The next morning, after breakfast, the students, the Hylians, and their four listeners met in the meeting room to continue their story. "Now, where were we?" Hilda asked.

"Astor," Jeralt said.

"Actually, can Astor wait?" Seteth asked. "I would like to hear about what Flayn had been doing."

"Certainly," Flayn said.

Linhardt teleported Flayn, himself, and the other six volunteers to the Dueling Peaks Stable. "We could potentially get closer to Lake Hylia. But if we do, we would have to walk." They had freed the horses they couldn't take with them in Gatepost Town.

"I'll purchase horses for us," Ashe suggested, then went to go and do just that.

Flayn was excited. The shine monk had called the Divine Dragons her "kin." They weren't Nabateans, as they hadn't been created by Sothis, but maybe they were also manaketes like her. She couldn't be more excited to meet them.

She was so excited to discover what they could teach her. Maybe they could even teach her a way to heal her other form.

As they left, Hubert contemplated Flayn.

The truth was, he didn't know what to make of her. Lady Edelgard had theorized that beyond pretending to be human, her sweet innocent girl act might not be an act at all.

He wasn't sure if she was right. The suspicious side of him thought Flayn was foxing. But another part of him thought she might not be.

It ultimately didn't matter. Lady Edelgard was right. Flayn was an important weapon for defeating Ganon, so he would protect her.

Still. Maybe this quest would answer some questions.

Kronya was nervous. More of the Agarthans' ancient enemies were present here in the land of Hyrule, and she was heading straight for them.

It was necessary, she told herself. Calamity Ganon was a foe far more dangerous to her people than the beasts ever had been.

As she contemplated Flayn, she thought Flayn was...different...from what she had thought she would be like. She was expecting one of the Children of the Fell Star to be a proud warrior, to have a presence that demanded obedience. But aside from the odd display of power against Calamity Ganon, she seemed...boring. She seemed like she didn't love violence the way Kronya did.

How dull. But all the same, perhaps if all of her people had been boring like her, there never would have been a war against them.

Thales said the beasts could never be forgiven for the unprovoked attack they had launched against the Agarthan nation of old. (Thales had lied. The Agarthans had been the ones to strike first. But Kronya didn't know that.) But Flayn likely had not been one of the ones who had taken part in the war against Agartha. And if they succeeded in destroying Calamity Ganon, the Agarthans would owe her a great debt. And for all her faults, Kronya paid her debts. If Flayn survived Ganon, she deserved to live out her days in peace. In Hyrule, far away from the Agarthans. She didn't even think they knew there was a continent across the ocean to the west.

In any case, she had questions of her own for the local beasts. Namely, what could have summoned the Rising Sun Company to Hyrule?

As they rode, Ashe rode next to Cyril. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure. What do ya have to say?" Cyril asked.

"Cyril, I don't want us to be enemies," Ashe said. "I'm Lord Lonato's adopted son, you're Lady Rhea's ward. I don't want us to hate each other just because our guardians are enemies."

Cyril nodded. "I don't want us to be enemies either. Ya seem like a good guy, Ashe."

"Thank you," Ashe said. "You seem like a good person too."

"Thanks," Cyril said. A thought occurred to him. "Why'd you volunteer to help Flayn on...whatever quest this is?"

"Well, my ambition is to be a true knight," Ashe admitted. "A knight who brings honor to the title. And I would be a rather poor knight if I left Flayn to face danger alone."

"I get that," Cyril said. "Lady Rhea thinks I could be a knight someday. She had me train with Shamir to try to become a knight. And she says the job of a knight is to protect innocent people."

"Lord Lonato and Lady Rhea might be enemies, but maybe they taught us similar values," Ashe observed.

"Maybe so," Cyril agreed. "Ya know what? Let's be friends. We can be heroic knights together. Knights that Lady Rhea and Lord Lonato would be proud of."

"Friends, then," Ashe agreed.

Lysithea decided to ask Flayn a question. "Flayn? You're a priest of Seiros, right? And a direct descendant of Saint Cethleann?"

"I am," Flayn confirmed.

"Do you know anything about Crests?" Lysithea asked.

"Yes. In fact, I know a bit more than most people," Flayn confirmed. "Not everything, not even close, but more than most."

"If I ask you questions about Crests, will you give me a Church-approved answer, or a genuine answer?" Lysithea asked.

"I...will try to answer your questions, but there are some things I can't just tell you," Flayn admitted.

Lysithea seemed to accept this. "I'll take whatever answers you can give me."

"Ask, then," Flayn offered.

