23. Land of stars.

Niya was thinking about the events that had recently happened while looking at the shiny blue water. How she almost died last night drowning in the sea, how she felt someone's presence there with those shiny dark purple eyes and then those flashbacks and flute tune, what an eventful night it was.

"So? You are still mad at me?" William sighed, looking at the endless water in front of him.

"Am I supposed to be? Come on, Willy, I was mad at you but I also know that you won't yell at me without a reason." Niya smiled at him.

"You know what, Niyanica? There some things I cannot explain at the moment. This is just not the right time to discuss them. I hope you understand." William looked at her with a guilty face.

"I know, let's just forget this. I'm not mad at you, buddy. Even if you are an asshole, no one can deny the fact that I love you, dude. You are my only friend in this whole big wide world." She smiled at him and hugged him tightly.

"Did you just say the love me?" He chuckled while hugging her even more tightly. 

"Nah, I said asshole first." She chuckled, sniffing in his chest.

"I'm sorry to step on your *moment* but we are getting late." A familiar voice reached their ears and they both rolled their eyes, knowing exactly who the owner of that voice was. They broke the hug and looked at him.

"Archie! My friend, no, you haven't stepped on our moment." William said, laughing at his jealous comment. 

"Mount Athos is almost here, we need to hurry. It’s almost ten in the morning and we have to cross the Athos as well as the Illusory Forest before six in the evening." Archie completely ignored William and said, looking at Niya.

"Illusory Forest? Mount Athos? What the heck is happening here?" Niya asked, looking at Archie.

"To reach the Star Land City, we have to cross Mount Athos first, the Illusory Forest is just a part of Athos. It is the most dangerous area of this planet because of its beauty.” William explained but continued after seeing Niya’s confused face, “The beauty is what makes it dangerous, it’s all part of the illusions within the forest, they distract you from your purpose, to put it lightly."

"Andino will be there to help us. Right?" Niya asked him, looking into his bright blue eyes.

"Andino is the leader of the were clan but he has no authority over this mountain. We have to be very careful." This time it was Archie who answered, still looking at her.

"How did Andino crossed this forest when he came to the palace?" Niya asked, looking at Archie with her eyes filled with curiosity.

"Mount Athos, also known as Gigas, is friends of werewolves but he hates vampires." Archie further explains the situation. 

"He? So Mount Athos is a person or what?" Niya asked, frowning as her confusion only grew. 

"Mount Athos is an alive mountain. He can feel the things around him. And when he feels danger around him, he uses his dangerous illusion to kill every traveler." William said, looking at her. There was an unknown fear in his bright blue eyes.

"Alive? Mountain? Am I in some kind of Disney world? What the hell is happening here? I can't take this anymore." Niya widened her eyes in shock as she backed away from the two men. "Can I just undo all of this and go back to my sweet home on Earth?" Niya asked, sighing out in frustration. 

"You can't. Even if you go back to your earth, your *earth* will not be the same as it is almost five thousand years passed in your transition stage." Archie said without even thinking for a second.

"But you said that five thousand years in Vamp Prime are equivalent to 24 hours on Earth. Didn't you?" Niya's eyes widened with shock and she looked at Archie with confusion and anger.

Archie looked at her for a second and realized his mistake. "I lied to you, we all lied to you because we didn't want to give you more trauma, another shock." Archie bit his lower lip out of nervousness, looking at Niya who was still in shock, and looking at him without even blinking. 

"What do you mean you lied? Do you mean that the five thousand years have passed on Earth? That everybody I knew back there is dead? Mrs. Trem? Mrs. Albert? George??" She widened her eyes on sudden realization. She was not friends with so many people on Earth but still, she was feeling bad at the thought of losing the small group of people she knew.

"Look, I'm sorry but why do you even care?! You were never supposed to go back. You can't. Why do you care if you are stuck here on this planet for eternity?" Archie again said tired of this conversation already. He wanted to make her feel good by saying all of this but it did the opposite.

