'...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?'645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiAZpdgQBhO
'That's right. And then I came back.'645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRX0uLP5M3m
'What was it like?'645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtx31O810kc
'Death? The eternal Void?'645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1veSbC3AC
'The other side.'645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcUaV0BQlH
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFQ0ZfsnjS
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vJUFb2jCE
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.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz18H9hsiWt
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.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfj8ZzO87n
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEyunwIsJE
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfo4VP8W8H
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.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2iPXvmTKla
'What's in this cup?'645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgE1qKdS70C
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbZObLQts6
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.'645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7QC0RUxNhK
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRCPmK0ERQ
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.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJrM6lxvzS
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIdLZFIbYD
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1Mv9KsV32
She had sacrificed herself.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYbTnOW8FA
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxqIMqd9dU
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbT6xZKyq6E
'Comin', Maddy.'645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAD67ssoLu
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.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAuab6RUXv
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvmuzoBnFq
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9GETn0Osd
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQRN6RXfuw
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 -645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBkXCCtoqi
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
