I haven't died yet. Apologies for taking this long. It's a combination of a few things: 1.) Schoolwork is taking much of my time and 2.) It took me a while to figure out how to write this chapter. That being said, here it is.


Chapter 20

The road that we rode the stolen Prius on made a fork, and by going left it took us to the golden tower we had previously seen in the distance before - the Sol Lighthouse. By 10:10 am we finally reached the Lighthouse of Sol. We were fortunate that no other opposition tried to stop us. The only challenge now is that we had a limited amount of time to ascend the entire tower. There was one door at the bottom that led into the lighthouse led on by a short series of stairs. The lighthouse itself rested on a side of a cliff and from the dirt road we came from there was a clearing for us to park the car. The tower itself was about twenty stories tall, possibly even higher, so it was nothing to laugh at.

When the five of us got out of the car, the first thing we noticed was that Harbinger himself has landed near the entrance of the lighthouse facing the front door. The obsidian gryphon sat on the ground with the tip of his scepter raised straight to the sky. As the five of us approached him, he spoke before any of us could. "Guess you kids finally learned what it takes to be a hero."

"Um..." Ray rubbed his chin, but the words must have lost him since he said nothing more. I looked back to my friends, who only shot confused looks at Harbinger.

"I've watched you five all day yesterday, and today, and I have to admit: you five grow up pretty fast." Harbinger chuckled to himself, his demonic tone almost mocking our past efforts. "You five have done some morally questionable things yesterday, unsure of what being a hero is - after all, you're all just little kids, right? But it's the end that justifies the means." Harbinger let out a sigh as he looked up towards the top of the tower. "Well here we are. Like it or hate it, you five did manage to get here."

"Yeah, let's go." Stan readily drew out his sword. He seemed pretty eager to tackle the problem head on.

"Not so fast." We all took another look at Harbinger. Truly, he has something more to tell us or he'd just let us go. "This tower...you kids will have a much easier time if Dovahkiin is proficient in his dragonshouts, and as far as I've seen, he didn't get many opportunities."

"Oh come on, I'm not handicapped or anything." Ray spoke in a tone of confidence as he laid his hand out in the air.

"Well there's that, but more importantly, this tower represents a true test of your friendships." Harbinger took the sky once again as he looked down on his. What did he mean by a true test of friendship? "Dovahkiin cannot traverse this tower alone, he'll need his friends to help overcome the challenges you all will face. This is why I told you two nights ago why Dovahkiin needs to forge strong friendships - I'm not talking about regular monsters like bears and dragons, this tower is a representation of the challenges you all have faced in your lives, and a representation of what you will face. In other words, it's personal. Believe it." Harbinger then began to frantically look around. He let out a large angry growl. My friends and I began to look around. I couldn't find anything to take note of. "Do you guys feel that?"

I couldn't feel anything, much less see or hear anything. "No, why?" Wendy asked.

"I sense an ill wind in my wings." What did Harbinger mean by that? "You five better hurry. Now. I'll meet you all at the top of the tower - the lighthouse aerie. Go!"

I looked back, and I still couldn't see anything. I faced the doorway to the lighthouse, and already my friends already started to pile in. "Hey, wait for me!" I ran to them, and into the doorway.


We found ourselves inside a small waiting room, like one of those waiting rooms when you would walk into a regular restaurant. Of course though, there was no second doorway - up ahead was a large circular room with a well in the middle. The interior was a bright gold and six gold statues of knights about the size of a normal human male stood around the perimeter of the room looking inwards towards the well holding their swords with both their hands with the blade resting on the ground as if they were standing guard. This lighthouse is a work of art. Everything is beautiful. There were weird letters on the walls only a master calligraphist would understand. The tan brick floor showed two stairs on the outer edge of the circular room going upward and joining each other on the very back of the room that led into a doorway.

"Wow, this is beautiful!" Wendy was in complete awe over the scenery.

"Those knights look pretty awesome." Stan gazed over at the knights that stood by the walls, taking in the extravagant detail of the statues.

Isaac and I peered into the well and inside was a glowing white light. Nothing came out of the well. I looked up and above me I could see the tower span upwards towards the sky with bridges and pathways making twists and turns over each other. "Holy shit." Isaac, too, was in complete amazement.

"Who could have built all this?" We all shrugged at Ray's question. None of us could possibly have the answers.

All of a sudden, we heard stone and metal creak. From in front of me, a knight stepped forward, hoisted up its sword, and held it readily in its hand staring at us. I looked around. The rest of the knights did the same. "What the fuck?" Stan jumped back in panic as he too drew out his sword.

"What's going on?" Wendy raised her shield as the knights crept closer. "What's happening?"

