The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

Different Shade of Blue

[Teri]

At the end of the day, everyone said goodbye and left. Teri jumped back into the pools and swam down the tunnels until she reached the lake. Despite everything that happened today, she was happy to know that another day passed without anyone terribly hurt.

She thought about this as she drifted through the water. She thought about what happened today. The fight between them and the Shadovians that seemingly attacked them out of nowhere. Yet, it was almost as if they knew they would be there. But Teri thought there was no way that they would have known that. They probably heard them fighting each other and drawn to their attention. However she was proud that she was able to put her new skills to good use. She definitely still needs some practice, but this time she was able to help her friends.

Teri swam all the way back to the balcony and floated downwards until she sat on the edge, looking over her kingdom. Her people, safe in their homes and happily going on with their lives. Yet, none of them knew about the world above them, or what their princess has been doing. Leaving them in the day to train and be with her new friends. Yet, leaving her home defenseless until she returned.

A little bubble of doubt began to bob in the back of her head. She feared that the longer she remained absent from her kingdom, the more prone they might be to an attack. Her home might be destroyed if she left for too long.

And then she thought, she might be thinking of a day that might never come. Her kingdom was built down here to be safe, and no one would be able to find it.

Built to be hidden.

And she doubted that any of those creatures she's seen would ever be able to get down here. Besides, they probably didn't know how to swim.

Teri sighed and looked down upon her home. Not even her own guards know what she was up to. And then she began to think, what would her Mother think of her? Sneaking away by day and returning late. If her Mother knew she was doing these things, would she approve? Would she be disappointed in her always leaving home to be with her friends, or would she be proud with her training and learning new skills to protect her home? As she protected her. It was hard for Teri to think about. And harder for her to think about what her Mother would think of her despite her not being here.

She hugged her tail and stared out towards the dark horizon, beyond her kingdom. She doesn't know how long exactly her Mother has been gone but she guessed it's been around a few months now. She wondered what her people thought about this. Her Mother gone, and the princess left behind to run everything by herself and to make sure her kingdom was safe from harm. She hardly knew the first thing about running a kingdom. Were her people really okay with leaving a young princess in charge? Did they really feel safe? These thoughts began to overwhelm her. She combed her webbed hands through her hair, trying to relax and recollect her thoughts. But really, she wanted to cry. She felt like she just might. Instead, she floated up, took a deep breath and sighed loudly. She went back into her room, down the hallway and opened the door to her Mother's room. She was able to clean up the black, oily stuff and put the furniture back into their places. Of course, some of them were still somewhat damaged, but other than that she did the best she could to return the room to it's original state. She swam over to the dresser and opened one of the drawers. The note and her Mother's crown were still there.

She picked up the note, held it up to the nearest light and read it again to herself.

She's read it many times before, and it hasn't brought her much comfort. Something about it didn't make sense to her. But she just couldn't figure it out. She set the note down and picked up the crown. She's seen her Mother wear it before, but she wondered why she would leave this behind. She looked at herself holding the crown in the mirror above her. The mirror itself was worn, and a little dirty. Covered in barnacles and baby starfish. Teri eyed the crown, carefully examining every detail down to the tiny gems surrounding the larger green one in the center. Shiny, pretty, definitely had lots of effort put into it. She looked up at herself, then back down at the crown. After a minute, she put it back in the drawer with the note and closed it. She looked over beside the bed, covered in vibrant pieces of coral.

Well, they used to be brighter, but as time went on, when her Mother disappeared that's when the coral really began to lose it's contrast. There were even small little silver fish that used to swim around, but now they've seemed to be gone. She hasn't seen them in a while.

She then looked over at the trident that sat near the bedpost. She always put it right back where she found it. 

Back when she was small, and her fins hadn't fully grown yet, she used to try to pick up her Mother's trident with all the strength she had and fight imaginary enemies in the halls and be the hero of the castle. Until she suddenly spotted her Mother watching her and she'd freeze instantly. She thought she would be in trouble for playing with her Mother's trident without asking. But instead, her Mother found it quite funny and told her that she didn't mind if she played with it. But only if she promised to be careful with it, not actually intending to hurt anyone, and to always put it back right where she found it.

To this day, Teri never forgot that rule.

Soon, she left and went back to her own room.