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Chapter 40: The State Plagued With Perpetual Rain Pt. 3 (Final)

"There's more to that lab than meets the eye," Raven says.

Cloud shakes his head. "The whole tower in general is greatly mysterious, especially that gate we saw within. I believe the monsters are primarily kept wherever it leads to."

Nodding her head, Raven folds her arms underneath her chest. "I believe so as well, its destruction denoted as much. However, given the tower's substantial build, there are undoubtedly more quarters the monsters are secured in."

Cloud nods. "Right, and many other things." Even though he and Raven are naturally curious about the tower, it is not their top priority. He looks over at Yuna, who's been utterly quiet. Reason being she appears to be deep in her thoughts, her eyes focused blankly on the floor. "Yuna?"

The soft call of her name startles the young spirit a little. She blinks up at Cloud, her cheeks reddening when she sees him looking at her. "S-sorry," she quickly averts her eyes elsewhere while gripping her left arm. "I-I didn't mean to not participate in the conversation."

Cloud gives her a small smile, somewhat used to her habit of blushing whenever they make eye contact or not. It reminds him of... He mentally discards the thought from his head. "It's okay. Care to tell us what you were mulling over?"

Yuna frowns. "The monsters in the Research And Production Lab...it was disconcerting how they were staring only at Kyle, like he was a..." Her voice doesn't trail off because she can't express her feelings on the matter the right way, rather she doesn't want to seem suspecting like Ingrum was. No, like she used to be twelve years ago.

"A being that starkly reminded them of their creator?" Raven guesses in a canny tone. Yuna grips her arm tighter, her frown deepening.

Cloud looks at Raven with slightly narrowed eyes. "Are you starting to suspect Kyle has some relation with the Dark Master?"

"Whether he does or not, only time will tell."

Raven's evasive response is met with a full-blown glare from Cloud. "I should've expected you to elude my question."

Lessening the pressure on her arm, Yuna observes Raven's face, her expression consistently stoic. Despite that, Yuna has not once felt wary of her. Her impassive peculiarity is galling rather than unsettling, but Dark spirits are mostly infamous for their unscrupulous nature anyway. "I...have to agree with Raven." Cloud and Raven direct their attention to Yuna. "I've been observing Kyle throughout the years for any changes in his behavior. He's only ever been seen 'blanking out' at random moments, as Kenneth described it." Cloud frowns at that. "Kyle would abruptly detach himself from reality, no one has been able to snap him out of that state. At first, I thought those were brought about by the Dark Master's influence, but after years of it happening with no discernible causes...I'm not so sure."

"That's really concerning," Cloud says. "Do you remember when this first started?"

"Five years ago, specifically when South Park was invaded by monsters en masse. At that time, none of the monsters actively went for Kyle, instead they..." Yuna widens her eyes and releases her arm, seeing a correlation between today and the conflict five years ago. "They regarded him...as if he wasn't a threat."

Only the rain pouring down in torrents sound over the silence. None of the spirits can overlook this potential problem. They don't have enough evidence to ascertain if the Dark Master is the real reason Kyle has been occasionally entering an absentminded trance or not, nor why the monsters regard Kyle as someone they do not feel threatened by. Cloud and Yuna have many questions, all of which they must retain within their minds. They know they will one day get their answers, though it will be sooner than they think. Raven harbors no concerns, however. Whatever happens, whether Kyle ends up becoming a foe or remaining an ally, the outcome solely depends on Kyle himself.

A few minutes elapse. Cloud heaves a sigh as he scratches the back of his head. "For now, let's keep this information to ourselves. We shouldn't cause any unnecessary commotion since we lack sufficient proof."

Raven and Yuna nod their heads, Yuna acquiring a steely gleam in her eye. "I trust Kenneth and Stan." Mainly because they are very close friends of Kyle and they will do anything to protect him.

"So do I," Cloud says. Raven hums, seemingly in agreement.

/

Stan

"M-mom? I-is that you?" After tentatively voicing out those questions, Stan can't help but feel like he's trying to speak to a ghost. His mother's voice came out of nowhere so suddenly.

There is a chuckle. "Yes, it's me, sweetie."

Stan blinks. "But how? Is this some new kind of telepathy?"

