"So, you can transform into a dragon at will?" Linhardt asked Farosh.
"Yes," Farosh said. "I am a manakete, a daughter of the goddess Farore."
"A manakete," Linhardt said. "Wizzro called you a manakete, Flayn."
"I am a manakete as well," Flayn admitted. "Though I was injured in my dragon form badly enough that I cannot transform into it."
Farosh looked at her with sympathy. "Poor girl."
Linhardt frowned. "That means Seteth..."
"Is a manakete as well, as is Archbishop Rhea," Flayn said. "Our particular subset of manaketes is called Nabateans. We were created by Sothis, thousands of years ago. I wasn't one of the original generation, but my grandfather was."
"And yet, there is no mention of a people known as the Nabateans in the scriptures of Seiros," Linhardt said. "Why not?"
"That is a story," Flayn said. "My true name is not actually Flayn. It is Cethleann. My father, Seteth, is in actuality Cichol, and my great-aunt Rhea is Seiros."
Lysithea stared at her. "You're Saint Cethleann?"
"Yes, I am," Flayn admitted. "And the scriptures of Seiros were not written to tell the true story of Sothis. They were written to protect the remaining children of Sothis."
"The remaining children of Sothis?" Dedue asked. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that my people were slaughtered," Flayn admitted. "Nemesis...he killed Sothis in her sleep and tore out her spine and heart to create his legendary sword, and drank her blood to give himself her Crest! He murdered my people, down to the infants in their cribs! He carved their bones into weapons and gave them to his followers! And he had the gall to claim that the Crest and sword were proof that he had been chosen to rule Fodlan by the goddess that he had killed!"
Everyone in the room reacted to that revelation with shock. The normally stoic Dedue fainted at the description of Nemesis's monstrous actions. Lysithea couldn't hold in the contents of her stomach. Farosh just hugged Flayn. Even Hubert, who was not known for his compassion, could only ask, "Why?"
"Because he was a monster who loved nothing but power and bloodshed," Flayn said.
"And Saint Seiros didn't challenge his explanation because if the true origin of Crests and Heroes' Relics became known, history would repeat itself," Linhardt realized. "I'm sorry."
"So, the Goddess is dead?" Flayn asked.
"Yes and no," Farosh said. "Sothis is a goddess. Even in death, she still has power. It's just...instead of acting directly, she can only grant her power to those who act on her behalf."
"You know that from your mother?" Flayn asked.
"Yes," Farosh confirmed. "Sothis would not have been destroyed in full so easily."
"Of course not," Monica muttered.
Farosh gave Monica a look, but Flayn ignored her. "The Church was founded for two purposes. To protect the survivors of that massacre, and there were survivors, but I don't know how many are left alive. And to try to keep the peace in Fodlan."
Kass hung his head. "A tragic story indeed. But perhaps a truer tale could have been told? That, perhaps, Nemesis and his followers had killed your people out of fear and jealousy, rather than for power?"
Flayn shook her head. "Father and Aunt Seiros decided it was better not to challenge Nemesis's version of events, but instead to claim that he had simply grown arrogant and turned against Sothis. Even if it was not known that our blood held the secret of immortality, there would have been those who would have hunted us for the crime of not being born human."
"Did that ever...happen?" Ashe asked.
"It did," Flayn confirmed. "Merrett Riegan was one such example. He had fought with us once, but he betrayed us and turned to Nemesis's side when he discovered that we weren't human. He killed my mother." She teared up. "He said she had betrayed her people by sleeping with monsters."
"It sounds like he was the true monster," Dedue, who had recovered from his faint, said.
Linhardt nodded. "I am truly sorry for you. Nobody deserves to go through what you went through."
Flayn looked at them. "You...you're not going to turn against me, now that you know I am not human?"
"Of course not," Dedue told her. "You may be different from us, but you are still our friend."
"Besides, you are not our only nonhuman friend," Linhardt said. "We're friends with Sidon, Mipha, and Kass, and they aren't human. Why should you be different?" Everyone else affirmed this.
"I can't say I agree with some of the choices you and your family made," Hubert admitted. "But I see now that you had your reasons. I cannot fault you for wanting to protect your family."
Flayn's eyes welled up with tears again, but this time they were happy tears. Her friends weren't going to abandon her!
"Cethleann," Farosh said. "I was the only manakete created by Farore, so I cannot imagine what you went through. But know that you and your family will always be welcome in my home."
"Thank you," Flayn said.
"I think I may be able to help you restore your draconic form," Farosh offered. She gave Flayn a very large scale.
"A scale?" Flayn asked.
"Take this to the Spring of Courage, and offer it to the Goddess Farore," Farosh told her. "Then seek out Dinraal and Naydra to receive the blessings of Din and Nayru. With the blessings of the three, you may be healed of your old wounds."
Flayn took the scale and held it close to her. "Thank you."
"Night is about to fall," Farosh said. "I must bring my power to bear against Ganon's."
The nine adventurers followed Farosh out of her house, and watched as she transformed into a dragon and flew into the air. "Amazing," Linhardt said.
Flayn looked at Farosh with jealousy. "Soon."
Hubert felt conflicted.
He did still think that the Church was a net negative force in Fódlan. That hadn't changed. But the truth about it had been a lot less simple than it being part of a scheme to control Fódlan.
He would discuss it further with Flayn, and try to get context on some of the Church's more questionable decisions. Then he would take his findings to Lady Edelgard. Perhaps they could come up with a plan that could weaken the Church's influence while still protecting the remaining Nabateans.
Dedue felt sick.
He was no stranger to senseless slaughter. Thousands of his own people had been killed in retaliation for the death of King Lambert. But even then, the knights of Faerghus had eventually reached a point where they decided enough was enough. What had happened to the Nabateans was nothing short of a cataclysm.
He knew one thing. He would keep his promise. He would be there for Flayn, now that her secret was out. If no one else stuck with her, he would.
"Why is it that whenever humanity discovers something unique, something beautiful, their first instinct is to destroy it?" Linhardt wondered.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder at the idea of a civilization of Sothis's children. It was a great loss to the world that they had been killed.
He wanted to know more about them. Someone should know about them. It would be horrible if their legacy was completely lost.
Lysithea...felt oddly better knowing that the dual Crests that were killing her weren't truly gifts from the Goddess.
Even after everything, she still counted herself among the Faithful. The knowledge that her hatred of her Crests and desire to rid herself of them wasn't truly blasphemous. In fact, considering the Elites weren't meant to have them, it could be considered an act of devotion to the Goddess.
A slight bit of resentment towards Seiros for allowing Nemesis's lie to carry on did blossom within Lysithea. Still, she understood Seiros's reasons.
Perhaps, once Ganon was defeated, the Divine Dragons of Hyrule could find a way to remove her Crests.
Cyril finally understood what Lady Rhea had meant when she said she knew what it was like to be feared and hated for being different.
He made a promise to himself. He would find his way back to her. She had survived the War of Heroes, and she would survive whatever Fódlan could throw at her in the meantime. He would find his way back to her, and he would tell her that he accepted her no matter how different she was, just like she had accepted him.
Maybe he could even take her and Seteth to meet the manaketes in Hyrule. And if there were more Nabateans in Fódlan, he would find them too.
Kronya was lost in thought.
She had thought that the humans would turn against Flayn when they realized what she was. She had thought that was the nature of humans, to try to destroy that which was different from them. But the humans had accepted Flayn so easily!
That raised a question. If humans weren't intent on destroying anyone who wasn't human, why were the Agarthans hiding underground when they could be living on the surface?