'...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?'464Please respect copyright.PENANA5eb7xyDjGO
'That's right. And then I came back.'464Please respect copyright.PENANAvvm5U7gzJg
'What was it like?'464Please respect copyright.PENANAjvZA4QU7uf
'Death? The eternal Void?'464Please respect copyright.PENANAQU1Dk9iZ15
'The other side.'464Please respect copyright.PENANARRA8dmwtSy
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.464Please respect copyright.PENANAbQ8kPDjGg9
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.464Please respect copyright.PENANAXGFLFcyY4l
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.464Please respect copyright.PENANAdX1fMZSifk
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.464Please respect copyright.PENANA9uCxcElmVN
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'464Please respect copyright.PENANAqNzZuWF5Rm
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'464Please respect copyright.PENANA15LwYT5On8
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.464Please respect copyright.PENANAX6xOjd4pDL
'What's in this cup?'464Please respect copyright.PENANAhayKGw7LyY
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'464Please respect copyright.PENANAwrevMfBCak
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.'464Please respect copyright.PENANAqWuHiT1kfr
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.464Please respect copyright.PENANAmHEi1FfJRD
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.464Please respect copyright.PENANAk98tQny5zW
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.464Please respect copyright.PENANASLXClfoEck
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.464Please respect copyright.PENANAuJRSKi8N9B
She had sacrificed herself.464Please respect copyright.PENANANK0R4ZCR7G
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.464Please respect copyright.PENANAWSQ6nNZ0jc
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'464Please respect copyright.PENANAh4bvZRiYIn
'Comin', Maddy.'464Please respect copyright.PENANADr4gaEWDOt
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.464Please respect copyright.PENANA38l8cHxAg1
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.464Please respect copyright.PENANAWJZvfdlDvG
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.464Please respect copyright.PENANAGFmzTTOYYS
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.464Please respect copyright.PENANAWTQGd9R4KY
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 -464Please respect copyright.PENANATofKyyVkKL
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.