"Intruders!" One knight yelled.

"After them!" Another screamed.

"Stay where you are!" A third screeched.

Ray immediately conjured up a water elemental. Wendy slammed the ground with her sword, and lines and cracks of holy light erupted around her - the technique of Consecration. Isaac placed down a fire totem as the knights began to charge. For whatever reason, they saw Wendy as the biggest threat, so they tried to go for her. Ray, Isaac, and I jumped out of the way as Stan began to spin in circles with his word like a bladestorm, slicing away at two of the knights. As light glowed on Wendy's shield, she blocked three sword strikes at the same time with her shield while the holy cracks on the ground blasted away at the knights. Another knight went to try to go for Ray, but Ray's water elemental held the knight in place as Ray retreated upstairs near the unknown doorway and flung spikes of ice at the knight.

Meanwhile, another knight swung its sword down on Isaac, but Isaac jumped to the right to dodge the knight's attack. But then a beam of holy light shot out of the knight's head, blasting Isaac into the wall. "Augh! Damnit!"

"Isaac!" I tossed a ball of nature energy to restore Isaac's injuries - the spell of Rejuvination. As the knight approached the downed Isaac, Wendy immediately lighted up her shield with light and tossed it at the knight, smacking it in the back of its head while Isaac's fire totem was periodically shooting lava balls at the knight. The knight turned its attention back to Wendy to charge at her as Wendy's shield returned to her and stopped glowing.

Stan thrusted his sword into another knight, causing it to extinguish in holy light, disappearing from the world. Good, that was one down, five more to go. I turned to Ray who tossed an Ice Lance at another knight's face, the frost explosion killing off the knight. Now that's two down, four more to go. I turned back to Wendy who was getting wailed on by the four remaining holy knights - strike after strike, Wendy was getting worn down. I was tossing healing bolts at Wendy, but she was stuggling to hold her own, and I was struggling at keeping her up. "I need some help here!"

I cycloned one knight, banishing it from the physical plane for a bit. Cyan light glowed from Ray's hands. He tried to polymorph another knight into a sheep, but the knight resisted the spell. "Oh shit! They're elementals!" Ray then summoned up a comet storm to drown the knights in frost. Isaac exploded a knight with flame then swung his left axe sideways, lighting the other four knights with fire. Stan whirled his sword around multiple times at the knights while Isaac put his right arm out then made a downwards motion as if he were pulling a rope down, and all of a sudden, novas of flame bursted from the knights, burning each other to death. Three knights disappeared from this world. The fourth was brought back from my cyclone and tried to attack Wendy again while I was healing her, but Stan jumped up for the execute, decapitating the knight and eliminating it completely.

"Master...NOOOOO!" The knight screamed as it faded from life, dispersing in pure holy light.

Holy shit, that put me nearly out of breath. Ray and Isaac were also huffing and puffing. "Oh my God, Wendy! Are you alright?" Stan was extremely panicked, grabbing Wendy's shoulders while examining her with fear and worry.

"I'm alright, Stan." Wendy dusted herself off with her left hand, the one carrying her shield.

As Stan was checking up on Wendy, I walked over to Wendy to heal the last of her injuries. "This is exactly why I should have tanked, or not brought you along, you could be seriously hurt!"

"Stan, please, lay off." Wendy lightly pushed Stan and I away from her. "I can take care of myself. You know this. You've seen me take on people at school before."

"But this isn't Cartman we're dealing with!" Stan looked around the room then back to her. "These are evil light elementals who mean to kill us all!" True, I don't imagine Stan being very thrilled at the sight of evil light elementals beating up on his girlfriend. But I think Stan's being too possessive over her, I think Wendy's honestly doing a fine job at protecting us. Which is funny, a girl is protecting the four boys in the group from danger; Wendy is the one taking all the beatings for us guys, and even though it kinda sounds messed up, that thought almost made me chuckle. Of course, Stan wouldn't be very happy if I showed it.

"Stan, I won't let us down. I promise." Wendy sounded as sweet as possible. She didn't seem like her usual argumentative self - although that could be due to her usually treating Stan differently from most other guys.

"Let's go." Good thing Ray's here to keep us on track, like normal. He led the way while Isaac followed closely. Wendy sheathed her sword on her left hip and she held Stan's left hand with her right hand. I followed from the back.

Towards the next doorway was a narrow hall that circled to the left and went upwards and we followed the path. It led out into a bridge that spanned the diameter of the tower's cross-sectional area across and led to a doorway into another hallway that circled to the right and up.

"I noticed one of the knights blasting Isaac with a light laser," I said, "seems to me like they're light elementals." I wonder why there's evil light monsters here.

