You know what sucks more than dying? Waking up after dying.

I opened my eyes to complete darkness, my body feeling like it had been run over by a truck - which, ironically, was exactly how I died. The cold stone floor beneath me was definitely not the asphalt I remembered last, and the musty air filled with the scent of decay was a far cry from the exhaust fumes of downtown Chicago.

"Hello?" I called out, my voice echoing through what seemed to be a massive space. Bad idea. Really bad idea.

The moment my voice bounced off the walls, something screamed back. It wasn't human - not even close. It sounded like metal being dragged across concrete, mixed with the howl of a dying animal. And it was getting closer.

I scrambled to my feet, my hands frantically searching the walls. My fingers traced over something wet and slimy. Great, just great. I pulled my hand back, and in the faint light that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere, I saw it was covered in some kind of black goo.

That's when my eyes started adjusting to the darkness. I kind of wished they hadn't.

The walls weren't just wet - they were moving. Pulsating like they were alive. And those weren't random patterns on them; they were faces. Dozens of faces, frozen in expressions of horror, silently screaming at me.

"Okay, Zephyr, this is just a really messed up dream," I muttered to myself. "Just a dream from eating that sketchy gas station sushi before crossing the street and—"

Another screech, closer this time. Much closer.

I turned around slowly, and there it was. A creature that looked like it had crawled straight out of someone's worst nightmare. It had the basic shape of a human, if humans were seven feet tall, had skin made of what looked like burned leather, and a face that was just... wrong. Where eyes should be, there were just empty sockets filled with that same black goo dripping from the walls, and its mouth... its mouth was lined with rows of needle-like teeth arranged in concentric circles.

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"Hello, Cursed One," it spoke, its voice sounding like multiple people talking at once, all of them in agony. "Welcome to your new home."

I did what any rational person would do. I turned and ran.

But as I ran, something weird happened. My body felt different. Stronger. Faster. The darkness around me started to feel less like an obstacle and more like... a part of me? Purple flames suddenly erupted from my hands, illuminating the corridor ahead.

"What the—" I stared at my hands in disbelief.

The creature laughed behind me. "Yes, feel it. The curse flows through you now. But it won't save you. Nothing will."

I spun around, some instinct I didn't know I had taking over. The purple flames grew stronger, and somehow, I knew exactly what to do with them.

"Want to bet?" I growled, my voice sounding deeper, more confident than I felt.

That's when a section of the wall exploded inward, showering both me and the creature with debris. Through the dust stepped a figure - a girl about my age, with white hair that seemed to glow in the darkness. She held what looked like a staff made of twisted black wood, its tip crackling with blue energy.

"Need a hand?" she asked, a slight smirk on her face as she twirled her staff.

The creature roared, lunging at her with incredible speed.

"I'm Luna, by the way," she said casually, as if we were meeting at a coffee shop and not in some nightmare dungeon. She swept her staff in an arc, sending a wave of blue energy that slammed into the creature. "And you, Zephyr Nightshade, are late for your awakening."

"You know my name?" I asked, dodging a swipe from the creature's claws. "And what do you mean, awakening?"

Luna's eyes glowed with an otherworldly light. "Let's survive this first, then we can talk about how you're supposed to help save this world." She glanced at the purple flames still dancing around my hands. "Though it looks like you're starting to figure things out already."

The creature recovered, now facing both of us. Its mouth opened impossibly wide, revealing what looked like an endless void within.

"Ready to learn how to really use those powers?" Luna asked, taking a fighting stance.

I looked at my flame-covered hands, then at the monster, then at this mysterious girl who somehow knew who I was. A grin spread across my face - one that didn't feel entirely human anymore.

"Hell yeah."

The creature charged, and my new life as a Cursed Guardian officially began.