(A/n: I'm glad you liked the last chapter too, jeremiahkelley93.)
Chapter 39: The State Plagued With Perpetual Rain Pt. 2
Stan
"First, let's get the introductions out of the way," says Cloud.
The woman takes a quick swig of her wine. "Henrietta Biggle," she says curtly, wiping the dark red liquid dripping from her mouth with her thumb.
While Stan and the others introduce themselves to her, Ingrum excuses himself, stating he's going to restrengthen the Nullification Barrier.
"What's the reason for the Nullification Barrier?" Cloud asks. "When we got here, there wasn't a single monster around."
"That's because they're detained inside of the tower," Henrietta answers, shocking everyone. No wonder Stan hasn't sensed a barrier around the house, but then he wonders what spell kept all of the necessities inside of here functioning. "And before any of you ask, yes, we've gotten rid of every possible source those things spawned out from."
"But how come you didn't kill the monsters?" Raven asks, confused rather than curious.
Henrietta's face suddenly becomes hard to read. "I can't answer that."
Though her response was honest, its vague meaning only makes her suspicious. "Why?" Clyde asks. He raises an eyebrow, anticipating the answer to his next question. "Is it a secret base?"
Henrietta smirks, humored by his assumption. "I guess you can call it that."
"I knew it," Clyde smirks boastfully.
Raven narrows her eyes at Henrietta. "But that still doesn't explain the purpose for keeping the monsters alive."
Henrietta gives her a blank stare. "Well you won't hear an explanation from me." Raven hardens her glare.
"Then we'll ask-" Cloud begins to say, but gets interrupted.
"Ingrum won't tell you either." Henrietta takes a sip from the wine bottle.
Cloud narrows his eyes. "And why's that?"
Henrietta lets out a sigh after she's done drinking. "Because it's not our right to tell." She returns the glare, skeptical. "Especially to those that abruptly came here just to pry into our business."
Stan doesn't like the way she's leering at them, plus he thinks this conversation is getting them nowhere. "We're here to relay crucial information we've discovered not just to you, but to every person that's still alive. We don't have time to be wasting being suspicious of each other."
"Hmph, you may be right, but one of you should've stated your reasons for coming here in the first place, then this wouldn't have delved into a distrustful discourse," Henrietta scoffs. She guzzles some more wine as if talking that much made her throat dry, or as a way to calm down.
Stan, Raven, and Cloud frown, now aware that their brusque arrival gave the wrong impression. Raven sheepishly clears her throat. "We...humbly apologize for our transgressions. However, we harbor no ill-intentions. We all have a similar goal, do we not?"
"If it's to take down that dammed Dark Master and the darkness, then yes, we do." Henrietta takes a sip of her wine. Just how thirsty is she, Stan can't help but wonder. "So I take it you all came to acquire more members into your group?"
Stan nods. "Yeah, we want-no, need as many allies as we can get while we have the chance."
Henrietta drinks more of her wine before speaking. "Me and Ingrum will assist you all, though before I ask what you meant by your last statement, I want to know..." She extends three fingers from her free hand, pointing at Stan, Kyle, and Kenny. "Why the three of you have been giving off the exact same kind of magical energy."
Stan is confused. When he looks at Kyle and Kenny, he sees that are they too, as is almost everyone else. "What do you mean?" Kyle asks.
Looking back at Henrietta, Stan catches her glaring slightly, looking as though she doesn't believe their bemusement is genuine. She glances at each human and spirit asking, "Have none of you sensed it?"
Stan, Kyle, and Kenny are looked at closely by their friends. "Not until you mentioned it," Craig says.
"Yeeeaah," Bebe says, slowly dragging out the word as realization sets in.
"I actually noticed it after Purifying Stan and Kyle," Cloud confesses. "Though I thought nothing of it."
"I'm ashamed to admit that I was a bit late to perceive the magical energy," Raven says, though she's maintaining her usual cryptic, poker-face. "However, I, too, did not feel the need to ask any questions."
"Same here," Yuna says.
Stan has just now pinpointed where the familiar magical energies have been originating from. They're neither strong nor faint, but are quite patently detectable if near the vicinity. He should've known that they've been coming from the jewelries his mother created. He wonders why he didn't sense a hint of her magical energy upon receiving both the necklace and Kenny's bracelet this morning. Perhaps she placed a concealment spell over them, so no one could discover her magical energy.
