The school bell rang with a jarring shrill that echoed down the hallways, as it always did — loud, obnoxious, and as inevitable as the rain pouring down outside. Luke ducked beneath the overhang of the school entrance, seeking refuge from the downpour. It was September 30th, a Friday, and the ominous weight of the upcoming wrestling match pressed on his shoulders. Polk High was buzzing with energy, the halls filled with the usual chatter as the school prepared for the big event. Luke wasn’t exactly the most popular kid, but he was well-known. A state-ranked wrestler with a reputation, even if he wasn’t surrounded by a throng of admirers.

The doors swung open, and as he walked through, familiar voices greeted him.

"Hey, Luke! What's up? Ready for the big match?" someone called.

He nodded, offering a polite smile. “Hey, what’s up?” he replied, though his tone was mechanical. “Yeah, ready as I’ll ever be.” It was the same exchange, day after day. Everyone knew he was good on the mat, but today, he felt far from his usual self.

His mind kept drifting back to the dream. The dream clung to him like a shadow, its remnants lingering in the corners of his thoughts. It gnawed at him, turning over and over in his head as he walked to his classes. The power he had felt there — raw, overwhelming, like nothing he had ever known — was terrifying and… intoxicating. The darkness, the voice, the feeling that something inside him was stirring. It was more than just a dream. It was a call, something deep within him — a call that felt both foreign and familiar, like the echo of his soul speaking back to him.

His next class was History, and as usual, his attention was elsewhere.

“Luke, wake up! You’re supposed to be taking the test!” Mrs. Chapman’s voice snapped him back to reality.

Startled, Luke blinked, trying to orient himself. He had no memory of sitting down for the test, let alone the last few minutes. “Uh, sorry, Mrs. Chapman,” he stammered, rubbing his eyes. “I don’t know what happened.”

“Finish the test, you have thirty minutes left,” she said, her tone laced with irritation.

His cheeks burned with embarrassment. The entire class stared at him — some with confusion, others with amusement. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was seriously off. How had he zoned out so completely? The last clear memory he had was walking into the room. The rest was a blur. He shook his head, trying to refocus. It’s just the dream, he thought, but the weight on his chest made it hard to believe.

Finally, the bell rang. It was a welcome sound, signaling the end of History and the start of the much-anticipated wrestling match preparations. But Luke couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that clung to him. His chest felt heavy, the mark on his skin searing with a dull burn that hadn’t been there before. At first, it had just been a tingle, a faint sensation he could ignore. Now, it felt like fire, a constant pressure against his ribs.

“Hey, Luke, what happened in History class?” Ben, his childhood friend, caught up with him as they headed toward the gym locker room. Ben had known Luke for years and was always the first to notice when something was off.

Luke hesitated, the lie forming on his tongue. "I don't know, man... weird dream last night, I guess. Didn’t sleep much."

Ben raised an eyebrow. “You sure that’s all? You looked out of it. Like you were about to pass out.”

Luke forced a grin. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine for the match. Just a bit disoriented, nothing serious.”

Ben seemed satisfied with that answer, though a flicker of doubt lingered in his eyes. He gave Luke a pat on the back. "Alright, man, you got this. Let’s go crush it tonight."

......

The gym locker room was buzzing with excitement as the team gathered for warm-ups after the weigh ins. As a team captain, Luke led the stretches, trying to focus on the upcoming match. But then, it happened.

As they were doing air squats, a searing pain shot through Luke’s chest. His vision blurred, and the world seemed to tilt sideways. His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the floor, clutching his chest, gasping for breath.

"Luke! What’s wrong?!" Ben’s frantic voice pierced the fog of pain. He was at Luke’s side in an instant, kneeling beside him.

The pain was unlike anything Luke had ever experienced — an agonizing heat that seemed to burn from the inside out, spreading through his body like wildfire. But it wasn’t just physical. It was something deeper, something in his soul that was being tugged, pulled in ways he couldn’t explain. The power, the energy, it felt like it was reshaping him like he was slipping between worlds.

"Luke, talk to me! What hurts? What happened?" Ben’s voice was panicked, but Luke couldn’t respond. All he could do was clench his fist, the pressure in his chest unbearable.

Then, as suddenly as it came, the pain faded. The burning in his chest was gone, replaced by an odd lightness. It was as if a weight had been lifted from him, but the sensation was unsettling. Luke slowly sat up, the world around him coming back into focus. His teammates were staring at him, a mix of confusion and concern on their faces.

“I’m fine, guys,” Luke said, trying to sound normal. “Just need a minute. Finish the stretches, I’ll be right back.”

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He staggered to his feet, still clutching his chest, and made his way to the bathroom. His thoughts were racing. What just happened? What is happening to me?

Inside the locker room, he ripped off his sweatshirt and glanced at the mirror. The mark on his chest had changed. It had gone from a faint bruise-like stain to something solid, dark, and unmistakable — a tattoo of sorts, but not one he had ever gotten. The symbols burned with an unnatural intensity, as if they were alive, throbbing with energy.

Ben’s voice startled him from behind. "Luke? Are you okay, man? What’s going on? I’ve never seen you like this."

Luke spun around, quickly pulling his sweatshirt back down to cover the mark. "I’m fine," he said, though his voice sounded distant even to him. "Just a bad migraine, I think. Nothing serious."

Ben eyed him skeptically but didn’t press the issue. "Alright, but that was some crazy stuff earlier. Let’s focus on the match. Killgore’s not going to know what hit him."

