Grove, Judge the Past and Present

Patch: 3.3 · Chapter: The Fall at Dawn's Rise · Mission 05 of 9Previous: Golden Thread, Relay the Savior's Fate · Next: Poet, Speak of the Sky Through Me (I)

Official summary

To prepare for the final expedition, you each make your arrangements. Phainon entrusts Cipher with safeguarding Kephale's Coreflame while the group is away. Hyacine travels to the Grove to seek the ancestral spirits' blessing, forging a rainbow bridge to reach Aquila's domain. With preparations complete, you ascend to the skies to conclude the Flame-Chase Journey.

Synopsis

This mission uses the Fate's Ensemble system and is played almost entirely from Hyacine's perspective (subtitled "Hyacine: Rebirth of Fallen Feathers"). The Trailblazer does not appear on-screen; the story follows Hyacine as she completes the final ritual preparations for the campaign against Aquila, the Sky Titan. Only the closing line returns to the Trailblazer's point of view. Framed by the mission-description narration, the whole sequence is Dan Heng's later recollection of "witnessing Hyacine perform the Skyward Rite" to open the path to Aquila — but the beats themselves happen in the present of the story.

The ruined Grove and a remembered lesson

Hyacine returns to the "Murmuring Woods" Grove of Epiphany, the academy she has avoided since the black tide destroyed it, precisely to avoid the memories that would sadden her. Her companion Little Ica (a small blue bird, speaking in "Doot"s) coaxes her back to purpose. Hyacine explains her burden: Phainon has already set the date to campaign against Aquila, and as a descendant of the Sky people she is the one who must open the way. She asks the ancestors to "wait for just a bit longer" while she reminisces.

At a marked spot in the Grove, Hyacine recalls "the lesson" Professor Anaxa once gave — shown as a memory/flashback, not a present event. In that memory Anaxa announces his final lesson before entering seclusion to research ancient alchemy, warning students never to shame the name of Anaxagoras, one of the Seven Sages. He spars verbally with Phainon of Aedes Elysiae (docking his credits), draws a giggle from Castorice, and is cornered by his teaching-assistant "nemesis" Hyacine (whom he pointedly calls "Hyacinthia") into observing the Grove's protocol for a cohort's last class: to discuss each student's post-graduation aspiration.

The students answer in turn:

• Phainon — the only thing he wants is "to protect the people I care about." Anaxa dismisses this as wanting to be a boring "hero."
• Castorice — she hopes the world can be freed from the agony of "death," so every living being may find peace. Anaxa calls it naive, a fairy tale.
• Hyacine — her aspiration is to complete the "blank page" at the end of the heroes' epic. Having read all of Amphoreus's heroic epics, she noticed that they record heroes' deeds but never how ordinary people lived and suffered.

Hyacine's speech is the thematic heart of the mission. Her own ancestor, Seliose the Daythunder Knight, "raised her spear against the Sky and ushered in the Flame-Chasing era" — yet Seliose's towering legend erased everyone around her from the record: her family, allies, the survivors, the dead. Hyacine's counter-ambition:

Hyacine: "Instead of becoming a hero and ushering in a golden deluge to baptize the world anew, I want to stay in the back line and save all the ordinary humans from drowning in the rising waves. I wish not to return to the sky, but to walk among the masses on earth... to include a footnote for the everyday people in its blank page."

Back in the present, an embarrassed Hyacine reflects that her beliefs never changed and that she now finally has a chance to realize that dream from behind the heroes' frontline.

Reunion with Dan Heng

Dan Heng finds Hyacine in the Grove. He is there collecting "as many myths and research about the Titans as I can" — everything about Amphoreus is valuable data for the Astral Express. Hyacine explains her task: to reach Aquila's realm, descendants of the Sky people must perform a bloodline ceremony, summon their ancestors' spirits, and receive their blessings.

Hyacine: "That's the only way for creatures on earth to forge the rainbow bridge to the sky."