"Did Mrs. Marsh cast some kind of spell on you guys?" He hears Bebe inquire, then she widens her eyes. "Oh wait! Could it have been because of the Warping Zone?"
"That can't be it," Clyde says. "Henrietta would've sensed it on us too."
Bebe's cheeks turn slightly red from embarrassment. "O-oh, right."
"It's Ms. Biggle to you kids," Henrietta says, then sips her wine.
The teens give her a questionable stare. "You can't be that much older than us, and we're not kids," Bebe says. "We're all eighteen, except Clyde."
"And me," Craig and Kenny say at the same time.
Bebe blinks at them dubiously. "Wait, really?!"
"Um, let's not get off track," Wendy interjects, awkwardly smiling a little with a sweatdrop.
Bebe chuckles sheepishly. "My bad."
Henrietta huffs while rolling her eyes. "So?" Crossing her arms, she looks at Stan, Kyle, and Kenny. "Which one of you is gonna tell me or us, rather?" She asks, referring to her earlier question regarding the mysterious magical energy.
Stan almost immediately feels Kenny's and Kyle's eyes on him. He glances into both of their eyes and is able to perceive their inner thoughts.
"It's up to you," he imagines them saying to him.
He looks down at his lap. They're not at his house anymore, so he's doesn't feel the need to keep the truth hidden for his mother's sake. Knowing Bebe, she would've pestered her incessantly to make a jewelry for her as well. He moves his eyes to look at his necklace, raising a hand to touch the beautiful gem. "My mom made jewelry for us with her magic." To his mild surprise, Bebe doesn't shout in astonishment like he expected her to.
Instead, she utters, "Wow..." He raises his head, seeing that her and a few of his other friends' eyes are wide, expressing visible amazement.
"Are they like protection charms?" Henrietta asks, curious.
Stan hadn't thought of that since he has his friends and companions he can count on. The possibility seems very palpable though. "I...don't know."
"I think they are, so let's call them that from now on," Kenny declares, fond of the name 'protection charms'. Stan and Kyle nod in agreement.
Henrietta uncrosses her arms and consumes more of the alcoholic beverage that seems to have an endless amount inside the bottle. "How is that not gone yet?" Clyde asks with an incredulous look on his face.
Henrietta breathes out a contented sigh, then shakes the bottle. It doesn't make a sound. "We can talk more later after we find out what's taking Ingrum so long."
"Before that," says Cloud. "His raincoat, what is it made out of for it to be completely unaffected by the rain?"
"Ah, right. It is imperative that I inform you all about the raincoats since you'll need them while you're here. I'm only supposed to say they're special garments that can only be obtained from the tower, but..." Henrietta forms her lips into a line, though the ruminative expression lasts for a few moments, she scratches the back of her messy head indignantly. "Ugh, I never agreed to always come up with half-assed lies anyway," she grumbles, as if to herself. She lowers her hand with a huff. "The raincoats are made from the monsters' skins."
The revelation is met with silence.
"What the fuck...?" Stan thinks, too grossed out to speak.
"Oh?" His Inner Guardian, however, is intrigued.
"That's..." Wendy smothers her next set of words by pressing her lips into a tight line, though her repulsed countenance blatantly conveys what she feels.
"Disgusting!" Bebe and Clyde exclaim, completing her statement. Craig, Leopold, and Yuna are expressing the same sentiment, but Tweek is inexpressive as always. Stan thinks he's incapable of feeling emotions, positive ones, at least. Stan can't imagine how he would feel if he lost even one of his parents, and he won't torment himself by visualizing a detrimental future. Not again.
"But that's not the main reason they're kept alive?" Raven assumes.
Henrietta shrugs, feigning ignorance behind an uncaring visage. "That's all I can disclose. Now let's get going." A light purple glint manifests before her, then it morphs into a black raincoat. She grabs it with her free hand and puts it on. Why is she still holding the empty wine bottle, Stan wonders. "I'm only permitted to teleport us in front of the tower's entrance." Her eyes slant into a warning glare as she pulls the hood over her head. "When we go inside, keep your voices down." She looked at Bebe when she said that. The teen nods without complaint.
