Whistling gaily, Patrick quickly adjusted his glasses before grabbing a soap sponge from his bucket and starting to wash and polish the chonomobile. Ah, yes... it was a wonderful feeling to know that, out of all the applicants to become one of Zylphia the Time Travelling Shopkeeper's assistant, he was the one chosen for this enormous task. After all, it's a lot of work to travel through time and keep up the store front at the same time! This is the reason why Zylphia hired Patrick, to make sure that the shop and the chronomobile were in tip-top shape for her sales and her next adventure.

"And that should be it," Patrick said, beaming with pride as he wiped the sweat from his brow. The chronomobile was sparkling. No one would believe that, just an hour ago, it had returned from Tyrannia circa Year 3 during the Tyrannian Invasion. "Now, time to dump the water and make sure that everything is in stock."

Just as Patrick turned around, the door to the back room opened. Silhouetted in the doorway was the outline of an Ixi who was most definitely not Zylphia. It was, however, an Ixi that Patrick recognized, and the Korbat grinned broadly and waved at his friend.

"Remi!" he exclaimed as the Ixi walked in carrying a lunchbox. "I thought you weren't coming for another hour."

The white Ixi laughed as she held up the lunchbox for Patrick. "You're silly, Patrick. You're also an hour late for your lunch, which is why Zylphia sent me back here. Otherwise, she would have had me wait for you up front. She said you're such a hard worker that sometimes you forget to go home."

Patrick flushed at that. A few nights ago he did forget that it was close to closing time. He was so caught up in taking inventory of all the strange and mysterious things Zylphia brought back from her time travels.

"Yeah, I tend to do that," he said, taking the lunchbox. "Wow, thank you! You brought my favorite; Flower Cakes for dessert are the best!"

Remi laughed a bit at her friend's reaction before her gaze fell upon the chronomobile. Her eyes widened as she walked toward it, her mouth hanging opening in awe. "Is that it? Is that the chronomobile?"

Pausing in his dig through the lunchbox, Patrick turned around to see Remi sliding in the leather seat of the chronomobile. Panic immediately set in as he closed the box and hurried toward his friend. "You're not supposed to do that! No one except for Zylphia can touch the chronomobile!"

"Oh come on, Patrick," Remi said as she stared at all of the strange buttons and levers with absolute delight. "I'm not going to do anything -- I just want to pretend, that's all."

Patrick shook his head. "No, no, no, we're not allowed to, and if Zylphia caught us--"

"She won't, she's dealing with a very angry customer right now, so she's very distracted." Remi patted the seat next to her and smiled at Patrick. "You know you want to, Patrick."

Darting a quick glance at the doorway, Patrick nodded slowly before climbing aboard. There was no point in arguing with Remi once she set her mind to something. "We're just pretending," he reiterated as he adjusted his glasses before firmly clutching the armrests, "and it's only going to be for a few-- DON'T TOUCH THAT BUTTON!"

Remi froze, her hand hovering above the button as she looked back at Patrick innocently. "I'm not touching it. I was just pretending to touch it."

"Just keep your hand away from it, Remi, I'm already not comfortable--"

Just as Patrick reached forward to pull Remi's hand away from the green button, he accidentally swatted the button itself. Lights on the dashboard started flashing as the chronomobile's seat belts started to wind their way around Remi and Patrick. The chronomoble itself started to hum and rumble as the two friends looked at each other fearfully. Before either of them could say anything, however, an invisible force thrusted the chronomobile forward, pushing Remi and Patrick back into their seats, screaming all the while. It was like a roller coaster; with this roller coaster, however, there was no telling where they were going, when they were going, and how things were going to end for them...

Eventually, the darkness faded away and became a pleasant countryside. Rolling hills that sloped into purple mountains were to their right, and to their left they could make out a majestic castle.

The chronomobile shuddered and died, its once-sparkling exterior now splattered with mud and torn grass. The seat belts fell away from the Ixi and Korbat, and they leaped out of their seats.

"What did you do?!?" Patrick cried, panic clutching at his chest. "Where are we?"

Remi frowned at Patrick and stuck out her tongue. "You're the one who pressed the button, not me. I have no idea where we are."

Horrified, Patrick paced around the chronomobile. His large ears drooped as he envisioned Zylphia's wrath. Not only did they sit in her precious chronomobile, but they had traveled somewhere. The two of them had broken Zylphia's most forbidden rule: NEVER time travel.