This rainbow bridge is essential to retrieving Aquila's Coreflame. Dan Heng warns that undertaking such a vital rite alone is risky and offers to accompany and protect her; Hyacine accepts. Notably, Dan Heng admits his own unease about the mission: after "a conversation with a member of the Council of Elders," he has begun "to question how real everything is," and doubts that breaking the curse of "worlds beyond the sky" (and finally going home with the Trailblazer, "Grayie") will go smoothly. He does not elaborate, but flags there is "a lot that I still don't understand." (This continues his 3.2 investigation thread.)

First blessing — Magistrate Crispus (the Grove)

Hyacine's ritual tool is the Chroma Coffer, "the divine object of the Sky people." When a qualified Skyfolk descendant is ready to challenge Aquila again, they must first use the Coffer to awaken their ancestors' spirits and receive their benediction; only then may they re-ascend. Dan Heng deduces the rite exists to stop the unqualified from throwing their lives away, and Hyacine agrees it is prudent.

The first ancestor she awakens is Lord Crispus, a righteous magistrate/judge who vindicated the wrongfully accused. Skeptical that this young, unwarrior-like girl can contend with a Titan, Crispus fears his blessing will become a curse leading her to death. Hyacine answers that a thousand years ago Seliose left behind not just legend but a will, entrusting the mission of returning Aquila's Coreflame to descendants like them. She stresses that in this hero-rich era, the burden no longer rests on the Skyborn alone — she has "the strongest and most tenacious companions in the world" — and that she wields the power of healing, aiming "to mend the fissures in the sky and heal the wounds of the people." Convinced by an inner resilience he senses in her, Crispus grants the first sky blessing: "May you gain wings to return to the sky via the bridge of rainbows."

Second blessing — General Ektra (the Vortex of Genesis)

The next ancestor's spirit rests in the Vortex of Genesis, and the ceremony must be performed in strict order. Rather than the long trip back through Okhema's ritual basin, Dan Heng offers a shortcut: he has been quietly practicing the "secret arts of water" that Hyacine once suggested he learn from Phagousa's priests. With spirit water he can now carve a direct path to the Vortex. He warns the gate is less stable than a ritual basin — it will "likely only let one person through" — and, per the priests' design, "the entrance serves as the exit," so Hyacine must return the same way. He and Little Ica will wait. Reciting an incantation ("Spirit water, reveal the way—"), he opens the path.

Cipher / Tribbie interlude. Emerging in the Vortex, Hyacine overhears Tribbie and Cipher (introducing herself as "Cifera from the long-fallen city-state of Dolos"). This scene stages the mission's other preparation, matching the official summary: Phainon ("Snowy," "that Deliverer boy") has entrusted Cipher with an "incredibly tough mission" — safeguarding Kephale's Coreflame while the heroes are away. Cipher is about to leave and gives Tribbie a mysterious gift she must not open until "nightfall." Cipher and Tribbie both note that Cipher's renewed humor recalls "what Agy [Aglaea] said all those years ago." Meeting Hyacine, Cipher is surprised that Seliose's descendant is so small and gentle, but wishes her luck ("if things get tough, just let that Deliverer take the lead!") and teleports away using the Coin of Whimsy. Tribbie leaves to hide the gift, giving Hyacine the Vortex.

Hyacine awakens General Ektra, a Sky-people commander who, during the Chrysos War, allied the Skyfolk with Okhema and held back the Kremnoan forces — the victory that earned the Sky people a place in the holy city. Ektra marvels at the Vortex: ten stars are already lit, the Flame-Chase nearly done. Recognizing two of them as the Coreflames of Phagousa (Ocean) and Georios (Earth), Ektra asks whether "Hysilens and the Mountain Dweller successfully carried out their duty" — naming, in passing, the ancient Heirs who once bore Ocean and Earth's charge. Ektra is stunned to learn Aglaea persisted on the Flame-Chase for a thousand years (and saddened to hear she has "recently left us").

Ektra then recalls seeking a prophecy from "a certain Tribios," and Hyacine recites it:

General Ektra's prophecy (from Tribios): "At the end of the rainbow bridge, the Skyfolk will mend dusk and dawn."

