Chapter 44 - of Water and Sky (Part 4)

"Let's take a look at Astrea's name." "Puppet Show" Astrea. "Now it seems like this is a clear hint. Rea isn't a real human but... a puppet? A living puppet, almost indistinguishable from a human." "Now let's look at Themis' name." "String Puppetry" Themis. "The term 'string puppetry' refers to ancient puppet shows, which is essentially the same as 'puppet show.' This is also a clear hint." "Finally, let's revisit Themis' character PV." Brother Da opened Themis' character PV, which had been released before the second half of Version 1.3. The PV begins with Themis soaring through the sky, her wings spread wide. She flies over mountains, seas, and clouds, eventually landing gracefully on the rooftop of a grand building—the top of the Palais Mermonia, though players don't yet know the name of this structure. After landing, she kneels on one knee, her wings folding behind her, and addresses the man standing with his back to her. "Supreme Bishop, the Fatui who infiltrated have all been dealt with." "Hmm... I recall this was Astrea's task." "Then it is my task." "You're like this, she'll never grow up." The Supreme Bishop's voice is calm, but there's a hint of helplessness in it. "As long as I'm here, she doesn't need to grow up." Turning to face Themis, he speaks softly, "One day, all of you will grow and mature. I understand how you feel, but you must also prepare yourself." Themis remains silent, her head bowed. "Both you and Astrea will one day stand on your own." In response to these words, the PV shows... When Astrea is surrounded by Slimes, Themis spreads her wings and appears, scattering the Slimes. When Astrea is chased by Hilichurls, Themis spreads her wings, her expression cold as she eliminates them. When Astrea is hurt by rogue Fatui agents and cries for help, Themis spreads her wings, furious, and sends them flying miles away. The BGM remains calm throughout, no matter the scene. Then, gradually, the screen darkens, leaving only Themis' figure, her wings spread, silently suspended in the darkness. Her eyes are closed, her toes pointing downward as she hovers quietly. In the darkness, a sigh echoes softly: "It's time for you to grow up, Themis. Don't hide in your sister's shadow out of fear. This is a father's expectation." "That voice is clearly the Supreme Bishop's!" Brother Da slapped his thigh again. "At first, I didn't think much of it, but now it's clear—the Supreme Bishop calling himself a father must have deeper meaning." At this moment, at miHoYo, Fu Xuan, who was also watching the livestream, couldn't help but widen her eyes. "So... this is how Kiana's cryptic, self-contradictory plotlines can be tied together?" After some thought, she decided to notify Kiana, the game's producer, to come and watch this analysis. Maybe, by learning from it, she could finally fill in the plot holes she'd created. After all, teamwork makes the dream work, right? At least this way, the story might not fall apart. Unaware of what was happening at miHoYo, Brother Da continued his analysis, providing more evidence to support his theory. "Let's take another look at Astrea's profile." [Profile] Astrea CV: Huohuo Birthday: May 5th Affiliation: Holy Knights Original Sin: Water Constellation: Libra First Knight of the Holy Knights, "Knight of Water," "Herald of Original Sin." Despite her worrisome personality, she possesses the absolute strength befitting her position. Character Details Within the Holy Knights, Astrea is the first knight. While her personality may not seem knightly, she is undeniably a senior member—or rather, an undeniably caring older sister. Initially, her younger sisters doubted her suitability as a knight and were concerned for her. However, Astrea's immense strength and her extraordinary sense of justice and kindness gradually won them over. Astrea is the undisputed First Knight of the Holy Knights. Character Story 1 Astrea loves listening to stories. When she first gained memories, she would often pester the Supreme Bishop, who always had countless tales to tell, like a father, to share stories with her. However, some of the Supreme Bishop's stories were so outrageous that it was hard to tell if they were true or not. Astrea never knew whether to believe them. For example, the Supreme Bishop once said that the so-called Archons were not originally gods. They only became divine after obtaining fragments of the Primordial One, gaining divine authority and power. Later, these fragments began to merge, leaving only the seven largest fragments as the final victors—the origins of the Seven Archons. "Huh? You don't believe me? Otherwise, why do you think the Geo Archon is so strong? It's because the Archon War in Liyue was the most brutal. He killed the most gods." Astrea spent days wondering if the Geo Archon, having killed the most gods, was the strongest of the Seven. Eventually, she decided to ask the Supreme Bishop directly. "Oh? You took it seriously? My bad, I was just joking." "..." Character Story 2 As an older sister, Astrea often feels inadequate, but there are times when she must assert her authority. For example, when she was expelled from Fontaine, Astrea felt utterly terrified and lost. So, she spun her Scales of Justice in the air, letting it decide her direction. When the scale finally stopped, one end pointed backward. Overjoyed, Astrea immediately turned to return to Fontaine. But as she turned, she met Fansetty's exasperated gaze. "Using the scale to decide your path isn't a bad idea, but if one end points backward, the other naturally points forward. Did you consider moving forward?" "I... I was planning to move forward. I just wanted to take one last look at Fontaine." Putting on a brave face in front of her younger sister, Astrea held back her tears and strode forward, her legs trembling. Even so, it didn't stop her from maintaining her dignity as the older sister. Character Story 3 Due to the current state of "Original Sin," Astrea's power as a Herald is incomplete. Nevertheless, she still possesses strength far beyond that of ordinary humans. Her overwhelming power, combined with her mismatched personality, worried the Supreme Bishop greatly. He had no choice but to take special measures. The Supreme Bishop sealed Astrea's power and told her, "When you can prove to me that you have mastered your power, come find me." This was the Supreme Bishop's expectation for Astrea. However, Astrea only felt relief. "Thank goodness. This way, I won't hurt anyone." Though, as it turned out, she was overthinking it. —Brother Da delved deeper into these character stories, as well as the "Original Sin" that set Astrea apart from other characters with "Visions" or "Gnoses," and the title "Herald of Original Sin," offering a fresh perspective. ...Though, without the context of Honkai: Star Rail, some of the later stories remain difficult to interpret. Still, in the grand cathedral of Fontaine, Ye, who had been quietly observing, applauded in encouragement. Yes, Brother Da had guessed correctly on one point. That Astrea and the others are puppets. Of course, Astrea and the others aren't actually artificial humans, but... in the game's storyline, Ye's final setting for the Holy Knights is that they are puppets. Puppets created by the Supreme Bishop of Fontaine, indistinguishable from humans. In a way, they are artificial humans. They are no different from real humans. Ye's alternate accounts have souls, self-awareness, personalities, and thoughts. And in the settings for Astrea and the others, this is how they perceive themselves. They are puppets created by the Supreme Bishop... This is their self-awareness. —The only exception so far is Fischl's second personality, which Ye did not include as a member of the Holy Knights. Aside from Fischl, all the alternate accounts within the Holy Knights share this setting. They have souls, self-awareness... and their own choices. The puppets do not blindly obey Ye, their creator. In the end, they will each demonstrate their own resolve. This is something Ye had planned to reveal during the Fontaine storyline. Every plot point Ye designed was a setup for this reveal. He had been wondering when players would figure it out. He hadn't expected it to happen so soon. Truly, the lore experts are not to be underestimated. Huh? You're asking what the "Herald of Original Sin" is about? Well... It's just a casual setting, meant to make Astrea and the others' popularity and power levels feel less unexpected. Don't think too much about it.