Now we're in the volleyball semi-finals! Hope we'll make it to championship!

Just telling you, updates might be slow...I have finals for the quarter...such a nuisance...

Thalia POV

Now this was kicking some booty.

We're at Morana, a planet where Order said we'd be going most. It's full of graveyards, always dark due to the grey clouds that block the sun, and generally just Halloween-themed. Even its name, Morana, means corpses and graveyards and coffins. I wanted to take a selfie and send it to Nico via something we call screen chats, where a screen pops out of a watch on your wrist, but we had no time. There was an organization that existed here, extending through several galaxies, and its main branch was here. They basically were the immortal Osama Bin Laden of the universe here, with many more branches, and maybe a gazillion times more times powerful, but yeah. We were supposed to kill as much as possible.

"Percy, there's a couple of guys with the logo," I hissed to Percy who was currently toying with the new binoculars we had received. The 'logo' was a sign that marked them as part of the organization; it was a black star with yellow...erm...dots orbiting it. "Get down." He obeyed, immediately back on his senses and alert. He got out a silver green bow that Order had crafted for him and notched and arrow toward the tallest guy. It was fired.

The effect was instantaneous.

He sizzled as venomous green crept up him and engulfed him. These arrows were poisonous. One arrow, you're dead meat. The few men around him shouted in horror and backed away from him. This wasn't the normal poison you'd find on the black market. This was the real poison. The kind that was found deep in the planet's core, the type condensed from poisonous fumes that could make your soul rip in half if you breathed it to sticky, more effective poison allowed to be lathered on arrow points.

One last crucifying scream was heard before the only thing seen of that guy was crumbling ashes.

"Hey, great. Never knew you could fire and arrow," I whispered to Percy with a choke of laughter.

"Practice," He replied, although both of us knew that even if he practiced the full twenty-four hours, he would still never be able to shoot an arrow straight. "Nah, it was actually just part of the blessings I received."

"Obviously," I rolled my eyes.

"We still have three to go," Percy reminded me. I grabbed a dagger from my sleeve and spun it in my hand.

"Let's play darts," I told him. Then, I shut one eye and aimed for the skinniest. I threw it at him and watched with satisfaction as it ripped through his tender flesh and slammed into the ground.

"No fair! You got the easiest!" Percy pouted and whined as the remaining men alerted each other that someone was targeting them.

"Nope, that was fair," I grinned.

"What? How?" He glared.

"Just...hurry up before they're gone," I ushered him, plunking another dagger into his hands.

With a mighty arm wave, the dagger was impaled right in the heart of the farthest guy running away. He dropped.

"My turn," I beamed evilly with a shadow underneath my eyes, as Percy later reported. With a flew of my wrist, the dagger sliced through the air and landed with an echoing thud in the ribs, signalling the end of that group.

"Cool," Percy commented.

"All done," I announced.

"Well...then I guess, mission successful," He replied. He scrambled up and squinted in the distance.

Then I don't know exactly what happened; all I remember is a flash, a twisted cry of pain, then Percy sinking to the ground with a hand on his side and blood, red and gold, flowing out.

"It's nothing," He breathed. "In Tartarus, I went through worse." No, what he faced was simple compared to this. The arrow impaled in him had what Order described as "excruciating, pure excruciating" poison, as what I saw. The poison was blue, he had said, and if I had a picture to match the wound with, I'm sure it would be almost twins.

"We gotta get you back," I attempted hauling him over my shoulder. "Come on, you're so heavy," I gritted my teeth. He didn't move a bit. "Percy..."

"Hm?" He winced and grabbed the side of his shirt.

"I think I need Order HERE," I replied.

"Yeah, day one and shirt ruined. Mission accomplished," He sarcastically muttered, although I could here the shelf of pain wedged tightly in there. His breath hitched as his hand tightened around him, as if he had someone pouring acids into the wound.

"That's it. I'm getting Order," I announced. Tapping the wristwatch shakily, it wasn't long before a "yes?" came through. "Order, emergency. Percy got hit with that ememo-mo-mo-something poison and now, uh, we need your help. And you might want to get him a new shirt..."

"I'll be there right away!" Order's alarmed voice rang through so loudly that the ashes stirred. There was a distant "Hey people! Hurry up! Get the healers! No, not the nerds, the healers, okay?" And the then the screen went black. Yeah. I know. He's crazy. But he saved us. So I guess he's not crazy. Whatever.

"Percy, stay awake," I slapped him. He replied with an indignant "Hey!". "I...didn't slap your face, I high-fived it..." I quickly made up a crazy reply so he wouldn't kill me. I had almost already pushed him off this building/tree because, you know, I hate heights. He had replied to that with a stamp on the foot, and believe me, they hurt more than cleats. So, yeah, I did not want to get on his bad side again. Apparently he didn't pass out, because all he did was clamp his side and send dirty glares at me, or at the floor. He seemed immune to pain, because he wasn't grimacing or anything that expressed pain.

"We're here!" Nico called from the other side of the building. I jumped and almost flew off the building.

"Nico!" I scowled. He ignored me and walked over to Percy.

"Can you stand?" Nico put a hand on his shoulder. Mutely, he shrugged his shoulders. He pushed off the ground and wobbled around, seeking balance while one hand still was there at his side. "Apparently yes."

"I...just need some rest," Percy blinked sleepily.

"No, no, no, Percy. The legend states that if one that is poisoned falls asleep, they'll never awaken," Order stepped in. "Now you must slap him, Thalia."

I walked up and slapped him one on his right, then his left, then his right and all over again till his cheeks were practically bruised.

"Now I'm awake," He groaned. With one available hand, he rubbed his definitely sore cheeks. "How can you even get the poison out?" True. Everyone knew Percy was a fan of sleeping, and a few days or weeks ago he slept for ninety-six hours straight~four days. When he woke up he realized he was starving and practically ate the whole fridge up. That's why I set up an unremovable alarm clock on the wall that buzzed whenever I woke up. Handy, right? The annoying thing is, I never have the privacy...

"Good that you are," I told him.

"It'll take a few hours for the poison to thicken, then we can extract it," A gruff, roughly-sounding voice explained. He was a man, with a green mask on that covered his mouth and his nose partially. Underneath that blanket, I could see a few ginger hairs poking out. He had irises colored with swirls of green and brown, and had Mars-ish red hair. He wore a suit and tie, and had, surprisingly, sneakers on.

"And you are..." I waited for him to give his name out.

"Ophalo Agawi, doctor," He stated with courtesy. "You just have to stay awake till then."

"But...isn't their some machine that can let me sleep and still let me wake up?" Percy protested. He groaned and yawned, and I went over brashly and whipped up his face again.

"Son, poison is a delicate thing. It cannot be contaminated, nor be forced on by machine. It has a free spirit. One touch to it, and it will strike on you. The only way to heal is to play along," He gently explained. His gloved hands gestured right along, ending with a spreading. Percy looked disgruntled but didn't say anything. He allowed his hand away and discovered that the horrendous bleeding had stopped. "Good, I see that the bleeding has stopped."

"Do I just stay here?" Percy asked, flumping down and staring at the black sky where a few stars had come into clearing.

"Yes," I replied immediately.

"I see one little girl has a lot of enthusiasm," Ophalo teased with a sparkle in his ocean-vast eyes. "But yes, you do need to stay."

I wanted to yell at him, but I guess at least I was right at the end...

Well, long story short, my friend has urgent business and estimates a three-year delay in her updating... She gave me her username and password and I have to post the AN note for her saying that she can't update for three years...how should I write the AN note? I really need help!