'...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?'703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggKn7UAf2V
'That's right. And then I came back.'703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6mCXMI85U
'What was it like?'703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwBjFqgf5E
'Death? The eternal Void?'703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWsc4xqLQp
'The other side.'703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kyPMEI77y
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RWzO6pYWL
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrEj0dJrrO
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.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvD5ArBzToA
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.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJnyhKSQ01
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmwEjiToNm
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJpQYuePVeH
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.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KNX8rm0OL
'What's in this cup?'703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd14naTqZU4
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkphsUURXGT
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.'703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzfQk4ZGS7
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ezY7SdMx3
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.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxd8L5OOU1d
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6VTP6jZPn
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOlF8hSRMU
She had sacrificed herself.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkeMej1sWz
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrD7nLkwFJ
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CVjBkRv6N
'Comin', Maddy.'703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8oHcFriTx
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.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1699EES16
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuBXA84VaI
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdVwES8oJM
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2a23lycfzl
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 -703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCw90MzFdO
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