"It seems they aren't immune to holy-based spells, weirdly enough," Wendy added.

Isaac adjusted his yellow scarf a little as he began to speak. "Well this is the Sol Lighthouse right?" The rest of us nodded and Isaac continued. "Well did you guys know that the word 'Sol' is Latin for 'Sun'?"

"No," Stan replied. "Where'd you learn that?"

"I googled up this tower yesterday." Isaac stretched his arms a little as he continued on behind Ray. "This is the lighthouse of the Sun. That would explain why there's holy-light elementals to guard this place, it fits the whole light theme that is about this place."

"Doesn't light mean 'good'?" Ray asked.

"No, that's just a literary trope," Isaac replied. "These elementals will attack anyone on sight - even us."

The five of us went inside the next room. It was a square room, and we found ourselves facing up against two beings made of pure light. They had the structure of a giant horrifying mutant-lizard-abomination that stood on its hind legs with "spikes" the grew out of its back that ran down its spine. It reminded me of Deathclaws from the Fallout games, only these things were made of pure holy light energy. Unfortunately, they immediately spotted us and growled savagely, breaking down on all fours.

"There you are!" the mutant on the left yelled.

"Join us!" the other mutant roared.

Wendy quickly drew out her sword and slammed the ground again with Consecration. The light lizards charged at us. "RAAAHHH!" The light lizards screeched with agony in a high-pitched tone, like an angry baby wailing for its mother. Stan, Ray and his elemental, Isaac, and I jumped off to the sides, me joining Stan while Ray and his elemental were with Isaac. However, Wendy stood there with her shield raised, glowing with holy light. The light lizards jumped forward and converged with each other when they met Wendy. Wendy was knocked down in the process but the momentum of their jumps made them crash into each other underneath the doorway. "AHHH!" the lizards screamed again.

"Wendy!" Stan panicked again while I tossed healing bolts at Wendy to keep her well.

Wendy stood up, hoisting up her shield and sword. The light lizards got off each other and turned to us again. Wendy lighted up her shield and threw it at one lizard, bouncing to the next, then back to her. The lizards, roaring again, began to smack Wendy while Ray and his elemental began to hurl ice spikes at the lizards. "Ow!" Wendy was struggling to hold the light lizards off as I kept tossing heals at her, but she was getting further injured.

"Cole! Do something!" In reaction to Stan's nagging, I simply growled loud enough for Stan to back off. I didn't need Stan's panicking right now, I'm having trouble keeping her up. Isaac dropped a water totem that periodically drenched us in healing water to assist me as Isaac charged in with his weapons. "Oh, no, she's hurt!" Stan's groaning was distracting, I almost faltered for a second there.

"Shut up, Stan!" I yelled back. I didn't see nor react to a holy laser in time that came out of a lizard's mouth, smacking me in the face, knocking me down, falling on my back, and sending a searing sensation in my face. I felt myself burn, the impact and aftermath stinging me quite a bit. "Damnit!" I gripped my face with my hand healing myself, and the next thing I saw was Stan rapidly slicing away at the lizards. The lizards didn't take much time to be downed.

"No! No!" one yelled.

"This can't happen to me!" another wailed.

As the lizards faded away, I got up and walked up to Stan. "Stan, will you shut up for once?!"

"Look, I'm sorry, but Wendy was getting smacked around over there!" Stan responded.

"I can't concentrate with you constantly nagging me!" I rubbed the sweat off my forehead with my right hand. I paused exhaled for a moment, and in a lower tone I continued. "I know you're worried about Wendy, but I'm trying my best to keep her alive."

"But-" Stan tried to say.

"Cole's right." Wendy sheathed her shield and sword and grabbed Stan's hands. "Stan, please trust me. You have nothing to worry about. I'll be fine. Please let Cole concentrate on his job."

Stan sighed and looked down at his feet. "Alright. I'm sorry guys."

"You guys done?" Ray raised an eyebrow at us. When the rest of us nodded, he walked past me to continue upstairs. "Good. The sooner we ascend this stupid tower, the sooner we get the Stick." As harsh as Ray put it, I couldn't agree more. We're still on a time limit.

The hallway ascended upwards to the right and we crossed another bridge. While there were many doorways in the halls, there was one obvious way up, and that was the main path we strolled along. There wasn't any time to take any detours, and based on what we've experienced in this tower already, we all figured quickly that it wouldn't be prudent to take any of said detours.

I glanced at Stan, who still seemed to be in a pale, panicked state from watching Wendy getting beaten up earlier. "Hey, I shouldn't have yelled at you earlier."

