'...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?'636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAh7Ro9RA76
'That's right. And then I came back.'636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdDxz4mHbG
'What was it like?'636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1WavvWnuw
'Death? The eternal Void?'636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9ISCDOoHm
'The other side.'636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMyVuxxz3t
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyG42EIHsC
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7oOLRcbAZj
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.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8zx7HfeVW
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.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQ1RPafx7u
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULKyh3Wlf7
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5eiAo8zOp
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.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12fPM2IyRY
'What's in this cup?'636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGay8TxfSin
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMfBFdctEb
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.'636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5IeEUXvVi
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfa6t9E0JSr
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.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYcBbrffdm
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVrqECP3qu
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSLA6dA5k8
She had sacrificed herself.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdaFQXgp1TJ
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLfhbgvdZZ
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9eH7tV5rv
'Comin', Maddy.'636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijDhexLBBh
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.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7sTPFFJsR
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mYUhz3rG9
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOFwJRSBsF
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPuGjK0m8U
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 -636Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5gQ6dTWVL
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
