I'd Give Up The World For You

Juliet hadn't figured out how to get close to Ira or any of her protagonists yet in order to give them their mission but while watching them she became incredibly confused. There were two things she noticed that weren't supposed to be happening. 

Ciara was paying an awful lot of attention to what Ira was doing far too soon in the story…and he was doing something completely out of character! Why on earth was he chasing after Sarabeth and giving her gifts like someone wooing a girl? She wasn't even his love interest! Those two had always butted heads.

Ira had actively disliked Sarabeth at the beginning of Down in Flames because they had been lab partners for years and she was always causing him trouble. The only reason he asked her to join their group was because he was a practical person and he knew her skills with poisons and explosives would be useful. Otherwise he never would have dared.

So why was he bringing her books and pastries and flowers as if they were dating? None of this made sense!

After the day where she saw him bring her flowers they were spotted spending a lot of time talking to each other. Rumors were flying among the students that the unflappable Ira Brooks had fallen in love. 

Juliet knew her characters and that could not be true. She may have guessed wrong once but that was because a transmigrator was involved! Who could predict what would happen in a situation like that? 

As far as she could tell that hadn't happened here. Interest in Sarabeth aside, Ira was acting the way he always did. And she still spent all of her free time in Professor Rothman's lab on days she didn't see Ira. They were both (mostly) acting in character…

Things weren't always as they appeared. It may look to everyone else like the two of them were dating but she was willing to bet her last bronze coin after further observation and thinking it over that there was something Ira wanted out of Sarabeth and she—being the somewhat malicious trickster she was—had made him work for it. 

They were up to something. The real question was what. 

Juliet didn't have much time to follow them. Most of what she had seen was observed by chance and she had heard a lot of things secondhand as well. She still had classes to teach! So many classes to teach. 

Students had varying schedules depending on what 'track' they were in based on interests when they first came to the academy and which electives they had chosen so she taught two classes per grade level at different points in the week. Ten classes a week was no joke!

That didn't include all the time she spent grading things and continuing to come up with assignments that hadn't been included in the original lesson plans since it was impossible to do everything in a month. She had submitted a rough outline to the headmaster. 

So even though she had all of the players in her classes she didn't have much if any time to actually interact with them on a personal level. She had to become the favorite teacher of at least one of them in order to get them to listen to her!

The problem was that none of their interests particularly lay in the field of literature. Ira and Sarabeth were scientists at heart. Nico may be an expert archer in a few years but his field of study was politics. Krae had come here to learn how to be a proper warrior to better serve his clan. 

Ciara might be Juliet's best bet. Her interests were more eclectic than the others'. She was a diligent student who took a variety of subjects and gained much general knowledge rather than specializing. Her true academic talent lay in magic. 

Her character was very shy and reserved. She hadn't managed to get close to anyone in her whole time at the academy, preferring to focus on her studies so she could go home and help with her family's business. At least not until she ended up going on an adventure with the others. 

She hadn't shown much interest in other people but it wasn't the same way Ira was uninterested in others. Primarily it was because she preferred spending her free time practicing her magic to engaging in social situations where she never came out on top. She ended up being Ira's greatest support during the fight against Rukelion Blaze though her element wasn't particularly effective against fire most of the time. 

Ciara had given up on trying to fit in during her first year at the academy, partially due to cultural differences since she was the only person from her country in attendance and partially because she was awkward and not so great with people anyway. At this point in the story she wasn't supposed to be interested in anyone. She was supposed to be sticking to herself, not watching Ira and Sarabeth like a hawk!

Why was she doing that, anyway? She was Ira's love interest but that didn't happen until after graduating and going on their quest. They had gotten to know each other very well on that journey when she became his de facto number two after years of barely acknowledging each other's presence. 

Juliet wasn't sure what she was supposed to do about these developments or if there even was anything she could do. She certainly hadn't been able to do anything in the capital. 

That didn't mean she wasn't going to try. She found Ciara sitting by herself at lunch as usual one day in the cafeteria and decided to join her. If nothing else, she was going to feel her out and see if she could potentially get the girl to open up. 

"Hello," she greeted with a friendly smile. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"No," Ciara replied quietly. 

Juliet sat with her lunch tray and tried to strike up a conversation after being given a sort of greenlight. "How are you doing today?"

"I'm fine, Professor Gallagher. And you?"

"I'm doing alright. Been hearing a lot of strange gossip lately though." Ciara's interest didn't seem piqued so she had to try harder. "I don't know why everyone is so interested in who is dating whom. Maybe I'm simply old and out of touch."

That seemed to do the trick! "…are you referring to Ira Brooks and Sarabeth Storm? Because I don't believe they're dating. People are seeing what they wish to see there."

Juliet worked very hard to hide her eagerness as she replied. "Is that so?" 

"Yes. I was under the impression she was threatening him somehow. But I shouldn't be saying this since I'm not positive and I don't want Sarabeth to get in trouble unnecessarily. Please forget what I said," Ciara said before looking down at her hands. 

"Don't worry; I won't tell anyone or get her in trouble without real evidence. Can you tell me why you think that way?"

"I overheard a rather strange conversation between the two of them in Biology a couple of weeks ago. He was pleading with her to tell him something she seemed to be holding over his head and said he would do her a favor if she did. 

"She said he needed to figure out something she liked and do it for her with the stipulation that she would only tell if she liked it. He agreed rather reluctantly but that wasn't long before everything that led to the rumors started.

"I'm not sure what she's holding over him but I am a bit concerned that all the time he is spending with her isn't by choice. I've been observing them ever since trying to figure out what is going on and if there is any way I could help to no avail," Ciara finished with a sigh. 

Juliet knew they were up to something! But what could Ira possibly need from Sarabeth this early in the timeline? 

Ciara may be awkward but she had a good heart. She wasn't as unfeeling as she appeared either, which was probably why she and Ira got along so well once they got to know each other. They had a lot in common. 

This early and she was already worried about him without ever having a proper conversation with him! Ah, the seeds of true love. She was such a sweet, earnest person. She really should have more friends than she did. 

"I'll look into this," Juliet promised. "But in the meantime I won't tell anyone of your suspicions."

Ciara seemed relieved. "Thank you, Professor. I appreciate it." 

"Not a problem. If you ever see anything else like this happening again please let me know. We take the well-being of our students here very seriously."

She didn't know if that was actually true or not since she hadn't explored themes such as bullying during her scenes set at the academy. But she did want Ciara to continue coming to her if she saw weird things going on because she needed to be in the loop if she was going to figure out a plan to gather up the dream team. 

Ideally, they would embark on their quest over the winter holidays. Everyone had a month off to potentially go home. They could totally make it to the capital and back in that time! The problem would be getting everyone to cooperate by then.. She only had a few months to get a group of people who weren't all involved with each other to agree to go save the world.