Septimus Heap, ExtraOrdinary Wizard of the Castle, closed the door to his room in he Wizard Tower behind him. He walked over to the kitchen, passing by the living room where his brother Simon sat on a large sofa.

Simon Heap had aged now that he had went through his adult years. There were wisps of gray hair throughout his head and his beard. Wrinkles had formed around his eyes and the creases had gotten deeper. But more than that, there was a new emptiness in his eyes. Gone was the vigor of his youth and the jubilance of his younger days. His features now showed that of a broken man.

"Would like some tea?" Septimus asked from the kitchen.

"Yes, please," Simon replied.

Septimus walked over with two cups of tea and handed one over to his elder brother. The ExtraOrdinary took a seat behind his desk.

An every quiet took over the room. Simon took a sip of his tea and Septimus left his alone. He instead looked over at the clock next to him, watching its pendulum swing back and forth, back and forth. That pendulum never stopped swinging.

Septimus cleared his throat. "So, how have you been doing?"

Simon looked at his younger brother dressed in his Purple robes, now gaining a light fade. Simon, on the goner hand, had only a vest on over a shirt. They were the garments of his Alchemy attire but they were really only fragments of a time gone by.

"Um," Simon began nervously. "I've been doing better, yea. Ever since Lucy passed and uh-" Simon's voice cracked before he continued. "After her, William's little heart couldn't take the pain. I-I guess I've been carrying it a little since I've buried them both. But it's still there, still aching."

Septimus did not reply. Simon had been through so much. It seemed that Mr. Gringe, Lucy's father, had been carrying a heart disease they knew nothing about. A disease he passed onto Lucy, who passed it onto William. They both had died suddenly from it.

"I'm very sorry about that. I understand your pain." Septimus finally responded.

"I know you do. We've all been through it. " Simon replied. "You lost Marcia. We lost Jenna. And when we found Beetle afterward in that moat..." Simon trailed off quietly.

"The Darknesse is always there. It never leaves." Septimus said.

Simon nodded quietly. He took another sip of his tea.

"I guess you can say Magyk's finally had its day." He said.

Septimus looked at Simon. A tear had began to crawl down his cheek but he paid it no mind. Septimus did not respond but instead looked down at his old ring on his hand. It gave off a light glow in the dark room. The Wizard looked over again at the clock. The Pedulum was still swinging. Back and forth, back and forth.

"I don't think so Simon," Septimus said. "Magyk's hasn't had its day yet. Not yet."

Indeed, Septimus was right. As long as that Pendulum kept swinging, as long as that tired old timekeeper kept ticking, Magyk would outlive another day.