The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

Rescue Mission

Sophia had offered to make breakfast for the twins while she was getting ready. She knew they were technically in a hurry, but she couldn't operate on an empty stomach. Especially since they were going to rescue Apollo, they'd need all the energy they could get. Afterwards, they all rushed out into the early morning air, hoping Teri would meet them at the tree house.

"You sure you feel up for this?" the twins asked Sophia.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I... actually feel pretty good." she replied, the cold air making her shiver as she tried to exhale quietly.

When they arrived at the tree house, Teri wasn't there, so they all sat by the pond and waited. Sophia checked her gear to keep her busy while the twins asked if they should think about keeping a weapon on them. Sophia said it would be a good idea, but she didn't know what weapon would suit them best. Teri showed up during their conversation.

"Hey, Sophie. You feeling any better?"

"Yeah, I'm good. That medicine actually worked better than I thought."

"That's good," Teri turned to the twins, "You two feeling okay? Did you make it back home in time?"

"Yeah, we're fine."

"So... do we actually have a plan, or...?" they both spoke in turn.

"Well... sorta. When you guys left, I think I found where that creature took Apollo. Something that big couldn't hide its tracks that well. But I had to turn back before it got too dark. It's... not exactly a plan, but it's our best shot at finding him. You guys ready?"

Everyone nodded confidently. Sophia slung her satchel over her shoulder as the twins hoisted Teri out of the pond. They ran all the way to the cliffs. It was easier for them to take off with a running start so they could get over to the other side more easily. The twins carried Teri and her weapon and she held on tightly until they landed. Afterwards, she led everyone into the forest where she had found the large tracks left behind by the creature. The way they were stamped into the ground, they weren't hard to find. Sophia hoped that maybe Apollo was able to fight off the creature somehow and escape, but if that were the case, he'd already be home by now.

"Okay, up here. This is where I lost them." Teri pointed out as they reached the top of a hill. They stopped for a moment to catch their breath as they surveyed the area. They seemed to just... stop at the top of the hill. Where could they have gone from here? Everyone looked around the area until Sophia, who was still at the top, was gazing down at the other side and noticed something in the dirt below them. She called everyone over and they all made their way down to the bottom where it was much more steep. But Sophia was right. There was a large imprint in the ground. The creature must've jumped off of the hill and landed here. But... where did they go after that? The tracks seemed to just... end here.

Confused, everyone continued to look around the area. They had to have gone off somewhere. Sophia however, just stared off into the distance, pretending she was looking, when she was actually starting to freak out and trying to force the doubts out of her mind. Until the twins called them over from the steep face of the hill.

"Hey, guys! Come over here! There's something in the rocks!"

Sophia and Teri rushed over to the base of the hill where some jagged rocks and boulders were sticking out. The twins pointed out some dark smudging on a rock, a strange handprint smeared, no... singed on the surface. Sophia started climbing up the rocks, finding more strange black smudges until she found a strange carving within the hillside.

"Woah... hey... hey, look at this. I think they came over here." she said as she started shifting through the rocks. It almost looked like she was disappearing into the hill.

"What? What do you mean? There's no way they could've come through here." said Teri as she began to follow Sophia. The twins climbed over from the other side where they found Sophia looking into a deep hole in the rocks.

"She's right, you remember that thing, Sophie? It was huge! There's no way it squeezed through here with Apollo." the twins added.

"Yeah... that thing was huge. But look."

Sophia pointed at another singed half-handprint on the wall just next to the hole. It seemed big enough for everyone to easily slip into, but with the sun on top of them, it was too difficult to see how far it went in. Sophia pulled her bag over and rustled through it, until she pulled out a small flashlight and clicked it on. It wasn't very bright, but it was enough for them to see that this hole actually looked more like a tunnel that went into the hill. They all stared into the darkness in silence for a minute, contemplating whether this was right or not.

"Do you think he's really in there...?" Teri asked quietly. Sophia inhaled.

"He's gotta be. I'm not sure why... that thing would drag him in there... But I'm not going back home without him."

Sophia started making her way in, but Teri stopped her.

"Hold on. If he's really in there, do you think that monster might be there with him? It might be waiting for us..."

