Vira's Mirror: Part One

     "Such beauty..." she whispers softly, and then crushes the delicate creature ruthlessly in her clawed fist. When she pulls her paws apart, a few traces of glowing powder stick to them. A slow tear trickles down her face, but she wipes it away quickly and flies silently away on a pair of midnight black wings.

 * * *

     "Good morning, Moosey!" Starseek the female blue Lupe padded down the stairs with a big grin.

     "…Mornin'." Starseek's owner, a teenage red wolf girl, grunted over her Twisted Roses coffee mug.

     "I think I'm gonna go for a walk around the block with Growlithe, I'll be back in a bit." The Lupe whistled for her Gruslen and stepped outside, feeling energetic and ready to face the day. Growlithe barked happily and ran in circles around Starseek, excited about going on an adventure. Little did they know that they were being watched.

     Starseek began to walk down the street, but stopped when she noticed that her petpet wasn't following.

     "Growlithe?" Starseek turned around and saw her Gruslen staring at a strange light. It hung just over his head, a shimmering ball of colors, like a strange alien soap bubble.

     "Whuh- what is that?" Starseek stared in awe. Slowly, before her very eyes, it began to take shape, shifting and warping until it took the form of a tall shining Lupe. It looked at Starseek and her Gruslen, then turned tail and sprinted away.

     "Hey you! Wait!" Starseek bolted after it, Growlithe struggling to catch up.

     The shimmering Lupe seemed to want Starseek to follow it, for it often would stop running long enough for it to look back and see if Starseek was still behind it.

     "Come back!" Starseek panted as she tried to catch up to the apparition. Finally, the Lupe leaped over a thicket and altogether disappeared, to Starseek's dismay.

     "Sorry, Growlithe. I couldn't wait up for you, that other Lupe was going way too fast. I wonder what he was anyways. Do you suppose we've seen a ghost?" Starseek wondered.

      Suddenly, Growlithe began to bark loudly at a squat tree in front of them.

      "A ghost? Not quite," an unfamiliar voice called down.

      Starseek darted her head up and found herself staring at a brown mutant Acara with long red claws, leathery bat wings, and cruel green eyes. She brought to mind a cold wind through a cave deep beneath the Earth, long forgotten by man or Neopet.

      "V-Vira!" Starseek gasped.

      "Yes. That Lupe you saw was a mere illusion- like so many other things in this world." Vira formed the same shimmering ball in one paw. She studied it, looking bored. "I'd say it worked pretty well if it managed to bring you here."

      "I've read all about you in the Gallery of Evil, how you trick Neopets into believing the bogus promises of beauty and glory you toss at them, then you corrupt their souls forever. Well, that's not going to work on me, so you can just forget it!" Starseek yelled, snarling. Growlithe barked at Vira for good measure.

      "Oh dear, you don't really mean that… do you?" Vira smiled craftily. The glowing orb in her paw turned into a black mirror.

      "Why not take a look into my mirror, dear?" Vira tossed it down to Starseek. "Surely one look won't make any difference, and I know you're very curious. Like you said, you're not going to fall for my tricks anyway."

      Vira watched with an evil smile as Starseek made a step towards the mirror on the ground. As she slowly reached down to pick it up, a low wind blew through the woods, scattering the fallen leaves about. Starseek began to look very unsure and backed away.

      Growing impatient, Vira decided to take matters into her own hands.

      "You WILL look now!" she waved her paws and Starseek was dragged to the mirror by an unseen force. Growlithe whined and tried to pull Starseek back by the tail. Starseek struggled against the invisible hold, but in vain. She was held in place over the mirror by Vira's dark magic.

      Starseek screwed her eyes shut, not daring to even take a glance.

      "LOOK! NOW!" Vira was practically screaming. She waved her paws once more and Starseek's eyes snapped open on their own.

      Starseek looked about wildly, then froze when she saw her reflection in the black mirror. Slowly, she began to relax and stop resisting. Vira grinned and released Starseek from her psychic hold. The Lupe was hers now.

      "I…" Starseek breathed as she stared at her reflection. "I'm beautiful…" Indeed, her reflection looked quite magnificent. Her fur was thick and golden, and her eyes shone like rubies. She was positively breathtaking, the very picture of femininity.

      Vira flitted down from her tree and crouched behind Starseek.

      "You could be the most beautiful creature to walk this earth. People would bow to you, revere you. You could have anything. Anything. You could have it all. And why not? You deserve it. You are better than the rest of them all. You could have true beauty and live forever as an icon of grace and splendor," Vira purred into Starseek's ear.

      "Yes…" Starseek murmured, enthralled. "Make me beautiful. Make me the most beautiful Lupe to ever live."

