"Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the prettiest of all?" she asked it yet again.

"Certainly not you, my queen," it replied. "For you are disfigured and ugly. You hide behind your mask, afraid of the day you must return to the outside world."

At least that hadn't changed from yesterday.

She bent down and patted her Meowclops before taking another bag of Semolina from her stash of thousands. It had been forever since she'd went outside, or had to interact with anything other than Meowler.

Just the way she liked it.

She tore into the bag with her teeth and spooned some into her mouth.

"Mirror mirror on the wall," she said in between swallows, "send a bolt of lightning into Neovia town square."

"Certainly, my queen."

And the Aisha watched through the glass as the little costumed Neopets ran in fear from a tree that was now on fire.

The Aisha smiled and continued to pet Meowler.

But then something unexpected happened.

There was a knock at her door. "Trick or treat," a voice from outside shouted...

As if to answer her question, the knock was repeated. "Trick or treat," repeated the voice in a slightly louder tone. It was a young voice; a voice full of innocence and hope.

She would change all that.

It would have been far too easy for her to command her mirror to take care of the pesky visitor, she mused to herself as she crossed the room, but something inside her knew that perhaps she wanted to meet this one face to face.

With her darkest smile, she swung the door open but quickly frowned.

There appeared to be no one there...

The Aisha took a half-step through the doorway, craning her neck to either side to make sure the reckless and foolhardy Neopian wasn't trying to trick her by hiding to either side of the door.

But no.

No one was there, at least not that she could see.

She waved her ears around in the space just in front of the door, feeling for anything hidden, like an invisible Neopet, or something hidden from her sight by magic, but still, nothing.

She took one full step out, just so she could angle the light from the Kreludor, which hung overhead and dappled her domain with orange splotches, into all the nooks and crannies around the entrance.

It revealed nothing that her senses had missed.

I should have just used the mirror, she thought, starting to turn to go back inside.

As she did, a howling, unnatural wind rose around her, pulling the front door closed behind her.

That didn't scare her, of course.

Things like that happened all the time around here, and she was usually the cause.

What did scare her was the sound of the lock, rattled by the sudden movement of the door, as it fell into place.

She grabbed the door handle and began to turn it.

It was locked.

Someone had snuck into her home and locked her out.

This was not going to end well.

Panic began to set it, "what if they find my mirror.

Who knows the damage they could do, whoever they are.

" The Aisha wondered if she had left any of her windows slightly ajar, that could be a way in.

She walked around to the side of her house, she could see it, an open window on the second story.

Before she could begin to think of a way to get up to the second story, a huge pit formed in her stomach.

She could hear whoever was in her home speaking, hopefully not to her mirror, but she feared the worst.

She perked up her ears and listened close to what the voice was saying.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall…

If someone didn't know how to use it, they could make quite a mess.

She began scrambling as quickly as possible towards the outside of her house.

Maybe if she could just grip the shingles hard enough… Too late.

Her ears perked up at the continued voice.

"…bring that Aisha to this hall.

" The Aisha suddenly found her body jerked into the center of the room where her mirror stood.

It was a strange sensation, almost as if two hands had pulled her through the fabric of space.

Maybe that's how other people feel when I manipulate them, she thought.

But that was beside the point.

A figure stood in front of her mirror, unwavering.

She could see the distinctive antennae and shell of a Ruki, though most of the figure's body was obscured by a long coat.

"Who a-are you?" the Aisha asked, disgusted at her own weakness, her helplessness.

She didn't get scared.

Not now, not ever.

She mustered more confidence, saying, "It doesn't matter.

Get out of my house.

Now.

" "Now, now, Ellia," the Ruki said sweetly.

"Are you sure you don't remember me?" The Ruki began to turn…

"Perhaps if you got a better look," she purred.

Ellia gulped.

She did recognize the Ruki, although it was a face she had hoped to never see again.

"Rosalina," the Aisha murmured.

"It's been so long.

What do you want?" "I want a great many things, Ellia," Rosalina said with a girlish laugh that in no way matched her expression, which was still icy and malevolent.

Rosalina had always had a knack for sounding younger than her years - Ellia wondered if Rosalina had put on a young voice to fool her into opening her door? "I want little Neopian children to never go to sleep hungry.

I want whoever crashed the Faerie Festival brought to justice.

" The Ruki paused, and both her face and tone hardened: "But most important what I want from you is my mirror.

" Ellia tensed up.

"You can't have it, it's mine," the Aisha blurted.

She cleared her throat.

"It's allegiance was transferred to me fair and square.

You may be able to use it, but it is still my mirror.

" It had been long ago, Ellia's memory was foggy.

She remembered a battle with Rosalina, spells flying this way and that.

Rosalina had had the upper hand, but the mirror had instructed Ellia to use it to escape, and it had been in her possession ever since.

"Let's test that shall we," Rosalina said.

