'...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?'667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkf0RZTC4r
'That's right. And then I came back.'667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyeX3SYYt8M
'What was it like?'667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSn30jp56Xo
'Death? The eternal Void?'667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURe1qlMJU2
'The other side.'667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmG4w6Z1Jn
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgEZUhlnIS
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2CHVLhqaDI
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.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe75leUfJld
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.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdEWSPEZTp
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡycVVGq6VNH
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq59pqtBjuI
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.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWqTH21Gzt
'What's in this cup?'667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhucSJbTdyx
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcH7v8BLuHo
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.'667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuxXYOS609
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAP4dyhM8p
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.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGOMkIs3qz
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLnP89D6Qpe
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmv1CVanbP5
She had sacrificed herself.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfvpAgdOlI
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4fVffOfpg
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0FXbdPwBT
'Comin', Maddy.'667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5953R7zfD
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.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjYRf19KIM
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnnyUh3g5NB
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUS9jMrLhq7
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGjWzHC5bl
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 -667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pSDLSorGn
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
