'...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?'716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe9tWNR67yg
'That's right. And then I came back.'716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNJ2x9TOXi
'What was it like?'716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4eJWYTxoA
'Death? The eternal Void?'716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9m36OWxym
'The other side.'716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMdscRw7AQ
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqF6zK5dxr
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFFt5qUxuWt
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.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2WsegPyjR
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.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7WdDSyqNd
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnj4rk9BPPv
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwrqSPX9M9O
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.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgG0XhWz5V
'What's in this cup?'716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNLFb28XJ7
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmVHYibgJU
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.'716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHDVQqo86p
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSYU0TZhOx
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.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOQD6x4GdJ
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShzhaRq2Dd
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuG87uK5ETp
She had sacrificed herself.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecxZLoD9Q1
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfyvJuwdcz
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaKbXgPOb0
'Comin', Maddy.'716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZ6P8W8rWH
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.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pAafbYrbb
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPvH7E2NwM
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgbbN90p42
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8Bm48QcWC
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 -716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMFHSbWY58
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.
