Neither of them looked surprised at this information, as if they had known it would happen sooner or later. I laid down on the bed, staring at the ceiling as we waited.

I resisted a yell as I clutched at my arm, the pain worsening. I looked to the side as I heard quick footsteps, watching someone come into the room. It was a girl, and she was clearly taller than me. She wore her brown hair in a ponytail that bounced as she moved, and was wearing a toga just like every other angel on Skyworld. She had big brown eyes covered with a pair of frame-less glasses.

"Dark Pit," she said. She didn't seem to have any particular emotion in her voice.

"Is there a problem?" I managed to ask through the pain.

"No," she said, shaking her head. Her ponytail swung from side to side, and she carefully walked over, steering clear of the blood. "What... is this?"

She walked over to the other side of the bed, grimacing as she saw my arm. At her expression, I turned my arm to look at it, my stomach turning as I saw it. It was a cut that ran from my shoulder to my elbow, and it was pretty deep. That shouldn't have surprised me, considering the massive amount of blood I had lost, but seeing it somehow made me even more aware of the situation, my vision swimming and my body growing weak.

"Can you fix him?" Pit asked like a small, lost child. "You can fix him, right?"

There was a shadow of doubt on the girl's face for just a moment, but she looked up at Pit and smiled. "I can stop the bleeding."

She opened some sort of storage unit next to the bed, pulling out some thick gloves. I sat up in a sudden burst of pain from my arm, my hand still over the cut.

"I'm so sorry, Pittoo..." Pit said, taking a step toward me.

"It's my fault," I groaned, leaning back. "It doesn't matter. I'll be fine."

The girl pulled a chair over with her foot, sitting in it and looking at the wound. "Take your hand away," she said. Hesitantly, I pulled it away, feeling exposed. I grit my teeth and looked at the far wall as she touched it, her gloves coming away covered in my disgusting looking blood. Palutena and Pit leaned over and watched in horror and fascination, unable to take their eyes away.

"I'm not going to lie," the girl said. "This is going to hurt."

I looked over, seeing a needle in her hand. But before I could ask, I felt a sudden sharp pain, resisting the urge to yell. I squirmed as I felt the pain several more times, but each time, the pain in my arm dissipated until it felt numb. Instead, I was aware of my aching head, my muscles filled with cramps. My eyelids felt heavy, and I realized just how sick I was. The poison hadn't been meant for me, but it was taking a heavy toll.

"How did this happen?" Palutena sudden asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

"You're supposed to know everything that happens on Skyworld," I said. "You should be telling us what happened."

"I know," Palutena said. "Somehow, I didn't see anything suspicious. But..." Palutena fell silent, looking at the ground. "If there was poison on the weapons, it could be on anything."

I blinked slowly as the world started to blur. Katrina stopped working and looked at me with a questioning look. "You okay?"

I leaned back heavily against the pillows, my eyesight darkening. I nodded, my head feeling heavy.

"The poison is already taking its toll," Palutena said with a pained expression.

I stifled a yawn. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'm not going to let some stupid poison from some stupid monster let me die."

"But this isn't some run of the mill poison, Pittoo," Pit said. "You... you saw it. Your arm."

I didn't have the energy to reply. I heard Palutena shout my name, but I was confused. My vision doubled momentarily before disappearing altogether.

I woke up wrapped in blankets, shivering with chills in the darkness. I was sweating profusely, but that didn't change the fact that I felt like I was freezing to death. I turned on my side, hugging the sheets closely. The room was empty, everyone probably asleep in their own rooms.

Hesitantly, I pulled my arm out, moving it slowly. The pain was still horrible, a long, almost cast like bandage over it. It was stained with a line of black, though it was dry, and there wasn't steam coming from it like there had been before. I wondered if the poison would take over my whole body and kill me, or if I would be strong enough to get rid of it.

I looked at the doorway as footsteps echoed through the hall into the infirmary, wondering who was awake. It was the nurse from the night before, walking toward me in the darkness. "How do you feel?" she asked, standing right next to the bed.

"I'm fine," I said. I wanted to turn over, ignore her, and make her leave. I wanted to suffer alone.

She was silent for a moment, studying me. "Why are you lying?"

"Because I don't want to talk to you," I said, turning over. I frowned, realizing something. I turned onto my back. "Aren't you afraid of me?" I asked.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Should I be?"

"Everyone else is," I said bitterly, sitting up. "You should cower like the other angels."

"Pit doesn't," the girl pointed out.

"Yeah, well, Pit's dumb."

"That's not very nice."

I glared at her. "I'm the opposite of Pit. I wasn't born to be nice."

"Okay, fine," the girl said with a shrug. "I'll leave."

I held my hand out to stop her, suddenly wishing for company, but thought better of it. I fell back into the bed, cursing at myself. No wonder everyone hated me.

