DAY 4 17:00 P.M.

~SCARLET~

"Makoto? What are you drinking?" I questioned.

"Chocolate – hiccup – milk," she replied, gripping her glass of milk like I'd steal it from her.

Makoto and I were chilling in the kitchen, waiting for the guys to return. They went to go get groceries after stating we were out of milk and needed marshmallows for our campfire tonight.

I'd left to take a shower after Mako had finished and returned to her with a glass of what seemed to be chocolate milk in her pink unicorn onesie. We'd agreed to wear our onesies just to annoy the guys; both groups in agreement that onesies were a hassle which made us want to walk around in them whenever we could during the trip.

"Makoto. Where did you get that chocolate milk from?"

"The silver box of wonders," she replied before she hiccupped again.

I raised my eyebrow eyeing the drink before heading to the fridge.

I opened it; my eyes quickly scanned the contents. "Mako. There's no milk here," I pointed out.

"It was hidden in the brown bottle," she replied.

I did another scan; my eyes landed on the culprit. Aww fuck. I pulled the bottle out, thankful there was still a good half left.

"Mako! This is Baileys! Not milk!" I stressed.

She tilted her head before she hiccupped. "What's Baileys? Is that a puppy’s name? Where's Baileys the puppy?" she questioned.

I groaned. "Baileys Irish Cream, Makoto. It's alcohol," I argued.

"Oh," she replied, hiccupping.

I better tell the guys.

I pulled up out my phone, thanking the gods I had Kai's number thanks to our multiple Galleria events. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hey Scarlet, what's up?" he questioned, sounding calm.

I placed the bottle of Baileys on the counter.

"Where's Ethan?"

"He's next to me."

"Can you put the phone on speaker?"

"Sure."

"What's up, Scarlet?" Ethan asked sounding confused.

"Did you bring Baileys and leave it in the main fridge?" I asked.

"Uh...yeah? There's no room in the alcohol fridge so I put it there," he replied.

"Why?" Kai asked.

"Guess who thought it was chocolate milk," I presented.

*Silence*

I was about to continue when I heard the screeching tires.

"Christian! Are you trying to kill us all?" Junho yelled.

"My bad, taking a shortcut. Scar, we’ll be home ASAP," Christian called out.

"I didn't think she'd open the Baileys," Ethan defended.

"Sleepwalking Mako does a lot of things you don't question. That's why we said to make sure all alcohol was in the other fridge in your room," Ryder mumbled.

"Scarlet, make sure Mako doesn't drink anymore," Kai ordered.

"Got it. Mako—" I began, turning my attention to a missing Mako and bottle of Baileys.

"Mother fucking, where did she go?!” I shouted.

"She probably heard you were going to take her chocolate milk away," Serenity pointed out.

"How?! I didn't even say anything," I argued out loud, ignoring the voices coming out from the speaker.

"If you hadn't noticed, Makoto has sensitive hearing," Aurora pointed out.

I quickly scanned the room, catching a glimpse of a gold horn poking from behind the black chair in the corner of the room, near the glass entrance of the backyard.

I quietly made my way to the corner, pressing the phone against my shirt to muffle the sound.

"My chocolate milk. Milk loves me. I love milk, and we're happy," she sang quietly, hiccupping.

"You have to admit, this is pretty adorable," Risuki announced.

You out of all people, should NOT have let this happen! She has never drank alcohol before.

"First time for everything," Risuki replied.

I could practically imagine him shrug without a care in the galaxy. No catnip for you!

"Now that's playing dirty," he mumbled.

She raised the bottle to drink more when I snatched it, scurrying back. She slowly peeked over the chair; her turquoise eyes met mine.

"My milk?"

I froze; my heart sank at the sadness in her eyes.

"It's...not milk, Mako. Don't cry!" I defended, feeling immense guilt.

"But... I've not finished it," she continued.

"Um, it's finished!" I announced.

"No, it's not," she argued.

I stared at the bottle, taking a deep breath. I'm so fucked. I lifted the bottle to my lips, chugging the remains until there was not even a drop left.

Makoto eyed the bottle as I lowered it, sighing in relief that it was over.

I turned it over demonstrating that it was empty. "See, empty now."

"You finished it," she accused.

"Yes...cause, I was thirsty too!" I argued.

"Oh." She stared at me before she began walking to the door.

"MAKO! Where are you going?" I yelled.

She froze at the door, slowly turning her head. "To get more milk," she replied, her deadpan tone worried me.

