The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

Under and Through

[Sophia]

I was a little bummed when Apollo came upstairs to wake me up, but I couldn't argue because today we were doing something important. Apollo was making a quick breakfast for us as I was getting dressed. I quickly changed into a swimsuit. And a jacket, because it's too dang cold outside to be wearing a swimsuit. Of course, I'm not bringing a jacket with me in the water, I'm just gonna throw it on until I get there.

The Twins didn't understand why our clothes were so different, but we didn't feel like explaining it to them. We set out after breakfast to wait for Teri at the tree house. Apollo and the Twins were talking to each other the whole way there, along with me, who never said a word. I was shivering actually, but no one could see it. As we waited for Teri, I walked over to the small pools of water and dipped my foot in to check the temperature. It felt alright until I stuck my foot in further and instantly pulled it out.

Dang, why's it gotta be so cold? I'm gonna freeze before I stick my whole torso in there.

As soon as I pulled my foot out of the water from the cold, Teri's face popped out of the water.

"Hey Sophie!"

I yelled as I stumbled back in surprise. Apollo and the Twins walked over when they heard me yell.

"Hey guys, are you ready to go?" Teri asked.

"Yeah, we're ready. But Teri, you do know that none of us can breathe underwater, right?" Apollo said.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I came prepared. Here." Teri held out her palm. Pearl-like bubbles rolled in her hand and we each took one. I examined it carefully.

"Teri, what are these?" asked the Twins.

"They will give you the ability to breathe underwater. It'll also improve your vision so you can see better and the pressure of the water won't affect you. Just swallow it and get in the water." Teri explained.

"Well, alright then." Apollo said. He swallowed the bubble and jumped into the water without hesitation. Followed by the Twins, who jumped in at the same time and splashed me a bit. I took off my jacket, threw it off to the side and popped the little bubble into my mouth. It felt like I swallowed a tiny grape. And instantly I felt light-headed and I couldn't breathe right.

"Oh, come one Sophie." Teri's head popped out and she pulled my arm and I fell into the water. I felt a wave of chill and cold and at first I didn't want to open my eyes. But suddenly everything felt strange. The usual pressure you feel in your ears was gone. I felt no pressure anywhere in my head. I pushed myself further into the water and told myself to open my eyes. I did it slowly, opening one and feeling surprised when I felt nothing. I opened both eyes and blinked a few times. I really was surprised that I didn't feel anything. I looked around to see everyone doing the same thing. Except Teri who was waiting for us to adjust. I saw Fleetfoot open his mouth and was surprised that he wasn't drowning. It took us a while to really adjust to the weirdness of all this. Although, as much as I was weirded out from this new strangeness, I suddenly thought of all the things I could do with this weird charm that Teri made. I made sure to remind myself to ask her for more of these sometime.

Eventually, my attention turned to Teri and she acknowledged that I was ready.

"Okay everyone, just follow me and keep us as best as you can."

She swam ahead of us and waited for us to catch up with her. I saw Apollo blink and look confusedly at me. I gave him a thumbs up and swam to Teri. Although, Apollo caught up with me in a flat second because he's a better swimmer.

"Alright everyone, let's go!"

We followed Teri through the small underwater tunnel that I never knew was there before. It was a little tough to swim through. I was really falling behind. Well, me and the Twins were both having a little trouble catching up. The Twins said they could swim, but it didn't look like they were doing very well. And I was just a slow swimmer. It's really exhausting. I was way in the back because I didn't want to block anyone with my wings. The tunnel eventually widened and made funny twists and turns. Sometimes we had to stop for a second to catch up to Teri. Although, every time we stopped, I'd take a moment to observe our surroundings. I really could see a lot better and I was having fun looking at stuff I couldn't see in the water before.

"Okay, we're almost there. Just a bit further." Teri said.

I was really starting to get tired. Even the Twins seemed to be lagging behind. Soon, we came upon the lake. We all stopped for a moment, amazed at what we could see. Usually the lake is pretty murky and you can't see anything from your legs down. But from here, where I was floating in the water, I could see everything from the ground up. But I couldn't see anything out of the water. The lake was a lot deeper than I thought it was. Everything was a different shade of green. I took many mental screenshots and told myself to remember this for any upcoming concept art for something. And then I noticed everyone was ahead of me and I scrambled my way back to them. I noticed the Twins were doing the same moves I was, and they were actually getting better at swimming. I just tried to catch up as best as I could, while also admiring my surroundings.

Man, it's so cool down here. I should swim here more often. When the weather gets warmer.

"Okay guys, just through this hole and we'll be there in no time!" Teri said as she pointed to a dark hole in the murky ground. We all gathered around it.

"Um, are you sure this is the right way?" Apollo asked.

"Yes, this is the way I came. It's a little dark, but just stick close to me and I'll lead you all through."

I looked down at the hole. I couldn't see a thing in it. It was just a deep, dark hole. Darker than the murky green water we were swimming in. It gave me chills and I wasn't sure that I'd be able to see anything.

"It's okay, I'll lead you through and we'll reach it pretty quickly. Just follow me." Teri reassured us and she started down the tunnel. Apollo and I looked at each other before she started to follow Teri. The Twins didn't hesitate, because I guess they were already too familiar with dark holes. Bubbles escaped my lips as I sighed and swam after everyone. I felt nervous as I swam deeper into the hole.