(A/n: Trigger Warning: animal death/suicide)


Chapter 12: Silver

August 23rd- Craig

Nothing but rain, thunder, and lightning on a Wednesday morning.

It's been storming nonstop ever since Sunday, and school was cancelled as a result ever since Monday. Who knew the constant flow of heavy rain would cause all of the snow to liquefy in such a short period of time? It's been a long while since South Park had a storm, let alone rain. Not a single soul is out in this severe weather, making the small town look barren.

The dark grey clouds loom overhead, casting a sepulchral feel into the air and putting a damper on Craig's mood. He's looking vacantly at the raindrops that are abusing his window. Boisterous thunder had rudely woken him up an hour ago, as well as his baby sister but their mother quickly went to calm her down the moment she started crying.

Craig blinks when a bright yellow light flashes in the sky, then flinches at the thunder that follows suit. He covers his window back up with his blue curtain, and ambles over to his bed. Sitting down on the edge of his mattress, he looks into Stripe's cage. Frowning not because he sees the guinea pig still asleep, but because both its food and water bowls appear untouched. He refilled Stripe's blue water bowl yesterday, so it's very surprising to see that it didn't drink any of it.

Figuring Stripe will eat and drink when it wakes up, Craig scoots back and lays down facing the ceiling, pulling his dark brown bedsheets over himself. Now feeling extremely bored, he decides to let his mind wander. The person he thinks about is Tweek, and his frown deepens.

It was just last Wednesday when him and Clyde last talked to the boy, demanding they be told the reason for his avoidance. "I didn't care anymore at first, but his reason for ignoring me and Clyde was weird, stupid, and creepy," Craig thinks, picturing the look of fear on Tweek's face. At first, Craig felt bad for being mean towards Tweek, but the negative feeling quickly returned after Tweek finally gave them an answer. "Who's 'he' Tweek talked about that said would kill me and Clyde if we kept hanging around him? I bet he made that up. If he didn't wanna be friends with us anymore, then he just should've told us flat out instead of lying." After Tweek ran away, Craig looked over at Clyde, who appeared just as nonplussed as he did. "I asked Clyde did he believe what Tweek said, but all he told me was that he didn't know." Then after that, they went home.

Craig remembers the following days in school after that day, Tweek was absent both the last two days and Clyde was late to class that Thursday. Nothing seemed wrong with the brunette, so Craig asked him why was he late once the boy sat down. "I overslept," was the terse answer he received, and it was left at that. Craig wasn't sure if Clyde was lying or not, but he assumed Clyde couldn't stop thinking about what Tweek told them the previous day, which was why he-

A vibration of thunder startles Craig out of his thoughts. He's seriously starting to hate storms now, and it's something this town seldom gets. He doesn't mind the rain, but not at this velocity. The raindrops sound like pebbles pelting against the house. He flinches when he feels another rumble of thunder, which awakens his baby sister yet again. She starts crying and Craig groans.

"Craig, check on Tricia for me!" His mother says loud enough for him to hear over the girl's bawling.

"Awww, whhhhy?" The boy whines. He flings the covers off of him and gets out of bed, grumbling as he plods towards his door. As soon as he opens it, his baby sister's wailing agitates his eardrums. Wincing, he covers his ears with his hands as he heads to Tricia's nursery room that's across the hall from his parents' bedroom. He pauses in the doorway just as some more thunder kicks in, causing Tricia to cry even harder. "Ugh, why couldn't dad check on her instead?" Craig grouses as he approaches his baby sister. The room is small and contains little furniture - there are only a pink-colored crib, a brown nightstand with a lamp on top of it, a table that's next to the nightstand, and by itself on the opposite side of the room is a white dresser.

