quit after about a week."
Thalia cringed. "Sky did tell me it would be hard..."
"I think you can do it." Jack said. He stood up with a sigh. "Well, I guess my work here is done."
"Aw, come on, why don't you stay, Jack? We could use your help around here!" Thalia said.
Jack shook his head. "I'm not a soldier. I'm a rogue. I gotta go and do my thing. But I'll see you around." He smirked and raised a hand in farewell. "You haven't seen the last of me yet." Without another word, he teleported off in a flash of purple. A moment later, he teleported back, grabbed Venom's brownie, and teleported away again whilst taking a bite.
Venom rolled her eyes agitatedly. "Charming..." She muttered.

"I should get some sleep... I gotta get up at six." Thalia said, stopping at the door to her now permanent quarters.
Venom cringed. "That sucks..." She said, patting Thalia's shoulder sympathetically. "Well, good luck. I'll see you tomorrow."
Thalia watched Venom head off in the direction of her quarters before stepping into her own and closing the door behind her. He sighed, pulled off her boots and flopped down onto her bed without changing or anything.