Aralita

**Empress Aralita of the Realm of Esperanza**, best known simply as **Empress Aralita** or **Aralita**, is the central antagonist of the Chosen series. Revealed to be the true mastermind and Queen of the Illuminati (or, as she calls it: Esperanza), she desires to conquer the world and create an Esperanza-dominated planet, eliminating all opposition in her way. She is the mother of Prince Halos.

## Personality

To many, Aralita is an enigma, even to those that claim to be close to her. She inspires as much fear and vexation as she does respect and adoration, and plenty of controversy besides. You can always tell what people think about her based on what they refer to her as: if they refer to her as the Empress, or any other royal title, they likely respect her, serve her, or know her personally. If referred to as Aralita, they likely dislike her, oppose her, or don't acknowledge her rule. The same extends to the Esperanza-Illuminati dynamic. If they refer to it as Esperanza, they're likely pro-Aralita... and vice versa if they refer to it as the Illuminati.

Aralita is regal, imposing, austere, and indefatigable, the immaculate picture of pure-blood Esperanzan royalty and sophistication. She is also a decisive, cunning leader, an effective, intelligent administrator, and a terrifying warlord, showcasing absolutely minimal concern with collateral damage or civilian casualties when in the thick of war. She displays no remorse with sending people to war, or in starting wars to begin with.

Aralita is an elitist, a staunch believer in Esperanzan superiority and the ideal of complete, global Illuminati control in all areas political, religious, financial, societal, and militaristic. She not only belongs to a group of powerful Esperanzan nobles that secretly clamor for Esperanzan conquest (most of whom are either descended directly from past Esperanzan heroes, royals, and aristocrats), she is their most effective and talented agent. While there were many elitists in the aristocracy long before Aralita's reign, her zealous and haughty ideals have brought many of the more hardline members out of the shadows and into the arena of politics and law. Her ideals inspire as much praise as they do controversy, which can lead to infighting even among the aristocracy.

Very few people actually *know* Aralita. She wears a mask of cool-headed, self-possessed ambivalence and amorality in almost every given situation, rarely letting any of her tempered emotions slip. Her personal likes, dislikes, fears, tastes, quirks, and thoughts in general are a mystery to almost everyone around her; even those that have known her for a considerable length of time, such as the Prince Halos (her adoptive son) or Navarro (one of her chief enforcers), remain distant from her. She is cryptic more often than not, keeping a lot of information to herself or within a tiny sphere of people. She is largely indifferent to her subordinates, relatives, and even her enemies, viewing revolutionary leader Viola as more of a pest than a genuine threat (in stark contrast to Viola herself, who views Aralita as an enormous obstacle and enemy); she only seems to demonstrate a morsel of preference or respect among fellow nobles and royalty, further establishing her elitist, bigoted nature. Secrecy is Aralita's forte: her public persona doesn't seem to be any different from her private persona, which made it incredibly easy (and natural) for her to adopt a cult of personality and mystery within Esperanza.

As a military commander, however, Aralita demonstrates a surprising amount of flexibility, albeit only if it personally benefits her or benefits Esperanza. She has been shown willing to use bribery - offering nominal positions of power to more venal people instead of wasting resources by fighting them - and even diplomacy to resolve a situation... though diplomacy seems to not be part of the deal against the revolution. She demonstrates far more tact and strategical capability than the Illuminati Triangles. Aralita views the Triangles are merely figureheads, made to obscure the true identity of the true leaders of the Illuminati, to instill fear, conspiracy, and mystery in the eyes of the public.

Aralita is very religious. She often mentions God, the Phoenix, and religious rites in her speeches and monologues. Indeed, the first appearance she makes in the World of Mercy is in the gardens of a deeply religious temple. Though Aralita is disappointed and critical of Halos' dissension, it's clear that Aralita seems to care for him - indeed, during the war in Sumergidas, she ordered Navarro to retrieve Halos by any means necessary (though it's clear that was a sidequest to the main objective: destroy the resistance). Aralita seems to at least honor the implied power and awe that comes with being a Chosen Ones - in the sparse few encounters that Brittany and Tiffany have had with Aralita, the Empress has taken a moment to talk with them, often explaining and enforcing her ideology upon them instead of murdering them herself.