'...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?'688Please respect copyright.PENANAKImz77wcJG
'That's right. And then I came back.'688Please respect copyright.PENANAVrGx294Amm
'What was it like?'688Please respect copyright.PENANADZYpgwl5Fk
'Death? The eternal Void?'688Please respect copyright.PENANAxeP7864UTO
'The other side.'688Please respect copyright.PENANAQDmqCQjjzq
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.688Please respect copyright.PENANA3CmML7C5gY
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.688Please respect copyright.PENANAOAVDLBWybo
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.688Please respect copyright.PENANAejPwYGk4do
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.688Please respect copyright.PENANA0shnVoQu6z
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'688Please respect copyright.PENANAJKVJUL9XVH
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'688Please respect copyright.PENANAff21EgmrRT
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.688Please respect copyright.PENANAmRT8EcBBkh
'What's in this cup?'688Please respect copyright.PENANARcDycQkjKG
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'688Please respect copyright.PENANAnO3QtoWzlh
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.'688Please respect copyright.PENANAshcjhiCcbf
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.688Please respect copyright.PENANAJPpnU16HDs
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.688Please respect copyright.PENANAl9U23FEZ1w
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.688Please respect copyright.PENANAmYsi2ChF5g
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.688Please respect copyright.PENANAUQsHkiJA5a
She had sacrificed herself.688Please respect copyright.PENANAFshpiYqglP
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.688Please respect copyright.PENANA7cc9ZHz9C2
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'688Please respect copyright.PENANAzATBQwD3gU
'Comin', Maddy.'688Please respect copyright.PENANADh5EAMpZzX
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.688Please respect copyright.PENANAUIK6lxdMIM
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.688Please respect copyright.PENANAJ7hVbgoLdr
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.688Please respect copyright.PENANAE7T1UIPqH3
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.688Please respect copyright.PENANAtWrOkb2qD0
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 -688Please respect copyright.PENANAyOMoSi3WMD
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.