"No, you were right," Stan replied. "I was being stupid earlier, I know Wendy's a strong girl." As cheesy as that sounded, I couldn't agree more. "She's smart, and I know she can take care of herself."

"Not try'na sound jealous, but you're pretty lucky to have her." As the words left my mouth, I took a quick glance at Wendy. She still faced forward, but a smile crept up her face - obviously she could hear us. "But I know what you mean. You just want to look out for her, to see the best of her, hate seeing her beat up. It's sorta like me to Isaac, almost." Stan nodded in response.

We were silent for a few moments as we walked, but then Ray piped up with another question. "Hey Stan, how do your friends fight?"

"What do you mean?" Stan replied.

"I think Ray means what classes your friends are," Isaac spoke.

"Oh, yeah." Stan rubbed his chin with his left hand. "Hm, as far as I know...Kyle is a Shaman...Cartman's a Mage, but I'm sure you figured that one out quickly. Kenny's a Hunter, Token's a Priest...um, Craig is a Rogue, I think, and Clyde's a Death Knight. Tweek is also a Warrior, Butters is a Paladin, Scott is a Hunter, Kevin is a Shaman."

"Interesting." Ray turned to Wendy. "Wendy, what about your friends?"

"Huh?" Wendy seemed startled for a second. "Oh! Yeah, um, Bebe's a Monk...um, Red is a Warlock, I'm not sure about my other friends to be honest, they haven't really fought at all yet, and they keep making alt characters."

"So they're altoholics," Stan said. Wendy nodded in response.

"Is no one in South Park a Druid?" Ray asked.

"I think Esther Stoley is, yeah," Wendy replied.

The next room was another large, square one like the last. Only this time, a lone knight with sickly bright, cyan armor stood in the center with its sickly bright, cyan sword The helmet was open at its "face" which showed nothing but blackness with two glowing white eyes. Based on the fact that this knight is cyan, it has to be an even more of a badass than the other knights, that's the best logical conclusion you can come up with in a video game when you see multicolored enemies. I saw it physically look up and stare at us, so it must have acknowledged our presence. It did not immediately rush forward to attack however. The five of us looked at each other, then back at the knight. "I am Sentinel, the greatest warrior who has ever lived. Send forth a true knight to do face-to-face battle, and only if you pass the test will you be allowed to pass." The cyan knight's voice was rugged and deep.

"Ugh, seriously? Another stupid holy knight?" Ray tossed forward a frostbolt at Sentinel.

The frostbolt exploded on Sentinel's face, but the knight made no reaction. "Really? Did you really think spells will work on me? 'Tis why I asked for a true knight. Idiot."

"That's you, Stan." Wendy turned to Stan to prod him along.

"Wait, me? What?" Fear came into Stan's voice. Sounds like Stan's gonna have to fight a holy knight on his own. And since this knight has a cyan color rather than a gold one, this probably means that this specific knight - Sentinel - is more of a badass in some way. "Oh God."

"Stan, you can do this. I believe in you Stan." Wendy gave Stan a thumbs up and kissed him in the left cheek. Stan didn't throw up this time - probably worrying about having to fight one-on-one against Sentinel. I remember watching one other time Wendy kissed Stan on the cheek and he didn't throw up: it was when Stan was worried that Bridon Gueermo would steal Wendy away.

"Go get 'em, Stan," Ray smiled. Isaac and I nodded as well.

Stan smiled at us. "Thanks, guys."

He unsheathed his claymore from his back and as he took a few steps forward, a pink plasma wall erupted from right in front of me. "Stan!" Wendy banged on the wall, but her hands were blocked by the wall. I tried to toss a healing bolt at Stan but it shattered itself on the energy wall. Shit. We were blocked out, and Stan was gonna be on his own.

"Oh no!" Stan groaned.

"So you're the kid who will face me." As Stan turned to face Sentinel, Sentinel knelt down so it was face-to-face with Stan. "What is thy name?"

"S-S-Stan!" Stan shuddered as he gripped his sword, his body shaking with fear and nervousness.

"Well, Sir Stan." Sentinel stood up again and readied itself with its own sword. "On guard!" Without further ado, Sentinel made a sideways sweep with its own claymore, and Stan blocked the attack. "Impressive. A warrior is always ready for a fight. But we'll see how long you last." Sentinel made another downwards attack, but Stan blocked it again.

"Oof!" It already sounded like Stan's strength was beginning to drain.

"Stan!" Wendy cried.

"Tiring out already?" Sentinel raised its sword again. Gripping it tightly with both hands, Sentinel swung downwards onto Stan, and although Stan blocked the attack, the sheer force of the metal knight knocked Stan back, banging into the energy wall in front of me, then fell face down on the ground, his sword clanging to his right. "Ahahahaha! I knew you weren't strong enough. Stupid kid."

