The night after the visit to the Spring of Power, Link dreamt of Zelda again. While sometimes his dreams of her had been memories of times gone by, this time he was with Zelda as she was now. In Hyrule Castle, keeping Calamity Ganon trapped there. She was still in a state of intense concentration, and she showed no obvious signs of noticing him. But he was sure she knew he was there.
He sat down beside her and held her hand. She didn't look at him, but she gave his hand a slight squeeze.
"I'd love to just stay here with you, Zelda, but I need your help right now," Link began. "I don't need much, just a bit of information. Yes, the Company and I managed to free three of the Divine Beasts, but we only barely pulled it off each time, and if we keep depending on luck, sooner or later it's going to run out. I need to know where to find the Master Sword."
Zelda stayed silent for several seconds, to the point where he thought she wasn't going to tell him. But then she answered. "Korok Forest."
"Thank you," Link said, giving her hand a squeeze.
He stayed with her for the rest of the night.
The trek to Korok Forest wasn't that long. It was a ways east of Rito Village, but not more than a few days' ride away from the nearest village whose Shrine they had activated.
Eventually, they reached a village near the forest. There, they saw someone familiar. Annette waved to him. "Hey there, Hestu!"
"Shalaka!" Hestu said, "Hello!"
"We've got some more Korok seeds if you want them. Plus some quivers that could use enchanting," Claude said.
"Sounds good to me!" Hestu said.
After he had enchanted the rest of the Company's quivers, he asked a question. "What brings you to Korok Forest?"
"We're actually here looking for the Master Sword," Link said. "I'm told it's here."
"Oh! Your sword!" Hestu realized. "Yes, Miss Princess took it here after you got hurt!"
"Can you take us to it?" Link asked.
"I'll take three of you there, but the Great Deku Tree says you have to pass a test first," Hestu said. "He says if you don't, you can't find the way through Korok Forest."
"That's...vaguely ominous," Claude noted. "Do you know anything about the test?"
"You have to look in the Mirror of Truth," Hestu said. "I looked in it and nothing happened, but he says it's different for Koroks because we know who we are. I don't understand it. How can you not know who you are?"
"Well...it's complicated," Claude said. "Humans sometimes have lies that we tell ourselves so we don't feel bad about things we do."
Hestu didn't seem to understand. "I'll take Mister Hero and two other people to the Mirror of Truth. You can take the test, then we'll get to the Great Deku Tree tonight, you can sleep, and you can go in the morning."
"Sounds good," Link said. "Anyone want to come with me?"
"I'll go," Edelgard said. "I think...I think this is something I need to do."
"I'll go too," Claude said. "I get the feeling that this test will answer a question I've been struggling with."
"You sure you guys want to go?" Raphael asked. "If this mirror shows you the truth about yourself...I could look in it. I don't think I have dark secrets I don't want to think about."
"Trust us, we need to do this," Edelgard said. Even if they didn't know exactly why, they knew they did need to do it.
"I'll stay with the camp, then," Dimitri said.
With that, Hestu led the three of them into Korok Forest.
A few hours later, after most of the camp had turned in for the night, Hubert got up and began preparing his horse.
"Hubert?" Mercedes's voice called from behind him. The healer had been one of the ones on watch duty. "What are you doing?"
"The forest to the north is where one of the last of the mini-Slates is," Hubert explained. "Lady Edelgard and Lysithea need the Mini-Slates to open the way to where they can be cured of their afflictions. I intend to find the Slate north of here."
"But why are you going alone?" Mercedes asked. "You could just ask us to help you, and—"
"I don't want to risk any of your lives to fix my mistakes," Hubert cut her off.
"What mistakes?" Mercedes asked.
"When I was a boy, I was assigned by my father to Lady Edelgard to protect and serve her," Hubert explained. "I was to be on the lookout for danger, to be forewarned of any danger to my Lady. But I never suspected the danger to her would come from my father.
"He kidnapped her and her siblings so the Agarthans could experiment on them. She was the only one who survived, and at the cost of a shortened lifespan," he explained. "I could do nothing to save her. My life's goal...I failed it totally. She would have been within her rights to kill me. Instead, she allowed me to keep serving her. And I cannot fail her again."
Mercedes was horrified, but her horror turned to determination. "I'm coming with you."
"Why?" Hubert asked.
"Because I failed to protect someone I should have protected too," Mercedes said. "My little brother...my mother and I left him behind when we fled from my cruel stepfather, Baron Bartels. I'm going to help you, whether you want it or not."
Hubert remained silent for a moment. Then he nodded. "So be it."