'...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?'521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm55Do7T6k6
'That's right. And then I came back.'521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mpKPmY9K9
'What was it like?'521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBXbvYcVOr
'Death? The eternal Void?'521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNDTIhz5ao
'The other side.'521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb99DP8Orq5
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmkLbEJC6q
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqy623E8lzi
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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFtPL8DyNj
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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkChZtgWzH
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZQE0Vuywl
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOs5MRgDS8s
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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkboqQdciYj
'What's in this cup?'521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFBD32sG8v
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9SVe8mpowt
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.'521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cjAXV3n8Y
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPA7oIE68zi
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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEwvE781PS
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrWAbIrUpYT
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYqvh9lWhd
She had sacrificed herself.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpRmMReV96
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpjaR4IkPN
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxYVxKfENm
'Comin', Maddy.'521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7dVHfT2ne
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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ51AJVNr5Rs
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEnETynCU1
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtz5AgRKhR
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExK51mPpe3
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 -521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7IxnL38Ah
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
