HAUNTED WOODS - Recently, in the last issues of The Neopian Times, I read two
articles: one on
Chia Flour, the other on the evil
Chia, Hubrid Nox. The article written by Bluescorchio104 was very interesting.
Was it possible that Hubrid Nox was just (or at least once was) a normal, happy
Chia? And if so, what had happened to make him become an evil deformed one?
So with my pets, the reluctant Lupe Fly_0072 and the excited (but hungry) Sprint_0072,
I set out on a quest to find out just what had happened. The trouble was, we
had no idea where to look.
First, naturally, looked in the Haunted Woods, the most evil place in the
world of Neopia (as far as we know). We didn't find him there, but we did interview
a couple of people (and things) there. Edna was quite rewarding with information;
however, we did have to complete quite an expensive quest to get it. In the
end, she said that she remembered Nox as a child. According to her, his real
name Charly_9087, and as a child, he was just like any other Chia you saw...
and she promised she hadn't cursed him. The Esophagor didn't know much, but
suggested that since the Hidden Tower was full of Hubrid's things, we should
check there. My pet Sprint was nearly eaten later though, so we left the woods
a bit sooner than we had planned.
Now my pets and I knew we were on to something. Hubrid Nox was once a normal
Chia, who was actually named Charly_9087. And according to Edna, he was no different
from any other Chia. We now had 3 conclusions to why Nox had suddenly gone bad.
Either something terrible had happened to him, Edna had cursed him, or (as a
far out guess) he was a freak result of Chia Flour. Intrigued, we took The Esophagor's
hint about The Hidden Tower. Luckily, I have been a loyal Neopian for about
a year, and knew where The Hidden Tower was.
When we arrived at the "deserted" tower, we went right to the top to interview
the all-powerful Faerie Queen. The first question I asked her was "Have you
ever seen Hubrid Nox?" her reply was shocking. "Yes, I have. He's supplied me
with various items, such as his Noxious Sword, Odial Sphere, Puzzle Box... oh
yes, and his Chia Flour!"
"Chia Flour?!" I replied. "He supplied you with Chia Flour?!" I quickly scribbled
this down in my notebook. "Do you know how long he's had it?"
"Well," she stated, "According to him, he's had for at least three fourths
of his life... he was wondering if I'd buy it if I mixed up a new batch of it."
A few questions later I had left The Hidden Tower perplexed. My pets and I
now had only one idea in mind: Hubrid Nox was a freak result of his own creation.
But that still didn't explain why he was evil. Chia Flour wasn't known to make
pets madly insane... so we continued our journey to find Hubrid Nox. However,
no matter how hard we tried, no matter how many possibilities we thought up,
we always reached dead ends. How could we find Hubrid Nox? Then it hit me. Look
for the item, Hubrid Nox! The trading card! Traveling far and wide had gotten
me lots of information, but hadn't told me where he was!
When he arrived at the Card Shop, we were confronted by an irritable looking
Buzz. "What do you want?" he hissed out. Then we stated our request. "Hubrid
Nox? No problem, no problem at all..."
After we paid the Buzz for the ridiculously priced card, we read it over and
over.
Nox may be a Chia, but he displays no signs of happiness or joy. He has lately
been seen drawing up plans for a large mansion in the Haunted Woods. Who knows
what nasty things he has planned...
"But we looked around the Haunted Woods so long I was nearly eaten!" exclaimed
Sprint. "The card must be wrong."
"We didn't look in the forbidden part of the forest though..." I plundered.
"Well, what do you suggest, then?" asked Fly. "I mean, who can take us through
the dangerous part?"
"I think," I replied, "It's time we contacted the one who wrote this card..."
The next day, I woke two very grumpy pets from their slumber and set out once
again to see the Card Shop owner again. "He lives on house 135 Soup Alley. Just
ring twice, he'll come. Now get out of my shop... unless your buying." Using
this tip, we headed out to the address.
"131, 132, 133," counted Fly, "134... 135." The house was far from normal.
Every inch of the lawn was covered with weeds. Through the tight areas between
the weeds grew long, brown blades of grass. The house's paint was peeling, and
a couple of bricks had fallen from the walls. Cautiously, we stepped up to the
front door. We rang twice, like the Buzz said, and were greeted instantly by
an old Korbat. "What do you want?" it spat.
"We... wanted to see the Card Maker."
"Come in..."
Quietly, we stepped inside. We followed the feeble Korbat up the stairs (we
had to jump over the caved in one) and through a severely beaten door. When
it was opened, we saw yet an even older and wary Lupe sitting in a chair. "Sir?"
asked the Korbat, even more quietly than we were walking.
The affect of this word was incredible on the Lupe. He jumped what seemed
one hundred feet into the air, crunched his chair into a pile of chair legs
under him, and laid on the floor, shaking. "Oh... hello. What do these gentlemen
want?" he asked his voice cracking.
"They--" she started, but I interrupted.
"We want to ask you about Hubrid Nox." I watched as the Lupe's eyes widened,
before he asked.
"Excuse us please." The Korbat flew gently away from the room. "What would
you like to know" and so we told him. We asked about everything he knew. Where
Hubrid Nox lived, any information he didn't post on the card... but it wasn't
what I expected. His information turned out to be a joke!
"I got my information from people like Balthazar, and the Pant Devil... and
trust me... you don't want to get on the bad side of them." It was then that
I understood why he looked so severely beaten. All the bad things he had written
about the evil in Neopia... it had to make evil people mad. I felt a feeling
of pity towards the Lupe when we left... but his information had been quite
useless. How was I supposed to get Balthazar to listen to me?
