The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

#95 From the Top

The next day, they all met back at the waterfall. For this type of training, there was nothing to goof around about. This was serious time. Only Teri and Sophia had actual weapons to fight with. With the Twins gaining their new abilities, it was time to put them to use. Their enemy was getting stronger every day, and after what happened to Teri's home, they needed to be stronger too. And they had to get better control over their powers if they wanted to use them to better their advantage of staying alive. They had to put a stop to this Darkness before it did something much worse.
After some debate over what they should be doing, they decided to go over their abilities in more detail so everyone could get a better understanding on how they worked. Apollo went first.

"Okay, so yeah. I can control fire and ice. Pretty simple, I don't use this as often as you think, but trust me, it's better like this." Apollo explained casually. He set his palm ablaze and waved it around, letting it grow up his arm and shrinking it down to his fingers. Everyone watched him and patiently listened.
"I don't know where this came from, I've just sorta... had it. And since we live in the forest, I have to be careful with it. If I accidentally set the ground on fire, this whole place could go up and their goes our home."
"You almost kinda did when you got kidnapped. We got stuck in the trees because the fire stopped us when you got dragged away." the Twins recalled.
Apollo put his hand out, not wanting to be remember that and glared at them.
"Yep, that's what Sophia goes with me. She knows about all this, so if something like that ever happens, she can just put it out with her paintbrush."
"Is that how you put out the fire when we were stuck?" the Twins asked. Sophia looked over at them and pulled the paintbrush out for them to see.
"Yeah, I just..." she waved the brush in the air in a cylindrical motion. She made a bucket and poured a continuous stream of water on the ground. She then threw the bucket behind her and it disappeared as soon as it hit the ground. The Twins were glad to finally know the truth about that.
"Where we live, we get a lot of crazy fires out here and when they happen, they can get really big. So if something like that happens, and I can't put it out, I need you to get on that fast."
"I can help with that, I can just throw water on it." Teri spoke up.
"Yes, that's perfect. Because if someone sees the smoke, they're gonna send people out here and we could get caught. We can't let that happen." Apollo said seriously. Everyone understood and let her continue.
"As much as I like setting things on fire, ice is easier for me to control because I can basically make it do anything." Apollo began to demonstrate by making little ice cubes grow on his fingers and then balancing them on his arm while making them move up and down. He then dropped them on the ground and stepped on them, but instead of melting into the ground, they began to grow underneath his feet. Everyone but Sophia flinched as the icy platform stretched over their heads and made a bridge behind them. Apollo casually slid over in one motion landed behind them, a confident smirk on his face as they watched him land gracefully. The cold bridge melted as soon as he landed, leaving nothing but a large slippery spot on the rocky ground.
"You can shape it into anything?" Teri said in amazement.
"Basically, yeah. I can make them into weapons too." Apollo held his hand out in the air and pretended to grasp something. His hand quickly turned blue and a large icicle drooped down from his clenched palm, sharp as a nail. He turned and aimed it at a nearby tree. It didn't stick when it hit the trunk, it just shattered and melted into the ground.
"You must be really good at controlling that kind of power." the Twins said as Apollo walked back towards them. His smile faded and he glanced away for a second, avoiding eye contact.
"Well... not really. Keeping this under control isn't as easy as you think. I get kinda stressed out a lot and if I can't calm myself down, sometimes I accidentally... let it out. I don't wanna say it's dangerous but... sometimes I can't help it."
"What are you so stressed about?" Teri asked. Apollo sighed, not really sure if he wanted to explain. Or if he could.
"It's just anxiety, I've had it for a while. You remember what a school is, right? That place I told you about where Sophia and I used to go?"
Teri and the Twins nodded.
"Well, it wasn't a very... nice place. Things happened and ever since then I've just been stressed about almost everything. I hate it, and it can affect my powers sometimes too. I... can't always control it sometimes so, I apologize in advance if I ever get out of control like that."
Sophia knew this all too well, and Teri and the Twins felt concerned for him but understood what he was saying. They remembered when they rescued him from the caves and the creature was trying to go after them. How he lit up the whole tunnel in a shower of fire to prevent them from being followed. The power he had was easier to carry than the weight of those unpleasant experiences from a past that felt so long ago. But it really wasn't. He could never forget the pain it caused him.