The MAGAX Chronicles: Part Two

Part 2: The Darkness Within

For centuries, he was Neopia's greatest threat, a villain without equal... but all of that is behind him now. He is a changed Wocky. Never again would he embrace the darkness. Never...

      Magax floated silently above the streets of Neopia. The Neohomes were silent, the families locked inside for fear of the ghosts. Windows were smashed, signs were destroyed, trashcans knocked over. He had been right, the ghosts had come here.

      The few people and pets that had been caught outside looked unhurt but very afraid. A few gasped when they saw him floating above them and ran away, yelling "Magax! Magax!" to the others. Even the few who didn't know who he was (mostly children,) ran because, after all, he was a very strange-looking Wocky. For one thing, he was floating. For another, he was scarred all over, including on his right eye, which was almost blind. But the worst was that he did not have the ruff of fur that is so familiar with Wockies.

      All Wockies had that mane that went around their neck. It wasn't possible to be born without one. So the only way a Wocky could not have one is if it is cut off. As everyone knows, a Wocky is a very proud creature, especially of the fur, most of the time pink, around its neck. But if it is cut, it never grows back. That is why for a Wocky to not have a mane is one of the most shameful things you could ever see. Only disgraced Wockies don't have manes.

      The faeries had done it. He had been captured more than a hundred years ago by them. They had cut off his mane for punishment and were about to kill him when he had escaped. Unfortunately, he had had to take some lives to do so. No, he thought, I didn't have to. When was he going to be done with rationalizing? Magax was disgusted with himself. The problem was that he hadn't been able to change all at once. It was a personal decision, yes, but it's not always as easy as that.

      He shook himself from his meditations and began to rise into the air. He needed to go to Faerieland to get help. As began to rise higher into the air, a voice caught his attention. "Ghosts overrunning Neopia-"

     It was coming from a small but welcoming Neohome made of wood. There was a broken window in the front, and the voice was coming from inside. He flew lower and looked into the window, where a family was gathered around a television set. The news anchorman was the one who Magax had heard talking.

     "We are urging people and pets to stay inside-" Magax looked longingly at the family, which was made up of a woman and two pets, a Lupe and a Chia, amusingly enough. They were arguing quietly, but not in a fierce or alarming way, as Lupes and Chia's normally do. He silently hoped the Lupe would win. He had built up a prejudice towards Chia's lately, and while he knew it wasn't right, it was something he would have to work through. He knew there weren't any Chia's as evil as Hubrid Nox, but for right now, he was going to have to dislike something. He wasn't near perfect yet.

     He kept expecting the Lupe and the Chia to begin a real fight any second, but they didn't. In fact, they seemed to actually be enjoying each other's company, arguments and all. They've been well-trained, that's all, thought Magax, but watching the family, he began to think that it was something more.

     Magax had never had a normal family. Hundreds of years ago, when he was born, he was adopted by Ulfgar, a mad old man who from the day he got him put Magax into illegal street fights against other pets for money. This lasted until Magax was about five months old, and his "grandfather" died. Magax had tried to feel sad, but back then it had seemed like he couldn't feel any emotions at all.

     He was put into the pound, which was actually somewhat better than what he was used to. He stayed there for years until someone finally came and adopted him. His new "mom" was a girl named Sally. Why she had adopted him he did not know, because all she did was play with her other pet, which was a spoiled brat of an Usul named Chloe who did nothing but primp with her hair all day. Sally finally figured out she didn't want a Wocky around and, instead of abandoning him at the pound like she was supposed to, dropped him off at the edge of the Haunted Woods. He was found by a Chia named Hubrid Nox. Hubrid had an army at that time, but he chose Magax as a special case. Nox was against humans of any kind, and Magax already hated owners.

     The rest of his story was something Magax tried not to remember, but relived every night in his dreams. Long story short, he had taken a dark vow which gave him the power to live beyond the years of any normal pet, and to live in darkness which would be his guide and his one true "friend." But that was only what Nox had said… For a while, Magax had believed that the Vow was controlling him, that he couldn't have stopped even if he had wanted to. But that was only when he was very young. When he got older, he knew that everyone makes their own choices. He was hard.

     Magax snapped out of his thoughts when he saw a baby Cybunny toddle in to the room and sit on her mom's lap. He felt a pang of guilt, just as he did whenever he saw one of her kind. They say that your first mission's the one that always stays with you, and Magax supposed that was right. Because he only dreamed one dream every night of every year. He dreamed about watching from afar as a Cybunny cries over her fallen owner, slain by a Wocky only because he was getting in his way.

     When he was working for Nox, even though afterwards he felt nothing for his crimes, he still had that dream, as if only in Magax's sleep did his conscience ever arise. Now he felt it all the time, especially when he saw a child.

     Hubrid Nox knew Magax had a soft spot for children, especially of that particular breed. That was why he had taken the form of a Cybunny, to play on Magax's emotions and make him weak… because to Nox, love and emotion is weakness.

     Magax thought back to the time of his decision to break from his dark ways. He had been working for Nox as usual. He and Nox were in his fortress, planning their next move, when they heard a sneeze coming from a closet. Nox had banged it open to see three small pets; a Bruce, a Nimmo, and a Grarrl, all very young, hiding in there.

     They had begged Nox to let them go. It had just been a dare, they had said. But Nox was convinced they had heard too much. He ordered Magax to kill them, but for some reason, Magax didn't. After all the creatures he had murdered in cold blood, he couldn't hurt those children. He had never had to before… how could he have known this would happen? Then he remembered that he had hurt children… but not in a physical way. He had hurt them when he had taken the lives of those they loved.

     Everything fell apart then. Magax seemed to go temporarily insane, and he tried to kill Nox. The Chia fled, and he rescued the children instead, personally delivering them back to their homes.

     As he was thinking of this, the baby Cybunny on her owners' lap turned and looked towards Magax. She has blue eyes, thought Magax, just like… Magax shook his head. The Cybunny showed no fear towards him, which was strange for a child. She wiggled her nose almost playfully at him, but her eyes were sad, as if she knew what he was thinking. Magax sighed and backed away. I'm sorry, he thought, trying to send his thoughts to her. She just continued to watch him. I've been here too long, he thought. I must go warn the faeries.

     Magax floated off into the air, over the city of Neopia, then over the body of water that separated Faerieland from the rest. It took days, but flying took no effort, and the Vow had made it so that he was never hungry. He slept on small islands when he found them. He did not see the beauty of the ocean or the majesty of clouds. He had no emotions for such things. The whole time, however, he thought of a blue-eyed Cybunny that cried over her fallen owner.

To be continued...