Reunion, Promise of Tears and Smiles

Patch: 3.6 · Chapter: Back to Earth in Evernight · Mission 08 of 9Previous: Great Tomb, Hide the Secrets of Incarnations · Next: Gods, Sound the Anthem of Creation

Official summary

The negotiations with Evernight did not go smoothly. At the critical moment, March's camera successfully pulled Evernight into the memory maze of Aedes Elysiae. March was able to speak with Evernight face to face. Evernight chose to remain asleep, while March 7th awakened and reunited with you once more.

Synopsis

This mission is a near-continuous dialogue piece with almost no combat, set inside a memory maze. It resolves the March 7th / Evernight thread that has run since 3.0 and pays off Cerydra's "unknown chess piece" from 3.5. The heavy lifting is done by March 7th and Cyrene; the Trailblazer and Dan Heng are largely present as witnesses until the closing reunion.

The maze at Aedes Elysiae

Following the previous mission, the Trailblazer's camera has pulled the entity Evernight — the Remembrance-aligned presence that has been wearing March 7th's body — out of the Great Tomb and into a memory maze modeled on Aedes Elysiae, the small village "shrouded by the Veil of Evernight." Evernight awakens inside it, immediately recognizing that she has been drawn into a Light Cone woven from someone's memories, "with a harmony entwined within it." She greets her captor dryly: "We meet again, naive 'me.'"

The confrontation is between two halves of the same person. March 7th — here rendered as her fully self-aware self — answers back, refusing the label "naive." Cyrene welcomes Evernight to the maze she built with her home as the template, explicitly turning Evernight's own methods against her: "Let's give you a taste of your own medicine." Evernight is unimpressed, dismissing the idea that "just you and that Harmony's little birdie" (a reference to Sunday, who is tuning the Memory Zone from outside) could hold her. But Cyrene names the real trap: her amateur maze alone could never contain Evernight — the thing Evernight cannot ignore is March 7th herself.

How March survived: the empty spirit in the camera

Evernight, genuinely puzzled, asks the central question: how did March find herself again after giving up all her memories and becoming an empty soul? March lays out the plan she has kept hidden since the beginning:

• At the moment they switched bodies, with her last flicker of consciousness, March hid "yourself" — glossed as her empty spirit — inside the Titan's veil (the Veil of Evernight / Oronyx's aspect).
• When the Trailblazer later photographed Oronyx, March's remaining scrap of consciousness "whooshed" into the camera. History books, diaries, and photostones, Cyrene notes, are all catalysts for memories — and the camera was March's chosen vessel.
• March gambled that the Trailblazer, having promised to keep taking photos across Amphoreus, would eventually pass by and give her the opening. Cyrene concedes: "you really know him/her well."

Since then, March has ridden along inside the camera through the entire Amphoreus journey. Crucially, when the Trailblazer recounted their interstellar travels to Cyrene in this cycle, those very memories entered March's mind as well — so March, though still "far from the complete March 7th," has recovered enough of herself to stand against Evernight.

March presses her case on both emotional and moral grounds. Even seen through a camera lens, she insists, the love, hate, and struggles of Amphoreus were exactly what real living people experience. When Evernight repeats her cold calculus — that the scales are unequal, that "when Destruction looms, trying to preserve everything only means sacrificing everything," and that she already got the Trailblazer to "make a choice" — March throws the question back:

"March 7th": Have you ever really thought about it? What right do we really have... to make choices for others? [...] If the cosmos were nothing more than a bigger Okhema, ruled by a so-called "Imperator"... maybe then she'd have the right to weigh both sides and decide for us all. But the truth is... We're just a bunch of Nameless.

March reframes Trailblazing itself as the counterargument: its meaning is "to explore, understand, establish, and connect" — walking alongside every world, "not standing above the cosmos as some kind of savior." She names Evernight's fatal flaw directly: a weakness in the shape of "me." For all her power, Evernight kept her promise to March, which proves that "the sole motivation behind everything you do was just so 'I' can keep travelling." She also cites Herta as proof the Express rejects the "necessary sacrifice" logic — Herta could have simply blasted the Scepter to bits with an Imaginary weapon at any time, treating a few Nameless lives as nothing against a Lord Ravager's threat, but chose not to.

To make the abstract concrete, March hands Evernight her empty spirit turned into a journal — a book filled with the camera's photos, which she calls, honestly, "my body right now." Its memories are drawn entirely from the journey of Trailblazing, and she offers to walk Evernight through them.

