The man's eyes flickered open, his conscious was regained. Alistair felt relieved to know that he didn't in fact have the world's most silent seizure, calming himself down from the whole ordeal. Instead, he let the humor of it all set in. The man's first words were funny, too. I must've had the strangest dream! he said. It was as if he thought it was still this morning and they'd just awoken from last night. In fact, that was not the case, and Patrick quickly came to understand that. He rose from his place on the bed and seemed to lose himself in thought. The mage sat patiently, waiting for him to say more. Something conclusive. Something he could really respond to - as he wasn't going to console him by saying it was all just a dream, or something.
You're a mage, he told him. Alistair nodded. "Yes," he said, accompanying the gesture. "I only told you because I didn't want to elicit that very reaction at a more dangerous time. You know - you fainting because I throw off my kid gloves and melt a wolf to death. That would only imperil you. When you're in the face of danger, outside of the comfort and safety of a city, you never know what can happen. I learned that very well in Ne'haer, from the absurd dangers of the Willow Woods. There were times - out in the wilds - where I had to use magic, for the sake of my protection. It's foolish to consign yourself to death merely out of pride, or humility." He spoke honestly, and as articulately as made sense, given the situation. Alistair was all facts, reasoning, statements. There was no emotional compulsion to his argument, as to why it was appropriate to reveal his magic when he did. It didn't matter that it was a quintessential part of him. It didn't matter that he genuinely wanted for Patrick to reason with accepting it.
What mattered was the truth of its practicality. Or at least, that was the way he decided to explain himself.
"As for what magic is, or what being a mage means... well," he paused. That was a difficult question to answer. It meant something to everyone - and different things. He could only answer for himself. "It means to always be in control of yourself," he began, "it means to be capable of handling yourself in any situation. To never rely on others. To go about the world as empowered in loneliness as in the comfort of friends. It means to explain what cannot be explained, and to challenge the boundaries and limitations set by man. It is to become a demi-Immortal, feared by others, despised by the Gods that are threatened by your presence. Mages are hated not because they are unknown, but because they are known: known to seek to challenge the systems and hierarchies that lay in place. Known to want to dismantle the claims of Godhood the Immortals grant themselves, these claims that we all heed in terror of facing their wrath. To be a mage is to seek to empower man - to place him onto the throne of the Ancients, casting aside the ones that came before."
Maybe it sounded as if it had been written in a textbook, or taken from the speech of another. An imitation of the ideals of Ellasin Dathlande. But no - these were Alistair's words, and his beliefs. This was how he saw magedom, and how he lived it within his own conscious mind. His tenacity in pursuing these ideals had been infinite, and for all of his life he had continued down on this linear path. It was why he had become so tired of concealing himself. Concealing his magic, concealing his identity. Alistair as a mage was the identity of the man he'd always wanted to be, yet the man he could never be.
And yes - that man was ambitious. He was fierce, wroth, and dangerous. He was one who wanted to slaughter the Immortals, to initiate a Mageocracy. To rule, to preside. And so what, he could only say to himself, now. Unlike Ellasin, he didn't seek anarchy. He sought true freedom, from discrimination, from class, from boundaries posed by one's characteristics. That was what being a mage meant - it meant having the power to change the fabric of the world around him, just as he had done in the woods, before Patrick's bright-colored eyes.
). Plenty of character progression and development all around, which I love to see.