Consuming Darkness, Arising Light

(Arc 2: Monochrome Days) Chapter 24: During The Passing Years...

(A/n: Here's the summary for the second arc:

A little over a decade has passed since the Being of Darkness was defeated in South Park, but hardly any time was spent grieving for those that either lost their lives or were corrupted to serve the Dark Master. The humans trained nonstop with their Inner Guardians, and the Dark Master made sure to strengthen his creations in turn.

There will be many more dangerous and unavoidable battles as the darkness continues its steady approach. Friends will be reunited once and for all, new friends will be acquired, enemies will be formidable, and...feelings will be developed.

Also, Trigger Warning: mention of suicide)

Twelve years.

Twelve years have gone by, yet it was hardly acknowledged by anyone. Every year was spent training and fighting with very few moments to rest.

After the death of one of the Dark Master's Beings of Darkness', more of them started getting defeated and the Dark Lord decided to strengthen his army by creating more creatures but of different species. Using humans—even animals and insects that came into contact with a Being of Darkness' magic, the Dark Lord used their unshakeable loyalty to his advantage. They gave the Inner Guardians and their hosts as well as those that didn't have an Inner Guardian but could use magic a difficult time throughout the years, while the Beings of Darkness' only came into action once they saw victory close at hand.

There were more losses than wins between the two parties, however neither side gave up.

Fighting to the death—fighting for ones survival soon became a natural part of everyday life...

******

April 10th- Stan

The entire world has underwent apocalyptic changes. Spring has been nonexistent, not that it ever appeared in South Park, Colorado.

Buildings have been either reduced to rubble, appear rundown, or are wrapped in large, icky, black roots. The dark grey clouds above are shedding white and black snowdrops, the ground is thoroughly covered in the abnormal colored snow. A few grotesque-looking creatures that resemble crows are soaring through the air, releasing ear-grating caws. One of the monsters spot something down below with its big red eyes. It stops flapping its large wings, and dives towards its newfound prey.

Walking along the impure snow is a teenager with neck-length black hair caked with spots of purple blood. His black leather jacket is dirty and shredded in strips, but it's still keeping his arms and hands warm, revealing a plain white T-shirt underneath. His dark jeans only have several stains of purple blood, and so does his black and grey sneakers.

"CAAAW!"

Stan stops and turns around heaving an annoyed sigh, three bloody scratches marred his cheek, and some areas on his face have splatters of purple blood. His sapphire eyes give the swiftly approaching crow monster a dull stare, its beak spread wide open, ready to sink its fangs into his flesh. He takes his hands out of his jacket pockets.

"Watch out!"

The bird is suddenly blown to pieces by a bright orb. Its blood and organs splatter in all directions, Stan groaning in disgust as he shields his face with an arm. Once the squishing sounds cease, he lowers his arm and turns back around to see Kenny and Kyle nearing him, the white aura from Kenny's hand fading away. A strand of his blonde hair becomes colorless, leaving one side of his hair blonde and the other side white. It turns out casting any sort of magical spell colors over a lock or two of his blonde hair, not aging. He is the tallest and oldest among the three while Stan and Kyle are the exact same height and age. Kenny turned nineteen last month, but they didn't celebrate his birthday this year. He wasn't bothered by it because his birthday wasn't celebrated the previous years. Since he outgrew his parka, he's wearing another one that is similar to his old one along with a pair of blue jeans, and black combat boots. He no longer tightens the hood whenever he puts it over his head. He's still self-conscious about his appearance, but not to the same extent as when he was a child. It's thanks to Mrs. Marsh and her cooking that fattened him up a bit. Kyle's attire is a red turtleneck sweater, pale blue jeans, and brown snow boots. His hair grew a little past his shoulders and is now tamed and curly.