The Sanctuary wasn't anything like I expected. Instead of some ancient temple or mysterious cave, we stepped into what looked like a mix between a medieval castle and a high-tech facility. Crystal pillars pulsed with different colored lights, and floating screens made of pure energy displayed information in languages I'd never seen before.

  "Welcome to home sweet home," Rex said, already heading toward what looked like a massive dining hall. "I need a drink after that Void Hunter fight."

  "First things first," Luna interjected, grabbing my arm. "He needs to see the Council."

  Aria's expression darkened. "The Council can wait. He needs to understand his powers first."

  "The Council," a new voice echoed through the hall, "waits for no one."

  The speaker seemed to materialize from the shadows – a tall, elderly man with stark white hair and eyes that looked like they held galaxies in them. His robes shifted colors as he moved, making it impossible to tell what they were actually made of.

  "Grimm," Luna bowed slightly. "We weren't expecting you."

  "Clearly." His galaxy eyes fixed on me. "Zephyr Nightshade. The reluctant Guardian. Do you know you set a new record? Three weeks between death and awakening. Most impressive."

  "Thanks?" I said. "Though I'm not sure being dead longer than normal is something to brag about."

  Grimm's laugh was surprisingly warm. "Humor. Good. You'll need it." He turned to Aria. "And you, young lady, were supposed to be tracking Void Lord movements in the Outer Realms."

  "I felt his awakening," she said defiantly. "You know what it means."

  "Yes." Grimm's expression grew serious. "The prophecy of twin flames. But prophecies, my dear students, are tricky things. Often, the more we try to prevent them, the more certain we make them."

  The crystal pillars around us pulsed faster, responding to... something. The energy in the room felt like it was building toward something big.

  "Okay, time out," I said, making a T with my hands. "Can we back up a bit? What exactly is this Council? What are Void Lords? And why does everyone keep talking about prophecies like they're reading from some cosmic script?"

  Grimm waved his hand, and suddenly we were in a different room – a circular chamber with walls made of what looked like liquid starlight. Images began forming in the air around us, showing scenes from what I assumed was history.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "The Council of Guardians," he began, "has existed for millennia, protecting the barriers between realms. The Void Lords are entities of pure chaos who seek to break these barriers, merging all realms into one realm of darkness."

  The images showed massive beings of shadow fighting against warriors wreathed in different colored flames.

  "Original Guardians," Aria explained. "Our ancestors."

  "But something went wrong," Luna added. "The Original Guardians disappeared, leaving only their bloodlines behind. And their curses."

  I watched as the images showed two particular figures – one with purple flames, one with black. "Let me guess, those are—"

  "The first bearers of our curse," Aria finished. "Twin flames, they called them. Two sides of the same power, destined to either save or destroy everything."

  "And nobody thought maybe writing down which one does which might be helpful?" I asked.

  Rex, who'd somehow acquired a massive turkey leg despite just arriving, chuckled. "Kid's got a point."

  Grimm raised an eyebrow, and the images shifted to show current events – void portals opening across different realms, creatures pouring out, worlds falling to darkness.

  "The Void Lords are moving again," he said gravely. "Faster and more aggressively than ever before. They sense that the twin flames have finally awakened together."

  As if on cue, my flames sparked to life, reaching toward Aria's black ones like they had minds of their own.

  "The resonance," Luna whispered. "It's getting stronger."

  Suddenly, alarms began blaring throughout the Sanctuary. The crystal pillars turned red, and new screens appeared showing what looked like massive tears in reality itself.

  "Multiple breach events," Luna read, her face pale. "They're attacking every major realm simultaneously."

  Rex dropped his turkey leg. "That's impossible. They've never had that kind of power before."

  "Unless," Grimm said softly, looking between Aria and me, "they were waiting for this exact moment."

  The liquid starlight walls rippled, showing scenes of destruction across different worlds. Cities falling, armies of shadow creatures advancing, and in the center of it all – a massive figure made of void energy, wearing a crown of burning bones.

  "The Void King," Aria breathed. "He's finally showing himself."

  I felt something pull in my chest, like my curse was responding to what we were seeing. Beside me, Aria gasped – she'd felt it too.

  "Sir," Luna said urgently, "the Council needs to—"

  "The Council," Grimm interrupted, "is already here."

  The chamber filled with light as more figures appeared – some human, some definitely not, all radiating power that made my curse feel like a spark compared to a sun.

  "Well," I said, trying to hide how overwhelmed I felt, "at least things can't get any more dramatic."

  That's when one of the Council members stepped forward and said something that made my blood run cold:

  "The boy speaks truth without knowing it. Young Guardians, what you're about to learn will change everything you think you know about your curse, your destiny, and why you were really chosen."

  Aria's hand found mine in the chaos, our flames mixing automatically. And for just a moment, I swore I could feel something else through our connection – fear. Not from me, but from her.

  What could scare someone like Aria?

  I had a feeling we were about to find out.