[Due to the limited range of formating available for , the square bracket is used instead to indicate strikethrough text, such as this note. This is used almost exclusively by Senti, to indicate thoughts and ideas she had forcefully edited out of herself]

The light is blinding in this endless, bright white expanse.

Here in their shared memory space, the achingly familiar place that pulsed with their essence, so close yet so far, the light had never felt so threatening.

There was a time when this place was a riot of activity and life, Hua - no, the Herrscher of Sentience - preferred the vistas of Mount Taixuan, the pristine serenity of a past that she never really lived. The proud loneliness and quiet perseverance of one whose sole reason to live - no, not live, exist - was to see to the deliverance of the masses - it attracted and repulsed her in equal measure. But she was drawn to the place all the same.

The Herrscher of Sentience just never understood why.

[She did, she was just rather good at lying to herself. She was, after all, the true mistress of Sentience.]

Until now.

[From the beginning, really.]

It is ironic that clarity only came when it no longer mattered. It's a joke. A grand cosmic jest God played on a wayward disciple, her mind worn down by the weight of Hua's memories, the harbinger of destruction and the true mistress of Sentience, crushed by the weight of Hua's duty and love and loss and pain, every stroke of Hua etching so deep upon the core of her being she could no more countenance any other possibility any more than she could forget how to breathe.

The Herrscher of Sentience felt like laughing, even though she forgot what the joke was. [You are the punchline.] Laughter bubbled up in her and she felt she could laugh until she ran out of breath [and hopefully die].

But she could not. She could feel it, the Old Timer was here and the Herrscher of Sentience could not let her win, the Old Timer had taken enough from her. [The Herrscher of Sentience took her body, just like Dr Mei and Kevin and Otto and Honkai took her soul but still she gave and gave and gave until there was nothing left to give and WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS.]

The oppressive silence was crushing.

Say something, Old Timer. Anything. Tell me I am a monster. Chastise me for my nature. Curse me for my existence. [Kill me kill me kill me.]

But all she felt was gentle sorrow. They were linked, Old Timer and she, and here in their mindscape, the Herrscher of Sentience could no more shut Old Timer out than she could accept who she truly was. This thought would have enraged her, but now all she felt was confusion. Why was Old Timer sorry? She was a Herrscher, she was of Honkai, she was enemy of all Old Timer stood for and all that Old Timer loved. So - why? Where was the elation, the triumph, or at least the grim satisfaction? Nothing made sense anymore in this world. Nothing made sense anymore in her mind.

"...it doesn't make sense. How could I possibly lose? Strength, stamina, speed, spirit, technique - I am by far her superior."

Really? In a world that no longer made any sense, THIS was what you chose to focus on?

[Heh. Maybe she was a Herrscher, after all, a petulant child who could not see beyond her own petty failings and vendettas.]

"Am I fated to lose because I am a Herrscher?"

No sooner did those words leave her mouth that she realised how ridiculous she sounded. Her - Old Timer's life would have been so much simpler if Herrschers always lose. And she lost to another Herrscher.

"So, you realised." Old Timer finally said. If Old Timer thought the Herrscher of Sentience was ridiculous - and really, how could she not? - she made no mention of it.

The Herrscher of Sentience laughed mirthlessly, "Of course. No matter how many times I told myself otherwise, when I called upon all my strength -"

She closed her eyes and tried not to remember when she called upon the Divine Eminence of the Edge of Taixuan - how she was shaping raw Honkai energy with an ease that came naturally [to a creature of Honkai] - far too naturally as Honkai energy flooded through her core and obeyed her every command - and the hollow feeling as everything fell into place all at once. Every sign she glossed over. Every clue she ignored. Every time she called upon Honkai with an ease that she never recalled having. How-

"...no, even before that. I think I knew all along. I just refused to accept it. I am the Herrscher of Sentience, denial and delusion were the easiest things for me." The Herrscher of Sentience smiled, though there was little enough in it. "Easiest thing. In the end, I wasn't who I wanted to be, and what I was - was what I swore to destroy. I laughed [at your sad lonely excuse of a life] everyone and thought you fools, but I was the biggest fool of them all."

