'...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?'580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzG4OiQGBG
'That's right. And then I came back.'580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gLeF9CCpt
'What was it like?'580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCnKfXdSUe
'Death? The eternal Void?'580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLu0nw1ZBI
'The other side.'580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwy6cLdLm5a
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUgI3vtT5p
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8S9DHUIKz3
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.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTrep2nrNJ
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.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiFUjpUdcu
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyw0byGnxv
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRO8NiaVHt
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.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrClroLtB2j
'What's in this cup?'580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1sS3NiQ2K
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsyk7sY7kSp
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.'580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKY7XNZBP0z
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BUy6XM9JU
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.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sncMUDWwo
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwx3xJAhc1
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvquv5Q2Vg
She had sacrificed herself.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxg4Sk7jCTr
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkfYrCqqnC
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LDveQKknx
'Comin', Maddy.'580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0UnCodKO7
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.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdIxhyX87p
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAh932bpaza
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TjQzxifkR
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2hbWF5sVu
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 -580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBFJCB4bgU
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