"Stan! No!" Wendy cried again.

"The guys too powerful, what can Stan do?" Isaac asked.

Stan slowly stood up while grabbing his sword "I've faced bullies and monsters before. I won't back down." Stan bent further down, almost falling. "But I can't take him head on."

Sentinel then began to charge at Stan with its sword. "Look out!" I yelled.

Stan jumped to his left, sending Sentinel to crash into the wall. Stan then thrusted his sword into Sentinel's back, but it barely cracked the surface of Sentinel's armor. "Aw crap."

"Does this guy have a weakness at all?" Ray asked. I couldn't figure the knight out. It was full of metal, it was immune to magic and spells, it was strong, and it was fast. It almost reminded me of those damn Twilight vampires we fought earlier this morning.

Sentinel stood up and charged at Stan again, swinging his sword, but Stan dodged the attack by sliding underneath Sentinel. Stan then began running around the room with Sentinel chasing closely after him. "What is Stan doing?" Wendy asked. "He's not attacking or anything!"

In the back right corner of the room, Sentinel thrusted his sword at Stan. Stan tried to thrust his own sword at Sentinel's face, but Stan had to parry Sentinel's attack with a circular swipe or else he would have been impaled. Stan tried to thrust at Sentinel's exposed dark face, but Sentinel blocked Stan's thrust. Then it hit me. Stan must have noticed Sentinel's weak spot. It was the open "face". Problem was that Stan was having trouble reaching there due to how much taller Sentinel is than the rest of us. "Damnit!" Stan grumbled.

Stan ran towards us but stopped. Suddenly, he just drops down and lies on the floor, making me open my eyes wide. What the fuck? Why is Stan trying to play dead? "Stan! What are you doing?" Ray yelled.

Sentinel stood over Stan and laughed. "Hahaha. You really think playing dead is going to work on me?" With the blade end of its sword over Stan, Sentinel shoved the sword as hard as it could into Stan, but Stan rolled over to the left at the last minute, so Sentinel shoved the sword into the ground so hard it caused its own sword to be stuck into the ground. "What? What the fuck? What the-" Stan immediately thrusted his own sword into Sentinel's "face", causing rainbows of light to discharge from Sentinel's face. "AHHHH! NOOOOOO!" Sentinel stumbled backwards, grabbing its face in pain. It then knelt down on the ground.

Stan carried his sword over to Sentinel. "Guess I win."

"Guess you're the stronger of us here. Are you gonna put me out?" Sentinel asked.

Stan rubbed his chin for a moment, but then shook his head. "No."

"What?" The other four of us looked at each other in shock.

Stan shook his head again. "I won't do it. Well first, I can't really lower the energy wall-"

"Well if you had killed me, the wall would disappear," Sentinel argued.

Stan shrugged. "Nevermind then. But also because you're confused." Sentinel looked up at Stan. It didn't show any visible facial expressions due to him likely being a dark ethereal ghost inside that cyan armor of his. "You challenged me, and you lost, but you weren't an asshole about it, and, well, you don't seem like the other monsters here. For one, you gave us the chance to back away...well to be honest, we have to keep moving, but you didn't try to kill us on sight. I like that."

Sentinel waved its hand at me, and all of a sudden, the pink energy barrier that separated the two from the rest of us disappeared. I walked forward, not feeling anything. "That was the most generous thing you could give me, Knight Stan. The gift...of life." Sentinel put its right thumb on Stan's forehead, and all of a sudden, a flash of white light appeared from Sentinel's thumb, and I was blinded out.


I was no longer at the Sol Lighthouse. I looked down at myself to see my own body physically transparent and glowing with a bright yellow aura. I looked outward. It was nothing but the blackness of the night sky and the snow reflecting the moonlight off its surface. I looked up and the full moon shone brightly in the sky. How did I get here? Why is it night time already? Am I in the past? Or is this the future?

The sound of running water caused my left ear to perk up. I looked to my left only to see Kyle Broflovski, who looked completely like his normal self unlike myself, pouring a canister of lighter fluid onto the ground. "All the cruel jokes and ridicule will finally be over! Are you happy now, God?! YOU made me look like this!"

"Kyle?" I walked towards Kyle, who seemed to pay no mind. "Why am I here? And why do you have gasoline?" I tried to pick up Kyle's lighter fluid canister, but my hands went straight through. "What the? Kyle?" Kyle didn't even acknowledge my presence.

"Kyle can't hear us." I heard Stan's voice, so I turned around and there was Ray, Isaac, Stan, and Wendy, all four in a glowing, transparent, ethereal state like I.