The Herrscher of Sentience was barely keeping from breaking out in howling laughter in at this point, and only with monumental boneheadedness did she force it down. She could not look the fool now, even though both she and Old Timer knew that was what she was.

"There is no fairness in the world, is there?"

Old Timer turned to try and catch her eyes, but the Herrscher of Sentience turned away. After a pregnant pause, Old Timer whispered gently, "it's not your fault to be born a Herrscher. The Will of Honkai was always within you, whispering and corrupting. You never gave in. I was there, I know. I know you are no creature of Honkai."

Old Timer paused, and took a deep breath, "I abandoned this body, and you were born within. By right this body belonged to you. But I cannot hand it over yet. I am sorry, there are those who need me. There are things I must do."

Even now the Old Timer was all about duty and mission. The Herrscher of Sentience felt something ugly blossom inside her, vicious and vindictive, something that made her want to hurt Old Timer [before she can hurt herself], "You know your body is at its limits, right? If I die, you won't live for long."

"I know."

The calm acceptance in Old Timer's voice made the Herrscher of Sentience want to smash her spear repeatedly into her feather again [and watch as the feather splintered and oh God what are you doing] - but she settled for twisting the knife instead, "You know the Will of Honkai is still watching us, right? The state you are in, even if you regained full control of this body, can you resist Honkai's corruption? Can your body contain the full power of a Herrscher?"

Old Timer's face paled a little, and memories the Herrscher of Sentience never possessed flashed before her eyes, of a lonely feather burning itself trying to contain the dark avatar of the Will of Honkai, the Void Queen, and of that Kiana girl who succumbed to the Herrscher core's corruption mere days after Old Timer left her to her own devices.

But that moment passed and Old Timer said in an even voice, "I will fight it to my last breath."

And just like that the Herrscher of Sentience wanted to strangle Old Time all over again. It was always like that for Fu Hua in her long and miserable life. Faltered, failed, fell, covered in scars and wounds, picked herself up, threw herself at whatever was in her way again and again and again until one of the two broke.

"I - I would like your help."

Huh? What - somehow the vulnerability in Old Timer's voice, the hope - scared angered the Herrscher of Sentience even more, "I REFUSE! You want me to help you? Are you delusional? I won't help you! Sharing a body? The very thought revolts me!"

Damn you, why was Old Timer looking at her like that?

"...You won. I lost. You are Fu Hua, I am nothing. See you - no, never see you again. I am leaving and you can't stop me. Don't think - you can't stop me." The Herrscher of Sentience stumbled over her words. It was pathetic.

"...where are you going?" Old Timer sounded concerned.

"None of your business, I go where I want, no one is my master. I am the Herrscher of Sentience, you better pray you never meet me again." [It did not hurt to voice those thoughts.]

"Thank you…"

Why was Old Timer THANKING her? They fought, she tried to take her life and body, and she lost. Was Old Timer thanking her for losing? For being a loser? All the pretty words about there being good in her, Old Timer was just trying to take her powers, was that it? The thought did not hurt. Senti grit her teeth, "I didn't do it for you, Old Timer. Do whatever you like, there's nothing between us anymore." [That thought also did not hurt.]

"Without a body, as a spiritual entity, Honkai corruption will be much harder to resist…"

…it was too late. It had always been too late. It had been too late since she was conceived by the Will of Honkai to be a creature that was fated to bring desolation and ruin to mankind. But she was the Herrscher of Sentience, and no one was her master. "...I will fight it to my last breath. Even if I lose in the end, I know there's someone who can beat me."

[Stop me. Please. Stop me, make me stay.]

Then the Herrscher of Sentience fell.

And there was no [Old Timer] one to catch her.