"Maybe... But that's why I'm going in first. Because I have a sword. And if there's anything down there... they're gonna wish they never met me..."

Teri sighed and stepped back.

"Okay, but... here, you two go in front of me. You've been in caves longer than we have. You stay behind Sophie, and I'll stay behind you. That way we can protect you from the front and rear." Teri suggested.

"Y-yeah, okay. That sounds smart." the twins nodded in agreement, stepping behind Sophia as she stood inside the entrance.

"Okay... let's go."

One by one, they stepped through and slipped inside the tunnel. The sunlight behind them began to diminish, making Sophia's flashlight look brighter as she waved it around. They had to watch their footing as the ground wasn't very even, but the further they went in, the more the tunnel began to expand, which seemed a bit strange. Were they going down or were they going forward? It was hard to tell. Even the twins said they didn't seem to recognize this tunnel. Although, it was entirely possible that there were plenty of tunnels they didn't know about as many of the paths down in the caves were either blocked or just led to a dead end. Sophia was still processing the fact that there were caves and tunnels right outside their house and no one else knew about it, but them.

They continued going in deeper, further, climbing downwards. It felt like they'd been in this tunnel for hours. Sophia didn't bother to check her phone to see how much time had passed. They didn't seem to realize that the longer they walked, the path seemed to get smoother, more even. As if this tunnel had been walked before.

"Hey... we've been down here for a while. Do you think... we should turn back?" Teri asked.

"Why?"

"It's just... I dunno. Aren't you afraid of getting lost or something? What if this tunnel just takes us in a big circle?"

"Teri, we can't really get lost if we're following a single path.

"Yeah. Plus, it's very rare for a tunnel like this to just loop around in one big circle. That just wouldn't make any sense." the twins spoke in turn.

"Hmm... I guess so. But if this keeps going any longer, it's only going to take us the same amount of time to get back. Maybe longer. I just don't want to be stuck down here longer than we have to."

"I'm... sure it doesn't go on forever. But I'm not going back until we find Apollo. Or this tunnel turns into a dead end. Which I hope it doesn't. Because that would really suck." Sophia stated with about... 90% confidence. But she partially sided with Teri. It would be more exhausting to climb back up than it would to go down.

After a long moment of shuffling and silence, the twins stopped everyone. They said they could hear something. Sophia tried pointing her flashlight forward, but it couldn't light up the whole tunnel. There was nothing but more darkness ahead of them.

Until they heard it. Something moving through the tunnel.

A cold gust of wind blew straight towards them, making everyone shiver and their hair stand on end. It passed quickly, but the feeling...

Sophia clicked her flashlight off, which startled everyone, as she shoved it into her bag and retrieved the crystal gem. A blue glow emanating from her hand, until a flash of light transformed itself into a sword and Sophia grasped it tightly. It glowed brighter, lighting up the tunnel in a blue hue. The light itself also didn't reach as far, but it was enough to see where they were going.

"I think we're getting close..." Sophia whispered. She exhaled a cold breath of air before continuing forth. Everyone followed closely behind her. But it wasn't long before they stopped again, hearing a noise in the distance. They all froze in silence, wondering if they all heard the same thing. Teri whirled her head around to make sure there was nothing behind them. Another sound echoed, and it was clearly coming from in front of them.

"Guys, what is that?" Teri asked quietly. The twins shook their heads.

"I don't know..." Sophia answered.

She took a couple steps forward, trying to be as quiet as possible, until something else echoed.

"Hello?" a voice called out. Everyone froze again. Sophia held the sword with two hands and gently held it forward. She noticed the path curved to the left and it looked as if there was an opening in the wall. Sophia inched forward, shifting her weight carefully so her footfalls were practically silent.

"Hello? Is... is someone there?" the voice called out again. Sophia froze and gently lowered the sword, the tip almost touching the ground.

"Hey, doesn't that kinda sound like...?" Teri whispered.

"Sophie? Is that you...?" said the voice, now sounding more familiar. Teri and the twins stepped in front of Sophia.

"Apollo?" Teri called out.

They went ahead of Sophia as she tried to quietly stop them, but it was too late. Looking into the opening, they gasped and rushed into the room.

