'...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?'625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmU9SVKaLG
'That's right. And then I came back.'625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGeZMGttEJ
'What was it like?'625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWePc2Mely
'Death? The eternal Void?'625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuR3Bbktug5
'The other side.'625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbbihBMgpu
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMfTeJZsNi
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6AvvqqQZ8e
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.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGrkaMg85l
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.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdiPPXCfyx
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONr8t4U9eB
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nqF3zOFrG
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.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeG6iVD2OJh
'What's in this cup?'625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvdBMWVebI
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKc5VBsc0l
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.'625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcDNcgV7Ym
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhRc0xgzSGe
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.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKli1XcDVP
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRfr9zpqcc
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0Nv2HJBXI
She had sacrificed herself.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfw38z7iy3b
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIOVICt6DR
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffkA1i8XAd
'Comin', Maddy.'625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvVbIvZ2HG
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.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMcwvoSwxxY
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJs7jRx2Zp8
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvZy0nzu07
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0APKq5Xw9p
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 -625Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhvsKw1uoDW
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
