Kimberly exited the shop with a spring in her step. This morning she had woken up with little hope that she would find something to contribute to the group's activities. Now however, she was going to come home with actual, bona fide, magic! There was no way any of the other girls were going to top this! The prospect was almost dizzying, she found herself moving to sit on a nearby bench in the mall's main thoroughfare, across from Paldinoss' shop.
Keeping the chest on her lap, she looked back at the store that had so recently altered her perception of reality. The front looked clearer now, more distinct and anchored to this reality. She supposed that this is what the wizard had meant when he said she'd be able to find it now. She wondered if it would only appear in this mall, or if she could come back to it in other ways. She supposed that she would figure that out later. She eyed the shoppers who walked past it, their eyes seeming to skip from the coffee shop on one side to the game store on the other. Kimberly felt a slightly smug sense of pride. The store had chosen her to be given access to its relics, and the wizard himself had intimated that he could teach her magic when she returned from her trip. Suddenly her Senior Year at college was looking much less appealing, even with her good grades.
She peered more closely at the wondrous chest that she had been given. The was no denying it's craftsmanship was exquisite. The gold was finely polished, the gems shone brightly in the mall's fluorescent lighting and the designs carved into the wood looked to be the work of a master artist. An ordinary box of quality this fine would probably sell for thousands at least, and the wizard had seen fit to gift it to her. She practically tingled with happiness.
Or maybe it wasn't just her excitement, she realized. She did feel an almost imperceptible aura of energy around and within her. She examined herself and suddenly noticed her t-shirt had changed its color. Her black Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt had begun changing in spots to a lighter blue, overall it looked more like tie dye now. The logo itself had changed to white, and seemed to have widened and raised somewhat away from the rest of the shirt. She ran a hand over it and found it to be softer, reminding her of silk or lace.
For the moment however, the tingling seemed to be most concentrated around her feet. She felt a tingling in her toes and soles, as though something was softly massaging her feet. She unconsciously curled her toes, and felt little ripples of pleasure emanating from her soles and up through her body. Sticking her legs out and peering over the edge of the chest, she attempted to examine what was happening down there. Her formerly red canvas shoes were darkening to black, she noticed the material seemed to be changing too, becoming a little stiffer. She also noted that the cuffs of her jeans seemed to sit a little higher on her leg than before, slightly above the ankle. This in turn revealed her changing socks. Formerly ankle length, they had grown to keep up with the receding of her jeans, their tops ending somewhere along her calves. The material seemed somewhat softer than before.
Wow, she thought to herself, twisting her left ankle around to get a better look at the changes. It was one thing for the wizard to summon some fire in his hand. It was quite another to witness changes to herself. She also hadn't expected the exhilarating feeling they would bring. She scrunched her toes in her shoes again, her eyes fluttering as more tingling erupted from them. Her socks were feeling softer by the second, and she found herself letting out a small moan as the tingles reached her groin. Her hand slowly drifted towards her jeans and she began unconsciously to rub herself, which elicited another, louder moan.
At this, she abruptly snapped herself out of the tingling. Pulling her hand away from her crotch, she looked around to see if anyone had noticed. One or two passersby had heard her and gave her a concerned look before continuing on. The teenage boy manning the nearby pretzel stand was staring at her with wide eyes, his attention to the woman ordering her food seemingly forgotten. Embarrassed, Kimberly blushed and decided she should probably halt these changes until she got somewhere more private. She reached up and pulled the headband off.
Or tried to. The thing didn't seem to want to budge, no matter how hard she pulled at it. Not wanting to draw more attention to herself, she gave up. She supposed she had been a little foolish to simply throw the thing on in the store before getting home, but she had been so caught up in the experience that she had given it no thought. She briefly wondered exactly what it was she was changing to. She would have to figure that out later, her best course now was to get out of the mall and back home as quickly as possible.
Kimberly stood up, lifting the box as she did so. It felt slightly bulkier than it had a few minutes ago when she had first sat down, but she paid it no mind. She started walking briskly towards the exit to the mall. The pleasant tingling in her feet radiated with every step. Her fingers clenched tightly around the edges of the chest as she attempted to keep focused, but this only brought about slight tingles from her hands too.
Oh what now, she thought to herself. The more she moved the more pleasurable it seemed to become. Through a haze of pleasurable tingles she saw the exit and moved towards it. She quickly pushed through the doors and with the tingles still fogging her mind, bumped into a man on the other side, nearly knocking him over.
"Hey watch it lady!" he said in annoyance as he fought to regain his balance.
"Oh dear me!" Kimberly said apologetically in a dazed voice, softer and more melodious than normal, "I am so sorry dear sir, for accosting you in such a way. I shall endeavor to avoid such entanglements in the future."
"Uhh...sure lady" the man replied, confused at her formal speech, "just watch where you're going in the future." He looked at her strangely for a second, as if he had seen something off about her. He seemed to shrug whatever he saw off and, shaking his head entered the mall, leaving her alone outside in the parking lot.
Kimberly turned and walked towards where her car was parked. She managed to ignore the tingling, her thoughts were focused on how she had apologized to the man. Normally, she'd just give him the compulsory 'Sorry' and keep going. Just now however, she'd answered as though she had bumped into a Senator or something, she hadn't meant to be that eloquent or formal at all. Maybe this thing is changing me more than physically, she thought to herself, all the more reason to get home quickly.
She quickly hurried to her car, placed the chest in the trunk and got into the driver's seat. Turning the car on. She noticed another change when she went to check her rear-view mirror and put her feet on the pedals. She was shorter! It only put her a few inches below her normal 5'8" height, but it was enough to only allow her to see the bow of the headband in the mirror. Grabbing the mirror and adjusting it to her new height she found more changes. Large parts of her hair seemed to have gained blonde highlights that intertwined with her normal, dark brown hair, all emanating from the hair around the headband. As she looked she swore she could see other parts of her hair slowly start to lighten. Shifting her attention to her face, Kimberly found her brown eyes looked slightly lighter than before, almost coming to an amber hue. SOme even lighter, almost gray, spots seemed to fleck the edges.
Her lips too looked different, they seemed slightly plumper, and a bit more red than before. She ran her tongue over them, and tiny tingles of pleasure, similar to the ones in her feet and hands, flowed from them. This in turn caused to scrunch up her toes once again, resulting in more tingling radiating up her legs. Through the pleasure she could feel her socks raise up another couple inches, their softness tickling ever higher on her calves.
With a frustrated groan, Kimberly avoided touching herself again. She quickly adjusted the seat to her new height then pulled the car out of her spot. Exiting the shopping mall's parking lot, she quickly sped towards her apartment.