The Return of Darkness
Disclaimer – I do not own Neopets, or any other content distributed by it.
Chapter One.
The blue acara opened her eyes tenderly, to reveal dazzling purple eyes. She sat up in her oak brown bed, glancing around. Yawning, she got out of her bed and changed to a noble dress, firm blue with brown bags sashed across her chest. She tip toed out of her room, careful not to wake her cousin, Donna, sleeping across the hall. Her uncle's snore rang through the corridor, and a grin crept up Lady Roberta's face.
She quickly and quietly whipped through the halls, down the stairs, and into the entrance hall. Heading toward the front door, She looked around to see the library, one of the sources that helped her and Tor, a heroic lupe, overthrow the darkest faerie and her three sisters. The evil faerie used dark magic to conjure clouds, which brought back menaces from the past of the villages. It sent the villagers mad, driving them insane. But Tor and Roberta slowly overthrew the clouds, and her plans. At the final battle, in faerie land, they defeated her and turned her to stone with a special amulet.
The huge doors easily slid over the smooth floor surface, as Roberta crept out, she was embraced with chilly morning air. She opened up one of the pouches, and pulled out the cloak of heroes. Tying it around her neck, she pulled the hood up over her ivory black hair. She silently stalked off the bridge, walking swiftly past a sleeping Draik guard. Through the paths of Brightvale she walked until she reached the entrance. The guards looked at her suspiciously, and reluctantly opened the door for her. "There you go," one said, motioning through the door.
"Thank you," she said in a disguised voice other then hers. She paced through, and walked on until she reached the graveyard. Now away from Brightvale, she pulled off the hood. She leaned on the graveyard gates, glancing around nervously. When a dark figure approached, Roberta slid her hand down to another pouch, unbuttoning it and holding ready and firmly on an object: a wand. Once it got into her sight, she looked closer and smiled. She buttoned the pouch back up. "Hello, Tor," she said.
It had been since the fight in Faerieland that they had last seen each other. Tor went off to train as a Meridell hero, Roberta went off to be sorceress, her uncle, King Hagen, finally realizing her potential at that instead of being a diplomat.
Tor smiled. "Hello, Roberta. Long time, no see."
The sun's first rays sparkled on Tor's silver Armour, as he shielded his eyes. Against the bright light. Roberta turned as well. Something strange was in the sky. A spot on the sun was turning a dark purple, wrenching it's way across the sun. "...Tor...?" Roberta said, not taking her eyes off the ever growing darkness. As much as both of them didn't want to say it, it looked just like the dark faerie magic they had defeated. Slowly, their light surrounding melted and were replaced with dark, dreary ones. And, along with them came a cloud of beasts-The Darkest Faerie's minions-coming straight at Roberta and Tor.
Roberta clenched her teeth, pulling out her wand she hoped she'd never have to use ever again against the dark foes. Tor pulled his glimmering sword from it's sheath, along with his silver shield.
A hysterical laugh rung through the dark morning, one that was all too familiar. As if on a cue, Tor and Roberta lunged forward, fighting off the minions. Roberta swung her spells gracefully, and Tor swung his sword valiantly. During battle, the cloack of heroes slipped away from Roberta, and a minion flew down, seized it and flew away. "No!" Roberta cried. She was too late. She cast one last spell, finishing off the minion she had been fighting. Looking over, she saw Tor shielding off a minion's claws. Roberta lifted her wand, shooting at the minion, as Tor let go of his defenses.
Out of breath, Roberta panted. "They've got...the cloak...of heroes..." She said, pointing forward at the retreating minions. Tor sighed.
"Don't worry. We'll get it back. Trust me." He looked up at Roberta, but she did not respond. She stared intently at one thing. Clenching her fist, she just at that moment hated the darkest faerie-for taking Brightvale, under their noses, into her evil clutches.