With a sneer, I threw off the covers, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I stood up, standing still in a wave of dizziness. When it went away, I walked out of the infirmary, going to the front door of the palace. I was able to push it open, the sun just starting to rise over the island. I shivered as a gust of wind flew past me, then went out to the edge of the island.

I sat next to a pond, my legs hanging off the edge. I leaned back on my hands, looking at the orange sky. I was still cold and sweaty, but the sun helped take the edge off. I looked at the fish in the pond, watching them swim around mindlessly. I wondered what kind of test you had to pass to become a fish that lived on the island of a goddess. They didn't seem to know any differently, acting as any other fish on the planet did.

"Must be nice," I muttered, "not knowing what in the world is going on. Not caring. Not being hated and feared by almost everyone."

The fish didn't reply, though one seemed to glance at me.

I leaned forward, looking at the clouds covering the land below. I couldn't make out anything, barely knowing what any of the world looked like. I had some of Pit's knowledge about it, but it wasn't enough to help me piece anything together. But without the Power of Flight, there was nothing I could do. There was no way to explore, no way to get off the island. And Palutena would hesitate to fly me to the ground, though I couldn't blame her.

"Maybe someday," I whispered.

I put my hand over my arm, frowning as the bandage felt wet. I closed my eyes and sighed before looking at my hand, looking at the blood that came away. I shivered, folding my arms as I stood up, taking a last look at the sky beyond.

My head was throbbing by the time I made it back inside, my arm starting to sting horribly. I went into the infirmary, hoping that the nurse would be in there. But I couldn't be that lucky. I grit my teeth, sitting on the bed. "Palutena," I said hesitantly.

"Pittoo?" Palutena said, her voice echoing through the room. "What's wrong?"

"My arm," I replied.

Palutena fell silent, and I hung my head, my hand still over my arm. My head was hurting more and more, and I looked up as the girl raced into the room, Pit and Palutena after her.

"Oh, good," I said. "The whole peanut gallery is here."

The girl frowned. "I don't understand," she said, taking my hand off of my arm. "It shouldn't be bleeding again. Did you do something to it?"

I shook my head. "I just went outside."

She unwrapped it, and I saw the stitches running through it. Blood slowly seeped through them, but it looked tame compared to the night before.

"You're really sick," Pit said, going down on one knee to look up into my face.

"I'm fine," I said, turning away.

"Your face is white like a ghost," Pit said, standing up. "Have you looked in a mirror recently?"

"I'm fine," I repeated. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I could see that Palutena even looked worried. "It'll just take some time."

Pit didn't look convinced, and I closed my eyes as the nurse re-bandaged my arm. I opened my eyes when she stepped away, her eyes filled with the same concern that Pit and Palutena carried.

"I'm fine," I said, getting off the bed carefully.

"Where are you going?" Pit asked.

"To my bedroom," I said as I walked away. "I hate this room."

They watched as I walked away, opening the door to my room and walking inside. It felt good to be in here, even knowing that Palutena had decorated it perfectly for me. It was modern, everything ending in clean lines. A curtain covered the window, letting just a slight amount of light inside. Everything was black and dark, the attached bathroom matching with dim lights. It made me feel cozy and at home.

I went into the bathroom, looking at my face in the mirror, wondering who was staring back at me. My face was incredibly pale, dark circles under my drooping eyes. My hair was messy and stuck to my face in a sweaty mess. I could see why they had all looked so worried. I looked like I was dying.

I sighed, wondering if this was how I was going to die, with barely any experiences or life to speak of. I ran my arm across my forehead, shutting off the light in the bathroom and laying on my bed. I had never been sick like this before, and all I could say was that I hated it. I felt helpless and like a burden. The knowledge that someone had put this poison on Skyworld made it so much worse. In my state, I couldn't protect anyone or help figure out what was happening.

I slept for a while, mostly just laying on the bed and wallowing in my misery alone. I barely moved, checking on my arm every so often. A line of blood appeared on the bandage again, the wound slowly but constantly bleeding.

Eventually, I got up, rubbing my temples. I opened the curtain slightly, the orange glow in the sky from the sunset. I had slept the entire day and barely noticed.

I slowly made my way to the kitchen, opening the door into it slowly and peeking inside. There were only a few angels inside, eating dinner and chatting. If there had been any more, I wouldn't have gone inside. I hated their stares, following me around the room. 

The stone floor flowed all the way into the open kitchen, though it was rarely used. It had top of the line appliances and such, everything laid out in a sensible way. Palutena loved to cook, but recently, she hadn't stepped into the room. I suddenly wondered about that.

Since getting more angels on Skyworld, she had set up a sort of buffet that lined the room. The food stayed magically fresh, and anyone could eat whenever they wanted. Small wooden tables were placed around the room, allowing for four people per table, but I had never sat with anyone other than Pit. The walls were covered in warm wood, a giant though ugly chandelier brightening the room. The whole room screamed rustic for some reason.

