'...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?'717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLmuhKQkk8
'That's right. And then I came back.'717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9kaUnRnxg
'What was it like?'717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyBpXd560A
'Death? The eternal Void?'717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJSknTg8Mt
'The other side.'717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmOoDc74Wc
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzoLZkRXFA4
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzrIiaFctu
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.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5fpxZp23R
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.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PhW10oMPC
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwM7S2RQFA
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3HEU2zNTu
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.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFlXtdWsB9
'What's in this cup?'717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwRL0DTh3V
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4fjhlbuUQ
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.'717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOil6PUXdqN
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DiI8CPy0q
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.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrQbJ06AkZ
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqV6TvcIGNr
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEQpS9yIgH
She had sacrificed herself.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Mt3nUPgpA
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBccVlvcDO3
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIyDAwIu6k
'Comin', Maddy.'717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnJOn4GpUA
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.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKgc83vmrm
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbP1zR3cpmU
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNi7QQsEiU
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4H0pcw1Nj
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 -717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77Sdg7QD4H
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