No ancestor ever deciphered its meaning, but Ektra notes "Tribios' prophecies never fail" and suggests Hyacine may be the one to fulfill it, wishing her "a gentle fate." Moved by Hyacine's resolve — and hoping Sky's divinity, if it must pass on, will "incorporate your optimism and kindness" — Ektra grants the second sky blessing.

Third blessing — Jacyntha (Castrum Kremnos)

Hyacine returns through the Vortex to the Grove, where Dan Heng waits. She recounts Ektra's words; Dan Heng is quietly disturbed, sensing "a hint of... sadness" in the prophecy "At the end of the rainbow bridge, the Skyfolk will mend dusk and dawn." Hyacine, echoing that Trinnon deciphers countless prophecies daily, tells him not to worry. The final ancestor's resting place is the most distant and dangerous: Castrum Kremnos, Mydei's home.

At Kremnos, Hyacine notes Mydei has been holding the black-tide frontline alone; his recent thunder-borne warning about the Flame Reaver proves he has not yet been consumed by the black tide's madness. They resolve not to interfere with his battlefield.

The sleeping spirit here is Hyacine's own grandmother, Jacyntha, a Twilight Courtyard warrior. Jacyntha fought to the final stage of the Kremnos Festival, one step from securing a peace treaty for the Skyfolk, but was defeated in "a glorious duel" — a euphemism, Hyacine notes, for ritualistic violence. Her wounds worsened and she died far from home; the Kremnoans left this Prophecy Tablet to honor her final wish. Her death marked the "final collapse of the Twilight Courtyard." The warrior who defeated her, Dan Heng realizes, was Krateros — the same man Hyacine later chose to save. She explains she made her peace when she learned Krateros took a fatal blow to protect Trianne, quoting Phainon: he must have done it "to become a better man." Dan Heng: "It takes true courage to forgive. You're every bit as strong as your ancestors."

Awakening Jacyntha is an emotional reunion — the grandmother is stricken that it is her own "little hummingbird" who must bear Aquila's Coreflame. Hyacine recalls being taken to her first Sky Rite at age eight, where among four accessories (the sun crown of nobility, the storm bracelet of strength, the ice ring of wisdom, the radiant pendant of kindness) she alone, in centuries, chose the radiant pendant of kindness — infusing a thread of light into it with an innocent prayer. Jacyntha, who once thought the timid child had none of the family's "fiery determination," accepts her granddaughter's conviction that being Skyfolk means not strength but "the capacity to shape the world," and that a saga begun with Sky (Seliose) will also end with Sky (Hyacine's healing). She grants the third sky blessing.

At Hyacine's request, Jacyntha tells "the tale of the sky hero once more," for the last time — the legend of Seliose the Daythunder Knight (told as ancient history):

Jacyntha: "Aquila, the celestial shaper, the hundred-eyed divine bird crowned with the blazing sun and wielding thunder... Though struck blind in ninety-nine eyes by Nikador, they kept one eye, glaring at the children of twilight who received divine blessing yet turned their weapons against the gods."

Seliose ascended the forbidden Eye of Twilight at dusk, clad in wings, flanked by two divine beasts: Solabis, the Sunlit Wings (lion-headed, breathing divine flame) and Lunabis, the Moonlit Plume (horse-bodied, treading the stars). In the battle the Titan's blood fell like boiling rain; Solabis set Aquila's wings aflame while Lunabis sealed its divine body, and the wounded Seliose lifted her spear to pierce the Titan's last eye. As Aquila's body fell and the sky tore "like fabric," threatening to fall with its god, Seliose — the first Chrysos Heir to slay a god in this world — charged with her two beasts into the crumbling Titan's body and merged with it, holding up the sky once more. She left a message that becomes the origin of Hyacine's rite:

Seliose (via Jacyntha): "My descendants will be blessed and cross the rainbow bridge back to the sky... At the end of the Prophecy of Genesis, they will reclaim the Coreflame from my hands."

With all three blessings gathered, the rainbow bridge to Aquila's domain can be forged. The mission closes by returning to the Trailblazer's POV with a single line of guidance:

"When you have a chance to make a choice, make one that you know you won't regret."

