The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

Minus One

[Sophia]

My wings curled in pain and my back ached terribly. I heard nothing but Apollo's screams get quieter, yet no matter how much I mentally yelled at myself to get up... I couldn't. I just laid there on the ground in pain. When I finally picked up my head, I saw something shimmering. My sword laying on the ground just a ways from me. I struggled to push myself up, I couldn't even stand. I just crawled towards it until I reached my arm out and grabbed the hilt. I noticed a burning feeling in my legs and I rolled over on my butt to see the damage. They were full of deep scratches when that creature threw me around and they were starting to bleed. The skirt I was wearing wasn't damp anymore, but it was covered in dirt. I closed my eyes and tried to take a couple deep breaths before slowly pushing myself upwards. I pushed my sword into the dirt to steady myself, but it made the burning feeling in my legs worse. I coughed, my wings flinched and I looked outwards to see where Apollo got dragged off to.

I have to get him.

I took a step forward, but when my foot made contact with the ground, another shot of pain rang up from my wounded legs, making me grunt. I breathed heavily, my hands shook, my heart was still racing, and I had no idea what just happened.

I heard footsteps rapily approaching me from behind.

"Sophie! Sophie! Are you okay?"

I turned back to look at the twins. They gasped when they saw my face.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"Where's Apollo? Where'd that monster go?"

I coughed and turned my head forward.

"That thing took him. I tried— I tried to get him, but it came back..... I couldn't hold on... and that thing took him."

"What?"

"Sophie, your legs..."

The twins looked down where my legs were scratched and red, thin streams of blood were slowly running down. I grunted as I picked up my sword and pointed it forward.

"We have to go after him. There's still time... we have to..." I trailed off as I struggled to take another step forward. I suddenly found it difficult to breathe. The burning feeling wasn't just in my legs, but in my lungs and I could feel it all the way up in my throat. The twins rushed ahead and stopped me, both of them putting a hand against my shoulders to keep me steady.

"Woah, woah, hey, take it easy."

"Sophie, you don't look so good."

"I can't leave him out there!"

"We know, but there's no way you're fighting that thing like that!"

The hand holding my sword finally dropped to the ground, unable to lift it any longer. I tightened my grip, but with a flash of light, it became nothing more than a crystal in my palm. I looked up at the twins with a hardened expression.

"We can't leave him out there!"

The twins paused before staring at me for a moment. I broke the silence with more coughing and the twins started coaxing me to turn back. Before I even realized it, the twins were dragging me away and somehow we managed to get back to the tree house. By then, I was exhausted and they sat me down by the pond.

"Where's Teri?" the twins asked.

"She... she said she'd come back soon..... After the earthquake. I'm sure she'll be back..." I answered.

"Okay, good. Tell her we'll be back soon too."

"Wha— what?"

The twins started walking into the forest and I tried to stand back up to stop them, but I couldn't lift my legs anymore and I just awkwardly shuffled on the ground.

"Where are you going? You can't go back out there by yourselves."

"We have to go back for Apollo."

"You said it yourself, we can't leave him out there."

"We still have daylight, it's not too late to go find him. That creature couldn't have taken him far."

"I'm sorry Sophie, but its best if you stay here. You're in no shape to go back out there."

"Stay here and wait for Teri. I'm sure she'll help you patch up your wounds. We'll be back as soon as we can."

"What? No! You don't even have a weapon! How are you supposed to..."

But it was too late. The twins had already rushed off as I called out to them. I was a little surprised at how quickly they took off like that. They probably didn't have any injuries to slow them down.

As I sat in the dirt, I contemplated everything that had happened. Replaying the events over and over in my mind, but it was all a blur. If only I held on a little longer... I should've held on longer...

My eyes gazed down to my b****y legs and I finally snapped out of my daze. If I didn't clean up these wounds, they'd risk getting infected. I pulled my bag over and started rummaging around. I pulled out a small first aid box and opened it. It held nothing but thick rolls of gauze, some wipes and a small box of band-aids. I pulled the skirt up to expose the wounds and used the wipes to clean the blood and dirt from my legs, but before I pulled out the rolls of gauze, I heard water splashing from the pond in front of me and I looked up to see Teri's face popping out of the water.

"Sophie, there you are. Is everything okay? I..." Teri suddenly gasped at the sight of me which made me freeze. Teri quickly rushed over to me and pulled herself out of the pond to get a closer look at me.

"Goodness, what happened to you? Are you okay? Did you find Apollo and the twins? Are they okay?"

"Uh... well, I..."

"Oh! Wait, wait, wait! Stay here! I'll be right back! I think I might have something that can help with that. Stay right there, I won't be long."

