“Ladies and gentlemen! For long have we dragged our feet through the awful lives of ours, letting time dictate our every action!” I yelled out, trying to sound like a motivational speaker. “For long have we simply sat and waited like second-class citizens of the world!” I paused. “No more! Today, we have reached the promised land! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the red bubble!” I shot my arms in the direction of where the blue bubble touched the red one just a few minutes prior to my speech.

Neither one of my companions was cheering or clapping. Kelly wasn’t even paying attention, and instead was looking off to the side at the black bubble.

Worst. Audience. Ever.

“So, this one is supposed to slow time down when inside? Kinda like putting yourself into stasis?” Willow asked.

I decided to forgive their lack of enthusiasm for the time being.

“Yup! There’s no doubt about it! Look!”

I grabbed a random stick pruned from the mana tree with my bubblekinesis powers and flew it into the red bubble. As soon as it passed the boundary, it slowed down and felt like it had become a hundred times heavier. Just like moving things in the blue bubble while in the green one.

“Alright… But is it really safe for people to enter? I wouldn’t wanna get torn apart by temporal forces or something.”

“Temporary forces?” I raised my eyebrow. ”Nah, it’s fine! The green one wasn’t a problem either! Look, I’ll test it for you all!”

“Wait!”

I jumped through the boundary and suddenly felt very odd. While the green bubble felt hyper-energized, this one felt as if there was a big comfy blanket all over it. Perfect for sleeping through the winter.

I turned around to look at my companions, only to see three things zipping through the blue bubble at speeds I could barely comprehend.

“Oh… right.”

I immediately jumped back into the green bubble.

“Finally! You know, watching you in slow motion was very unsettling,” Willow said.

“Hey now! You wanted proof you won’t get torn apart by temporary forces, so I had to show you it’s safe!”

“Sure.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, there are no side effects I hope?”

“Nope! I feel as great as ever!”

In fact, ever since Willow had transformed me into my final form, it hadn’t even felt icky sensing my own body within the bubbles.

Chad nodded. “This will be convenient not only for passing the winter but for preserving food as well.”

“Yes! Now we can pretend to be big cuddly bears and sleep through the winter!” I exclaimed.

“She’s moving…” said Kelly, who had been quiet the entire time.

She was leaning on the side of the bubble, staring off into the distance at the pitch-black bubble. I looked at the bubble in question and raised my eyebrow.

“Moving? Can’t see anything,” I replied.

“Yeah, me neither,” Willow added.

Kelly glanced at us, then at the red bubble behind me. “Didn’t you see it from inside there?” She motioned at it.

“Well, no. I was there for a few seconds and immediately returned. Didn’t have much time to go bubblewatching.”

Kelly frowned. “I’m sure she’s moving toward us. Like she knows. Like she’s conscious in there!”

Huh.

I once again glanced at what was supposedly one of Kelly’s headmates.

“Well, let’s take a look then!” I grabbed Kelly’s and Willow’s arms and started toward the red bubble again.

“Wait! I’m not read-”

We jumped through.

“Oh…” Kelly’s panicked voice mellowed out the second we did.

A second later, Chad followed in after us.

Once the whole party was inside, we stared out at the black bubble.

“Well… you were right.”

Even though the outside was supposed to be super sped up like some kind of timelapse, the black bubble jiggled and moved as if at normal speed.

“It… She’s coming right at us!” Willow exclaimed.

I had no idea why she sounded so panicked. It would still take a while before she reached us, after all.

“Perfect! Time to set up a welcoming party then! Willow! Can your power make confetti?”

“What? No!”

“Lame. Alright, something else then. What do demonic headmates like? Blood sacrifice?”

“Fei!”

“What?”

Willow let out a deep tired sigh. “This is Reina we are talking about. You know what she’s like!”

“I know! I missed Kelly swapping with her to give me a high five whenever I said something smart!”

“You mean something dumb?” Willow shook her head. “Nevermind. The problem we have here is, what will happen once the bubble reaches us? Will she have her own body? Will they merge again?”

Kelly widened her eyes and paled at that.

“I still don’t fully understand the situation. Is this how demons function?” Chad interrupted.

“Nah, it’s more like their unique situation… Right?” I glanced at Kelly.

She jumped and scrambled to answer. “Um, there were other demons with headmates, so I’m not sure?”

The heck?

“But yours have existed even before the whole magical bus into another world thing, didn’t they?”

“Magical bus…?” Willow whispered.

“Yeah, but maybe that’s why I became a demon?”

Huh.

“Well, anyway. We’re getting off track. We still need to prepare a welcoming party!”

Willow went back to frowning.

“Oh wait, I know! Let’s cook her some delicious food made out of these mana fruits! Demons love mana fruits, don’t they?” I wiggled my eyebrows at Kelly.

“Yeah, they are pretty good…” She looked to the side, embarrassed.

“Then it’s decided! Willow! Make us an oven! We’re making a mana fruit pie! It’s gonna be glorious!”

The goblin groaned, already knowing resisting would be pointless. I wouldn’t let up until I got what I wanted.

I taught her well.