Key characters

• Hyacine (Hyacinthia) — The POV character; a Twilight Courtyard physician and descendant of the Sky people, revealed here as the Chrysos Heir who will take over the authority of Sky. She performs the Skyward Rite, gathering three ancestral blessings to forge the rainbow bridge. Her defining creed: to be the "back-line" healer who writes the "blank page" for ordinary people rather than another blinding hero. Wields healing power and the divine beast Little Ica.
• Dan Heng — Accompanies and protects Hyacine; collecting Titan myths for the Express. Has learned Phagousa's "secret arts of water," letting him carve a one-way spirit-water gate to the Vortex. Voices growing doubt about "how real everything is" after speaking with a Council elder, and senses hidden sadness in the Skyfolk prophecy.
• Little Ica — Hyacine's small bird companion; keeps her focused and promises to protect her.
• Cipher (Cifera) — Trickery demigod, self-styled as being from the fallen city-state of Dolos. Entrusted by Phainon with safeguarding Kephale's Coreflame during the campaign; leaves Tribbie a gift to open "at nightfall"; departs via the Coin of Whimsy.
• Tribbie — Present in the Vortex; sees Cipher off and vacates the Vortex for Hyacine's rite. Frames Phainon ("Snowy") as young but shouldering Aglaea's ("Agy") legacy.
• Anaxa (Anaxagoras) — Appears only in Hyacine's memory of the Grove's final lesson; establishes the pre-war student dynamic among Phainon, Castorice, and Hyacine and elicits each of their aspirations.
• Phainon / Castorice — Appear only in the flashback lesson (Phainon's "protect the people I care about"; Castorice's wish to end the agony of death).
• Crispus — First ancestral spirit; a righteous Sky-people magistrate. Grants the first sky blessing after testing Hyacine's resolve.
• General Ektra — Second ancestral spirit; Sky-people general of the Chrysos War who allied the Skyfolk with Okhema. Relays Tribios's prophecy about the rainbow bridge and grants the second blessing.
• Jacyntha — Hyacine's grandmother and third ancestral spirit; a Twilight Courtyard warrior killed (indirectly) by Krateros at the Kremnos Festival. Grants the final blessing and retells the legend of Seliose.