"Um...Kai's bringing more milk!" I announced.

"No, he's not," she argued.

"He is! Um, he's on the phone, see?" I quickly put the phone on speaker.

"Makoto?" Kai announced.

She stared at the phone, shuffling towards it until she was in front of me. "Kai? Scarlet finished all the milk. I want to go buy some."

"You can't, love. You don't have money, remember?"

"Oh." She frowned, pouting.

"Don't cry, Mako, were almost home."

"You can't teleport here?" she asked.

"No, love. I gotta reserve my energy for Heila," Kai pointed out.

"Oh..." She sniffed; tears formed in her eyes.

"Firefly! I'll make you a triple chocolate sundae with cherries and strawberry syrup. I'll even add chocolate chips!" Elias' voice came on the speaker.

Mako looked up at the phone. "You will?"

"Yes. But you can't give Scarlet a hard time, okay. Can you do that, baby?"

"Ya. I'll be a good unicorn," she replied.

"Good girl. We’ll be home soon, okay," he reassured her.

"Okay. I'll be good. Bye." She turned around, heading to the corner.

"Mako, what you are doing?" I asked, watching her sit in the corner.

"Being good till Elias comes home," she announced.

"Okay..." I trailed off, taking the phone off speaker and pressing it to my ear.

"How long are you guys gonna be, cause this Baileys is gonna hit me pretty soon," I confessed.

"You drank it! How much?"

"About half?"

"Twenty minutes, Scarlet," Christian called out.

"I'll try and hold out. Just be fast," I announced.

"Okay. See you shortly," Kai bid farewell.

I hung up staring at Makoto who sang quietly in the corner.

"Mako the unicorn. Unicorns are free. Free to have fun and live happily. Sparkle, glitter, magical galore. The most patient unicorn you'd ever know."

I stood still, unsure of what kind of drunk she was.

"She's a wandering drunk," Serenity revealed.

"Definitely," Aurora agreed.

"Should I be worried?" I whispered.

"You'll be fine," Risuki announced.

Twenty minutes...what's the worst that can happen?

~ELIAS~

"Mako? Scarlet?" I called out.

Ethan stood next to me as we scanned the empty living room.

"Fuck, where did they go?" I huffed.

Ethan was silent; his eyes closed.

"What are you—" I began, but his eyes opened, glowing a midnight blue; I stood there, shocked; fairy magic leaked off him. EliaseAnne entered my mind, feeling just as shocked.

"Dark fairy?" she whispered.

Ethan, or should I say his spirit met my gaze.

"Yes, to what you’re thinking and not now. We'll have our opportunity to talk in the near future," he explained in a calm voice.

EliaseAnne took over.

"Does your team know?" I knew we didn't have time for this, but we both wanted to know if his team could be trusted with such a secret.

"Yes. I trust them with my host's life and they won't harm me. The princesses are in my room."

"Aww shit. The other fridge," EliaseAnne cursed, switching and letting me take over.

Ethan's eyes returned to their lime green color. He blinked, shaking his head before his eyes widened.

"Fuck, you're a dark fairy? Oh wait, Scar and Mako are in my room!"

We both dashed to Ethan's room which was on the second floor; Ethan tripped twice.

"Out of all the fucking times to be clumsy, my body chooses now. Go save our loved ones," he called out.

I rolled my eyes, skidding to a stop. I noticed the door open a small crack.

I opened it slowly; my eyes landed on Makoto in her pink, unicorn onesie and Scarlet in an orange, whale onesie. They both ignored me, clearly focused on their current activity.

"Who's this thing?" Mako asked.

"Mickey Mouse," Scarlet replied.

"How about the one that looks like him?" Mako asked, pointing at the image of Minnie.

"Minnie Mouse."

"Are they lovers?"

"Ya. They've been in a long-term relationship," Scarlet revealed.

"How romantic. I want a bow like that." Mako pointed at the pink bow with white polka dots.

"I'll take you to Disneyland for your birthday." Scarlet rolled the dice.

"Really? Unicorn Mako happy!" She beamed.

"You don't need to talk in third person," Scarlet pointed out.

"Why not? Unicorn Makoto is a proud third person," Mako pouted.

"You aren't making much sense. But if you’re proud, it's okay. Your turn." Scarlet smirked.

Mako grabbed the dice, throwing them across the board.

"Twenty," Scarlet announced.

"Princess Scarlet of the Whale kingdom, that's not twenty," Mako pointed out.

"What?"

"Are you seeing double?" Mako questioned.

