The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

Two Strangers

[Apollo]

When the numbness in Apollo's limbs had finally stopped, he gathered his things and flew back home. When he walked through the backdoor, he called out to Sophia, but got no reply. He went upstairs and threw his stuff into his room, before checking in Sophia's room, only to find that she wasn't there. He paid no mind for the moment as he walked into the bathroom to take a shower and properly clean his wounds. The bite marks on his arm and leg didn't look as bad as they were before, only slightly sore. He emerged shortly after with a clean change of clothes and scanned every room, but Sophia wasn't home. He checked his phone. No reply to his previous messages. She hasn't even looked at them yet.

Apollo began to get concerned, but then he remembered that he didn't go by the tree house on his way home. It's possible that she's there, but why not respond to his texts?

He sent Sophia another text.

> Hey, I'm at home. Get back to me soon, or just let me know when you're coming back.

> You're still at the tree house, right?

> I still wanna tell you what happened, dude.

He left it at that before tossing his phone aside and heading down into the kitchen. He made himself a snack and brought it upstairs, setting it aside on his desk briefly as he switched on his computer. He checked a few notifications here and there before switching to find some videos to watch with his snacks. He was mostly waiting for Sophia to reply, but he also didn't want to think about what happened at the lake.

Every now and then, he gently caressed the wound on his arm, still sore.

He still didn't want to understand what happened.

What kind of creatures in the lake would try to attack him?

He doesn't remember how he got out, he... he couldn't have...

There had to be someone else there, someone else was there...

But if if wasn't Sophia... who was it then?

These thoughts came and went with a flash as Apollo clicked on another video to watch. His snacks were consumed almost in an instant. He clicked on another video. And another one. And another. And... just one more.

He didn't realize how much time had gone by. Hours actually. Apollo eventually realized this when he glanced down at the corner of the screen and noticed the time. He sat up in his chair and reached for his phone.

No texts, no reply. Messages unseen.

"Ah, alright, alright, I need to stop. Where is she?" Apollo mumbled to himself as he climbed out of his chair, slipping on a pair of shoes and grabbing his old backpack from the corner it was haphazardly tossed in.

It was getting late and Sophia was pulling complete radio silence. Seems like a good time to go find her. .....Again.

Apollo went out the back door, through the fence and trotted through the grove. When he spotted the tree house, he called out to Sophia.

"Hey! Sophie, you up there? I've been texting you all day, c'mon it's getting late!"

But when Apollo swung around and faced the front of the tree house, Sophia was nowhere to be seen. He even climbed up and checked inside, but it was completely empty.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me. C'mon, where are you...?"

Apollo thought about where else Sophia would be. His only other option was the lake. It could be possible that they just missed each other.

Apollo took his time getting to the edge of the cliff to look over the side and see if Sophia was anywhere around. But when he turned his head to the right, he saw something in the water. Looking closer, it almost looked like something was... thrashing around.

Apollo saw an arm fly up followed by screaming.

"Sophie? Sophie!"

Apollo opened his wings and dropped himself carefully off the cliff before gliding towards the surface of the lake towards the thrashing. He could see something jumping in and out of the water. It must've been those creatures from before... they're attacking Sophia!

Apollo circled around, gaining speed before holding out his arms, staying just barely above the surface of the water. As he flew by, he managed to grab an arm and gripped it tight.

"Hold on, hold on, I got you!"

He pulled with all his might and pushed his wings down hard, kicking up splashes of water as he pulled out his friend and began to head towards the small beach.

"Alright, alright! Hang on, Sophie, I got you- wwHHAAAAAAAA?!"

Apollo yelled as he looked down at what he thought was his friend, but was actually the face of a person with green skin.

They both yelled and Apollo dropped them out of shock right on the edge of the small beach. He almost crashed into the side of the cliff, but managed to push himself away and land roughly on the beach. The green person beside him picked themself up and looked at Apollo. They stared at each other nervously for a minute, before the green person whipped their head and pointed out at the lake.