"Hmm, I guess both yes and no. Instead of transferring my thoughts to you, I'm verbally communicating through your necklace." Stan and Kenny look down at the pretty accessory, Kyle coming to sit down next to Stan, so he can look at it too. Nothing seems different about the necklace, even when Stan's mother speaks again. "Telepathy drains mental and magical energy simultaneously and can put your health at risk if it extends a certain duration. Yours, Kenny's, and Kyle's jewelry are mediums I created in order to make long distant communication much easier and safer."

Kenny frowns, appearing a bit disappointed. "So they're not protection charms?"

"Oh, did one of them get triggered into activating?"

"No, but I think the concealment spell you casted on them came off," Stan says.

"...Came off how exactly?" His mother asks with a stern edge in her voice.

"It's raining here, so Wendy and Cloud had to Purify the darkness off," Stan explains.

"We apologize for blowing your cover so soon, Sharon."

The three teens look towards the doorway, sauntering in are Cloud, Raven, and Yuna. Yuna closes the door. Stan wonders why they're not surprised by the suddenness of his mother's voice.

"No need to apologize. I understand that it was a necessary measure."

The three spirits stop in front of the television, standing side by side. "Indeed it was," Cloud says. "But we won't have to do it again because Raven re-established a hotel for us to temporarily reside in and we were provided with adaptable raincoats."

"That's great to hear. Are the raincoats made from special material?"

"Yes, monster skins," Raven answers nonchalantly.

Stan's mother doesn't respond. Since she's not physically in the room, Stan can't tell if her speechlessness signifies her revulsion or something else. When more seconds pass by, Stan is about to ask his mother if she's still there, but she finally speaks again before he can open his mouth. "I hope they've been properly manufactured."

"So far, the only thing everyone," Cloud glances at Raven. "Well except two felt, was absolute disgust," he says whimsically.

"As long as they cause no serious side effects, then all is good," Stan's mother says, relieved.

Stan eyes the raincoats the spirits are still wearing. "The raincoats don't even look like they're made from monsters, they look completely normal."

"Must be because of those machines," Kyle says. "They appear to have been handmade inventions."

"Right. The guy who owns the tower probably created them," Cloud says.

"It seems you all still have many questions."

Cloud sighs while crossing his arms. "We received some answers, such as why we got assaulted by rain and not any monsters upon arriving here. It's been raining ceaselessly for twelve years straight, and all of the monsters are imprisoned inside of an enormous tower. But at the same time, we had some information withheld from us."

"Like the true purpose of them keeping the monsters alive," Raven says. "I get the feeling that they are not using them solely for research and production purposes."

Stan and the others have the same thought, though Stan doesn't think Henrietta and Ingrum bear any harmful intentions, despite their secrecy and Ingrum's surly skepticism towards Kyle.

"Hmm, I can't voice my opinion since I haven't seen the tower, so the only thing I can say is you all must stay cautious."

"Don't worry, we will," Stan says resolutely.

There is a brief moment of verbal silence. "Have either you or Kenny been asking questions to help with your search?"

Stan's and Kenny's faces sink into a slight frown. "We were told that, due to being exposed under the rain for too long, the people and even spirits that came here were turned into monsters," Stan answers grimly.

"But that's because they ignored the warnings they were given," Kenny quickly adds in. "I'm positive Mr. Marsh, Shelly, my mom, Karen, and Kevin would've listened if they had wandered through here," he ends with such conviction, which puts a small smile on Stan's face, thinking the exact same thing.

Stan's mother lets out a small chuckle. "Yes, you are undoubtedly right. Randy is a stubborn and gullible man, but with Shelly by his side, he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize their safety. Shelly would make sure of that. And as for your family, Kenny, I trust the man that saved them has been protecting them."

Their optimistic ideals do not fully abate their worries, however they will continue to keep hope alive. Their journey has only just begun, Stan has faith that he and Kenny will be reunited with their family members one day, without a doubt.

"Well this is only the start to you all's journey, remember not to rush things." Stan and Kenny voice an affirmative reply. "How many survivors are there?"

Cloud replies, "Three, technically, but only two remained here—the host and her Inner Guardian. They managed to clear out all of the locations the monsters came out from, though they didn't specify if all three of them did it together. Regardless, what they did by themselves was a remarkable feat."

"Yes, that is most commendable," Stan's mother says with genuine praise. "I hope they agreed to cooperate with us."