"No..." she mumbled.

"How many of me are there?" Mako asked.

"You and Midnight," Scarlet answered.

"You haven't met Midnight Unicorn," Mako acknowledged.

"Yes, I have."

"Oh," Mako commented; both of them stared at the floor.

*Silence*

"Well, Midnight Unicorn told Mako Unicorn that you’re wrong and the dice read ten. Hope Unicorn says hi."

"Who's Hope Unicorn?" Scarlet asked.

"She's Mako Unicorn's angel spirit."

"Oh. Would she like to meet Princess Serenity? She also likes whales," Scarlet asked.

"Sure!" Mako beamed.

Ethan huffed, placing a hand on my shoulder as he tried to catch his breath. "What...are they playing Disney Monopoly?" Ethan asked, looking confused.

"Yup," I replied, still trying to fathom their conversation.

"Hi, Princess Serenity! I'm Hope Unicorn." Hope greeted before she hiccupped.

"Hello, Hope Unicorn I'm Princess Serenity. Nice to meet both of ya," Serenity greeted.

"There's only one of me, but okay," Hope replied.

"So, Serenity has gold eyes. She's an angel then," Ethan mumbled.

"You don't know Scarlet's spirits?" I asked.

"We haven't gotten a chance to explore that topic. She didn't know she had spirits till recently," Ethan noted.

"Ah," I responded; both of us returned to the developing conversation.

"We should have a toast to celebrate our newly formed friendship. Let's unite the land of unicorns and whales and fight for world domination," Serenity cheered, pulling out a bottle of vodka.

"Yeah!" Mako cheered.

"Oh, hell nah," Ethan and I announced, rushing in. Ethan took the bottle out of Scarlet's hands.

She blinked, glancing at her empty hands.

"Ethan?" Her eyes return to their blue and green appearance as she frowned.

"Sorry, dearest. No more alcohol."

"But...we're celebrating," Scarlet defended.

"EliasBear!" Mako called out to me.

I sighed, giving her a smile. "You drank more alcohol, didn't you?"

"I drank more milk!" she argued.

"Firefly, that's not milk." I pointed at the empty bottle of Baileys.

"Really? Well, it tastes nice. Makes me feel happy," she admitted, smiling.

"I'm glad you're happy. C'mon, let's get you to Daniel," I suggested.

"Scar, stop nibbling on my neck," Ethan complained, giving Scarlet a piggyback.

"No, you smell nice," she mumbled.

"EliasBear, I want a piggyback too!" Mako lifted her arms.

"I'm curious as to who’s speaking," I mumbled, realizing Mako normally didn't use Bear in my name.

"I wonder too," Mako giggled.

"Midnight?" I questioned.

"Maybe. It could be Midnight Unicorn or Mako Unicorn," she suggested.

"Why are you talking in third person?"

"I'm not," she argued.

"Is everything okay?" Daniel and Kai emerged, followed by Jaxson and Junho.

"Everything— ah! Scar! Stop. That hurt," Ethan complained; his face grew red.

"You're being a wuss. Junnie, come here. I want a kiss." Scarlet pointed to Junho who had an amused grin on his face.

"Why does she always call me Junnie when she's drunk?" he asked, making his way to Scarlet.

"It's pretty cute. I bet that would be your name if you were a girl," Jaxson suggested.

"Good to know. C'mon, Scarlet. Why don't we go downstairs so Daniel can undrunk you?" Junho recommended.

"Can I bite you?" she purred.

"Yes. Just not too hard." Junho winked at Ethan's flustered face.

"Yeah!"

"You know, we have company still," Ethan pointed out.

"Meh. You have to give Drunk Scar what she wants or it's a lost cause." Junho shrugged, kneeling for Scarlet, who wrapped her arms around his neck. He rose up, holding her securely on his back.

"I'll see ya guys downstairs," Junho announced.

Ethan sighed, following Junho.

"Elias! We're losing the race. I wanna win!" Mako pointed at the doorway.

Daniel smirked at Mako; Kai snickered at her cuteness as she sat there, pouting.

"Mako, they'll win," I pointed out.

"But...you said if you believe you could win! I BELIEVE!" she argued, blinking her eyes.

"Just pick her up, Elias. I can't stand when she blinks her eyes like that. Hurts my heart," Kai confessed.

I knelt so Mako could climb onto my back. I rose to my feet, making sure she was securely on my back.

"Can you teleport them downstairs without draining yourself?" Daniel asked.

