And now we enter Piper's backstory. It's no secret that, of the four Mysticons in question, Piper is the one who's backstory is least known. As such, I couldn't help but let my creativity run free with this one. After some consideration I decided to make this into a two part story, show different segments of Piper's origin.

At any rate, please enjoy!

Night had befallen the magical realm of Gemina. In the horizon, the beautiful night sky could be seen, with twinkling stars as far as the eye can see. Wouldn't it be so nice to see them? At least, that's what a young elf would have liked. Alas, she did not always have that kind of luxury.

Alar, perhaps one of the most unforgiving towns in the entire realm. Almost every corner, there seemed to be a breeding ground for criminal activity, such as petty theft, mugging, the whole nine yards. Among the population was a small family of elves, known as the Elvanestri's. Not necessarily the richest elves in town, in fact they were quite the opposite, hardly able to afford the essentials in life. But at least they had each other, as well as a roof over their heads.

One was Oron Elvenestri, a male elf with brown skin, black hair and a light beard, as well as green eyes. In addition, he wore a brown jacket over a red turtleneck shirt.

Then there was his wife, Cera Elvanestri. She had similar traits to Oron, except she had reddish purple hair that reached her shoulders, and wore a long sleeved shirt and a skirt that reached down to her knees.

And then there was their daughter, Pyperia Ashryn Elvenestri, who had her father's eyes and her mother's hair.

In a rather decrepit looking, one story house, Pyperia laid in her sleeping bag on the hard floor of her room, trying to sleep. She had pretty much gotten use to the hard floor, she had ten years of hardship to thank for that. She tried so hard to fall asleep, but she couldn't. This particular night, she began to reflect on her life, staring into the ceiling, wondering where it all went wrong.

That was when Pyperia heard her parents talking in the other room. Both had a tone of worry in their voice. Ever so curious, the young elf left her sleeping bag to eavesdrop on the conversation. Once she reached the hall, she stopped at the corner, hearing her parents converse.

"Well, I was afraid of that… Yet another bill." Sighed Oron. He then placed it into a bag full of a few other bills. No sugar coating it, they were behind on debt.

"It will be a miracle if we can pay them all off." Added Cera. Oron then rubbed his face a little, rather stressed of the situation.

"Cera, what exactly have I done wrong in my life? I had an honest paying job as a financial manager. At Least we never went hungry. And and then… those cursed orcs came and burnt down the whole bank!" Oron banged his fist on the table at that last sentence. "And now look at us. We're constantly in between jobs and hardly earn one gold piece. What kind of father am I?"

"Oron, don't think like that! Things could certainly be better, that's for sure, but you know you're doing the best you can. That's all we can do these days, the best we can."

"But confound it all I should do better! I wish I could…"

Oron cut his own sentence short after seeing a worried look on Cera's face. She was facing the direction of the doorway, where Pyperia was standing. Feeling guilty, Oron turned to face his daughter, who was holding her stuffed griffin tightly.

"Dad… are we going to make it? Are we going to starve?" Small tears began forming in her eyes. "Are we going to lose our home."

Oron, at first, did not know how to answer. Pyperia was always an optimistic young elf, looking to the bright side of things no matter what. To see her this worried, this upset, made him feel even more guilty than he already felt. Finally, he felt a bit of determination in him

"Sweetie, we are facing a very difficult challenge right now." Oron place his hands on his shoulders, trying to comfort her. "But no matter what happens, we are in this together."

"As a family." Cera said with a smile. Just like that, both got together in a group hug, which lasted a good while. Pyperia smiled big during the hug. Perhaps things would get better. Surely they would right? Alas… it didn't. A mere knock on the door startled them somewhat. Oron went to the door, and his heart seemed to have stopped. Three serpent-like figures where at the door.

"Pyperia, hide now!" Oron shouted in a somewhat whispered tone. Cera took her to the closet to hide her there. She specifically told Pyperia not to come out unless instructed. Once that was done, he opened the door. It was none other than Creed Slitherwick, along with his two goons, Charlie and Nixon.

Creed was a feared crime lord even back then, only he was under the name Hectillius, his given name. He still wore his top hat, but he wore a long overcoat at the time. Oron is still with Fear as he stares into the haunting red/gold eyes of this treacherous viper.

"Greetings, Mr. Elvenestri." Creed said, in an elegant English accent, tipping his hat. "May I come in?"

"Uh… absolutely, Hectillius… nice weather huh?"

"Oh it's splendid! The humidity is perfect, shedding will be a breeze." Creed then sat down at the table, to which Oron sat as well, opposite ends from each other. "Now then, to business. How's your debt to me coming? Do you have enough gold to pay me back yet?"

