'...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.
