The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

From Whence They Came

[Sophia]

Apollo and I packed up some more supplies before we headed out. Apollo hadn't seen the Mutant Strawberry Field before, so the twins and I took the lead. It didn't take us long to get there, and we landed a short ways away so Apollo could explore the area at his own pace. He was just as amazed as I was, even pondered all the same questions I had.

How was this here? How were they growing like this? How had we never seen this area before?

We guided Apollo towards the dark pit in the ground and we all stopped just a few feet from the edge, all nervously looking down into it. For some reason, as I peered into it... something about it felt different. Did it always look this... dark? It's almost as if the sunlight refused to go down any further. I couldn't seem to shake the strange feeling. I glanced over at Apollo and the twins who all had similar expressions. I wasn't sure if they were feeling what I was feeling. Apollo took a step back from the hole.

"Are you sure this is it? It's so... dark." he said quietly. The twins looked up at him.

"Yes. This is where we live. Or... used to."

"And... it's not just this, there's a whole cave down there at the bottom?"

"Yes. And there's many tunnels that go everywhere."

"How.... how are you able to see in all that darkness?" Apollo asked. The twins just shrugged. Pitch black darkness wasn't an issue to their eyesight. But... not all of the tunnels used to be pitch black.

"You sure you still wanna go down there?" I asked.

"Umm...

"We don't have to go back down there. We don't mind staying in the tree house forever. But we know all of the tunnels, so you don't have to worry about getting lost."

"I-it's not that I'm scared. I just didn't expect it to be so... so..."

We all peered into the pit again, completely understanding. Something about this... didn't feel right. But I reminded Apollo that I brought the good flashlights so we could see better.

"How about we just... go down there and stay near the entrance? We don't have to go that far in. We can just see how much of it is safe first and then we can decide if we want to keep going or come back another day. How about that?" I suggested.

Apollo took a deep breath, sighed loudly and nodded.

"Yeah... y-yeah, that sounds okay. I do wanna see what it looks like at the bottom. You guys ready?" Apollo asked the twins. They quickly glanced from him and the pit, unsure, but willing to go along with us.

We all waited a good while, building up our courage before finally taking the leap into the pit, using our wings to slow our descent wo we wouldn't crash at the bottom. One by one, we finally made it and we all took a moment to observe our surroundings. That feeling from before was making me more anxious. There was still a good amount of sunlight reaching all the way down from the surface, but something about it felt... colder. I untied my jacket from my waist and put it on.

We finally faced the entrance to the cave in front of us. Somehow, it looked darker than before. Was I misremembering something? Did it always look this dark? Or did it just... feel that way?

I saw the Apollo and the twins all staring at it with concerned looks. I was just as nervous. And if they suggested leaving immedaitely to come back another time, I would've agreed right then and there. But we were already here, and part of me was already determined to head forward.

"You guys really lived here?" Apollo asked the twins.

"Yes. It... was our home."

"For how long?"

"... As long as we can remember."

Apollo asked me to hand him a flashlight from my bag and I did. I gave him the larger one and I took the smaller one. It wasn't as bright as the large one, but it would do for the time being.

"You sure you still wanna go in?" I asked him.

"Um... well, how deep is it?"

"Well, this tunnel here will take you straight to the main cavern. It's not very long. We don't have to go all the way in."

"Does it get any smaller?" Apollo asked.

"No, all the tunnels are just like this. They're all quite large."

"Okay, good. Just making sure..."

There was a long silence from all of us, waiting to see who would take the first step out of the sun and into the shadows. Apollo and I waved our flashlights around as we stepped in, lighting up the path in front of us while the twins stayed closely behind. So far, it wasn't as bad as we thought. The dark and creepy atmosphere was probably what was making us all anxious. Apollo's anxiousness also began to fade the longer we walked. He was starting to become fascinated by the tunnel itself and I bet he was thinking about all the same questions I had thought about before.

How was all of this here? It couldn't be natural, and if it was man-made... who made it? How were the twins able to live down here by themselves for so long? Did... wait, did they even have any food down here?

It didn't take us long to reach the end of the tunnel and our footsteps suddenly echoed as we came upon the main cavern. I heard Apollo's exhales echoes as we waved our flashlights around, able to see more of the area in better detail. Below us lie a cavern that even our flashlights couldn't reach into, but we spotted what looked like pathways on the other side that lead into more tunnels that seemed to appear everywhere.

"What... is all this?" Apollo wondered out loud.

"I know, right? Should we keep going?" I asked.

"Y-yeah, I can keep going." Apollo replyed.

"Here, this way. This path won't lead us to deep in" the twins pointed out. There was a path to the left of us and we started following it. The cavern was slowly left behind as we entered a new tunnel. We walked for what felt like ages, seeing nothing but carved rock and darkness. That was until Apollo made us stop as he caught something in his flashlight.

