To Influence the Past and Save the Present

Dear Elliot Zion.

I know that when this reaches you, it will not make sense. These words will only ignite your curiosity; that ambition to learn and discover is what will eventually make you become a master practitioner of the arcane arts. From the moment you found your latent power, both you and I recognized that you were destined to become a mage; I want to tell you how far you take that ambition and warn you of the darkness you may face.

The elements of fire and ice are your tools of both destruction and creation. The earth you walk and the air you breathe part underneath your mere steps. Even time will eventually be part of the magic you manipulate. This is how I can send this letter to you from your future now. 

Both you and your friends will help save our home. The land of Telluria and even the Academy of Arcane Sciences where you currently are a student. You will correct the past mistakes of others and free them from regret. 

I want you to never stop that creative and brilliant brain of yours. Those ideas you merely dream of at this academy will eventually shake the fundamental understanding of the magical world and enlighten many.

Those shining young eyes of yours, full of life and ideas, so expressive I wish I could see them again, but all I see are eyes filled with faint light and regret. 

You will make history, change the course of wars, save the world, and doom it just as quickly. In the future, anarchy reigns, and all we stood for will lay in ruins. Sitting in your tower, you will watch the fires burn and wish you could stop what has already started.

I wish I could tell you everything, to explain the very path you walk and how to stop the tragedies in your life, but those tragedies and other milestones define your future, and I risk many things if I change too much. Temporal magic is both powerful and dangerous when used to alter the past. So instead, I am attempting to influence it. 

I will give you some advice. Cherish your friends and make allies out of enemies where you can. Those that might hurt you in small ways may come to save everything you love in the future. Enjoy every moment to the fullest and enjoy your days of youth because when they pass, you can never get them back. 

Watch out for Leon, willful as he is, and protect him from those who want to harm him, even himself, when the time comes. Vera, charming and graceful, don't bite your tongue or ignore your heart and cherish every second with her. Bella is always prideful and full of fire; forgive her for the words she says at the moment. She only needs a kind heart to show her the error of her ways. Curtis, our stubborn mentor, doesn't know how to say what he feels, but he cares so much for you; heed his warnings. The last person I refuse to name, but you know who I speak of. His greed is bottomless, and he has no ethics and no love except for money and power. Don't trust him.

Study what you are passionate about but do not neglect the loved ones around you or the opportunity to live your life. Magic is best used to enhance the world around you and not just for blind power for power's sake. Your arcana will not just save lives but uplift the people, help your friends and attain even greater heights.  

I offer this letter during one of our lowest points to help you find the will to keep going in the face of adversity and give you a warning.  

Do not sacrifice who you are for the knowledge you may obtain. No knowledge is worth your ideals, the lives of others, or your soul. Your standards define you, and without them, you compromise your ethics but also your very identity. The lives of others might seem like a small price to pay, but that cost can never be replaced or recovered. And your Soul? You can obtain so much by giving it up for power, but once it's gone, its absence will weigh you down until the end of time.

I offer this warning, cryptic as it may be. Shortcuts to power are easy to find, but there is always a cost, and those offering these shortcuts never have your best intentions in mind. You can control the elements of life and death to help and harm others, but I warn you, no one can control or alter the flow of life and death without making inescapable waves. Some things should not be regulated or reversed, or it could change the world for the worst. Some things should not be done, and some magic should never be cast.

Instructor Curtis once told us during our first class with him that all that lives must die so that we can be reborn and that the golden order should not be broken or reversed. He was right, of course. We can heal the wounded and save or spare the dying, but altering that golden order invites disaster on a scale you can't even imagine. 

Curtis was always so strict because he cared for his students and only wanted the best for them. If he were still alive today, I'm sure he would be disappointed with me. Sure, I surpassed his magical energy, but the result proved too steep a cost. 

I offer these final words. Some rules should be bent but never broken; your friends are irreplaceable; never forget that and hold on to them tightly, and certain spells have far-reaching effects that can't be stopped. The genie cannot be put back into the bottle. 

I can only hope my words reach you and maybe stop us from doing something truly terrible, as much a confession as a warning.

Sincerely from your Future Self full of regrets.