Up in the air (Ali/open)

[Cillian McWolfe]

"Yeah, I think I would. I still might one day, but I can't in good conscious without knowing my home is safe first. Because I would never forgive myself if I left, knowing that Prota had its eyes on it, and then something happened."

He shrugged, frowning a bit. He didn't like thinking about Prota, or what they would do if they had their way.

"I'm sure that all sounds very silly though."

[Allison Kazim]

"I believe abandoning those who already rely on you and are in need would be. It would be in poor taste to leave them if they are threatened by Prota, for sure." Well that knocked out all the Protan territories for where he might be from. The mage shook her head.

"Spreading happiness, I believe, is not. People need times of hope and recovery from the weight of the world around us.

"I suppose for some you could consider it the same for other goals Good to want and reach for more, but you have to consider what you leave behind, as well. Whatever you choose."

[Cillian McWolfe]

He nodded, feeling a bit more at ease.

"What about yourself? What would you do, if you had the freedom to follow your heart?"

[Allison Kazim]

"To be remembered," she answered without missing a beat. "A way to help further my people's well being and life, and ensure my family is able to be lifted up with it." A faint smile touched her face at the memory of her family, loving parents and kid sister that was a miracle to be alive.

"Though, I wouldn't mind if that meant getting to see the world to do it, either." She didn't need to be locked in a tower to make things happen. For her, deep down, Ali knew it would be something outside the boundaries of Ayatlan itself.

[Cillian McWolfe]

"Why do you think you won't be remembered?"

[Allison Kazim]

"Because as it is now, if I am, I'll be nothing more than the token mage from the lower class." The distaste coated her tone as she swalled back the bitterness. "And I have no intention of letting nobles pat themselves on the back for pointing to me and saying, 'see, we have one.' I want to prove to them I'm just as good as they are, and our entire academy is research and competition." She shook her head.

"I can't be enough to make it as far as I have. I carry the name of my own family, and my sponsor's. I have to be more."

[Cillian McWolfe]

"I see..."

He hadn't known he was talking to a lower class member of her society. He had assumed nobility as well.

"And what achievement do you believe it would take to achieve that?"

[Allison Kazim]

"Nothing exact." She shook her head, aware of the awkward silence that followed her explanation. "It would need to be big, though. Some sort of discovery, a development in what you would call qi studies or development. Something new, or an enigma out in the world that's still a mystery - a chance to uncover it or understand it better, and bring that knowledge back home with me. Finding ways to improve on what we already have - or the gaps between."

She let out a long breath that ended in a quiet sigh. "No matter what path it is I take, I won't sit back and just wait for it to find me. There is no taking a back seat. And I know it will lead me away from home."

[Cillian McWolfe]

"Forgive me if I overstep myself, but if you believe that you are currently a token mage from a lowborn family. Would any of those things really change that? What would stop them from claiming it was because of the assistance that they gave you, or how it was only because they uplifted you that you could achieve or find such things. I understand the desire to be remembered. It is natural instinct to try and reach beyond the veil of death. Remembrance is the closest we can really get to immortality. And we all want to be remembered, and it's easy to think that some grand deed is the secret to it."

He ran his fingers through his hair as he considered his next words, how to say what he wanted to say.

"I might sound naive, but I don't think that is the case. I think it's more about the interactions you have with people. You say you are a token lowborn mage, unwilling to be content with the heights that you have climbed. And that's perfectly fine. Reach and climb as high as you desire. But everything you have now already, couldn't that be an inspiration to others? Could you, yourself sponsor others to help them climb? Acting as a catalyst to help change a social order that you seem to feel trapped in, or at least very combative of."

[Allison Kazim]

Her lips pressed into a thin line as he began expressing the thoughts and doubts she carried with her, from her acceptance into the academy to her being granted permission to transfer to Cabal. She had said herself that she had a sponsor family - someone who was willing to help pay for her to be here, so long as she completed the exchange on her end with labor. She had taken it because she felt she had to, that it was the only option she'd have to get out in the world and show what she could do, but that didn't meant she didn't doubt that people wouldn't point out she'd never have had the chance in the first place without help getting there.

After a moment of silence, she nodded and continued.

"I would like to think so. I would like to think that others can have the same chance, to step higher than they are and reach for the dreams they carry with them." She looked down at the ground, expression softening along with her tone as she thought of Mae. Would her sister have that same sort of chance? Their neighbors? Her childhood friends? They were all caught looking up at the world above them. To make that rarity step down as the new norm.

"I believe I would be happy, if I could do that for them."

[Cillian McWolfe]

"I sincerely hope you can Miss Kazim. And if there is anything I can do to help you I hope you consider asking me for help."

He brought a hand to his heart and gave her a bow as he finished his offer.

[Allison Kazim]

Unlike the furious blush from his poetry, his sincerity left her with a shy smile and bit of a glow.

“I’ll remember. Thank you.” Funny how he was able to rephrase and rethink the problem in a way that made sense, but just logically but internally. The mage chuckled and tried to lighten the situation.

“If that’s a sample of what you could do for others, j believe you’d do wonders.”

[Cillian McWolfe]

His smile brightened considerably.

"That was all I needed to hear to lift my spirits for the entirety of the day. Thank you Miss Kazim."

[Allison Kazim]

"I'm glad." The mage nodded with a small smile. "Call me Allison, please." Not for lack of rank; she liked him well enough and it was hardly their first meeting.

[Cillian McWolfe]

"I think I can do that Allison. You can call me Cillian if you'd like."