Chương 72: Chapter 71 - Unicorns Vs Dragons

Rowan was making his way toward the kitchen with Seraphina, Celestia, and Thai, when the doorbell rang. He backed up and headed toward the door smiling as he answered.

"Elena, Alex, come in," he said, moving out of the way to let them enter before shutting the door. Thai ran out of her room excitedly.

"Daddy, I heard the bell, who is it?" she asked, then saw Elena and Alex and ran over to the pair and hugged each of them tightly.

"Today's my birthday, and we're having a party," she sang and danced around the pair.

"And you're turning…" she paused, pretending to think, "thirty, right?" Elena asked. Thai suddenly stopped and gave Elena an outraged look.

"Elena, she's 50." Alex said, matter-of-factly. Thai turned to him.

"No, I'm not!" she said, "I'm five." The doorbell rang again and Thai raced to answer it.

"Can I Daddy?" she asked as she grabbed the handle.

"Yes, Sweetie, you can open it." Rowan said.

"I know who it is," Thai said, struggling to turn the door handle. Rowan rushed to her side to help. Thai turned to him and put her hands on her hips, then waved a finger at him...

"Daddy, I've got it!" she scolded, before turning back to the door.

"I'm five now, I can open a door… geez." Rowan took a step back looking surprised while the rest of the room struggled to stifle a giggle. Thai flung the door open once she was able to turn the handle completely. She peered outside. Seeing no one, she looked perplexed. She turned to Rowan.

"Daddy, there's no one there." she said disappointed. Her shoulders slumped.

"You heard the bell too, right?" she asked as Regina silently came up behind her and picked her up off the ground.

"We all heard it, Sweetie." Seraphina chirped merrily.

"Munchkin face, you left your back open, what have I told you?" Regina laughed, blowing raspberries on the girl's neck. Thai started laughing.

"Always check your 6." She giggled.

"And that's captain munchkin face to you, soldier, Thai said as Regina placed her back on the floor.

"I heard some weirdo kid was having a birthday, " Roxie called out from behind Regina.

"You're the weirdo," Thai said, sticking her tongue out at Roxie.

"It's not my birthday, so you must be the weirdo," Roxie said, sticking her tongue out at Thai.

"Please come in, everyone." Rowan said, shaking his head at Roxie.

"Are you sure you're not five?" he asked, kissing Roxie's cheek.

"Hey, I embrace my inner child every chance I get," Roxie said, smiling at Rowan. Alex and Elena made their way in saying their hello's to Seraphina and Celestia on the way.

"Daddy, everybody's here, except grandma," Thai said, looking up at her father.

"We can't have a party without grandma."

"She's coming baby, she just had to pick something up," Rowan said, assuring his daughter everything was fine.

"Promise?" she asked, her face rife with concern. Suddenly the door opened and Thai's eyes opened wide.

"Grandma! You're here, I was worried!" she said, running to the door and hugging the older woman's legs. Illiana shot Rowan a nervous glance.

"Sorry I'm a late pumpkin. I was talking to, Mister Abernathy, and he told me to give you this," she said, pulling a stuffed unicorn out of her bag and handing it to Thai.

"What's the matter Illianna?" Rowan said, reading the concern on her face.

"Not here, meet me in the kitchen," she said, forcing a smile. Rowan cocked his head.

"Should I gather the crew? Everyone is here." Illianna looked around the room then looked at Thai.

"Sweetie, why don't you introduce your new friend to the other friends in your room. I'm sure he would love to meet them and make some new friends," she said. Rowan read between the lines.

"That sounds like a great idea Thai! You can introduce him to your dragon!" Rowan said.

"Don't you think so, guys?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea!" Seraphina said.

"I think your dragon is lonely and would love a playmate." Celestia said. Regina looked at Roxie, then shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, sure. Great idea." Regina said.

"Yup." Roxie added.

"Sure thing!" Elena said.

"I concur!" Alex added. Thai looked down at the unicorn then shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay," Thai said, running off down the hall. Rowan motioned for the group to come over and sit in the living room.

"Sheera?" he called out, "You got a minute?" Sheera came from the bedroom looking far more sociable and presentable in a simple blue dress. Her long dark hair pulled back and tied with a blue ribbon.

"Mom, I'm so glad you finally got here." She paused, giving her mother a bewildered look.

"What is it mom? You look rattled."

"Well, Mister Abernathy cornered me on my way here after I picked up Thai's gift." she said, looking around at the group.

