Dearest Sofia,

By the time you read this, I'm most likely have joined my family in the Loric afterlife or wherever the dead go, but I ask that you please, please, PLEASE don't blame yourself. My death was imminent and was going to happen sooner or later. Although I didn't know it at the time, the Cepans knew someway, somehow they would not be coming back. It's a sad prospect and to me it seems that I only prolonged the inevitable. The thing that doesn't bug me is how I'm going to die, but how you will cope. You are a sensitive child, you always have been, but I ask that you honour my dying wish, never, ever blame yourself and that you do not let my death be in vain. My sweet Sofia...

It's so strange to call you something like this. We've had so many human names I can't even remember our first. I know it was especially difficult for you to adapt, as I re-call you had difficulty learning to write whatever name I had given you, especially at school, pretty soon neither of us could keep the number of identities straight. But I wrote this letter to tell you of the events that led us to Earth.

It's just after the big fight we had about trying to find the others. I understand why you left and I sincerely hope you come back soon. I must be honest with you sweetheart, my reluctance to going to find them is partly selfish. I know that you are far from ready to take your legacies into battle and you are extremely sensitive, I'm worried that when we meet up with the Garde, we will also encountering the Cepans. I'm not sure if you can re-call, but we did not exactly depart from the others on the best terms. I feel the need to explain this to you so that you know the whole truth.

I guess the best place to start is at the father's name was Aruvun, he was a caring and compassionate man. I only met him a few times, but I can tell you he had the nicest smile and always loved to give hugs. Much like you, he made friends wherever he went and shared mind reading/telepathy (I wonder if you've discovered the other half of the mind reading legacy yet?). He could also walk along water and could fly to the highest heights.

Your mother's name is Atlatia and unlike your father, she was very serious woman, but with a very gentle soul. She appeared harsh and reserved when I first met her, but eventually she opened up and she was almost exactly like your father. She often needed time to get to know someone before she accepted someone. She had the ability to control light (particles and all) and had the ability to generate sonic waves. I was mostly pleased that you turned out more like your father in personality, but you look exactly like your mother.

You had a very happy childhood. I saw you learn to walk on your grandparents' front lawn and I watch you ride your grandfather up into the sky for hours, the joyful look on your face made me smile. I don't know how much you would remember, you were very young, but I will tell you that you were a very happy child. You were also the best big sister, you loved Anali more than anything else in the world. I do re-call that you were going to bake a cake with your grandmother for Anali's first birthday and you wanted to teach her to walk. The idea just brings tears to my eyes knowing I need to tell you the whole truth. I want to tell you about the happy parts about your childhood before I tell you the rest.

I first you met your parents while your mother was still pregnant with you. They were pleased to have a scholar like me to teach their offspring. They wanted their child to be very intelligent as they assumed the role of an Elders. They also knew that all ten of you would grow up and become far more powerful than the original ten Elders. It seemed like the ideal duty, until you and your brother were born.

Yes sweet child, you are a twin. You were the second after your brother. You are exactly two minutes apart. I know this must be hard to comprehend, but I speak the truth that you share blood with another. Multiple births on Lorien were extremely rare, almost as rare as certain legacies. The reason it was so rare because often one of the children would not survive, but since both you and your brother were born healthy and happy, you'd think your parents would be over the moon. However, long before your birth and the full development of our planet, the surviving Elders of the Secret Wars had a very important meeting. They knew that the Tenth Elder had fallen in the war and for that very reason they moved the number down to nine. They wanted to avoid the needless conflicts that once plagued our people. The Elders brought peace and harmony back to our planet that thrived until the day Lorien fell. Even I don't fully know what happened in that dark time, but only nine children were to be the successors.

As you know, this posed a large problem as to who would inherit the role. The Elders were silent on the matter, forcing your parents to make the decision of which one to choose. In the end, they chose your brother with the reasoning that since he was born first, the role was his. This create a large divide within your family. Your father's parents removed your brother and took him to the chosen Cepan. I was confused at first, assuming that I would be the one to take your brother, but when I protested to the high council, they simply turned me away. So I became your Cepan. Please know that I was and am very pleased to have you as my pupil and I don't have a shred of regret, but you were now born into a broken family. Your mother's parents took you in and completely shut out their daughter, son-in-law and grandson. They thought that since both of you had survived, it was sign that there should be Ten elders instead. I too believed that this was a sign and I had been told long before you arrived that I would be the Cepan to an Elder. Unfortunately, our protests fell on deaf ears.