Oron felt a great shiver down his spine. If ever there was one debt he was afraid of, this was definitely it. He looked at Cera for a moment, and her eyes practically spelled fear. Would he dare to ask for more time? He had to. What else could he do?

"Hectillius… I know I'm much behind on debt already,but please… I just need more time."

Creed's elegant smile suddenly turned into a cynical frown. "Oh Elvenestri", he said as he started rubbing his eyes in a controlled frustration.

"I now I have no right right asking, but please! You need to give me more-"

"More time this, more time that. Tell me this, my pointy eared friend, exactly how many times have you asked me to give you more time?"

Oron was scared to answer, already seeing murder in the vile serpent's eyes. Nonetheless, he had to.

"Four"

"Which is already three times more than you ever should have! And now, you dare to request another chance? In case you've forgotten how real life works, allow me to remind you. You find yourself in financial trouble, and I'm generous enough to lend you some gold. Naturally, that means you owe me some gold. And if you can't pay your debt in gold... then you'll have to pay me another way."

"Please Hectillius! I promise you, I'll never ask you again!"

"Oh believe me… I know you won't." With but a snap of his fingers, Creed had Charlie and Nixon catch both Cera and Oron in a tight grip in their strong tails. Creed then extends his two long, deadly venomous fangs, ready to inject his lethal dose.

Oron and Cera pleaded for their lives, but it was no use. Poor Pyperia could only hide helplessly as she hid in the closet, the door open just a bit. She closed her eye shut, not wanting to watch the horror. Her eyes then widened at the sound of a snake bite... then another. There was screaming for a moment, but only for a moment. The deed was done. Creed and his goons walked out with Oron and Cera's near lifeless bodies, probably to throw them in a river nearby.

Pyperia slowly walked out of the closet in disbelief, her mouth agape and her eyes still wide. After reaching the center of the living room, she sank to her knees, balling her eyes out, and hugging her stuffed griffin ever so tightly. Brief flashes of her memories came to her. They were hard times yes, but they were still the precious times, celebrating her star days, watching Well's Comet soar through the sky, and telling her parents telling her bedtime stories. Those days were over.

After her ocean of tears, Pyperia knew she had to leave. She had only herself and his stuffed toy, Miss Paisley, to look after now. After gathering what little rations she could, off she went, to face the cold cruel world.

Pyperia had been traveling for at least five days. She was down to her last granola bar and her last few sips of water. As she walked she heard menacing growling. She thought for a moment that a monster was following her, only to snap back to reality. It was merely her stomach, practically roaring for sustenance.

Instantly, forgotten was Pyperia's hunger once she started to hear the thunderous sound of applause. At first, she thought it was her mind playing tricks on her, but the closer she got, the louder and more real it sounded. Sure enough, she soon found a large circus tent, lights shining from it and all. Pyperia suddenly wore a huge smile on her face, larger than she ever smiled before, for she had always wanted to go to a circus… with her parents. Her smile faded away after that last thought. She tried to shrug off the sad thoughts and go to the tent, at least it would provide shelter.

Upon entering through a back entrance, Pyperia watched in awe the spectacular stunts that these performers did. As it just so happened, they were fellow elves. The young elf wondered if one day she would be made for such greatness.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Said a rather tall elf, in flashy red and yellow ringmaster attire. "You've been a wonderful audience! Unfortunately, our show has come to a close, but don't worry! Tomorrow, we'll have one more show before we leave, so be sure you come for an encore performance!"

The crowd gave their final cheers before leaving the establishment. Pyperia thought she would be a stowaway, at least until she found a city to thrive in. Little did the young elf know, the ringmaster elf actually heard her footsteps behind the scenes. The acute hearing of an elf certainly had its perks. So he went behind the scenes and pulled the sheets off of her. At first, Pyperia was frightened, not knowing what to expect, only to be greeted warmly by the ringmaster.

"Don't be scared young lady, I won't hurt you" The ringmaster said, reaching his hand out to her. "What's your name?"

"P-Pyperia… Pyperia Ashryn Elvenestri."

"Well, Pyperia, where are your parents?" The Ringmaster was then greeted by tears. From there, he had an idea of what happened. "I'm sorry little one, I didn't mean to make you remember." After wiping away a few of Pyperia's tears, The Ringmaster thought for a moment, then came to a decision. "I'll tell you what, why don't you stay with me? There's always room for one more in my wonderful circus."

"Yes!" Pyperia said, shaking his hand enthusiastically. It was clear that she wasn't about to turn down that offer. "Thank you so much Mr…"

"Garland… Garland Willowbrook."

From here, Pyperia was smiling with glee, knowing her life would had taken a wonderful turn for the better.

Since Piper herself said she was in a circus in, "A Girl and Her Gumlump", I thought that would be a fun element to add. As always, feel free to review and share your thoughts, I hope you enjoyed.