"Hello!" the little girl squealed, looking up at the First Lady with a pair of bright, eager eyes. "Hello, hello!"

Ryan watched helplessly as Elena squatted down and patted his younger sister's head. His limbs were still locked in that same awkward position from when he tried to stab Elena. The windpipe in his throat was semi-blocked too, and his head was spinning from a lack of oxygen; he couldn't even call out to Lara, tell her to stay away from Elena, stay away from the person responsible for their parents' death, stay away from that wicked, cruel, insane, horrifying monster...

"Hello there, are you Marco's special little daughter?" Elena crooned as she stretched out her hands. Lara readily plopped into her arms, squirming and giggling while Elena tickled her neck.

"I can't believe I got to meet you," the blonde woman continued. "I've heard so much about you, you know? The special little daughter born under the star of Nadia. Aren't you supposed to receive Elissa's Gift, and then become the strongest person in the world, surpassing even me? But you didn't end up actually getting the Gift, did you?"

She turned her attention to Ryan, and her smile twisted. "Instead, you got the Gift, and you're really, really weak. Well, lucky me, I guess." She stood up and sauntered towards the young boy, her expression filled with mirth and condescension. "And I must thank you for bringing me to Marco's secret home base, I really appreciate it. I will be sure to end this traitorous realm completely."

Ryan's heart sank, as if it had turned into stone and plunged into a bottomless abyss. What had he done? Beyond this village, the realm was inhabited by people who had fled Elena's rule, including his parents' friends, families and allies. And now, he had not only revealed the location to Elena, but had also brought her, unscathed and unguarded, past all the defenses and battlers of the realm.

Worst of all, he had brought her to Lara, the one person he was tasked to protect.

Elena couldn't stop smiling at Ryan's crestfallen face as she pressed her palms against his head. Instantly, his vision was blurred by sparkles of light and his head began to spin. He let out a soft sob before collapsing face down on the ground, tired and drained.

"Yan-Yan?" Lara tilted her head. She quickly ignored her confusion, however, when Elena handed her her doll back while caressing her.

"Don't worry, my dear, he's okay, I just took away his Gift," Elena reassured the young brunette. "Or tried to, at least, I can't seem to take away his Gift completely." She flipped the groaning boy over with her foot. "But that's okay, I've weakened you so much that you're essentially useless now. So much for getting a Gift, huh?"

She casted one last smirk at Ryan before stepping over his slumped torso; her cold, silky gown brushed against his pale, sweaty skin, sending shivers down his spine. "Now, let's take a look at this realm, shall we?" she announced as she waltzed out of the tent.

Ryan tried to get up, but whatever Elena had done to him, it must have sapped away all of his energy. Right now, he was finding it difficult to even keep his eyelids open. But he knew he had to somehow get up and leave; the crazy bitch was gone so this was the perfect time to escape.

Laboriously, he rolled himself over, such that he was facing his sister. She was now back to playing with her doll, humming blissfully, not a care in the world. "Lara..." he called out with a weak, hoarse voice. "Come here, Lara, let's get out of here..."

Bang! Bang!

Ryan jolted in shock from the sudden gunshots. Dread welled up inside his heart —was that Soo-Rin and Ren? Lara also looked around the tent, frowning and curious, but relatively unfazed. Before he could attempt to call Lara over again, Elena came back.

"Interesting, so Bernu was the home base they chose. I wasn't informed of that, nor was I expecting that." Elena wiped her hands on her gown, her nose scrunched up slightly in disgust. "Though, maybe I should've guessed from the wife he picked."

A whimper escaped Ryan's dry throat. It was too late, everything was too late; everyone in his life had died, and he couldn't even protect Lara now. The toddler, on the other hand, perked up at the sight of the First Lady, and bounced over to her excitedly.

Elena chuckled and rubbed Lara's soft, brown hair. "Aw, it seems you've taken a liking to me, how ironic." She hoisted the delighted girl up and walked over to Ryan. "Alright, do your job, child, I'm bored of this place."

With a forceful grab, she snatched Ryan up by the arms, ignoring his cries of agony. "Take me back."

Ryan's entire body was aching, and he had never felt more exhausted in his life. But under Elena's command, he had no choice but to use his newly blessed Gift again. He closed his eyes, and teleported all three of them back to Earth.

When the darkness cleared, he crumpled on the ground like a ragdoll. Blood, water, bile, gastric acid, every possible fluid from within Ryan, gushed out from him like a sputtering engine of a busted car. He didn't have the energy to moan in pain; he didn't even have the energy to cough the liquids out of his mouth.

Somewhere in front of him laid a body; even with sweat and tears obscuring his vision, he was still able to recognize Marco's bloodied corpse. Was he also going to die right next to his father? At that moment, he wasn't sure if the stream of liquid flowing down his face was his tears, sweat, or the disgusting mixture of fluid he had just puked out.

Arianna was kneeling next to Marco's body, her face hung low and her fists clenched. When she saw the three of them appearing out of thin air, she blanched.