As Patrick was imagining the worst possible punishments, Remi spun to face the distant castle. A large group of Neopets were striding toward them, each garbed in dark armor.

"Those look like Darigan Neopets..." she muttered to herself, frowning. As the horde drew closer, realization dawned.

"Patrick! The chronomobile took us to the end of the Battle for Meridell! That's Darigan's army!"

Astonished, the Korbat stopped pacing and stood beside Remi...

"Once wasn't enough?!? What if we get taken to Sloth's invasion or something like that? Besides, the chronomobile has a cooldown period before it can be used again. I'd also have to clean out any mud that got stuck in the engine. Why else do you think Zylphia has me keep the chronomobile so clean?"

"Fine, fine!" Remi snapped. "I was just wondering."

As the Darigan forces marched closer, Patrick suddenly remembered something. "Remi," he whispered. "Run."

"Why? What about you?" Remi hissed back. Both of them didn't dare take their eyes off of the approaching army.

Patrick gulped before he continued. "You're an Ixi. The Ixi species is originally from Meridell, who is their hated enemy at this point in time. Who knows what will happen if they capture you?"

Remi was quiet for a few moments, acknowledging the truth in Patrick's words. She still wasn't sure about leaving Patrick behind, though. "What about you?" she repeated, her tone of voice a little bit softer. The Ixi knew what Patrick's response would be even before he said it.

"I can't leave the chronomobile. It's Zylphia's pride and treasure, and I owe it to her to watch over it at least. It's the least I can do. Plus..." Patrick gulped again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. "Plus, we can't risk having Lord Darigan gain possession of the chronomobile, especially in the middle of the war. Neopian history would be completely rewritten!"

Remi nodded, admiring Patrick's bravery. The little Korbat was more courageous than he looked. "I'll try to find help," she promised. "Meridell Castle should be in that direction. I'll come get you as soon as I can. Don't let the chronomobile out of your sight. It's our only hope of going home." With that, she turned tail and fled, aiming for the closest patch of forest.

The Darigan forces shouted at Remi's flight and began running toward them. Patrick's heart leapt to his throat. Please, he pleaded in his head, Please be safe, Remi...

"Sire, sire... the Darigan forces, they're on their way!" an unnamed soldier shouted while running toward King Skarl.

"What?!? I thought they were ready to surrender... we sent most of our troops off, thinking we were safe."

"Well, Your Majesty, it seems that those evil Darigans lied to us about surrendering! You must gather the kingdom's forces!"

"There's no time!" the king snapped. "If they make it to the castle, then nothing short of a time-travelling miracle will be capable of saving us!"

"Did somebody say time-travel?!?" Remi screamed while being carried in by two guards. "Boy, do I have a surprise for you, my king!"...

"W-well, sir," began a shaking soldier who had also caught sight of the approaching army.

"Spit it out!" the king roared.

"This Ixi claims to have, uh..." the other soldier grasping Remi's arm began to explain. "To, uh... t-time travel?"

King Skarl's demeanor grew even more unpleasant than anyone thought it could. "What sort of sick joke is this? Out of all the bad jokes that I have heard, this one takes the cake! In the middle of an invasion, no less!"

"Well, you see," Remi started, "he's right, sir."

As Remi recounted her story of traveling through the space-time continuum, a piercing scream broke out and rang through the castle walls...

"Yes, thank you for checking up on me. What was all that screaming about?"

"I believe the Darigan forces have come into view from the watch tower. We should evacuate the city immediately!" the voice called out, louder and closer than before.

"A splendid idea... guards, you heard him. Evacuate the city, bringing them all into the castle for safety!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" the guards called, as the source of the voice, an heroic Lupe, entered the king's chamber.

"Sire, do you require any assistance?"

"Well," the king began, then paused. "I suppose you could help this young Ixi find her friend."

"Very well. Sir Rohane of Meridell at your service!" the Lupe said. As they left the king's chambers, Remi briefed Rohane on the situation at hand.

"Very well," he said after hearing all that he needed to know. "We shall sneak out the back exit and go to find your friend!"...

"So, you've come here from the future to help us win this battle?" Rohane asked.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure why we were sent here, but I'm certain that we will be able to help!" Remi stated, smiling. "Alright, it should be just over that hill."

"Halt!" two Darigan Skieths shouted at Remi, unaware of the Meridell knight that was with her.

