Caelestra, the Heavenly Continent Vol. 1

Caelestra - Side Story: Nana

Caelestra – Side Story: Nana

What is “strength?”

The strength to overcome an enemy?

The strength to hide your strength?

The strength to hide?

Why the hell can there be so many interpretations of one word?!

Is what I always thought as I watched the ninjas practicing from outside my window.

They always appeared so strong in their various techniques, physic and speed, yet in battle they always opted for underhanded, sneaky methods such as hiding their presence and overwhelming with numbers. What ever happened to pride and honor?!

Yet this was all the thought of a little, weak girl who just watched others training from her window. Even though she was the daughter of a noble ninja clan and of the head family no least, ever since she was born, she had been deemed “weak.” There was no such “strength” in her body, yet that was all she could think about.

 What is strength? And does hiding it with strategies really count as strength?

She couldn’t admit it. I couldn’t admit it. As I sat at that window, elbows leaning on it, hands supporting my chin, a bored, almost pouting look always on my face, I grew more and more irritated. Why could those born with strength not use it properly? All the while weak little me could only look, and grow irritated.

I couldn’t even practice. I couldn’t even try.

“Don’t strain yourself,” they would say.

“Your fever will come back,” they would insist.

“Shut the hell up!” I would explode, followed by a coughing fit.

Yes, I was weak. But…that was about to change.

One day, as I had sneakily – see! That’s what weak people are supposed to do! – stolen a wooden sword, I crept into the forest, the exercise enough to give me fatigue, and strained myself by trying to imitate the swings I had observed so many times.

I knew what to do, I had the concentration, the precision, but my body wouldn’t follow my mind. It couldn’t keep up. When I was already past my limit (just a few swings, might I add), my willpower all that kept my sluggish movements going, my sword was suddenly slapped away from my grip. Looking up, confused, having been too focused just on going on to notice anything around me, I found a group of ninja students, looking down on me with contempt.

“Hmph! Weakling shouldn’t do what they aren’t fit to doing! Who do you think will be blamed if you faint later? Huuuh?”

They weren’t even that strong. But…they far surpassed me. I was that pathetic.

With frustrated, angry tears rimming my eyes, I grabbed the wooden sword and ran deeper and deeper into the forest…I have no idea how many hours passed. Well, at least to me they seemed like hours. Looking back, it was probably only a few minutes considering my physical state.

Anyway, to make things short, I was exhausted, panting, out of breath, waaaay past my limit, and nearly fainting as I lay with my belly down on the grass, my eyes straining just to keep open as my head struggled to lift up slightly. The last thing I remember seeing was the sweet, yet slightly eerie smile of a woman.

She took me to a candy house. Right in the middle of the woods was a house made of candy, and that is where I woke up. All around me nothing but candy, sweets of all kinds, foods I had never seen or imagined to exist. And then…came the woman. She was a lot creepier than I had remembered her. Sure, she looked ordinary, even on the pretty side. But…that smile was not gentle or sweet. It was creepy.