'...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?'657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSBhGdzzXb
'That's right. And then I came back.'657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXAfTWuQNVE
'What was it like?'657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxR4Uj9LfG4
'Death? The eternal Void?'657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuijC9Q5ZLD
'The other side.'657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KMS9BHGrg
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLBV5KsYjQ
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIBHaHYwZP
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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGT0BH396Mx
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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFsaky9g12
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshAcINF4KL
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwg7yDbIuu
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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5rLF1fq9l
'What's in this cup?'657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNOxoK0ND3
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ244QVmhNw
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.'657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMPB3svFu5
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJif3nHKJK1
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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYmemtApMj
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIXV3aSquc
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUJtXuHRRu
She had sacrificed herself.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8KQ8l1uQU
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIp5mZPZ8a2
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1lLGcZlfn3
'Comin', Maddy.'657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXp3GpBcAa
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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkruPzI4ZzK
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1blYAmp4d
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAPN5psz5j
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5usWG9KGP
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 -657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8Qy33t9Xd
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