Teri immedaitely jumped back into the pond and I watched as she swam through the tunnel and was gone. My mouth hung open in confusion as I was left alone again, pondering what just happened. I watched the surface of the water slosh and ripple until it slowly became still. The first aid box was still open by my side, but I was so dazed and exhausted I just sat there and did nothing. My hand holding the wipe was still placed over my leg, but I sat as still as ever. I don't know how much time had passe, it felt like a while. I remember watching a leaf flitter down and it landed on the surface of the pond. I watched the ripples and before they could make it to the edge, Teri's face popped up again, almost making me jump.

"Okay, I'm back. Here— come here, get closer. I have something that can help."

"Uh... okay."

I carefully scooted forward as Teri looked closer at my legs.

"Okay, it doesn't look too bad. That's good. Okay, bear with me, this might feel a little weird at first. Try not to move."

"Okay..?"

Teri pulled her hands out of the water and I noticed something muddy in one of her palms. Before I could ask what it was, she started carefully rubbing it the strange mud into my wounds. It made me shiver and twitch, but I did my best to stay still. It felt cold... and slimy. It felt even less pleasant when the burning feeling got worse until it was suddenly replaced by a cooling sensation and I felt much more relaxed. Every now and then, Teri would duck under the water and come up with more mud in her hand and she placed it over both my scratched legs. Before I realized it, the pain was gone and every muscle in my body felt more relaxed.

"Does that feel okay?" Teri asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, it's... much better. What is it?"

"It's a special medicine that my mother taught me how to make. It's easy to make from scratch, but you're really only supposed to use it for more... minor injuries. But it'll help speed up the healing process and won't leave scars. There's more of it back home, I'll bring you some later. Just in case."

"Thanks..."

"I hope I rememered to mix it right..." Teri muttered.

"What?"

"I... I said I didn't think I'd have to remember how to make this so soon. My mother taught me a lot of things growing up. This was something she wanted me to remember so if something happened... I'd at least be prepared enough. As long as you have the right ingredients, you'll be back in good spirits in no time."

"Well... I'm glad you remember how to make it. Are... are you sure this stuff is okay to use on me?" I asked. Teri nodded.

"Yeah, it should be fine. Don't worry, this stuff will also help to prevent any infections. But... let me know if it feels... weird, at all. It works with us all the time, so I don't see how it would be any different for you."

"Okay... if you say so. Oh... sorry, about getting your old clothes all dirty."

"Oh, don't worry about it. If you put them in the water for a minute, all that dirt should just slide off. It should be okay if you hang them up to dry later."

"Huh... okay."

Teri put the last of the mud on my legs and told me not to touch them until it dries. Once it starts flaking and crumbling, I can rub it off and the wounds should be completely healed. She then asked me to tell her what happened. I sighed painfully and explained everything right after I left her kingdom. Teri was shocked to hear what happened to Apollo and I said the boys ran off to go after him just before she showed up.

"They went back out there by themselves?!"

"Yeah. I know. And they don't even have any weapons or anything to defend themselves with. I tried to stop them, but... Should we go after them?"

"Yes— er, no. I mean... Sophie, I think you should sit this one out. You shouldn't go back out there looking like this."

"But we need to find Apollo. If we can't get him back before the sun goes down-"

"Woah, woah, woah, slow down. Sophie, I understand, but I can't let you go. Those monsters are probably still out there and if they catch you like this... Sophie I don't want you to not come back home. Look, I'll go after the boys. You should stay here and rest. The second we find something, we'll come back for you. Look, I still have my mother's trident with me. If I can catch up to the boys, and if we run into any trouble, I'll handle it. So please, just... stay."

I stared at teri for a long while. As much as I refused to do nothing while Apollo was still out there... she was right. I was too beaten and exhausted to go on.

"Fine..... okay. But... just be careful out there. If you don't make it back before sundown, you're only going to run into a lot more trouble."

"Don't worry, I won't let that happen. We'll get Apollo back, I promise. If he's as strong as you, I'm sure he'll be fine. I bet he's waiting for us to come for him. Just stay and rest, we'll be back soon."

Teri left at that, diving into the water and swimming off to find the twins. Wherever they were. I continued to sit for a long while, letting the sun dry off the rest of me. When the paste had dried a little, I carefully stood up and tried making my way back to the house. I kept the front of the skirt lifted a little so it wouldn't get stuck on the paste. I managed to make it back safely and went upstairs to get cleaned up and put on a fresh pair of clothes before coming back downstairs and collapsing on the couch where I did nothing but watch TV. I was so exhausted I could hardly think. Even when the mud had finally dried and I was starting to feel a bit better... I still felt awful.

Why couldn't I have held on longer? Why did I let those two go off on their own? I should've stopped them........ What am I supposed to do now?