The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

Catch of the Day

[Apollo]

Apollo awoke in darkness, confused as to why it was so dark. And suddenly, everything came flooding back to him. He tried to get up but suddenly hit his head and fell back down. He rubbed his head and winced in pain. He sat up more slowly this time and tried to look around. He didn't know where he was, he didn't recognize the room. Or to what she could see.

Which was hardly anything.

It was cold down here too.

Strangely cold.

He tried to remember how he got down here, but he couldn't seem to recall anything. But he felt a sudden strange feeling that he wasn't alone. He tried to snap his fingers, slipping the first time before finally making a spark and a tiny candle-sized flame burst from the end of his fingertips. He held up and was surprised to see bars in front of her. He looked up and down, but the light he conjured wasn't enough to light the whole room.

He was trapped in a cage.

And he couldn't find a door anywhere. No lock or key. He began to panic, whilst trying to convince himself not to panic.

He started looking for any possible escape routes. He held his hand through the small gap in the bars and tried looking out. But the space around her was big and he could only see the floor and parts of the wall. It looked to be some sort of cave or cavern, by the cold, rocky interior. But other than that, he couldn't seem to find any opening of sorts. If he could somehow get out of the cage, he could get a better look around. He thought about heating up the bars until they got to the point where he could bend them and make a gap wide enough for him to fit through. Or if he could freeze them, make them brittle and with enough force, he could break the bars and get through that way. But then, where would he go? Or at least, where was the quickest way out? He was too anxious to think about it. He had to get out.

The flame on his finger extinguished and he gripped the bars in front of him tightly and began concentrating as hard as he could. His hands began to glow and he felt a soft warmth within his palms and the heat began to grow. His palms glowing brighter and soon the bars he held began to change temperature. He didn't know how long it would take for him to keep this up until the bars were hot enough to be moved. He had to stay focused. It was starting to heat up now, but it wasn't enough to make them move.

Until Ava heard a voice ring out into the darkness and she immediately extinguished herself and looked around. The bars were still red and glowing, but it began to fade.

Heavy and deep echoing.

The room around her changed. But he didn't see anything. He could see his breath as the room got colder. He had no idea how it was possible. He backed up into the corner of the cage until the voice startled him.

"I should tell you not to do that," the voice advised.

Apollo gasped, darting his head and his sight was suddenly greeted by a pair of deep, glowing red eyes. A strange darkness spread and all he could see now was the eyes. They began to move, still staring, but circling her. He was terrified. Frozen with fear.

"...W-who are you..?" he asked nervously. The eyes turned away and everything went dark. He couldn't locate it's presence, but he knew it was still here.

"You have no idea how long it took for me to finally get you here," it said deeply. Apollo didn't seem to understand.

"I was originally going after that short-haired friend of yours. But... you made for an easier target." the eyes turned back to him, staring at him again, but not as close this time.

Short haired... it's not talking about Sophia is it?

He didn't ask how it happened to know, instead he tried to find the courage to speak another question.

"What are y-you gonna do? Kill me?"

The eyes turned away, slowly this time. Apollo was confused as it was trying to think of something to say, or it was ignoring her. For some reason, the longer he looked at those eyes, the more it reminded him of those Shadovian things he and Sophia used to fight together. Their eyes weren't as bright as whatever this thing is. And whatever it was... it was different.

"Her persistence will lure her to you. Soon, you'll both be here. If you value your life, then don't look for escape. That'll be the worst mistake you'll make."

The eyes disappeared and the darkness around her vanished. Still stuck in the dark room, but he could tell it had left him. He wasn't as cold anymore, but he was still struck with fear. It seemed to have left him alone, but he wasn't sure. It just seemed to vanish like a ghost and he couldn't tell if it was still silently watching him, or if it was only waiting. He began to think about what it had told her. Trying to make sense of it all.

Her persistence will lure her...

No...

It's a trap!