I was chatting with Nelly about my unique magic, she had asked me how I made something and I started telling her. She then told me about her unique magic too, she could manipulate all four elements being similar to the Avatar, she asked what that was but before I could explain Naomi called from outside in the front "Leon! There's a storm approaching, what should we do?"
Josephine looks up with a surprised look on her face as I lean out the window with a calm look on my face "Why bother? It's just some rain and wind." Selina is sleeping against the wall with the window so she wakes up from my yelling and asks around about what's happening, I look back in the cabin as I see all of the girls panicking "Why are you all panicking, it's just a storm."
Nelly starts shivering and looks like she's about to cry as I set her on my lap and pet her softly, she calms slightly as Violet explains "I remember that your not from this world right? Then you wouldn't know that storms in this world are probably far more than rain and wind, they have been known to destroy entire cities when they get too severe."
I think for a moment as Nelly cuddles closer and looks up with a scared look on her face at me "Don't worry, I'm here to protect you, Nelly." She smiles and calms as Violet scoots over and looks up at me too "I'm totally scared too, I'm terrified!" I laugh and pat her head as frowns and I slide Nelly over to the seat next to me and peer out the window.
I look around a little bit then point at a large clearing nearby "Naomi, stop there and we can work out a solution." Josephine remains silent and unaffected with a glare in her glasses, I just look back at the others and try to keep them calm. Selina is too excited to stay calm and Nellys too scared, Violet seems to believe that I will protect her so she remains relatively calm "Selina can you calm down a bit, you're scaring Nelly with all your excitement."
Selina frowns as she sits on the side of me between me and the window and looks out with a wide smile, Nelly sits on my lap and I pat her head and run my fingers through the back of her golden locks and Violet remains clung to my arm as she asks for the same treatment.
Once I calm Nelly down, I look over at Josephine and ask her "Didn't you check for storms before you started traveling back?" She turns to face me and the glare in her glasses remains over her and she starts giving off an evil aura as she opens her mouth to speak. However, Naomi called out as the coach stops and Josephine rushes out.
I let Nelly get out and Selina rushes out to look at the storm better as Violet clings to my arm again "Why don't you treat me like that?" I look at her as I prepare to get out and she looks at me all sad-like "Well, I don't know if you'd like it or not, plus, Nelly was actually scared, you just wanted me to hug and kiss and snuggle you."
I get out of the coach as Violet hops out blushing behind me, Naomi walks up and looks at me "What did you do to her in there?" I look at her with a surprised look and scoff "I didn't do anything, I just talked to her!" Naomi looks at me skeptically as Violet walks over to the group standing near the back, I follow her and look back at Naomi whos still watching me.
Nelly is shifting nervously in her spot as Selina as her eyes pinned on Josephine sifting through the stuff she has in the back of the coach. I walk up as she pulls out a small device, it looks like a metal cylinder with a crystal in the middle being held in place by small metal arms on the top and the bottom, the whole object is about the size of a lantern and Josephine carries it out like one too.
I watch as she sets it down and we all gather around, she still as a glare in her glasses as I ask my question again "How did you not know this storm was coming?" She looks over at me just as lightning strikes nearby and illuminates her eyes, I see her with tears in her eyes "I didn't know! I'm sorry Leon, I'm a failure as a merchant!" She looks at me with her tears and her sadness and I sigh in relief "Don't worry about it, I'm sure you couldn't have seen it coming."
She nods and looks at me again "I did, I was told that a storm would reach Honeycliff in 4 days so I thought we would be long gone by then but I didn't know that the storm was coming in this direction, I should have asked!" I laugh awkwardly and comfort her "Well, let's survive this storm first, then we can talk again."
She nods as Nelly walks over and turns towards Josephine and sits on my lap, all three girls jump as Josephine just continues to set up the object "Ok, so this is a Protection Bubble Crystal, it produces bubbles that can withstand forces as strong as storms but they aren't any bigger than one person, so that's where you come in Leon." I think for a moment then reach past Nelly who moves to the side, I grab the device and inspect its controls as I turn it on, slightly fast-paced a bubble forms around Nelly and I, I touch it and punch it to try to break it "Ok, I think I can expand the range to be as big as I need but I would be sacrificing the strength of the bubble."
I use some magic on the protection device and notice how much strength isn't doing anything as it was already way past the maximum strength output, so the extra energy is being wasted. I add magic again and alter the range of the bubble and turn it on again, this time it forms a bubble around the group of us and Selina smiles and Nelly looks around "That should be big enough if we use it in the middle of the coach, it'll cover us in the coach and the horses."
I set it down in the cabin of the coach and activate it, the entire carriage is surrounded by the bubble and I knock on it and test it "Its sturdy so don't worry Nelly, we will be completely safe during the storm, and once its over we can leave." Josephine laughs awkwardly as I turn to look at her, Nelly relaxes and sits back down as Selina and Violet calm down too "Actually, the crystal is just about empty so it might not last the entire storm."
Nelly panicks again and hops into my lap, as Selina smiles broadly and Violet looks over at Josephine with a worried expression "Well, what can we do about it if it runs out?" Josephine thinks for a moment then replies "Well, you could always give it all of your magic and see if that works." I think for a moment then look at the girls "What happens when someone runs completely out of magic?"
All of the girls look at him, Naomi walks into the cabin after finishing feeding the horses for the night, Josephine is first to respond "W-wait, you're actually willing to do that? Maybe its because your an other-worlder but this is too extreme." I look at her with a puzzled look as Selina and Violet grab onto my arms, and hug me tightly as Nelly speaks "You cant do it! Its too dangerous, I wont let you!"
I look at them with an extremely puzzled look as Naomi gets a grip of the situation "Leon, when you use up all your magic, there's a chance you could die, or worse, be unresponsive but alive." I think for a moment then laugh as all of them look up at me with shock still plastered on their faces "You all don't really know who I am do you? I'd die for you girls any day, if it means I can save you, even Josephine and shes my friend."
All of them calm down and relax, as I look at them confused "Why'd you all stop resisting? I expected more then that." They look at me and Josephine speaks as the others close in on me "I don't harbor romantic feelings for you but I think they feel overwhelming feelings at the moment, and trust that you'll return safely back to their arms." I smile and look back at the girls as they close in, I open my arms and smile as they jumps into a big hug, Violet ends up getting my neck and hugs me tightly.
I hug them all back as I see Josephine go back to her book while smiling swiftly, I mouth words towards her "Your my friend too, so thanks for trusting me."