"Over there." he pointed.

There was something sticking out from the rock, but he was too nervous to approach it.

"Wait a minute." said the twins.

Apollo held the light steady as they approached the object, recognizing it. Apollo and I stepped behind them.

"What is it?" Apollo asked. The twins scooted back to give us some room.

"It's a Moonflower shrub..."

"Or... it used to be."

The shrub in front of us was nothing more than a dead bundle of grey sticks. What looked like dry petals or leaves were scattered on the ground beneath it, almost like someone spilled an entire container of pepper. Apollo asked what the heck a Moonflower is and the twins explained that they were special plants that once grew everywhere in the tunnels. They took care of the plants, and in return, the plants made them feel safe. Until one day, they were just... gone. Dead. All the tunnels were much darker and not a single flower was spared. They believe something had killed them all, and all they wanted to know was who and why. As the twins explained this to Apollo, I knelt down and picked up one of the few leaves that stayed intact. But the second I picked it up in my fingers, it disintegrated and left a black smudge on my skin. I tried to rub it off, but it just smeared more, like ink from a pen that wasn't quite dry.

Apollo sympathized with the twins about their loss and looked over to see what I was doing. He did the same thing, trying to pick up a petal until it crumbled into flakes and left a black smudge in his fingers.

"Huh... that's weird..." he muttered.

"What?" I asked.

Apollo lit up his hand with the flashlight, trying to get a better look at the smudge.

"It feels weird... It almost looks like..."

We all heard a loud smack that echoed through the tunnel and our heads turned towards the sound simultaneously in surprise. Apollo and I shot our flashlights forward, but didn't see anything. We were frozen to the ground as we waited for... something.

We suddenly heard a faint dripping sound. I slowly stood up and the twins moved behind me. Apollo and I gasped as something finally came into the light. This... strange... wet mass inching slowly forward, like a large slug. We all stared at it as it got closer and closer. It was just this... pure black... inky..... blob thing. It inched forward... and forward... until it seemed to notice the light we were pointing at it and stopped. All of us were too afraid to ask what it was. None of us knew.

I reached my hand into my bag, pulling out the blue crystal and I swapped it for the flashlight in my other hand. With a bright flash that made everyone flinch, it transformed into my crystal sword and I pointed it defensively at the blob. The blob didn't react. I leaned forward slowly, balancing my weight and bringing the tip of my sword closer to the face of the blob. Apollo shook his head at me, but I didn't see it. I adjusted my stance into a defensive position and after another moment... I poked the blob.

It rippled at my touch, but didn't react in the slightest. My head tilted to the side, curious. I leaned forward more and poked the blob a little harder. It jiggled which prompted a half-chuckle from all of us.

"Do... do you think it's... dangerous?" the twins asked.

"I don't know..." I replied. "It doesn't... look dangerous."

I moved my blade on either side of the inky mass. It reflected the blue glow and I could see all of us reflected in it too. I patted the top of its head with my blade and it jiggled again. I stifled another chuckle.

"Well... I don't know what this thing is... But I don't think it's-"

The blob launched itself into my face and I stumbled back, dropping the flashlight and my sword as everyone screamed. I felt the blob bubble and ripple along with a strange burning sensation against my face and I started clawing at it, trying to pull it off. Apollo whacked me in the face, which tore off the blob and it splatted against the ground. He apologized as I scrambled to grab the sword and my flashlight. I felt something warm run down from my nose. The blob regained its form and jumped at us again, making us all shout. Apollo pulled me to my feet as we suddenly heard more loud smacks and plops in the distance. We pointed our flashlight up to see that there were dozens more inky creatures squirming and leaping their way towards us. One of them almost latched onto my foot as we stumbled and turned around, running back to the cave.

Apollo struggled to keep the light steady so he could see where he was going and he ended up tripping on his own feet. One of the blobs took the chance and leaped onto his leg, making Apollo scream. He fell over and tried to shake it off. The twins kept running, but I turned and went back and slashed the creature off with my sword. I was lucky I didn't take Apollo's leg with it. I pulled him up as he gripped his flashlight and we sprinted the rest of the way. We managed to put some distance between the creatures and scrambled to find the tunnel to the entrance. The twins were already waiting for us, wings flared, and we all took off the second we exited the tunnel and shot straight upwards to the surface. The sword in my hand retracted back to a simple gem. Apollo tossed me his flashlight and I shoved everything back in my bag as we ascended.

Finally seeing the sunlight was almost blinding, but at least we knew we were safe. I wiped my nose to see that it was blood that was tricking down from it.

I think that creature was trying to kill me...