THE WORLD FEELS IT, BUT CANNOT FIND IT
The first to notice were the ones who lived closest to magic.
Not sorcerers casting spells.
Not mystics chanting incantations.
But those who listened.
ZATANNA ZATARA
Zatanna froze mid-spell.
The candle in her hand didn't go out.
It hesitated.
A fraction of a second where magic itself felt… redirected.
She lowered her hands slowly.
"…That's not a spell," she whispered.
She reached out again—not to cast, but to sense.
And something brushed back.
Not hostile.
Not calling.
Just… present.
Old, but unfinished.
Powerful, but restrained.
"That's… not demonic."
"Not divine."
"Not Atlantean."
Her heart skipped.
"…That's a future artifact."
Something that wasn't active yet.
Something that would matter later.
JOHN CONSTANTINE
Constantine felt it differently.
His cigarette went out.
Not extinguished.
Smothered.
He stared at it, annoyed—then uneasy.
"…Oh, that's bad."
He didn't need a spell.
He didn't need a circle.
The wards in his flat leaned away from a direction.
Magic avoiding something like a dog avoiding a storm.
"Whatever that is," he muttered, lighting another cigarette,
"it's not asking permission."
And worse—
It wasn't breaking the rules.
It was ignoring them.
DOCTOR FATE (NABU)
In the Tower of Fate, silence reigned.
Then Nabu spoke.
"A convergence has begun."
Kent Nelson's breath caught.
"Of what?"
The Helm turned slightly.
"Of inevitability."
Not destiny.
Not prophecy.
Something being prepared.
"A tool. Not yet awakened."
Kent swallowed.
"Where?"
Nabu paused.
For the first time in centuries—
He did not answer immediately.
"…Earth."
RAVEN
Raven stopped in mid-air.
Her soul-self recoiled instinctively.
Not from pain.
From recognition.
Something meant to stand against apocalypses.
Not born of chaos.
Not born of order.
But something that could interrupt both.
"That thing…" she murmured, eyes narrowing,
"…isn't supposed to exist yet."
She didn't know why she knew that.
Only that it was true.
THE LIGHT — EMERGENCY CONCLAVE
The Light noticed last.
But when they did—
They panicked.
Lex Luthor's monitors scrolled endlessly.
No location.
No energy spike.
No magical signature they could triangulate.
Just—
Absence.
"We have confirmation," Lex said coldly.
"Every magical sensor we control agrees."
Vandal Savage folded his arms.
"Something powerful."
"Something new," Queen Bee added.
"Something unfinished," Klarion snarled, irritated.
"I can feel it—but I can't touch it!"
Lex's jaw tightened.
"That's the problem."
He brought up overlapping global maps.
Every one of them highlighted the same thing.
UNITED STATES.
"Whatever it is," Lex continued,
"it exists in our world… but not in our systems."
Ra's al Ghul's hologram flickered to life.
Eyes sharp.
"A weapon?"
Lex shook his head slowly.
"No."
A pause.
"A keystone."
Silence followed.
Then Queen Bee asked the question no one wanted to hear.
"…Who's capable of hiding something like that?"
No one answered.
But many of them thought of the same name.
THE SHARED FEAR
Heroes sensed it.
Villains feared it.
Magic avoided it.
And none of them could find it.
Which meant only one thing.
Someone—
Not a god.
Not a demon.
Not a sorcerer.
But someone prepared.
Was building something the world would only understand when it was too late.
FINAL IMAGE
In a place no magic could reach—
Damian Wayne worked in silence.
The Crystal slept.
And the world held its breath.