"Mirror mirror on the wall, who is your owner once and for all…"

Rosalina's eyes grew wide. She sputtered, "Mirror, mirror on the wall--" But it was too late. The mirror's fog surrounded them completely, and they were gone.

Ellia opened her eyes to find herself sitting in what looked like a throne room of glass. Transparent columns rose from each side of the room and held a ceiling beyond which she could see the sun, moon, and stars. No one sat in the glass throne.

She turned to the Ruki, who seemed to be getting her bearings as well. Rosalina's face betrayed a mix of confusion and anger, with her mouth curled into a snarl. She impatiently stood and dusted off her robe.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall!" Rosalina yelled towards the ceiling. "Get us out of this great hall!"

'Not now.'

The voice was as calm as it was resolute. It came from everywhere, Ellia noticed. Could they possibly be inside --

'This has gone on long enough. It is time for you both to learn.'

A bubbling sound called Ellia and Rosalina's attention to the throne. It seemed to be morphing, glass melting to form golden wings and hair, growing into the shape of a light faerie. Her eyes were calm as she stepped toward them.

"Now," the faerie said, "I'm sure this place does not look familiar to you, but this is my prison. The mirror you both so dearly covet. The mirror that neither of you own."

Rosalind snarled. "But it was given to me by--"

The faerie waved away Rosalind's protest. "Yes. And given to her, and given to her, and so on. But did you ever dare question where it originated? Nothing belongs to anyone if it is stolen."

Stolen? Ellia thought. But it couldn't be. "Magic mirrors will rebel if stolen," she blurted.

"Quite right, Ellia." The faerie smiled. "However, this is not a true magic mirror. You may not know her, but many years before you, I had a dear friend, a Zafara named Orell. I believed Orell and I were close, though it was apparent that Orell thought otherwise.

"One day, Orell invited me to her home to show me a new mirror she had obtained -- the most beautiful in the land, she said. She was right. I'd never seen anything like it before.

"'Lean closer,' Orell told me. 'If you get close enough, you can see the surface sparkle like diamonds.'

"Naive me, I did. With a swift push, Orell transported me into the mirror's world. I could hear her shouting ancient incantations as I fell, words I recognized that commanded obedience and entrapment.

"Ever since that day, I have given power to the wishes brought by the users of this mirror. I have seen this mirror exchange more hands than either of you can realize. All the while I have built myself this comfortable prison, waiting for someone to ask who this mirror belongs to. And now I must ask both of you a question in return.

"Will you let me out?"

The faerie fell silent, and Ellia could see the desperation in her eyes. To be trapped in a mirror for all of your life, condemned to obey? It was the worst prison Ellia could conceive. "Of course, we'd be --"

"No." Rosalina's voice was harsh. "It's your fault for getting yourself trapped in a mirror. You belong to me now."

Ellia turned towards the Ruki. "Are you kidding me? She's been trapped this entire time, and she's answered our every wish! Seems like it's about time!"

"Hardly," the Rosalina scoffed, her mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "It seems like it's only just beginning."

The Ruki stepped back towards the center of the throne room, her voice again sickly sweet. "Now, Ellia, unlike you, I'd like to get out of here. I was saving this spell to disappear with the mirror, but now's a good a time as any, if you'll be trapped here too. So if you don't mind..."

Rosalina began to incant a spell the Aisha recognized as a deserting spell. Ellia cried, "But Rosalina--"

Suddenly the faerie was behind Ellia. "Do not worry about her. Just say this." The faerie whispered in Ellia's ear, ancient words that Ellia vaguely recognized from her magic studies long ago. Ellia spoke quickly, following the faerie's lead.

The glass throne room disappeared.

--

"Ugh." Head pounding, Ellia opened her eyes to see her room once more, the mirror faithfully standing in the corner. Nothing had changed. "What happened?"

"You have set me free." The Aisha turned to see the light faerie standing behind her.

"Friend is a strong word," Ellia said, standing and clutching her head. "Is leaving the mirror supposed to hurt this much?"

The faerie laughed. "Well, strong words require strong consequences."

Ellia smiled, through the headache was not the most amusing. "So where's Rosalina?" she asked.

"Trapped in the mirror," the faerie said, looking resentful. "Unfortunately. In order to escape, someone had to take my place."

"Don't worry about it," the Aisha laughed, "she deserves it. Too many notions of grandeur, wanting to end hunger and all that."

Smiling, the faerie said, "Well, I'm glad you think so. The mirror will still work, by the way, since your friend also practices magic. Though perhaps not in the way you might like -- Rosalina seems clever enough to manipulate the bounds of her obedience.

"And with that, I will take my leave." The faerie walked towards the window, stopping just before the ledge. She turned, her eyes soft. "You know, you were my favorite. Despite your worst wishes, I knew you had a good heart." The faerie turned and opened the window, preparing to fly out.

"Wait!" Ellia cried. A thought had been bugging her. "What is your name?"

"Oh," the faerie noted as she stepped on the window ledge. "You may call me Mira."

With that, she finally flew out, free.

The End