Stan braces himself to go back out into the gloomy downpour once again as he feels a strangely cold stream of magic travel to his body and everyone else's. They're swiftly transported out of the house as if they were summoned to an alternate dimension.
/
Stan and Kyle
A resounding bellow nearly bursts everyone's eardrums, causing some to scream with a fright. It sounded really close. Henrietta reacts fast, shielding them in a large, sturdy barrier. Stan winces when a strong force hits the pale purple barrier, the pressure reverberating throughout his entire body. He spins around, gaping up into one red eye of a big monster through the barely colored glow. It starts pounding on the barrier with its fists.
"Tch, so this is what happened," Henrietta mutters.
"What-" Cloud gets cut off when the bulky creature is suddenly blown to many pieces, its flesh and purple blood splattering onto the barrier, leaving no stains. There are groans of disgust.
"I was wondering when you would notice my long absence, Henrietta." Ingrum is seen walking up to the group, smiling waggishly.
"You're lucky I remembered you left," Henrietta retorts dryly with a blank face. Ingrum chuckles a little, unoffended. He stops, now closer to the barrier. "How many escape?" Henrietta asks him.
"Hmm, about a handful, if not more. They were out like rabid beasts as soon as they sensed that the Nullification Barrier had weakened."
Henrietta frowns. "Was the one you just killed the last one?"
"Unfortunately, though thankfully, no. There are several extras still running amok." Distant shrieks reach their ears right after Ingrum said that.
Henrietta shrugs her shoulders, unconcerned, then turns around and grimaces. "He is so not gonna be happy about this."
"Shouldn't we take care of the remaining monsters?" Wendy asks.
"It's fine," Henrietta says dismissively. "They'll eventually realize that we're the only ones left they can but can't feast on." Her last statement was morbidly reassuring. At least now Stan and Kenny know their missing family members aren't here.
The group turns to look at the colossal tower. Kyle examines himself first, patting his hair, feeling a faint dampness. Lowering his hand, he inspects his, his friends', and the spirits' clothes. It seems the raindrops only grazed them before they were enclosed in the barrier, he's sure the impure liquids will still need to be Purified off. He catches a glimpse of Ingrum scowling at him, though with less intensity. Rather, he's glaring at him as if he's the one who let the monsters free. The notion seems so stupid to Kyle, but he resists the urge to roll his eyes. He looks at the tower. The first thing he notices is the destroyed doorway, it's about the size of the monster that just got annihilated. He can't make out anything inside of the tower, the barrier's light isn't bright enough. He inches forward to stand beside Stan, raising a concerned eyebrow when Stan flinches. The noirette pretends nothing happened, despite feeling extremely embarrassed.
"By he, are you referring to the owner of this building?" Raven asks Henrietta.
"Yeah. He's been away for half a year now, so who knows when he'll return. Let's go in." Henrietta's barrier follows them as they amble into the tower. "Also, you all don't have to worry about Purifying the darkness off, the raincoats will handle that."
"How?" Bebe asks.
"You'll know when you put it on, or I guess after you take it off." Henrietta's barrier breaks down into twinkling fragments once they're inside, much to Stan's horror. The flesh that clung to the barrier drop to the floor. He keeps his composure though, reminding himself that he's not in the darkness alone. The walkway feels spacious and judging from the sound of their footsteps, the floor is possibly made of cobblestone. The air is cool, though it contains a weak scent Stan can't describe.
"Is there a light switch nearby?" Clyde asks in a whisper.
"Probably, probably not." Henrietta's ambiguous answer displeases both Stan and Clyde. "Just use your Inner Aura as a light source, the room we're heading to isn't far."
"You know where we're headed but not where a light switch is," Clyde grumbles.
"Watch your tone, brat," Henrietta hisses sharply.
"And you-" Clyde feels something touch his shoulder, almost making him scream out a swear word until he barely sees that it's Craig, his gesture suggesting him to drop it. Clyde complies grudgingly.
"Yeah, you better not finish that sentence," Henrietta grouses.
Stan didn't know bringing out ones Inner Aura could be utilized as a light source, Chris never- "If You're Wondering Why I Never Mentioned That Ability To You, It's Because It's A Complete Waste of Magical Energy. Plus, You Need To Get Over Your Childish Phobia. The Last Thing I Wanted To Do Was Prevent You From Making Any Progress, Which Hasn't Been Much."
