'...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?'681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdMwERutAtT
'That's right. And then I came back.'681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrwcVS8lY7
'What was it like?'681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcvDu9geha
'Death? The eternal Void?'681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dQsFWyV0S
'The other side.'681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCYEQloAVV
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiwXoQPmnU
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwyDSMd1QN
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.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJutZ6P9AL
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.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vyYCQfNO4
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhpZ8ur3Lw
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuCNXSNzFC7
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.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIqJD3UADC
'What's in this cup?'681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzhtxtNHmT
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ewpunSLHn
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.'681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0HIhVgl6H
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qoYp1jRLE
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.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0UxQTXfP2
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMYyUwK1lx8
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFwgG85wNO
She had sacrificed herself.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBj8vx75Tq
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJvyk9nJ06
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xHiR7nhvU
'Comin', Maddy.'681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzELJdsnaj
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.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ikdKgKd8D
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7kS7XBXV2
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBGZKQ9nzK
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVGTqsmqO5
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 -681Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3M4iz5TVS
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