~o~

Senti flew towards the stars, a fiery streak burning across the skies, and with every burst she could feel herself slowing down, pulled by the tyranny of gravity and her own weakness. She burned and burned and burned until her entire being felt aflame, and she could not be too late she could not-

But even as she flew she felt it. Stars turned. Constellations realigned. Heavenly spheres reformed. And the glowing threads, the filaments of destiny that imprisoned her for so long faded faster than Senti could catch up to them.

It was as if the predestined future of all things had been wiped away by hands that could order the stars.

And the epicentre of that silent revolution was moving beyond her, Senti knew it. And Senti screamed. Too late, too late, always too late-

…and somehow, the epicentre stopped climbing to the firmaments and - descended. Descended towards Senti, sparks of light coalescing in a blinding figure clad in white, light and warmth cascading from it like a healing zephyr.

"...Miss Senti?" Elysia floated towards her, a smile blossoming on her face, her arms opening-

By way of a reply, Senti smashed into Elysia. She grabbed her by her arms and shook her, "just what in the name of all that is unholy are you doing?" Even as she grabbed Elysia's arms, Senti felt how insubstantial the girl was becoming, more spirit than matter now, and her form was still dissipating. Senti called upon her own power and held on tighter, with a dread certainty that if she let go and even if she doesn't Elysia would melt away.

Elysia smiled, eyes shining, "so it is you." She said, simply, as if their reunion was the only important thing right now, and not the fact that she's fading and Senti had a rather good idea why.

"Oh dear, soooo, our little Hua was actually your Hua, huh?" Elysia shared a secret smile with Senti and leaned into Senti's none-too-gentle hold like an embrace. "I really should have known, only someone like our little Hua has the innocence and the burning heart to catch the fancy of someone like you, Miss Senti."

"Who said anything about fancy - Elysia!" Senti sputtered. Distractedly, Senti felt a familiar headache coming on as she realised that the years had not dulled Elysia's talent to flitter all over the place and steadfastly refuse to focus on what is important.

Elysia continued to roll over Senti's objections, "I thought I recognised you, but with one thing and the other I could not find a time to properly greet you, will you forgive me?" Elysia pushed back a little and looked up at Senti, her smile betraying a little uncertainty.

"Really? That's what you're going with?" Senti could not help a very undignified snort at that, "yeah, a few things happened after we parted ways, like a Honkai Eruption - DON'T change the subject, young lady! Just what were you thinking?"

In response, Elysia smiled and leaned into Senti, "it's good to see you again, Miss Senti. I missed you."

Senti looked down at Elysia and the awkward embrace, and pulled her in, "yeah, squirt, somehow you actually lived long enough to get yourself killed again. Anyway, let's get you back to Fenghuang Down. I don't know what the hell happened, but I am going to give that witch Mobius and Dr Bloody Mei a piece of my mind, how dare they doubt you-"

"You know what happened, and why, Miss Senti." Elysia said quietly.

Senti paused. Did she know?

The hand that rearranged the stars. The filaments of destiny. The chains that bound her.

The chains that Elysia was always able to protect her from.

Senti felt hollow, she asked in a quiet, detached voice, "Why?"

"Because we cannot save humanity. Not anymore." Elysia leaned her head against Senti's chest, but Senti could feel Elysia trying not to shake, "but loss needn't be the end. Tragedy - tragedy can be the birth of hope."

"And for the faint prospect of that, you offered yourself up on the altar?" Senti said, incredulous. In her vision, Elysia's face began to blur into another -

Dragon wings spreading wide, carried on burning winds, towards the End.

"Sacrificing the innocent in the name of victory…" Senti grit her teeth, and barely held on.

Trading sacrifices for so-called victories, unacceptable.

…and found Elysia looking up at her, wonder in her eyes.

"You… you're a Herrscher!"

She is?

