The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

#141 Luminous Sweven

[Sophia]

When I came home that day, I brought the Moonflower terrarium to my room and set it down neatly on top of my dresser. I didn't have enough space to put it anywhere else and I hoped the room wasn't too bright.
I too occasionally thrive in darkness. When I sleep that is.
As the sun sets and the light disappears, I head back up to my room to get ready to sleep. Changed into something comfy, maybe watch a video or two until I feel tired enough to pull the blinds down and cover myself in my pile of blankets. My eyes slowly blink, open and closed, trying to quiet my mind. My eyes grazed over the dresser, the glass case sitting still and the longer I stared at it, the more I could see the small Moonflowers glowing within. They just looked like tiny dots of white. Somehow, I couldn't take my eyes off of it, even as I began to doze. And as I began to sleep, I unknowingly start dreaming.

At first, it felt like I was still in my bed. I couldn't feel my pillows or blankets, but I could feel their warmth as I seemingly lied in a strange void. My eyes were still closed, but I could tell that everything around me was dark. I soon awoke within the dream, paying attention to nothing and not really caring what was going on. But my head tilted upward and my eyes caught something above me. I couldn't seem to focus on them however, and I didn't feel the need to try. But I saw something.
From above me, they looked like lights. Strange, cold colored lights that were pulsing and glowing slowly. I just looked up and stared at them, not realizing that they were getting closer and brighter. My own body began to tilt itself and I began to float upright, as the strange lights descended and started floating all around me. As they hovered and glowed, I slowly started becoming more awake. My head turned around as I looked at all the lights, thinking for a moment about how pretty they were. I didn't think anymore. I started noticing that... I could hear something.
I thought I heard something whisper behind me. I turned around to look, but there was nothing there. Another hiss, another breath of air. I turned around again, and for a moment I thought I saw something different. A shape of some sort, but it was gone in an instant. The lights continued to glow and twinkle and I began to realize that every time they flashed, I thought I could hear something. A voice of some sort. I forced myself to focus, to try and listen to at least one thing, but it all sounded muffled. As if the voices were speaking at the same volume, but from really far away. I couldn't force myself to move, I could only spin and listen. The lights pulsed and became brighter the more I looked around, slowly pushing away the darkness and it became harder to focus on anything because everything was becoming too bright to even keep my eyes open. Every time I turned around, I thought I could see a recognizable shape, but it was gone in a flash and I could only hear whispers and hushed voices. They didn't sound like it was one person speaking over themselves, it was like multiple voices floating all around me and speaking all at once. I was powerless, I could only look and listen. I couldn't seem to try harder than that.

Every time the lights flashed, for a moment I thought I could see something within them. A shape within the light, yet I couldn't see anything. It was too blurry and it faded too quickly. The pulsing became more rapid, more bright. Rushing and floating around me and every time I turned my head, I thought I saw shapes of something recognizable, but there wasn't enough time to figure anything out. It became harder to see anything but the light. I couldn't tell if they were getting closer to me, or if it was just becoming too difficult to keep my eyes open to see anything. The warm darkness was being replaced by cold light. The rapid pulsing was becoming as bright as camera flashes and there wasn't anywhere for me to look that could soothe my blinded sights.
And all at once, all the voices stopped and shouted loudly all together.

"Sophia!"

My mouth was agape when my eyes flashed open, and I was blinded momentarily by the fading light. The darkness replacing everything once again as I regained consciousness. I lied awake in my bed for some time, but I didn't move. I just lied there and breathed and thought, trying to remember everything that I had seen before it all disappeared. I rolled over, moving one of my wings out from underneath me and it stuck outside the blankets. I sighed deeply and turned my head up to look over at the rest of the room. Everything was unchanged. But my eyes happened to drift over the only light source of light within the room. The Moonflower terrarium. The glowing white flowers within could be seen clearly through the stained black glass. For a moment, I thought they looked brighter. Or maybe it was just my vision adjusting to the darkness that made them seem so bright.
I rolled back over, reaching my arm out towards my bedside table and grasping my water bottle. I unscrewed the cap and took a sip before setting it back down and looking back at the glass case. I couldn't seem to stop staring at it. I sat up in my bed, my wings being pulled out of the covers and wrapping around my shoulders. The dream still within my mind, but the longer I stay awake, the more it begins to fade from my mind. A strange thought appeared in my mind, and I spoke it out loud.
"I don't know what that was, but if you were trying to say something... you'd just say it, right?" I spoke softly to the plant, not really knowing or caring if it could hear me.
"I know I've heard you speak before, and so have the Twins. But the others don't really believe it. I'm sorry if... moving and changing you like this did something to you. I was only trying to help, but if there's something you want me to do to help, you can tell me. I can put you back where you were before if you want. Every time someone wants to say something, I'm always there to listen."
I had no idea what I was saying and why I was saying it out loud, but I said it anyway. My droopy eyelids fluttered up and down as I continued to stare at the plant within the glass case. I don't know why I expected it to say anything, yet I waited for it to reply. I wasn't surprised when all I could hear was silence. I quickly grew tired and wanted to return to sleep. I rubbed my eyes and started adjusting myself into a comfortable position.
"Maybe you just only tell me things I want to hear," I muttered as I dug into the covers.
"No."
I immediately froze, thinking that I just heard something whisper. My head rose and I looked at the Moonflowers. I could still see them glowing within the case. I swore I heard something...
I threw myself out of bed and approached the dresser. I looked down at the terrarium, peering through the little holes in the top. I could see the entire bush in full view.
"So you can still hear me?" I said through the glass.
"Always." I heard softly. I inhaled lightly. The voice sounded lighter, but I heard it clearly.
"How come you didn't say anything before? Or when the Twins tried to speak to you?" I asked.
"Because there was nothing you needed to hear," it replied softly. I took a moment to process its response. I pulled over my desk chair and sat down, pulling myself close to the dresser. I leaned on the surface and gazed through the glass.
"Well, you're speaking to me now. Does that mean there's something you need to tell me? We... could really use your help. I don't know what else to do and we're running out of ideas. Maybe... do you know what we're supposed to be doing?"
There was a moment of silence before the flowers responded.
"Predictions of the foreseeable future cannot be told. Only the truth of what currently is, and what is needed to be heard by those that seek to find the right answers."
I took another long moment to process this. I understood it clearly. I tried to think of something that could be easily answered, but nothing came to mind. I was too tired to focus. I decided not to press any further questions and I got up from my chair. I pushed it back to its original position and went back to my bed, wrapping myself in my blankets and stuffing my face into my fuzzy pillows.

"If you seek the truth, search within the mistakes of your previous answers and use that new knowledge to guide your way forth."

I listened closely as my eyes drooped shut and I said nothing more. I lied still and breathed quietly.