'...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?'733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUj9ZjZTP7
'That's right. And then I came back.'733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9t8QURITHa
'What was it like?'733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXgKbtmllJ
'Death? The eternal Void?'733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡViDUU6LnNQ
'The other side.'733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXMNVJhZTm
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9fw8DwucI
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2Llwu2ztQ
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.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSuUm20DwY
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.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFP5xKhWWR
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SCyUMlovq
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbGSwUuklR
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.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEnFRPGBlU
'What's in this cup?'733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7u8QAafLAx
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uKvg7cPWH
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.'733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioEZa0yTFr
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhGaQ1To8S
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.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFsJOX8k81
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHOb229gcym
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIlknIk2N7
She had sacrificed herself.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mnM7I4K4X
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vYMFwF6tB
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeaLPt5E4K1
'Comin', Maddy.'733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtWgESOWiD
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.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidHMbnI0Hv
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeqtP9EBmM
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wnT20ZQ7b
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPk8MrrqiZe
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 -733Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhangX2a0U
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