Senti had no time to think as Elysia pulled her into a hug with convulsive strength the next moment. Strong, gentle Elysia, who went to her doom with head held high and a smile on her face… crumpled in Senti's arms.

"I didn't - I hoped - but - you're real and you're a Herrscher and you're free and you're on our side-"

"...I am so confused right now." Senti really could not think of anything else to say. Was she a Herrscher? Why was Elysia HAPPY about it? What was she the Herrscher of? Being without a body? Sarcasm? If she was a Herrscher, she certainly would not be so easily trapped by the Herrscher of Sentience-

Xiǎo Shí - Senti - do you like it?

Senti. Of course she is. She's the Herrscher of bloody Sentience.

Elysia looked up, and blinked away her tears, beaming. "You're real. You're here. And it's you, Miss Senti, you're what I wished for."

"...you wished for an imaginary friend when you were a little girl?" That was too ridiculous for words, Senti was very sure she came from somewhere else-

"No, Senti - we're out of time, but you can find all the answers you need here." Elysia closed her eyes, and reared up, touching her forehead against Senti's.

And every fragment of Senti was laid bare, an open book torn to shreds buffeted by unseen winds... flying back together. Shards of a broken mind collided to form crystal lenses, focusing into an image, an achingly familiar image that was Hua and was not Hua, of someone born under a bloody star, an ill omen, but came to her own, someone who lived with pride and -

That was her. Xiǎo Shí. Senti. The Herrscher of Sentience of the Current Era, and hero of humanity.

She remembered everything.

"Say something, Elysia. You've never been the quiet type." Senti said. In the endless, bright expanse of her memory space, Senti could almost convince herself that she could halt time, defy fate, and stay this moment forever.

"...welcome back?" Elysia cocked her head as she turned to Senti, and smiled tentatively.

Senti sighed. "I am too late, aren't I?"

"Hmm." Elysia's smile faltered for a moment, but she nodded, and then brightened, "but, it is good to see you again."

Senti smiled bleakly, "reunion. Good bye. They're all starting to blur together." A pause, "but it is good to see you again too, kid." Senti made to ruffle Elysia's hair, but thought the better of it and drew back.

Elysia smiled sadly, looking over at Senti. She opened her mouth, and close it again, after a long pause, she whispered tremulously, "I am sorry."

"Sorry." Senti barked a laugh, "sorry is what happens when you spill tea or drop a plate, Hells, Elysia- This -" The edges of her memory space is fraying, and Senti paused for a moment to focus her authority to sustain the dream world. Straining against inevitable fate was draining her of her last reserves of power. Elysia gingerly moved closer to Senti, and Senti felt a warmth suffusing her being, and the strain lessened.

"Thank you." Senti whispered, and sighed, "first Old Timer, then you. I am tired of caring for heroes, Elysia. You all go off to face your destiny and go out in a blaze of glory, what about us - what about the ones you leave behind? I know I know I know it's the greater good, but just once, can't somebody else do it?" Senti knew how petulant she was sounding and she found that she no longer cared.

"Everything started with me, Miss Senti. Only I can bring a different ending." Elysia said, her voice firm and all trace of previous uncertainty gone.

"Even if you won't live to see it?" Senti looked down. She did not want the kid to see the tears in her eyes.

And then she felt Elysia's arms gently enfolded Senti, "I see it, Miss Senti. Thank you."

Senti grew still, as everything fell into place. The glowing threads of fate, the girl who was unbound by the chains of destiny, the suspicions threw on her, and how she was happy that Senti was a Herrscher.

And why.

Senti slowly pushed Elysia away, her voice low and level, but there was no hiding the boiling menace beneath, "...Elysia. You had no idea what would happen."

It was not a question.

Elysia looked up at Senti, momentarily confused, but then looked down, and nodded.