Your grandparents became cold towards anything to do with the Elders or their daughter. They wanted you to be raised as an Elder would, which is why they chose me to be your Cepan. They also wanted to shield you from the bitterness between the families. They wanted to give as normal of a childhood as they could, but I knew that that as you grew, you would start asking questions about your parents. I do know that on multiple occasions your parents tried to visit you, but they were shut out, given the treatment they gave you for choosing your brother over you. I felt torn between allowing you to see your parents and being loyal to your grandparents. On more than one occasion I tried to reason with your grandparents about how this separation would affect you, but they wouldn't budge. I feel that I could've done more to try and mend the rift, but I'm sad to admit I didn't. You were my pride and joy and to make you happy was my priority. When Anali was born, your grandparents fought to keep her, believing that since your twin brother had been taken away, you should have someone to love.

Days before the invasion, I began having strange dreams. I believe that one of the Elders was trying to contact me. In these dreams, I saw our planet burning and death all around me. I took it as a warning and knew that you needed to be saved from this destruction. I think about it now and I believe that the elders themselves were divided in whether to accept a tenth. successor. I prepared for the worst and warned your grandparents of what I'd seen. They thought that they could save Anali as well, but I knew that it could not be that way.

So when the day the invasion came, your grandfather grabbed both you and your sister and tried to get me to take both of you. He was insisting upon it, but I told him otherwise. It is my greatest regret that I only grabbed you, prying you away from your sister, screaming and crying. Your sobs still haunt me to this day. I saw the horror on your grandfather's face as I began to run away with just you. I knew that he must've felt betrayed and perhaps hated me, but I never looked back. I knew where to go, as the dreams had shown me and I met up with the others on the tarmac of the Air and Space museum. I was very late, which is why you were never branded with the charm that protected the other nine. Most of the Cepans were on board when I went up to the elder. He gave me a sad smile and presented you with the pendant and chest. I rushed aboard just as the ship took off. While you ran and hid, I had to watch our planet burn from the safety of the ship.

It wasn't until the chaos died down that the Cepans realized there were extra passengers. They thought that I had been a coward and snuck aboard to save myself and you. I tried desperately to protest, but something told me to keep quiet about my visions. I know that they wanted to banish me back to Lorien for my cowardice, but I assume seeing the tears in your eyes softened their judgment and allowed us to stay.

For an entire year, I watched you bond and grow with the other Garde on board. I knew that amoung them was your brother. I remember on countless occasions where I had pry you two apart when you fought. You truly loved everyone on board. I was even surprised that you bonded with your brother so quickly, the very thing that was forbidden for the first few years of your lives. I tried to make you as happy as possible even though we were surrounded by hate. I'm sure the only reason the Cepans didn't have us thrown into the deep void of space was because of you. They saw you as the result of cowardice, but also a symbol of what they were trying to save. I knew that I was a coward, but you were not my sweet child. You saved us both and I am forever grateful.

I don't know if you remember landing on Earth, but if you do, I know that you were confused and scared. There were nine humans there to greet the nine children. I had fought with the Cepans, calling me a coward for the last time before I dragged you off on our own.

I'd never felt more scared in my life than at that moment when I saw the ship disappear. We were on a strange planet with nothing, but the chest and our wits. The other nine got clothes and instructions from the humans on how to blend in on the new planet, we got none of that. We survived on our own, which will make you special from all the other Garde. We went into hiding, where I taught you to ride a bike, play the piano and do cartwheels. Eventually something told me that we had to move on so we would not be caught. I did this even though I knew you were the safest of the Garde, despite not having the charm cast on you. I regretted every time I had to tear you away from what you knew as home. My heart broke seeing tears on your face instead of a smile. Nevertheless we pushed on and we survived.

My sole regret to you is lying. I lied to protect me more than you. I wanted to avoid the truth for as long as possible, maybe change the past for the sake of my guilt and allow me to sleep at night. I knew that as time passed you would ask questions about your past and about the others, much like you did today. Please don't hate me, but I want to keep truth from you for as long as possible in the case you are ever captured. In this letter I will tell you the truth.

You are Number Ten and always have been. Your are the last, chosen elder that will restore Lorien. Your existence is a secret and I hope you use that as a weapon.

I hope that this letter gives you the answers that you need and I hope that someday you will find it in your heart to forgive me. I've made a lot of mistakes, but I've known that my only solution is you.

I want you to kick some Mogadorian ass and find the others. The power of seven will restore Lorien and I hope you can find your brother again to destroy the rift between the family. Even though I will be gone, I will be looking down on you with pride and love.

I am the proudest Cepan in the world and I love you.

Yours forever,

Anni

P.S. Your real name is Aralia. Wear it with pride.