[ it's not all doom and gloom, echoes a voice, it's about making you doubt yourself, too. always be open to being wrong—but don't trust someone who just wants you to be insecure. ]

I did.

[ need them. confident, assured. she did, because she wasn't making it stop on her own. she did, because she was too afraid to look for help. she did, because she says she did, and her opinion's the only one that counts in the matter. ]

I'm currently on magebane, [ not confirming or denying julius' involvement, ] whenever I can feel a flare coming on. A stopgap, not a permanent solution, in want of a teacher I can trust, at present.

[ striking isaac's name off the mental list and, later, the physical one.

but here, lest he think her a loyalist-in-training: ]

The system as it stood a decade ago was vile. I don't plan to sit idly by while plans are made for my future without having a say in them myself, and in my future, I plan to see daylight and travel the world and do what magic I wish. I'll do what I must to make that happen—

but you, I think, already have your own ideas on that.