'...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?'627Please respect copyright.PENANAeFEwYHtW4G
'That's right. And then I came back.'627Please respect copyright.PENANAkbZ5ZgJIDG
'What was it like?'627Please respect copyright.PENANA5YZdFroEHn
'Death? The eternal Void?'627Please respect copyright.PENANAfMqdiK6Wvb
'The other side.'627Please respect copyright.PENANAxNYvJxKTcn
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.627Please respect copyright.PENANANKVZTymRka
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.627Please respect copyright.PENANADuV19UGoUT
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.627Please respect copyright.PENANAxQRLP8XWBT
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.627Please respect copyright.PENANAbMr7B9e6Vn
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'627Please respect copyright.PENANArw0uFYQRlt
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'627Please respect copyright.PENANA5LTylm34Cs
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.627Please respect copyright.PENANANq3zM4CiNZ
'What's in this cup?'627Please respect copyright.PENANADCWCNW4zb6
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'627Please respect copyright.PENANA1uuNAakqbo
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.'627Please respect copyright.PENANAPMo8YvjlcX
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.627Please respect copyright.PENANAU8QDdW4gOb
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.627Please respect copyright.PENANAv8YDTxMHaM
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.627Please respect copyright.PENANAhu71mYDZsC
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.627Please respect copyright.PENANA1OEFiO3LsS
She had sacrificed herself.627Please respect copyright.PENANAkJUpgpjFOV
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.627Please respect copyright.PENANAAgSkLwsMK4
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'627Please respect copyright.PENANAJ7jg9NBJFe
'Comin', Maddy.'627Please respect copyright.PENANAWWATJHJcA8
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.627Please respect copyright.PENANA3wGov46ods
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.627Please respect copyright.PENANALFJQDrZZSQ
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.627Please respect copyright.PENANAmyBOaIuBBP
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.627Please respect copyright.PENANAUzaWQb759C
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 -627Please respect copyright.PENANA0ZIxmPY6xL
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.