"Have there been cases of a person having two Crests before?" Lysithea asked.

"Never," Flayn said. "Two Crests were never meant to exist in the same body."

"But I have two," Lysithea said.

Flayn frowned. "Which Crests?"

"Charon and Gloucester," Lysithea said.

Flayn's frown deepened. "How did you manifest them?"

"I always had the Crest of Charon," Lysithea said. "But someone...did something to me, some years ago. I don't know who, or what they did to me, but I didn't have the Crest of Gloucester before, and now I do. My siblings...they weren't so lucky. Whatever process gave me my second Crest killed them."

"I'm sorry," Flayn said. "Losing family is hard."

"You lost family too?" Lysithea asked.

"My mother, cousins, aunts, uncles," Flayn admitted. "I have very little family left. Most of them were killed by bandits."

"I'm sorry," Lysithea said.

Flayn thought for a moment. "I do not know how to remove your second Crest. But I think...the person we're looking for might."

"Who are we looking for?" Lysithea asked.

Flayn contemplated how to answer that question. "A messenger of a Goddess," she said after some thought. "Not of our Goddess, but she may know things about Crests that we don't."

"The Great Fairy suggested someone might," Lysithea said. "Okay. Let's meet this messenger."

Neither of them noticed Hubert listening in. But Hubert was glad he had. Maybe this meant Lady Edelgard could be cured of her own double Crest.

Hubert had no faith in gods. But if this messenger could cure his liege, he would be eternally grateful.

Linhardt had to admit, his interest had been piqued. Flayn had only told him that they were going to meet a messenger of a Goddess. But who knew what sort of messenger she might be?

Maybe she would be a Crest-bearer, like the Saints of old. What sort of Crest would a messenger of a Hyrulean Goddess have?

"Flayn," he addressed her. "What do you suppose this messenger might be like?"

Flayn fidgeted nervously. "I don't know. I doubt she's human. She was created by a Goddess. A Child of a Goddess, if you will."

"Interesting," Linhardt said. "You might know this already, but there are actually apocryphal legends of a civilization of Children of our Goddess."

"Really?" Flayn asked.

If she had asked too quickly, Linhardt didn't notice. "Yes, really. It's said they were an advanced civilization of people with amazing powers. But for some reason, they vanished."

"Well, the Books of the Saints tell of no such civilization," Flayn said.

"You're right. They probably didn't exist," Linhardt admitted. "But perhaps someone like our messenger inspired the tales."

"Perhaps," Flayn agreed. Linhardt looked at the map, and thus didn't see Flayn's sigh of relief.

Night would soon fall, and the party had made it to a Shrine they had already visited. They decided to tether the horses and spend the night in the Shrine, just to be safe.

In the Shrine, Dedue was making a meal for the eight of them. Fortunately, they had managed to convince a Korok that had been hiding in Zora's Domain to make them a second Korok pouch, otherwise transporting supplies would be far more difficult.

"Dedue?" Flayn asked.

Dedue looked up at Flayn. "Yes?"

"What do you think the messenger of Farore will think of me?" Flayn asked.

Dedue frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I am descended from a messenger of Sothis," Flayn said. "I feel as if there should be a sort of...kinship, between me and the messenger of Farore."

"Truth be told, I am not particularly well-versed in religion," Dedue admitted. "But I see no reason why the messenger should take issue with you. You have kindness, courage, and strength of will."

Flayn nodded. "Thank you for the compliments."

Dedue simply returned to his cooking.

Flayn felt the need to ask another question. "Does it bother you, being seen with suspicion because you are different from others?"

Dedue sighed. "It does. The way others look at me. So often they only see that I am a man of Duscur. They see only what I am, not who I am."

"And how do you see the Zora, and Kass?" Flayn asked.

"They may look different from us, but they are just people," Dedue said.

Flayn sat closer to him. "What if I was also different?"

"I hope I would be able to look past surface-level differences," Dedue said. "Are you different in some way?"

"In a way, yes," Flayn confessed.

"Do you want to say more?" Dedue asked.

"No, no, I've said too much already," Flayn said.

"Fair enough. We are all entitled to our secrets," Dedue said. He recognized the glint that had been in her eyes. Fear. Fear of being rejected.

He resolved to keep his mind open, if and when Flayn chose to reveal what made her different.

Flayn, somniphobe that she was, was the last to fall asleep. Before she did, she looked around the Shrine, seeing the sleeping forms of the people she called friends.

She suspected that she wouldn't be able to keep her secret forever. She hoped that when it finally came out, these people would still consider her their friend.