"What's going on?" Isaac asked.

"Oh shit, I know what this is." Wendy rolled her eyes and groaned. "This has all happened before."

"What do you mean?" I replied. "Where are we?"

"We're on the roof of our own school, dude," Stan replied. "Wait for it."

"Wait for what?" Isaac asked.

All of a sudden, a nearby door opened, and out popped another Stan and another Wendy - these two looking completely regular. What is this? Why was Past Kyle dousing the school with lighter fluid? And what were Past Stan and Past Wendy doing here? "Kyle! Kyle, don't!" Past Stan yelled, holding an orange folder.

Past Kyle threw the canister to the side. "Don't try and stop me, Stan! You don't know how it feels to be a deformed monstrosity!"

"The list was a forgery, Kyle!" Past Stan retorted. No. This can't be. These events couldn't seriously be referring to that one list the girls made about the cutest boys in the class...could it?

"Huh?" Past Kyle looked about as confused as I am right now. I have no idea why I'm being shown this.

"It didn't sparkle with all the girls," Past Stan said, "We have the real list."

From the doorway where Past Stan and Past Wendy came, another kid who appeared to be Bebe Stevens came forth with a Glock in her right hand and a red bag in her left. She cocked and aimed a Glock at Past Wendy. "That's about far enough! Give me that list, Wendy!" Haha, did Bebe really try to shoot Wendy at one point over a list? That's hilarious.

"Stan, what is going on?!" Past Kyle panicked.

"It was about shoes, Kyle," Past Stan replied, "The girls wanted shoes, so they set you up." This is even more funny to watch. Holy shit, I almost want to laugh my ass off right now, but the present Stan's and Wendy's spirits are with me right now, so that would be poor taste of me.

Past Bebe shook her head. "Kyle was simple a casualty! To move Clyde meant that Craig has to be moved to number twelve, which moved Jimmy down and moved Jason up!" Nice. More convoluted shit. If you're gonna throw Kyle under the bus, as that what they seemed to imply, why not just take Kyle's name, ignore all the reorganizing bullshit, and move him straight down to the bottom?

"So what number was I?" Past Kyle asked.

"You've compromised everything!" Past Wendy cried. "Our lists' integrity!"

"Did you see these shoes, Wendy?!" Past Bebe pulled something out of the red bag, but I couldn't see since her body was blocking me. "They're incredible!"

"It doesn't matter how incredible they are; you can't - oh my God, those are amazing." Past Wendy's expression changed as her voice shifted into a more surprising tone.

"Right?"

"Is that a lace across the top?"

"No, it's a little strap."

"Wendy!" Past Stan yelled.

Past Wendy shook her head. "Oh, but it doesn't matter. You took it too far!"

Past Bebe cocked the Glock again. "If you hadn't gone all Nancy Drew on us, this would have just gone away!"

"She's gonna kill us?" Past Kyle asked.

"It's too late, Bebe," Past Wendy said. "I've already made a full report and sent a copy to the police. People will know."

"Oh please, you're lying." As the words left Past Bebe's mouth, sirens came from my right. I walked over to the ledge to look down only to see about five police cars with their sirens on.

"Give it up, Bebe," the officer shouted into a microphone. "We know all about it. The list was compromised. Kyle Broflovski is not the ugliest boy in the class."

I looked back to the corporeal children only to see Past Wendy jump out at Past Bebe, knocking her to the ground. They rolled through me and Isaac's spirit, trying to grab the gun. But then it went off, causing Past Wendy and Past Bebe to stop immediately. I saw the bullet fly through Wendy's spirit towards the east.

"Wendy!" Past Stan cried.

Wendy and Bebe stood up, touching themselves on their jackets. They looked at their hands and blood could not be found anywhere. Then, all of a sudden, more people came to the roof, this time being four officers. "There you are!" an officer shouted.

"Wait, I, I didn't do anything wrong," Past Bebe remarked.

"You can explain all that downtown." As officers handcuffed Past Bebe and took her away off the roof, Past Wendy picked up the red bag.

"Here, Kyle." Past Stan handed the orange folder over to Past Kyle. "We've been through a lot, but, you can finally see where you really are on the list."

The world around the five of us spirits twisted and turned, and moments later, we found ourselves at the side of the school where the Goth Kids would generally hang out. In front of a teal trash can stood Past Stan, Past Wendy, and Past Kyle. Past Wendy dropped the orange folder from earlier into the trash, now lit on fire.

"Are you sure you're okay with this, Kyle?" Past Stan asked.

