'...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?'608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2pBZA3Pmd
'That's right. And then I came back.'608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0FbOPOeRv
'What was it like?'608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN2sNWyxHq8
'Death? The eternal Void?'608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxKtv8sOux
'The other side.'608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8n71dV7cDR
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9YadU3B6E
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpRHrkzrxQ
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.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7kOakOKHqI
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.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSGr50yVYB
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxQwZLHXJu
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTmhD9auRQ
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.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqrABIiXSQ
'What's in this cup?'608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jKcO9bolY
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNzHHUVZ7h
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.'608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkERFyKIHQd
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4aHmJfQPqP
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.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPQDCFOxq9
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kUeaTZrHR
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooCKJ4JAuB
She had sacrificed herself.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3GSmrCtx4
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQz1GfBCMB
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzj60jFNZh
'Comin', Maddy.'608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNegI53QEYh
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.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7NzZNUnoKf
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFlVSMmxlC
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2v9mFvdJIe
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQQkymkwI3
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 -608Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeJP3qh18Y
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