He nodded. "Mako Unicorn's happiness is at risk. I think Kai the awesome knight can save the day," Kai replied.

"Why are you talking in third person?" Mako asked.

We all turned to her as she giggled.

"Remind the others to never let her drink again," Daniel suggested.

"Agreed," Kai and I replied in unison.

"We're LOSING!" Mako announced, frowning.

"Coming, Princess." Kai grinned as Daniel shook his head.

"I'll meet both of you downstairs. I want the others to experience this before I sober them up." Daniel chuckled, turning around and heading out the room.

"Bye, Daniel! Love you," Mako called out.

"Love you more," he replied.

"I think we lost," I announced to Kai, opening up our bond.

"What's taking you guys so long?" Marcus asked.

"Is Makoto okay?" Ryder asked.

"She's fine. They drank another bottle of Baileys though, but we stopped them from drinking the vodka," Kai explained.

"And you haven't lost yet, Junho's still on the stairs," Marcus pointed out.

"On the stairs? They left two minutes ago," I countered.

"Yup. Scar's in a deep conversation with Jaxson about how whales will rule the universe and said she won't move until she explains the logistics of her diabolical plan," Ryder explained.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I'm at the bottom step listening in," Ryder revealed.

"I'm a unicorn, unicorns rule. I'll take over the world, and ban people from bowing hehehehe," Mako sang.

"Let's end our misery," I commented.

"Come down here so I can see Mako drunk before Daniel works his magic," Marcus pointed out.

"Ya, ya. Coming," Kai announced.

I shook my head.

This trip has been something else.

~MAKOTO~

"I was not talking in third person!"

"And I wasn't kissing everyone."

I crossed my arms, matching Scarlet who was already doing so as we both narrowed our eyes at our group of men who had amusing smiles on their lips.

"Firefly. You made it known that you were the queen of unicorns," Marcus defended.

"Yup. And Scarlet, you bit Ethan's neck, made out with Junho on the stairs before getting into a heated discussion about how the whales would conquer the world by making another flood calamity like in the bible and seizing the moment for world domination," Christian explained.

We both remained silent, glancing at one another before we blushed.

I leaned over to her. "Maybe we can just say we don't remember. Would that make this less embarrassing?" I asked.

"Yes. Just forget this ever happened and pray to the Starlight gods to rid us of this experience," Scarlet noted.

"Maybe I can convince Nightmare," I suggested.

"I'll give Moonlight catnip," Scarlet replied.

"What does catnip do?" I asked.

"It's like alcohol for cats. I'll give you some for Nightmare."

"Those two should go on a date," I admitted.

"I agree. If only Risuki would grow some balls and ask her out," Scarlet pointed out.

"He should. I think they would be a good pair." I thought of the two; both of them always reminded me of Yin and Yang with their opposite colored fur but same exact eye color.

"He's talking in my mind saying he doesn't like that we're talking about his love life," Scarlet pointed out.

"Oh, you can talk to him? I have to try that with Nightmare. I can understand her mews in a sense, but can't directly talk to her yet," Mako pointed out.

"Ya, it's really helpful, but he's annoying sometimes. Can you believe he broke one of my old lamps? It was vintage," Scarlet huffed.

I gasped. "Vintage! Like the old furniture you can't find anymore?" I asked, having read about it in literature.

Scarlet opened her mouth to continue when we were interrupted.

"MEOW."

We both glanced down to Moonlight who showed up behind our log, looking upset.

"Yes. Moonlight decided it was ugly," Scarlet pointed out, not caring about Moonlight scowling.

"Moonlight. That's not nice. It was vintage," I pointed out.

Moonlight walked away, sitting a few feet away.

"Aww. I think we made him sad." I frowned.

"He's sulking for no reason. Where's Nightmare?" Scarlet asked.

"Um, I don't know," I replied, not knowing where Nightmare went off too.

"Mew."

We turned our head back to the ground – Nightmare sat where Moonlight was.

"Perfect timing, Nightmare. Go comfort Moonlight. He's sulking," I suggested.

She tilted her head at me, turning to Moonlight's direction. She walked over, stopping a few inches away. She stood there for a moment before she charged forward, tackling Moonlight into what appeared to be a hug after they rolled around.

"Awww, how cute." Scarlet sighed.

"True love at its finest," I commented.

"I love how the two of them completely forgot about our existence," Christian voiced.

"It's okay, as long as they're having fun," Marcus admitted.

