I'd Give Up The World For You

Juliet got progressively more nervous the closer they got to the end of the term. She didn't like the way things were going. Everything had been thrown off-track so she had no way of knowing if they would still win. 

They were down one main character, had two wild cards, and those that did remain from the original novel were three and a half years behind the timeline. That could be a serious disadvantage in terms of both magic and skill. But what worried her most was Rukelion Blaze. 

He may be slightly unhinged but he hadn't completely lost his mind yet. Daisy had prevented that from happening so he still had his wits about him. 

Oh, why did she have to write him to be so overpowered? He was likely at the peak of his strength and had a strategist's mind to boot. Not to mention whatever allies he had gained through the military being on his side. They would have to fight them too. 

Juliet honestly didn't know if they could win this one but they had to for the sake of this world. Rukelion Blaze was a madman and had to be stopped at all costs. Even if it would hurt her former friend in the process.

He was dangerous. If Daisy ever did something to displease him he could turn on her too. Why didn't she realize that? 

Women always seemed to choose the worst possible men for them. Juliet was no exception. She had dated plenty of toxic creeps before but at least none of them had ever killed anybody. 

Rukelion not only killed but enjoyed doing it. In the prequel she wrote that was how he had gone mad. His bloodlust was second to none and he killed people without the slightest thought. That was not the sort of person anyone should love. 

She could admit that he had been more sneaky about it this time around but that was likely only so he wouldn't upset Daisy. She had no doubt whatsoever that he had enjoyed killing the Aveleenian water mages and the royal family. He was probably itching to kill everyone else involved in Katalyans' slaughter too if he hadn't done it yet. 

He was a ticking time bomb. Eventually, his urge to kill would overpower whatever else Daisy claimed there was to him. It was simply the way he was. 

Loving one person couldn't change who you were at your core. At his Rukelion was consumed by revenge. He wouldn't be able to rest easy until every single person who had contributed to Katalya's fall was dead by his hand. 

Juliet wished she could have explained that to Daisy properly but she wouldn't even hear her out. Stubborn, lovesick fool. She was going to get hurt one way or another. Wasn't it better to lose a crazy person you loved than die because of them? She would recover someday. 

She wasn't concerned about who the child would grow up to become because she didn't believe murder was in people's DNA. Rukelion was a monster forged from destruction and grief. His child shouldn't ever experience anything that gruesome so it was unlikely they would go down the same path.

Honestly, she was more worried about how Daisy would handle being a single mother inside this fantasyland. That was a hard enough thing to do back in their world. 

"You're thinking about your friend again, aren't you?" Alec asked as he sat down beside her in the staffroom. 

She gave him a small, self-deprecating smile. "Am I that easy to read?"

"Yes but only because I see that look so often. Aside from that you're actually quite mysterious. I only know what you tell me and that isn't terribly much."

That was because Juliet couldn't reveal the fact that she was from another world or that she had created this one. He was under the impression she was from Mirea. That was about as far from the truth as possible. Mirea was from her!

"I don't mean to be mysterious," she said apologetically. 

"I don't mind it too much. I must admit it's interesting trying to figure you out. Though I do wish you would trust me more," Alec said in a would-be casual tone. 

Juliet frowned at him. "I do trust you! I trust you more than anyone else here. If I didn't, I wouldn't have told you about the things I've seen or tried to get you to help me. I'm very grateful for your help, by the way." 

"I know. But beyond what we're working together on I know nothing about you, Juliet. Can you tell me something about yourself that's unrelated to that? I would genuinely like to know."

Something unrelated to her quest to see this world not be destroyed…but she had done her best not to focus on that. She didn't want to think about everything she had left behind so she had done her best to avoid it. 

At first she thought she was in a dream. Then she accepted her reality and wanted to get out of the laundry so she focused on that instead of everything she missed but it had still been hard. 

Juliet had locked those thoughts away completely as soon as she found out she was inside of the world of Down in Flames because she was more preoccupied with staying alive. Finding out Daisy had been living here for so many years threw a wrench in her plans. 

In addition to worrying about that she was worried she would be stuck here for the rest of her life. There had to be a way home though! Her situation was different. 

Daisy had died and transmigrated into someone else's body. There was no way for her to go back. Juliet had literally been sucked into her computer. If that had brought her here, there had to be something that could bring her back. 

One of her theories was that she needed to get the plot back on track and fix what Daisy broke in order to be sent back. Another was that she needed to save the world before it was destroyed. The two theories were fairly conflicting but she couldn't simply stand back and watch everyone die even if it meant she was stuck here forever. 

She had done her best to avoid thinking about that scenario and focusing on what she could do here and now. She didn't want to think about the friends and family she had left behind. 

Juliet wasn't sure how long she had been gone in real time since there seemed to be a discrepancy based on some of the songs she had heard Daisy sing. Had she been gone long enough for anyone to notice she was missing? 

Her editor was supposed to check in with her soon about the state of the first draft. She typically talked to her mom and sister who lived in another state at least once a week on the phone but she had talked to them the day before she was zapped here. It might take them a while to get suspicious that something was wrong and even then they wouldn't be able to physically check on her so easily. 

She wondered if they were doing okay and if her niece and nephew had done anything cute or crazy lately. If her friend Alicia had gotten that promotion she had interviewed for. If her neighbor's cat had kittens yet. 

All of these were things she had done her best to avoid all this time but now that she was thinking about them they flooded her head to the point that she wanted to cry. Stupid! This was the worst time to get emotional! She had to answer Alec's question. 

"I have an older sister. We're pretty close even though she and her husband live somewhere too far away to see her regularly. They have two kids who are adorable but exhausting. I…I really miss them. I don't have a way to contact them right now and I don't know when I'm going to see them again," she mumbled. 

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't realize you lived so far away from your family. Where are they?" he asked. 

Juliet let out a single bitter laugh. "Nowhere you've ever heard of, I guarantee it. What about you? Do you have any family?"

"My parents still live back in Carid with my pack of younger sisters. There are four of them and two are married with children now. I haven't seen any of them in a while but I do get letters when I settle in an area for a month or two. They understand my need to travel and learn everything there is to know about magic." 

"Are they light mages too?"

"All but my father.. My mother taught me most of what I know about light magic but I also picked up a fair amount from books I found during my travels and from practical experience," Alec replied with a shrug.