Apparently some people actually think Sothis does not love her children. I just want to say, if you think that, you do not deserve to enjoy Fire Emblem. Not just Three Houses, but the franchise as a whole.

Sidon took the company to a building along the road. According to him, it was a storage facility, but the Zora hardly ever used it since the Calamity. Zora's Domain had been spared the worst of the Calamity, thankfully, but monsters had been attacking Zora who strayed too far from their city for too long.

"We think someone might be arming them," Sidon said. "Which would be no issue, were they not being armed with shock arrows."

"Which are harmful to Zora," Lysithea ventured, receiving a nod from Sidon.

"I think this might be a good place for introductions," Sidon suggested.

Once Link had introduced his friends, one of the Zoras came to a realization. "Link? It's me, Bazz! You… might actually not recognize me. I was a lot younger when you last saw me, and it's been one hundred years. It…" The Zora named Bazz frowned. "It's been one hundred years. And you don't look a day different from the last time I saw you. That's not normal for Hylians, is it?"

"Bazz, it can't be him," another Zora said. "He died, remember?"

"I don't remember any of you," Link said. There was no point in letting this go on longer than it needed to. "I am who you think I am, but I…I don't have any memories."

This drew quite a few stares from the Zora.

"Well, I will say this. It just might be that you are exactly who we need," Sidon said. "We Zora have been in a bit of a spot lately—"

"The Divine Beast?"

Sidon laughed heartily. "So, you've heard! Yes, Ruta has been quite angry lately. She is the one causing all of this rain, and I am worried that, if we do not put a stop to it soon, the east reservoir will overflow, flooding both Zora's Domain and a good portion of Hyrule at that."

A chill ran down Link's back. Flood Zora's Domain? Flood Hyrule? "That's why I'm here, actually. I've been sent on a… mission. To regain control of the Divine Beasts."

"Excellent!" His outburst startled Link, but the Zora Prince didn't seem to notice. He clapped his hands together enthusiastically. "Really, that is wonderful. I am certain that my father will be thrilled to hear of it. And maybe now the old Demon Sergeant can stop electrocuting himself with shock arrows."

Huh?

"We should stay the night here," Sidon said. "There are more monsters on the road to Zora's Domain, and the Blood Moon won't set for hours yet. We can make for the city in the morning."

Link nodded. Turning to his compatriots, he suggested, "We should probably sleep while we can."

"Why'd ya get so mad when that lizard tried to attack me?" Cyril asked Lysithea.

Lysithea thought for a moment. Why had she been so angry at the Lizalfo who had tried to attack Cyril?

She came to a conclusion. "Because it attacked you because it thought you were weak," she answered. "I don't appreciate people looking down on those they see as weaker than them. That Lizalfo was a coward, plain and simple."

"Nah, I think you're thinking of the lizards wrong," Cyril said. "You're thinking they're like people. They're not. They've got no concept of courage."

"You might be right about that," Lysithea admitted.

"Thanks for saving me though," Cyril said.

"It was no trouble," Lysithea assured him.

Flayn didn't like sleeping. Not that she ever did, but...what if she didn't wake up?

Unfortunately, her body wasn't created to have no need for sleep, so she slept. She dreamed of being able to fly once again. It was a wonderful dream.

"No, no, it's not real!" She forced herself awake. Good dreams were more frightening to her than nightmares. When she had good dreams, she was afraid she might never have the willpower to leave them.

She saw Edelgard tossing and turning. It seemed like she was having a nightmare. She gently shook the Adrestian heir. "Are you all right?"

Edelgard woke up and looked at Flayn. "Nightmare."

"I understand," Flayn said.

"I don't like places like this," Edelgard admitted. "Dark, damp, probably rat-infested..." she shivered.

"I haven't seen any rats," Flayn assured her.

Edelgard seemed a bit confused. "Flayn?"

"Yes?"

Edelgard shook her head. "It's nothing. Never mind."

Privately, Edelgard was still thinking about Flayn. Was it possible she wasn't putting on an act? Obviously she was pretending to be human, but could it be that she really was just the kindhearted girl she appeared to be?

Maybe. But if so, were she and her kind just ignorant to the problems faced by Fódlan? Or did they not believe they could change things?

Edelgard decided that maybe it didn't matter. Whatever problems Fódlan faced, there was nothing either of them could do for Fódlan at the moment but destroy Calamity Ganon.

If the opportunity to return to Fódlan ever presented itself, she could think about what to do about the Church then. In Hyrule however, Flayn was not her enemy.

That said, she had a question she wanted answered. And only a Child of the Goddess could give her an answer.

"Flayn?" she asked again. "You truly believe in the Goddess. Would you be willing to answer a religious question?"

"If I feel that I can answer, I will," Flayn said.

Edelgard decided to just ask the question. "Why does the Goddess let bad things happen to good people?"

Flayn hesitated. "Keep in mind that I don't know everything about the Goddess. Neither does the Archbishop. Not even Saint Seiros did. But I can tell you what I believe."

"That's all I ask."

Flayn shifted slightly. "Even before the Goddess returned to the heavens, she wasn't all-powerful. There were things she could not do, such as override another being's free will. If she could do that, humanity wouldn't have been able to abuse her gifts."

That, Edelgard could accept. "And what about bad things that aren't they result of free will, like disease?"

"You don't understand," Flayn said. "It's all the result of free will. The only perfect world is one free from sin."

Edelgard didn't understand, but she decided to ask her question more specifically. "Why did the Goddess not save my siblings? That is what I'm asking. Was it because she couldn't? Or did she simply not care?"

"When the Goddess returned to the heavens," Flayn explained, "her ability to enact her will on the world became limited. Limited, but not removed entirely."

"How so?"

"The Goddess cannot exercise her power upon the world directly. Not anymore," Flayn explained. "What she can do is grant power to someone acting in faith for the right reasons. It doesn't happen often, but I have felt her power aid me before. With her aid, I have been able to heal people who were too sick or injured to heal without her aid. And...she granted me the power to shield us from Calamity Ganon's assault on the Sheikah Tower. Even with my divine heritage, I would have been too weak to ward off the attack on my own.

"And there is one other thing. I believe that...she's there. Where we go when our lives end. I believe she is waiting to pick us up from where we have fallen. Waiting to…to comfort us, to welcome us. Before taking us to be reunited with our loved ones. Your siblings are in good hands, Edelgard."

Edelgard wanted to believe Flayn was right. "Then maybe that is what the Church should teach about the Goddess. Maybe then I would still believe in her."

Flayn shrugged slightly. "Saint Seiros believed the Goddess would return. She wrote the Book of Seiros to describe the Goddess as she was before she returned to the heavens."

"And yet, the Goddess never did return," Edelgard finished.

"No," Flayn concurred. "And I don't know if she ever will. But I have faith in her all the same."

In Byleth's mindscape, Sothis listened intently. She wasn't sure why. But it was almost like a part of herself that she had forgotten was calling to her.

And beyond the border of life and death, a part of Sothis's divided soul reached out to the other part of her soul, the part that remained with Byleth. Yet the part of her soul still lacked the strength to cross the border. The piece of herself she had sent to the bearer of her Crest Stone would remain separated from her. For now.

I find it interesting that faith is one of Flayn's personal strengths. It would make sense for that to have been her strength when Sothis was alive, but she's one of the few people who knows that Sothis was killed. And unlike Rhea, who has faith that Sothis can be brought back, as far as Flayn knows, Sothis is gone for good. So what is the nature of her faith?

I decided to explore what Flayn believes in a little bit. I like what I ultimately came up with for her.