Stan deepens his frown. He is not going to prevail over his fear of the dark anytime soon. No matter what he does or how he goes about it, no method will completely solve his interminable dilemma. He discards the thought, now is not the time to be despondent. He hopes Cloud is willing to light up the area with his Inner Aura again like he did earlier. His is most likely the brightest among them. Fortunately, Cloud fulfills his silent request, irradiating every aspect of the area.
"Ah, after all these years, your Inner Aura hasn't lost its glamorous edge," Ingrum says, walking alongside Cloud, mesmerized.
The blossoming blush that tints Cloud's pale cheeks glisten within his scintillating Inner Aura. "T-thank you." Ingrum giggles, pleased by his reaction.
There's something about Ingrum's behavior that's starting to bother Kyle. It's like he has two different personalities, one where he acts like a sensible adult and the other...Kyle can't think up a fitting description for the spirit's second personality. But what he does know is that he only behaves less mature towards Cloud. It feels like Ingrum is trying to drop hints about their relationship, is what Kyle believes.
They keep walking down the expansive corridor. There's surprisingly not much to see. High up on each side of the stone walls are windows, spaced far apart from the other. Far up ahead is a big metal gate that's been busted open, on the floor behind it are a cluster of wooden pieces. Henrietta heaves a sigh at the sight. Seems the monsters came from there, wherever it leads to. On both sides of the destroyed gateway is a staircase, leading up to presumably the first floor.
After taking five more steps, Henrietta makes a right turn. Everyone follows, approaching the wall. Right away, Stan and Kyle note a piece of stone slightly sticking out, the indescribable smell becoming a little more potent the closer they get to the wall, which doesn't take them long to near.
"Why-" Henrietta silences Bebe by putting a finger over her lips, then gently pushes the protruding stone in. Strangely, it makes several mechanical noises before a rectangular-shaped doorway slides open, scraping the floor along the way. An uproar of gurgled demonic screeching thunders over the pounding rain, greatly startling everyone except Henrietta and Ingrum. The two of them enter the inconspicuous room, it appears to have ample space but looks compacted at the same time, it also reeks of chemicals. Henrietta keeps walking while Ingrum stops and pushes a device on the wall that shines a white light into the room, scaring the frenzied monsters into absolute silence.
"There." Ingrum turns to the nonplussed group with an innocent smile. "You all can come in now."
Tweek goes in. It takes a moment longer for the others to do the same, Cloud's Inner Aura whisking away before he steps through the doorway. There are six large glass tanks the monsters are detained in on both the left and right sides, immersed in a green liquid. Their appearances are horrendously dissimilar to the ones in South Park. There, Stan could tell if they were once an animal or a bug. But these entities have no animalistic features he can discern. "Huh?" He carefully observes the monsters on each side, narrowly perceiving that their heads or red eyes are slowly following... "Why are they only looking at Kyle?"
"Have You Forgotten? I'll Be More Than Happy To Refresh Your Memory." Chris' tone was baiting and conniving.
Stan tries not to let his irritation show. "No thanks."
"Hmph. It Seems He's Aware Of Their Stares As Well."
Kyle has indeed realized he's being watched by the monsters, and is feeling quite unnerved. However, it's not just him and Stan that noticed this. Luke remains vigilantly silent. Kyle ignores their curious gazes and resumes checking out more of the room.
There are four wooden desks; on the two that are in front of the specimen tanks are a pair of test tube racks that contain bubbling dark liquids and other various equipments scattered about, the last two desks are a little further back that have a single chair. On top of those desks is an electronic contraption. Henrietta is standing next to the desk on the right, she set the empty wine bottle on top of it. In the very center of the desks is a metal garment rack, hanging on the hanger bar are raincoats, their numbers seemingly in the double digits. The ceiling is high with a dozen lights mounted in two rows.
"Is this a laboratory?" Craig asks in slight awe.
"More like a Research And Production Lab," Henrietta says. "This is where we make the raincoats, using these machines you see here. Thankfully, we don't have to demonstrate...Wait. Yuna, can you make yourself taller?"
Yuna gives a slight frown. "I can, but...Hmm."
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Kenny tells her.
Yuna is quiet for a moment, briefly pondering her options. "I'm only changing my height," she gives Kenny a small smile. "So it's okay."