Annoyed, Craig goes over to the lamp and turns it on. Instantly, dull light brightens up the dark room, and Tricia's sobbing stops. Craig is shocked that turning on the lamp put an end to her crying. It was surprisingly that simple. He nears the crib and peers through the narrow wooden bars, even more surprised to see the strawberry-blonde-haired girl fast asleep with her small hands curled into weak fists that are raised slightly in the air. Craig smiles, glad that it didn't take much effort to calm her down. Just when he decides to return to his room, he covers his mouth to keep from screaming when a peal of thunder rattles the house, disrupting Tricia's short sleep. The girl whimpers as she opens her grey-colored eyes, tears ready to be shed.

Craig has to think fast if he doesn't want to feel the wrath of Tricia's crying again, and at full force. Lowering his hands from his mouth, he tries recalling what his mother did to ease the girl's temper. She did a lot of things such as cooing her, gently rocking her back and forth in her arms, holding her hand as she softly told her words to silence her, and so on. Craig grimaces at the thought of doing any of those, however he can only do two out of the three since he's too short to take Tricia out of her crib. He can hold her hand through the bars and talk her back to sleep. His cheeks color a faint red. "This is gonna be so embarrassing. Good thing mom and dad are in their room." He extends an arm in between the bars closest to Tricia, gently taking her soft, small hand into his own. The little girl turns her head to look at him with glossy eyes and a pout. Craig stares back pressing his lips into a trembling line, thinking hard for the right words to say. This is his first time trying to calm his baby sister down. Their parents - mostly their mother - always did the task of quieting her down. Craig knew there would come a day where he would have to take care of Tricia on his own, but he never prepared himself for it. Their mother tried getting him to hold Tricia a few times before, whether she was crying or not, but Craig never wanted to. He was scared he would drop her if he wasn't careful, that or she wouldn't want to be carried by him, thus he would drop her that way.

A loud squeal of a giggle makes Craig jolt. He gapes at Tricia, unsure why she suddenly started giggling. But then she giggles harder at the face Craig is making, overlapping the thunder. Craig blinks. Perhaps he did something unconsciously amidst his pondering that the girl found comical, but what did he do? He knits his eyebrows together, his concentrated expression triggering another chortle from Tricia. "Wait..." Craig puffs out his cheeks and enlarges his eyes. Tricia roars with laughter. "So I was making a funny face that made her laugh," he realizes. He deflates his cheeks and reduces the size of his eyes, then lets go of Tricia's hand. The girl instantly looks like she's about to cry again. Craig quickly covers his face with his hands, changing his expression into something he's sure will make his baby sister laugh again. After a few seconds, he opens his hands to reveal his tongue sticking out and his eyes looking up at the ceiling. Tricia laughs excitedly with her arms flailing around. Craig covers his face a second time, and shows her a different goofy face. She laughs while cutely clapping her hands. He repeats the process for minutes, the frequent thunderclaps not fazing either of them in the slightest. The rainfall has been preserving its fast yet rhythmic tempo.

Craig feels that he's on his tenth funny face now. His facial muscles feel very sore. Much to his relief, Tricia yawns mid-laugh and squirms around on her back with her eyes closed. Craig relaxes his face and massages his cheeks with gentle pressure, feeling the tightness gradually loosening. After a couple of soothing circular motions on his cheeks, his face is free of any cramps. A small smile spreads across his lips as he looks at his baby sister, who's now asleep.

"Aww, that was so cuuute~"

Craig stifles a scream. He snaps his attention towards the doorway. Standing there wearing a white tank top and matching colored pajama bottoms is his mother. Craig glares at her with an embarrassed blush on his cheeks. She steps into the room with a soundless giggle, stopping next to Craig and lightly ruffling his hair.

"Had fun?" She asks jokingly.

Craig just responds with a half-hearted shrug, his sheepish blush fading. He won't admit it to his mother, but he did have a good time entertaining his baby sister with humorous facial expressions. Although doing so made his face ache, but it was worth it. He yawns, suddenly feeling tired.

His mother pats his head. "Looks like you've tired yourself out too."

"N-no, I didn't." Craig blushes again, and he walks out of the room.

"I'll cook something for dinner later, so if you get hungry, eat a snack," his mother tells him.