"He gave me that Unicorn, which in and of itself was odd, but he was adamant I give it to her when I got here." She sighed.

"I may just be paranoid, but it didn't feel right, the whole interaction felt off," she said looking at Regina. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"How so Ill?" Seraphina asked, her eyebrows furrowed with concern.

"I can't put my finger on it. Abernathy has got to be the crotchetiest old geezer I have ever met. He is not one to do things out of the goodness of his heart, so to speak. So why would he insist I take a gift to Thai."

"Thai!" Roxie called out, causing the adults to turn toward the hall.

"Can you introduce me to your new friend?" Thai, came down the hall skipping carrying the toy.

"You can have it Auntie, I don't want it," Thai said, rushing to Roxie and handing it to her.

"My other friends don't like him," she said, her face scrunching up in distaste.

"I thought it was a she?" Roxie asked, turning the toy over.

"No, it's a he and he's mean." Thai insisted.

"What did he do?" Roxie asked.

"He bit my dragon." Thai said.

"Mommy I need a bandage for my dragon's leg, he's bleeding."

"Bleeding?" Sheera asked, concern filling her face. She got up and rushed to Thai's bedroom. Thai got up to follow her mother, but Rowan stopped her.

"Why don't you stay here with Daddy for a minute and let your momma fix your dragon up." Thai looked up at him.

"It's not a bad boo-boo, daddy. Did you know that Dragon's bleed green?" Rowan looked at his daughter confused.

"Green?" he asked, looking at the others.

"Yeah, green," Thai replied, "Kinda looks like green paint, but slimy." Rowan took the toy from Roxie and examined the unicorn. There it was… dragon blood. Two small green droplets near the toy's mouth. He squeezed the toy and noticed two small needles pop out like tiny teeth.

"Guys, you need to see this." He said looking at the group, before giving the dragon a squeeze. Roxie jumped up from her chair.

"You didn't touch the green stuff, did you?" She asked with an uncomfortable sense of urgency.

"No, I just squeezed it," he said, confused.

"Thai, you didn't touch it either did you?" Roxie asked, turning to Thai.

"No, Auntie Roxie, when he bit my dragon I yelled at him. Then told him that wasn't nice… then I was coming out here." Thai said, confused.

"You didn't get any of the dragon's blood on you, did you?" Rowan asked, rushing to the girl and handing the toy to Alex, who carefully took it by its foot. Roxie examined Thai for any sign of green on her clothes.

"How about we change you up, just in case," she said, trying to be casual.

"But Auntie, I want to wear my special birthday outfit," Thai said annoyed.

"Its new, and I love it so much that I never want to take it off," she whined, before twirling around her skirt lifting as she moved.

"Regina, how about we give Thai her present now?" She asked, eyeing her sister.

"Great idea!" Regina said, grabbing the bag and handing it to Roxie.

"Auntie Regina and I got you a whole new birthday outfit, it's got…" She paused, pulling a dress out of the bag.

"Sparklie's on it!" she said, excitedly.

"We even got you new shoes to go with it!"

"Mommy, mommy, look!" Thai said, her face brimming with excitement.

"Can I wear it now?" she asked, running to her mother in the hall.

"Pleeeaasse?"

"Sure." Sheera said, taking her daughter's hand.

"Mommy will even help you take a shower and change." The group watched as Sheera took her daughter to the bathroom to change.

"What is it, Roxie?" Alex asked.

"Check out its mouth when you squeeze it." Regina said.

"Don't get too close though." Elena leaned closer to Alex as he began to squeeze the toy. Alex and Elena both looked at Roxie horrified as the needles protruded through the fabric.

"Are you kidding me?" Elena exclaimed.

"I've seen this before and so have you." Roxie said, looking at Regina. Regina looked from the unicorn to her sister.

"It's not?" Regina said, running her hand through her hair. All eyes turned to Regina as she stood up.

"How is that even here?" she asked no one in particular.

"Gee-Gee, it's not exactly advanced tech. Just a couple of needles inserted into some stuffing, easy enough to bring here," Roxie said.

"The bigger question isn't how it got here, but who brought it over?"

"This means someone from the other side knows that not only Thai exists but they know about this realm too," Regina said.

"Someone want to explain please?" Rowan asked, confusion marring his face.