"They did," Stan says. "And some time later, we're gonna devise a way to weaken the darkness."

"To weaken the darkness..." his mother murmurs, as if musing to herself. "The only solution that comes to mind is by using Purification, unless there's another Light magical spell I'm unaware of."

"Hmm..." All heads turn to look at Cloud after he let out a ruminative hum, his eyebrows furrowed, his lips a thin line, and his arms crossing over his chest. "To my knowledge, there are a total of four curative spells that fall under the semi-advanced category. But since we're talking about weakening the darkness of a large-scale, then the appropriate spell to do that would be Enhanced Purification, which is its advanced adaptation."

Learning about brand new spells, whether they're related to Dark, Light, or Mixed, will always be a thrilling experience to Stan. It's almost just as fun as trying to cast the newly discovered incantation, but repeated failed attempts can eventually dwindle the exhilarating feeling. It all depends on ones motivation to either keep training or give up and move on.

"I see. I never knew there was such a thing as Enhanced Purification," his mother says, fascinated. "But I fear Craig, Wendy, and perhaps even Leopold won't be up to the task."

Cloud frowns. "You're right about Leopold, but as for Craig—when Wendy and I were going to Purify everyone, he said he wouldn't be able to assist us. I'm assuming his healing ability needs some more work."

Kyle shakes his head. "It's not that. He's exceptionally good at healing, but for some reason, he's unable to initiate Purification." Which Stan thinks is still very weird, especially since Stripe doesn't know what the problem could be.

"How...uncommon," Cloud says, taken aback but still frowning. "Never before have I heard of someone being deft at healing, yet incapable of using Purification."

"Would it be possible if you, Ingrum, and Henrietta were to weaken the darkness yourselves?" Kenny asks.

"I'm not sure. We'll have to save this part of the discussion until Ingrum gets here."

"That sounds like the best option," Mrs. Marsh says. "Good luck on your attempt, I'm hoping it goes smoothly."

Cloud smiles, grateful for her considerate reassurance. "Thank you, as do I. It's going to be a tiring procedure, that I know." He lets out a small sigh. "Well, we'll leave you four be. We're going to see what's wrong with the lights in the hallway."

"We couldn't find the light switch," Kyle tells him. "I think there's one behind the door at the end of the hall, but it's locked."

"It won't be for long." Raven walks towards the door, opens it, and is out of the room.

"I'll stay," Yuna says. Cloud nods and exits the room, closing the door behind him.

"How are things over there?" Stan asks his mother. Yuna takes off her raincoat and gently sets it down beside Kenny's on the bed before sitting down next to him.

"Nothing has changed. Cloud mentioning the complete extermination of the monsters' spawn points gave me the idea of doing the same thing here. I roughly know where a few of them are, so I'll get rid of them today."

Stan tries not to tense up, reminding himself that she will be fine. "Okay. Please be careful."

"Of course," his mother assures him in a tender tone of voice. "Oh, and one more thing. Neither you nor Kenny have forgotten about your punishment, have you?"

"No," Kenny quickly responds, as if he was waiting for this topic to be brought up. "I wanted to mention it to you before we left, but, uh," he lightly scratches his cheek with a finger. "I got distracted by the Warping Zone."

"What about you, Stan?"

"I didn't forget either," Stan responds truthfully.

"Good. I know the both of you won't violate your punishment, but...just in case, Kyle, can I appoint a task to you?"

The redhead blinks. "Huh? A task?"

"Mm-hmm. If it's not too much trouble, I would like for you to keep an eye on what they eat."

"Aw, c'mon, mom. Seriously?" Stan complains. Kenny burst out into a short laugh. Chris snickers.

"Yes, seriously. I need someone to monitor your meals and snacks, and Kyle just so happens to be perfect for the job."

Kyle chuckles. "I'll do it." Stan glares at him.

"Thank you. It's only for two months. Kenny's was delayed for a bit because he was still unconscious, but that's changed. Instead, his will end on the same day as Stan's." Kenny sighs silently in relief.

"Okay. How will I report to you?" Kyle asks.

"I'm glad you asked. This applies to all three of you and it is simple, however you must also do so with great caution because you must transfer a small portion of your magical energy into your jewelry. After that, project your voice into it."