Lore notes

• The Skyward Rite / bloodline ceremony — To retrieve Aquila's Coreflame, a Sky-people descendant must use the Chroma Coffer to awaken ancestral spirits and gather their blessings, which together forge a "rainbow bridge" to the sky. The rite is deliberately gated to prevent the unqualified from dying pointlessly, and blessings must be collected in a fixed order (Grove → Vortex of Genesis → Castrum Kremnos).
• Aquila (Sky Titan) — new detail — The "celestial shaper," a hundred-eyed divine bird crowned with the sun and wielding thunder; also called the Eye of Twilight. Long ago Nikador blinded ninety-nine of its hundred eyes; its final eye still glared at the Skyfolk who turned on the gods. Its Coreflame is set by Aglaea as the final target of the Flame-Chase because "Sky shelters all beneath it" — shattering it prematurely would collapse the world.
• Seliose the Daythunder Knight (expanded) — The first Chrysos Heir to slay a god in this world (~1,000 years ago), founder of the Flame-Chasing era. She slew Aquila with two divine beasts — Solabis, the Sunlit Wings (lion-headed, fire-breathing) and Lunabis, the Moonlit Plume (horse-bodied) — then merged with the Titan to hold up the sky, i.e. she is the current bearer of the Sky pillar whose Coreflame Hyacine must reclaim "from her hands." Ancestor of the Sky people / Twilight Courtyard line, including Hyacine.
• Tribios's Skyfolk prophecy — > "At the end of the rainbow bridge, the Skyfolk will mend dusk and dawn." Sought by General Ektra; undeciphered for a thousand years; Tribios's prophecies "never fail." Dan Heng senses "sadness" in it. Given the chapter title "The Fall at Dawn's Rise" and Aquila's dusk/twilight associations, this foreshadows Hyacine's fate in the Aquila campaign. [?] Its true meaning is left open.
• Seliose's own message — > "My descendants will be blessed and cross the rainbow bridge back to the sky... At the end of the Prophecy of Genesis, they will reclaim the Coreflame from my hands." Establishes the rite's mythic origin and ties Sky's Coreflame recovery to the Prophecy/Miracle of Genesis.
• Ten Coreflames restored — The Vortex now shows ten of twelve stars lit, including Phagousa (Ocean) and Georios (Earth), attributed to the ancient bearers "Hysilens and the Mountain Dweller." Aquila (Sky) and, implicitly, Kephale (Worldbearing) remain. Connection: advances the running Coreflame count (7 at end of 3.0; now 10) and the "Remaining Titan situation" thread; Aquila is confirmed as the final campaign target.
• Hysilens named as an ancient Sky-era figure / Ocean-bearer — In 3.2 "Hysilens" was named only as one who could "raise the River of Souls into the sky"; here Ektra links Hysilens (with "the Mountain Dweller") to the restoration of Phagousa's and Georios's Coreflames. [?] Exact identity and which Coreflame each bore is still unclear. Connection: advances open thread #25.
• Phainon entrusts Kephale's Coreflame to Cipher — A concrete preparation for the sky campaign; while the heroes ascend, Cipher guards the last Titan's Coreflame in Okhema. Cipher's parting gift for Tribbie ("wait until nightfall") is left as a hanging hook. [?]
• Cipher's origin — Dolos — Cipher names herself "Cifera from the long-fallen city-state of Dolos," the first place-of-origin given for the Trickery demigod.
• Dan Heng's water arts — He has trained under Phagousa's priests to open a one-way spirit-water gate ("the entrance serves as the exit," one person only). Continues his pattern of unexplained aptitude and deepening investigation; his doubts "how real everything is" after a Council conversation tie into the cyclical-history / prophecy-legitimacy threads (open threads #2, #4).
• Kremnos Festival backstory — Framed critically as "ritualistic violence" dressed up as a "glorious duel." Jacyntha reached its final stage seeking a Skyfolk peace treaty but was fatally defeated by Krateros, causing the Twilight Courtyard's collapse. Recontextualizes Hyacine's earlier choice to heal Krateros (who was redeemed by protecting Trianne) as an act of forgiveness. Connection: ties Krateros and Trianne (3.1) to Hyacine's personal history.
• The Grove lesson (character seeding) — Establishes that Phainon, Castorice, and Hyacine were all Anaxa's students at the Grove of Epiphany before the war, and crystallizes each one's core motive (Phainon: protect loved ones; Castorice: end death's agony; Hyacine: honor the common people). Delivered as memory, not present event.
• Thematic frame — "Judge the past and present": the mission contrasts the erased "blank page" of ordinary lives against monumental hero-legend, arguing (via Hyacine) for the value of the back-line healer over the world-baptizing hero.

Sources

• Grove, Judge the Past and Present — HSR Wiki

Hindsight (full arc)

• Foreshadowing: Tribios's prophecy "At the end of the rainbow bridge, the Skyfolk will mend dusk and dawn," and Dan Heng's sensed "sadness" in it, pay off directly in m09: Hyacine ascends as the Sky demigod and casts a permanent rainbow over Okhema as the city falls to eternal night — literally mending dusk and dawn.
• Reread with the reveal: Dan Heng's growing doubt about "how real everything is" (after his talk with Lygus) is exactly right — Amphoreus is a simulation, a discarded Emperor's Scepter / Celestial-Body Neuron under Nanook's gaze (revealed 3.4). His instinct that going home won't come easily anticipates the whole 3.4+ turn.
• Reread with the reveal: Ektra's "Hysilens and the Mountain Dweller" (ancient bearers of Ocean and Earth) name figures who anchor later patches — Hysilens/Helektra in 3.5, and the Earth authority (Georios/Terravox) that Dan Heng himself inherits as Permansor Terrae in 3.6.
• Reread with the reveal: The Grove lesson — Phainon wanting only "to protect the people I care about," Castorice to end death's agony, Hyacine to write the "blank page" of ordinary lives — seeds each one's demigod fate; the "blank page" motif is Cyrene's, whose As I've Written is the arc's literal record (3.6/3.7).