A/N: (CHAPTER SPOILER) In this chapter Tor and Roberta tell the story of the Darkest Faerie's defeat. Since I am sure you have played the game, you can skip over it if you want because it is basically a summary of the entire game told in the eyes of our favorite heroes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Neopets the Darkest Faerie

Chapter 15

"But Tor, I don't want to leave yet! I want to play with Gram and Ella some more!"

Tor sighed in exasperation. They were approaching the north gates where two unis would be waiting for them. Lucy was on Tor's shoulders, her preferred place when they were traveling. Roberta was walking on his right, keeping silent, but there was a small smirk on her face that let Tor know she was amused. "Lucy, you have to go back. Mom and Dad have been worried sick about you. And it's no longer safe in Meridell." Because it's so much safer at the farms, he thought sarcastically.

"But you get to stay!"

Tor closed his eyes. "It's my duty to stay." He placed Lucy on the uni and hopped up behind her while Roberta got on her own. "Hold on tight!"

All of Lucy's complaining was gone and forgotten when they took to the air. It was replaced by screams of happiness. Right in Tor's ears. He could help but smile though. It seemed that over the past few days, Lucy had completely forgotten what she went through with the werelupes. It was as though in her mind, it never even happened.

Traveling by air was incredibly fast. It was maybe an hour and a half later that they were flying over Shadowglen woods. By then Lucy had quieted and was just staring in wonder. When Tor saw the top of one of the farms silos Tor ordered the uni to go down. Following Tor's lead, Roberta did the same and within a few seconds Tor felt the hooves hit the ground. He slowed the uni down as they entered the farmlands.

Old man Boggs was sitting on a rocking chair on the porch of his house, drinking deeply from a flask. He squinted out at Tor and Roberta, slowly setting his flask to the side. Tor waved and hopped off his uni as the yellow grarrl stepped off his porch. "Well, I must be seeing things. Is that really you Tor?"

"You're not seeing things, sir. And I have Lucy with me."

"Lucy?" Boggs asked in shock, looking over to where Roberta was helping Lucy off the uni. "You… how did you get her back?"

Tor shrugged. "Roberta and I found the pack. But that is a story for later. How are you doing these days?"

"Ahh, same old thing, Tor. I suggest you get on over to your folks house. Things haven't been the same around here since the… incident."

Tor nodded in understanding. "Well, I'll be back around tomorrow and for the next few days if you need any help."

Boggs grinned toothily. "That's good to hear. I could use an extra hand around here."

Tor said goodbye to the farmer and rejoined Roberta and Lucy. They sent the unis back to Meridell and continued on foot, greeted all of those they came across, who were all excited to see that Lucy was safe. Tor promised all of them that he would be back the next day, but right then they had to get back to his parents' house. And as they continued walking along the road, Tor saw a familiar blue techno and he grinned widely. "Turk!"

The techno looked up and seeing Tor, dropped his pitchfork to the ground and ran over. "Tor! It's been too long, friend!"

Tor clapped Turk on the shoulder. It had been far too long. The last few times Tor had visited, Turk hadn't been around, doing lots of traveling as he had always dreamed of doing. Turk, though he was now a farmer, had been off at sea at the time of the Darkest Faerie and Tor hadn't seen him since leaving his farm after saving Lucy from Shadowglen. "It has. Turk, this is Roberta. Roberta, this is my old friend Turk."

"Pleased to meet you, Roberta," Turk said bowing slightly.

"And you. Tor's told me about you. I'm happy that we could finally meet."

Turk nodded in agreement and looked down at Lucy. "Nice to see that you're alright, kiddo! Your parents will be happy to see you."

Lucy smiled brightly at him and Tor chuckled. "Why don't you walk with us a bit, Turk?"

"Sure!"

The group of four began to walk again. It was mostly in silence though Tor knew that Turk had to say something, but he couldn't with Lucy around. Apparently Roberta noticed too and said, "Hey Lucy, I'll race you to that boulder up there!"

"Alright!"

Roberta started the countdown and then the two took off running. Immediately after Turk said, "What happened Tor? With Lucy."

Tor gave his friend a curious look. "The pack took her. I got her back."