"Okay," he says.

He enters his room and closes the door, hearing Stripe squeak twice. He goes over to its cage. "What is it? Need a refill?" He asks, locking eyes with Stripe through the plastic glass. Stripe silently observes Craig. Aware that he's not going to get a response, the little noirette gets on his bed, sits close to his nightstand, then leans forward to check his best friend's bowls himself. Both containers remain unconsumed. "Striiipe," Craig says as he leans back, very disappointed. "I'm gonna have to tell mom about this, but I'll do that later." He lays down on his brown pillow, making himself comfortable under his bedsheets. He closes his eyes, the shower outside lulling him to sleep.

A pair of beady black eyes watch him. A roll of thunder reverberates throughout the town.

/

A clear liquid lands on the tip of Craig's nose, leaving no wet traces behind. His face twitches a little before his eyes slowly flutter open. Entering his vision is a dark and cloudy sky. He becomes conscious of the hard ground he's lying on. He sits up and inspects his surroundings. "W-why am I...outside?" He thinks, greatly confused. He sees nothing but faintly lit metal street lamps stationed on each side of a wide path of snow, the trail stretching further ahead and behind him. "What is this place?" Craig places a bare hand on the ground, the snow feels as hard as a rock and blank of its usual freezing temperature. It isn't ice, yet it feels like it is. He balls his hand into a fist and knocks on the hard snow, the sound it produces is hollow. "The heck?" Craig is both weirded out and fascinated by this. He stands up on his bare feet, thinking it's best not to stay in one spot. This place may look deserted, but something or maybe even someone could be lurking within the fog outside the pathway. The possibility gives him goosebumps, and now he notices that despite how cold this place looks, he feels no such thing. Not even any heat, which would've been just as strange since there are no heat sources around.

The boy's amber eyes glance in every direction. The longer he walks, the more uneasy he becomes. He soon longs for some guidance, wandering around aimlessly isn't something he's used to doing, especially in a place he has no clue where he's at. The street lamps give off baleful essences, their red lights are something Craig has never seen before. He can't tell if the clouds above are going to bring forth snow or rain, the liquid that fell on his nose minutes prior makes him think the latter.

Craig grips his left arm in a light but tense hold, not liking the feeling of being alone in this unknown world. "I wanna go home..." But he walks on, keeping his leisure pace.

Some of the fog drifts more than ten meters in front of Craig, and he stops. Through the wisp of smoke, he can make out a small creature on the ground and a house that's further away from the critter. Craig wants to get a better look at the animal, but a strong sense of caution prevents him from doing so. However, there is no need for him to move because the undecipherable organism skitters towards him instead. Craig narrows his eyes nervously as the animal's brown and white fur come into clearer view, its small, round black eyes focused on the raven-haired boy.

Craig gasps. "S-Stripe?!" He can't believe his best friend is here! Letting go of his arm, he also approaches Stripe. The guinea pig twitches its nose upwards once the two are closer to each other. Craig bends down and scoops Stripe up in the palms of his hands, standing up straight while raising Stripe up to his face. "What the heck are you doing here?" Craig asks, although it was pointless to do such a thing since animals can't talk. There were times when Craig actually understood Stripe. It would be a simple yes or no question, and one squeak or two from his best friend was enough for him to comprehend its answer. "It would be really cool if Stripe could talk...but I know that'll never happen," Craig thinks with a disappointed frown.

"If That Is What You Desire, Master Craig."

Craig is immensely startled by the voice that just spoke to him inside his head, but refrained himself from dropping Stripe. The voice belonged to a boy, he sounded young and innocent. Craig frantically looks around for the child, lowering Stripe down near his stomach. He ends up gaping at the mysterious house in the distance. "W-what the-"

"It Was Me, Stripe."

Craig raises Stripe back up to eye level. "Y-you?! But how?!"

Stripe twitches his nose again. "Yes, It's Because You Yearned For Me To Speak. I Can Now Talk To You Through Telepathy."

