Celeste Kuranes (Lathi)

セレステ・クラネス (ラシィ)
Celeste Kuranes (Lathi)
Lady of the Fantasy City
Species	Eidolon (?)
Abilities	Able to control and manipulate dreams and dream worlds Influence sleep
Occupation	Reigning over Thalarion Managing Celephaïs
Location	Thalarion, Celephaïs
Music Themes
● Holy Cosmic L.O.V.E Horror	(東方 美魅夢 ~ Ethereal Nightmare)
Appearances
● 東方 美魅夢 ~ Ethereal Nightmare	(Final Stage Boss)

Celeste Kuranes (セレステ・クラネス Seresute Kuranesu), true name Lathi (ラシィ Rashī), is an eidolon who rules over the city Thalarion. She also manages the city Celephaïs alongside its creator, Kuranes. She is the main antagonist of Ethereal Nightmare and cause of the endless sleep incident.

Concept

She is based off of the character from the H. P. Lovecraft short story The White Ship. While Lathi doesn't appear physically in it, other writers have described her as having the upper body of a beautiful blonde haired woman with the lower body of an insect such as a termite or an ant.

Another part of her and her backstory was inspired by another H. P. Lovecraft story Celephaïs and the Japanese folktale The Dream of Akinosuke.

Some parts of her design are inspired by Gengetsu from Lotus Land Story.

Name

She possesses two names, Lathi being her true name and Celeste Kuranes being her name while in Celephaïs (akin to a work uniform).

Celeste comes from the Latin name Caelestis, which means "of the sky, heavenly". It also sounds similar to Celephaïs. Her last name Kuranes comes from the name of the dreamer who created and ruled over Celephaïs in the story.

Notable Relationships

Kuranes

Kuranes is the original creator and ruler of Celephaïs whom Celeste waged war against for his city rivaling her own. After their meeting in battle, the two called off the war when Kuranes simply wanted to peacefully enjoy his dream world and was offered to let Celeste help manage his kindgom as a co-owner.

Sven

Sven is wanted by Celeste for damaging the city's dreamland and attempting to turn it into a nightmare, intending to execute him make an example out of him.

Miori Yu

Miori is Celeste's assistant, mostly helping her with the investigation into Celephaïs's damage by searching for the person responsible.

Sen Ueno

Sen is Celeste's gatekeeper for Thalarion, keeping out any intruders while she is away elsewhere.

Poppy Seed

Poppy Seed is one of many fairies that took up Celeste's order to put everyone to sleep so that she can trap and capture Sven in the Dream World.

Spell Cards

● Butterfly Sign "Viceroy Butterfly" _{(Easy, Normal)}

● Butterfly Sign "Monarchy Butterfly" _{(Hard, Lunatic)}

● "Unknowing Quest of Iranon" _{(Easy, Normal)}

● "Carter's Quest for Kadath" _{(Hard, Lunatic)}

● Quiet "Fluttering Swallowtails" _{(Easy, Normal)}

● Silence "Quivering Ceylon Rose" _{(Hard, Lunatic)}

● Land of Fancy "Sona-Nyl" _{(Easy, Normal)}

● Land of Unattainable Pleasures "Xura" _{(Hard, Lunatic)}

● Sky Sign "Serannian" _{(Easy, Normal)}

● Heaven Sign "Celephaïs" _{(Hard, Lunatic)}

● "Call of Horerczy" _{(Easy, Normal)}

● "Lathi's Cry" _{(Hard, Lunatic)}

● "Kuranes, King of Celephaïs" _{(Easy, Normal)}

● "Lathi, Monarch of Thalarion" _{(Hard, Lunatic)}

Official Profile

The ruler of the dream cities Celephaïs and Thalarion, and a powerful eidolon. While she's called Celeste Kuranes, her true name is actually Lathi.

She originally ruled over just Thalarion, her pride and joy "City of a Thousand Wonders", the largest within the Dreamlands. The place where all the mysteries that man has striven in vain to fathom reside. No other city could ever compare to its magnificence. That is until another started to arise. This was Celephaïs, ruled by its king, Kuranes.

Being an otherworldly creature, Celeste is naturally aggressive and territorial, having little patience for things not going her way and throwing tantrums when enraged. Anything that threatens her and her power is an enemy in her eyes. And this new city was no different.

Feeling threatened, Lathi went wild and gathered all the monsters that dwelled within Thalarion, launching a surprise attack on Celephaïs and Kuranes. Soon after, a war broke out between the two cities. The monstrous tyrant roamed about in search of Kuranes, searching for him so that she could feel the satisfaction of torturing and taking him out with her own hands. To her confusion, she never found the king fighting on the battlefield. After making quick work of his forces, she entered the main part of Celephaïs' castle to find him. But the king was nowhere to be found inside.

Where was this great king? Had he abandoned his kingdom like a coward? Lathi soon discovered her answer in the form of a hidden place behind the great castle. A small area of land that those in the real world would live in. Upon entering this area, she finally found her enemy.

Lathi was surprised to find that the Kuranes who ruled over Celephaïs was a mere human. One that didn't go mad upon viewing her true form. She urged Kuranes to surrender to her. But what Kuranes said next surprised her further. The king gave nothing but praise and respect for Thalarion and her greatness, reasoning that he had no desire to fight her. His people only retaliated to protect him and his childhood home. All he wished was to be at peace living in the lands of his youth within Celephaïs.

So charmed by his words and humbleness, Lathi decided to call off the war between them in exchange for a “co-ownership” deal for Celephaïs, offering that if he wanted to, he could spend all the time he wanted in his childhood home and have Celephaïs last forever.

Kuranes agreed, and a deal was made between the two.

Celephaïs was now ruled by her and Kuranes, with the latter serving as a mere figurehead while Lathi maintained the city. The real Kuranes lived within his childhood home and away from court life, and Lathi took charge as both the “lady” of Celephaïs and ruler of Thalarion. She came to be referred to as Celeste of Kuranes while in the city, and her old name while in Thalarion, even changing her appearance to fit the city's image; a butterfly-like form. The eidolon had control over both cities, her influence growing stronger in the process.

Celeste now maintains and protects Celephaïs much like Thalarion, with the eventual goal of having both cities rise and merge together as one someday. Having control over a dream city meant that no nightmares or creatures that could cause them be allowed, otherwise it could lead to the city's destruction and fall apart.

Perhaps that is why she took such drastic measures against the one who created a nightmare in Celephaïs, and destroy it by any means necessary. Even if it meant causing an incident by putting humans outside the Dream World in an endless sleep forever.