'...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?'707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqndmimebU
'That's right. And then I came back.'707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUjbsdcOPw
'What was it like?'707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSw3sFBVUq
'Death? The eternal Void?'707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOp74pfD2lH
'The other side.'707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAneXuZjaV
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn81eCXmLvU
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDThgIEuV5
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.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXF4miD6x7
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.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmm4Y0yVT0
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzlo6vWNMR
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQ5U0wrfJj
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.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xR9faZ0Qm
'What's in this cup?'707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh54IgyksiJ
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8mTWz1Kg8
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.'707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2PIHzauo7
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDnp4nnmsq
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.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzqRQ6ePm2
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvj5r8HCsBV
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcF9bLHVTvu
She had sacrificed herself.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNRiMeOjV2
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2Vv4yFXAX
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhT5IgHENb
'Comin', Maddy.'707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKxk8PBlog
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.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35d8aZedRB
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmqgpqux97
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXrPpDjtnj
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2aAbkkDem1
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 -707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEqbMEEmaR
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
