'...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?'476Please respect copyright.PENANAVIXwDq6jN5
'That's right. And then I came back.'476Please respect copyright.PENANAvVuBXUpmqw
'What was it like?'476Please respect copyright.PENANABsraDAbetJ
'Death? The eternal Void?'476Please respect copyright.PENANA1IYndOrUUV
'The other side.'476Please respect copyright.PENANA7gOb5SdpR2
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.476Please respect copyright.PENANAWD37EOmedn
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.476Please respect copyright.PENANAcHc7eVf7NX
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.476Please respect copyright.PENANAPBjgT1P9hW
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.476Please respect copyright.PENANARUrPLPrEzo
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'476Please respect copyright.PENANA4LL4PDXPwo
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'476Please respect copyright.PENANA7E6YDYJrhN
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.476Please respect copyright.PENANAauxXs4pQzC
'What's in this cup?'476Please respect copyright.PENANALhK5Jxzubh
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'476Please respect copyright.PENANACjkoDVWZEM
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.'476Please respect copyright.PENANAmtgDnQ2coi
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.476Please respect copyright.PENANAlMFL6yXo09
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.476Please respect copyright.PENANAaHl6boxBwC
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.476Please respect copyright.PENANAX9Y4Gqfd6G
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.476Please respect copyright.PENANAV4lY931nTK
She had sacrificed herself.476Please respect copyright.PENANA37k2cvthap
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.476Please respect copyright.PENANAv4txooCKrN
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'476Please respect copyright.PENANA2uPPPgHwhy
'Comin', Maddy.'476Please respect copyright.PENANAO6MjpQzhdq
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.476Please respect copyright.PENANAAGzu4sjaYK
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.476Please respect copyright.PENANARbWkGddMCJ
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.476Please respect copyright.PENANA4s9KeoBLkh
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.476Please respect copyright.PENANAfnSXKBPsSs
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 -476Please respect copyright.PENANAiYS2vd8KTa
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.