Craig can't believe it. After just one thought, his best friend that is an animal can all of a sudden communicate with him using human language. "O-oh...o-okay," he stutters. The shock takes a minute to leave his system. "Soo, umm, why did you call me Master? And can you tell me where we are or what this place is?"

"Yes, I Can Answer Those, However I Can't Tell You Much Since Time Is Limited. I Am Your Pet, Aren't I? So It's Only Respectable That I Call You My Master."

Craig shakes his head. "You're not just a pet, you're my best friend."

"But I'm Still Your Pet Regardless. If You No Longer Want Me To Refer To You As Master, I'll Drop The Title From Your Name."

Craig doesn't even consider it. "Just Craig is fine."

Stripe wiggles his nose a third time, acknowledging Craig's decision. "Okay. Now Regarding Where We Are, It Vaguely Resembles The Place You Will Have To Go To Soon. As You've Already Noticed, The Street Lamps Here Shine Red Lights. They Are Forewarning You Of The Dangers That Lie Ahead." Craig remains silent as he tries to comprehend Stripe's answer, but is having great difficulty doing so. "I Know This Is A Lot To Take In, Mast-I mean Craig, But Worry Not, I Will Be With You Through It All. As Will Your Friends. They Will Also Be A Part Of A Life-Changing Journey."

Amber eyes stare at Stripe with skepticism. "...What do you mean?" Craig asks.

"Mast-...Craig, Earth Is In Grave Danger. The Darkness Has Been Prompted To Move, However It's Approaching At A Slow Pace, And Since That's The Case, Its Underlings Called The Beings Of Darkness' Have Started Corrupting The Humans For Their Dark Master. An Ample Number Of Citizens In Your Hometown Have Already Lost Themselves To The Dark, But To Prevent More Innocent People From Falling Victim, You Will Train To Defeat The Being Of Darkness. You And Your Friends Will Be Trained By Spirits Known As Inner Guardians. There Are Three Types: Dark, Light, And Mixed. I Am A Light Inner Guardian."

There's silence on Craig's end once again. This...is way too sudden. How is he supposed to grasp all of this information in one go? The earth is suddenly threatened by darkness, its minions known as..."Wait...Beings of...Darkness'?" Craig's body becomes heavy with dread and his eyes widen. "Wendy told me about them, and the darkness too...Stan wasn't lying...was he?" "Stripe...a friend already told me about them, about the darkness and Beings of Darkness'. At first, I thought it was a stupid, made-up lie, but...hearing it from you must mean they're real. Stan and Wendy weren't...lying after all..." He drops to his knees. "That means...monsters...are real..."

"I See," Stripe murmurs softly. The guinea pig crawls out of Craig's hands. "It Seemed You Needed A Little More Convincing To Be Able To Believe Such Things Exist." Stripe gazes at the indistinguishable house in the distance. "Mas-Craig, There Is Something Really Important I Must Tell You, And I Need You To Listen Closely."

"M-monsters are real..."

A sudden gust of wind picks up, blowing bitter air around the two. Stripe's whiskers and fur sway in the strong current. He spins around to look at Craig, who's in a daze. "Master Craig?!"

Craig's lips curl into a crazed yet forced smile. "Heh...monsters...th-they're real. They exist...we're gonna die," he says, delusional.

The street lamps start to flicker, the harsh winds somehow turning the candle within their glass panes a darker red color.

"Oh no, this isn't good. His emotions are unstable," Stripe thinks, troubled. "I have to calm him down before..." The freezing winds are too strong for Stripe's small body to handle, impeding him from getting closer to Craig. The little animal struggles to keep himself on land. "P-Please, You Must Calm Down! You're Not Going To Die! You Will Fight For Your Life And The Lives Of The Humans All Over The World. If You Keep This Up, You Will Create A Drastic Change In The Future That Will Effect Not Only Yourself, But Your Friends As Well. So Please Calm Yourself, Master Craig, I'm Begging You!" Sadly, Stripe's words were ignored. Craig's eyes are now dull, lifeless even. "Damn it, seems words won't work. Looks like I'm going to have calm him down another way...Doing so will change only his future, however, but it is a risk I'm willing to take for my Master," Stripe thinks loyally. His black eyes glow a radiant white, then a transparent barrier encloses his body. It lifts him up into the air, the small barrier protecting him from the wind. He levitates up to Craig's glazed over eyes.