"Apollo!"

Sophia cautiously stuck her sword inside, illuminating the room with a blue glow and... there he was. Apollo reaching out towards her from the far side of the room.

"Sophie! You guys! You actually found me!" Apollo cried happily.

"We knew we'd find you sooner or later!" the twins replied.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you? We need to get you out of here." said Teri, looking over Apollo quickly, making sure he wasn't damaged in any way. Sophia quickly rushed to her friend's side, the glow of the sword making it easier to see that Apollo was trapped in a cage. Or... more like the bars of a cage were keeping him trapped against the wall. But there was no lock or door.

Everyone scrambled to find a way to get him free, but Apollo was trying to say something. He reached for Sophia and grabbed her hand to get their attention.

"Sophie, Sophie, please, we need to get out of here right now. There's- there was something here. Something was here with me!"

"What?"

"What do you mean?" Teri asked.

"Was is that monster? Is it still here?" the twins stammered, looking around fearfully.

"No, no! It was something different. I don't know where it went, but- but it knows. It- this one spoke to me!"

"What?" we all said at the same time.

"C'mon, you have to get me out of here. We have to get out of here now!"

"Okay, okay, hold on, just- just give me a second..." said Sophia, trying to figure out how to get him out of this.

Until Teri suddenly shrieked, the echo piercing Sophia's ears. Before she could even look up at what Teri was screaming at, she felt something cold grab her and roughly toss her to the other side of the room, dropping her sword in the process. Apollo screamed as Teri quickly picked up her trident and the twins cowered behind her. When Sophia could finally roll over and look up, she saw what they were yelling at.

A blotch of pure darkness had seeped through the walls, a wave of cold shadows, only accompanied by a pair of deep red eyes. The only contrast Sophia could see against the blue glow of her sword. She watched the eyes move and they stared directly at her. The whole room went cold, as did the blood in her veins.

Apollo yelled at Sophia to get up. Teri pointed the trident at the shadow defensively, but didn't dare make a move. Until one of the twins hurled a rock at the shadow, making it whirl around and focus its sight on them. The shadow moved towards them and Teri struck back fearfully. Apollo yelled at Sophia again and she finally snapped out of it. She quickly picked up her sword and slashed back at the creature, causing it to howl and spin around to face her. Sophia back up, unable to take her eyes off the shadow as it moved towards her instead. She started swinging wildly, hoping to land a few hits.

Apollo on the other hand didn't realize his hands were frozen solid on the bars he'd been grasping. Frost and vapor trailing up his arms. He tried to pull away, but they were stuck. He yanked harder and harder, the ice cracking around his fingers each time, until they finally broke away. He rubbed his hands to get the rest of the ice off, before realizing it was still on the bars. They were frozen solid. Apollo called out to Sophia again as Teri joined in to help her. Looking over at Apollo, Sophia wasted no time. She dove behind Teri as she also swung her weapon wildly at the creature. Sophia yelled at Apollo to get back, and he did so as Sophia swung her sword and the bars shattered completely. The shadow roared as Sophia pulled Apollo out. Teri ad the twins retreated as Apollo stepped in front of everyone.

"Stay away from me!" he screamed as a bright flash of light flew from his hand, targeting the shadow with flames so hot, everyone behind Apollo could feel it and they shrank back from him out of instinct. The shadow twitched, writhed and roared as it tried to avoid the fire, but it had nowhere to go. One by one, everyone rushed out of the room and back into the tunnel to escape. Apollo lit up the walls again to make sure the shadow wouldn't follow them.

What followed was a long series of everyone hurrying and shuffling through the tunnel, onwards, upwards, refusing to slow down. The glow of Sophia's sword and the fire trailing from Apollo's smoking arm was the only light they could use to see where they were going. Until someone said they could see light ahead and a sudden burst of adrenaline made them all shoot forward until finally, they tumbled into daylight. Which was a little blinding actually.

They each tripped over the rocks and almost collapsed from exhaustion, but this was no place to rest. Confirming everyone was okay, they all took off into the skies. The twins carried Teri and her weapon again and they all headed towards home.

Somehow, the air around them still felt cold.