Alira (Aa-lie-rah)

Parasite Stage They are a parasitic Mystimon which floats around, searching for hosts. When it finds one, it attacks, lashing out with its tail, targeting the neck, and then attaching to the back of the victim's head.   Host Stage Due to a venom they secrete, the host doesn't know they are being controlled. They will often wear hats or hoods or any other kind of headwear without much reason as to why, even if they had not been known to wear any sort of headwear before. The victim will also experience random blackouts where the Alira takes control for a brief moment and the victim has no recollection of what they were doing during this period of time. Often lasts for no more than a few hours. The victim will also appear forgetful and display unusual behaviour, perhaps a change in personality.   Soldier Stage In this stage, the Alira has taken complete control of the host the creature's original body dries up and falls off the back of their head. The host is now entirely under the control of the Alira, and the consciousness of the original owner of the body effectively dies. The body now also gains supernatural abilities they may not have previously had, such as super strength, Mystia Casting of the Force Tradition, and a Predator form where the face erupts into five spiked star-like petals, revealing a mouth lined with razor teeth.

Rows of razor spikes and a spiral mouth lined with razor teeth.

Aliras, it has been discovered, are in fact parasites of some sort which seem to control the minds of their hosts.