Luke nodded, though a knot of unease tightened in his stomach. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong.

The rest of the team gathered together, the air thick with the hum of excitement. The stands were packed with families and fans, cheering for Polk High as they faced their bitter rivals. Luke’s eyes scanned the crowd, searching for a face he knew — his mother’s. But she was nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t a surprise. She was always busy, always working. Luke had long accepted that she couldn’t be there for him, not with her demanding job as a trauma nurse.

Ben noticed his lingering gaze. “She’s saving lives, as a nurse should” he said, as if reading Luke’s thoughts.

Luke gave a faint smile. “Yeah. That’s why I love her.” His voice was distant, but he quickly added, “And that’s why I’m going to win tonight. For her.”

Just then, their coach, Carl, barked from across the gym. “Get your asses over to your seats! It’s almost time!”

……

What Luke didn’t know, however, was that his mother wasn’t absent because of her work. She was engaged in something far more significant — something that might very well change the course of his life forever. She and Sean were working together, in secret, to prepare him for what was coming.

In the Netherworld, Sean was carefully dismantling the layers of magic that had been placed around the pocket world. The process was slow, deliberate, each rune he unraveled bringing them closer to the moment of the Crossing. It was dangerous work. The magic wasn’t meant to be tampered with. It had been designed to protect Luke from the forces that sought to claim him, but Sean knew the time had come for the magic to be undone. The Crossing was inevitable, and when it happened, it would change everything. The pain Luke would endure was something Sean could only hope to mitigate but some inevitable leak may happen and the boy may come into strength he is not prepared for out of the blue.

……

The matches seemed to fly by. Wins were being exchanged back and forth. As Polk would pull ahead, Claremont High would win the next. After the 189 weight class match started Luke began to prepare. Stretching out in the back, he felt none of the pain from earlier. He thought that maybe there would be some residual pain but there was nothing. He actually began to feel refreshed, and even more excited for the coming match.

“And now one of the captains of the Polk High wrestling team, with an undefeated record, Luke Xavier, will wrestle against David Killgore in the 220-pound weight class”! The intercom boomed over the crowd.

Luke ran to the middle table signaling that he was prepped and ready to go to the judges and team managers keeping track of points, as well as wins and losses. Lining up on the line opposite his opponent he locked eyes with Killgore. They were both equal in terms of muscle, but Killgore had a height advantage, and his eyes bore into Luke like daggers.

The whistle rang, and Killgore lunged forward hoping to catch Luke off guard. Luke managed to lunge into the takedown Killgore was trying, catching Killgore's weight and wrapping his arms around his body. Noticing he was in a precarious situation with Killgore still attempting to grab one of his legs and use his momentum to catch him off balance. Luke instead lifted his arm and performed a duck under. Luke grabbed him around the waist, extending, lifting, and began to pivot to throw Killgore to the ground with all the force he could muster. Luke overestimated his strength, or maybe he was as strong as he previously thought because as he lifted he felt little to no resistance like a paperweight and Killgore went flying through the air dangerously fast towards the ground. Luke slammed him hard into the mat, and what followed was a loud audible snapping and cracking noise. The whole gym erupted into expressed emotion. Luke quickly got up and backed away to see what had happened. The adrenaline quickly left Luke and he finally began to hear the surrounding chaos.

Killgore was lying on the ground screaming in agony much like Luke had done not three hours before. Killgore's arm, and leg twisted opposite of how they should have been. Not only that but there was bruising already appearing around his ribs indicating something else was broken.

Luke had never been one to want to hurt someone that bad, but what he saw resonated within him. He should have felt sorry, but for some reason, it felt right like he needed to vent some power he didn't know he had. His body seemingly energized before the fight needing a release. Now, immensense, and sudden exhaustion overtook him.

The screams broke Luke out of his thoughts, and he quickly ran off the mat as the athletic trainers did their best to comfort, and aid Killgore.

“Luke, how did you do that”? Ben asked as he sat next to Luke on the bench. “what do you mean”? Luke said, trying to not look too concerned as if it was all just a big mistake. “You threw Killgore so fast, and with such ease it looked unnatural. As if he weighed no more than 30 lbs. When he lunged you moved incredibly fast. I didn't know you had moved behind him until he was already on the ground”. Ben said looking at his friend with a little trepidation mixed in with excitement.

“I have been wrestling you for years and you have never been that fast,” Ben stated.

Luke took a minute to think about what couldn’t have been longer than a 45-second match. “Honestly I have no idea. I just felt in the zone and everything was just going smoothly, I was just doing what I thought I should”. Luke said, trying to not sound as concerned as he was feeling. The screams of his opponent still rang throughout the gym as the ambulance had just arrived and first responders were helping hoist Killgore onto a stretcher.

Luke knew he had done what he had practiced a thousand times, but Killgore was a state champion, and he had beaten him so easily. Luke sat in his chair for the remainder of the matches. Even watched Killgore be sent in the ambulance and to the hospital. His coach only comes up to him to tell him it happens and that he shouldn’t beat himself up too much about it. Things happen and this wasn’t a sport where others wouldn’t get hurt. The rest of the matches went without incident. Polk took the win for the night and with Killgore in the hospital, there wasn’t much morale from the opposing team resulting in easy wins. Everything seemed to come to a close for the night fast as Luke was lost in his thoughts about how he could have hurt someone not only badly but so easily.