The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

#108 Uncertain Actions

[Sophia]

I woke up late the next morning and went through my normal lazy routine. Until the Twins burst in from the backyard, almost startling me because I was in the middle of a game.
"Sophie! We need you to come to the tree house, get Apollo too. There's something we should all talk about, we might've found something."
"Wait, seriously?"
"Yeah. Hurry up and get ready, we'll meet you there."
And with that, they departed and I watched them leap over the fence. I sighed and turned back to my game, hoping the current match would end quickly so I could get ready.
Man, and there's an event going on. It's gonna end before I get back... alright, c'mon.

And I quickly made our way back into the grove and saw Teri and the Twins underneath the tree at the low table. They saw us from afar and we sat down.
"So, what's this about?" Apollo asked.
"We think there might be a clue hidden around."
Apollo shrugged, not understanding. Even Teri looked confused.
"We mean... something that might help us understand the shadow creatures and what they might want from us."
"And how do you know?" Teri asked skeptically.
"The Moonflower. We went to check on it and it spoke to us. Saying there might be another clue hidden around here that we haven't seen yet. We just have to go find it."
"You mean... that flower... can speak?" Apollo wondered.
"We're not... entirely sure." started Flyboy.
"But we can hear it. It has a voice and that's what it said." finished Fleetfoot.
"And you believe that?"
They blinked and shut their mouths.
"A glowing flower spoke to you about a clue hidden somewhere that might help us, and you believe it?"
"Well... yeah. Its told us nothing but the truth. Why should we doubt it?"
"Because... it's a flower. I don't know much about plants on the land, but I'm pretty sure flowers can't speak." Teri agreed.
"But regular plants don't grow in the dark either, or glow."
"Okay, then where did the flower say the clue is? Where are you gonna look?" Apollo pressed on. The Twins went silent for a moment, not entirely sure but they tried to remember the words of the flower.
"It said something about it hidden in the dark... below the earth..."
"Like..... the caves?" I finally spoke.
"That... might be it."
"Well, we're definitely not going back down there. You remember the last time we explored a cave." Teri answered.
"Yeah but... we're way stronger since then. If there's any chance that something else down there might be able to help us figure out what's going on, then we should take that risk. We took down that big shadow monster and narrowly escaped the Demon. If anything's down there to try and stop us, we can take it."

There was a shared silence between everyone as they considered the details. For me... I think I could do it. I don't mind the risk. That flower also spoke nothing but the truth to me when I was trapped in that tunnel and helped me escape before it collapsed..... and I lost it. But what reason would a flower have to lie to us? Why would it? It's a magic flower, it'll say whatever the hell it wants.
My thought process was interrupted when the Twins looked at me.
"Sophie, you'll come with us right? You've seen the Moonflower first hand, you know it wouldn't try to trick us."
I opened my mouth and quickly responded without thinking.
"Yeah, of course. If you guys know all the tunnels, then there has to be something we didn't see before."
Apollo turned to me, "Wait, you're really gonna go with them?"
I nodded.
"Um, I think... I'm going to sit this one out. I just don't think I want to go back down there in the dark..." Teri spoke nervously.
"Yeah, I hate to say it but I think I'll stay here too. I'm just not sure it's a good idea..." Apollo agreed. The Twins sighed, not in disappointment but surprised that they chose to stay behind.
"Alright, then we and Sophia will go out and explore and you guys can stay here. We won't be out all day, if we don't find anything we'll come right back before the sun sets."
"Yeah, and if we get into trouble, I'll just text you so you can come get us." I said to Apollo. Teri and Apollo glanced at each other for a moment before sighing and obliging.
"Sophie, I'm just saying that as much as I would go with you anywhere, I just don't feel comfortable going back down there... you sure you'll be fine?"
"Yeah, that's okay. We'll make it quick." I assured.

It probably wan't the most solid plan, but I thought it was worth checking out. At least it's nice to have some backup just in case. We decided to set out tomorrow as early as possible to keep time on our side. I definitely didn't want to be stuck down there for another night.