Flashback — the night before Xianzhou Luofu

The journal opens onto a memory of the Astral Express, the night before warping to Xianzhou Luofu — after the Trailblazer's first Trailblaze journey (Belobog / Jarilo-VI). March celebrates with the Trailblazer and Dan Heng and shows off a Belobogian notebook she specifically requested from Bronya, turning down grander gifts (raw Geomarrow, Supreme Guardian medals) for it. This is established as the origin of the travel-journal habit: on high-tech worlds even holographic projection was archaic, but Jarilo-VI's people recording their lives by hand made March understand why journaling still matters. Dan Heng compares it to calligraphy — "deep emotions... can only be awakened through such seemingly thankless actions."

March lays out her philosophy: a camera captures fleeting moments (glossed Remembrance), but stitching those moments into a story takes your own hands (glossed Trailblaze). Photos need a place to be displayed. She notes Amphoreus would be her sixth stop (after the Capital of Passion, Kalsas, Taikiyan, and others), with Penacony meant to be next, and charges the Trailblazer and Dan Heng to practice photography — "if I'm ever too busy to get off at a stop, this camera is gonna be in your hands." A throwaway line that became literal prophecy.

Back in the maze, March reflects that at the time she was "only half-joking," never expecting she would actually miss a stop — and after just two stops, too. Those 97 days alone (her long dormancy in the ice) had her on edge, certain "that was gonna be it for me," until her quick thinking let her stow away and keep pace. Her old joke — "the camera is my true form" — "came true this time." She frames her hidden journey as genuine Trailblazing all the same: through her the four verbs were fulfilled — she explored the beautiful, dying world and claimed the first Coreflame of the Flame-Chase, understood by meeting and parting from companions, established by inheriting everyone's resolve into a future they'll never see, and connected until her destiny became one with the world's, "rewriting the predestined tragic ending." Only then, she says, can she pen the name "March 7th" into "this Hero's Journey called 'Amphoreus.'"

The Oronyx photo — LC 4932

A second memory jumps to the 33,550,336th eternal recurrence, Light Calendar 4932, sometime before the campaign against Aquila (i.e., a past moment on this cycle's journey, not the present). The Trailblazer and Dan Heng sort materials for March's journal, ribbing each other about Seal Slammers. Dan Heng praises the shots of Okhema, Castrum Kremnos, and the Grove — "your skills are almost on par with March's now." The Trailblazer produces the tense, motion-blurred snapshot of Oronyx, the Veil of Evernight, taken in a hurry — and this is the very photo through which March's dormant consciousness slipped in.

At that moment the Trailblazer hears something, and Dan Heng murmurs "March 7th?" before rationalizing it: "Perhaps the photo captured a trace of Time's divine power, which replayed echoes from your memories." March, watching this replay, narrates that the two of them went on discussing the journal for hours, bickering exactly as they always did on the Express — over games, midnight snacks, who washes Himeko's coffee cup. She notes that neither of them knows about her forgotten past, yet neither holds it against her, because of a shared creed she voices through them:

Dan Heng: We can't go back to the past and make better choices. (Trailblazer): But at least we can do better in the future.

Cerydra's final law — the "massive variable"

Having appealed to Evernight's heart, March turns to logic and calls in Cyrene, who reveals a variable Evernight, fixated on her own goal, has overlooked. In a replayed memory, the dying Imperator Cerydra declares she will overturn one law to aid "the final battle of deliverance," offering the life of a single demigod to do it.

Cyrene explains what that law was — resolving the "unknown chess piece" Cerydra left the Trailblazer in 3.5. Cerydra added a final rule to Era Nova at the cost of her own life:

Cyrene (quoting the rule): "If any anomaly occurs during the Era Nova process, all foreign elements will be eliminated immediately — whether it's the Remembrance or the Trailblaze — and the twelve Coreflames will complete the final Era Nova through the purest form of Destruction."

Cerydra's intent, per Cyrene, was to guarantee Amphoreus would not become a sacrifice in the wider cosmic conflict — "even if this world has to exist in the form of Irontomb, it will stand on its own among the stars, just as she had wanted." It was a precaution against the Astral Express and the geniuses betraying Amphoreus after her downfall, not aimed at Evernight — Cyrene stresses Cerydra could not have known Evernight's Remembrance scheme; "you managed to fool everyone." But the consequence for Evernight's plan is fatal: if Evernight forces her Remembrance gambit now, the automatic rule triggers, and the Trailblazer, Dan Heng, and March 7th would all merge with the Scepter and become victims of Destruction — the worst possible outcome.

This is the checkmate. March confirms she knew this all along but wanted a heart-to-heart first. She reassures Evernight she is not afraid even if her inner world is "nothing but an evernight," because her journey's destination lies among the stars — "what lies ahead will be bright enough to illuminate my past." Evernight, half-conceding, apologizes for "becoming an obstacle in your journey." March refuses the apology: "We're just two sides reflected by the same mirror." When they bid farewell to their division and become one, "our 'memories' will only grow more beautiful." Evernight agrees to return March's memories.

