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- When flowers bloom again, if we're lucky enough to meet in the new world, remember our promise.
- —Castorice's voiceline about Caelus
CaeRice is the het ship between Caelus and Castorice from the Honkai: Star Rail fandom.
Canon[]
Trailblaze Missions: Amphoreus[]
Heroic Saga of Flame-Chase[]
It all starts when Caelus arrives in Amphoraeus in a catastrophic way because he, traveling on a fragment of the Astral Express, crash-lands in the world where he was never visited by anyone before and has to make his way through and after meeting Phainon and Mydei, fight against some "living statues" that are under the influence of Nikador.
When Caelus was exploring Okhema with Phainon, a girl with a sinister and deadly aura appears before them. She is a servant of Thanatos, the Titan of Death. She didn't have to introduce herself because Phainon gives away her name, Castorice, when he said that he thought that for him this was the final chapter of his life. This is how Caelus meets Castorice for the first time.
Castorice guides Caelus along the path to Nikador's place. She warns him that he should stay 5 steps away, as her death aura harms (and kills in the worst cases) any inhabitant who is too close to her, including enemies. Then, after having evacuated the inhabitants of Okhema, she decides to stay there watching that no one dares to enter the city, while Caelus, Dan Heng and Phainon go to face Nikador, although, later, Aglaea manages to catch him with the threads so that Phainon can give him the final blow. However, it turns out that he is not the real Nikador because it was too easy to defeat this replica.
Later, after a promise that Caelus swore to Aglaea, he meets Castorice again, this time, where a Dromas, large animals that look like 4-legged dinosaurs and are docile animals. After noticing that Caelus is able to get along with these animals, Castorice says that she is not good at social "contact" because many fear her deadly aura.
Much later, because of Damianos, Caelus had to accidentally break Aglaea's promise to deal with him. In response, Aglaea pretends nothing happened when in fact she found out everything. So when she manages to get him to the trial site, near a Coreflames fountain, Aglaea chains Caelus and Dan Heng with divine golden threads and tests their sincerity with 4 questions, with Castorice as an executioner. Depending on the player's answers, if Caelus makes dishonest answers, the thread will vibrate, and this will make Castorice take a number of steps closer to it depending on the severity level. Caelus and Dan Heng would only be executed if at the end of this trial, Castorice is very closely behind them. Either way that Caelus' fate is decided, Phainon appears to defend Caelus and convice Aglaea to spare him in a second chance. In this case, Caelus is sent with Phainon and Mydei to find Nikador and battle it.
After this mission, by Mydei's orders, Caelus and Phainon had to return to Okhema. Castorice, upon meeting them again, tells them that he decided to ask for help from Oronix, the Titan of Time, and that they should go together.
After passing all the tests, Castorice and his company manage to have an audience with Oronix. But it flatly refuses to help in this conflict against Nikador, but upon seeing Caelus, it decides to offer indirect help by giving him a small creature, Mem.
While Phainon returns to meet Mydei, who is still fighting against Nikador, Caelus and Castorice, with the help of Mem, collect fragments of the past and with them, they manage to create and then travel to the glorious past of Castrum Kremnos to find out more about Nikador. With Gnaeus, a reincarnation of Nikador, they restore the 4 pieces of Nikador's divinity to finally discover his true form. This is used by Phainon and Mydei to fight him until they defeat him and recover their Coreflame.
Later, Mydei decides that Phainon will be the one to carry this Coreflame and that he must pass the test related to Nikador near the Coreflames fountain, in the presence of Caelus, Castorice, Aglaea, Trinnon and Mydei. But sensing that Phainon is failing the test, Mydei organizes a rescue.
Light Slips the Gate, Shadow Greets the Throne[]
Some time after Mydei rescues Phainon, Castorice enters Caelus' private bath chamber without advice and this time, he wakes up with her looking at him. Caelus and Castorice go again accompanied, this time with Mem and Trianne to enter the Grove and look for Anaxa. There they learn that everyone has fled and that here, this place is seriously threatened by what is known as "dark tide". In fact, monsters corrupted by this phenomenon emerge, which attack any inhabitant without mercy. Caelus and Castorice have no choice but to dig in and get to the bottom of this, where they learn that Cerces, another Titan, was the one who saved Anaxa and implanted her Coreflame. Mem says that she has a bad feeling about a mysterious creature with a black cloak, sword and hood, who has a thirst to kill any creature it encounters.
Just as Mem had anticipated, Caelus, Castorice, and Trianne find the creature and engage in battle. Since Castorice does not yet have the Coreflame of Thanatos, the Titan of Death, she can only fight alongside Caelus and Trianne, resisting their attacks. But seeing that it is much more powerful than they imagined, Trianne had no choice but to open a Century Gate to force the monster to teleport far away with the help of Castorice.
Through the Petals in the Land of Repose[]
After Mydei seemed to have defeated the black-hooded, sword-wielding creature, who turned out to be the Flame Reaver of the Deepest Dark, in the Grove, Castorice couldn't help but think about that moment when she noticed something: while fighting the creature, she almost fell and accidentally brushed against Caelus, making contact for the first time. Unlike the other times, Caelus isn't immediately affected by Castorice's deadly aura; instead, he seems completely immune to it, unlike all other beings, who die instantly (albeit peacefully) upon merely touching her. She is seen blushing when asking about it later.