It's essentially the same method that allows them to take their jewelry off, hence why Mrs. Marsh advised them to be careful whilst doing so. Stan fully understands why she made jewelry for him, Kenny, and Kyle, they were granted multiple purposes that were thought out thoroughly with care. The three teens have a stronger justification not to misplace them now. "So what are you using to talk to us with?" Stan asks.

"My wedding ring. I tinkered with it." Stan can picture the fond smile on his mother's face, making his own lips curl upwards slightly. "I'd better get going before it gets too dark. Be sure to keep in touch whenever you can."

"Will do. Talk to you later," Stan says. The others bid his mother goodbye as well, ending the conversation. Stan narrows his eyes at Kyle again. "I can't believe you agreed."

Kyle shrugs, seeing nothing wrong with his decision. "What, did you expect me to turn her down?"

"But do you think it'll be easy?" Kenny answers with a counter question, smirking with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Stan acquires the same look on his face. "Yeah, monitoring what we eat for two months? I dunno about you, but that sounds hella tedious."

Kyle shoots him and Kenny a glare. "You two are gonna behave like toddlers on purpose."

"I'll help you."

Stan, Kenny, and Kyle look at Yuna in slight shock. "Yuna," Kenny appears hurt. "You're gonna betray me?" His sorrowful tone strikes Yuna with instant remorse.

Kyle rolls his eyes. "Don't fall for it, Yuna. It's not even that big of a deal."

Yuna blushes, embarrassed that she believed her host's fake act so easily. "R-right."

"I'll gladly accept your help, I'll definitely need it," Kyle says.

"Great, now we've got two traitors," Stan mutters dully.

"So here's how we're gonna do this," Kyle starts, and begins to go over the strategy he somehow came up with in such a short time frame to Yuna. She listens intently. Stan just shakes his head, faintly smiling.

"How about we come up with a plan of our own too?"

Stan blinks. Since Kyle and Yuna are focused on each other, they don't notice his slightly surprised expression. He stares into Kenny's eyes, they are sparkling with ardent mischief. He grins. "Let's do it."

Ingrum

"Phew, that should be the last of 'em." Henrietta steps out of the dungeon while pulling the hood down from her head. She stands beside a smiling Ingrum, whose eyes are closed, in front of the wooden rubble.

"Amazing how it took us nearly four hours to finish," Ingrum remarks, feigning his astonishment.

Henrietta scowls at him for his sarcastic accusation. "You tryna say it's my fault?"

"Henrietta," the quality of Ingrum's smile becomes visibly strained as he turns his head towards the woman. "I know you were taking your frustrations out on the monsters, but you didn't have to spend unnecessary amounts of time on each of them."

Aware that he's right, Henrietta looks away with a, "Hmph." She crosses her arms. "You should be glad you didn't have to waste any magical energy on them. Instead, you can use it to fix both entrances," she says, referring to the mess before them and the shattered door far behind them.

Dropping his lips into a line as he opens his eyes, Ingrum averts his attention ahead. He knew repairing the tower and the dungeon entrances was going to be his assignment anyway, not that he's complaining since they won't require too much effort. He sticks out a hand towards the gaping ingress, wanting to mend the large door first. Once a pink aura manifests around his hand, all of the timber on the floor levitate into the air and hover towards what's left of the door. They arrange themselves imperfectly, but a pink flash organizes their positions in the blink of an eye. The door looks as good as new. Lastly, is the gate. Only the fractured metal parts bend themselves backwards, their deep squealing resounding over the rain. It isn't long until the steel bars are aligned straight, though there are some gaps. Another pink flash magically fixes that, restoring the gate to its former pristine condition.

Henrietta unfolds her arms. "I'm gonna head home. Have fun explaining your plan to those guys at the hotel."

Ingrum lowers his arm as he looks at her again. "You're going to help too, so you might as tag along with me."

Henrietta frowns, looking a little peeved. "I'm still in my nightwear in case you've forgotten."

Ingrum almost rolls his eyes, but settles on giving her a deadpan stare. He would be understanding of her 'predicament' had she ever showed signs of caring about her appearance years ago. "Fine. I'll notify you when we're ready to commence with my strategy." Henrietta nods, then teleports to her house. Ingrum turns around and sticks out a hand. The mystical process occurs similarly to the previous two times. The darkness seems to intensify as soon as the door is repaired, but Ingrum isn't bothered by this in the slightest. Dropping his arm, he teleports to the hotel Cloud and his allies are currently inhabiting, the several pink petals fluttering downward until they disappear.