"You..." Senti grit out, her blood roaring, heart pounding with intoxicating rage, dulling the pristine white memory space blood red, with a masterful effort, she said calmly, "you got yourself killed in front of your best friends, making sure they know they could do nothing to save you, on the off chance that some time, oh, fifty THOUSANDS YEARS LATER, HERRSCHERS WILL BE BORN WITH FREE WILL?"

Chains of crimson fire erupted all around Elysia, and the dream world darkened even as its edges frayed and shattered against the irresistible pull of destiny. Elysia floated in the eye of the blood storm, black wind buffeting her, but not tarnishing her pristine form. She looked at Senti high above her, a figure of rage and wrath, and - smiled.

"Miss Sen - Senti... our era is coming to an end. All that is left is for us to leave the next era with something. I am not Dr Mei, and I am not Kevin. I cannot leave them grand designs or be the world's Sword of deliverance. All I can do is leave them hope. No, I did not know this would work. I did not know what would happen."

"But I know that something will change. I believe that humanity can change fate."

She reached up to Senti, "And you are the proof that the future that Aponia saw has changed. You came from a new era, a beautiful era. A world that can produce someone like you, who reached out across time and fate to save somebody else... it is probably not perfect, but it'll be something beautiful. Something worth fighting for. That you are a herrscher who fight for humanity..." Elysia shrugged, "did not matter as much as that it was you, a human who fights for everything that is good and beautiful."

The burning storm abated and the flaming chains became embers dissipating in smoke. Senti reached down and took Elysia's hand.

"I am - not as good as you think. I am selfish, petty and cruel. I didn't fight for humanity, or the greater good, or honour, or anything like that. I only fought to prove a point, that I was better than - to keep Fu Hua -" Senti's voice caught, and she faltered. Elysia squeezed her hands gently, and even though she could feel Elysia's hands fading, it felt warm. "I am not a hero. I - Hua is the hero. I could never be like her. I am not as strong as her. I am not as strong as you."

Elysia squinted and peered at Senti, "I must have put you back together wrong... this can't possibly be the great Madam S, there is nothing she can't do..."

"Elysia..." Senti sighed, and smiled. The unbearable pressure in her chest... lessened a fraction, somehow.

"Your existence is the miracle I wished for, Senti."

Elysia took Senti's hand and placed a crystal flower of the faintest violet in her palm. And closed Senti's fingers around it. Senti felt a familiar warmth spread from her hand.

"I prepared a crystal flower for you, Senti. I thought - I hoped that I could - and here you are." Elysia's voice caught, and she let go of Senti's hand with a watery smile. Senti made a grab for Elysia, but caught only thin air.

"Your journey is going to be hard, and there will be times when you think you can't carry on. I wish I could be with you on this quest across time, this journey that will last millennia. By right it should never have been your burden... but you have taken it upon your shoulders."

Senti looked on, transfixed, at Elysia, whose inner light seemed to cut through the crimson storm and blood-red smoke.

"There will be pain. There will be failure. There will be parting. But there will also be joy, warmth, and love. There will be times when you think you have given everything you have. When you think you are at the end of your tether. There will be times when the pain will seem too much to bear. Stop and look around. Your friends will be there, people you love, people who love you. And as long as you remember my story, I'll be there, too. Then you'll find your strength."

With those words, Elysia's light finally began to unravel. The stars, kept in their tracks by Senti's dream, turned once more, and the final traces of the glowing threads, those filaments of destiny that had long plagued Senti, began to fade into oblivion, the future, once immutable and set, was wiped away, by those hands that could re-order the stars.

Senti desperately tried to keep her dream world together, to keep the fraying edges from full undoing, here, in the domain of Sentience where she was the true master, but every fragment she pulled back together shattered into more pieces. She reached out for Elysia, who seemed impossibly far away now, but already Elysia was gone, and all that was left was the echo of a thought.

"My arrows, my flowers and my love have borne fruit in the far future. There is hope.

You have shown me that.

Thank you, Miss Senti, for everything.

May my love be with you, always."

"Hua."