"Is everything ready?" I asked Fly.
"Yes! For the hundredth time! Yes!!" he yelled. We had heard that Balthazar
often gave Faeries at a certain time... we were prepared to get him then. Hidden
behind a nearby shop, we watched Balthazar put about ten faeries down on the
ground. We watched him turn around... and step on two twigs crossing over each
other. I pushed the red button and... "Let me out of here!" Balthazar roared.
"I demand to be freed!"
"Answer my questions, and I'll free you," I stammered bravely. "Where does
Hubrid Nox live?"
"I'm not going to tell you anything! Let me out!"
"Answer my question!"
This continued for about ten minutes when finally... "All right! He lives
deep inside the Haunted Woods! NOW LET ME OUT OF THIS CAGE!"
"Could you take us?"
"IF YOU LET ME OUT!"
It was a deal. Within the next hour, we were walking deeper in the Haunted
Woods than any peaceful Neopians had for years. "What was that?" I asked Balthazar
worriedly when I heard a strange sound.
"Don't worry about it, it wont hurt you if your near me," he grumbled. "Well,
there it is." We had reached a clearing. In the centre of it was... "There's
where Hubrid Nox lives. Knock twice, then ring once. He'll invite you as a friend
if you hear that." My pets and I must have made a peaceful connection with Balthazar
because he then smiled at us and said, "Have a good time..." but that smile
didn't seem quite... safe. Maybe he just hadn't smiled in a while... that was
it! So we approached the house. BAM. BAM. DING! The door swung open at once.
And there he stood. Hubrid Nox. "Come in, come in, my... friends." Amazed at
our luck, and instant friendship (especially since Fly was a Lupe) we walked
in. "Would you like a drink?" he asked.
"Yes, please!"
"Follow me." He led us down a strange staircase. It had several sudden turns
and sometimes you had to climb ladders to get to the next part. "What would
you like?" we stared for a few minutes. He was pointing at a solid brick wall.
Then we got it. We turned around and saw Hubrid Nox and Balthazar standing there.
We watched as Nox pushed a button and all the ladders and stairs disappeared.
We were lifted up into a different area. It was a Battledome. "I'd never let
a good fight run away," said Balthazar menacingly.
"I've noticed you three running around Neopia looking for me," said Nox.
"I'll tell you the whole story if..." he smiled evilly, "You can beat my faithful
Lupe, Balthazar." I stood, awestruck.
"Your a Neopet! How can you h-have a pet?!"
"That is a matter of no importance. Let it begin!" At once, one hundred torches
were lit. Balthazar was as menacing as ever. However, I had not trained my pets
for nothing. This is what it was all for. Just in case. Fly! Use your Wand of
the Air Faerie and Grand Lighting Beam, and attack with Lupe Lunge! My best
combo sent Balthazar flying.
"Balthazar, use your Wand of Supernova and Noxious Blade!" ordered Nox. I
watched as Fly was terribly injured by the blade, for it was designed to especially
hurt Lupes. This also surprised me, since Balthazar was a Lupe...
However, Balthazar's Wand of Supernova broke on Fly! Fly, use your green scorchstone!
Then use your WAF to blast him. Ice him with your Fiery Gaze!
When the wind stopped, I saw Balthazar frozen to the ground, his fur frozen
in a backward motion from the wind. I then ordered Fly to use his ultimate Combo
again, except instead of his GLB, I ordered him to use his Ancient Lupe Wand,
which froze Balthazar again. I quickly looked at the score as I heard Nox cry
"NO!" Balthazar had one hit point left and was frozen. "Fly," I grinned, "Tip
him over" and Fly did. Sprint and I cheered while Balthazar was nursed back
to health again by Nox.
"Argh... how could I lose?"
"I should never rely on Lupes... what do you want to know?" The interview
began.
Fly_guy7: First, why do you have a pet Lupe?
Nox: I don't mind freaks.
Balthazar: Hey!
Fly_guy7: Second, how did you become a freak yourself?
Nox: *Grumbles* Numerous ways. For one, Edna cursed me when I beat her in
the Battledome. She made me about half as ugly as I am now.
Fly_guy7: And?
Nox: Well... my invention, the Chia Flour. When I was young, I used to experiment
with many potions, mixing them together. I mixed a few powders together with
water and soap, let it dry, and I had Chia Flour! However, before I got it right,
some tests went horrible wrong. I became a hideous creature. So hideous my evil
owner abandoned me in the pound.
Fly_guy7: And were you adopted?
Nox: Never.
Fly_guy7: Why did you become... err...
Sprint: Extremely evil?
Fly_guy7: SPRINT!
Nox: Because I began to hate the one who left me at the pound... and all the
others... who never came to my aid. Ones I once considered friends.
Fly_guy7: Well... bye then.
Nox: Bye...
Nox turned around and led himself and Balthazar through a hidden passage as
Fly, Sprint, and I turned and left. I realised I had touched an ancient, sad,
and remembered nerve of Hubrid Nox. I brought out the old Charly... the one
who used to be just a kind, happy Chia. As we exited the building, we saw Edna,
the witch, at the edge of the clearing. She led us back to the main area of
the Haunted Woods, and from there, we found our own way back home. Now the good
people know the true story of Hubrid Nox. Sometimes, you must dig deep to find
the true self of one. | 
