Slowly but surely, Una had to decide who to support and who to cut off with each decision until Empirica would be able to support itself and find a way to recover.
So many attempts were made to infiltrate Empirica, as people slipped in quite often, adding to the difficulties and prompting further action from Una.
With all of those things going on, she had to keep cutting off more people until there were only people with tanned or slightly darker skin tones, red eyes and platinum blonde hair.
Those features allowed the remaining people to stay, while anyone without them would soon disappear from Empirica for good.
During that time, there had been a strong mistrust toward anyone without those features, as they would be seen as outsiders and would be met with aggression.
It may have eased a little over the many years since then, but it remained, as people would still follow what was expected of them and report anyone who did not carry those distinctive features.
They would often associate such people with being invaders or people who would be on the island to cause trouble for the people of Empirica.
In a way, Empirica had truly been made into the very image of Una by how everyone had the same distinctive characteristics as her.
The only existing person who had the slightest difference from her was Deux, who had purple eyes.
As Alyssia heard the history of Empirica from the perspective of Una and the terrible situation that it had been in, she couldn't help but feel a chill about how bad things must have been.
With so many things going wrong all at once, it was difficult to make the right decision.
Not everyone would come to like Una for the decisions that she made back then.
While there were people who benefited from those decisions, there were people who were on the losing side of it all.
It was a situation that they were unprepared for.
Everyone had been dealt a bad hand from the start, and all they could do was make the most of it.
It just so happened that Una had been the one to step up to use her power to make a difference when nobody else was willing to take any form of responsibility.
Alyssia remained silent as she took in everything and went over it in her head.
It was not until later that she suggested. "Why not just give it a try? Your sister has been locked up for too long. How about we invite her out of that room to share a meal with us and to talk?
It would be a good start, and it would be a good way to see how things turn out in a more controlled and secure location. You can ease into things as you go. It is not like you need to rush into anything more drastic, like telling your people about her.
If others begin asking about her, then you can just make up an identity for her. Maybe just use the excuse that she is an ally of mine who will be staying to maintain relations with Empirica for the time being."
With further persuasion from Alyssia, the dungeon below was opened, and Deux was unchained.
Deux was very shocked to hear the results of what had taken place.
It was just as shocking for her to be released so suddenly without warning and to be invited into another part of the palace where Una and Alyssia would share a meal and drinks with her.
Once Una had gotten drunk and lowered her defences, she eventually broke down and knelt before her sister, crying.
The usual stern and unwilling-to-compromise personality of hers had shattered after spending time with her sister in a way she would never have thought to be possible anymore.
She never thought that she would be able to have that kind of experience again.
She never expected forgiveness, yet her sister had just sat there with her and Alyssia, enjoying the time they shared.
It was something that she could never have imagined herself experiencing again for an extremely long time.
It was something big that had happened to her that had impacted her unchanging and monotonous life, where everything was to turn out exactly as she imagined it would.
It was finally time for her to be surprised, not once but more than that.
Those surprises came so fast in such a short time that they knocked her off balance.
Alyssia was able to play mediator between the sisters during that time.
Although they did love each other and shared a deep connection as twins, there were things between them that needed to be settled among them.
There were pieces of resentment that had lasted for several hundred years without being resolved, so there was a lot to talk through.
With Alyssia acting as the mediator, she was able to intervene when things were getting too heated and to steer the conversation toward something on which they could both find common ground.
Both sides gradually came to open up more as they no longer hid things that they had refused to say to each other as a result of their pride or something else.
They gradually came to learn about the reasons for the things they had done or said in the past, which had resulted in a rift being caused between them.
Even if they had a damaged relationship, Alyssia tried to remind them about how Una had still made every effort to keep her promises to Deux and had done what she could to make Deux's life more comfortable and safe.
Nobody would like to be confined in such a manner, but it was true that Una had been trying to keep her promise to her sister to make her dream come true while trying to keep her safe.
The only problem was that Deux never once got to be a part of that dream.
She never got to be a part of building that dream and never got to see it.
She had only ever been told things about Empirica by her sister whenever she was visited by her.
With a promise of one day being able to see her dream that had come true, things started to look more positive for her.
She would finally be able to escape the confinement she had been used to, and she would regain some freedom.
What surprised her the most was how her sister had been persuaded by someone else.
Not even she could force Una to give in to her demands and to change her mind once she set her mind to something, and she was her twin.
As the talks progressed, they gradually moved on to some more serious topics concerning the future once Alyssia had left.
It had been recommended that a private alliance be made between the White Storm and Empirica.
With the major upheaval of the world that was expected to come, they would surely require the help of the White Storm in various ways.
If their island was not safe from what was coming, then they would need a way out.
Everything that they had built would likely be ruined, with no way to recover it.
If nothing was done in advance to prepare for it, then history was destined to repeat itself once more.
People would need to evacuate to somewhere else and would have to find a place to live if the island itself were lost.