Past Kyle nodded. "I'm sure. Abe Lincoln was right: I don't wanna find out I'm good-looking and become a total shithead when I grow up."

Past Stan tilted his head to his side. "...Abe Lincoln?"

Past Wendy turned to Past Stan. "Stan, it's been really great hanging out with you again. I feel like you've changed somehow. In a really awesome way." She smiled.

"Yeah well, I guess a lot of things... change, don't they?" Past Stan smiled as well. They both began to lean towards each other, but then all of a sudden, two waves of vomit came out of Past Stan's mouth, one after the other, spilling all over Past Wendy's face. Then light shone from the trash can and blinded me out again.


I found myself where I was previously, where Stan battled Sentinel in the Sol Lighthouse. I looked around, and my friends were with me as well. "What was that?"

"We've must've traveled into someone's memory, I guess." Ray shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll always remember that time," Wendy smiled.

"Hey Sentinel," Stan asked, "what happened? Why did we all suddenly travel back in time?"

Sentinel stood straight up as it pulled its stuck sword off the ground. "You giving me life showed true character. You forgave me. Whatever memory you just saw...I'm not sure what you saw by the way...but it is a throwback of what you are, it should show a life-changing experience." That was worded weirdly. What did that even mean?

"I...understand now." Stan smiled at Sentinel, the same smile he showed to Wendy back in that memory. "Thank you."

"The rest of your friends who aren't Dovahkiin will experience similar," Sentinel warned. "Good luck, children."

Stan nodded. "You too."

We left the room and continued forward down the obvious path to ascend up the lighthouse. What was the point of Stan's memory, and why would it relate to him? Whatever. I guess I'll figure that out soon anyhow. But it was interesting to note that these events must have been how Stan and Wendy started dating again. Maybe Sentinel showing us this is a coincidence? Or maybe this was intentional. The rest of us didn't really say much, we took sips of water as we ascended the lighthouse. Luckily, we met no other opposition along the way. But then we arrived in another square room. In the very back was another doorway that was sealed shut. It looked tightly made of silver, so Ray probably can't dragonshouw that door down. In the middle was a statue of a blindfolded female angel with wings on her back. It only showed her torso up (so there were no legs), and her hands are down at her lap as if she were going to receive or begging for a gift. One could walk into her palms.

"What is this?" Isaac asked.

"I don't know." I walked to the statue's palms and stood there. Nothing was happening. "What is this?"

"Maybe it's another one of those 'tests', like with Sentinel," Ray replied. Ray threw a frostbolt at the angel, but the frost shattered.

"I don't know, but I'm useless right now." As I got off the palms of the angel statue, Wendy took my place a few seconds later, and the statue glowed and hummed for a brief second.

"What?" Wendy looked at the statue then back at the rest of us.

"Maybe it's you, Wendy," Stan replied.

"Hm..." Wendy rubbed her chin for a moment. Then she faced the statue and knelt down. She brought the palms of her hands together as if saying a prayer at church. All of a sudden, Wendy's body and the eyes underneath the angel statue's headband began to glow with bright, holy light.

"This has to do with our powers," Ray said, "it's like instinct or something."

All of a sudden, I saw myself and my friends be lifted off the ground. Black shadows encircled us as Stan, Isaac, Ray and his elemental, and I floated above the ground. "Ah! Help!" We all shouted. I don't know what's going on. Why are we being lifted up? This can't mean anything good.

Wendy stood up and turned around. "Stan! What's happening?"

"Help us!" We all shouted. Why wasn't Wendy being lifted up?

As Wendy prepared to draw out her sword, I could hear a sweet, feminine voice boom in the room coming out of the statue. "Leave them!"

"What?" We all said. Wendy turned around to face the statue.

"Please, trust me. Leave them. Come back into my arms. Your friends will be ok."

"But my friends!" Wendy looked back at us, who were still trapped in the shadow bubble. All of a sudden, eight shadowy creatures of tentacles flowed into the room. They completely ignored Wendy and stood underneath the rest of my friends and me. The shadow bubble began to descend onto the creatures, who were gnawing away, probably waiting to eat us. "No! Damnit!"

"Trust me, they will be ok. Come back with me and complete the ritual."

Wendy returned into the statue's arms and knelt down again. After all, there wasn't much Wendy could do on her own, and the shadow fiends paid Wendy no mind. But the problem was that we were descending still. "Oh no!" Ray yelled. "Wendy!"

"We're gonna die!" Isaac cried.

"Please, Wendy, please make it work," Stan whispered. I can see what Stan meant, but I, too, hope what Wendy's doing will work.

We were only two inches away from being torn apart by the shadowy fiends when another flash of light overtook me and blinding me out again.


