She had been preparing

for this for years, consciously or subconsciously, everything she'd been taught

at school, and outside of it. Everything she had read from places only known to

few had led to this moment. The moment she would fight the man who had been a

thorn in her side all her life to the end.

It had been said that

only one would die, yet something made Onyx feel that it would be both

She wasn't numb, she

wasn't heartless, it wasn't like she didn't care, but at some point, during

those years of preparing and facing dangers greater than she couldn't

anticipate anyone could ever come out unscathed, she had subconsciously

accepted the fact that she could die at any given moment.

At first, she pushed the

thought away, cursing herself for not believing in her skills, reminding

herself that she wasn't suicidal. Truth be told, she wasn't and as the years

went by, life begun to have more meaning to her. She was weirdly fine with the

fact that she might lose her life.

It was for a good cause

though, wasn't it? The world had been in chaos for so long and if she lost her

life in the process of fighting for the world peace, it would be alright, wont

it?

It was though, she

supposes, but why did it have to be her

She never got any

straightforward answer, all the ones she had gotten only made her confused and

hopeless.

She knew about the

prophecy, a prophecy told decades before she was even born, suddenly she is the

chosen one.

She couldn't even choose

who to be as her future had already been set in stone the moment everyone

decided she was their hero, a perfect hero that would solve all their issues.

Then the hopelessness

would come, it would often poke her, whispering in her ears how everything they

were fighting for wasn't going to be worth it in the end, why would it though,

so many greater sorcerers than her have tried to fight him, including her

parents and even they died trying. Just because some prophecy had described her

as their hero, didn't mean she could? did it mean she had the strength, skill

or powers? Maybe the powers, but many people stronger than her couldn't take

him on yet she had to do it.

She thought of how ironic

it would be, meeting the end of life fighting just like her parents had.

Wouldn't that be poetic.

And when the

confrontation actually happened

The pivotal moment

arriving when potent magic collided, unleashing a kaleidoscope of hues and

dazzling lights. The sheer intensity of the clash threatened to overwhelm her,

squeezing the breath from her lungs as if an invisible vice gripped her chest

 Time warped and distorted, stretching each

second into an eternity. Onyx felt her vitality ebbing away, her fury and

desperation pouring out through her hands that were stretched outward like a

torrent of raw emotion.

Every fiber of her being,

lifeblood, sinew, mind and heart was drained. Leaving her a hollow shell.

The world around her

dissolved into pandemonium, a maelstrom of sound and color that defied

comprehension. The cacophony of spells, screams and clashing steel enveloped

her, a living entity that pulsed with malevolent energy.

Hours seems to pass in

the span of heartbeats, the seconds trickling away with agonizing slowness. The

universe contracted to a single point

Onyx watched him fall in

defeat, his body lifeless laying on the ground. She watched it all on her

knees, her chest heavy due to the lack of oxygen, hands trembling and bloody

with her shell of a body covered in wounds that were supposed to hurt but she couldn't

feel any of it.

She wanted to scream for

a reason unknown, but her voice was nowhere to be found, she didn't even try,

she thought that was it, he was dead

But then she looked up,

the sun was blindingly bright and onyx realized she was alive

Zha'thik was dead, and

onyx black was the one to kill him, surviving.

The prophecy had come

through, it was destined to. Yet why was she surprised

At some point while still

kneeling down, she felt herself being dragged somewhere and then      she'd been made to lay down

She immediately closed

her eyes and welcomed the void without dreams.

onyx had spent the

following months and her summer in her best friend's house, which was almost

always lively due to the number of siblings she had.

 though the atmosphere felt a little bitter

sometimes as they mourned the loss of their child and sibling, her best friends

Alexandra and Tony in their own way, tried to make everyone smile from time to

time.

As a new school year

arrived, they were given the option to retake their last year schooling as it

had been foiled by the battle and also its preparation.

Alexandra and Tony had

signed to attend the moment the opportunity was given and while everyone

thought she would obviously abstain

She wanted to go back to

the only place she could call home.

See everyone from

professors to housemates to new students, feel the atmosphere surrounded with

warm and safe magic.

She craved the warmth,

the familiarity… the memories, the old times

Onyx wished to go back,

she didn't want to live in the present, she didn't expect to go this far, it

terrified her somehow more than a battle to the death, because it was a

different type of fear.

She wasn't scared for her

physical being or her life, she was scared because she had no idea how to move

forward, she had never thought of being in this position before and what she

would do in it, and now she had the time to truly give attention to these

things.

She knew her life hadn't

been easy, she knew just how everything was and happened to be from the moment

she was born. She'd ask herself several times.

What if another person

was the chosen one, but then she would remove that thought as she wouldn't wish

any of what she had experienced to happen to anyone.

No one deserved that, no

one deserved her terrible and abusive childhood.