They say when you're about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. Fun fact: it happens even when you've already died once. But this time, instead of seeing my old life, I saw fragments of past lives – lives I'd shared with Aria across centuries.

  Sometimes we were enemies. Sometimes allies. Always drawn together, always forced apart.

  Until now.

  "Six void elite guards," Luna reported, her staff creating a map of the Sanctuary's surroundings. "Each one equivalent to about fifty Void Hunters."

  "Oh, is that all?" I muttered, our indigo flames pulsing stronger. "Here I was worried it might be difficult."

  Aria, still a bit shaky but standing strong, smirked. "Scared, Nightshade?"

  "Terrified. But at least we match now."

  The Sanctuary's walls groaned under the assault. Cracks began appearing in reality itself, darkness seeping through like ink in water.

  "The Council will hold the defensive barriers," Grimm announced. "Luna, Rex – coordinate the other Guardians. These two," he nodded at us, "need space to work."

  "Work?" Rex raised an eyebrow. "They don't even know how to use their merged powers yet!"

  "Then they better learn fast," Selene said, her own flames – pure white – coming to life. "Because they're already here."

  The walls exploded inward. Through the breach stepped six figures that looked like they'd been carved from living darkness. Each wore armor made of void crystal, and their weapons pulsed with corrupted energy.

  But it was their faces that got me – or rather, the lack of them. Where faces should be, they had swirling voids that seemed to pull at your soul if you looked too long.

  "Okay," I said, falling into a fighting stance beside Aria. "Any ideas how to use these fancy new flames?"

  She grabbed my hand, and our power surged. "Stop thinking. Feel it. Like dancing."

  "I'm a terrible dancer."

  "Then let me lead."

  The first elite guard charged, its void blade cutting through space itself. But instead of dodging, Aria pulled me into a spin. Our indigo flames followed the movement, creating a spiral shield that not only blocked the attack but reflected it back.

  "Holy shit," I laughed. "That worked!"

  "Of course it worked." She moved again, and I followed instinctively. "The curse always wanted us to work together. We were just too stubborn to listen."

  We moved as one, our flames creating patterns I'd never seen before. Each step, each turn, each moment of contact generated new forms of power. The elite guards were strong, but they'd never faced anything like this.

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  "The flames respond to emotion," Aria called out as we ducked under a void blast. "What are you feeling right now?"

  "Besides terror?" I sent a wave of indigo fire that caught one guard off balance. "Like I've been missing something my whole life without knowing it."

  Her eyes met mine for a moment. "Good answer."

  Our movements became more fluid, more natural. The indigo flames started anticipating our needs, forming weapons and shields without conscious thought. It was like having an extra sense, one that connected us completely.

  Then one of the guards got lucky.

  Its blade sliced through my defenses, cutting deep into my shoulder. I stumbled, breaking our connection. The indigo flames flickered, starting to separate back into purple and black.

  "No!" Aria grabbed me, pulling me close. "Stay with me. Feel it."

  Pain shot through my arm, but something else flowed in with it – her energy, her strength. Our flames merged again, stronger than before.

  "Impossible," one of the guards spoke, its voice like shattering glass. "The curse cannot be unified. The King decreed it."

  "Yeah?" I grinned through the pain. "Watch us."

  We moved again, but this time it was different. Instead of just combining our powers, we were sharing them completely. I could feel Aria's thoughts, her intentions, her very essence. And she could feel mine.

  The indigo flames erupted around us, forming a massive creature that looked like a phoenix made of starlight and shadow.

  "Now that's what I'm talking about!" Rex howled from somewhere behind us.

  Luna's voice carried over the chaos: "The barriers are stabilizing! Whatever you're doing, keep doing it!"

  The elite guards attacked as one, their void weapons creating a net of dark energy. But our phoenix swept through it like it wasn't there, its indigo flames burning away the corruption.

  "You know what I'm thinking?" Aria asked, her eyes gleaming.

  "That this would make one hell of a finale?"

  "Exactly."

  We poured everything we had into one last attack. The phoenix divided into six smaller versions, each targeting a guard. But instead of destroying them, the flames did something unexpected – they purified them.

  The guards' void armor cracked and fell away, revealing human forms underneath. Former Guardians, corrupted by the Void King's power.

  "They were like us," Aria whispered. "Cursed souls, split apart..."

  "Until someone showed them another way," I finished.

  The battle was over, but something felt different. The air itself had changed, like reality was holding its breath.

  Selene approached us, her expression unreadable. "Do you understand what you've done?"

  "Besides survive?" I asked.

  "You've changed the game," Grimm explained. "The Void King's power was based on division – splitting souls, corrupting one half. But you've proven unity is possible."

  "Which means," Luna added excitedly, "the prophecy isn't about one of you destroying the other. It's about—"

  A laugh echoed through the chamber, deep and ancient and very, very angry.

  "About forcing my hand," a new voice rumbled. Reality cracked again, wider this time, and through it stepped a figure that made the elite guards look like children's toys.

  The Void King had arrived.

  Aria's hand found mine again, our indigo flames responding to the threat.

  "Ready for round two?" she asked.

  "Not even slightly." I squeezed her hand. "But when has that ever stopped us?"

  The Void King raised his crown of burning bones, void energy pouring from him like a tsunami of darkness.

  "Let's see," his voice boomed, "how your unity holds up against absolute chaos."

  Our indigo phoenix screamed a challenge, and the real battle began.