      Vira grinned. "Very well. Just sign this form." The mirror transformed into a long scroll of parchment. Starseek looked up bitterly at not being able to gaze at her reflection anymore.

      "I don't have anything to write with," Starseek growled impatiently.

      "Here." Vira made a pen appear in her hand. "It's empty, though. I need you to fill it for me."

      "How do I d- AARGGHH!" Starseek howled in pain as Vira slashed at her paw with her long claws. As the wound dripped, Vira collected the liquid in the pen's reservoir.

      "Here. Now sign." Vira handed the now-full pen back to Starseek. Starseek began to look doubtful again.

      Vira narrowed her eyes. "Do you not care about eternal glory? I can take beauty as easily as I can grant it, you know." The parchment turned into the mirror for a second, then turned back.

      With all former hesitation now gone, Starseek signed her name on the bottom line, scarcely glancing at anything written on the sheet. She handed it to Vira, who studied the dripping red signature with grim satisfaction.

      "Congratulations on your new cursed life!" she cackled insanely and waved her paw, sending Starseek and Growlithe into an instant dreamless slumber.

     * * *

      "Starseek? Hey, wake up!"

      "Mufffr," Starseek groaned and slowly opened her eyes. Moose stood in front of her, looking anxious.

      "Are you okay? It looks like you two totally passed out!" Moose bit her lip. "I should have warned you two not to overdo your walk- the heat must have gotten to you."

      Starseek looked around. She and Growlithe were laying down on the concrete, only a few feet from the door to their Neohome. Growlithe began to slowly and groggily rise.

      "You guys should really watch yourselves… pacing and breaks are key!" Moose said concernedly but unhelpfully, rubbing Starseek affectionately on the head as she spoke.

      "Yeah… okay…" Starseek mumbled, trying to remember what happened after she first left the house. She shook her head, drawing a blank.

      Moose looked worried. "Here, c'mon inside, I'll get you a glass of water and you can lie down for a bit."

      "Kay." Starseek let herself be lead inside, mentally struggling to piece together what had happened.

      "Mornin' Starseek!" Nibbles_the_Cow, Starseek's adopted sister, greeted from the table as Starseek entered the kitchen. Nibbles was munching happily on a bowl of Sugar Frosted Coco Bites. Suddenly, she dropped her spoon and squealed.

      "Eeewwww, what happened to your paw, Starseek? Gross, ick, ick, ick!" Nibbles hid her face behind the cereal box melodramatically.

      "Eh?" Starseek held out her paw and saw three long red gashes going down it.

      "Whoah, how'd that happen, Stars?" GenkiGenki_Neko the Halloween Aisha walked in the room casually, peering at Starseek's paw with mild interest.

      "I… don't know actually. Mustave scraped it on something," Starseek pondered. "And don't call me Stars. You know I don't like that nickname."

      Genki stuck out her tongue and went into the fridge to get a juice box.

      "Hey, what's the commotion?" Jhonen_C the Shadow Gelert entered the kitchen. Moose entered the room with a glass of cold water for Starseek and a doggie bowl of water for Growlithe.

      "The kitchen- it's where it's happenin'." Jhonen mused to himself as he noticed that every member of the household was in the room.

      "Here you go guys, get nice and hydrated!" Moose waved her arms in the air enthusiastically.

      "Starseek's paw is all yucky!" Nibble whined from behind the box of Coco Bites.

      "Yeah, I think I scratched it on something." Starseek held it up for Moose to see.

      "Wow, that looks really nasty! C'mere, we'll clean that right up!" Moose ran to the sink and got a washcloth and a bottle of disinfectant.

      Starseek winced as the wound was cleaned. Moose dried it off and put a big ugly pink bandage on it.

      "There you go! Feel better?" Moose smiled.

      "Kind of…" Starseek smiled a wincing smile, trying to ignore the stinging of the cut.

      "Hey, Moose, can Voltaire come over today?" Jhonen asked, sitting down at the table with a sketchpad and a pencil.

      Starseek groaned. Dark_Voltaire was possibly the most snooty, arrogant, and annoying Kougra she'd ever met. He and Jhonen seemed to be the best of pals, so naturally, he was over at their place a lot.

      "Hey, I know you don't like him, but can you cut me some slack? He's not been over in a long time and he's my friend." Jhonen began to sketch a Darigan Cybunny lightly in pencil in his sketchbook.

      "Yes, I suppose he can come over." Moose grabbed a Neocola from the fridge and wandered out of the room.

     "Ooh, I hope Voltaire brings his Ona! He's so cute and cuddly and adorable and friendly and fun to play with!" Nibbles squealed, hugging her Tyrannian Babaa close to her.

