'...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?'491Please respect copyright.PENANAZr2Q8qPOhC
'That's right. And then I came back.'491Please respect copyright.PENANAhlw9335jdL
'What was it like?'491Please respect copyright.PENANAyZ3ts9hlgK
'Death? The eternal Void?'491Please respect copyright.PENANAWTze325zXg
'The other side.'491Please respect copyright.PENANACYpBdVK7Uh
'...It was beautiful.'
It was strange, then, that it was only when the world became aware of magic that it finally disappeared.491Please respect copyright.PENANAx31ANDQ0tM
The chain of High Priestesses was broken - the Void no longer had a single master to answer to, and Floor Twelve Minus became powerless.491Please respect copyright.PENANAarrWNUCGt7
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.491Please respect copyright.PENANABIoIeiClCM
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.491Please respect copyright.PENANABQY7GFuJis
Apart from one.
'Come on, daddy, one more trick!'491Please respect copyright.PENANAw56UR8AJOI
'Alright, alright, Christine.' Hughes laughed gently. 'Take a look in these cups. See that they're all empty...'491Please respect copyright.PENANA33om4Z1fxj
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.491Please respect copyright.PENANAMACGaWjw0c
'What's in this cup?'491Please respect copyright.PENANAjn5azQqwF0
Christine giggled. 'It's empty!'491Please respect copyright.PENANA3elc3bFUIF
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.'491Please respect copyright.PENANAhG2qZXDXFC
The sun was setting on the long summer day, and he smiled as he set the child down in her bed.491Please respect copyright.PENANA03bA5lcPLb
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.491Please respect copyright.PENANABFJRFVBmZ8
He had always believed that magic was destructive. The Bind ensured it. People died for their petty tricks.491Please respect copyright.PENANA4AqSpoxjQy
But that woman - she had died to save others with magic.491Please respect copyright.PENANA9NNA7mwsos
She had sacrificed herself.491Please respect copyright.PENANAmzlgfvokLD
Holding that dress in his hands, Hughes had cried for a reason, that then, he did not understand.491Please respect copyright.PENANAD8Z8v4IJCv
'Come now, Percy. Let's enjoy the last of the light.'491Please respect copyright.PENANA9hfTOx0oLp
'Comin', Maddy.'491Please respect copyright.PENANA03u8zHFUmE
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.491Please respect copyright.PENANAkEL26UWR1y
'Every day, it gets me. Just how beautiful it is.' Maddy wraps her arm around Hughes' shoulders and holds him close.491Please respect copyright.PENANAWKWmpOIJBY
'It's quite the sight, isn't it.' He sighed gently, holding her even tighter next to his body.491Please respect copyright.PENANAOr9JIhoiLy
He never tried magic again, after. He didn't even know that his powers had vanished completely.491Please respect copyright.PENANAQzCXt3FHVd
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 -491Please respect copyright.PENANADAt8oL4Cx8
Love was the most powerful magic of them all.