"Pittoo!" Pit yelled. I turned to see Pit jogging toward me, smiling. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine," I lied. "I thought I'd get something to eat."

"I'll join you!" Pit said. "I haven't eaten since this morning."

"What?" I asked, keeping my voice low as we went inside. "Why?"

Pit shook his head. "All sorts of stuff: finding out the origin of the poison, making sure it's not on anything else, trying to find a cure..."

I felt guilty that I wasn't able to help. "I hate being helpless," I said, seething. I picked up a tray and filled it with a small amount of food, not sure I would eat any of it.

"If you had been the one with the sword," Pit said quietly. "If you had cut me at all, I would... We would all-"

"We don't know what would have happened," I said, sitting at a table furthest away from everyone else. "I could be wrong. Maybe it isn't from the Underworld."

Pit shook his head. "You would know better than us."

I leaned back in my chair, looking at Pit. "Hades is gone. There's definitely no one else in the Underworld that's as strong as him. If there's poison on Skyworld, it's probably some straggler."

Pit didn't look convinced, eating as slowly as I was. "I just want there to be peace in the world," Pit sighed. "After I beat Medusa thirty years ago, I thought that everything was all better."

"There will always be someone who wants chaos," I said. "After we take out whatever low level god put the poison on the weapon, everything will be quiet all over again. But I'm tired of talking."

I ended up eating everything on the tray, but not without feeling even sicker. My stomach wasn't happy with the food. I stood up slowly, wondering if I was going to throw up.

Pit almost touched my shoulder, remembering at the last second. I glared at him, and he looked away sheepishly. "Sorry," he said.

"I'm going back to my room," I announced.

"You should see Katrina first," Pit said. "You're bleeding again."

"Katrina?" I frowned. "Is that the nurse?"

"You never asked her her name?" Pit said, holding back laughter.

"Excuse me for lacking social skills," I spat. "Where do I find her?"

Pit looked thoughtful. "I have no idea," he said.

I looked at my arm, another thin line of blood emerging out of the bandage. "It's not that bad," I said. "I'll take care of it in the morning, if I live that long."

I glanced at Pit, realizing I had said the last part aloud. I grit my teeth, walking away. I didn't want a lecture on needing to be upbeat, and it had been an accident, anyway.

I pushed the door open with my shoulder, expecting Pit to follow me. But he stayed in the dining hall, making me sigh with relief. I walked to my room slowly, shutting the door and sitting on the edge of the bed. I put my head in my hands, wondering how long the food would last in my stomach.

I slept for less than an hour, waking up and spending the rest of the night in the bathroom throwing up. I wondered if I had been right, that maybe I wasn't going to last through the night. I felt weak and shaky, struggling to even stand.

"Pittoo," Palutena suddenly said.

"Leave me alone," I said. "Don't talk to me."

She didn't say anything else, but I could feel her watching me carefully. I didn't tell her to go away, her presence making me feel slightly hopeful. I slowly walked to my bed, hoping to get a couple hours of sleep in before the morning.

I tossed and turned, eventually falling asleep for a little while. I woke up feeling no worse, my stomach grateful that it was empty. I wanted to eat, but I didn't dare risk making my day as bad as the night had been.

After stifling a yawn, I started down the hall when I heard some voices. I frowned and realized I had gone the wrong way - I had gone down the hall towards the command room. As I was about to turn around to the front door, I heard Palutena was speaking with someone, and I had the strange feeling in my gut that it was something about me. No doubt with Pit.

There weren't many that Palutena would confide in, but Pit was one of them. Even if he was a little thick to understand anything she was saying, he and Palutena had lived together for years and years. They had a bond no one could break.

"... I don't know, Pit," Palutena was saying. "I've searched far and wide for even a trace of any large Underworld players. I've searched every area of the planet, except for the Underworld, of course."

"Why?" Pit asked. "Why not search the Underworld as well?"

I resisted the urge to walk in and explain to him that she obviously couldn't. Palutena, being far more patient than I, saved me from revealing my eavesdropping. "It isn't in my domain. I can use my powers freely almost anywhere except for the Underworld and other major gods' places, which is why you're needed." She paused, then said, "Not that I plan to send you to the Underworld anytime soon."

There was silence as Pit processed what she had said. I waited, expecting them to say something about me. Something about the poison in me that Palutena was hiding. It was only a matter of time.

"Can I ask you a question, Lady Palutena?" Pit wondered.

"Of course," Palutena chuckled. "You can always ask me anything."

I sidled along the wall a little closer to the room. From where I was, I could see the room's emptiness. Come on, I thought, ask something about the poison. Let me know if I'm going to die.

"Do you hate Pittoo?" he asked.