/

The pink glow from Ingrum's body dims completely when he's inside of the lobby. He sees nobody around, beating his instinctive perception of magical energy to the punch by assuming they're up in the rooms on the first floor. He walks to the elevator and calls for it by pressing a button that has an arrow pointing down. He waits a little more than a few seconds until he hears a dinging sound, then the door splits apart and he steps onto the platform. He pushes one out of the nine buttons on the right side of the door that will take him only to the first floor, and the door promptly slides shut before ascending. He admires the technology on this planet, most of them were invented from human hands backed by their intelligence, and those very same machinery created a myriad of them but with distinctively miscellaneous forms and functions. When he came to earth, he held no interest towards technology at first. The strange contraptions with four or more wheels that were getting pelted by clear water droplets on the streets seemed to have lost their purpose since they all appeared abandoned, just like the buildings, though many were alight within. Deeming the wheeled apparatus' as nothing but obstructions, he got rid of every single one of them. Little did he know one person would change his entire outlook on machinery came the upcoming days.

The elevator dings one last time and the door opens. Lights spaced out by at least six meters overhead extend all the way down the long hallway. Ingrum discerns five doors that are halfway or all of the way ajar further down on the same side of the hall, the voices speaking at normal volume traveling out towards his eardrums. None of them sound like Cloud. He heads to the room he senses the sliverette is not alone in, the second energy belonging to that female Dark spirit. He has a bad feeling about her as well.

Once he's closer to the first occupied room, he announces he's ready to talk about his plan with them, silencing the chatter. He stops in front of the fifth room and waves with a small smile. Cloud and the Dark spirit are not wearing their raincoats, they're sitting on the beds across from each other. They both greet him with a nod.

"We'll talk in here, and be sure to bring your raincoats," Ingrum tells the teens and the Mixed spirit that stepped out of their rooms, a serious expression developing on his face. He enters and stands in front of the faulty television. A few seconds later, the humans and the Mixed spirit walk in, some putting on their raincoats while the others carry theirs. Once everyone is comfortably situated, Ingrum speaks again. "I would like to demonstrate what some of us will do first." The test tube he took earlier slips down from his sleeve and into his hand. He holds it out with two fingers lightly grasping the brim. He begins to channel his magical energy into the black liquid within the test tube, engulfing it in a dazzling pink aura. The impure liquid radiates in a flimsy white color, allowing everybody to see the mysterious substance slowly altering into a different color. Soon, it is a dense red. The aura swiftly fades away.

"I knew it was going to be Enhanced Purification."

"And I knew you would figure it out," Ingrum says, praising Cloud like a proud teacher would to their student.

"Is that...human blood?" The seemingly outspoken girl who complimented Ingrum this morning asks, her face expressing shock and disgust.

"Yes, proof that this was extracted from a monster that was previously human." Ingrum receives troubled frowns after his response. He whisks the test tube back to the Research And Production Lab, then lowers his arm down. "As Cloud just stated, only those that possess Light magic will perform Enhanced Purification on the darkness tainting the atmosphere in this State only. It is an advanced spell, though since it's modified directly from Purification, learning it shouldn't be difficult if you're already adept at Purifying." Had he not seen Cloud and the girl with long, ebony hair Purifying the darkness off of their crew earlier, he would've been doubtful of the girl's skills. Now that feeling is only targeted towards the tall male with amber eyes.

"But I can't use Purification," says the teen that was aforementioned in Ingrum's mind. Ingrum got his answer a lot quicker than he expected. He tries not to appear displeased by having one less member helping them. There are already not many among them that were appointed with Light magic as is.

"Rather, he is unable to invoke it out," Cloud clarifies. The noirette widens his eyes at him.

Ingrum knits his eyebrows, not completely understanding what he meant. Unless... Ingrum frowns at the teen. "Do you not know how to heal?"

"Of course I do, but..." The noirette sheepishly scratches the back of his head. "I have no idea why I can't use Purification, and my Inner Guardian doesn't know the cause either."

Something is very fishy about that, if not off-putting. "I would like to see how you try to go about using it with my own eyes. We're going to return to the tower and climb up to its peak."