'...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?'689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0ztyV1rdP
'That's right. And then I came back.'689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadOb3kCgC0
'What was it like?'689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN9Inl0y5tM
'Death? The eternal Void?'689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5JseU6kck
'The other side.'689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrseNkNpyn
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1lDssWh3Z
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oDSYJRhms
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.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLbQFqpLji
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.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzN9g5cHPl
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kcAvbMAQe
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOKeCMhZdB
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.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTtS4jalOa
'What's in this cup?'689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedE13DwC6U
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgf6XGVpVsJ
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.'689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKF0646Jl3
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZ8MMTYM6W
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.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxgMLniFee
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1Un4nyW4I
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAERUr70zXK
She had sacrificed herself.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6w4ObkGea
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNZnrgEj7l
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQ6noS6mKh
'Comin', Maddy.'689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrrfZLhQX9
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.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMYQ3Q96Co
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTwq1y2bwR
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcoAN9ZgLxZ
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9h0G4zz9L
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 -689Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTwMBMu48o
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