"M- Madam," she stuttered while scrambling to stand up, "you found Lara, the next bearer."

Elena laughed. "Not really. As it turns out, she's not the next bearer, this guy is."

"What? Ryan is?" Arianna asked incredulously. "But- But Lara was supposed to be-"

"Who knows? Maybe Marco made a mistake, as he did when he chose to marry a Bernuian woman." The First Lady shrugged. "But that's good for us. This boy is weak, and I've turned him into someone who can only teleport once before passing out. I mean, look at him now." She casually gave Ryan a kick in his stomach. Ryan retched even more.

Elena proceeded to smoothe Lara's hair; the energetic girl had been playing with the tiara on her head, distracted and oblivious of her surroundings. "And this girl, this famous Lara Carland, the supposed next bearer of Hope, she's just a Gift-less baby. So what if she's destined to be powerful, there's absolutely nothing she can do right now."

Arianna stared at Ryan, then at Lara. "Madam," she probed warily, "what are you planning to do with them..."

"Kill them, of course."

"But Madam, they're- they're just children..."

Elena raised her eyebrows. "Are you questioning my decisions? Now that I've given you the Gift you've longed for, are you becoming bold?"

The redhead flushed and shook her head vigorously. "No, I'm... I'm not. I'm very grateful for everything you've done, Madam."

Elena's piercing gaze did not leave Arianna, who had suddenly become very interested in the blood-stained floors. Then, her mouth slowly curled up. "You know what, I have a better idea."

She lifted Lara high up in the air, who giggled and squealed in joy. "Isn't she destined to become the most formidable person on Earth? Well, I'm going to let her live up to her destiny, but instead, she'll be on my side. I'm going to have her end all the Turned Realms. Imagine, they all thought that she will become their saviour, but this saviour of theirs will actually be their downfall." She let out a laugh that made Ryan's skin crawl, but managed to keep Lara charmed. "I wonder how Elissa would feel, too, having her descendant work for me. After all, I'm this vile and horrendous person she never wished to have as a sister, right?"

Elena cradled Lara once more; her alluring, sweet voice was increasingly tainted with bitterness and spite. "And I'll be sure to give you the Gift that betrayed and killed your parents, too," she added with a whisper. "You're going to become the antithesis of what you're supposed to be. It's going to be so delightful."

Ryan finally managed to summon one last ounce of strength in him. "No..." he gasped. "Lara... Don't take her..."

"Why?" Elena dropped Lara onto a flustered Arianna, and approached the half-conscious boy. "What are you going to do about it?"

Ryan could only heave out a throaty breath as a reply. This earned a maniacal chortle from Elena.

"I can't believe my luck! The new bearer of Hope is so weak, even weaker than Marco! I was right all along; if you pass down your Gift, it'll just become weaker. Elissa really should've listened to me and never done that, but I guess that's what she gets for falling in love with a human man."

Elena pinched Ryan's cheeks together with one hand, and pulled him towards her.

"Ah, I'm so tempted to just kill you and end this stupid Hope Gift once and for all. And then, I'll be the only person who possesses the First Gifts," she murmured as she relished in the obvious pain that he was in. "But I'm not going to let you be with your parents so easily. I also want you to work for me; it's going to be so hilarious watching you try to complete missions with a weak Gift like yours. And I also want you to watch your sister grow up, watch her despise you, watch her become a monster, become the ultimate reign of terror against your own people."

Ryan wanted to cry, but he ended up coughing out even more blood. The older woman shoved him back down, and he fell onto the ground, wheezing and choking.

Arianna was holding onto Lara tightly, humming a soft lullaby into her ear. She had always hated children, and never wanted anything to do with Ryan or Lara, but right now, she was handling the toddler with such care and affection, as if she had somehow appointed herself the new mother.

When Elena turned to Arianna, the auburn-haired woman paled.

"So, their home base was actually in Bernu." The First Lady's calm, low voice was coated with a cold, stinging layer of ice. "You told me it was in Honnu."

Arianna hid her trembling hand by caressing Lara's hair. "I'm sorry, Madam... I must have gotten the wrong information."

"Did you, now?" Elena did not sound as though she believed her. "Come with me, then. Finish what you started." With that, she strode away from the hall.

Arianna gulped, a mix of emotions flashed through her face. Then, she casted one last look at Ryan before following the blonde woman, Lara in her hands.

The place was now empty, except for two disheveled bodies. Ryan sprawled on the floor, still unmoving, still panting, still hacking out blood occasionally. His eyes landed on his father's corpse, and he closed them shut.

So much for being the best big brother in the world. He had taken the Gift that was meant for Lara, and ruined it with his incompetence; he had brought the enemy to their secret home base, and betrayed the entire realm; worst of all, he had given Lara straight to the enemy, and destroyed her destiny.

This was all his fault... All his fault...

So much for being the best big brother in the world.

Mom, Dad, I'm so sorry.