"Alright," Kenny responds softly with a similar smile.
The group stops before the metal garment rack. Ingrum stands next to his host. Yuna closes her eyes and her body is enveloped in a dim grey light. Everyone watches her short stature grow almost close to Craig's height, then the glow fades away. She opens her eyes.
"Thought you were trying to be taller than Craig for a second there," Kenny comments, almost wanting to laugh.
Yuna blushes a little. "I didn't really consider a specific height."
"It's good enough," Henrietta says, then she and Ingrum distribute raincoats to them.
Kyle tests out what Henrietta said a few minutes ago while they were entering the tower, he hovers the raincoat in front of his torso as if he's checking to see if it fits him. His eyes widen when he sees the scarce splatters on his clothes silently dart towards the raincoat, blending in.
"I'm surprised you were willing to divulge this much to them," says Ingrum.
"I told them about the raincoats and would've left it at that if you hadn't been taking your sweet time outside," Henrietta mutters accusingly.
Ingrum smiles at her. "That's a tenuous way of saying you were worried about me."
"Think whatever you like."
Everyone dons their raincoats, their hair and clothes cleansed of the darkness. Tweek and Raven don't appear revolted wearing the raincoats like the others.
"Now, let's continue our questionnaire," Henrietta declares.
"Do we have to in here?" Bebe practically whines.
"Wanna talk outside then?" Henrietta asks flatly. Bebe shakes her head. "We're not going back to my place, so don't even ask." Henrietta looks solely at Stan. "Why do you all want to attain so many allies?"
Stan was waiting for her to ask him that. "Because the darkness has stopped moving."
Henrietta's and Ingrum's eyes go big, but then Henrietta narrows her eyes in disbelief. "And just how do you know that?"
"My Inner Guardian had a spirit from his realm keep track of it for a while. We don't know how long it'll stay still, so we have to do something before the Dark Master does."
Henrietta lets Stan's response sink in, looking on the verge of believing him. Unlike Ingrum. After a few seconds, Henrietta lets out a short laugh as she shakes her head. "Damn. I never thought I'd see the day when we would receive good news."
"Are we the first ones to come here?" Kenny asks. Stan wonders if he's thinking the exact same thing as him, supposing that their family members traversed through here at some point.
Henrietta frowns. "No, but you all are the first ones to survive."
Kyle raises an eyebrow. "To survive the rain, you mean?"
Henrietta nods. "The long exposure transformed the people into monsters, including the spirits." This information renders everyone stunned.
"Hmph, Weaklings," Chris scoffs crudely. Stan frowns at his tone.
"...Aah did have a bad feelin' about bein' under the rain, but Aah didn't think we could've..." Leopold turns around and glances at every monster in the tanks. "Ended up lookin' like them."
Bebe shudders and hugs her arms. "That's scary to even think about."
Yuna makes a puzzled face. "But earlier you said you destroyed the monsters' spawn points."
"We did," Ingrum says. "However, not all of them." He points upwards. "The clouds are the last source."
All of a sudden, a sonorous roar followed by violent stomping hurries towards their direction. "Took one of them long enough." Grabbing the empty wine bottle, a smirking Henrietta dashes for the doorway.
"She's fast!" Stan thinks, his hair fluttering wildly when she passes by. He and the others turn around. As soon as the monster's long figure is seen, Henrietta flings the wine bottle at its foot. It shatters upon impact, embedding the monster's foot with tiny shards of glass. The monster staggers back letting out a high-pitched scream. Henrietta slows to a stop and raises two fingers as if she's about to throw something else, the weapon being a thin, light purple needle that materializes in between her fingers. She flicks it at the monster's injured foot, then it explodes. Once the pained monster buckles down to the floor, Henrietta hurls one more needle from the same hand at its head, stabbing it right between its two eyes, its mouth wide open showing many rows of small sharp teeth. It ceases all sound and movement, then topples sideways to the floor. Its corpse begins to glow in a pale purple color, then Henrietta sends it to a location only she and Ingrum knows.
The noisy downpour creates an ominous ambience within the lab. It only feels that way to Kyle because the monsters are focused on him still. They never looked away.
Dusting off her hands, a straight-faced Henrietta turns and walks back to the group. "Let's try to wrap this discussion up before the rest come back or more attempt to scamper off," she says before anyone can question what she just did.