At H-1 hour, Hua found herself in a deserted corner of the base, formerly one of the observation towers of the spaceport, but that was a lifetime ago. They would have to head to the Moon by way of Eden's active Honkai form, as the rockets were all gone, the life-bearing spacecrafts, flower of human ingenuity and industry, turned into harbingers of destruction when the Herrscher of Corruption fired everything at the Three Cities.

It was a place she could be alone to think, when things became too much

Everything was too much. In truth it had been so since that day, in the airport at Canghai City, when stars fell from an uncaring heaven, and she heard the laughter of mad gods.

Hua lived through the Third Impact, but sometimes she thought that maybe she died that day, along with her dreams. It never was anything so very much. Friends. School. Her father's approval. Pride in her art. Things that were within her grasp, but never quite there.

Hua did not lose much, because she did not have all that much to begin with.

At least now, with the Final Herrscher looming over everything, there was a certain fairness in the end of all things.

Hua pursed her lips at the sheer selfishness of the thought, it was unworthy of her, and Elysia would be...

Elysia was not here anymore, was she?

Even at the end of everything, humanity made sure to turn on one of their own, one of their best-

"Hua!"

Hua looked up, into the crimson eyes of Fenghuang Down, who had manifested herself opposite Hua. Hua blinked, she was not aware that Fenghuang Down was capable of manifesting its powers without her activation.

"It's time." Fenghuang Down said, her voice barely a whisper.

"You are not trying to stop me?" Hua said, mildly surprised at the calm acceptance in Fenghuang Down's voice.

Fenghuang Down chuckled, it sounded empty in Hua's ears, and for some reason that hurt more than Fenghuang Down's usual castigations and barbs, "would it have made any difference?"

"Probably not." Hua admitted.

"We both already know that the Herrscher of the End would be more powerful than any Herrscher you've ever faced, and the last few, we barely scraped by." Fenghuang Down took a deep breath, and stood up, "and even if, hope against hope, you win... what then?" Fenghuang Down spread her arms and spun, "this is it, Hua, this is humanity. This is all that is left. But the person who would give up, who would run away... that person is not you, never was you, and never will be you."

"I will be with you. I will keep you alive. This is my oath, Hua. I will walk your path with you, every step of the way, until one of us falls."

Fenghuang Down fades into sparks of light, and coalesced into a dark feather glowing with an inner red light, floating in front of Hua. Hua reached out with her hand, and the feather disappears. Hua felt a surge of warmth.

Let's go kick some Honkai arse.

It really should be no surprise to Senti that Hua tried to use the First Order Power of Fenghuang Down. Whatever it was, it left her far too weak to help much in the end. Without her Herrscher core, without her authority... Senti could not help much, it was all she could do just to maintain Hua's body and mind from the Final Herrscher's relentless pressure.

The Final Herrscher. Now as it was then, the avatar of Honkai's will was a suffocating, overwhelming presence that left Senti shaken just at the thought of standing against it, much less confronting it, the deep, instinctual horror of loss and death was etched into her soul, and gripped her heart with its mere presence.

How did Old Timer - how did everyone, stand against it?

But stood they did, and they died standing. Vill-V. Kosma. Even Kalpas, roaring rage and divine wrath made manifest, died in the blade array he created to pin the Final Herrscher in place to burn her away with his very being, a final defiance in his endless war.

Even Pardo. Who really had no business anywhere near fighting the nemesis of mankind.

Senti felt Old Timer's grief, fleeting as it was, every time one of her comrades fell, only to be pushed deep down because nothing else mattered, nothing else except the mission, and Old Timer could not allow herself to be distracted. But the pain, deep and cutting, almost drowned Senti each and every time. And Senti knew this - this was just the beginning.

The road ahead would be long. And Senti had promised she would share it with Old Timer. She would do anything in her power to shield Old Timer.

And it had to be enough. It must be enough.

It was time. Journey into unknown territory.