Turk scoffed. "I've heard stories, possibly just rumors, of your story against the Dark One. A lot has happened since I last met you, and I'm not quite sure that I should believe that you went against the entire werelupe pack, which is larger than the population of Brightvale and Meridell together, and get out alive."

"I wasn't alone. I had Roberta with me." Tor said stubbornly. He didn't want to talk about this here.

"Ah yes. The sorceress. Even so Tor, it's two neopets against the pack. What is going on Tor? Out here it's mostly the worst of the rumors, but they say war is coming."

"It's true," Tor said, shaking his head. They were nearing the rock that marked the finish line of the race. Lucy was sitting, slightly winded, and Roberta was leaning against the rock, watching them. "I'll tell you more about it tomorrow. Take a break from work and come to my house." He looked at Roberta and then to Lucy, stifling laughter. "Who won the race?"

"I did!" Lucy exclaimed, suddenly full of energy. "Roberta's so slow!"

Roberta scowling and Tor and Tor tried to hold back their laughter. Tor picked up Lucy and placed her on his shoulders. "I know, Lucy. I spend half the time telling her to pick up the pace. If I had been by myself, getting to you would have taken half the time that it did."

"Yeah right, Tor! You're too dumb to do that by yourself."

This time Turk just roared with laughter. He could no longer to contain it and Roberta didn't try to hide her own laughter. "Lucy, this is why I like you better than Tor! You're a riot!"

Lucy just smiled, having no idea what they were finding so funny.

They continued walking in silence, other than the occasional chuckle. The then Tor noticed a little path through the trees and Tor could see the bottom of a house through the braches. That would be Aryanna's farm. He hadn't seen her in as long since it had been that he'd seen Turk. She had gone off to study in Market Town and he'd just missed her during his time of fighting away the dark clouds among the Kingdom Tor wondered if she was back from Market Town yet.

"So, is Aryanna back from Market Town yet?" he asked Turk, the little path now far behind them.

"Yes, she just returned a few days ago. She'll be shocked to hear that you're back."

"And Monty?" Monty was Aryanna's father, who had been very sick the last time Tor had checked up him during his last visit.

"He died about two weeks ago. Aryanna is handling it well. Everyone knew that it wasn't going to be much longer." Tor nodded slowly as the gate to his farm began to show itself. Turk stopped in his tracks and Tor and Roberta turned to look at him. "This is as far as I go, Tor. This isn't my place. I'll come by tomorrow with Aryanna."

"Right. I'll see you then."

Four went to three as they parted ways. Everything looked more or less the same, though the grass would need to be cut soon. The whinnies were still in their pen which seemed to have a new lock on it. Tor opened the door to the house, but it seemed that nobody was home. Tor frowned and looked at Roberta, who shrugged. Tor went stepped lightly on the stairs and went to his parents' room. Empty. Tor's frown deepened slightly. Then there was a small sound, like metal on metal. He should have known that his father would be in the barn, tinkering with unfinished inventions.

"He's outside in the barn," Tor said. He bounded back down the stairs and out the back door. He could see his mother watering the juppies.

"Mom!" Lucy shouted, running toward Patricia. Their mother looked up, confused as though she thought she was hearing things. And then she saw her.

"Lucy!" she cried wrapping her arms around her daughter. "Hubert! Hubert, Lucy is home! She's back!"

Tor looked over at the barn just as his father's head appeared around the edge of the door. He only stared for several seconds, and then he started running, dropping over the side of the stone wall. "Lucy!"

"Dad!"

Tor felt Roberta nudge him in the side of the ribs and he looked down at her. She was smiling happily, her eyes sparkling. "Go over there, Tor!" She pushed him lightly and Tor made his feet move. His parents looked at him proudly before pulling him into the family hug.

…..

"She was turned?" Patricia gasped in horror, her paws covering her mouth. Tor and Roberta were sharing their story at the small table in the kitchen. A single candle burned in the center of the table. It was late and Lucy was sleeping soundly in her bed. Tor nodded at his mother, confirming what Roberta had told her.

"She was," He said sadly, remembering the cold look in his sister's eye when she had attacked him. "But my friend Angus, he's a Potion Master and he spent the last fifteen years working on a potion that will cure the werelupe bite, and turn one back to normal. I used the potion on Lucy and it worked."

