Waking up after killing a god isn't as glamorous as you'd think. My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, my body ached in places I didn't know could ache, and our indigo flames were flickering like a dying light bulb.

  But Aria's hand was still in mine, so at least there was that.

  We were in what looked like a massive infirmary, crystal walls humming with healing energy. Luna was running around checking on people, while Rex lounged in a chair nearby, munching on what appeared to be his third sandwich.

  "Finally awake, huh?" he grinned. "You two have been out for three days."

  "Three days?" I tried to sit up, immediately regretted it. "What happened to—"

  "Everything?" Luna came over, checking our vitals. "Well, reality's still stabilizing, the void portals are sealed, and about half the supernatural world wants to meet the Guardians who killed the Void King."

  Aria stirred beside me, her eyes fluttering open. "Please tell me someone got that on video."

  "Better," Rex held up a crystal that pulsed with recorded memories. "The Council's been studying it non-stop. Apparently, what you two did was supposed to be impossible."

  "Story of our lives," I muttered, then noticed something odd. Even though we were both conscious, our flames weren't separating. The indigo color remained, flowing between us like a gentle current.

  Luna noticed too. "Yeah, about that... Selene wants to talk to you both. When you're ready."

  "I'm ready now," Aria said, sitting up with more grace than I'd managed. Show-off.

  "You sure?" I asked through our connection, feeling her exhaustion matching mine.

  Her response came with a mix of determination and something warmer. "Together, remember?"

  We made our way through the Sanctuary's halls, or what was left of them. The battle had changed everything – not just physically, but energetically. The very air felt different, cleaner somehow.

  Selene waited for us in what remained of the Council chamber. The liquid starlight walls were slowly repairing themselves, creating strange patterns as reality knit back together.

  "The unified ones," she greeted us with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

  "Like we got hit by a truck," I said. "Which, you know, still better than last time I died."

  "Always with the jokes," Aria nudged me, but I felt her amusement through our connection.

  Selene's expression turned serious. "What you've done has changed everything. The curse was never meant to be unified. It was meant to keep splitting, keeping souls in eternal conflict."

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  "But we broke the cycle," Aria said.

  "More than that." Selene waved her hand, and images appeared in the air – other Guardians around the world, their flames starting to shift and change. "You've shown a new way. The curse isn't just unifying in you; it's affecting all Guardian powers."

  "Is that... bad?" I asked, watching the images.

  "It's unprecedented." She studied our indigo flames. "The Void King's power came from division – splitting souls, realities, everything. By unifying the curse, you've not just defeated him; you've begun undoing all his work."

  "Including the original split," Aria realized. "Your power..."

  Selene smiled, and for a moment, her flames flickered from white to indigo. "Yes. After three thousand years, I'm finally healing too."

  A tremor ran through the Sanctuary, but this one felt different – not destructive, but transformative.

  "That's the third one today," Luna said, entering with Rex. "Reality's still adjusting."

  "And that's not all," Rex added, looking unusually serious. "We're getting reports of void creatures... changing. The corruption's fading."

  Through our connection, Aria and I shared the same thought: the elite guards we'd purified. It wasn't just them – the effect was spreading.

  "So what happens now?" I asked.

  "Now," Selene said, "we rebuild. But differently. The Council of Guardians needs to change with everything else." She looked at us meaningfully. "We need leaders who understand unity."

  I felt Aria's surprise match my own. "Us? But we barely know what we're doing."

  "Exactly." Selene's smile turned mischievous. "The old ways of thinking got us three thousand years of conflict. Perhaps it's time for some new perspectives."

  Another tremor shook the Sanctuary, and this time, the liquid starlight walls responded differently. Instead of just repairing, they began to transform, creating new patterns, new spaces.

  "The Sanctuary's evolving," Luna whispered in awe. "It's never done that before."

  Through our connection, I felt Aria's excitement building. "Want to see what else we can change?"

  I looked at our indigo flames, at the way they danced between us, neither light nor dark but something entirely new.

  "You know," I said, "for the first time since dying, I'm actually looking forward to what comes next."

  Rex groaned. "Please tell me killing a god hasn't made you two all philosophical now."

  "Nah," Aria grinned that predatory grin I loved. "Just means we need bigger challenges."

  As if in response, alarms started blaring – but not the usual warning sounds. These were different, almost like...

  "Celebration bells," Selene explained. "The other Sanctuaries are reporting in. The changes are spreading worldwide."

  Luna checked her energy readings. "The barriers between realms aren't just stabilizing; they're becoming more flexible. Like they're... adapting."

  "A new age of Guardians," Aria mused, squeezing my hand. "Ready to make some more impossible things possible?"

  I thought about everything that had happened since that truck hit me. Death, resurrection, curses, gods, and somewhere along the way, finding the other half of my soul.

  "You know what?" I pulled her closer, our indigo flames burning brighter. "I think impossible is my new favorite word."

  The Sanctuary hummed with power, reality shifted and changed around us, and somewhere in the distance, a new adventure was calling.

  But this time, we weren't facing it divided.

  We were facing it together.

  And that made all the difference.