"I Am Both Your Pet...Best Friend, and Inner Guardian, Craig Tucker. For The Sake Of Your Future...I Will Change It For You, With My Own Power...And Life. From Here On And In The Future, I Will Still Be Able To Aid You On Your Journey To Defeat The Darkness And The Beings Of Darkness'...But..."

The clear barrier shines brightly like Stripe's eyes, burying the guinea pig in a ball of white light. The lustrous bead travels to Craig's right eye, and carefully enters into the center of his pupil. In that instant, the winds cease and the light within the street lamp posts change color. The dark red turns black, and the dark grey clouds become an ominous mixture of black and red. The house that was in the fog disappears.

Craig maintains a blank stare, feeling a slight twinge in his right eye, but makes no effort to flinch. He just sits there on his knees as the world around him slowly fades into darkness.

A single snowdrop descends from the clouds before they, too, vanish into nothingness. The little snowdrop appears like a sparkling orb in the dark.

Craig's eye suddenly reacts to the white snowdrop, their colors corresponding but only for a brief moment before fading with the world that no longer exists.

/

"-r-ig! Cr-ig, wa-e up!"

Craig's ears prick up at the voice of a woman, sounding as if she's far away as he comes to. Shortly afterwards, he hears the sounds of rapid pattering against the house. The nudge against his arm isn't so gentle. His head feels heavy, and it's throbbing to a point where it's starting to hurt his right eye. With a pained groan, Craig stirs from his deep sleep and slowly opens his left eye. His right eye pains him too much to open.

Through the blurry vision of one eye, he vaguely sees a small light protruding in the darkness. "W-where...am I? And why does my eye hurt so much?" He wonders, his memory hazy. He wants to scream and cry at the excruciating pain in his right eye, but instead he groans again. Weakly, he turns his head to look left. A lamp, an animal cage, and a woman resting her head on top of her folded arms on his bed appear in his view. Relief shows in the blonde's tearful eyes.

"Oh thank God, you're finally awake," his mother says, but she frowns. "I-I have some bad news, it's...it's about Stripe."

"S...Stripe...?" An image of the brown and white guinea pig flashes in Craig's mind. He now remembers everything that transpired in his dream - how his best friend could suddenly talk to him after just a mere random thought of his, how his voice sounded like he was around Craig's age, yet he was very wise like an elder that lived for a long time, and the information Stripe told him. The furry animal basically confirmed that not only is South Park in danger, but the whole world is.

The approaching darkness and Beings of Darkness' are real...

But what could've possibly happened to Stripe while Craig was asleep? Is it serious to a point where his mother is on the verge of crying about it? The boy feels a pair of hands gently grip his hand. Appearing heartbroken, his mother starts squeezing Craig's hand as she says, "Stripe...has...passed away."

A loud resonance of thunder shakes the house. Craig stares at his mother with only his one eye widening in disbelief. "M-mom...what are you talking about? Stripe isn't dead," he says, or rather that's what he wants to believe. There's just no way Stripe is dead, it was alive and well this morning.

"I'll let you see for yourself..."

Craig's mother releases his hand. Sitting up is difficult. Craig tries not to cry out at the sharp pain that stings his right eye. His mother helps him up, then she grabs Stripe's cage, setting it down beside Craig on his bed. He prepares to look inside his best friend's cage. The moment he does, he's overcome with grief.

Curled into a ball in the middle of the cage is Stripe, its eyes are closed...and it's not breathing.

