'...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.