It took a few moments for his parents to take in that information. And then Hubert asked, "What happened then?"

"Roberta and I got out of there. But just when we were almost out, we ran into a patrol and they alerted the rest of the pack."

"We were chased out of there by the rest of the pack. My leg was bitten, but it wasn't fatal. I still couldn't walk though."

Tor looked at his father. "Your gloves and your rope gun really came in handy here. I sent Roberta and Lucy to the top of the cliff so that I would be able to hold the pack off with Alcasar who had come to see if we were alright. We managed to keep fighting until there was a signal for the pack to return to the caves. Alcasar and I climbed up the cliff."

"And you got out unhurt?" Patricia asked worriedly, searching her son for any signs of pain.

"Not quite. There was lots of bruising and someone cut straight through my armor. It was a lot better than one could expect when facing more than half of the pack. Roberta fixed m armor though, and the wound is nearly healed."

"How has Lucy seemed?" his mother asked.

Tor thought back to Alcasar's cave and then to seeing Lucy in Meridell. "She seems the same. She still gets along well with all of the other kids she's met. She was a little freaked out when she met Alcasar, but that didn't last long and she even had fun with his two daughters. It's like nothing ever happened. She hasn't spoken about it to me. What about you Roberta?"

"She hasn't said anything to me either. I don't know if it's good or bad though. I don't think she means to, but she's forcing those memories back and squashing them, pretending it never happened. That can hurt her in the long run. It will be better for her to get it out now. I don't want anything else to happen to her, and I'm sure that none of you do either. Patricia, I think you should be the one to talk to her about it. But not until you feel that you're both ready."

Patricia nodded, gripping her husband's hand tightly. "Thank you Roberta, for all that you have done for this family."

Roberta looked surprised, as though that thought had never occurred to her once. She glanced around at them all and Tor smiled at her. "You don't have to thank me, Patricia. You're all important to me and I don't want to see anyone hurt."

"Even so," Hubert murmured quietly. He pushed back his chair and stood up. "I believe it's time I hit the hay. Patricia?"

"Yes, me too. Tor, Roberta, I will leave sleeping arrangements to you. Good night."

"Night," The two young neopets said simultaneously. Tor heard his parents' feet going up the stairs and disappear into their bedroom. "Are you tired?" he asked Roberta.

She shrugged. "A little." She paused for a few seconds. "How was it seeing Turk? I know it's been a long time."

Tor frowned thoughtfully. "Strange. It's been so long, since before I even became a squire. We've both changed since then, taking on our own responsibilities. I guess we'll see tomorrow."

Roberta nodded through a loud yawn. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought. No point in staying awake longer than I should."

Tor agreed and they went up to his room that he had always shared with Lucy. His sister was fast asleep, curled up into a tight ball with her pillow discarded onto the ground. Tor quickly made himself a bed on the floor and before Roberta could protest, laid down and drew the covers up to his chin.

"Tor, get off the floor and get into your own bed," Roberta said. She nudged him in the ribs with her foot, her arms crossed over her chest as she glared down at him.

"Sorry, no can do. I am not a guest and you are, therefore you get the more comfortable place," he whispered back, mindful of his sister a few feet away. "Besides, I'm already in bed. You can't just make me move now."

Roberta sighed and shook her head. "You're not even wearing your sleepwear, Tor." She had changed into her sleepwear while he was making the bed.

"I find this much more comfortable."

The sorceress made a small noise of exasperation and walked over to Tor's bed, blowing out the candle on her way. "Good night, idiotic lupe."

"Good night, slightly violent acara."

….

"Tor, it's so good to see you again," the red acara greeted him warmly, hugging him tightly. She had practically attacked him upon entering the barn with Turk who was now smiling along with Roberta.

"You too, Aryanna. I'm sorry to hear about your father."

A sad look appeared in her eyes as she shrugged. "It was going to happen sooner or later. I was prepared." She stepped back and perched herself on a barrel next to Turk's while Tor shared a crate with Roberta. They all sat in a silence, one that was slightly awkward for Roberta who didn't know his two oldest friends. "So you're Roberta?" Aryanna asked, breaking the silence. Roberta smiled at her and nodded. "I've only heard about you through stories, I'm sorry to say."

"I'm sure most were probably rumors."

