'...And on the eight o clock news, we have Sally Heighton live on the premises of what can only be called an otherworldly miracle. The city of Newton watched in amazement earlier this afternoon as the WestGo skyscraper was destroyed by fire, but nothing could have prepared us for what came next...'
'So you died in the fire?'748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIUbWW0Jue
'That's right. And then I came back.'748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVaZiw9cGC
'What was it like?'748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVZUOEy0KO
'Death? The eternal Void?'748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9ef7O1OmP
'The other side.'748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfsIOGoVIe
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXHEDDRnTe
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAljirccmoX
Stanley Gorge, a bumbling policeman, only comprehended the mad woman's report at the station after the event. He had learnt enough to find the hideout of Floor Twelve Minus, and ordered a DNA swab of the premises.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFa2vukcwp
The manhunt lasted nine months, and eventually every single member of the elusive organization was found and brought to justice, a life sentence in prison.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrGzAgdhfS
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNN4y5SxrbD
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1b1WuQUKy
Madeleine watched on happily, and took a sip of her tea. She was almost twenty years younger than Percy, but age didn't stop her from falling in love with such a beautiful heart. He never talked about his past, but she knew that she loved him, and their daughter, precious Christine.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEARxDMIhX
'What's in this cup?'748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3Yb4AxBc5
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9qiEsQTA2
Hughes chortled as he lifted up the cup to reveal a little model snowman. He hugged the laughing girl. 'Come on now, time for bed.'748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9EcjgRbWy
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXmlsSy3hf
He had changed his name, of course, after that day. Percy Lowe. Something had touched that man very deep inside his cold heart - an act of love.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkjz8r9wtb
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUGa6if7OR
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNvGxO2P54B
She had sacrificed herself.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPdaCkkFTu
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBKbs7SmRem
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhb3pdlVlMr
'Comin', Maddy.'748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JJTsQiTRD
He took a seat next to his wife on the steps of the front porch, and watched the dying day on the fields of their farm.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjSpoJgKJp
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhTKwHOZgM
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdeu5Adxpz
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKb6Ux82E2K
Because he learned, because he knew, from that day till the day he would return to the Void - this day, smelling jasmine tea near husky grasses and swinging to the sparrows cooing in the distance -748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OSXU23tG2
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