Inside a wooden cabin, I found myself staring out the holes of a boarded-up window. Out in the courtyard of wherever I am right now, I saw all of my classmates along with Mr. Garrison and a few adults dressed as pioneers kneeling down on the ground. In the middle of the crowd knelt my own past self in my regular clothes - a black buttonless jacket with a hood and a zipper, gray pants, and gray gloves. My past self tightly gripped Esther Stoley's left hand with his right own, both looking down at the ground and cowering in fear. Around the entire class were other adults armed with assault weapons and armored with bulletproof vests.

"You were there." Isaac's voice came from behind me. "I remember your class went to that field trip, and those terrorists attacked. I was so scared you were gonna die."

"Well I'm still here now," I replied. "But this is Wendy's memory...somehow?" I turned to Isaac's spirit and shrugged.

"That seems really awful - the terrorist attack I mean." Ray's spirit shook his head, and Stan's and Wendy's spirits were behind Ray's own. "Sorry." I shuffled over to the side to see past versions of Stan, Wendy, and Jimmy hiding underneath a table.

"Dude, they're gonna kill Kenny!" The voice of Kyle nearly startled me. I didn't even see Past Kyle there, staring out the same window I was just now.

"I can't let them do it." It must have come from the Past Stan, based on the context of his words. "I've got to make the ultimate sacrifice." Ah, I see where this is going. I remember where this is going. This was the part where Stan went out to pretend to be an employee. And I might think badly of Stan, but to be honest, if it weren't for what he did in Pioneer Village, I might not be here today. That said, Past Stan stood up and walked to my right and out the door to exit the building.

"Stan?" Past Kyle asked.

Past Wendy leaned her head out the table. "Where are you going, Stan?"

"Wendy, I have to do something. Please look away." Kneeling down on the ground, Past Stan picked up some dirt and rubbed it all over his face, creating some sort of a brown beard. And although it worked, in retrospect, there was one flaw in that strategy: Stan's hair is naturally black, so if his hat came off for whatever reason, he'll get immediately found out then shot to death. But it worked out in the end. Past Stan then walked off to the right and out of sight.

"No! Please no!" Past Wendy crawled back under the table and began to weep and cry. "He's going to die!"

"Yeah." Wendy's spirit shrugged her shoulders. "I honestly thought you were gonna die back there, I was really worried." She looked up at Stan's spirit and smiled. "But you did good."

"Thanks," Stan's spirit smiled.

Past Kyle slid back under the table. "I know you're worried about him. I am too. But I know Stan can pull it off. You have to trust him, Wendy."

"F-f-f-fellas, I think he's doing it. Stan's d-d-d-doing it!" Past Kyle and Past Wendy got up from the table to kneel next to jimmy and look out the cracks of the windows.

"...no way!" Past Wendy's voice was in shock and awe. "He's actually doing it!" As the words left her mouth, the world faded to white again.


I found myself back in the lighthouse lying on something that's not quite the floor, but something soft. Then Isaac's voice came from underneath "Cole, get off me. Oof!"

Of course I was lying on Isaac. I jumped off and immediately turned around to see Stan, Ray, and Isaac getting up from the floor. "Sorry."

Then it hit me. We were on the floor, no longer in that shadow bubble. I looked around the room and found no shadow fiends. Wendy did it. Speaking of which, she stood in front of the statue where another figure stood in front of her. It was an angel that looked similar to the statue, but she was whole. Her skin was light, her hair was a dark brown color, her hands and feet bare, and she had no blindfold. She wore a white robe that looked like a bedsheet. "I am Avengelyne. Little paladin, what is your name?"

"Wendy," Wendy replied.

"You showed true spirit and reverence," Avengelyne spoke.

"Spirit? You almost scared me to death!" Wendy looked back at the rest of us, then at the angel. "I thought my friends were gonna get torn apart by...whatever those shadow things were!"

"But they didn't," Avengelyne countered. "I'll always watch over your friends like how Jesus Christ does. Goodbye, Wendy." Avengelyne then faded into pure light.

That was it? Just a goodbye? That's a bummer. Well, I mean, assuming Ray doesn't have any experiences, we're gonna have to run into these memories at least two more times, so I guess it's their way of stretching out messages over as long of a time period as possible. Wendy rubbed her chin again. "I...think I had a revelation there like Stan did."

"That is?" Ray asked.

Wendy shrugged. 'I'm not sure. I'm not sure how to explain it." Wendy peered behind the statue. "The doorway's open. Let's go."


Well, there it is, Chapter 21. I don't know when I'm going to update another chapter, but I'm hoping it will be soon. My goal is to get this story finished before next summer.