      "Uggh, that thing's annoying." Genki piped in, leaving the room. "Always squeaking and squealing and making other equally obnoxious noises."

     * * *

     Somewhere deep within the darkest part of the Haunted Woods, Vira sat on a large moss-covered stone by herself. It was noon, but you'd never know it- the trees and vines grew so thick there that no light was able to penetrate the canopy and the forest was perpetually trapped in darkness.

      Vira's mirror materialized out of thin air and into her paw. She gazed into it dreamily.

      "I am the prettiest Acara ever. That stupid Lupe thinks she can possibly be prettier than me… Oh no, I think not. It will not be long now… not long at all." Vira cackled to herself. "After my magic's through with her, no one will want her!"

      The image in the mirror changed to show Starseek playing fetch with Growlithe in the yard.

      "Not long at all…" Vira grinned.

     * * *

      "Catch it, Growlithe!" Starseek flung a small branch across the lawn. Her excited Gruslen raced after it, bushy tail wagging furiously.

      As Growlithe trotted back with the stick in his mouth, Starseek heard a familiar and very unpleasant voice behind her.

      "Hello, Starseek. We meet again."

      Starseek mentally groaned and turned slowly to face the voice.

      "Hello, Voltaire."

      "Might I note that you are looking splendidly today." The green Kougra arched his eyebrows, hoping to look suave, but in effect looking ridiculous.

      "Err… thanks." Starseek rolled her eyes and turned to pet Growlithe.

      "I just got nominated for the Neopian Book Award yesterday. Turns out I've read 784 books so far." He paused, waiting for Starseek's response. None came, so he continued unabated. "Of course, I could scarcely believe it… I mean, I just fly through those books so easily, it never occurred to me just how many I had read." He let out a high-pitched laugh.

      "Hey Voltaire! C'mere, lemme show you the new comic books I got yesterday!" Jhonen called from the door.

      Starseek felt a great surge of thanks for her adopted brother saving her from Voltaire's dilettante dribble.

      "I regret that I must leave now. Good day to you, Starseek." Voltaire bowed dramatically and headed for the house.

      "Good riddance." Starseek muttered under her breath. She really despised Voltaire, but she kind of liked the idea of him swooning over her so. He tried to impress her so much, he just came across as absurd. Starseek giggled meanly, thinking about how stupid Voltaire looked as he bowed with those impossibly high eyebrows.

      And why shouldn't Voltaire admire her? She was, after all, quite, well… admirable! She looked down at her paw and snorted with disgust at the bandage on it.

      "Such an ugly thing…" Starseek ripped it off with a wince, "…does not belong on me!"

      Starseek stared at the wound. It was starting to heal up a little, but was still very red and tender. She noticed for the first time that it looked like three claw marks raking across her paw. Suddenly, a flash of memory raced across her mind. A glint of glass, three red claws scratching her, and two evil green eyes.

      "Grruff?"

     Starseek was roused from her visions as Growlithe nudged her back leg, wanting attention. Starseek bent down and patted Growlithe, her mind elsewhere.

     "Hey Starseek!"

     Starseek turned and saw Nibbles trotting up to her, many different colored bows in her mouth.

     "What's up, Nibbles?"

     "Moosey says I can enter the Beauty Contest tomorrow, and I was wondering if I could have your advice on something. You're always so smart, I knew you could help me." Nibbles dropped the ribbons on the ground. "Which color ribbon should I wear, pink, purple, or rainbow? Jhonen said that I should wear red, since it's a comple… compel…"

     "A complimentary color?"

      "Yeah, that's it, a compli… whatever, to my green skin. What do you think?"

     As Starseek studied the ribbons, she suddenly was overcome with a strange sort of rage, spurred by reasons she couldn't identify. As she lifted her head to answer her sister, the blood was pounding in her ears, and her lip curled in a small snarl.

     "What to know what I think, Nibbles?"

     "Oh, yes!" Nibbles smiled.

     "I think they'd all look positively wretched on you. Why are you even entering that contest? You're just a big Kau, no one could find you pretty!" Starseek raved on, barely knowing what she said, but relishing in every hateful word all the same.

     Nibbles took a step backwards, her face fallen. Big tears began to well up in her green eyes.

     "Y-you don't mean that!"

     "Of course I do, now get out of my sight, you brat." Starseek snarled, feeling fierce joy in seeing Nibbles's brokenhearted face.

     Nibbles burst into tears and ran into the house, crying all the way. Starseek stood for a second triumphantly, then suddenly snapped out of it.

     "What in Borovan's name have I done? I'm such a horrible monster!" Starseek began to choke back tears. "Come back Nibbles, I'm so, so sorry! I don't know why I said those things, I didn't mean it!" she ran into the house after Nibbles.

To be continued...