It was a late night. The Omni and it's forces seemed to be backed into a corner, with the Waking Heroes in relatively high spirits. Xahri, who went into her room early, to sink in her depression, heard some noise coming from the crack of her door. "We still have some time... but we don't have forever, lets get some rest and get back to it." Said a brown haired girl, named Avi. The others agreed and went to bed, with them all going to their own sleeping quarters. Jak went to his private bedroom, Rei went to sleep on the couch, Kina climbed up to her loft and relaxed on the top bunk bed, while Avi went into her bedroom.

  Xahri opened her door a little later to find everybody had already dozed off to sleep. She walked around the apartment in the pitch black. All the lights were off, although, light could be seen from under Avi's bedroom door. "They didn't even say goodnight to me... am I really that forgettable? Or are we so focused on fighting that bonding is off the table?" Xahri walked back to her room, shut her door, and locked it.

  Xahri went on her computer for a short while. She began researching remedies for sadness in times of need. "All I can find is the news and fear of the people... the world could end, and nobody knows that we're fighting to save it." She decided to stop browsing the internet and instead looked through her files. She opened a folder, and entered its sub folder which contained pictures of Xahri and her friends. "I looked happy... What happened to me?" She began clicking through the images. Everyone around her was smiling in many of the pictures, including Xahri. But, occasionally, someone would be absent from the picture.

  "Sometimes Rei and Jak would be out practicing their swordsmanship in Avindor. Avi sometimes goes to be by herself when she's feeling down. Kina also recently went missing. Luckily, she came back home safetly, but she refuses to tell us what happened to her, acting as if she cant even remember anything that happened. I assume Rei and Jak also feel a sense of frustration when they are alone... We all feel sadness and negative emotions from time to time... Why is mine persisting? I know Kina had some issues and the past, and Avi has some minor grief over Marlon, but they seemed to have recovered mostly."

  Xahri began to realize that she was feeling depressed. For the first time in her life. "I was always so full of it... or I abused the fact that I had power over other peoples consciousness. This feels new, and not in a good way." Xahri got up from the computer and opened her window. She gazed at the moonlight and felt the cool city air. "I wish... that we can have a break from all this craziness. I'm tired of fighting. I want peace, and I want to be happy. I wish this stupid "Omni" guy would just give up, or at least give us some time to relax. Sure, we're winning, but its really taking a toll on me, and I need some rest... How much longer does this fight need to go on..?"

  With not much left to do, she decided to go to bed, as she was stressed. "I'm forgotten so easily... I feel like an outcast to the group sometimes... But I can't leave them now, we're winning, after all..." Xahri got into her unmade bed, and dozed off to sleep, making sure to have all the lights off, and that her hairpin was on snugly. "Mmm..." The world around her continued normally, and her physical form stayed in her bed, even though... Xahri woke up in a completely different place than where she went to sleep.

  A pitch black void with blood red swirls all around her. She seemed to be floating. "H-hello...? Ugh... my head hurts so bad... where am I? This is definitely not a dream." ... The silence that came after echoed throughout the pitch black expanse. It then was ricocheted back at her as a loud screeching could be heard in her head. Xahri flinched, half asleep, trying to keep herself awake. "I have waited for your arrival, Nulei." A harrowing figure manifested before Xahri. The black expanse around her merged with the red swirls and merged into an apparition of The Omni.

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  "Y-you... what do you w-want with me..." Xahri was frightened. She was having way worse than a nightmare. "I have made a temporary connection with you... to offer you a deal of sorts. I have given your "friends" the illusion of an upper hand in the fight. I am preparing to surprise them with something so unfathomably unspeakable, that they will perish in a near instant, along with the all realms, and you. All beings will cease to exist. You can either come to grips with that, or... listen on..."

  Xahri stayed silent. "Silent type, are we? I never got to meet you personally, it's nice seeing you alone. Now. My offer. I have a way to give your friends a true advantage. Tap into your power at the "Phantasmal Peaks" and offer up your spirit there. I will be there to accept it. Your Spiritual form will leave your body, ensuring that you will cease to exist after you inevitably die. This may sound bad for you, and it is, but there is more. If you proceed with this plan, you will be the only being to exist without a soul... that will allow you to enter the Ethereal Realm, where I am hiding yet another secret.

  I call it the "Fractal Dusk" I created it long ago to ensure the destruction of all existence in case I were somehow defeated. It has been steadily powering me... and even If I fall, the spawn can still wipe out all of existence, leaving it in ruin, instead of a complete erasure. You. Without that worthless soul of yours, you can enter the Ethereal Realm, and destroy the Fractal Dusk, greatly weakening me, and removing my ace in the hole. It's either everyone else ceasing to exist in a matter of days, or you ceasing to exist, at the end of your normal lifetime. Make your choice, Nulei." "Ngh... I... understand... doesn't seem like I have a c-choice... I a-accept, just tell me where to find these "Phantasmal Peaks" and I will do as you ask. The only chance we have at saving everything will come down to me, and I'm willing to pay the price." Xahri responded with confidence and fear.

  "Great choice, do not worry, I am not hiding anything, I promise, I only offer fair deals. For the path to the peaks, simply open your mind, figure out what it means to "not be" and the way will open for you. Good luck." Before Xahri could reply, she was flung backwards by The Omni. It dissapeared into the environment as Xahri dozed off to sleep. The area around her shrunk at a rapid pace, with Xahri floating around unconscious. She began to be wrapped by her surroundings. She could feel a cold sensation on her skin, even though she was sleeping. The cold sensation eventually startled her and woke her up. She found herself to be coiled in pitch black and blood red matter. "Can't move my body... what kind of t-trick is this..." ... No response. Xahri eventually came to grips with her situation. "The Omni... was lying to me... I'm going to die here... I just hope... that... that there's something after... gasp"

  Xahri was startled awake in her bed. It was early in the morning, and the sun was peeking through the clouds. "Just a bad dream... but... it felt way too real." Xahri slowly sat up and looked out her window. Small rays of sunlight were glistening through the window, warming her skin. She stumbled out of bed, dizzy, and walked out of her room. Shortly after, she sat down on the couch in the living room to think. "That wasn't a dream... was it. This "connection" that was made... It was abusing my own power. Heh... serves me right. But, I-I don't want to go through with this offer anymore... there's got to be another way..." Xahri then remembered what the Omni had said would happen if it succeeded. "All life, will... cease to exist. I can lower this possibility, at the cost of me sealing my own fate. Death is a natural phenomena, but, a lot of people don't think past it."

  Xahri's heart rate began to rapidly increase. She got up from the couch and ran for her room. She entered her room, turned the light on, but was still feeling scared. She collapsed onto the floor, whimpering. "I can keep people at ease if I do my end of the deal..." Her whimpering turned into crying. "A-and, like most people, I shouldn't need to look past it either... but now that its right in front of my face... ngh..." Xahri curled up into a ball, in a panic. "W-well, I didn't die in my sleep, and I know I wont here, but knowing that its coming, and that no matter what happens, I will cease to exist after I die, It makes me terrified." Xahri began to yell. She grabbed her weapon, ran out of her room, and swiftly exited through the front door. She slammed it shut, and began running.

  "Ha... ha..." Xahri was nearly out of breath. She sat down next to some bushes, on the edge of her city, and noticed she was feeling better. "G-guess I just had to run it out... but... what was that? It doesn't really matter. I know what my decision was about this deal, and I am going to stick by it. It may look bright now, but in a few days, the sky will turn pitch black, and all of existence will be erased shortly after. I don't have time to think about this, I should get going... There's no time to lose."