What Luke failed to notice was that he had someone watching him from the shadows. A tall individual seemingly hidden within the dark areas around the window while his mother and him had a seemingly normal breakfast conversation.
Luke’s mom however felt what her son could not especially when she had tapped into her powers even for a second earlier.. She then felt the aura of her oldest friend and knew he had been listening. She knew Luke had gone off to school so she called out, “Sean I know you are there you can come on in instead of being a little peeping tom, you know better than that.”
“I suppose I should have known you could probably still feel my aura after so long. I forgot even though your abilities are all but gone, you were one of us generals.” The shadow spoke as he seemed to materialize through the wall.
The shadow slowly transformed into a tall dark man, wearing a basic robe that made him seem like he was from some of those Japanese samurai movies her son loved so much. He carried two long swords on his hip, and had a lightning bolt scar under his right eye. He was an ageless man who didn't seem like he was much older than 45, but carried himself as someone much younger. Like he was primed for action at any moment.
“You haven’t aged a bit Sean, funny how that works with all that power still flowing through your veins lieutenant.” Luke's mom said as she smiled at her old friend.
“Rebecca, you and I both know I can’t grow old, only die at this point. If Bryan were still here he would have laughed at your snide jokes and believe it or not I am a commander now.” Said Sean. Rebecca perked up at hearing her husband's name and learning that the young kid her husband had taken in to teach had become as strong as they had been. She was filled with many emotions.
“Sean I know why you are here, but Luke hasn’t shown any unusual signs other than growing up a little too fast, this pocket world was purposely set up so that he and I could live a simple life without essence interfering. A world created with no essense leaking through. It is nothing more than a young kid turning into a man.”
Walking towards the table, Sean sat his body seemingly heavy in that moment and slowly examined the silverware on the table, “He has already been chosen. You may be able to sense myself because of our close relationship but his power is sealed behind runes not even Bryan knew how to unseal. We may have been powerful but only a sage could understand that level of complexity. The only reason I am here is because there are signs in our world. Luke is a child from Neverworld and not even this world could change that. His name has been added to the list of new recruits eligible for training at the Academy. You and I both know that the Academies list runs on a higher level of power than what we comprehend. You were chosen once, you understand, and now he has also been chosen. How you feel about it is no concern to power operating on the level of Gods. Service is the one and only job we ever have.
Rebecca looked at her friend with sadness in her eyes, she quickly got up from her seat and began pacing around the kitchen, “ He can’t be, Bryan gave the last of his life to fuel this world for us, to take the chance that he could be safe from the horrors we have had to endure. How is it that I have not been tracked but somehow Lukes soul was marked enough to register.
“We have no idea what kind of power he may have, you and I both know that he was found on that battlefield and while you may see him as your son he is something none of us understand. There is still little that is understood about how the Academies mark their personnel. Sometimes it's from birth and others from those we have conquered in the pocket worlds. I need to bring him to Knox. He will have his own affinity come to him sooner than later and we need to make sure that he knows how to use it so that he can survive the battles to come. He has been closed off and now that the pocket world can no longer keep him safe he must learn how our world works if he has any chance of survival. Eventually this place will not contain him if essense tries to seep through the fabric of this pocket world and into him. Even with you using your power to keep this place intact he will not be able to hide her.” Sean said.
“He is Bryan’s son, he will be treated differently, he will not be welcomed, nothing more than an outcast. Not only that, Bryan thought the basics of the runes he carries on his soul would essentially limit the power he can use. What you are essentially saying is that me and Bryan gave our lives for nothing. How can Luke possibly manifest enough power to progress and even stay alive. He will be weak amongst the rest of you. He will not survive!” Rebecca couldn’t control her aura and lost control shattering plates around the kitchen.
She looked at the broken pieces, and wondered if she would ever be able to piece her life back together similar to the plate. The more she thought about it the more she knew that things were going down the path she had always known would become eventuality. There was nothing her or Bryan could have done to truly save their son from the fate of returning to their world, there lives no forfeit with there power fueling this pocket world essentially condemning themselves and not giving Luke even a modicum of a chance of survival.
“You and I both know that it is not for you to know or for us to judge, he has been marked. He may not be powerful now, and he may not be able to break through the runes to help him gain adequate power in time, and in the end he might die. I do not mean to speak so cold or of the failure of giving your lives for nothing. However, you know that our world demands you to grow or you stagnate. War, violence, power, that is all there is. He can not remain hidden from Neverworld. His name has been written, and if he continues to resist its pull he will be found by those that not even I can face.”Said Sean looking at his friend broken just as the plate between her hands.