"True. But that's why we're here, isn't it? To get the story separated from rumors."

"And here I thought this was about old friends catching up," Tor said sighing dramatically and they all chuckled.

"That too," Turk said. "But you're staying for a little while, right?"

"Two more days," Tor nodded. "I would like to stay longer, but…"

"I understand," the techno nodded, though it seemed that Aryanna did not. She stayed quiet, though there was a small confused frown on her face. "So for now, I would like to hear what you two have to say about how you both became known as 'Saviors of Neopia'."

Tor looked at Roberta. "I'll start?"

She nodded. "It begins with you, Tor."

Tor cleared his throat and a distant look appeared in his eyes. This would be the first time he had ever told anybody the whole story. His parents didn't know about it. But Tor remembered every small detail of it. "It all started when my father sent me to Meridell with a package. I was on my way there when I came across an old beggar being threatened by a group of thieves. All I had for fighting was an old wooden sword that my father had given me. I fought of the thieves and the beggar thanked me and gave me this," Tor held up his amulet, pulling it out from under his shirt. He never took it off. "He only told me that it would help me when the time came.

"When I came to Meridell the package was stolen by a thief named Heermedjet. An old knight got it back to me and when I finally managed to deliver it, I was offered to become a squire. I got my sponsorship papers signed and went home to get permission from my parents. Then I discovered that Lucy had gone missing and I found her in Shadowglen Woods, being held prisoner by a weird sort of Juppie Monster. I know, it seems pretty out there, but it happened. A lot of what we'll tell you will be the same way. I got permission from my parents and became a squire.

"For months I trained under Master Torak, our Man at Arms. There was only one other squire, Grayson, originally from Market Town. His father is Lord Ulaf."

"I know of him. Nice guy. Always spoke very proudly of Grayson." Aryanna said and Tor nodded.

"I thought you might know him," he said. "One day there was a raid on Cogham by the Ixi tribe. I was ordered to go with a knight, Sir Harlag." Tor shook his head. "A bitter man. He didn't spare a glance at me the entire time I was a squire, and was offended that he'd been ordered to help Cogham with me, a squire. He told me that Cogham could wait until he had finished eating. I was angry, but I didn't see what I could do. And then I met the same old knight who had helped me get my package back. I didn't normally see him around the castle, which I found strange. But he told me something that has stuck with me to this day."

"What did he say?" Turk asked impatiently as Tor paused for a few moments, lost in memories.

"Do what you think is right, what your heart tells you is right. So I went to Cogham by myself. I had to walk by myself through Drackonack Ridge to get there, being unable to take one of the unis. I didn't want to be caught going against orders. I fought of the Ixies with some of the villagers who were all rightly pissed that Meridell sent only a measly squire. So I went off to find the Ixi Chief. It was partly to prove myself and partly to ensure that the Ixies wouldn't be back for a while. It was rough going and an even rougher battle, but I killed the chief."

Tor could help but grin at the shocked faces of his two friends. He was much different from the farm boy they once knew. "Upon returning to Meridell I was made into a knight of third class, meaning a single step above a squire. Still, it was a pretty big thing for me. Of course Grayson was a little put out since he had become a squire before I did. But I was still treated more or less like a squire, though without clog duty and such."

"Ew. I don't even like the sound of that," Aryanna muttered and Turk nodded in agreement.

"Trust me, it's worse than the name implies," Tor said, only joking slightly. E put on a serious face again. "That night something strange happened. I didn't know what it was until later, but there was a difference in the air. Nobody else seemed bothered, but I could feel something strange, dark. Later there was a messenger from Illusen's Glade saying that the werelupe King had attacked and that there was dark magic involved, that purple clouds were hovering over the village. King Skarl sent all of the other knights out but me.

"A few days passed but they never returned. Everyone tried to hide it, but they were all growing worried. And then, while I was wandering the castle I met the old knight once again. He told me that evil was coming and that I had to go and save the other knights at once. So I went." He looked around at them to make sure they were still paying attention. They were, three pairs of eyes fixed on his face even though Roberta already knew the story. "The Glade was crawling with werelupes and the other knights had been trapped in cages, their weapons taken. I freed them and they didn't have much choice but to return to Meridell. Without weapons they wouldn't be any help."