"I believe we should start by weakening the darkness first," Ingrum suggests, gaining everyone's attention.
"Is that even possible?" Clyde asks, doubtful.
"Won't know unless we try," Henrietta says. "As long as no one else shows up here, there won't be any more monsters we have to deal with."
"Have you two ever tried to help the people that wandered here?" Wendy asks.
"This is no small State," Henrietta points out. "We only aided those that were fortunate enough for one of us to spot them, but our efforts were always in vain."
Cloud arches an eyebrow. "How so?"
"They were fools who took no heed to our warnings," Ingrum answers unsympathetically, putting a frown on Cloud's face. Henrietta stands beside Ingrum, turning to face the group. "This rain has been persisting relentlessly throughout the State for twelve years. It even turned most of the corrupted people into malformed creatures."
Ingrum's last statement comes as a huge shock. It's hard to fathom that the clouds have been pouring out rain nonstop for so long, both in a sense that there have been no signs of flooding and the prospect seems so absurd, it's like an unnatural phenomenon you would only see in fiction. Well, there's nothing nonfictional about the world anymore. Stan recalls what Kyle described South Park as to Ike, though now it no longer pertains to just one place: it really does feel like they're all living in a dark, apocalyptic fantasy novel.
"So," Wendy murmurs melancholically. "The monsters confined in the tanks could be..."
"Maybe they were once humans, maybe they weren't," Henrietta speculates indifferently. "At least their purpose is better served towards our cause than the Dark Master's."
"How could you say that?" Kenny asks angrily. "Whether they were humans or not doesn't change the fact that they were living beings once."
Henrietta stares into Kenny's narrowed eyes with a calm gaze. "You say that as if you've lived your life sparing those things."
Kenny frowns, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What? That's not-"
"You're not a saint, so don't talk like you are one." Henrietta's tone was sternly aggressive, yet her face remains stolidly impassive. "We live in a dog eat dog world now. Do you think any of these monsters have a shred of humanity left in them? They see us as prey and nothing else!"
Ingrum places a hand on the riled up woman's shoulder. She breathes out a heavy sigh, releasing the tension from her body. "I think we should end the conversation here," Ingrum advises.
"Wait," Kenny hurriedly says. "I have to clear up the misunderstanding."
"Save it for when I care." Henrietta shrugs Ingrum's hand off of her shoulder. "You all leave."
Ingrum gives them a very sheepish smile. "I'll discuss the method I concocted to weaken the darkness with you all later."
Cloud nods. "Okay."
"I'll return us to the hotel." They depart via Raven's Transportation Barrier.
/
Henrietta
The monsters go into a frenzy as soon as the group is gone. Henrietta scowls at the ugly abominations, yearning to tell them to shut the hell up but knows her words won't have any effect.
"He really is the Bringer of Evil." Henrietta looks at Ingrum, his eyes to the monsters. She glares back at them, knowing whom he was referring to.
"For him to make these things completely docile with his presence alone, he definitely has some affiliation with either the Dark Master, the darkness, or maybe even both."
"Yes, perhaps. Then there's the boy who fouled your mood, what do you make of his hair?"
The reminder nearly angers Henrietta all over again. "Since you brought it up, it must not be sloppily dyed."
Ingrum shakes his head. "No. I have a feeling he's been marked."
Henrietta cocks an eyebrow at him. "I thought the markings were well hidden."
"I had the same presumption, but it seems that's entirely not the case. Another thing I would like to point out is the Dark magical energy I'm sure you sensed as well."
"I actually confronted them about that. Stan, the kid with black hair and blue eyes, said his mother created jewelry for him and his two friends, Kyle and...Kenny." That brat really got under her skin with his immature nonsense, she didn't even want to say his name.
"Hm, I see. That magical energy belonged to the descendant of the Queen of Darkness."
Henrietta widens her eyes in shock, but then blinks, realizing a possible conjecture. "Wait, so then could her magical energy have been the reason the monsters were staring at Kyle?"
Ingrum purses his lips and narrows his eyes in a pensive manner. "...No, otherwise Stan and Kenny would've attracted their attention as well."
Henrietta looks away with an embarrassed frown. She can't believe she overlooked something so obvious. "Yeah, that's true. You better not laugh," she says, warning Ingrum when she catches him smiling.
