After a minute or so of the girls exchanging confused glances, Kimberly returned carrying something. She set it down on the coffee table and sat on the couch across from the other three. They all leaned closer to get a better look at it.
In front of them was an ornate chest. It was made of polished wood covered with intricate carvings and was banded together by golden runed metal. On the box's lid, just above the latch, were two polished gemstones. The left was a large square ruby, while the right was a round emerald. Both gems caught the light of the living room chandelier and glittered enticingly.
A moment of silence passed before anyone spoke.
"So..." said Jessica, "you brought pirate's treasure on the trip?"
Skye giggled at the joke, but Sarah was still peering intensely at the box.
Kimberly steeled herself. "This box" she said, "is magical. It will give us random artifacts that will transform us in some way. Physically, mentally, whatever you could imagine."
The awkward silence resumed. Jessica merely looked worriedly at Kimberly. Sarah's eyes were still transfixed on the chest, but they widened slightly with newfound awe at the box, those few words already enough to sell her on its capabilities. Skye's face was filled with doubt.
"Magic?" she said, a note of disbelief in her voice, "I didn't think the wine was that strong, maybe I grabbed the wrong bottle."
"No really!" Kimberly said earnestly, "I stumbled across this strange store at the mall. It was full of all sorts of strange relics. It's owner was an actual Wizard....I'm serious!" she continued as Skye started to giggle again.
"Look" said the party girl, "If you couldn't find something for the trip that's fine, but you could have thought up a better trick to pull on us than this. I mean magic? Let's see some proof!"
Sarah and Jessica pulled their eyes away from the runes and intricate carvings to stare at her expectantly.
Kimberly thought for a moment. She could have the box summon an item for herself, but the changes might take some time before the girls noticed. She needed something now...
With a realization that made her want to smack her forehead, she remembered the wizard's gift from this morning. Kimberly unlaced her shoes, freeing her socked feet and propping them up on the ottoman. She had changed them to simple black socks during the ride to the mansion.
"Focus on these." she said, wiggling her toes.
"Uh what?" said Jessica, now looking at Kimberly as if she was insane.
Sarah said nothing, she was carefully eyeing Kimmy's feet.
"Guys I think she's lost it." Skye said, concern working into her voice, "Or she's got some good stuff stashed away that she hasn't been shar...whoa!?"
Kimberly hadn't been listening to them. Instead she had been focusing on the socks. In the middle of Skye's words, the socks abruptly changed to a bright neon pink.
Sarah clapped her hands together excitedly. Jessica's mouth merely dropped open.
The socks began to climb up Kimberly's leggings, stopping below her knees. Parts of them began to shift to a darker shade of pink until Kimberly was left wearing a pair of pink striped calf length socks.
"What the fuck!?" said Skye, turning to the others, "Tell me you guys saw that too?"
Sarah and Jessica merely nodded.
Jessica spoke up, "How did you do that Kimmy?"
Kimberly merely smirked and said, "Magic, just like I told you. The wizard gave me these as a gift." As she said this she focused back on the socks. They started to hug her feet more tightly, wrapping snugly around each toe, becoming toe socks right before the other girls' astounded eyes. She wiggled them again in triumph.
"See?" she said, throwing a pointed look at Skye, "Not so crazy now hhmm?"
The usually boisterous girl was now silent, her eyes flicking between Kim's feet and the chest on the table.
Jessica was smirking now, she was beginning to wrap her mind around the idea of real magic.
Sarah, the easiest convert, was beaming at her, "This is awesome! I can't wait to start!"
Kimberly smiled back, she knew Sarah would want to dive right in.
"Alright hold on." Jessica said, looking her in the eyes. "Start over from the beginning."
"Yeah" said Skye, "I'd like to hear it."
Kimberly then told them of yesterday's strange events. Her desperate search for a fun activity, the strange store, the mind sucking orb, the store's owner, the magic box and then finally the headband.
"So wait..." said Jessica, "...you spent most of last night as a sexed up Alice in Wonderland? All because of a headband?"
"So that's why you sounded weird last night!" said Sarah excitedly, "I knew it wasn't allergies!"
Kimberly fished out her phone and showed the girls the photos she took of herself in her Alice form.
"And you said it felt good?" said Skye, "How good exactly?"
Kimberly blushed and looked away before mumbling, "You can't even imagine...but I can't be sure every change will be like that. The relics this box can conjure up are random, or so the wizard said. Some changes could feel good, some strange, and others maybe painful."
The others pondered this for a moment.
"I don't care" said Sarah, eyes alight with curiosity, "I'm not gonna pass up the chance to try actual magic." she turned to Skye and Jessica, "You guys in?"
"I sure as hell am." said Jessica with a grin on her face, "Let's get weird with it!"
Kimberly turned to Skye. "And how about you miss "down to party"? I thought you liked to experiment?"
Skye didn't look at her immediately. Kimberly followed her gaze and noticed that her eyes were roving over Kimberly's sock clad feet. For some reason, Kimberly felt her stomach flutter when she saw this and she clenched her toes unconsciously. This seemed to snap Skye out of her reverie. Finally Skye turned her head up to face Kimberly, throwing a mask of defiance up.
"Calling me out?" she said, mischievously. She turned to the other two. sticking her tongue out at them briefly, "I bet I could handle it better than these two nerds."
Sarah and Jessica rolled their eyes simultaneously.
"I guess that's that then." said Kimberly, "Let's get this show going."
She briefly explained the rules of the box to the other girls. How the red gem summoned an item and the green reversed the changes and banished the item once the user was back to normal, how the item and changes were random, how you might not even know what the item's changes would be before using it and...
"...to never mix our items together...ever." finished Kimberly ominously, "Otherwise, weird shit could happen. Dangerous even."
Skye pursed her lips, "Weirder than Alice in Wonderland? C'mon let's summon our items."
Before Kimberly could say anything else, Skye leaned forward and pressed the ruby button.