Butterfly Moth (GxG)

• noctuidae •

Noctuidae: Commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms, or armyworms, they are the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea, because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other families of the Noctuoidea.
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19

All sense of patience was completely lost as Nyx waited for the sound of knuckles against maple wood. Her brain had a surplus of thoughts that wouldn't cease as her heart ran rampant and her breathing went ragged. Nyx was split into two, one half of her wanting to do something radical, the other half begging for her to stop before she even started.

But that knock came before she was able to talk herself out of it. "Hello. Are you okay?"

Her blood pumped much faster than usual as she tried to force it out. It was now, or she would never work up the courage again. What was the point of living if Nyx sat alone in her house for all of eternity? She needed contact outside of knocking on wood. She needed to know what was on the outside.

"I'm okay." Her voice was weaker than she would have liked, but the fact that she even managed anything was enough to bring tears to her eyes. She was finally going to get somewhere. Leo said that she would listen, so what did Nyx have to cry about?

"Good." Leo breathed, something in between relief and shock. It only made Nyx's nerves skyrocket further. Her hands shook as she flattened the skirt of her gray dress out. It was good, she kept telling herself. It was progress.

"I'm Nyx Alisman." She felt like she might throw up, the nervousness almost too much to stomach. It was the first time she ever introduced herself to someone. She was still hidden away by the towering figure of the white couch, but she was speaking. Her voice was frail like her body, nothing like Leo's confident one. It was almost embarrassing.

"Will you tell me why you don't leave?" Leo asked, resulting in a surge of anxiety. Nyx would repeatedly go between balling her skirt up in her small fists, releasing it, and then flattening it back out.

"My momma won't let me." Nyx told her, scared by how easily the words came out. After years of hiding, she found that it was almost too easy to spill her guts. "She says that my purity will be taken. What does she mean?"

The long moment of silence following her words left Nyx in a ball of fear. Diane always said to never tell anyone about what she claimed, but Nyx broke yet another rule. She was evil. Maybe Diane was right. Maybe such a small interaction with the outside world was all it took to taint her angelic soul.

"Nyx, that's not normal." Leo finally replied, her voice wavering slightly. That resulted in Nyx's blue eyes widening. Her world continued to tilt, and the first ray of sunlight was peeking over her walls.

"W-What do you mean?" She stuttered, unable to accept the fact that her whole life hadn't been what she thought it was.

"Nyx, everyone else's parents let them outside because it's healthy. I may not be allowed out at night, but I am come day." Leo was saying, but Nyx's ears were ringing. "You're not allowed to be hiding children in your house without anyone's knowledge. How long have you been in there?"

Water built up in the corners of Nyx's eyes, her lips felt chapped. She stopped moving now, face staring blankly forward. "My whole life."

"You need to come out." Leo spoke gently, voice still alluring. It reminded Nyx of the way velvet felt. How soft. She wasn't that soft. Nyx was small and weak, all porcelain skin and little-to-no meat on her bones. Was that what happened when someone lived their life without ever seeing the light?

"I c-can't." The first droplet of water grew too large and made its way to fall on the wooden floors, trailing down the stark white apples of her cheeks. "Momma doesn't want me to. She doesn't know that I'm talking to you."

"I can get you help-"

"No." She whimpered, hands gripping her braid and pulling slightly. The hot feeling of pain as she pulled the strands of her hair taunt told her all that it had to. It was real. The walls to her world began to fall. A shard of the paper-thin glass fell to the floor and only shattered further. "I want to do it."

Never had the dark felt so cold. It was all she ever knew, yet it felt so wrong. Her stomach still felt sick, but it wasn't for the same reason.

"What do you want to do?" Leo asked.

"Leave." Nyx whispered. The words felt dirty on her lips. Diane was right. Her white hide had been stained the deepest form of onyx, and it was spreading rapidly. She was an angel being turned into a demon. Yet, she didn't feel wrong. Her tilted world felt almost level. As thought it had been tilted her whole life and was finally being corrected.

Nyx realized that she would rather be a demon than live a life of solitude.

"When? I can help you." Leo said, everything about her felt warm, like the sun that Nyx always needed. She bit her ghostly pale lips.

"Give me until Sunday." She told her, seasick from the constant turning of her thoughts. There was so much to think about. "I need to think."

"Okay. I'll be here, I promise." Leo told her without hesitation. Maybe Leo truly was a demon tasked with swaying her over to the dark side. But if that was the case, then Nyx was too easily swayed.

"Goodbye." A second tear joined the others, falling to her chin where it hung only for a moment. Then it fell.

"Goodbye."

In the old yellow house, all lights turned off as they always were, Nyx stared blankly at the wall. What was Diane hiding from her? What was she protecting her from? If what Leo said was true, then Nyx was truly trapped away in her tower by her evil mother. Just like Rapunzel.

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