24. Happy birthday, brother!

Every inch of Star Land City was the definition of pure beauty. Everything was fresh, glowing, and beautiful. The snowfall making it seem even more beautiful. A white blanket of snow made her think of Elvera, her home, and the surrounding roads.

"It's cold out there, Your Majesty. Take this." Edward, her security in charge, gave Niya a furry woolen long coat and once she put it on, they all entered the city. People of the Andino's Wolf Tribe were already waiting for them with gifts to welcome them. Some were holding glowing flowers or buckets of fruits, others just watch Niya with their curious eyes as they had never seen a girl before, some of them were struggling in the back to get a glimpse of Niya.

Niya surveyed them and noticed that they all were wearing clothes like ancient Greek gods with different kinds of flower crowns. A lady with bright golden eyes, wearing a long white gown, came forward.

"Your Majesty, welcome to Star Land City." She bowed, holding Niya's hand and bring it to her lips for a kiss. She handed over the bouquet to her.

"My wife Davillia Andino, Your Majesty." Andino proudly introduced that lady as his wife to Niya.

She was very beautiful, her golden eyes were perfectly complimenting her white skin tone and her golden hair was making her look like a goddess. She smiled with her light pink lips, innocently looking at Niya.

"Mrs. Andino! Glad to meet you." Niya smiled and then Davillia bowed in front of Archie with a stern face. Niya could feel the tension in the air. The way Davillia, her people, and Archie were looking at each other, Niya was damn sure the peace talk isn't going to be so peaceful.

Niya then turned around to greet everyone else. Everybody stood there, looking at Niya as if she was the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world. No doubt, she was more than an average-looking girl but she never considered herself the most beautiful. Her big honey brown eyes were shining under that dim light, her long natural eyelashes were making her eyes divine and her brown hair was touching her silky whiteish skin due to the wind. Her face was glowing golden under the effect of her increasing powers. Unaware of the fact, indeed she was the most beautiful creature present there at that time. She smiled at everyone, curving her dark red rosy lips while waving at them.

After a little chit-chat, Andino took them inside his house. All the houses there were underground with a beautiful door outside. A long deep staircase leads them into the house. It was huge and beautifully decorated just like any of the other modern houses. The beautiful white marble floor was perfectly complementing the white paint of the inner walls. There was a beautiful bookshelf with lots of books on the left and an open kitchen on the right. There was a huge couch set in the center of the living area.
Andino ushered them inside and led them to the couch explaining that they would have dinner once it was ready. Niya made her way to the couch and noticed that everyone else sat once she did.

"Your house is beautiful, Mr. Andino but why all the houses are underground here?" Niya asked, looking at the strange patterns made on their ceiling which was probably something written in their language.

"It's summertime here, Your Majesty and you can imagine how harsh the winter must be here so underground houses are safe for the harsh winters we receive." Andino explained and smiled.

"I love snowfall. Elvera was also like this." She said, looking at him.

"Elvera?" Andino asked in confusion.

"The city I used to live in. My hometown basically." She smiled sadly and looked away from him, trying not to think about her home and the life she once had.

"Now that you are here, let's do some snow adventures? How about ice-skating?" William said while cheering her up as he knew how difficult it was for Niya to think about her home, her city, her planet.

"Yeah! Great idea. We are gonna try skiing tomorrow after the meeting with locals." Niya cheerfully answered and smiled gratefully at him. She received a cheeky grin back.
After that, they made a bit of more small talk, everyone except Archie who sat silently, taking everything in and when Niya was about to have him join the conversation, Andino informed them that dinner was ready.

Walking into the dining room, a big long table with chairs that could fit everyone where placed in front of plates and utensils while in the center a big vase filled with different types of flowers from here. Niya noticed that most of the food was vegetarian and everything she liked was there. Her heart warmed at Mr. and Mrs. Andino’s thoughtfulness. They ate cheerfully, talking about current situations on the planet but nothing too serious that would change the mood of dinner.

Dabbing her mouth, Niya let out a satisfied sigh, "Okay, everyone, I think I should call it a night. I am tired." Niya said, smiling tiredly.

"Let me show you the room, Ma'am!" Andino stood up, offering his hand to her and Niya gladly took his hand to leave.

"Don't forget the skiing adventure, Willy boy." Niya bent a little and said slowly in William's ear, who was sitting on the left of her and he nodded with a wide grin. Niya looked at Archie, who was sitting on her right side. He wasn't looking well, his skin was paler than usual and he hadn’t spoken a word or looked at her all night. He was giving off a piss-off look that made Niya feel unsettled but she still smiled at him while leaving Will’s side.

"Good night, Archie!" She said looking at him carefully. He looked at her with a jolt like someone had woken him up from a deep sleep. "Good, good night, Niya." He said with a fake smile plastered on his face. Niya knew that something was going on but ignored it as she was way too tired to think about anything else at that time. Everybody got out of their seats once Niya left the room.

In his room, Archie laid on top of the bed, looking up at the ceiling and as usual, his mind wouldn’t shut off as he kept thinking about Niya. Archie was surprised at the fact that nothing happened at mount Athos, no attacks, no dangerous illusions. How could mount Athos let them pass peacefully when there were lots of vampires present. Archie was sure that it had something to do with Niya. *Niya was with us so that's why we passed the Athos peacefully, how can she control everyone? How can her presence make a big difference in our surroundings every time?*, he thought. All her powers, her beauty, her charm were indicating to one person, one creature and that is Angel of Creation.

