Once inside, I felt a small tingling sensation. I pulled down my sleeve, smiling a bit at the bracelet from Joseph, which was glowing, proving that it still worked. I held it close to my face. I’ll find you, I promised, hiding the bracelet once more. Everyone was unfazed by the travel here but a bit surprised to see their lively neighborhood so dark and empty. “The world is so… black,” Emily said, looking around. “What do you mean?” Helena asked (oh shoot I forgot she existed XD). “It looks the same to me- oh, right,” she said suddenly remembering. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Emily said. “Oh, it’s ok, I’ve always been like this anyways,” Helena said, smiling a bit. “Can we get moving please? I don't want to be here any longer than I have to,” Murro said, earning a few nods.

The walk around the map was mostly quiet, other than the sound of footsteps and occasional animal sounds. The plan was to walk around and search every map, but we quickly realized how tiring it was just to walk around one map. After walking nonstop on the second map, I could hear some of them panting a bit. “...let’s stop for a short break here,” I said, seeing their relief as they slid down against a wall.

I was sitting against the wall, watching Aesop and Eli talk when I heard some laughter. Confused, I got up, looking for the others. I turned around the corner, now on the other side of the wall to find Murro, Emily, and Helena giggling, standing around something grey. “What are you doing here?” I asked, their laughter growing louder. “M-murro found this person, an-and he- hahaha!” Helena was laughing like crazy by now, unable to finish her sentence. I looked up, then smiled myself. The cowboy, Kevin, was apparently in this map when the camera world opened, and Murro had moved him around to make it look like he was doing some weird sort of dance. “What’s happen- oh,” Aesop said, coming around the corner with Eli. They both started laughing, along with me, and pretty soon we all were laughing crazily.

The short moment of fun seemed to get everyone in a chatty mood, talking about anything and everything. Nobody even seemed to get tired or notice how much time went by. By the time I noticed the moon rising, we had traveled quite far, but unfortunately saw no sign of Joseph. We sat down in the fourth map, making a small fire with the author's magic uwu (wait what). Everyone was still chatty, talking and laughing about things that happened today. “...and remember when we tied Aesop to the rocket chair?” “That was hilarious! Good thing we’re in the camera world, otherwise he would’ve blasted off! Hahahaha!” “Omg, he got like, so tangled in that rope, and how did you even get Eli stuck in there?” “Hey, I was just trying to help him get out!” “Well, it was… kinda funny…” “See? Even Aesop agrees!”

Eventually I told everyone to go to sleep, and they didn’t seem to notice how tired they were until they fell asleep almost immediately. Eli had fallen asleep with his head in my lap and his hand in Aesop’s. I stroked his head, smiling at the scene. Suddenly, I heard a sound from the forest. I whipped my head around, glaring at the two glowing eyes I saw. It was, obviously, a Follower. It grinned, then disappeared, a cold breeze following close behind.

***

“Get up you lazy potato,” I said, shaking everyone awake. “Mhfuowhfmowuh,” Eli said, hiding under his blanket from the sun. Aesop, Helena, and Emily were up, watching me wake him. “Aesop’s awake, so why aren’t you awake?” I said, shaking him more. “I don't wannaaaa,” he said in a whiny voice, muffled by the blanket. I sighed, holding my head. “I guess I have no choice then… YEET!!!” I shouted, ripping the blanket away. “Nuuuuuu,” Eli whined, still gripping his pillow. “You have to get up! It’s practically noon!” I said, winning an easy fight for the pillow, causing his head to fall and bonk the floor. “Help me Aesop,” I sighed, gesturing for him to come. “Eli, you need to get up. Please?” he tried, bending down near Eli’s head. “Eli?” he said, poking the top of his head gently. Eli’s head suddenly shot up, planting a kiss on Aesop’s cheek. “Gotcha!~” he teased, then stood up as if he was awake this whole time. EEEEEEEH?! Aesop seemed to be thinking, blushing crazily. “Dude, you're glowing,” Murro said, turning his eyes away. “Sorry!” Aesop yelped, hiding his face. We laughed, then continued our journey across the maps.

Once in the Arms Factory map, a sudden chill passed through us, affecting us all. “Oh no, I forgot to tell you guys about this map,” Emily said, then explained. “You guys remember the story of how the original Lucky Guy was a bad guy?” she asked, the rest of us nodding. “Well, when they defeated him, they used the Kronos tactic and cut him into bits, scattering him around the toolboxes of this map. But since people would be playing this map, they hid him in the Camera World, which Joseph didn’t really like. He complained about the smell as a joke,” Emily said, giving me memories of his complaints. “S-so Lucky Guy is here?” Helena asked, scared of toolboxes now. “Well he’s dead, so you don't need to worry, right?” Murro said in an attempt to cheer everyone up. “Actually, he couldn’t exactly die, just like Kronos, so his spirit still lingers around his-” “Too. Much. Information,” Emily said, cutting Aesop off.