27. Welcome to the group.

"Archie, give me your hand," Niya said, looking at him and noticing the way he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Oh, come on, give me the hand, dude. I am not gonna steal it," Niya mutter, rolling her eyes while taking a hold of it. Archie was still confused, frowning at her. Edward, George, and William were standing quietly, not moving their eyes from the scene before them.

Niya closed her eyes as soon as their hands touched and just like she expected, an assault of flashbacks from his childhood began to play in her mind. Too many images were playing for Niya to grasp every detail but she saw a big tree and three cute kids playing around, all of them, boys. The image changed and she could only see a boy, she assumed it was Archie, playing the familiar tune in the flute.

Everyone could see Niya’s eyes quickly moving beneath her eyelids.

The scene changed again. Archie was now older and he stood above another man, punching him. The man shoved him and stood up with a hand on his cheek, glaring at him. Even though Niya could make out Archie’s features, she couldn’t see the other man’s face only the glow of his dark purple eyes who continued to glare at Archie, without any indication of backing down.

*I hope she won't break the friendship because of Lucifer. I am going to explain the whole scenario to her as soon as possible, I just don't want to lose you*... again, Archie thought, while looking at her, completely unaware of the fact that since Niya was holding his hand, she could not only see every memory of his but read every past and current thought.

Niya smiled and opened her eyes, looking at Archie in administration, knowing this friendship was important to not only him but the rest of her world. She felt that he really wanted to make the effort to win her over, and she would give him the chance. She just hoped her gut was right.

"Welcome to the group, buddy," she said, squeezing his hands and giggling at his shocked expression.

"What? Have you gone insane, Niya?" William said with anger, looking between the two.

"He is genuine, Willy. He really respects this friendship. I trust him," she said, without taking off her gaze from Archie's shocked face. "Trust me. He is not the bad guy." She turned her head towards William. He nodded half-heartedly.

"Welcome back, Arch." Edward embraced Archie in a tight hug and he reciprocated it. It looked like two long-lost friends were reunited and Niya could only look at both of them confused.

Edward smiled once he saw Niya’s expression.

"Archie was our classmate when we were on Drac Prime," Edward explained.

"What? Then why did you guys behave like strangers when you first met at William's party?" She crossed her arms.

"Because after the riots of 5098, we decided to part ways due to Archie's issues. We weren’t on the same page, which lead to a big fight and we never contacted each other again, nor tried to. William joined politics and we joined your father’s secret association," George said, looking at Archie with a small smile.

“It’s been too long, my friend,” Archie stepped towards George and hugged him, patting his back. "I am sorry, George. Because of me, you lost your sister. I am so sorry," he said, hugging him tightly.

Niya would have never guessed that she would see this side of Archie. So soft, emotional, and full of life.

"It was not your fault, Arch! She decided to join our extremist group for the sake of our kind. It was her own decision. I have never blamed you for that," George said, hugging him back after drying a few tears from his cheeks.

Niya was a silent spectator in this whole scenario, standing there quietly and trying to figure out what the hell was happening.
Archie broke the hug and turned toward William, his eyes red and glossy.

"I know, I don't deserve to be treated with an ounce of kindness. The person who lost everything because of me was you, William. Your mother, your sister, and your brother. Your house and of course, your best friend. You lost everything because of me," he paused for a second and wiped off his tears, "But now I want to end all of this. You lost everything, I lost everything too. Yes, it was my mistake to act impulsively at that time. Can you please give me another chance? To show you that I have changed and that I regret everything that has happened? Please, William."

Everybody stood shocked as Archie kneeled in front of William, begging him for another chance at their friendship.

William sighed, a tear rolled down his cheek. He looked away, trying to avoid eye contact with Archie and everyone else in the room. "Argh! Enough of this drama. We don’t have time for this, let's go back." He grabbed Niya's hand and walked towards Andino's house to start the journey towards the Witches Clan.

Niya struggle behind and tugged on his hand until he stopped with a sigh. She made him look at her, giving him a pointed look and gesturing towards Archie who was now kneeling on the ground with his head down.

"This rascal!" he cursed under his breath and walked towards Archie who lifted his head so quickly he almost gave himself whiplash. "We are getting late. Get your ass off the dirt," he said, hitting him with his foot lightly. Archie looked at him, smiling. For the first time, after thousands of years, William was informally talking to him, just like he used to talk with him in high school.

"You've forgiven me?" Archie got up from the cold hard ground and hugged him tightly.

"Ugh, stop being clingy. How can I not forgive you when you are weeping like a five-year-old kid," he said, pushing Archie away like an annoying big brother.

"I don't believe you forgave me. Prove it," Archie said, looking at him with those mischievous eyes. William looked at him, widening his eyes as he knew what Archie is going to ask next.

"Shut up. I am not going to do that. Niya is looking at us. She is going to make fun of us for the rest of our life," William said, folding his arms and avoiding his mischievous gaze.

"Then I am not going to leave. I will sit here until you give me a piggyback ride to Andino's house." Archie sat on the ground like a stubborn child. Edward and George coughed, stifling a laugh that wanted to bubble out of their throat.

