'...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?'644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14eUaAzIoe
'That's right. And then I came back.'644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpH5FGjpzgk
'What was it like?'644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcD6JnGLqY
'Death? The eternal Void?'644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6yPBq9JC6
'The other side.'644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcz7lmuGZKL
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5esqyI2WV
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAtXCdpd0b
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.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7yFrLXrEjc
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.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1VynED9X7
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkF6gT15HF
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Wd3EXcg2s
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.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9GywyjbWh
'What's in this cup?'644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnybl7w5vmB
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFDPzFWG00
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.'644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAiLVQV6GS
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNadvhBZRK
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.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmf4lA4Cvl
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKP0Nt0RlT
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1k6fbfR0k
She had sacrificed herself.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhw5Q6Nm6U8
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxJRw5xG5h
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjvbqjVfio
'Comin', Maddy.'644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3VGrOqOJ5
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.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbWhWgB7dX
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSY4xzZ8nW
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQAuKez2xd
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBaYTw9jAG
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 -644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZr0KfdQ3A
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
