The old wizard lay in his bed. His wrinkled skin damp with perspiration as life slowly ebbed from him. His breaths shallower with each passing moment. A weak, raspy voice came from his paper thin lips. "Jade...."
Jade went to her master. The one who had granted her the gift of life. The jade gemstone fused into her clay body glowed fiercely with lifeforce, tethering her to this realm. She knelt beside him, a small cup in her hands to try and give him water. His weak hand pushed it away gently.
"No my child, it is my time to go. I am to be with my daughter. But you, you will live on for me. My last order to you is to be free and make your life your own." His hand cupped Jade's face gently. Even though she was forged from clay she still resembled a human and her flesh was soft
Jade tasted the word on her tongue as she spoke it. "Free?" As a homunculus she did not know what this meant. Her job was to serve the wizard, her master. What would she do with out him ? "Master, I don't know how to do that..."
"You will find a way. Leave this place and don't look back "
"Is that an order ?", She questioned unsure of her new place in the world. A heaviness fell upon her, dimming the Jade's glow a bit within her chest. Is this what sadness felt like ?
"Yes. My last order is for you to live life to the fullest. Find your own purpose." As his last statement made , the old wizard passed peacefully into the afterlife. His hand fell limp from Jade's face.
Jade sat there as she watched the last gasp of air leave his body. She did not know what else to do, but what he told her to. So she stood up, and walked away. Out from his tower atop the mountains and began to walk. She didn't look back....
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