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Rebecca, taking her eyes from the shattered remains of plates all over her kitchen she looked at Sean with an exhausted stare, “He can not go Sean…, he is not ready, we condemned him. We were naive to think that he could be saved beyond truly leaving Neverworld ”. As fast as lighting her oldest friend moved in a blur to embrace her. She knew that this was only an after image of Sean, knowing that if he were to manifest in this world with all of his power it would crumble around them. However, the hug was enough and let her take stock of everything she had been told. She knew that she couldn't protect Luke further, that she was going to have to trust his life to her last and only friend because she no longer could leave this pocket world as her power was given to keep it from crumbling already.
“I will be one of the trainers this year, he will not die if I can help it. Have faith in not only me but the son that you raised. I will do all I can to teach him that struggle is not a time to give in and die but a time to grow and expand one's power. If anything, let's hope that he has developed even a small amount of your determination.”
Rebecca looked at her friend and felt some comfort knowing that he may be right, “Alright Sean let me tell him a little bit about us, if you are here I know he does not have much time. I will have to make my goodbye fast but he should hear of where we come from, from me first. I just want him to have a normal couple of days. I owe him that much. Life will be harder from here on out, let me be his mother while I still can.”
Sean could see the defeat in Rebecca’s eyes. He knew there was nothing she could do any longer. Luke would have to come with him before Knox sent any of their Extractors after the kid.Those from the Academy with the sole job of finding those on the list and either forcing them to join the Academy or they would be killed and stripped of their souls. Noone, knew exactly where the souls went, whether the gods used it to try and fuel their own power or it was converted back into the world they lived in.
Sean wrapped Rebecca back up into a hug, both knowing it was the last one they would probably ever share as when Luke was taken from this place Rebecca had to stay as it was her remaining power that was keeping this place together. As soon as her power waned her soul would be exhausted and then it would crumble to nothing. Looking at what used to be his most trusted friend he said, “Goodbye Rebecca I will do everything I can to keep him alive as long as possible, and thank you for everything you had taught me in the day. I hope to be as good a mentor to your son as you and Bryan were to me.”
Slowly slipping through the wall of the house, leaving Rebecca to her own thoughts. He had been friends with Bryan and Rebecca for over a century. They had fought in many wars, and other than his own daughter, they were the only ones that he cared for. Now he had Luke, and he would be coming to the Neverworld. He knew this would be its own sort of a challenge.
The General's mysterious son was finally coming home. The Son that had made the General step down from his office at the Academy. That was all anyone had ever known of the situation but the truth was much more secretive. Sean remembered the battle that had shaken the very fabric of their world. The battle in which one of the many Generals had found a small child at an altar and had claimed it as his own. Only Sean and Rebecca knew of the real origin. Bryan had kept any from finding the truth and even Sean did not understand fully about the destiny that Luke had in store. Only that a child had been part of a ritual involving beings far above the power of Generals and Sages and that Bryan had managed to sneak the child away in the hopes he could salvage a life for the kid. Something good that came from all the death that had been reaped that day.
Sean focused his essence and let it revolve around his soul, moving it in a way to activate the seal on the marble that was this pocket world on the outside. His consciousness coming back to his main body within an open field just outside the mountain range closest to the Twin Peaks. The moon was high, the wind blew gently through the knee high grass. Sean looked at the twin moons in the sky that was revolving around Neverworld that night. The air was crisp and quiet. This place had been shielded by Bryans power and only the pocket world sat on a small altar. The altar had two functions. One to hold the marble that was the world Rebecca and Luke resided in and two, as a bridge between worlds as well one that could be activated if someone knew how.
Bryan seemed to have known all along his son would have to return. That he could only give him a life without war, pain and suffering for so long. Sean had never heard of anyone successfully circumnavigating the fundamental princples of the world. Once you were born in Neverworld, or brought through the void as a pocket world and deposited into Neverworld your soul was marked with the seal of a Gods Dominion linked to that area. If you tried to run, or spent too long in a pocket world you were pulled back or if somehow you resisted the pull Extractors always came for you no matter your rank. Extractors' soul jobs were to eradicate those that were not loyal to the Dominion you were Linked to.
The only issue was that Sean had such a limited time left before Extractors came to find the kid and would find a pocket world so heavily protected by what power Bryan had put into it. Sean himself could only be gone from the Army and Academy so long as he was a commander, and now a trainer for Knox this year. He however, wanted to give Rebecca her last wish to allow her son to enjoy his last few days, but he was running low on time if he was to get the kid across the Twin Peaks Valley before the term started. Thankfully Sean was the only one who knew of the pocket world and the one who held the key to get in through the enchantments placed on the altar. They had 14 days and that would have to be enough. Give the kid two more days to be normal because from here on out it would be learn or die for him and Sean would do his best to teach him the ways of the world before it was too late.