"They left you alone?" Turk asked incredulously.

Tor nodded. "Master Torak's orders. He sent me to see if Illusen was alright so I went up into the treetop village. The Werelupe King had Illusen and when he saw me he ordered his pet Gnarfas to kill me." Tor shook his head as he thought of the large werelupe with the bright red fur, and the four arms, each equipped with swinging chains. "It was tough, and I nearly lost before the old knight appeared and managed to knock that monster away. He told me to get away from there, but then the Werelupe King killed him, or so I thought. I killed Gnarfas, but before I could get to the king he took Illusen's charm and got away.

"Illusen went unconscious. I tried to revive her, but when I did her eyes had turned purple, her mind taken over. The sky went dark, the glade consumed by the purple clouds. She pushed me over the edge and I fell to the ground, out cold for a little while. When I came too everything was dark, as though light had never touched the glade. There were these monsters, magical beasts, minions they were called, flying around and attacking me. I got back to Meridell and the clouds had even stretched there. Nobody was in the streets and nobody guarded the castle. I went inside to search for the king, or anybody. Dark Knights, beings that had been resurrected from the dead were in the castle. They are hard to get rid of, but I managed and found King Skarl in a trance, kneeling next to the Dark One who sat on his throne. There were three other dark faeries there, her sisters, Vanity, Malice, and Spite."

"Creepy," Turk muttered.

Tor smirked and nodded in agreement. Yes, they had been creepy to say the least. "They were planning to destroy the Kingdom. I was spying from behind a pillar, but the Darkest Faerie saw me. The other three went after me and I tried to escape. They created fire barriers, blocking my way, but I finally got away from them, just for about a minute, getting into the storage room. Faun, a servant in the castle was there and she helped me get out, moving aside a grate in the floor that led to the moat. I jumped down while Faun hid and I floated out to sea."

The knight looked around to make sure that his friends had taken everything in. They seemed to be processing it all well. Tor looked to Roberta who sighed, leaning back against the barn wall. "This is where my story begins. I am he niece of both King Hagan and King Skarl, though I have lived in Brightvale my entire life. I learned magic in secret from my mentor Seradar, the Royal Sorcerer of the Kingdom. We were on our way to Faerieland to visit Queen Fyora and warn her of the dark clouds that had been spreading over the lands. I was annoyed at having been sent out to do it by my uncle. I never wanted to be a diplomat, but my uncle always said it was my duty.

"I met an old woman there, before we had the meeting with Queen Fyora, who had her pet harris stuck in a tree. I got it back to her and she rewarded me with this amulet," Roberta held up her amulet matching Tor's. Here Aryanna and Turk looked between the two, realizing that there was a connection between the amulets, even if they didn't know what it was. "Seradar and I went to see Fyora soon after. She said that she had sent word to Illusen, but hadn't received an answer and that she would look into it when she got the chance. It wasn't much, but what else could we do?"

"I awoke the next morning to purple clouds and the minions. Seradar was already being controlled by the dark magic, just as Illusen and King Skarl were. I tried to get out of there but I heard a woman screaming for help. I went to check it out, looking through a grate from one of the storage rooms. The woman who had given me the amulet was chained to the wall and the Darkest Faerie was there. She was wondering why the woman wasn't controlled by her magic. She spoke of a lupe who she was also unable to control."

Tor grinned. "That would be me."

Aryanna rolled her eyes. "We were aware. Let Roberta go on with her story!"

Roberta grinned and pushed Tor with her foot. "Yeah, shut up Tor. Anyway, I distracted the darkest Faerie, making the bell tower go off. I went to the aisha's prison and freed her. I tried to get her to go with me, but she wouldn't. She said that I had to leave and find my amulet's twin and that he could help me. I didn't have much choice, and a part of me knew that she would be fine. I escaped down the endless staircase and found my uni, Solarin. The Darkest Faerie spotted me though and I was thrown off Solarin and I fell down to the land again."

"You fell from Faerieland?" Aryanna asked in shock. "And you lived?!"

"It's pretty hard to believe," Turk added skeptically. Tor gave his friend a hard look.

"I told you in the beginning that a lot of it would be. She did fall from Faerieland, just as I floated to the beach."

Roberta nodded. "And that's where my amulet found its twin."