I'd Give Up The World For You

Juliet made it through the end of the semester by the skin of her teeth. She had so many final papers and exams to grade it was a miracle she made it through with her sanity intact. But before she knew it the day had arrived for them to begin their journey to the capital. 

Her bags were packed, they had arranged to travel to the capital with a merchant caravan, and it was time to say goodbye to the academy. She hadn't become attached to the place or anything but it was hard leaving not knowing if she would ever see it again. If they succeeded she might be able to go home. But if they failed she wouldn't be coming back because she would be dead. 

She desperately pushed that morbid thought out of her head as she loaded her luggage onto a cart. She and Alec had each paid for half of the group's travel fare. It didn't come cheap but they had been saving for months and she made much more as a professor than she had as a laundress. 

"Is there anything I can do to help, Professor Gallagher?" Nico asked, popping up beside her with an eager smile. 

Juliet had known he was an energetic character but hadn't expected him to be so quick to say yes to helping them out. He seemed almost too zealous about defeating the villain as if he was a hero in a story. 

It was ironic since he was a hero in a story but he didn't know that. He had been the comic relief but knew how to be serious when it was warranted in Down in Flames but she hadn't seen much about him now that was serious. 

Considering she wrote him as a class clown, it was surprising that he hadn't goofed off in her class even once. He paid rapt attention and asked insightful questions. She thought it might be another case of a character diverging from their path until she heard other teachers complaining about him in the staffroom one day. 

Nico hadn't changed his behavior overall. He probably just really liked novels. 

Juliet hadn't expected that of him since he was such an archery whiz but he was smarter than he acted a lot of the time in the book. He had been the one to propose a new system of government after the tyrant was overthrown and it had worked. 

He had been a diligent student of political science. He probably paid attention in those classes too and his antics were reserved for the subjects he didn't care for. 

It could be hard paying attention to things you didn't like. She could relate to that back in her school years though her shenanigans had never been noticeable. The worst she ever did was read under the table where the teacher wouldn't see. 

She smiled at him. "I've already got everything but thank you, Nico. Do you need to put your things away too?"

Nico shook his head. "I'm keeping my bow and arrows on me in case anything happens. I can't be caught off guard in case any thieves try to attack the caravan. Or any wild animals when we make camp! I'm a great hunter, you know."

He certainly was. He had been the best hunter in his forest village and selling meat and pelts in town was how he ended up paying for his tuition. He may love archery but he also loved to learn and hadn't wanted to spend his life doing nothing but hunting wild boar. 

In the novel he had joined up with the group because he was upset about the forest he grew up in burning down. His arrow had ultimately been what killed Rukelion so he was able to avenge it. 

"I believe it! I've never seen such a great shot anywhere," Juliet said. 

Nico beamed at the praise before asking her a million questions about the capital. He had never been there before and wanted to know everything before they arrived. 

She didn't mind talking to him on the road. Since arriving in this world she hadn't had the chance to have an in-depth conversation with any of her characters. She pretty much only talked to them in the context of answering questions in class. 

Ira may be her favorite but she had a lot of fun writing Nico. Particularly his interactions with Sarabeth, who was currently talking Ira's ear off about her case of various poisons as she brought it over to the wagon to put it away. 

He seemed half interested, half annoyed. Juliet could see him slowly inching his way toward Ciara, who was standing not far from them. It was clear who he would rather be talking to. 

It was nice to know that some things never changed. Those two were meant for each other.

They were the only romantic matchup in the book though a lot of people shipped Sarabeth with various characters as well. Or Krae and Nico together, which she did not get because those two didn't get along AT ALL. 

Shippers saw what they wanted to see. That was all there was to it. No explanations and no excuses. Sometimes they were plain weird. 

Don't get her wrong; she was a hardcore shipper herself. But she only shipped people who had genuine chemistry together. Not people who hated each other but supposedly had sexual tension because of it. Characters had to interact positively in order for her to ship it. 

The most ridiculous "crack" ship that had come from her novel was probably Sarabeth and a guy whose eyebrows she accidentally singed off during an explosion during chemistry class. She literally spoke one sentence to him, telling him sheepishly that he looked better that way, and several people had to hold him back from beating the living daylights out of her as she made her escape. 

One sentence with a throwaway character who barely had a name and was never mentioned again. Sometimes that was all it took for shippers to go wild. 

The number of fanfics she had seen involving that bizarre pairing was more than she could comprehend. She really questioned her fans' sanity sometimes. A lot of people put actual time and effort into such a weird ship!

It had been a while since Juliet thought about fanfiction and all that stuff but as she did she realized something odd. A lot of the fanfiction, headcanons, and fanart she had looked at doing research for Throne of Fire had actually happened in this world long before she entered it.

Rukelion's family…joining the military to take Mirea down from the inside…even that flower crown fanart was oddly prophetic. Daisies. What were the odds that he would be drawn with a daisy flower crown and then fall in love with a woman named Daisy who liked making flower crowns?!

She still didn't know how the manuscript had been changed in the first place, let alone how she was brought here. This world had clearly existed long before she arrived in it but did the fans somehow have an effect on it? 

Farfetched as it may seem, stranger things had happened regarding this whole mess already. Nothing was impossible anymore. At this point Juliet would believe anything. 

She continued telling Nico everything he wanted to know about the capital despite her mind wandering. The caravan had officially set off. The two of them were at the front of their little group followed by Sarabeth, Ira, and Ciara. Alec and Demetria idly chatted behind them. 

They switched groups occasionally and after walking for a few hours she found herself at the back of the pack with Alec. His eyes crinkled at the corners with genuine amusement as he nearly blinded her with his usual dazzling smile. 

"And here I wondered if I was ever going to get to talk to you. Nico sure is chatty, isn't he?"

For some stupid reason Juliet blushed. "Yeah. But you're talking to me now."

"Indeed I am. What were you talking about all this time, anyway?" he asked. "It seemed to be a rather riveting discussion."

"I was just answering his questions about what the capital was like. Most of my time there was spent in the castle's laundry room but I usually went into town on my days off and saw a lot of things that way." 

"I see. I've never made it as far as the capital of Mirea myself since it's the opposite of the direction I came to the academy from. Is it nice there?" 

"Pretty nice for the most part. There's this really great bakery that I used to go to with Daisy all the time. We had a lot of fun together before things went south. I actually miss her," Juliet said sadly. 

Here she was thinking about Daisy again. She supposed it was unavoidable when she was about to ruin her life. She couldn't let the guilt get to her though. Even if no one else could see it she was doing the right thing.. Saving the world was more important than sparing one woman's feelings.