The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

#87 Ataraxia

[Teri]

Teri held the trident behind her carefully along with the other trinkets close to her, one of those items being her Mother's crown. She left Apollo for only a moment after spotting it buried under the rubble of the castle and was relieved to see it was practically unharmed. She twisted her way through the tunnel, excited and curious to see what her new home would look like after Sophia and the Twins helped fix it up for her. Her trident got stuck a few times in certain places, but she was able to dislodge it easily. When she finally made it back, the bright blue light from the waters surface shone down on her and her eyes widened in surprise as she floated through her new room. It was almost as if she swam through a miniature version of her old room.
She dropped everything and headed towards the bed first. It was almost an exact replica of her old bed, but a little smaller. And more pink. Still made of sea sponge and with bigger and softer sheets. She wrapped them around her shoulders and was entranced at how soft they were. Her old one was thinner and full of holes. She neatly put the blankets back down and admired the pink dresser nearby. Three drawers held nothing until Teri picked up her trinkets and neatly put them away. She put down her Mother's crown in the bottom drawer. The sides of the dresser were all neatly detailed in different shades of blue and purple, nautically themed of course. The little table off to the side was neat in it's own way and Teri put the trident on top of it. It didn't fit, but she loved it anyway.

From above the pools, she spotted a figure standing on the surface. She seemed to take notice of her underneath the water and when they turned their head, she recognized who it was. Teri swam in a big circle, gaining momentum before finally leaping out of the pool, arms outstretched and clung to Sophia happily.
Sophia yelled loudly and was almost swept off her feet from lack of balance as Teri wrapped her tail around her torso, not wanting to let go. It took a minute for Sophia to understand that this was Teri's way of happy affection and not a clever sneak attack. She eventually calmed down, but was still confused as to why she did this in the first place.
"Thank you, thank you so much for doing this for me! You have no idea how much this means to me!" Teri said happily as Sophia struggled to stay on two feet. The Twins overhead Sophia's confused yelling and was happy to see that Teri had returned.
"Teri, you're back!"
"Did everything go okay?"
Teri smiled brightly as she unwrapped herself from Sophia before diving back into the pool and climbing back out on the other side with her legs.
"Everything went fine, I wasn't able to find much, but I really like the new room you made for me! It looks so nice!"
"We're glad you like it. Sophie helped make all the furniture." the Twins said together.
Sophia stood frozen from surprise and looked down at her shirt, now wet and damp when Teri wrapped her tail around her.
"Was there anything dangerous down there?" the Twins asked.
"No, we were able to get in and out just fine. Did Apollo go back to the house?"
"Yeah, he went back to put some clothes on. He'll be back." Sophia finally spoke up, adjusting her shirt so it wouldn't stick to her. Teri turned to face her.
"Sophie, I can't thank you enough for what you've done. But would you mind if I ask you for one more favor?"
"Yeah, sure. What is it?"
"Well, some of my clothes are a little ruined and I'm not sure if they'll work for me. If your paintbrush can make anything, you think you can help me make some more?" Teri smiled.
"Yeah, I can do that! I think I might have a few ideas." Sophia smiled back.

Teri watched and listened to Sophia giving off her ideas and even pulled out an old notebook showcasing different outfits in various colors and styles. Teri couldn't decide on anything yet, and as it was getting late, Sophia decided to put something down tonight and show her best ideas tomorrow. Teri couldn't wait to see them and was ready to call it a day. However, Teri became confused when Sophia asked the Twins if they were going to be alright.
"What does she mean by that?" Teri asked. The Twins turned to her.
"We decided that we're going to stay at the tree house from now on instead of going back to the house." they explained.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, since you're going to stay here from now on..." Fleetfoot started.
"We thought it'd be best to stay here with you so your not alone."
"It's not safe to be out here at night, so we're going to stay here in the tree house. This is going to be our home from now on."
Teri's smiled faded in disbelief.
"You..... you're going to stay with me?"
"Yep. Now we don't have to go searching for you if you're ever in trouble."
Teri stared at them for a while before chuckling to herself.
"Thank you." she smiled warmly.