His words stabbed Niya like a knife and instead of pulling it out, his words only twisted the knife deeper into her heart. She tried her best to stop her tears but a tear forcefully made its way out of her right eye, slipping through her cheek.

"Stop it, Archie, what are you doing? Can you just shut up your mouth for a second?" William finally spoke as soon as he saw that tear slipping from Niya's eye. 

Archie looked at him with shock as he didn't realize that his words were hurting Niya. "I didn't mean... I'm sorry, Niya." He looked at Niya and said.

"It's okay, Archie, you are right! Now I'm stuck here and I should move on from my previous life. Let's go, we are getting late." She wiped her tears off and left the place to pack not only her things up for the further journey, but to lock away all the feelings that wanted to spill out. 

She needed to be a queen right now, *The Queen.* 

*****

Finally, the cruise arrived at the shoreline and they all stepped out. The big green mountain, full of various kinds of trees, was standing proudly in front of them. 

"We have to cross this giant?" Niya asked William, holding his arm and he nodded. 

"This is an Illusory Forest, every good-looking thing on this mountain is a dangerous trap to kill you so stay close and don’t wander off." William stated while looking at the giant mountain. 

"We have to be careful. Everybody stay close, protect the Queen. Let's go." Archie said and they all started walking towards the forest. 

The first hour of their journey was very peaceful. Nothing could be heard except the chirping of some birds and the cool fresh wind. After walking for another thirty minutes, Niya listened to a distant whispering, like someone was calling her. She looked around but found nothing.

Suddenly, a blue glowing light appeared in front of her and it soon turned into her mom. Yes, she was looking like her mother but much younger with a strange leafy crown on her head and in a strange white gown. Her skin was glowing and her long honey brown hair was dancing to the rhythm of the cold wind. Her light grey eyes were full of love as usual. 

Niya looked at her for a second and observed her beauty. Niya was still watching her when she started walking away from Niya. "Mom!" Niya called her while following her in the same direction she was going. Her mom didn't stop on her calling but she turned her face for a second and smirked at her. "Come." She said, looking at Niya. 

Everything around Niya disappeared and she started following her mother blindly but suddenly, someone holds her hand from behind and started pulling her back in the opposite direction. Niya turned around to see his face and there he was. It was Archie. His shining green eyes silently pleaded with her not to go in that direction and suddenly Niya woke up.

"Niya! Are you okay?" A pair of electric dark blue eyes met her brown ones. Niya's mind took some time to process what had just happened and she looked around to get more clarity. She was lying in the middle of dark green trees, meaning she was still in the Illusory Forest. Everyone was looking at her as if she was dying, full of concern. 

"Will? What happened?" Niya finally gulped down the confusion and gathered every bit of courage to speak.

"You suddenly fainted and freaked us out." Archie answered instead, looking at her as if he was observing her body language. 

*Was that a dream? My mother? I was dreaming?,* she thought, looking at the ground full of fresh green grass.

"Niya? You okay?" William asked while making her stand. 

"Yeah, I am fine, yeah." She said, dusting off her clothes. 

"Then we should start our journey. We can't stay in this forest at night." George, who was silently watching all of this, said.

They started their journey and finally after a long walk they reached the edge of their destination, the Star Land City. Niya looked at the view in front of her. It was almost dark and the place in front of her was full of snow. The long dark trees were covered in snow. There were trees of almost every color, orange, purple, red, pink, blue, and many more while the snowy blanket was making them look like the trees of heaven. 

Every flower on those trees was luminous, shining like colorful stars in the dark sky. Even the butterflies that stopped on those flowers were glowing. Niya hadn't seen a place like this ever in her life. A butterfly came and sat on her hand, Niya looked at her carefully and the butterfly smiled at her. Niya widened her eyes but she shouldn’t be surprised about these kinds of things anymore.

"Welcome to the land of stars, Your Majesty. The Star Land City." Andino smiled proudly. 

******