*What if she is...no, no, how can even this is possible? Father had slaughter every angel centuries ago just to stop the birth of the Angel of Creation. This can't be possible*, he thought and the mere thought of Niya being Angel of Creation made him restless and sweaty.

On the other side, Niya woke up in the middle of the night due to her stomach growling. "Seriously? Buddy, why are you hungry at this time of the night?" She looked at her stomach out of frustration. She looked around to see if there was something edible in her room but found nothing.

She saw her image in a mirror that was placed at the right corner of the room. She was looking beautiful and she couldn’t help but noticed that as her powers grew, her beauty got more enhanced. The golden glow on her body was indeed divine, her once brown eyes were now more of golden brown color. Now she knew why everyone was staring at her. She smiled at her image in the mirror and left the room to find something to eat.

The kitchen was completely dark as expected, the only source of light being the refrigerator when she opened one of the doors to find something to eat.

"Boo." She heard someone whispered from behind her. Startled, she turned around, looking around wildly for the intruder.

"William! Oh my God! You almost gave me a heart attack." She said to him while trying to slow her breathing and calm her nerves down. He chuckled at her response.

"What are you doing here?" William asked, putting his arm around her shoulders, eating an apple with the other hand.

"I was hungry but what are you doing here?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

"I was here to take a knife." He said, without looking at her face, completely concentrating on that apple he was eating.

"Knife? For what?" She asked, gulping down her fear.

As soon as she asked that William stopped eating the apple and his face turned from a bubbly happy to a strange mysterious one. He turned his face towards her with serious expressions on his face.

"To cut Archie's throat." He said, controlling his laughter by pressing his lips into a thin line.

"Seriously?" She chuckled at his response, rolling her eyes, not believing that he was being serious for a second.

"Yeah, I hate him." He said while grinning. "It's George's birthday so I ordered a cake in the evening, I was here to take the knife and a candle for that." He explained, looking into her golden-brown eyes.

"What? Why didn't you tell me? And how do you know?" She asked in a surprising tone.

"George, Edward, and I are school buddies, we did our schooling from the same school. George didn't want to celebrate his birthday so we didn't tell anybody." William said, smiling sadly.

"Didn't want to celebrate? Why so?" She asked, sitting on the kitchen counter, grabbing an apple for herself.

"Her sister died on the same day during the massacre of 2014." He said without looking at her.

"Oh, I am sorry for his loss... wait, 2014? It's 7018, right?" She asked, gasping in utter shock. He nodded.

"How old are you guys?" She asked, her heart was beating fast as she knew William's response is going to give her another mini heart attack. No matter how much time passes, she still got surprised and shocked over every single thing she learns on her new planet.

"Almost millions of Vamp prime years. I don't even remember exactly." He said while looking at her with a cute innocent smile.

"Oh my God. But you look so young." She couldn’t hide the surprise in her tone.

"We age normally till 23. After that our aging slows down, it slows down by a lot, actually. We can be at a certain age for millions of years after 23. Same applies to werewolves, angels and other creature of these six universes except the Hessonite Universe, that is the youngest one of all, the one which holds your planet called Earth." William brilliantly explained everything.

"Why Hessonite is an exception?" She asked out of curiosity.

"Hmm... because it's young, an infant. It will become like others when becomes old enough." Will replied with a beautiful smile. "Now, my little curious cat, I think I should leave. You go back to your bed." He said and turned to leave the place but Niya stopped him, holding his hand. He looked into those pleading eyes and understood what was she really asking for.

"No." He said, looking into those golden-brown eyes.

"Please? I want to wish him too." She pleaded like a child.

"You'll wish and leave. No drinks. Okay?" William couldn't deny the request of her innocent pleading eyes. She nodded excitedly and they both left the kitchen.
William took her with him to George's room. George and Edward were chit-chatting but fell completely silent as soon as the Queen entered the room. They stood up in a jolt and bowed.

"Don't. I am here not as Queen Niyanica Hemsworth. Consider me as a friend who is here to wish her friend a very, very happy birthday." She said, looking at George. He was not in his black suit as usual but was wearing a casual shirt and jeans. He smiled at her sweet gesture.

"You always protect me, keep me safe. You are not just my assistant but more like a brother, happy birthday, George, May this year bring you the most wonderful things into your life, you truly deserve it!" She smiled with teary eyes looking into George's bluish grays. "Even though you didn't even invite me, still I love you, thank you for every." She said, gulping down, controlling her tears. George looked at her for a second and it felt like his sister Rez was standing in front of him.

"Thank you, Niya." He hugged her tightly and tears rolled down his cheeks. Although he always considered Niyanica as his sister, he had never expected the same affection from her side. It was quite a surprise for him and he couldn't control his tears.

"I always used to miss my sister on my birthdays. You just gave me the best gift ever by calling me your brother." He broke the hug and wiped off her tears.

"Your Majesty, please sit. I’ll bring you something to drink." Edward said, watching all this quietly with a smile and teary eyes, wiped off his tears.

"Don't call me that, please? I woke up in a whole new world, all alone but it wasn't new for me as I was used to be alone on Earth too. Then I met William, George and you.

Even though we never expressed it but I hope you all know that I care deeply for you guys. You gave me that selfless love that nobody had ever even tried to give me in my world. I am not very good at expressing my feelings so I never showed it but I love you guys a lot. It's not even possible for me to survive here without you guys." She looked into Edward's eyes and said. "So can we be friends? Can we leave all these formal addressing from now on?" Niya asked and Edward hugged her. George chuckled at their cute conversation and hugged them.

"Hello? I am here too." William said and jumped on them to hug them.

***