"You're one of them Ixi, ain't ya?" one of them asked, poking her with the dull end of his spear.

"Yeah, a pretty little Meridellian Ixi," the other one chimed in. "You know, it ain't safe to travel all alone, IXI!"

"She's not alone," Rohane stated, "she's with me!"

"Hey Crab, ain't that the Meridellian knight Rohane?" one guard asked the other.

"Yeah Goyle, it is. Let's get out of here!" the other stated. The Skeiths then took off running.

"Thank you!" Remi stated, walking more cautiously over the hill to see her friend. "There, that's where he was hiding!" she said, pointing to the clean and shiny chronomobile.

"Wait here," Rohane said, "I'll signal you if the coast is clear." Rohane crept down the hill and snuck up behind the glimmering machine. Remi could tell that Patrick had spent all of his time cleaning the chronomobile. "Patrick..." Rohane whispered, "Patrick, are you there?"

"You'll never take me alive, Darigan fiends!" Patrick shouted, launching his soapy sponge at Rohane.

"Patrick, calm down! I'm not your enemy. Your friend led me to you," he said, wiping the soapy bubbles off of his armor. "See? Remi's up there." He beckoned her to come down.

"Patrick!!!" Remi yelled, running over to her friend. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Me, too," he said, relieved. "The chronomobile's all fixed; I think we can leave now." Rohane was shocked at this announcement.

"I thought you two were going to help us!" he stated, "We can't win this war without you!"

"Patrick, we really should help them. I mean... they saved me!"

"Fine..." Patrick stated, too tired to argue. "We'll go back in time to before this war began, steal Darigan's plans, and then bring them to King Skarl. How hard could it be?" Patrick said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"That's the spirit!" Remi yelled, jumping into the chronomobile.

"There they are!" yelled a familiarly-voiced Darigan Skieth. "Oh hey, we brought some help this time!" Suddenly a small Darigan army appeared, surrounding the trio.

"Go, hurry! If you succeed, this never will happen!" Rohane shouted, unsheating his sword.

"Thank you!" Remi shouted while Patrick figured out how to work the chronomobile and, ZOOM, it disappeared back into the past...

"I know," Patrick said sullenly. "That's where I programmed the chronomobile to go."

"Why?!?" Remi cried. "I thought we were going to help Meridell!"

"You," Patrick emphasized, crossing his arms, "promised to help Meridell. I promised to help Zylphia, and we've already broken enough of her rules. I do not intend to continue breaking them by using the chronomobile again."

Remi stared at her friend in shock. "But... but..." she stammered, trying to comprehend the situation. "But what about Meridell? How will they win the war without our help? King Skarl himself told me they needed a time-traveling miracle to defeat Darigan!"

Patrick sighed. "I know, Remi. I want to help, too, but we can't use the chronomobile more than we already have. It would be wrong. Zylphia trusted us, and I don't want to break her trust any more than we already have. Besides, we already know that Meridell won the war. That's what happened, remember?"

"Fine!" Remi shouted. "If you don't want to be a hero with me, then I'm not sure I want to be your friend anymore!" The Ixi spun around and flounced toward the door.

"Well, I'm not sure I want to be your--" Patrick started to yell after her, until he saw her stop suddenly in the doorway. "What's wrong?" He hurried to the door and looked past Remi into Zylphia's shop.

The shop was in complete shambles. Many of the shelves that had once held history capsules were broken and strewn all around the shop, and most of the items from the capsules were haphazardly spread across the floor. Even the door to the shop was broken, hanging by only one hinge.

"What happened here?" Patrick said softly, as he and Remi took in the sight. "How could Zylphia have ever have left the shop like this?"

Remi shook her head. "I don't think she meant to, Patrick," she stated. The Ixi pointed to the large purple banner that was barely visible through the open doorway. "I think she was forced to. By Darigan."

Patrick followed her gaze to the banner. He gasped as he saw what was written on it: THE KINGDOM OF DARIGAN. The Korbat was horrified, his terror growing as he realized what had happened. It was all their fault. Without the help of Patrick and Remi, Darigan had defeated Meridell in the war and clearly chosen to expand their borders further. He had changed the course of history.

"Well," Remi said, an accusing tone in her voice. "What should we do now?"

Patrick turned to Remi with resolve. "Well, we should go back to the beginning of the war and steal Darigan's plans for Meridell!"