"N-no..." Craig's eyes fill with tears, which puts additional pain in his right one. But he disregards the acute sensation, rather he doesn't even feel it because the emotional discomfort he's experiencing right now is far more agonizing. He grits his teeth, his body shaking as a tear rolls down only one side of his face.

His mother wraps her arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry, Craig...So sorry," she apologizes as she caresses his head.

Craig only cries harder at her words. Just how did this happen? How did Stripe die...?

Wait...could it be because...Stripe hasn't been eating lately? Did...it die from starvation? If so...then... "I...I killed Stripe..." Craig is the reason Stripe lost its life. He killed a friend he's known longer than Clyde and Tweek. The realization makes him numb inside. "I was gonna tell my mom today that Stripe stopped eating...but I was too late..." He should've told either his mother or father about Stripe neglecting its food when he first noticed it...He shouldn't have waited. "Why, Stripe...? Why did you suddenly stop eating? Why...?"

Memories of the times he spent with Stripe come rushing through his mind. Not a single one is bad. They always had fun together, no matter what they did. Even simply laying in his bed doing nothing but petting Stripe or watching the little animal scurry around on his mattress counts as memorable moments. But the memory that sticks out the most is when he fed Stripe for the first time. His parents were in his room at the time, keeping a watchful eye on him. Craig felt no pressure from their stares since it was easy. Before his parents bought Stripe bowls to eat and drink from, Craig enjoyed feeding Stripe from his hands, and it seemed Stripe felt the same way.

As Craig continues to shed tears from his left eye, he becomes sensible of the emptiness in his chest, his pulsating right eye, and his mother's warm embrace. A clap of thunder feels like it's shaking the entire world. The expeditious rainfall continues to beat down on the Tucker's house. Craig's mother hugs him a bit tighter, thinking the thunder frightened him. But it didn't.

"...I killed Stripe..." Craig utters out in a whisper. He didn't mean to say it out loud, his mouth just suddenly moved on its own accord. Seemed his senseless mind couldn't keep his mouth from audibly voicing the truth.

His mother unwraps her arms from around his neck, shrinking back and gasping in horror. "O-oh my God! Craig, your eye!"

The warm liquid he felt behind his eyelid is sliding down the right side of his cheek. A metallic odor goes into his nostrils.

"Laura!" Exclaims Craig's father from somewhere within the house. His footsteps can be heard hurrying towards his son's bedroom, and he shows himself seconds later. "What's the matter?" His peanut brown-colored eyes are wide, and a whimpering Tricia is in his arms.

Laura places a closed hand over her chest as she faces her husband. "We need to take Craig to the hospital. His eye suddenly started bleeding," she explains, extremely concerned.

With a frown, Thomas walks over to her and Craig, handing Tricia over to his wife. Craig maintains an expressionless gaze. "Dear Lord..." he hears his father say with grimace. He raises a hand towards the boy's right eye.

"Don't Let Him Touch Your Eye!"

Craig blinks, startled. He scoots away from his father's outstretched hand, hitting his back against the headboard. That voice just now...they sounded very familiar, but where had he heard them before?

"Craig," the noirette looks over to his father, the man holding his hands up as if he was caught doing something illegal. "I'm sorry. I wasn't going to touch your eye," he says, earnest.

Craig doesn't respond as he frowns at his lap. He touches the blood on his cheek with one finger. The red fluid feels cold on his finger, yet warm behind his eyelid. He brings his bloodstained finger over to his one-eyed view, a strange feeling stirs within him. His eye no longer hurts, instead it feels... "Cold..."

"Craig, we're going to take you to the hospital," his mother declares, already ready to leave the room.

"No, we can't," his father quickly opposes. "There's no way we can drive in that downpour." He gestures towards the window. The curtain is in the way, but the constant pattering against the glass is enough indication that the rain is not safe to drive in nor is it letting up anytime soon.

Laura appears disheartened. "But what are we going to do? We don't have a first-aid kit to tend to his eye." Thomas' lips form into a hard line as he ponders on what to do.

