CHAPTER SEVEN: BUTTERFLIES & STARFLOWER DUST

"It's time to start living the life you've imagined."

- Henry James

✨🦋✨

The next morning, I woke up on the couch with the blanket Euno wrapped around me last night. I could hear sizzling sounds coming from the kitchen and I knew it was Euno cooking eggs and bacon for breakfast. The smell was all over the cabin and I heard my stomach grumble. I got up from the couch and followed the aroma. When I entered the kitchen, Euno had his back to me. He was wearing sweatpants and his favorite sweater. He was flipping the bacon when I approached the the kettle just as it finished boiling the water. He turned to his side and greeted me.

"Morning!"

He placed two plates and the spoons and forks. "Morning!", I replied while pouring the hot water into my mug with coffee mix in it. I still felt a little tired but I wiped the sleep off my eyes and sat at the table. Euno placed the food on our plates and sat across me. I thanked him for the food and started to eat. He got a water jug from inside the refrigerator and two glasses from the cupboard.

Breaking the silence, he asked, "Where were you the last two days, Lyr? Mrs. Rethers was worried sick when we couldn't find you anywhere."

I swallowed my food and replied, "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you, Euno."

He leaned forward and placed his chin on his palm and raised his eyebrow. "Try me."

Before I replied, I ate one more spoonful of eggs and bacon then placed my spoon down. "I was on a different planet."

Euno still had his eyebrow raised and had a huge mocking grin was plastered on his face. He laughed heartily and kept wiping his tears away from all that laughter. I glared at him and started whining, "Hmp! But I promise, I really was on a different planet, dude! When I arrived here I was supposed to scare you but I started hearing voices in the cave and then the butterfly came along and then this weird circle water portal started forming and POOF! I woke up on Hali Beach and then Kane carried me to-"

Euno cut me off with a serious expression. "Hold on. First of all, what voices? Where on Earth is Hali Beach? And who the hell is Kane?" I just realized I was not explaining everything properly so I started my story all over again but with more details.

"Oh, sorry. I was talking too fast. Okay, dude. Sit back and listen. I was on planet Zerk with this guy named Kane Jones who works for my family in the castle."

I continued to tell him what happened on Zerk for the past two days but leaving out some parts of me and Kane because I knew he wouldn't stop teasing me about it. I was already flustered. I didn't need his teasing to add to the embarrassment I already felt.

*.*.*.*

We finished our breakfast and all the explanation about Zerk. Euno put the dishes away and told me we had to go back to the orphanage because he promised Mrs. Rethers that if I showed up, he would bring me back straight away.

I got my coat and wore it quickly while rushing to catch up with Euno who was already inside the car. I looked around for Kane but couldn't see any blue butterfly around.

I'll just come back for him later.

I settled in my seat and buckled my seatbelt. Euno started the engine and smoothly reversed the car out of the forest and onto the main road. He wasn't driving fast like he usually did. He reached out for one of the buttons for the radio and turned down the volume.

He looked over to me for a split second and put his eyes back on the road. "So," he started. "You really think that all of this is true?". I nodded even though I knew he couldn't see me doing so. He overtook the car in front of us and stepped on the gas a little bit.

"What are you going to tell Mrs. Rethers? How are you even going to begin your explanation?"

I sighed, perched my arm on the door and leaned my chin on my palm. "I don't really know. I guess we'll see once we get there."

The rest of the drive was spent in complete silence, letting our thoughts take over. I've been trying to come up with what to say but I just couldn't seem to come up with anything. I huffed and rolled my eyes.

Argh.

*.*.*.*

The orphanage came to view and Euno pulled into the driveway. I saw Mrs. Rethers look out the window and run towards us. She quickly pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. It almost felt like her hug could've separated my soul from my body. When we pulled apart, she was touching my cheeks and her eyes instantly scanned my whole body from head to toe to check if I had any injuries.