Meanwhile, Caelus returns Oronix's flamecore to the fountain and successfully passes Oronix's trial. But in the process, Caelus learns the harsh truth about himself: he actually died when Nikador's spear pierced the Astral Express wagon and was only resurrected as a materialized memory for some reason, while his soul must be wandering out there somewhere. Upon emerging from the trial, Castorice learned all of this, which led to her finally finding the answer to that haunting question she'd been asking herself. It's not that Castorice's curse has finally been lifted, but rather that Caelus cannot "die" from Castorice's deadly power because he no longer has a living soul for Castorice to take. So as long as his soul is still wandering out there, Castorice can touch Caelus all she wants.
Meanwhile, Anaxa (whose full name is Anaxagoras) was involved in a great debate in which the fate of Okhema would be decided. Phainon and Aglaea want to support the Nova Era, while Caenis and the Council of Elders support the Chrysea Era. But everyone got a big surprise when Anaxa managed to convince Castorice to join the Chrysea Era. Caelus then asks why Castorice decided to betray the Flamechasers.
Mem reconstructs and materializes parts of Castorice's past, which could be the answer to her decision. Not to mention that Anaxagoras was actually investigating the truth about all the Titans and the Chrysos Heirs.
Some time later, Castorice re-enters Caelus's bath chamber to ask him to go with him to Aidonia, a kingdom near the Styxia, known as the Kingdom of Death, where its ancient inhabitants used to consider death a blessing, and where Thanatos, the Titan of Death, is located. There, Castorice has to pass the trial of Thanatos and then give Thanatos' coreflame to Caelus to return it to the fountain. But no one expected that Cipher, the demi-goddess of deception, would have to meet them to take them there.
As they traveled through Aidonia, Mem slowly pieced together Castorice's past until she was able to recover all of her memories. There they also found the souls of Mydei and Trianne (who had already died, having been turned into a doll by the Flame Reaver). Together they fought against beings corrupted by the Black Tide, who had invaded Aidonia. After saying goodbye to the souls, Castorice heads to a special place where a dragon egg is found. The egg's shell breaks and the dragon's body emerges, but the dragon still hasn't managed to get its head out and is attacking uncontrollably, leaving Castorice and Caelus with no choice but to fight it. When they finally manage to defeat it, Caelus soon learns that this dragon is actually Pollux, the reincarnation of Polyxia, Castorice's twin sister who became Thanatos. Castorice manages to reunite with her sister in human form, heading to a dimension that is a Death's Paradise with a sea of flowers. Polyxia grants Castorice the power of Thanatos, making Castorice the new demigoddess of Death in the process. This allows Castorice to successfully complete the trial of Thanatos. After emerging from the trial, Pollux the dragon finally breaks free from its eggshell and has been at Castorice's service ever since. She gives Caelus one last hug and then, considering her work here done, hops onto Pollux and flies off. She finally confines herself in the nether realm permanently to accomplish her duties to guide the future souls from people that die.
Before Castorice departs for the nether realm, she leaves a handmade ring, Nether Butterfly's Pondering as a gift for the trailblazer. She also mentions in her messages that she crocheted a little doll of Caelus, but didn't manage to finish stuffing it with milk cotton before she left.
Honkai: Star Rail Concert Animated Commercial: "Filming in Progress"[]
When Caelus takes pictures of Castorice in a dress getting ready for the concert, she is shown to be blushing deeply. She also expresses joy in playing with the Trailblazer Raccoon and Origami Bird.
The Fall at Dawn's Rise[]
At some point, although she doesn't appear directly, Castorice seems to continue guarding Caelus' soul even when it's returned to his body, even from the nether realm. As she senses that the Flame Reaver is a huge threat to Caelus and his friends, she waits for a moment to assist him indirectly.
When Mydei blocks the Flame Reaver's attacks, Castorice assists them indirectly, by locking the creature's feet to the ground to give Mydei chances to defeat it. Thanks to it, Mydei allows Caelus, Phainon and Dan Heng to escape to Okhema. But unfortunately for him, the Flame Reaver breaks free of Castorice's "imprisonment" and kills Mydei with a fatal blow. This proves that the Flame Reaver is likely immune to Castorice's death touch, like Caelus used to be without his soul then.
Quotes[]
- “May I borrow your warmth... one last time?”
- — Castorice to Caelus in their final meeting from the Amphoreus Trailblaze Mission
Fanon[]
Even when Castorice is designed as an "executioner", Castorice promises that Caelus' death would be sweetest possible with a "flower paradise". Some fans began to see CaeRice as the Amphoreus version of CaeFly.
The Honkai fandom has embraced the romantic pairing of Caelus and Castorice, due to their playful affectionate dynamic combined with deep thematic connections. Castorice blushes when she is first touched by Caelus without him dying, sparking fan excitement over their flirtatious chemistry. Her close actions, such as sewing a doll and giving Caelus a ring, highlight a caring bond that fans find compelling.
CaeRice is rivaled by DanCae and CaeFly on Caelus' side and Castordei and Castlaea on Castorice's side.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Caelus/Castorice tag on AO3
Gallery[]