Remi grinned. "That’s the spirit!" she said as she turned back to the chronomobile. She hopped in excitedly. "Let's go save Meridell!"

"There's just one problem..." Patrick pointed out. "Remember that cooldown period I mentioned earlier? We'll go back and get the war plans from Kass, but first we'll have to wait for the chronomobile to recover. In the meantime, I can use this opportunity to give it another thorough cleaning, and we can try to think up a way of getting those plans... "

"Meridell won... Meridell won because..." Patrick paused in his scrubbing of the chronomobile, a look of pure shock and horror on his face. "Remi... Remi, I don't remember how Meridell won the war!"

At her friend's statement, Remi realized that she, too, couldn't remember her Neopian history. Everything she had been taught in school about Meridell onward was nothing but a blank. Well, not entirely a blank, now that she thought about it. There was something about Darigan taking over Faerieland and capturing the faeries by putting them all in bottles and using their magic for evil. She also remembered Darigan invading Moltara and claiming it as their own, mining the rare motes and ores from the underground. But... that's not the correct history, is it?

"Patrick..." Remi whispered, "I think... I think that, because history was rewritten, we're starting to forget what history was before it was rewritten."

There was an audible splash when Patrick dropped his sponge into the bucket of water. Remi saw the determined look on her friend's face as he placed a hand on the chronomobile's still-dirty exterior. "We'll make this right..." Patrick said. He had realized the mistake he'd made by sending them back to the future, and felt terrible about his cowardice. "If we're not able to remember how Meridell won the war, then we'll figure out how to beat Darigan by figuring out how they won the war..."

A smile crossed Remi's figure as she tapped her notebook again and Patrick resumed cleaning the chronomobile. "There was something about the Court Dancer, I think... the Aisha that charmed everyone in the castle so that--"

"So that King Skarl wouldn't be able to send reinforcements to Meridell's army..." Patrick finished. "There was also something else that happened, though..."

As Remi wrote down "The Court Dancer" on her pad of paper, she paused and nibbled at the end of the pen. "Jeran... Jeran was killed by General Kass, and... and his sister, Lisha... something happened to her, right? Anyway, General Kass became Darigan's ruler because Meridell was never sent reinforcements, so it was an easy take over. No one was strong enough to stand up to him; the only one that would be strong enough was Lord Darigan, but he disappeared after the first Meridell war, which is what lead to the Battle for Meridell..."

"In that case, I think we both know what we need to do," Patrick said firmly. "We go back in time -- one of us goes to Meridell and stops the Court Dancer from putting a spell on the Meridell Court and the other one goes and finds Lord Darigan so that he can help Meridell fight against General Kass, defeating him once and for all."

"It's going to be hard," Remi said as she wrote down "Find Lord Darigan" onto her notepad, "but I think we can do it... no, we have to do it."

Adjusting his glasses, Patrick turned around and smiled at his friend. The chronomobile was nice and clean again, perfectly shiny and ready to save the dimensions. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Before Remi could stand up, however, there was a loud pounding at the entry of the workshop. It didn't take long before the wooden door shattered and, standing in the doorway, were two Moltaran pets... a magma Tonu and a magma Grarrl, both dressed in Darigan garb.

"I knew that pesky apprentice was still around!" the Grarrl growled, pointing a spear at Patrick. "And looky what we have here... an Ixi. I thought we'd seen the last of your kind after Lord Kass took over Meridell."

A jolt of fear pulsated through Remi as she backed away from the doorway, shivering in fright. Both guards advanced toward Remi and Patrick with malicious grins on their faces.

"If you come quietly..." the Tonu said, "I promise we won't hurt you..."

"NO!" Remi shouted. She turned and pushed Patrick into the chronomobile. As her friend seated himself, Remi turned to also get in. Before she was able to even set foot in the chronomobile, the Grarrl managed to grab her and started to pulling her away.

"Don't think you're going anywhere, Ixi!" the Grarrl said. "Or your friend, either!"

"I might not be going anywhere," Remi said. Despite her fighting, she knew that she and Patrick wouldn't be able to fight off the Grarrl and Tonu together. "But my friend is!"

Slamming her hand onto the green button, Remi then let go of the chronomobile just as it started to hum and whirl. "GO, PATRICK! MAKE THINGS RIGHT!!!"

