Julia turned out to be an interesting person. She wasn’t as bland as Falcon had originally thought: she was different away from work. There was no customer service mask now. She was just Julia.
She had a child like nature and vulnerable eyes that expressed every emotion. He never had to guess what she was feeling: she was transparent, and he liked that. When she was happy, she was energetic and quick to smile: when she was upset, she had no problem saying it; and when she didn’t get her way, she actually pouted. He had a hard time not smiling when she did that.
A week went by, and they quickly grew comfortable with each other. She was very tidy, which he was thankful of because he was the same. She was compromising and insisted on all things being equal. He was going to let her have the bed, not minding the bedroll, but she wouldn’t have it. So they shared, switching back and forth; she would have the bed one night and he the next.
His mother had been the same way. And like his mother, Julia was a horrible cook. The one night she had made dinner, he assured her it was her last. She agreed and didn’t take offense but, determined to make things fair, she insisted on always doing the dishes afterwards. All in all, Falcon was happily surprised with how well they got along. After two years of being co-workers and strangers, who would have thought they would become friends so easily?
They were eating oatmeal for breakfast one morning―with sugar this time―when Falcon asked, “So have you thought about what you want to do here, job-wise?”
“Actually, I was going to talk to you about that,” Julia said, pushing oats around the bowl with her spoon. “I agreed to give this place a try, but it’s been a week and I absolutely hate it. I just really want to go home. I can’t stay here; I just don’t belong.”
“It’s not that bad; it just takes a while to settle in.”
“No. It’s horrible here. I don’t see how you can honestly want to stay in this place.” Her voice grew slightly higher pitched. “Aside from there being no electricity and modern conveniences, this place is filthy, freezing, and miserable. I bet there’s even lice all over. Everything itches. And I shudder to think of staying some place where there isn’t any modern medicine. What if I get a scratch? They’d probably have to just hack off my limb when it got all infected. And I don’t even want to imagine what incurable diseases there are!” she said in indignation.
He shook his head. “There’s very good healing here. You seriously know nothing of this world. I think you’d find it much better than you expect if you gave it a real chance instead of being so set against it.”
Apparently, if her expression was any indication, that wasn’t going to happen.
He sighed. “Okay, so what’s your plan for getting home, then?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted, calming down. “But… what you said about beating the game, were you serious?”
“Yes.”
“Then we just have to beat it.”
“So, how are you going to beat it?”
She rolled her eyes. “Do you think it’ll work?”
He shrugged. “Might, might not. If there’s a way back, then I guess that’s the best bet. But it’s possible that there is no way.”
She shook her head. “No. I can’t believe that,” she said, sounding like a rebellious child. “There has to be a way back. I can’t stay here. I won’t!”
He fought the smirk that tugged at his lips; she was cute when she was upset. He just nodded.
“So how do we”―sigh―“how do I beat it? You said something about a bad guy before?” she asked, now full of stubborn determination.
He shrugged again. “No idea. But in a game, like I said before, there’s some evil person or creature that’s trying to take over the world or destroy it. The hero, guess that’s you”―he couldn’t help his snicker―“would go on quests, fighting monsters and dodging traps until they got enough experience, knowledge, power, and/or the right items. Only then would they even get a chance at defeating the final bad guy.”
Her hope deflated. “I forgot you said monsters.”
He nodded and chuckled. “Yep, and don’t forget deadly traps and lots of evil.”
She frowned deeply and said no more.
__________
The next day, when Falcon got back from taking his latest kill to the butcher, he found Julia sitting cross-legged on the bed, looking very resolute. “I’m going to beat the game,” she announced.
He shot her an amused smile. “Hello to you too,” he said, closing the door and setting down his bow. He went to take a seat at the table and laughed at the pros and cons list lying there.
She got up and flipped the paper over.
“So, you’ve decided death is better then living here, huh?” He shook his head. “There are easier―not to mention less painful―methods of committing suicide, you know.”
She glared as she sat in the other chair, then crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you going to help me or not?”
He rolled his eyes. “As tempting as a horrible death sounds, I’m going to have to pass.”
“Yeah, I got the coward part,” she snapped. “I just want information.”
“I think you’re confusing cowardice with sanity,” he retorted.
She huffed. “Whatever. I need to know more about this place. What will I be up against? What resources do I have?”
He shrugged. “Well, I’m not completely sure what’s all out there. I’ve heard of trolls, goblins, full orcs, minotaurs…”
“What are they like?”
“Sharp teeth, claws, weapons, brute strength, maybe magic…”
“Magic?” Her eyes now wide and hopeful. “There’s magic here?”
“Yeah, there are several classes you can typically choose to be at the beginning of an RPG game, and they all seem to be here. There’s a mage, who uses magic, a fighter―”
“I want to be a mage,” she interrupted. “Magic’s got to be pretty useful.”
“Undoubtedly,” he agreed. “But not everyone can do it. You have to have the innate ability.”
“How do I know if I have it?”
“The Mages Guild can tell you,” he answered. “It’s in town, next to Daegon’s temple.”
“Okay, I’ll go check it out,” she said, then wondered, “How do I find out who the end bad guy is?”
He shrugged. “Usually it’s obvious, but if not, then you just go around and talk to people until you get a lead.”
She considered this for a minute, then nodded. “All right, I’ll be back later.” She stood and grabbed her jacket from the hook by the door.
“Jules?” he said, using the nickname he gave her.
“Yeah?”
“Are you actually serious about this?”
“Yes,” she said firmly.
“Do you understand what you’re getting yourself into?”
“No, not really,” she admitted. “But as they say: Where there’s a will there’s a way.” She smirked then. “Besides, I’m a secretary, figuring out how to fix something that no one else wants to is what I do.”
He chuckled and shook his head as she left, amused but also worried.
