What Now?

“I can make my own choices… I can make my own path.” Liliana said quietly, the evening’s events swirling around in her head as she lay in her bed, hugging her stuffed animals. She had thrown a blanket over her bookshelf on the way in, not wanting to look at her manga right now. Now what? For the first part of her life, her programming made choices for her. Then she got sentience. Her father had removed the shredder from her furnace, given her fingers instead of claws, so she was different from the others, but without those features, she had no purpose. Her goal became to be like someone else. To be like Cleric Moon, like the magical girls in her book. And then Cleric Moon, or at least who she thought was Cleric Moon, reached out. She gave her the power to be like them. For the first time, Liliana was special. She may have been mass-produced, but Cleric Moon chose her. Cleric Moon saw something in her. Her parents had told her she was special, but they never had any proof. Both of the purposes given to her by others were now stripped away. She… she had to give herself her own purpose.

Before she met Cleric Moon, Liliana had dreamed of sewing clothing for others, making a living giving people beautiful clothing to make them smile. Orb was right, she could help people in a different way. She didn’t need magic or to be able to fight. She could sew. She could make people happy. The memory of Frogbert’s face glowing as she gave him the fabric flowers and then his outfit. Maybe that could be just as powerful as an adventurer. “If… if I’ve broken the contract… I… I think I want to go home.” She whispered to herself. There was a seamstress in her town who Liliana had gotten along with, maybe she could get an apprenticeship. She’d miss her friends, especially Frogbert, but this felt right. She had enrolled at the academy because of Cleric Moon. It felt fitting that she would leave on her own terms. Her home wasn’t too far away, she could… no, she would visit. She’d cheer Frogbert on for his own adventuring career. After this craziness was over, it would be time for her to leave. To start a new path all her own.