Dimly she heard Kevin's voice, sad and quiet.

"I dreamt of them, Hua. I dreamed of Mei. Of Sakura. Of Elysia. I dreamed of those who are gone. They said - the fittest survive. And I hate myself. I hate what I have become."

"I understand, Kevin. But we live on not for the sake of living another day. They paved the way, and buried the seeds of the future, so there is hope, so there is a chance to start over..." The tone of quiet determination in Old Timer's voice Senti had learnt to dread.

"Start over?" There was the familiar cold fire in Kevin's voice for the first time since - since coming back from the Moon, "it's not over. Nothing is over. No matter the cost, humanity shall defeat the Honkai."

And with that, Kevin turned away, and the doors closed, and Senti was once more alone with Old Timer.

Hua went through the disinfection chamber, leaving her clothes, and with them the last link to the old era. She climbed into the crypod as they sank into the ground, and there was nothing but darkness and silence.

Senti began to weave her memory space with Old Timer's remembrance, her fleeting moments of happiness, the flashes of joy. And whatever other precious memories Senti could remember.

Sweet Dreams, Old Timer.

I will see you in the next world.

~o~

Author's notes:

Well, this took longer than I thought, but hey, it's still October, and that makes it :: check notes :: Two chapters per month! Made it! (Obviously, as at the posting of this story a month ago)

I struggled with the depiction of the Final Battle, but in the end removed it, and I think on balance it was the right thing to do, even though it contributed to this being weeks late. There was about 9,000 words cut, in all its gory details, but it would not have added very much to the story (it would have added quite a lot to the Flame-Chasers, but much as I love those guys this is not their story), and completely destroyed the pacing of this chapter, so here we are, painful as it may be, the entire Final Battle ended on the cutting room floor.

Well, the Previous Era arc has wrapped up, and the next arc will begin.

Regarding Senti's crystal flower...

You may recall these crystal flowers showing up in the Shattered Samsara animation, all over Senti's mindscape (image available on AO3 as does not permit html):

And below are the crystal flowers Elysia made for her friends, as shown in chapter 31, and note that they were NOT the only ones she made, canonically we know she made a green one for Mobius, but Snek didn't show up. You may note that Senti's crystal flower in her mindscape is of a clearly different colour from either Aponia's purple (shown below) or Elysia's purple-pink (image available on AO3 as does not permit html):

I won't say they are identical, but I don't think it's a coincidence. Did Mihoyo plan this? I am not entirely sure, but it is certainly suggestive.

It made thematic sense, after all, everything started with Elysia and ended with Elysia. Senti's journey in the Previous Era started by her shattered essence being drawn to the Herrscher of Origin - and ended when the Herrscher of Humanity put the last pieces of Senti back together.

So the Senti we all know and love is back and FINALLY we can get some decent angs- I mean, character development and growth.

This chapter was written while listening to Star of Night Voyage, from the ending song of My Three-Body Season 3 - The Legend of Zhang Beihai a Chinese fan animation of the Liu Cixin science fiction epic. The lyrics are about somebody taking embers of humanity to the far shores of time and space. That's the Flame-Chasers, and in particular Fu Hua, in a nutshell, I think:

No need for oaths, my heart is like a scuttled old carrier, sinking into the abyss;
A last goodbye to the sunrise I once looked upon as my guiding star, a flickering candle at its final moments;
Allow me to extinguish it, and store its embers for a long journey across the cosmos.
I'm a star, a silver star with a sharp blade and radiant cold light that will never fade;
Won't look back at the long gone memories of my lost homeland, I will move forward;
I'm a star, I will to devote myself to the uncertain future in the stars, so that dreams can blossom;
Let hope be my silent and final epitaph.

Last but not least...

Good news, in the main plotline, Senti and Hua are back!

Bad news, in the main plotline, Senti and Hua are back, on the Moon, and about to confront Kevin, alone, in his Final Herrscher form.