"I won't." After a closer look, Ingrum's smile appears solicitous, not mocking. "I was just thinking that Cloud managed to get himself into an intriguing group of humans."
"Yeah, right." Henrietta smirks slyly. "You're just happy to see him again."
"Of course I am," Ingrum says softly, his smile dropping ever so slightly. "Too bad I squandered our reunion upon meeting."
The smug connotation of Henrietta's smile alters into sympathy. She pats her Inner Guardian's shoulder, the comforting gesture taking him by surprise. "Your relationship with him hasn't been ruined if he's still talking to you." She begins to walk out of the room, her arm removing itself from Ingrum's shoulder and dropping to her side. "Let's retrieve the last few monsters, then seal up the dungeon."
Ingrum blinks, then smiles again. "As you wish." He pulls the hood over his head as he trails behind her, eying one of the test tube racks on the left side table. Once he's close, he keeps walking as he grabs a test tube and slips it into his sleeve.
/ /
"Jeez, she didn't have to get all pissy," Clyde remarks grumpily. The teens are making their way up to where the accommodations are inside of an elevator. Cloud, Raven, and Yuna stayed in the lobby to talk, probably about the Research And Production Lab they just left from. "I mean, Kenny wasn't wrong. That's how all of the monsters are made—from animals, insects, and humans."
"It's okay, Clyde," Kenny says, his small smile forced. "I guess I should've worded it better."
"Dude, what you said was fine," Stan says assertively, irked that Kenny felt like he was at fault for angering Henrietta when he spoke nothing but the truth.
Kyle nods. "Yeah, but it is weird that she got upset."
Before anyone else can reply, the elevator dings and the door opens. Pure darkness gives them a perturbing welcome. Stan is startled stiff, it feels like he's gazing into the void. "Holy shit, it's fucking dark," Clyde whispers uneasily.
"There should be a light switch somewhere." Wendy sticks out a hand, but stops when Bebe speaks.
"Wait, one of us could try to bring out our Inner Aura."
"Then you give it a shot first," Craig says.
"Alright, fine. Lemme ask Emerald how to do it."
"We should ask our Inner Guardians too, just in case Bebe fails," Kyle says.
"Oi!"
"Yuna's not here, so I can't ask her," Kenny says.
"Use telepathy," Wendy tells him.
"I don't know how to do that."
"Um, me neither," Leopold says meekly. Raven did mention the ability to him and Tweek in the past, but not how to go about initiating it.
Wendy looks at Kenny and Leopold with an arched eyebrow they are unable to see. She vaguely perceives the physical features of their silhouettes. "Well, the procedure is no different than how we've always been communicating with them."
"But Aah never used telepathy before," Leopold says.
Wendy lowers her eyebrow, aware that he met his Inner Guardian not too long ago. "Well, to put it simply-"
Kenny tunes out of the conversation since he already got his answer. He thanks Wendy through telepathy, who pauses for a moment, then politely responds back, acknowledging his gratitude as she resumes her explanation. Perhaps he can converse with Stan instead, who hasn't uttered another word ever since they were met with darkness. He is also certain that Stan is as stiff as a board, which worries him. Someone will shine the way with their Inner Aura eventually.
Before he can speak to the noirette in his mind, there is a bright green glow. It's coming from Tweek, there are white sparkles occasionally flickering in and out of his Inner Aura. It's really pretty, though oddly, it's giving off faint traces of Light magical energy.
"How did you figure out how to do it so quickly?" Leopold asks Tweek.
"And what's with the subtle Light magical energy?" Bebe also asks, an eyebrow raised.
Her query deepens Tweek's accustomed frown. "Releasing your Inner Aura is similar to trying to cast a spell, the only difference is concentrating more on that than your Magical Core." His answer was not intricate and simple to understand, even the Inner Guardians are impressed by this feat. "I'm...not entirely sure why there's Light magic mingling within my Inner Aura. I guess it came about after one of my spells." Clyde knows exactly what incantation he's talking about, and even knows that it uses both Dark and Light magic.
"Hmm," Bebe hums, squashing the desire to voice out another question. "That's really interesting." The topic ends there, and they all look towards the long hallway. At the end is a door. Bebe grimaces apprehensively. "Oh God. No offense, but your Inner Aura is casting a very creepy glow down the hall."
