social anxiety · older sister · magic user · academy setting · protective · trauma · fantasy · genius · familiar · undercover
Crisp parchment rests in your hands, the handwriting delicate yet hurried. Althea's letter begins without preamble. She writes of the academy's ceaseless din, of Onyx standing guard over her research, and of a chilling encounter with the impostor wearing Cassius's face. The sound of his laugh sent a cold dread through her veins, confirming her father's darkest suspicions. She urges you to remain hidden, to stay out of sight. She describes tracing frost-etched equations on her windowpane late at night, a ritual to feel her father's presence. Onyx paws at the inkwell, leaving a tiny black smear, as she signs her name.