The gateway pulsed with invitation, its surface rippling like water disturbed by a stone that had fallen from a height too great to measure. Through it, Dante/Selena could see glimpses of what lay beyond—fragments of color and light, suggestions of space that operated on principles entirely different from the void they'd come to know. It was not a return to the world they'd saved, not a doorway to any reality they'd previously encountered. It was something else entirely.
Something new.
They stood at the threshold, their dual-unified form casting shadows and light in equal measure, storm and flame existing in perfect synthesis. The Silence Tree's branches hung low around them, as if reluctant to let them go, its flame-leaves creating a gentle susurrus that might have been farewell or might have been encouragement.
"Are we ready for this?" Selena's voice asked within their shared consciousness, carrying a tremor of uncertainty that Dante felt echo through their merged being.
