(Some art for today's chapter. ^^^ Don't worry, I'm still posting on Saturday ^-^)

=Lucas's POV=

As soon as I woke up, I was ready to go. I fed the animals and took down all 23 portals, then slipped a pair of fingerless gloves and a sick mask on to hide the binary corruption on my skin. It was getting cold out anyways.

With nothing but my clothes, hat, and sword, I set out in the direction of the Nightmare Palace. As I was walking, I messed around with my abilities, seeing what was possible within the game. I noticed that my hands didn't ache as much. Maybe I'd just gotten used to the pain.

"Locate Skyler.chr, type=beacon, visible to TheLSpike." I said. A beam of light appeared in the distance to help me find Skyler. I stopped and stared. It was so far, it would take a few days to get there, at least! I continued walking.

Maybe I should teleport myself halfway there. I thought. I mean, it would save me a lot of time after all. So that's just what I did. The landscape changed from swamp to forest. I fell to the ground, exhausted.

Maybe I shouldn't have done that... I tried forcing myself up, only to fall back down with a grunt. My vision started to blur. No... please don't pass out... I thought, trying to keep my eyes open. A wave of tiredness swept over me. Just before I passed out, though, something appeared in front of me and grabbed me, then I slipped away into unconsciousness.

The next thing I knew, I was tucked in to a soft bed, and someone in all purple was hovering above me, wrapping my arms in bandages. There was a light shining into my eyes, and I felt a cool cloth over my cheeks, nose, and mouth, as well as bandages around my neck.

I groaned tiredly, getting the person's attention. They took the light and shone it into each of my eyes, then put it aside. I tried moving my arms, but I was too weak to even lift them up. The person took off the cloth and helped me sit up. "Are you okay?" They asked. They wore a mask and were dressed in purple and black. I shook my head.

Everything was sore. "How long was I..." My eyes were heavy. "..out...?" I completed my sentence. "Not long," They responded, "only a few hours. You should continue to rest. You look like you've been through.... something... What is this? They touched my face where the binary code was infecting me. I hissed.

"Oh, sorry!" They said, pulling their hand back. I sighed. "It... it's fine... I did this to myself..." I said. They gasped. "NO! No, not like that..!" I exclaimed. "It's my... 'ability'. I overused it, and well... this happened." The person seemed to relax. "Sorry for assuming things." They said. "I'm Parker." I smiled weakly. "Lucas. Nice to meet you." We shook hands-- well, he shook mine. I still couldn't move my arms. "You should sleep." Parker said. I nodded. "G-good choice..." I agreed. I laid back down, passing out faster than I expected to.