Craig stares fixedly at the blood on his finger, seemingly not worried about his eye as much as his parents are.

"Master Craig, You Need To Go To A Room Where You Can Be Alone. It Is Almost Time," the same voice says within Craig's mind.

"Eh?!" A pang of familiarity strikes him once again.

"Please Hurry, Do Not Let Your Family Witness Your Awakening," the voice pleads.

Craig gives Stripe's cage one last look, feeling fresh tears well up in his left eye. He closes his eye while looking away. "Stripe...I'm so sorry..."

"You Have No Reason To Apologize. You Did Nothing Wrong."

Craig's eye snaps open. "S-Stripe...?" A tear slowly slides down his cheek.

"Don't worry, son," his father tells him. "We'll give Stripe a proper burial once the storm passes."

Craig nods his head in understanding, his face solemn. He wipes the tear away, but then fresh blood slips from underneath his right eyelid. This time, the pain he experiences is unbearable. Hunching over, he cries out as he puts a hand over his bleeding eye.

"Time Is Running Out. I'll Transport You Somewhere, So You Can Awaken Without Them Seeing."

"Craig?! Thomas, we need to do something!" Craig's mother says, panicking.

"I-I know, but-"

A sudden white light shines into the room.

Weightless and cold. Those are what Craig feels as the beautiful, blinding light slowly engulfs him whole.

"CRAIG!" His parents exclaim. Tricia watches him in silence for a few moments, then looks away burying her face into the side of their mother's shoulder.

Before the light completely swallows him, Craig gives his family a small smile. "Don't worry, I'll come back."

Then, he's gone.

/

Craig's eye shoots open only to quickly close at the brightness of a sky. He opens his eye again, but just slightly. Once his eye gets used to the colorless radiance through the slim gap in between his eyelid, he blinks his eye open all of the way. "W-where am I?" He thinks, curious. He sits up and examines the bright environment. It isn't easy to do with one eye, but he manages to see an unknown number of white stone pillars lined down in front and behind him. Their height seem to reach all the way up into the sky and further beyond. A large white temple is at the very end of the two rows of pillars on Craig's left side, and at the bottom of the staircase on each side are a pair of standing angel statues.

"Wooow..." Craig says, amazed. This place is ethereal!

"Master Craig," a soft voice says from beside him. Craig turns his head in the opposite direction of the temple to see a boy taking one step towards him, his hands behind his back. He's wearing white clothing that practically blends in with the background, which is a long-sleeved shirt, pants that stop above his ankles, and martial arts slippers. What disturbs Craig, however, are the boy's hair and eyes. His hair is short and brown with some of the strands being a lighter shade of brown, and his bangs that are spilt apart are white. His eyes are so black Craig can't see even the outlines of his pupils. "We meet again," the boy says, his lips a small smile.

Craig stands up on his feet, unable to look away from the child. He bears an uncanny resemblance to his guinea pig. "A-are you...Stripe?"

Stripe nods his head. "Yes, this is my real form."

His answer nearly leaves Craig speechless. "W-wha...H-how? You...died, didn't you?" Craig frowns.

Stripe's small smile appears sad. "Yes, I did die in a sense, but that body was just something I used to appear in the real world with. Now I'm able to stay by your side in a much more convenient form, and help aid you to defeat evil."

Craig wants to be happy at the fact that Stripe is still technically alive, but the immense feeling of guilt for having taken Stripe's life to begin with is still eating away at him. He lowers his gaze to the white tiles beneath him, scowling at his reflection. "I killed you." He balls his hands into fists.