"REMI!!!" Patrick watched helplessly as the Tonu and Grarrl held his friend captive. He wasn't able to do anything but honor her wish because the seatbelts had already secured him tightly to the chronomobile. "Please be safe..." Patrick whispered as he closed his eyes and the chronomobile lurched forward again. He had to be brave, not just for the fate of Neopia, but the fate of his best friend also. Just as the thoughts crossed his mind, there was huge crash.

Once again, the chronomobile had landed...

Patrick opened his eyes slowly. The past days and weeks of careful planning and daring adventure flew through his mind, but had it worked? Through his squinted eyes he could see a tidy counter and neat shelves with glistening rows of capsules. He opened his eyes the rest of the way with cautious optimism and climbed out of the chronomobile. Yes, he thought, everything's the way I remember it. Everything except...

The door to the back room opened. Silhouetted in the doorway was the outline of an Ixi that Patrick recognized, and the Korbat grinned broadly and waved at his friend.

"Remi!" he exclaimed as the Ixi walked in carrying a lunchbox. "I'm so glad to see you again!"

The white Ixi laughed as she held up the lunchbox for Patrick. "You're silly, Patrick. You're also an hour late for your lunch, which is why Zylphia sent me back here. Otherwise, she would have had me wait for you up front. She said you're such a hard worker that sometimes you forget to go home."

Patrick sighed in relief. "Yeah, I tend to do that," he said, taking the lunchbox. "Ah, Flower Cakes. I thought I might never eat one of those again."

Remi laughed a bit at her friend's strange reaction before her gaze fell upon the chronomobile. Her eyes widened as she walked toward it, her mouth hanging opening in awe. "Is that it? Is that the chronomobile?"

"Yes," Patrick said as he quickly moved himself between Remi and the vehicle, "that's the chronomobile, but don't touch it. Please, for the love of Fyora, don't touch it."

"Oh come on, Patrick," Remi said as she stared at all of the strange buttons and levers with absolute delight. "I'm not going to do anything -- I just want to pretend, that's all."

Patrick shook his head. "Nope, not gonna work on me this time." (Remi tilted her head in confusion upon hearing his last two words.) "I've got to clean all this Meridellian dirt off of it, and besides, it's in its cooldown period anyway, so you can't even travel now. There is absolutely no way that we are traveling through time, Remi. No. Way."

Remi shrugged. "Sure, fine. I just wanted to pretend, but if it's that big a deal, we can do something else." She began looking through her own lunch box, then paused. "Wait, what did you say about Meridellian dirt? Zylphia told me she had just been in Tyrannia..."

Patrick hurried to change the subject. "Hey, Remi, you like history, right?"

Remi nodded. "Yeah, sure. Why do you ask?"

"Well," Patrick said, "I've been trying to remember what happened during the Battle for Meridell, but I can't for the life of me remember all the details. Can you remind me?"

Remi laughed. "Oh, Patrick. You'd think that, of all the 'pets in Neopia, Zylphia's assistant would know basic history. I'll humor you, though. There was something about the Court Dancer, I think... the Aisha that charmed everyone in Skarl's castle. The king was able to see through her deception, however, after being tipped off by an unknown source."

"Skarl took a lot of convincing," Patrick said, then quickly added, "...I heard."

Remi didn't pay him any mind. "Jeran and his sister Lisha led the military attack on General Kass's forces. They were incredibly effective, almost as if they knew all of the Citadel's weaknesses from the start of the war. Also Lord Darigan, who had disappeared after the first Meridell war, returned to deal the final blow to Kass."

Patrick nodded. "Anything else?"

Remi frowned. "Well, some say there was another 'pet with Lord Darigan when he defeated Kass, a mysterious Korbat. I've also heard that he was spotted at other decisive points of the war, but he vanished after the war ended, never to be seen again. That sounds more like a myth to me than actual fact, though."

Patrick smiled. "Yeah, probably."

Remi nodded. "Yeah, to show up in all of those places so quickly, he would've needed some powerful magic."

"Or something like that," Patrick said. He smiled at his friend. "Thanks for the history lesson."

"Any time!" Remi said. "Maybe you could repay me with a quick ride in the chronomobile?" she said slyly.

Patrick laughed and playfully threw a sponge at her. "Not on your life."

Remi laughed and the two of them sat down to enjoy their lunch. Patrick smiled to himself as he heard his friend talk and laugh. He really was the luckiest Korbat in all of Neopia.

The End