The Unsung Herione by chile_chicken |  |
For most residents of Neopia, the last day of March was
just another day, apart from their usual buying food, playing games and talking
about the latest Meridell war. However, for one little Shoyru this day was a day
that she would remember for a long time to come.
This Shoyru's name was Antikia Lighten, and
she was entrusted with the Faerie Queen's crop of Health Shrooms that lay in
the Forbidden Forest. All day long, she would sit high in the treetops and kept
watch over the precious field below. Every now and then, she would start singing
in a clear voice that filtered through the trees,
My name is Antikia I love what I do,
Guarding the Health Shrooms for me and for you
The creatures within the Forbidden Forest loved
to hear Antikia sing, and sat below the trees, listening to her sweet voice.
But this didn't distract Antikia from doing the thing that was most important
to her; keeping an eye on the Health Shrooms. Every time she thought something
looked suspicious, she would swoop down to take a closer look. Today she had
already chased away a hoard of nasty-looking Chias that were getting too close,
and she was just about to eat her lunch when she heard an eerie sound coming
from just beyond the edges of the field. It sounded like screaming but she couldn't
be sure. Feeling a bit apprehensive, she peered over the boughs of her tree
and saw a little Acara wandering through the field. She was holding a daisy
chain and winding it through her hair, humming a tune to herself. On closer
inspection however, something didn't seem quite right about this Acara. Antikia
was a bit wary but decided to be brave and talk to her, since it was her job.
She had to make sure that this Acara wasn't going to threaten the Health Shrooms.
A little Whoot, sensing her nervousness, flew down to keep her company.
"Hi, I'm Antikia, what is your name?" said Antikia
to the Acara.
The Acara smiled politely, and looked up from
her daisy chain.
"I'm Vira," she giggled, and picked up a flower
from a nearby bush.
Vira... that name sounded strangely familiar
to Antikia. She racked her brain trying to think where she'd heard it before,
hardly noticing the Whoot settle on Vira's shoulder. Vira smiled and kissed
the flower she was holding, handing it to the Whoot. He hooted in delight, took
the flower in his beak, and then suddenly fell onto the ground, not moving.
Antikia screamed, but Vira only laughed, picking up another flower and kissing
it, then laying it on top of the immobile Whoot. Then Antikia realised who this
Acara was. When she was a little girl, her grandmother used to tell her stories
about Vira the vain Acara, who was bewitched by an unknown evil, and spends
her time kissing flowers to make them poisonous and giving mirrors out that
make the people reflected in them ugly to behold.
"You steal other people's beauty to get your
own beauty back!" shrieked Antikia.
Vira just smiled, and said, "Yes, and you, my
pretty thing, will do nicely as my next victim." She held out a mirror, black
and shining in the sunlight. Antikia backed away, hardly daring to breathe.
She had to get this Acara away from her and the Health Shroom crop as quickly
as possible, but how? She couldn't touch this mirror, or else her beauty would
fade away, and she couldn't take the poisonous flowers that Vira was touching.
But nothing else would make Vira leave her alone; she had to succumb to this
Acara's powers. Antikia felt rather dizzy, as if as her mind wasn't working
properly. She was just about to give in and take the mirror when she was startled
by a crash near her tree. Looking around, she discovered her friend Pajerave
the Pteri had come to visit her, crashing as he landed. Landings weren't his
best talent. She was relieved to see that help was at hand, and tried to run
over to him. But her legs wouldn't move, she was rooted to the spot!
"Pajerave, help me!" she yelled, whilst struggling
against the invisible bonds.
Vira just stood smirking to herself, she knew
that Antikia wouldn't be able to move, not whilst Vira held her under a spell.
She hadn't counted on Antikia's friend turning up, but she would soon deal with
him.
Pajerave flew over hurriedly to where Antikia
and Vira stood.
"Let her go!" he commanded, trying not to let
the fear show in his voice.
But Vira only shook her head and held out a
mirror to Pajerave. He wasn't going to fall for that, though, he knew exactly
whom this Acara was, as his own sister had been poisoned by one of Vira's flowers.
Grabbing, Antikia by the tail, he began to pull her back towards the crop of
Health Shrooms. Antikia had a better idea though. Resisting the pulls of both
Pajerave and Vira, she sat down on the ground and started crying. Vira, confused
by this random event, sat down beside her.
"What is the matter?" she asked.
"It's just, I am so jealous. I'll never be as
pretty as you," said Antikia.
Vira was thrown by this. Ever since she had
been bewitched, no-one had called her pretty before. She had always been ugly
since that fateful day three years ago when she was wandering by herself by
the meadow and made a wish to be the most beautiful Acara in the whole of the
world. Everything had been horrible since that day, with the voice inside her
head commanding her to steal other Neopian's beauty until she was once again
the pretty Acara she had been. Could it be possible that this day had finally
come? She looked around to see if it could be true, but not finding anything
to confirm her prettiness, she looked into the mirror she had been holding out
to Antikia and Pajerave. Big mistake. No sooner had she glimpsed herself, a
wind picked up, throwing around everything in it's path. Both Antikia and Pajerave
were swept away and blown into the Health Shrooms, luckily causing no damage
or Antikia would have been in trouble. They both lay in amongst the Health Shrooms
until the wind died down. Hesitatingly, they sat up and looked around for any
signs of Vira. But all they could see was a shattered mirror lying on the ground.
Antikia walked towards the mirror, clutching
Pajerave's wing tightly. She needn't have worried though, Vira's magic mirror
was now broken beyond repair, all the evil smashed out of it. And as for Vira
herself, she had been sucked into the mirror the second she glimpsed herself
in it, taking away all further threats to the beauty of Neopia.
Antikia does not feel she is a hero for getting
rid of Vira, nor does the Faerie Queen know about this particular adventure.
For Antikia, it was just another day's work. But every now and then, Antikia
sometimes glimpses an Acara wandering through the trees, making daisy chains
and humming to herself....
The End
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