By now, the two of them had arrived at the entrance of the building. Right outside the building was a roundabout circling a giant fountain. Dozens of limos parked along the side, their glossy surfaces sparkling in the sunlight. Arthur led Lara down the spacious pedestrian pathway next to the roads. Bougainvillea of all shades of red flanked the cobblestone pavement; the picturesque scenery and the pleasant weather was a drastic contrast to their topic of discussion.

"What do you mean?" Lara asked.

"Well, as you probably already know, the Grand War that occurred over a century ago was extremely unfortunate," Arthur said as they strolled down the pavement. "It happened as a result of unchecked power: many realms had leaders with so much pride, such that they let their egos make the decisions. Their race to become the powerhouse and overall leader of the universe escalated into unimaginable destruction. But right before any weapons of mass destruction were launched, we were granted with a blessing to stop all of that."

"I know that. It's the First Gift," Lara added. She had learnt all of this history by heart. "It was granted to the First Lady Elena."

"Not quite." Arthur raised his eyebrows. "There were actually three Gifts, and they were granted to three people. Elena was only one of them."

"Three?"

"Yes, specifically, the three sisters, Emilia, Elissa, and Elena Skyborn."

Lara stared at Arthur incredulously, her mouth wide open. The burly commander was not surprised by her reaction, and continued nonchalantly, "The three sisters each received a Gift that represented a virtue. They were Unconditional Love, Untrodden Hope and Unwavering Faith. The Gift of Unconditional Love was the ability to grant Gifts to anybody at any capacity, and it was given to Emilia, the oldest sister. The Gift of Untrodden Hope was the ability to develop a Gift within oneself on demand, and it was given to Elissa Skyborn. Lastly, the Gift of Unwavering Faith was the ability to demand absolute loyalty from people, and it was given to Elena, the youngest sister.

"A hundred years ago, these three sisters came into existence and stopped the Grand War once and for all. They acted as peacemakers, guiding the realms to work together, uniting the realms as one harmonious universe. But that was all that they're meant to do: peacemaking. Elena, however, wanted more than that. Perhaps it was that she was the youngest sister, or perhaps it was that people were always so afraid of her and her Gift, but she became angry and dissatisfied at the altruistic nature of their job. She wanted more, she wanted to become the leader of the universe, to have the ultimate say in how the world was run, forgetting that that was the exact reason why the Grand War was even started.

"Emilia opposed the idea, of course. But then, fifty years ago, Elena used her Gift on her. She forced Emilia to grant her a Gift: a Gift that can take away other people's Gift. Elena then used this new Gift to take away Emilia's Gift for herself, so that she can possess the Gift of the oldest sister, the Gift that people admired the most."

Lara's head began to spin. The information was so appalling, and so different from what she grew up learning, but somehow, it clarified certain doubts that Lara always had. Elena's Gift had been very perplexing —each human can only be granted with one Gift, but Elena seemed to have more than just one.

"She killed her own sister just so that she can reign the universe." Arthur's low, husky voice trembled slightly. "Then, she proceeded to take away everyone's Gift; anybody who had been granted a Gift by Emilia had their Gift stripped away and handed to Elena's soldiers, or Operatives, as you call it. These cursed Operatives helped her continue her reign of terror."

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He turned to look at Lara; his dark brown eyes were shimmering in the sunlight, as if they had been rinsed with tears too often. "And that, my child, is the true reason why the Turned Realm exists. We oppose Elena's rule, not because we want war for the sake of it, and not because we are the embodiment of evil that you've been taught. It is because she is not supposed to be using her Gift to rule the universe. And most of all, she is not the rightful owner of the very First Gift, the Gift of her oldest sister: Unconditional Love."

They reached the end of the pavement, arriving at a tall, arched gate. Across the polished metal bars was a row of two-storeyed shophouses; each building had their own distinct color, ranging from pastel pink to bright orange, that complemented one another beautifully. In front of the shops were crowds of people as diverse as the soldiers and office workers in the building. The scene in front of Lara looked just like those old pictures of Earth she used to see in her history textbooks: the pictures of Earth before the existence of realms, before the invention of space travel.

But Lara was in no mood to admire this view. Her heart was beating so fast that she could barely hear the agitated murmurings of the shoppers and passersby as they walked by her. Elena's ability to grant wishes was... stolen? And so was every Operative's Gift? Just like how... she stole Arianna's? She clenched her fists to stop her hands from shaking.

"What- What about the second sister?" Lara whispered. "What about Elissa?"

"Ah, Elissa Skyborn has always been the most inconspicuous sister." Arthur's benign smile appeared again. "Right after the Grand War ended, she left to a faraway realm and started her own family. She was the only one of the three sisters who chose to let old age take her, and so she allowed her Gift to be passed along to her children. She passed it to your father, Marco, who was my very good friend."

"My father? You knew my father?"

"Oh yes, I did." Arthur let out a wistful laughter. "He was a kind and courageous man. And very talented at tennis; I could never beat him, and he never stopped rubbing it in my face about it."

Lara chuckled along too, but, for some reason, she felt tears well up in her eyes. Arianna had always avoided talking about her parents, and she had never thought to press. But to finally realize that some people actually knew who her parents were, and what they were like, made her heart swell.

"Fifteen years ago," Arthur continued, his eyes downcast, "your father and a whole team of us prepared for a raid to overthrow Elena. However, we were betrayed by... some of our own people..." His voice faltered, and he took in a deep breath to calm himself. "We failed the mission, and Bernu, your home planet where you were born, was terminated. Everyone else did not make it... including your parents...

"Undeservingly, I was the only one who survived, because I withdrew from the mission at the last minute. When I tried to find you, though, I realized that you were taken away by Elena. I thought that all hope was lost, but now, now you're back." He turned to face Lara, his expression solemn yet hopeful. "Lara, your father had always wanted you to be the next bearer of Elissa's First Gift. You were born under the Star of Nadia, which means that your Gift will be the strongest of them all. Seeing that Elena's First Gift stopped working on you further proves how powerful you are."

Arthur placed his hands on Lara's shoulders. "You are our new Hope, Lara, the daughter of Marco Carland, the rightful descendant of the Gift of Untrodden Hope."

Wait... Marco... Carland? Lara realized with a jolt that that was the same last name as Ryan's. "Am I... Am I related to Ryan?" she asked.

Arthur's face contorted into a bitter grimace. "Let's not speak of that scum of a man," he growled. Then, he motioned to his lieutenants. "Nick and Yvo will now escort you to a hotel. Have a good rest, Lara, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, at that traitor's trial."

He gave Lara one last smile before marching back towards the building by himself. Lara squinted her eyes as she watched him leave. Sunlight scorched his body, and his skin seemed to glisten like the beginning of a twilight before a sunrise. But Lara's heart, on the other hand, had sunk into the darkest of the night.

Ryan... What exactly have you done?