A cold palm touches his bloody cheek, gently forcing him to raise his head. His teary eye looks at Stripe. "No, you didn't, Master Craig. The reason I stopped eating is because, well...I got tired of that body. I know you deeply cherished my guinea pig form, but I couldn't, no...didn't want to maintain that body any longer. It would only be a hindrance in the future." Stripe removes his palm from Craig's cheek, his expression becoming serious. "I am a spirit. Although Inner Guardians can eat and drink, food and beverages aren't a necessity for us to live." Then he frowns. "I only stopped eating because I thought it would kill my guinea pig body, but it took too long to happen. I only drank the water to prevent you from worrying too much. I ended up taking my own life in your dream, when your emotions went out of control. I had to in order to save you and your friends' futures."

Craig doesn't understand. "W-what do you mean?"

"Only your future has been changed. For better or worse, I cannot say. It all depends on your actions and decisions. However, you and your friends will still fight the Beings of Darkness' and the darkness controlled by their Dark Master," Stripe says. He points at Craig's right eye. "Your awakening is close to being completed. The final step is for you to open your eye." He returns his arm behind his back. Craig appears hesitant. His eye no longer hurts, but what if it starts to once he attempts to open it? "It's okay, Master Craig. You needn't fear the possibility of feeling any pain. Though I must warn you that there was a cost to me giving you my powers and life force. It's nothing grave, but I'll tell you more after you've opened your eye."

Craig presses his lips into a line, but he opts not to ask any more questions. He trusts Stripe. He's actually very eager to know about the current state of his eye. "O-okay..." He shuts his left eye, takes a deep breath, and after exhaling through his nose, he begins to open both of his eyes slowly. Much to his relief, he experiences no physical discomfort. Now that he thinks about it, perhaps this place negated the pain when he was brought here. It wouldn't be surprising if that's the case. Craig begins to see the vivid world in a new perspective now that both of his eyes are open. Suddenly, the many clouds in the sky produce a breeze, the boys' hair and clothing blowing softly in the wind.

"Beautiful," Stripe says with a smile.

"B-beautiful?" Craig blushes at the word. "S-so, what now?" He asks. He doesn't feel any different. Stripe motions for him to look down at the ground with the nudge of his head. Craig does so and he gasps at what he sees. His right eye is now a beautiful silver; just like Stripe described it as. Craig gets down on his hands and knees to get a better look at his reflection, the pristine tiles showing him only the truth in his appearance. He raises a hand towards his right eye. "S-Stripe...what happened to my eye?"

"I chose your eye simply because it is the last source the Beings of Darkness' would expect your magical powers to come from. But don't worry, Master Craig, your eye will alternate when you use your powers only. It's not a permanent change. Once I send you back home, your eye will return to its original color," Stripe says.

Craig is relieved once more. It would've been extremely difficult for him to explain his eye to both his parents and Clyde. He stands back up. "Actually, what is this place?"

"This is a realm for spirits that possess Light magic," Stripe answers. "That temple down there is where our Lord and his assistants reside in. No one is allowed inside unless the Lord summons you."

Craig looks at the building again. He expected a lot more people-well spirits to be living in there since it's so big. "Have you ever been in there before?" He asks turning back to face Stripe.

"Yes, but only once. It was when I was finally assigned to become a human's Inner Guardian, and I'm glad it was you, Master Craig."

Craig narrows his eyes. "You liar."

Stripe blinks. "H-huh?"

Craig's glare appears more affable, and his lips curl into a smile. "You said that you would stop calling me Master."

A bright red blush presents itself on Stripe's cheeks. "Ah, s-sorry. It's...a force of habit."

Craig chuckles, making Stripe feel even more ashamed. "It's okay. You can keep calling me that since you can't help it." He shrugs.

"Ahem, it is time to send you back home now," Stripe announces bashfully.

Craig is reluctant to go, but he's aware that he has no other choice. He closes the small gap between him and Stripe to hug him, surprising Stripe for a brief moment, but he hugs him back. "I'm glad we met too, Stripe," Craig says. They separate, both smiling at each other. Craig catches sight of a white light emerging right behind Stripe. Craig urges his eyes to stay open as the light increases its luminescence.

"If you ever come across Kyle Broflovski...you must kill him."

Craig is only able to express his shock before he's gone from the Light Realm.