(It gets deep in this.)

Everyone stared at the knew.. Emotion. Carl looked genuinely afraid of the guy while Joesph just.. Blankly stared. Like he just didn't understand. Laura stared at him too. But the worst part was his arms. How bloody his arms were. He hugged himself like they weren't there and didn't even wince. It was truly... Disturbing.

"Your arms..." Was all Laura could say. Trauma bit his lip, tugging on the sleeves of his hoodie to try and cover them. He did but the sleeves were just beginning to soak in blood. "I.. Damian promised to stop doing that to himself.."

Trauma sighed. "He did stop.. All of this is from the old ones.."

Laura sniffled, covering her mouth. She hated this. Hated it. Because she could remember where those came from so.. Vividly.

~Flashback because why not~

It was a couple months before Damian found CHB. Laura and the others were still in ghost form. They followed Damian around. After they all made peace, the little group didn't want to sepreate again.

Laura didn't know what drove Damian to kill. Heck, he was only eleven years old and he killed/attacked people like he was some kind of cereal (probably spelled that wrong) killer. It was terrifying. Then once the deed was done, Damian would freak out like this was his first time seeing the body.

The worst thing is the ghost of the kids he killed. They were angry, rightfully so, but they went too far sometimes. Laura didn't know where they got this personal information from, like his parents and other loved ones who passed, but they used it against him. Like, "I bet you killed your mom too. No? She tried to kill you? I would have too, if I were her. No one wants a monster as a child. She probably regretted having you."
That's when one of Damian's little crew had to cut in, telling them to lay off. Good thing ghosts can physically touch each other.

But there were times when Damian snuck off by himself. The first time Laura caught him was terrifying. He was sitting by a tree, with the dagger he found in the Underworld, slicing at his arm. His face was blank. He barely reacted to the cuts other than a slight tremble in the arm that was receiving the cuts. Laura screamed a little. It was more of a startled yelp but it scared Damian enough that he snapped out of his trance and dropped the dagger.

"What are you doing?!" Laura raced up, dropping to her knees in front of her friend. Damian just stared at her, cradling his arm. How can an eleven year old be so.. Calm about this?

When Damian did speak, it was in a hoarse tone. Laura has heard him speak like this before. Heck, it was how he was speaking ever since they appeared into these woods and been wandering around. But it made him sound older than he was and that never failed to frighten Laura a bit. "It helps."

"Helps?! How could this help?! Who told you that?!"

"Mom. She did it too."

Laura froze for a second. Oliva was just a happy woman. Sure Damian's dad disappering one day took a toll on her.. But she.. Would she?

"No. No it's not good. You have to stop doing it. Promise me you'll stop," Laura crossed her arms, glaring at the boy. Damian shrugged, pulling his sleeve down to cover his bloody arm-he winced a little when he did that- and picked up the dagger.

"I'll try."

~Flashback ends~

"Laura?" Joesph tapped her shoulder, making her jump. "Are you alright?"

"Not really," she admitted.

"I'm sorry," Trauma muttered.

Joesph shook his head. "It's not your fault... But how do you- Why do you exsist?"

Laura blinked. That wasn't a joyful thing to ask someone. Trauma even flinched a bit at that, probably taking it as if Joesph was mad at him for existing. Joesph didn't even apologize. He wanted an answer.

"I.... Well.. After everything that happened do you really think Damian isn't effected by it?"

"Well yeah but why would he have Joy and Content as major emotions if he was Traumatized?"

Trauma frowned. "You aren't Joy. You just took his place. You know this."

Joesph hesitated.

"And you aren't Content. You know this too."

Carl frowned.

"Wait," Laura held her hand up. "You guys lied about what you represented?"

Joesph bit his lip. "Yeah.. I'm sorry. But Damian needed to at least seem a little happy.."

"So he isn't happy?" Laura mumbled. "Why?"

Joseph sighed. "I mean.. He is traumatized Laura. He's glad you and the others are okay.. But he can't really be Happy. Everytime he looks at one of you, all he sees is you dead or as a ghost. It'll take awhile for him to actually fully take in everything that happened."

Laura went silent. "So what are you? Where's his Joy? And what are you Carl?"

Carl sighed. "I'm his mask. He makes himself look happy. Forces himself to smile or laugh. And I help him with that.. I'm protecting him. Internally."

Laura blinked. "So where's the real Joy?"

Joesph- could he even be called that anymore?- stepped up. He held his arms out and he glowed. Laura covered her eyes for a moment. Once the light died down she looked again. Joesph was holding... A baby. It was wrapped in a golden onesie and was sleeping. "This. This is Joy. He was damaged around the time Damian was five. He kept going which only made him weaker. Once you and the others died, he was almost.. Crushed? Destroyed? I don't know what to call it. But.. I saved him. I shelled him through everything and took the damage myself. Now everytime something positive happens, he grows. Until he reaches maturity, Damian can't.. Well.. Feel his presence."

Laura stared at the baby in Joesph's arms. The emotion held him so protectively, so securely, as if Laura was actually capable of hurting him. "Okay.. If that's his Joy... Then who are you?"

Joesph smiled sadly. "I'm Hope."

(Guess this isn't the last chapter.. Dam.)