We turned our attention back to the guys; Ryder and Jaxson had returned from wherever they had gone during our conversation; each held a tray with a variety of drinks.

"Alcohol!" I suggested.

Six pairs of eyes landed on me.

"No," they all replied in unison, even Scarlet.

"I wasn't that bad," I mumbled.

"Could have been worse," Scarlet admitted.

"I'm surprised you were both cooperative. I don't know where you found Disney Monopoly," Elias confirmed.

"It's EliaseAnne's," Elias announced, approaching us with a platter of various foods while Ethan carried chips and bags of marshmallows.

"Food!" Scarlet and I said in unison.

"And they say food is the only way to a man's heart when it makes girls so happy," Christian noted.

"Right," Daniel agreed.

"Food makes everyone happy," Scarlet emphasized, rising to her feet to take some of the bag of marshmallows from Ethan who smiled.

"Thanks, love." He gave her a smile.

"So, you’re from Australia?" I asked, noticing Ethan's accent which leaked out when he thanked Scarlet, reminding me of the icebreaker game we did.

"Yup. I can usually hide my accent, but it comes out from time to time," he confessed.

"Do you have a pet kangaroo?" I asked.

"Princess, where did you get that idea from?" Kai asked, looking amused.

"In some show that Marcus let me watch; the main characters get to have a pet kangaroo for the day and he's Australian. So that means Ethan has one too, right? Cause he's Australian?" I asked.

"No, Princess. We don't get pet kangaroos because we're Australian. It would be nice though." He winked, setting the food down before he began to help set up the campfire.

"That would be cool. What are we doing now?" I asked, feeling excited as I watched Marcus help Ethan and Kai with adding more logs to the center of our soon to be campfire.

"I gotta light this bad boy up, and then we’ll have roasted marshmallows," Marcus announced.

"Exciting!" I clapped my hands.

"C'mon, Mako, let's take pictures while we let the guys do the hard stuff." She winked.

"Pictures! Yes. Can we get a group picture too? I like group pictures," I requested.

She nodded. "Whatever you like," Scarlet announced, giggling.

The guys grinned, staring at us as we began taking pictures – Moonlight and Nightmare joined in on our little photo shoot. It didn't take long till the fire burned, and we all sat around the campfire singing and laughing.

We talked about many things; each of us explaining more about our realms and giving a glimpse of our past and why we were happy to be in this moment. It soon reached my turn. I swallowed my twentieth marshmallow before clearing my throat.

"As you guys know, most of my memories of my childhood are from the facility. It wasn't all bad. Sure, there were days that I really wished I hadn't woken up that morning or times I regretted being born into a cruel world, but I think in this moment, I realized that my experience made me who I am today. Would I wish to go back and experience it all over again? No. But, if I had to choose between becoming the person I am right now, surrounded by people who care about me versus living a completely different life...I think I would relive those sixteen cycles and remind my past self that the struggle would be worth it. I truly am thankful for all of you. It basically proves that regardless of our differences in spirits that unity and peace can happen. No matter what we are, any group of individuals can set aside their differences and sit around a campfire, enjoy roasted marshmallows, and appreciate the life granted to us by the Starlight gods," I summarize, staring at the flickering flame of the campfire.

I looked up from the fire to their stunned expressions; Scarlet’s eyes already glossy with tears.

"Oops. Did I do something weird?" I asked.

"No, Firefly. We're just happy to know we had such an impact on you," Marcus whispered.

My knights nodded in agreement.

Scarlet smiled, glancing at her set of men before they turned their attention to face me.

"I know we've just met, Mako, but I'm really glad you fought hard and survived all the challenges that presented themselves. I'm thankful to have gotten to meet you and have honestly had the most exciting four days of my life. This even outranked the time I flipped off a motorcycle into the ocean." Scarlet winked at my shocked expression.

"You can flip off a motorcycle?" I asked, impressed.

"Yup. I'll show you the video next time." She winked.

Jaxson and the others shook their heads, but had amusing smiles on their lips.

"Either way, I hope you always remember, we love and care about you. Not just because you're a Princess. But because you're our friend, and we'll always come to your aid if you need us. That goes out to all of you." Scarlet glanced around the others.

My knights nodded, smiling back as they exchanged glances.

"Why don't we toast to unity and peace," I announced, lifting my glass of chocolate milk. The others grabbed their choice of drinks, raising them in the air.

"To unity and peace," we vowed.

I knew that no matter what the future held, the bonds we created during this trip wouldn't falter.

No. They would only grow.