* * *
Roberta, stomping ahead on the dirt path, with Tor in tow, crossed through the terrain back to Brightvale. Tor had tried to make conversation, but had failed to get Roberta to talk. He had finally seemed to have gotten the message, and stopped talking. They turned to face the entrance of Brightvale, and to no surprise, the guards were no where in sight. The dark cloud became bigger, until, opening the doors, it enveloped the two.
Seeing as how the minions had stolen the cloak of heroes, there was no way to hide their identity once inside the village. With weapons at ready, they made their first steps into the place. Surprisingly, nothing came at them. Tor stopped. "Wait, Roberta. Nothings coming at us. Do you think they expect us, or something?"
Finally, Roberta stopped, paying attention. "Maybe. The darkest faerie might have known I would come here first." Roberta looked around. It was usual that not a lot of people be out when the clouds were their, but nobody was out. "Should we go in a different way? Like in Meridell?"
"I don't know...they might expect that more. Let's just keep moving, and stay alert." Tor said, glancing around the deserted place.
Roberta nodded, pressing on. The only noise was the sound of crunching stone under their feet Tor's sword was only fit loosely into it's sheath, ready for an attack. Reaching the bridge leading to the palace, No guard stood. The front doors were wide open. Tor's eyes narrowed. Creeping in, the two were ready for anything. The throne room was also open, and their atop the throne was King Hagen, just fine. "Uncle!" Roberta cried, running to him.
"Roberta, it might be a trap!" Tor said, trying to stop her. But she had already stopped in front of the room. Her uncle said nothing. He was under the spell, too. Roberta pulled out her wand, realizing what Tor said was true. And then, from the open entrance door, a voice came.
"So glad to...see you again."
Whipping around, Roberta and Tor widened their eyes, realizing it was the gelert assassin, a ruthless killer hired by the darkest faerie to kill them that they narrowly 'defeated.'
"You!" Tor and Roberta said at the same time. The gelert grinned with satisfaction, getting the reaction he wanted.
"So good to see you remember me. Now, as much as I love to play, I'm told not to let you leave alive..." Roberta flung a spell at him, and he pulled out a dagger, reflecting it back at her. She narrowly dodged, landing on the ground. She got up, and Tor took a run at the gelert, swinging his sword. The gelert dissolved in thin air, reappearing behind Tor. He swung at Tor with his dagger from behind. "Tor!" Roberta yelled. "Behind you!" Swinging around, Tor held up his sword, blocking the blow. The gelert dissolved again, this time appearing at the top of the stair's banister. He gave a howling laugh.
"At this moment, the darkest faerie is taking control of every little village...Bogshot, Cogham, Market Town, Meridell farms, and Meridell itself!" The gelert growled.
"Oh yeah?" Tor yelled. "We'll just take them all back, just like before! Watch us!" The gelert gritted his teeth in anger, just as the entrance door flung open. Minions of all sizes stood at the ready. The gelert gave another laugh. "Good-bye now...Attack!" The gelert dissolved once more, this time not reappearing anywhere. The minions surged forward, as Roberta ran to Tor. "We have to get out of here!" She yelled over the minions uproars.
"What about your uncle?" Tor asked.
"We'll save him later! Now, we have to save ourselves! Theres way to many of them!" After a small pause, Tor looked at King Hagen then back at Roberta, reluctantly nodding. The two ran out of the room through the open doors, the crowd of minions following. Villagers peeked out their windows and closed them, watching as the two were chased out of Brightvale. They made it to the village gates, running through them as fast as they could. They didn't stop for a long time. They ran and ran, until they reached the tranquil beach off the coast of brightvale. They panted, the minions finally off their tale. Slowly, they sat down, and Roberta looked down at the ground.
"Whats wrong?" Tor asked her, a concerned expression on his face.
"My uncle's kingdom has been taken, and I'm just sitting here, Tor. Brightvale has fallen."
"Yes, but nobody expected you to do anything in the first place. We'll get Brightvale back-you just wait. The Darkest Faerie doesn't know what's coming." Roberta smiled, and looked up at the once bright sun, now covered with the dark and gloomy spell of a new day.
To Be continued...