Reunion at the waterfront

Objective two: with Sunday's tuning, the Trailblazer and Dan Heng physically arrive at the Aedes Elysiae Memory Zone, where March is present. (Dialogue branches let the player either urge trust in March and Cyrene or urge continued caution; either way Dan Heng lands on both trusting them and not letting their guard down.) The village is unusually quiet; the dock appears empty.

They spot a familiar silhouette and, wary of another Evernight trick, recite a pre-agreed passphrase — poker hands, exchanged line by line: "Three of a kind... Two pair... Ace..." The figure's puzzled echo — "Ace?" — and the warm, familiar smile that follows give her away. In the cutscene she turns:

Dan Heng: March? March 7th: Of course it's me. It's been a while.

The Trailblazer runs into a hug, Dan Heng joins for a group embrace. "Welcome home, March." — "Mmm. I'm back." March, overwhelmed, confesses she had planned a dramatic surprise (sneaking up, flicking them both on the head, scolding them for taking so long) but dissolves into happy tears instead. Dan Heng affirms that they both always knew she was by their side, and "this Trailblaze journey wouldn't be complete without you." The Trailblazer promises they'll not only Trailblaze into the future and save the world, but "return to the Express together and head towards our next destination." March: "After we complete this Trailblaze, let's hold hands and head home together!"

Oblivion's last act — the farewell

As March celebrates, Evernight speaks one final time, invoking the seed-and-death motif — "If a new life is to be born, its seed has to be dead." She notes March is being "born from the Six-Phased Ice," shedding her past, and — declining to make any more choices for her — exercises "Oblivion" one last time to wipe a single name from March's mind: "Pure Child of Anāsrava."

Evernight explains her own nature and issues a warning that seeds future conflict:

"Evernight": I am an obsession whose purpose is to protect you. The only memories I have are "yours." Therefore, there's only one thing I can be sure of: The Garden of Recollection is your enemy. The Path of Remembrance is far more than what people observe on its surface, and I... will not allow you to become this broken conspiracy's next sacrifice.

She tells March to awaken "my" power if ever needed — "don't hesitate to devour or burn away anything that stands in your way" — and to "Trailblaze through the darkness in my stead, as always." She departs back into slumber with a closing line that reframes her whole identity: "'Oblivion' shall keep watch over your past, veiled in the hush of the evernight, silent and serene." The mission's on-screen gloss ties this power not to Remembrance but to The Enigmata.

Key characters

• March 7th — Revealed as the self-aware architect of her own rescue: at the body-switch she hid her empty spirit in the Veil of Evernight, slipped into the camera via the Oronyx photo, and rode the entire journey inside it, recovering memories through the Trailblazer's retellings to Cyrene. She out-argues Evernight (moral case) and, with Cyrene, out-maneuvers her (Cerydra's law), then reunites with the Trailblazer and Dan Heng, becoming the "complete" March again — minus one erased name.
• Evernight — March's protective "obsession," built only from March's own memories and wielding the power "Oblivion" (tied to The Enigmata). Trapped in Cyrene's maze, she concedes the argument and relents rather than let her Remembrance plan doom the trio under Cerydra's rule. She returns March's memories, erases the name "Pure Child of Anāsrava," warns that the Garden of Recollection is March's enemy, and returns to dormant slumber.
• Cyrene — Builds the memory maze from her Aedes Elysiae home to hold Evernight, provides the "logic" half of the persuasion, and delivers the decisive reveal of Cerydra's rewritten Era Nova law and its lethal implication for Evernight's plan.
• Trailblazer — Largely a witness in the maze; participates in the LC 4932 journal flashback (the Oronyx photo through which March entered) and leads the reunion, recommitting to save the world and return to the Express together.
• Dan Heng — In flashback, seeds the journaling/photography ethos; in the present, recites the passphrase, keeps his guard up, and affirms March was always with them.
• Sunday — Off-screen but load-bearing: his "tuning" of the Memory Zone both helps contain Evernight and brings the Trailblazer and Dan Heng physically into Aedes Elysiae.
• Cerydra (memory) — Her self-sacrifice to rewrite one Era Nova law is finally explained, resolving her "chess piece" from 3.5.
• Bronya (flashback) — Gave March the Belobogian notebook that started the travel-journal tradition.