"Oh my goodness, Lyrmie! Where have you been? Is there any scratch or missing limbs? Can you still hear me?!", Mrs. Rethers asked in a very worried tone.

I smiled and just laughed at how flattering it felt to be missed. I wish my dad's reaction would be like this when I meet him, I said to myself.

Mrs. Rethers was still checking for any injuries and such when I replied, "It's okay, Mrs. Rethers. I'm fine, I promise. I was just chilling in the forest. I needed peace and quiet."

She didn't believe me the slightest and eyed me suspiciously. I was starting to get nervous and felt sweat in my armpits. I looked away because I didn' t want to tell her about Zerk. It wasn't because I didn't want to tell her the truth. It's because I'm too lazy to tell the story all over again and because I didn't want to worry her. She was still staring at me and asked once again, "Tell me the truth. Where have you been, Lyrmie?"

My fingers were twitching and I couldn't make eye contact. Just as Mrs. Rethers was about to come closer to me, I saw a blue butterfly behind Mrs. Rethers and it was suddenly flying around in circles until light started to shine and he became a human.

Phew. Just in time, Kane.

I mentally sighed and I looked at Euno who had his jaw dropped and eyes wide open. He turned his head to me and still couldn't believe what he just saw. Luckily, Mrs. Rethers didn't notice him changing into a person. She saw Euno's expression and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Kane approached Mrs. Rethers and gave a light tap on her shoulders. She turned around and jumped in surprise when she saw Kane. He gave her a warm smile and stuck out his hand for a handshake.

Still in quite a shock, Mrs. Rethers shook his hand and he introduced himself. "Good day. My name is Kane Jones and I'm a friend of Lyrmie's. Unfortunately, due to life and death situations, she is needed on Zerk so that she can protect not only Earth but the rest of the worlds in our dimension."

He just said that straightforwardly. Kane looked over Mrs. Rethers' shoulders and winked at me.

What the hell?!, I mouthed.

I was waving my arms in different directions above my head trying to tell Kane not to tell her everything. I didn't want her to worry too much.

He ignored me entirely and reached out for his pocket. He brought out what looked like a flower shaped like a star. It was sparkling brightly. Kane rubbed it between his hands until it was crumbled and turned into powder that looked like it was mixed with crystals.

"What is tha-", Mrs. Rethers was cut off when Kane blew the powder at her face. She fell back a little but Euno and I caught her before she fell to the ground.

Kane walked towards her and lent her a hand. We helped he stand back up. When she was back on her feet she turned around and faced me. "Go with Kane. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." I was surprised when she said that. I even noticed that her eyes turned baby blue like Kane's.

"What did you do?"

"I just blew some starflower dust. It brainwashes you to know what you need to without erasing any important memories. While the spell is still effective, she will be agreeing about you going to Zerk. Once we find your father, I'll break the spell and she won't remember anything about you disappearing in the first place."

I didn't really trust him but I knew I had to. Seeing Zerk myself really gave me a strong feeling that it was real and I had to go with Kane.

"Okay. But Euno will be coming with us."

Kane looked him up and down and looked back at me. "Of course. Whatever you say, Your Highness."

"H-he just called you 'Y-your Highness'", Euno stuttered. I laughed and just said, "Told 'ya I was a princess."

"But what about school?", Euno asked.

Kane opened his bag and two butterflies flew out. They both turned into people; a guy and a girl. "What do they have to do with school?", I asked Kane with a very confused look on my face.

"Remember when I told you that an opi can turn into a butterfly and a person?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well, we can also disguise ourselves into anyone we want." After Kane said this, the opis started changing their bodies, faces and everything else. The opi with grey wings turned into me and the opi with dark red wings turned into Euno. They looked exactly like us that it was kinda creepy.

"Tada!", Kane said while waving his hands around and presenting them to us. "They can be here instead while we head over to Zerk and start training for our mission to find your father."

Euno and I looked at each other with matching worried looks but we both knew we were more than willing to choose this than to continue with our boring Earthly lives.

"It's settled then."