Once again, Thalia had an early start. But this time, when she arrived in the training hall, she wasn't greeted by another run. Right when she stepped into the hall, Sky tossed her a pickaxe.
She looked at it in surprise, only just managing to catch it, then looked up at him. "What's this for?" She asked.
Sky smiled. "There's something you have to learn that is essential to all humans everywhere. I want you to spend today's training in the abandoned mineshaft just east of here. It doesn't matter what you get, just come back at sunset."
Thalia nodded. "You got it." She said. She was about to turn to leave, when a thought occurred to her. "Hey Commander?"
"What's up?"
"Is it alright if I bring a friend?"
Sky hesitated, then nodded. "One." He said.
Thalia smiled and nodded back. "I'll be back at sunset." She turned and walked out of the training hall. "Thanks for the easy day, Commander!" She called back to him.

"Do you actually know where this mineshaft is?" Thalia asked.
Venom nodded. "I've never been inside, mainly because it was abandoned, but yeah, it's pretty close to here."
"Y'know, I'm curious..." Thalia looked at Venom. "Why was the mine abandoned in the first place?"
Venom shrugged. "No one really knows for sure." She said. "But everybody just left. We figure it's just because they mined all the resources, but I guess Commander Sky thinks differently."
"About that..." Thalia said. "How many Generals does this guy have, anyway?"
"Just two." Venom replied. "General Jason Provst and General Tyler Ellis."
"Where are they from, anyway? How did these guys get all started up?" Thalia sighed a bit. "This sort of thing always gets my mind going..."
Venom smirked. "I can only tell you so much from memory." She said. "If you want the whole story, I'm pretty sure it's in the library. Although, the book is pretty sacred. It's not allowed to leave the library, but it can at least be read."
"Can you tell me what you remember?" Thalia asked.
Venom shrugged. "Can't see why not." She said. "It started back when Sky's dad died."
"That's terrible!"
"I know right? Kinda cool actually..." Venom said distantly.
Thalia raised an eyebrow. "You have a very dark sense of humor." She said.
Venom smirked. "I try." She said. "Anyway, Ty ran away to join the army. Sky followed him like he always does and they joined the military together. There Sky became the Commander's apprentice and started training like you are." Venom looked ahead. "It's also where they met Jason Provst, the Star Division header."
"I've never met General Provst." Thalia said. "What's he like?"
Venom smiled knowingly. "Crazy. Eccentric. Sleep-deprived. Hilarious. Wears a visor covering his eyes at all times. No one knows why. Or where he came from, for that matter. But he tends to be more of a diplomat between the big three."
"Big three?"
"Sky, Ty, and Jasom." Venom said. "Jeez, you really don't know much about the Sky Army, do you?" She cleared her throat. "Anyways, Ty and Jason got stuck in the lab leaking radiation for twelve hours open time. Nobody knows what happened in there, but the two have been best friends ever since."
"What about the others I've heard about?" Thalia asked.
Venom shook her head as if to clear it, and the question was momentarily forgotten. "Hey, we're here." She ran forward, iron pick in hand, toward the cobweb-ridden entrance to the abandoned mineshaft. Thalia grinned and followed shortly after her.
Venom pulled out her sword and slashed through the thick layer of cobwebs at the entrance to the abandoned mine. Thalia held her pick by her side as she followed her inside. The two walked into the now cobweb-free shaft as Thalia Venom held up a torch to light the way.

Between the two of them, mining wasn't all that bad. The two talked and sang little songs as they mined out of boredom. After about an hour or two, Thalia's curiosity got the better of her.
"Venom?" She asked.
"Hmm?"
"What happened next?"
"What d'you mean?"
"In the story." Thalia replied. "What made Sky become Commander?"
Venom smirked. "Alright, I'll tell you." She said. She sat down on a protruding stone block as Thalia continued to mine. "There had been almost three hundred years of peace; meaning no squidwards around. But then, the squids suddenly attacked again, and the army wasn't entirely ready. Their current Commander, Commander Lawrence Void, had to get a prosthetic leg due to their sudden attack and was forced to resign. Sky had to take his place and he just barely managed to scare them off."
"Hey Venom, I'm gonna go into this corridor over here. Don't stop though, I can still hear you!" Thalia called as she went out of sight.
"You do that." Venom said. She turned around to head back to the shaft, but as she did, she was met by the cold black eyes of a squid. She gasped.
As soon as she let out a sound, it sprayed something red in her face, immediately agitating her left eye, but not so much her right. She fell to her knees in shock as she started to go numb all over and cried out.
"So although I'm pretty sure they used a condom, there's always that-"
"VENOM!" Thalia's panicked shout was followed by a shrill scream.
Venom stood up quickly. In a flash, her bow was out. She ran around the corner, in the direction Thalia had gone, and pulled the bowstring back to the corner of her mouth as she swung around the corner. She quickly took in the scene like she'd been trained to do. Thalia was lying on the ground, unmoving, and the squid that had attacked her was trying to flee.
She growled and released her arrow. It struck the squid in one of its hands, painfully pinning it to the cave wall behind it.
It screamed in pain and glared at Venom in a mix of fear and rage. Venom stormed over to it and spoke. Her voice was even and calm but her eyes had fire in them. "I'm gonna give you ten words to explain what you did to my friend. If I don't like it, you're going in that lava pit." She nodded in the direction of the lava pit nearby.
"Do you really think you can get me to-" He let out a yelp as Venom socked him hard in the face.
"That's nine. One more." She growled.
The squid stared at her fearfully, but said nothing. Venom cocked one eyebrow. "Alright. Have it your way." She yanked her arrow out of its hand and grabbed it by another. As it tried and failed to wriggle out of her grasp, she strode over to the edge of the lava pit and held it over. It let out a cry of fear and tried harder to run, but still failed.
"Xandra! Xandra!" It cried.
Venom froze. "Keep going." She said.
"X-Xandra created a potion with h-help from the gray man!"
"Gray man?" Venom's eyes narrowed. "Explain." She ordered.
"R-Red eyes and g-gray hair! H-He helped her m-make the potion!"
"Whatever." Venom said. "What does it do?" The squid just stared at her. Venom's eyes narrowed. "I have friends who can tell me easy, dingus, but I feel like finding out now. Tell me or you go up in flames."
The Teuthidan swallowed hard and stared at her with terror in its eyes.
Venom's expression darkened and her grip loosened.
But then, words echoed in her head, stopping her.
"You don't have to be like him, Gene! Please, just... put the arrow away! Then we can go home!"
Venom's face fell. The squid stared at her in terror as she hesitated. Then she growled and threw the squid to the ground. "Get out of my sight..." She growled. She glared at it. "If I ever see you again, I'll make certain you go back to hell where you belong!"
The Teuthidan cried out and slinked away through the tunnels in fear. As Venom watched it go, she heard a groan behind her. She spun around to see Thalia standing up. She shook her head as if to clear it, her eyes squeezed shut.
"Are you okay?" Venom asked.
"Yeah... I think so..." Thalia looked up at Venom and blinked several times as if her eyes were bothering her.
Venom's eyes narrowed in suspicion and she took a step towards her, peering closely at her face.
Thalia looked at her in confusion. "What?" She asked, rubbing her left eye. Venom didn't respond.
She moved her hand away from Thalia's left eye and her own green eyes widened a bit. "You got a little cut by your eye..." She said.
"Huh?" Thalia asked. "What do you mean?"
She started for the exit to the tunnels. "Come on, let's go home." She called without looking behind her.