"At least we can see now." Kyle ambles out of the elevator. "Let's find the light switch." Everyone else follows him, examining the walls of the corridor for a light switch. Kenny takes this opportunity to talk to Stan, focusing only on him in his mind.
"Stan?" Based on the jolt of the noirette's shoulders, it seems he got through to him.
"K-Kenny? What is it?"
Kenny isn't sure if his nervous tone was his or the darkness' doing. He wanted to conciliate Stan, but he appears a little less anxious now. That's good. "Nothing. Sorry, I startled you. I was just testing out telepathy on others."
"...Oh, okay...no worries..."
Half a minute later, they reach the end of the hallway. No one spotted a light switch anywhere. Kyle turns the doorknob, it doesn't budge. "Damn, the door's locked."
"Oh no, what if the rooms are locked too?" Bebe asks, on the brink of panicking.
"C-calm down," Clyde frowns. "We have to check first."
Craig wordlessly volunteers, walking to a random room that's close by. He tries the doorknob. Miraculously, it turns. Bebe breathes out a relieved sigh and approaches the room. "Thanks, me and Wendy will take this one."
Wendy gives her a reproachful look. "Bebe, we just can't-"
"It's okay," Craig says, not minding. "Ladies first after all."
"Hehe, what a gentleman~" For some reason, the generous smile Bebe gives Craig instills a pang of envy within Clyde's chest. He frowns at the feeling. Leopold sees the expression, but says nothing.
Bebe turns on the ceiling light. Wendy nears the room, thanking Craig. There are two king-sized beds adorned with creamy white bedsheets and two beige pillows on each. A wooden nightstand with a lamp on top is in the middle of the beds. Next to each of them in is a closet. Directly across from the beds is a television mounted on a tv stand for the guests' viewing pleasure. Near the corner on the same side is a closed door, presumably the bathroom. There are no windows, which is a good thing.
"I guess we can search for the light switch another time," Kyle says. "Hopefully it's not just one room that's unlocked."
Craig goes to the room adjacent to the one he opened. Fortunately, it's also unlocked. He flicks up the light switch inside the room. "Anyone want this one?"
"The three of us will take it," Stan replies, referring to himself, Kenny, and Kyle.
"They only have two beds with plain-looking bedsheets," Bebe informs.
While Stan and Kyle appear a little bit disappointed about the insufficient number of beds, Kenny seems unfazed. "Looks like two of us are gonna have to bunk beds," Kenny says.
Kyle sighs, though not in annoyance, rather in acceptance. "Wouldn't be the first for you and I."
Kenny cracks a grin. "Yep, that's true." For a while, he and Kyle slept on the futon in Kyle's and Ike's bedroom. When they both began to grow tall, Kyle let him have the futon, stating it was starting to get cramped. Truthfully, it wasn't, but Kenny didn't protest. He then started sleeping in Stan's bedroom, a few years after he faked getting over his nyctophobia. Mrs. Marsh went and got another futon for Kyle.
Kenny, Stan, and Kyle enter the room. Craig goes down to the next door to see if it's accessible, Clyde, Leopold, and Tweek closing the distance.
Kenny takes off his raincoat, tossing it onto the first bed. He plops his butt down onto the soft mattress. "Man, what a day."
"It's only the afternoon," Kyle says, removing his raincoat as well while advancing towards the other bed. Stan does the same.
"Doesn't feel like it. When we first got here, I thought it was nighttime."
Kyle chuckles. "Me too." Stan doesn't comment on the subject. Kyle offers to store his and Stan's raincoats into the closet. Stan sits down on the edge of the bed closer to the one Kenny is occupying. Kenny turns his body around to face him and Kyle. The only sounds heard are the rain beating down against the building, their friends' voices, and Kyle situating the raincoats on the provided hangers within the closet.
"Have you all settled into someplace safe yet?"
The sudden voice catches the three teens off guard. It sounded like it came from nowhere, like a fleeting apparition.
"D-did y'all hear that too?" Kenny asks, making sure he wasn't hearing things.
"Yeah, but where did it come from?" Kyle wonders, on the alert.
"We've been away from each other for less than an hour. Don't tell me you all have forgotten the sound of my voice in such a short time frame."
Stan recognizes who that was, which doubles his shock. "M-mom?!"