Lore notes

• Cerydra's rewritten law (resolves open thread #7). The single Law Cerydra spent a demigod's life (her own) to overwrite: if any anomaly occurs during Era Nova, all foreign elements — Remembrance or Trailblaze alike — are eliminated immediately, and the twelve Coreflames complete the final Era Nova through the purest form of Destruction. Its purpose was to keep Amphoreus from becoming collateral in the cosmic conflict (letting it "stand on its own among the stars, even in the form of Irontomb") and to forestall betrayal by the Astral Express or the Genius Society after her death — not a countermeasure against Evernight, whose scheme Cerydra never detected. This is the "unknown chess piece."
• How March survived (resolves the March/Evernight mechanics). During the body-switch, March hid her empty spirit inside the Veil of Evernight (Oronyx's aspect), then transferred into the camera the moment the Trailblazer photographed Oronyx. She has occupied the camera the whole journey; the Trailblazer's retellings to Cyrene "in this cycle" restored enough of March's memory to resist Evernight. This retroactively explains the Oronyx-photo "echo" heard at LC 4932.
• "Oblivion" = The Enigmata. Evernight's power to erase memory is glossed as belonging to The Enigmata, not the Path of Remembrance — a new alignment for the entity. Evernight self-describes as "an obsession whose purpose is to protect you," constituted solely from March's memories. [?] Whether Evernight is a Remembrance memosprite, an Enigmata-touched construct, or both remains unresolved.
• "Pure Child of Anāsrava" (new term, immediately hidden). A name/identity for March that Evernight deliberately erases from her mind. "Anāsrava" is the established epithet for Fuli the Remembrance ("Master of Anāsrava"), tying this title to Remembrance's designs on March. [?] Its full meaning is now a buried secret even from March herself.
• The Garden of Recollection is March's enemy (advances threads #3, #5, #8). Evernight's parting warning explicitly names the Garden of Recollection as March's enemy and states "the Path of Remembrance is far more than what people observe on its surface," refusing to let March become "this broken conspiracy's next sacrifice." Corroborates the Garden's 3.4 false-March bargaining and Zandar's warning that Remembrance "might join the fray."
• Trailblaze defined. The mission foregrounds the four-verb definition of Trailblaze — "explore, understand, establish, and connect" — as March's counter to Evernight's savior/sacrifice logic ("not standing above the cosmos... but walking alongside every world within it").
• Origin of the travel journal. The Belobogian notebook from Bronya (requested the night before the Xianzhou Luofu warp) began March's journal habit; her framing — camera captures moments (Remembrance), the hand stitches them into a story (Trailblaze) — is the thematic spine of the mission. Amphoreus was her sixth Trailblaze stop (prior: Belobog and named stops Capital of Passion, Kalsas, Taikiyan); Penacony was to be next.
• The 97 days. March pins her dormancy/ice period at 97 days ("I honestly thought that was gonna be it for me"), quantifying the illness that opened 3.0.
• Six-Phased Ice. Evernight refers to March being "born from the Six-Phased Ice," naming the ice that has encased March since 3.0 as she sheds her past self.
• Herta's restraint as thematic proof. March cites that Herta could have destroyed the Scepter outright with an Imaginary weapon at any time but chose not to — evidence the Express rejects "necessary sacrifice" utilitarianism.
• Setting note. The entire mission plays inside the World Within the Camera / the Aedes Elysiae memory maze (a Memory Zone). The Aedes Elysiae reunion is a memory-space event, not the physical village.
• Timeline discipline. Two nested flashbacks — (1) the night before the Xianzhou Luofu warp, early in the Trailblazer's career; (2) LC 4932, before the Aquila campaign, on this cycle's journey — are replayed inside the present-day maze confrontation and should not be read as present events.
• Cast cameo note. The infobox lists Phainon, Trianne, Castorice, Mydei, and Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae among characters; these appear only as photos in March's journal / illustrations of the journey, not as acting participants.

Hindsight (full arc)

• Foreshadowing — Cerydra's rewritten Era Nova law (resolved here): the failsafe that guarantees Amphoreus "stands on its own... even in the form of Irontomb" pays off in 3.7, when Irontomb reacts to the completed final Era Nova and forces the final battle forward.
• Foreshadowing — "the Garden of Recollection is your enemy" and the erased "Pure Child of Anāsrava": pays off in 3.7 (the Garden "used and abandoned" its Pure Children) and remains an open thread — Evernight's Oblivion sleeps within March the Veil of Evernight.
• Reread — March's camera-survival plan: reframes every photostone/Oronyx-photo beat across the arc as her deliberate stowaway route; her throwaway "the camera is my true form" joke was literal prophecy.
• [?] resolved — Cerydra's "unknown chess piece" (3.5): = the law that any anomaly during Era Nova triggers pure Destruction on all foreign elements. Whether Evernight is a Remembrance memosprite or Enigmata-touched construct stays partly open — 3.7 keeps Oblivion aligned to The Enigmata and dormant (Open Thread #7).

Sources

• Reunion, Promise of Tears and Smiles — HSR Wiki