Crafting Quests

Growing from child to adult put the world into a different perspective for many, especially for Ace. For not only did being an adult mean that he was now independent, but he became a parent as well. Being a parent meant that Ace had to learn new skills, such as being a better speaker, and had to teach good values. It also meant that he needed to make sure his daughter was living a life that she loved. They were hard tasks sometimes, but he enjoyed them to no end.

That's why he was seated in his workspace, papers scattered across the table. It had been forever since he had read these papers with the intent to do something, various letters and drawings made by his mother all detailing ways to make charms and decorations. It was her passion, to create beauty from whatever she could. Whether is be rare materials or scrap she found, there was always a way for Ace's mother to see something gorgeous in it, and make it a reality. He could vividly remember the morning sun sprinkling through glass or wrapping around metal in his childhood home, and it stuck with him.

That's why there was mosaic glass windows in his home, that's why he owned so many colourful things, that's why he kept the farm looking the best he could, and visited locations that reminded him of these colours, for they were reminders of her. She existed in all those spaces, and brought out all the beauty of it.

One thing she made that stuck with him was a glass vase, made by warping a Solar Globe. He could remember watching his mother make the vase, and it sat on the dining table. Warm yellows dancing along the dark oak surface seeped through his mind. He wanted to experience that feeling again, to watch the yellows dance across the room like how they used to. To feel like he was talking to his mother all over again.

Ace had attempted to make the vase multiple times before, albeit with different materials. Each attempt never looked right, some broke or changed colour, some just didn't feel correct. It always left a sour taste in his mouth, watching the product he loved be tainted by his own hands. But now he had a chance to make it once more, this time with the materials that were true to the source. Now he had the chance to make it correctly.

The Solar Globe had already been heated to a temperature in which it was malleable, and so far everything was looking correct. Bringing gloved hands to its surface, Ace began shifting the Globe into the shape he wanted. He watched the shape shift from a sphere to a vase, the smooth texture brushing against enchanted fabric. It was mesmerising, Ace felt like he could lose himself in the work and simply create this vase into the end of time, with its warmth and gentle colours. Everything about the experience was soothing, and Ace wanted nothing more from it.

Humming to himself, Ace set the Globe down to cool. He took the Prismatic Petals, along with various flowers he had been growing at home, and made a bouquet. The Globe itself created warmth and light naturally, even when shifted into a vase shape, so it could easily sustain flowers as long as there was water in it. Slowly arranging each flower, Ace couldn't help but think about when Camellia would be coming home. Camellia loved flowers, just as his mother did. Camellia, for someone who didn't get to meet his mother, reminded him of her so much. Maybe that was a sign that he raised her well, considering how lovely of a person his mother was.

Placing the flowers into the vase, Ace thought of what else to do, holding these letters and drawings would serve no purpose if they were only for him. After all, he got to see the beauty of his mother's work everyday, there had to be something else he could do, another reason for his craft to be of his mother's work. It wouldn't be fair to keep it to himself, nor would it be right to just give it away..

Then it clicked, he should teach Camellia. Perhaps he didn't realise due to how much Camellia travelled, but when she returns home to visit he should teach her. That's what his mother would've wanted after all. To pass it down to the next of kin, like a torch. Camellia deserved the chance to understand her grandmother's craft, and to join in it.

That vase, in all it's yellow glory and warm light, was representative of both his mother, his role as a parent, and his daughter, even in it's simplest form. And it was the very reason he was interested in crafting.