"Watch out! They're coming back!"

Apollo turned his head and noticed the swarm of creatures turning around and swimming towards the shore. They shot themselves up into the air and out of instinct, Apollo held out his hand towards them and a burst of fire flew from his hand. The creatures screeched in a high pitched tone before falling to the sand and writhing around before finally being reduced nothing but black ash. The few creatures that stayed behind in the water circled around before swimming away and diving back down, finally gone from sight.

Apollo extinguished his arm and it continued to smoke for some time as he and the stranger did nothing but breathe heavily.

"You... you defeated them." said the stranger quietly.

Apollo slowly turned his head around and faced the person beside him.

Her... her skin was completely green. And... so was her hair. Apollo realized why he mistook her for Sophia. Her hair was the same length, and a similar style, minus the bangs over her forehead. She was leaning forward on the sand, only visible from the waist up, but she wore a teal top with yellow straps. Her eyes... were also a shade of teal, but lighter.

She and Apollo stared at each other for a long time.

"I... I..."

"It's... it's you." said the stranger quietly.

"... What?"

"From before. I've seen you before."

"W-what...? When?" Apollo asked.

"Earlier today. You were in the lake before. That's when I saw you. Those... those creatures. I saw them trying to attack you. I... I managed to get them off of you and brought you back here. I... I think you got knocked out when I pulled you up. I was afraid you had drowned. I..... I'm sorry I didn't, uh... stick around to... introduce myself properly, but I couldn't..... I... I just couldn't........ Um, anyway... I guess I should thank you properly, since... you saved me and all. I'm..... My name's Teri."

"Teri..... You... you saved me earlier?"

Teri repositioned herself, pushing herself up in the sand.

"Yeah. I did."

"It... it was you."

"Um... what are you talking about?"

"Oh, I'm sorry- It's just... before. I thought you were someone else."

"Is that why you called me Sophie?" Teri questioned.

"Yeah... I thought it was her that rescued me. I came back out here to look for her. I... thought she was you because, uh... you looked similar to her. Sort of..."

"Is... is she a human too?"

"Wha...?"

"Do... do humans normally have wings?"

"Huh? Wait- oh crap!"

Apollo realized his wings had been flared out this entire time and he quickly folded them on his back tightly. But he knew it was already too late.

"Um- well, uh..... n-no. Uh... actually, humans... aren't supposed to have wings at all."

"Really?"

"Uh... yeah. I... we aren't... human."

"Huh... then, if you're not human, then what are you?"

"I... well... it..... I don't actually know. But... we're definitely not human."

Teri tilted her head in confusion. Apollo didn't know what else to say. He wanted to ask more about Teri, but wasn't sure how to phrase his questions without being rude. He tried to think of something simple.

"Um... when you came to save me... you saw me in the lake. Do you... do you live in the lake?"

Teri shifted nervously in the sand.

"... Yes."

"I... I come to the lake almost all the time. But I've never seen you before. How... how long have you been here?"

"... All my life I guess. This... this is actually my first time up on the surface."

Apollo spotted something moving behind Teri, making him flinch. He tilted his head slowly, finding that Teri's upper torso was connected to a long, green fish tail. The large fins at the end were a mix of pink and purple. Apollo's mouth fell agape. Teri noticed his look and turned her head to look around, and from the side of her head where her ears should've been, Apollo saw small pink fins sticking out from the side of her head, hidden within her hair.

"Y-you're... you're..... you're a mermaid?"

"Huh?"

"A mermaid. You... your tail. And you have fins!"

"What? ..... Well, yeah. Is that what humans call us? Do they know about us?"

"Uh- no, no. Well, yes, but not you. Not really." Apollo stammered. "It's just... yes, that's what humans call you. But... nobody knows if they're real or not. Everyone thinks they're just myths."

"So... no one knows we're here?"

Apollo shook his head. "No. Nobody knows we exist."

"Oh... that's a relief. Do you live among the humans then?"