"I am not gonna do that," William said and walked towards Niya who crossed her arms and tapped her foot. He stopped, looking at the sky and groaning before turning back to Archie and quickly lifting on his back. All while muttering profanities under his breath as the expecting trio succumbed to their laughter.

"You are so kind. Thank you so much, Willy-Will," Archie said, grinning like a child on William's back. William tried his best not to smile at his Willy-Will comment but failed. Archie addressed him by this name after centuries. He was happy but didn't want to admit it in front of Archie so he covered his smile with a fake cough.

Meanwhile, Niya, George, and Edward were trying to control their uncontrollable giggle. Niya never expected this from William and Archie. After all, she always saw them fighting like a cat and mouse but this interaction was so new to her eyes.

"Wow! You cheater! You never gave me a piggyback like this even though you claim to be my bestie." Niya looked at William in disbelief with her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, because I am cuter. I mean, look at my face! Who can deny to such a charming face?" Archie winked at her playfully.

"Enough, you had your ride. Get your ass down." William jerked him abruptly, giving no time for Archie to prepare as he was soon found lying on the cold hard ground.

"Hey! That hurts like a mother fuc-" He got up from the ground, dusting the dirt from his clothes.

"We are getting late," George interrupted him, looking at his wristwatch. Time seemed to go by quickly when you least wanted to.
Suddenly Archie's phone rang and he looked at the caller ID while frowning.

"Yes?… What?!… Oh m- But it’s not that powerful, how-" he brushed his hand through his hair, clearly stressed. The boys tensed beside Niya as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Okay, okay. We are headed that way." Hanging up, he looked at them with worried eyes.

"What?" William asked, looking at his worried face.

"Caintlek planet attacked Vamp Prime's gold mines yesterday," Archie said, sighing in worry.

"Caintlek? Are you kidding me? It's a small planet! How can king Azizmah dare to attack us?" Edward said, looking at Archie who was lost in his thoughts.

"Planet Caintlek has made a military union with other 70 small planets to attack Vamp Prime," Archie explained the intensity of the situation.

"We have to leave as soon as possible. Our palace could be their next target." George looked at his watch and said.

"Yeah, let me call our staff and tell them to get ready with our jet on the other side of Athos," Edward said, quickly taking his phone out.

"We don't have that much time, guys! The gold mines of South Erota are just 200 km from our palace. We cannot wait to cross Athos," William said, looking at Niya.

"What? Why are you looking at me with those eyes?" Niya asked William, taking a step back.

"We need your help," William said, squeezing her shoulders.

"What kind of help?" she asked, looking at him and the others.

"You need to order Mount Athos to become flatten for about half an hour. That gives us enough time for our jet to arrive and take us to North Rose city in under an hour."

"What? Athos is not my pet to obey a command. Why would he listen to me?" Niya scoffed, looking at him. Archie stepped closer and lowered himself so he could look at Niya directly.

"No, he is right, Niya! If you can order a Magnosaur to leave, why can't you order a mountain to flatten for some time?" He took her hand a gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"I can try but don't blame me if it doesn't work," she said and they all left the place immediately.
Reaching amount Athos, Niya looked at its huge structure and gasped in horror.

"Are you guys trying to make me look like a fool? How can you expect me to request a mountain to flatten up? I mean, come one, it's a freaking mountain, not a joke," she said, looking at the boys who were standing behind her in a horizontal line.

"Niya, stop acting like this. Have you forgotten what you’re capable of? Stop acting dumb and listen to us," Archie hissed annoyingly at her words.

"I'm still the Queen! Don't you dare disrespect me," she said, looking at him with a frown on her forehead.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" he said mockingly and she rolled her eyes with a huff. "Now please, speak up or Caintlekians will cut our people like vegetables."
Niya took a step forward and closed her eyes to concentrate.

*Mount Athos? Hello there. Ummm... I know it's gonna sound funny but can you please flatten up just for like thirty minutes?,* she spoke up in her head but didn't get any response.

"It's not working guys," she said, turning her head back to the boys.

"Trying doing that thing you did with your hands when were back in the forest," William suggested, imitating the hand movements she did while battling Magnosaur.
She nodded and closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She began to move as if it was an instinct and soon enough, she felt energy building up at her fingertips. Suddenly, her eyes opened and the guys took a step back as they noticed her golden hues.

She remained looking at the mountain and pushed the energy she felt towards it until there was nothing left inside of her. Staggering a few steps back, she waved her hand at George as he reached out to steady her.

"I’m fine, but thank you," she smiled and he nodded once he made sure that she was indeed okay. Looking up, she smiled at the guys as they looked at her in concern, trying to reassure them that everything was okay. They too nodded once they were sure, but as she turned to look at the mountain, or what was once a mountain, she felt a pair of eyes on her as if they still needed to make sure that she was okay.

Niya’s mouth opened in shock once she saw the flattened Mount Athos, looking at her hands that were slightly trembling in shock.

"What the h- This can't be true," she said, looking at the place where Mount Athos stood a minute ago but now there was nothing except the silky cold sand.

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