"Years ago, during Mordak's first unsuccessful attempt to take over Fallotopia, he began handing out toys like this to poor and sick children. It was his 'Everybody Needs a Friend Campaign.' Suddenly the children who had received the toys became sick. Due to inadequate health care, they began to die. Then their parents also became sick but could not afford health care so they also began to die as well. These toys were designed to inject a virus into the child when they hugged it…

one that only his pharmaceutical company had the cure for. If you couldn't afford the price tag associated with treatment you didn't get it. His plan backfired though, the virus mutated and soon it became an epidemic that even he couldn't control or cure." Regina said, solemnly.

"By the time it was over, almost half of Fallotopia's population had been wiped out. His pharmaceutical company eventually developed a cure and a vaccine which he then distributed for free. When it was discovered the toys were what started it all he managed to convince everyone that the toy's had been tampered with by terrorists. He walked away looking like the ultimate hero for saving Fallotopia." Roxie added.

"That stuff that Thai called dragon's blood, is actually a biological agent of some kind."

"I remember that. I was off on a dig in another country thankfully, but it was tragic. So many lives lost." She sighed.

"I had no idea Mordak was behind that. Seems I fell for the cover story like most people did."

"Don't feel bad, I was there for the whole thing, and I fell for it too." Alex said, shaking his head.

"How did you two find out he was behind it?"

"I worked for the government, we had been actively investigating the whole thing and all fingers pointed to Mordak and his crooked bunch of followers, but we could never prove it." Regina said, her anger rising.

"No matter what evidence we uncovered, it never stuck. There was always a plausible alternate theory. Eventually the matter was deemed to be unsolvable." Sheera walked out of the bathroom with a freshly showered Thai sporting her new birthday attire. She ran into the living room twirling around with her new dress glimmering in the light.

"Daddy look, I'm a shimmering princess," Thai exclaimed before rushing over to Roxie.

"Thank you, auntie!" she exclaimed, hugging her leg then rushed to Regina.

"Thank you so much auntie! I love it!"

"That makes me so happy, Thai!" Regina said, her eyes filled with love as she looked down at her. As the party went on, everyone did their best to shield Thai from their distress regarding Abernathy's gift. It took major convincing and actual physical restraint at one point to keep Regina from tracking the man down and demanding answers. Regina finally relented when Thai came over and took her hand and pulled her over to the sofa.

"Auntie Gee-Gee?" Thai asked, causing Regina to turn and face her.

"Are you mad at me?" Thai asked, patting her hand.

"Oh, Sweetie, no I am not mad at you, what makes you think that?" Regina asked, not understanding.

"You look mad, I mean really mad, and you keep trying to leave my party," she replied, before looking down at her fidgeting fingers.

"So why would you look mad and leave my party if you weren't mad at me?" Thai asked, looking back at Regina, her five year old emotions overpowering her.

"No, I'm not mad at you, not even a little bit. I'm mad at that mean old unicorn and was going to take it and give it a good once over, but auntie Roxie and your daddy stopped me."

"It's not his fault auntie," Thai said, reassuringly patting her hand.

""What do you mean it wasn't his fault, Sweetie?" Elena asked, overhearing Thai talking to Regina.

"Well, I was just so mad that he bit my dragon like that, that I didn't tell you the rest." Thai sighed.

"It's not Harry's fault or Mister Abernathy's."

"Who's Harry?" Sheera asked, trying to keep up.

"Harry's my unicorn, Momma, duh." she said, looking at her mother and rolling her eyes before turning back to Elena.

"A man told Mister Abernathy what needed to be done, and if Mister Abernathy didn't do it and give Harry to grandma, he would hurt Misses Abernathy. Harry said the surgery hurt a lot, and he didn't want to bite anyone, he just wanted a hug to make him feel better. He also told me that Mister Abernathy didn't want to give Harry to grandma, but then the man hit Misses Abernathy in the face and…" she rambled looking down at her fingers, "and then Mister Abernathy cried while the bad man hurt Misses Abernathy."

Illianna could not help but gasp.

"Poor Rosie." She said, shaking her head sympathetically "Did Harry tell you anything else, Thai?"

"No, he said his mouth hurt and he didn't feel so good. That's when I brought him out here to auntie." The adults looked at each other dumbfounded. Thai looked up at Regina, "if you want to give someone a good once over it should be the bad man that hurt Misses Abernathy and Harry, not Mister Abernathy or Harry."

"You know what, I think Roxie and I may take a stroll over there and see if they are alright. What do you think?" she said, stooping down to Thai.