"Uh... no. Well... sort of... but not really. We look a lot like them, but they don't have wings. Even though... we live in the same world, we have to hide ourselves. We can't let anyone see who we are.

"Really? What about your friend? Is she like you ?"

"Heh, yeah. She has wings. We live together and watch out for each other."

"So, you trust her?"

"I trust her with my life." Apollo stated confidently.

"Are there... any more like you?" Teri asked.

"... No. We... we don't actually know. But, it's just us."

"So... we're all alone here, right?"

"Yeah. Don't worry. Nobody will be able to find us here."

"... Good. I just wanted to be sure. You see... I'm not really supposed to be up here."

"On the surface?"

"Yes. I live in a... very... very deep part of this 'lake', you call. It was... f*******n for me to come up here at all. I was told the surface world is dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Apollo questioned.

"Yes. I've heard stories of... beasts and monsters roaming the lands. And the humans. Well... not much is known about them, other than they take anything they want and leave nothing behind except... destruction and filth. And... anyone who gets found by them gets taken, never to be seen again."

Heh... well, you're not entirely wrong about that, Apollo thought to himself.

"Then, if you thought it was so dangerous, why did you come up here?"

"Well..." Teri turned her head away shyly. "When one hears stories of a world no one has ever really dared to explore... sometimes curiosity can easily overpower fear."

"Uh... yeah, I guess so..."

"I didn't actually... want to get up on land. I just wanted to see if I could see the world from under the water. Until... I saw you in trouble. I was afraid you were human, but I couldn't let those... those things hurt you. I was hoping you wouldn't remember me, but... since I know you're not human, I guess I don't have anything to worry about."

"Y-yeah, of course not. Your secret is safe with me, I promise. Honestly... I was also worried that I'd get found out or something. But... I really can't thank you enough for helping me out there. For a moment, I... I actually thought I was gonna die. I think... maybe I'll stay out of the lake for a while."

Teri smiled at Apollo. "Don't worry. The lake is my home, and I'll make sure those creatures never come back to harm you or anyone else."

The sight of Teri's smile calmed Apollo.

"Well... thanks, I... I..." Apollo watched as Teri moved herself around and sat upright as her tail... her tail...

Teri caught Apollo staring again and when she brushed her arm over herself, she noticed something was different. Where her long fish tail had been was replaced by a pair of legs underneath a long skirt which had the same colors of her fins. An ombre style of pink and purple.

"Uhhh..."

"Ah! ...Oh, whoa! I didn't even feel a thing. Huh... I thought this would be different."

"What? What are you talking about? Are you saying that... that this is normal?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. Even though I live in the lake, our tails have the ability to transform into a pair of legs so we can explore both land and water," Teri explained.

"What? But how does that work?" Apollo questioned.

"Well... I don't really know. I wasn't even sure I could even... do this. I've heard that a long time ago, us... 'mermaids', or whatever you said, used to live up on both land and in the water. Before the humans and beasts came along and we were forced to hide in the water for the rest of our lives."

"Woah, whoa, woah, are you saying there are more of you?" Apollo exclaimed.

Teri scratched the back of her head nervously. "Well... yes. There are more like us. Like I said, we live deep below the lake where no one can find us. I... I found a tunnel of some sort that led me up here. I think I'm the only one who knows about it."

Apollo just stood there in shock, he wasn't sure what to make of it.

An entire society of mermaids... that live right below the lake... right where he and Sophia have been living these past years? If Teri wasn't living proof, he would've said it was impossible.

Apollo finally snapped out of his daze when he noticed Teri trying to get up and use her legs for the first time. Her legs wobbled and buckled and she fell over constantly.

"Oh... okay, hold on... I think... I think I got it." Teri muttered to herself as she failed repeatedly.

"Hold on, wait a minute, lemme help you out there..." Apollo quickly stepped over to Teri's side to help her stand up properly.

He spent the rest of the afternoon helping Teri figure out how to walk on her own.