Celicia (Part 2)

“And then you softly add pressure to the side to smoothen out the texture…” Celicia then demonstrated by touching the clay.

“…”

I did what Celicia told me, and the texture of the bowl slowly started to smooth out. The messy outline that I had with my previous bowls is non-existent in the current one.

“See?” Celicia points at the bowl, “Completely smooth.”

“You’re right…”

It’s not as smooth as the old man’s, but it’s hundreds of times better than all of my previous attempts.

“Okay. Next is…”

Celicia continued to explain the proper way to hold the bowl so it wouldn’t fall over, the best hand position to keep it still, and the amount of pressure that needed to be applied in order to keep it from going loose.

According to her, once I’ve mastered all of this, I would be able to head to the next step which is shaping them with magic. However, it’ll still take a while before I can reach that point, so all that we’re doing right now is repeating the basics until I get the hang of it.

“Let’s take a break.” Celicia stands up from her workstation and lies down on the wooden porch.

I got out of my seat and sat down next to her.

“Haah…” I wipe my forehead and grab the glass of water that’s sitting next to me.

“How do you feel?” Celicia asks.

“Tired, but less frustrated I guess…” I replied.

“That’s good…” Celicia gave a tiny smile.

“…Yeah.” I gave a nod.

“…”

“…”

“Hey Yuuma…” Celicia asks, my gaze stuck onto hers.

“Hmm?”

“Can you… Tell me a bit about yourself before you came here…?” Celica asked as she broke away from my gaze.

“…”

There’s nothing admirable about my past life. If anything, it’s up there as one of the average kinds of life that you hear from anywhere else. I had normal worries, normal problems, and normal mistakes. If I were to tell this to someone, it’d probably just become another forgettable story with silly mistakes.

However,

“Sure…”

If it’s her, then I’ll gladly tell everything about me until she tells me to stop.

“Okay.” Celicia brought both of her feet close to her and hugged them.

“Where should I begin…” scratch my head.

“What about from your childhood?” Celicia suggest.

“Good point…” I scour through my memory and find the words to convey, “Back where I’m from, this world that I’m in right now is nothing more than fantasy… This kind of world could only exist in books and movies, so I was surprised when I first saw it…”

“Ahhh, that explains why you were so excited at first…” Celicia adds.

“Yeah…” I continue, “But… back when I was a kid, liking those kinds of things is seen as nothing but lame and stupid…”

“…?” Celicia tilts her head, “Why is that?”

“Who knows…” I shrug my shoulders, “Even now, I don’t really get why kids would bully someone over liking something…”

“…What about after that?”

“My school years are relatively normal I think…” I look at the ceiling, “I had some friends, but it was more of an acquaintance than friends kind of relationship…”

“…”

“I was mostly a loner during my school days though…” I explained.

“Doesn’t it get lonely?” Celicia asks, her voice sounding sad for some reason.

“No, not really…” I shrug my shoulders, “If anything, I liked being alone in my home world… Although all of that is gone after I started working…” I let out a deprecating laugh.

“…”

“I’m not that good at a lot of things; especially at my job…” I bring my feet towards me and continue, “I got yelled a lot, people were disappointed in me, and I was mostly alone…”

“…”

“That’s why…” I clench my fist and make eye contact towards Celicia, “That’s why, I want to be of use to you and to your family…”

“…”

“All of you have treated me so nicely, so I want to repay that…”

“…You’ve done more than we could ask for, you know?” Celicia replied.

“But still—”

“Yuuma.” Celicia placed her hand on top of my right hand.

“…!”

“Have you asked yourself what you yourself want?”

“…”

Celicia’s face was so close that I could practically feel her breath. My face was burning, but I couldn’t avoid that gaze of her. It’s as if she’s forcing me to confront myself.

“Your answer?” Celicia tilted her head to the left.

“...N-No…”

“I see…” Celicia tightens her grip, “Then… do you want to look for it together?”

“…”

I can’t beat her.

She’s really keeping me captive. No matter what I say or do, I can’t leave this situation unless I face myself.

I know.

I’ve been helping out other people to not only make myself look good, but it’s because I don’t want to figure things out for myself. It’s easier to do things as told. It’s easier to follow what other people do. It’s easier to be a part of a group than to be a leader.

The only time I was ever sure of myself was keeping cooking strictly as a hobby. Other than that, everything else I’ve followed what everyone told me is best for me.

I can never be sure of myself. I need someone to tell me what I’m feeling for me to be sure about it. I can never tell what it is that I want.

But…

“…Yeah.”

Maybe this time, with her by my side...

---

After that conversation, we waited till nighttime for some reason and decided to head deeper into the forest.

According to her, this is her favorite spot out of everything in her village. According to Celicia, this place of hers is barely visited by people as in the middle of the day, it’s nothing more than a lake. However, at night, it became something else.

“Are you still with me?” Celicia asks.

“Yeah…” I tighten my left hand.

“That hurts!” Celicia yelped.

“My bad!”

I let Celicia guide me forward, completely unsure of where she’s taking me.

Now that I think about it, this is kind of the same feeling I got back when she first guided me here. Except now,

I’m putting all of my faith in her.

“We’re about to leave soon!” Celicia yelled out.

As she said that, I noticed dots of light at the edge of the forest, encouraging me to make one final push to pursue it.

“…”

We stepped out of the forest, and what greeted us was a medium-sized lake surrounded by fireflies flying above the lake. Nestled within a tranquil grove, this hidden haven seemed to hold its own private universe.

Gently sloping banks cradled the pond's still waters, mirroring the heavens above like a darkened mirror. Silken tendrils of mist gracefully danced upon the water's surface, giving the impression of an otherworldly gateway followed by lush vegetation encircling the pond.

The fireflies' luminous dance reflected upon the pond's stillness, creating an infinite tapestry of shimmering lights. Their gentle ascent and descent painted the night sky with soft, twinkling strokes, evoking a sense of serenity that was both humbling and transcendent.

“Wow…”

“I know right?” Celicia replied. She continues, “Even now, I still can’t help but admire it…” Celicia said as she tightened her grip.

“…”

I look at Celicia to my left. She’s standing still, but her eyes are dilated with it going back and forth. The fireflies’ brightness enveloped Celicia’s face, making her stand out even more with that bright silver hair of hers.

“Oh…”

Now that I have taken a good look at her, she is really pretty. I tend to forget considering how tomboyish she can be, but even her complexion and her current expression really exemplified her beauty whilst showing her unfiltered awe at the same time.

‘Have you asked yourself what you yourself want?’

“…I see…”

“Hm?” Celicia broke her gaze from the lake and looked at me, “What’s wrong?”

“I think I know what I wanted to do…”

“…I see,” Celicia gave a smile, “Can I know what that is?”

“I… really do want to get better at pottery,” I lock my gaze onto her, my reflection just barely visible in her eyes, “I ended up liking it a lot…” I scratch my cheek with my right finger.

“That’s a nice goal…” Celicia grabbed my right hand as well, clasping both of my hands together, “Make sure you try your hardest, okay?”

“Yeah…” I gave a nod.

“However…” Celicia let go of my hands and flicked my forehead.

“Ow!”

“Don’t you dare overwork yourself okay?” Celicia pressed one of her voices, “It’ll be a problem… if you aren’t here to travel the world with me…” Celicia avoids her gaze.

“…” My face quickly became hot.

Don’t say those kinds of things now… You’ll be doing nothing but giving me hope…