Gallery of Evil: Vira

    Ever since, Vira has wandered those same fields, kissing the flowers, but making them poisonous to the touch. The magic mirrors she gives away do not show reality, but a twisted, ugly version of it. Anyone who looks into her mirrors at first finds themselves very beautiful, but that beauty fades into ugliness, and the mirror whispers with a dark voice, "There's only one way to get your beauty back..."

    A young Faerie Acara skipped through a lush green valley, picking colorful flowers for the necklace she was making. Once she had obtained enough, she began to string them together.

    “Ah…” she sighed. “This is to be the most beautiful necklace I have ever created! It is simply perfect for my slender neck.”

    She finished tying the flowers together and put the fresh ribbon of beauty around her neck and sighed happily again.

    The Faerie Acara’s name was Vira, and she was perhaps one of the most beautiful Acaras in Neopia, or at least that was how she put it. The only Acara she could think of who may be prettier than she was her best friend, Cecilia, who was a Royal Acara. Vira simply adored her, and was maybe somewhat jealous, but she would never give up her precious wings for a dress like that. Besides, purple wasn’t her color.

    Sticking out her delicate chin, she pushed these thoughts into the back of her mind. Examining her tender pink paws, she decided that she needed a flower bracelet to go with her necklace.

    In her right paw, Vira held a small cluster of vibrantly colored wildflowers. Using her other paw, she bent down to pick up a particularly bright orange blossom. “Vira…” The Acara yelped in surprise and stumbled, dropping her bundle of flowers. “Vira…” The haunting voice came again.

    “Wha…?” Vira questioned her own sanity as she looked around, trying to find someone--something that might be the source of this disembodied voice. Then it came again.

    “Vira…”

    Then she saw it. It was a simple mirror, lying amid a group of violet wildflowers. It seemed… strange. Vira couldn’t put her paw on it, but there was definitely something erroneous with the mirror.

    Slowly crawling to where the perplexing object lay, Vira’s curiosity gripped her so tightly she believed it would never let go. Within a mere foot of the hazy mirror, the Acara, slightly trembling, stopped abruptly.

    What am I doing? she asked herself. Why am I drawn to that mirror as if it was--she stopped in mid-thought. The idea was simply too dreadful.

    Vira had almost thought about her mother. She had been a wonderful white Acara, full of positive spirit and kindness. But then her life had come to an abrupt halt--thanks to a family “friend”.

    Tears formed in Vira’s eyes, but she brushed them away angrily. Her mother’s death was in the past. “Dear Vira. Come near…” the voice called softly… almost pleadingly. Vira didn’t know how or why but she was suddenly clutching the dull mirror tightly in her paws. Staring blankly at the silver glass a hazy image appeared.

    Suddenly Vira was drifting in a thick grey fog. “W-Where am I?” she whimpered. Then she realized she was no longer holding the mirror; it seemed to be floating above her.

    “Vira…” the familiar voice hissed. Where had she heard that voice? “Vira--it is me.”

    “M-Mother?” Vira called into the mist, hoping it was really her.

    “Yes.”

    “What’s happening, Mother?”

    “I have been sent to the lands of Neopia to find you--to give you something.”

    “What is it?”

    “A wish. One wish, and one only. Choose what you most desire.”

    “A wish..?” Vira thought for a moment. She had always wanted for her mother to return to Neopia, but there was something she had wished for, even before her mother’s death. “I wish to be the most beautiful Acara in Neopia, without losing my wings,” she finally answered.

    “As you wish, my dear daughter.” As her mother whispered these words, Vira felt a tingly feeling in her chest. The tingling soon turned into a sharp repetitive shot of pain that traveled through her blood. To Vira this sensation felt like a shock of electricity.

    “Mother! Mother! Mothe-” Vira’s voice cut off. The now pain had spread and deepened, paralyzing her vocal cords. She choked, the pain stifling her every nerve. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was her mothers face, twisted in an evil grin.

    As she was drifting into darkness, she thought she heard the bitter voice say something…

    “I knew you would choose beauty over me.”

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    Vira blinked, and her surroundings slowly came into focus. She seemed to be lying in the same valley as before, but there was definitely something different from what she remembered. The sky was a cloudy charcoal grey, and instead of lush, healthy green grass there were stalks of dry brown plant life. And there was not a flower in sight.

    The Acara was utterly confused. Had it all been a dream? Yes, it must’ve been. After all, she felt absolutely no twinge of pain, at least not physically. But that piercing pain that the mirror--her mother, had caused was hard to forget.

    How long had Vira been asleep? It couldn’t have been a whole season, as it appeared… Could it? Vira glanced at her paws.

    “NO!”

    Her paws were no longer the sunny yellow they used to be; they were grey-green, with a blood-red claw at the tip of each finger.

    It must be this dim light, she thought in desperate reassurance. As she was sitting there trying to comfort herself, she saw something long and pointed lash out of the grass and then retreat back. Vira forgot about her paws and stared intently at the spot where the thing had been.

    Whhhh-chhh! There it was again! Vira noticed that it was colored a faded green. A mutant Cobrall? She couldn’t tell, it was too dark to see any detail. She waited silently, ready for it to lash out again. Whhhh-chhh! She pounced, digging her new nails into it.

    “OWWWWW!” Vira cried out in pain. She took her claws out of thing and held it lightly in her paws. She took a closer look at it and realized that it was a tail of some sort. Not thinking, Vira tugged on it. “OW-” she started. No… Her eyes followed the tail…

    “AHHHHHH! I HAVE A TAIL!!!” Vira fell over in surprise. Her tail flicked out of her paws, hitting her in the head as she lay on the ground. “Owwwww,” she moaned in self-pity and slight pain.

    Vira began inspecting her other limbs. It seemed that basically every part of her body had been changed into a green-grey, mutated version of what it used to be. At least she still had wings…

    It was then that Vira decided she needed to get home. She needed help, more help than she could give herself. But where should she go? She couldn’t see her face, but if it was as different as every other part of her body, no one would recognize her.

    Well, obviously just sitting here isn’t going to do me any good, she scolded herself. If this truly is the same meadow in which I found that dreadful mirror, then home is this way…

And with that Vira began walking clumsily with her new body in the direction she hoped was home.

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    Opening the door to her dark Neohome, Vira looked around half-knowingly at the furniture. She closed the door slowly behind her, afraid of making even the slightest noise. She wasn’t sure why but she didn’t feel right here. It’s my Neohome, why shouldn’t I be welcome? With this thought, she stood up straight and marched through her living room.

    As she strode by the large gold-framed mirror on the wall, Vira caught a faint glimpse of herself. She stopped. “Oh my…” she uttered in disbelief. Her reflection showed her an Acara so vain; it showed right there in her face. The red eyes of her reflection looked right through her, into her soul. The sight tore her heart.

    A small, black tear formed in her eye. Vira slowly blinked and the tear fell down her dour cheek. She looked back up at herself. Her thoughts of self-pity turned to self-hate. In pure anger Vira let out a cry as she threw her fist into the mirror.

    If I can’t be beautiful, no one can, Vira thought heatedly, glaring down at the shards that lay about her feet. With that the transformed Acara stormed out the Neohome, her innocent heart now filled with evil.

The End