I took in a breath. This wasn't something I expected, and I found myself clutching my chest, as if something inside me hurt. Part of me wanted to run down the hall, not hear Palutena's answer, but the curious part of me kept my feet glued to the ground. I was worried to hear her answer, though - what if she said yes? What if she was only letting me on Skyworld because she felt the need to keep an eye on me?

For a few moments, she didn't answer. My palms were sweaty. Why did I care about her answer? Then, she spoke. "I don't hate him at all. But with this poison, I don't have much choice but to keep my eyes on him. It's powerful, and it could very well be meant to take over his mind."

"I'm really worried about that, too," Pit said softly. "I've never seen someone so sick before. He's my friend, and I don't want to lose him."

I stepped out from behind the wall, a little shocked by what Pit had said. "Really?" I asked. "Your... friend?"

Pit looked surprised to see me, turning. Palutena didn't look shocked, and I wondered if she had known that I was there the whole time.

"Of course you're my friend!" Pit said with a bright smile. "We're basically brothers, after all."

I blinked, not knowing what to say. I opened my mouth to speak, aware of how dumb I looked. "What's this about the poison taking over my mind?" I asked, desperate to change the subject. I didn't know how to react, and not knowing made me uncomfortable.

Palutena sighed. "I'm just trying to figure out where that poison came from. I seriously doubt it will take over your mind, but I'm trying to be cautious. I'm sending Pit to investigate a few things."

"The first real mission in months!" Pit said. Then, he looked warily at me, realizing that I hadn't been able to leave Skyworld since the war had ended.

I shrugged. "Have fun."

Pit smiled, and I walked out of the room. I ground my teeth together, jealous of the fact that he was going to go out flying. But I didn't want to let him know that. It made it worse that I felt too lousy to do much of anything.

I decided to go to the concrete block Pit and I sparred on, immediately noticing the scratch in it from the poison on the tip of the sword. It was discolored, looking kind of like an old bruise. I knelt in front of it, examining it more closely. But if there was any sort of clue, I couldn't find it.

I stood up, the box of weapons gone. I wondered if we would ever spar there again.

"You were supposed to come find me this morning," a voice said. I turned around and saw Katrina, her arms folded and her face angry.

I looked at my arm, suddenly remembering. There wasn't much more blood, but I knew it was important to keep the wound clean and whatever. "I forgot," I sighed, sitting back on the ground. Katrina sat next to me, changing the bandage. It was a little awkward in the silence.

"There," she said. "That should last another twenty-four hours. More, if we're lucky."

"Hey, uh..." I looked away, my face feeling warm. "Thanks for taking care of my arm."

"You're lucky Palutena hasn't blessed me with the power of light," Katrina said. "Otherwise, you would have had to do all this yourself."

"Why hasn't she?" I asked. "Aren't all the others?"

"I wasn't sure I was ready," Katrina said, looking at the sky.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked.

Katrina shrugged. "I'm still not sure I want to be an angel. I didn't want her giving me power until I was sure."

"Huh."

Katrina stood up quickly, walking away before I could say anything else. "Sorry, I know you don't like talking to people. Come find me if you need me."

I watched her run away, feeling a little lonely. I wrapped my arms around myself, knowing that she hated me just like all of the other angels did. Who could blame her? I was unnatural and didn't really know how to talk to others.

I frowned when I heard more footsteps, twisting around to see who it was. To my surprise, it was Palutena. She looked at me and smiled, carefully sitting on the concrete next to me. She looked ahead at the sky, her face unreadable.

"I wasn't lying, you know," she eventually said.

"About what?" I said.

"I don't hate you," Palutena said. "You act tough, but you're sensitive and afraid to show it."

"What a nice thing to hear before I die," I said, glancing at her. Her expression hardened. I sighed. "If it means I got poisoned instead of Skyworld, then it's worth it."

Palutena didn't reply for a few minutes, her face unreadable. "Do not tell Pit," she said, a pained expression on her face. "But he was also cut by the poison."

My head whipped around toward her, my heart dropping. "But that means..."

"Yes," Palutena said. "I don't know when it will take effect, but... once it takes over him, the rest of the angels and I will fall."

"And he has no clue?" I asked.

Palutena shook her head. "The poison makes you sick because it can't take over your mind. It takes over everything else instead. The poison in Pit's body is biding its time, filling his entire body."

"Then he should be as sick as I am," I frowned.

"Not necessarily," Palutena said. "It's inactive while it fills his body, biding its time. The poison could tell right away that you weren't an angel of light, so it got to work destroying your body."

"So if the poison doesn't kill me, you and Pit will."

"That's where you're wrong," Palutena said. "I have an idea to save you. But... it could be extremely dangerous, and you might lose your life. Or worse."

"All right," I said. "I'll bite. What do you have in mind?"

Palutena opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. I wondered what was so bad and dangerous. "I'm sending you to Nyx, the goddess of the night."