Veronica motioned to the box of vials. "We should put these away before we head out. Any other takers?"
Elizabeth reached forward to pick up the "Heads" vial but paused just a few inches away. She felt deeply that she wanted to change more - What she had become was amazing and she knew she could be so much more. Becoming a double-ended naga with 4 upper bodies, each with 2 heads and 4 arms, wasn't something she could have ever predicted, but it had felt amazing and she reveled in every moment she spent in her new form. But as she reached for the vial, something deep inside her minds felt... off.
She couldn't identify what exactly felt so off to her, and unlike her moment to moment thoughts, she was unable to pinpoint a specific head that was thinking it. It felt more base, a global influence upon her. Elizabeth pulled her hand back as though she had been electrocuted - a realization hit her like lightning. It felt just like when she had chosen the vials before and had considered but decided against other vials.
Veronica vanished from where she stood in the middle of the room. A moment later she reappeared next to Elizabeth's torso on the couch, the one that had just recoiled from the box of vials. She looked down at the box of vials then up at Elizabeth's right head.
"Uhh, Liz? What's up? You okay?"
"I uh..." Elizabeth paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "I want to drink the Headss vial. I am loving this whole multiple mindss thing."
"Soooooooo? Why not?"
Veronica picked up the Heads vial and held it out to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth shook her heads, "I sshouldn't."
Veronica rolled her eyes.
"Same question. Why not? You've already gone this far."
"I... don't know. Ssomehow, deep down I know I sshouldn't drink that vial. Any of these vialss, actually. They all look really interessting, and I would love to try a few of them. But... it'ss weird. You know how ssometimes when you can tell ssomething is just off enough that you get a profound ssensse of dread but don't know why or where it'ss coming from, but it'ss almosst paralyzing? It'ss just like that, if that makess ssensse."
Veronica glanced over to Cassie, who narrowed her eyes and pulled out her phone and typed on it. Veronica turned back to Elizabeth.
"Okay Liz, that's uh... that's either really good, or really bad."
Veronica turned and addressed the rest of the room,
"Alright, that's enough fun. We should hit the road. Now."
She put the vial back in the box, shut the lid and picked it up by the sides before vanishing, box and all. A few seconds later she reappeared next to the front door and pulled it open.
"Come on! Let's go!"
Gina stopped walking in circles and trotted out through the front door. She had an enormous goofy grin the whole time. Elizabeth couldn't help but admire her roommate's new form - the surprisingly large and very bouncy second set of breasts hanging behind her first legs, the way her butt seemed to dance and wiggle of its own accord, the 4 legs moving just a half beat offset creating a rhythmic and almost hypnotic effect, the effortless grace with which she seemed to challenge and then defy gravity with every step.
Cassie flapped her wings and flew over to one of Elizabeth's torsos lounging on one of her higher coils against the back wall. The hybrid harpy girl grabbed onto Elizabeth's coiled tail with her talons - the talons increasing in size to match the diameter of Elizabeth's tail. From Elizabeth's several other vantage points, it looked much like a woodpecker latching onto the side of a tree - that stack of coiled tail was easily 8 feet tall, and the 5 foot tall harpy girl had latched on about 5 feet off the ground and maintained a vertical orientation next to the coils.
"Liz, change of plans. V is gonna have Gina ride in the back seat. With the change she just went through, she's not going to be ready to do any sort of acrobatics for a day or two. Instead, I'm going to be your passenger. I'll maintain a truck illusion. Which also means it'll be way more convincing than if V cast a glamour on Gina."
Elizabeth nodded, "Ssoundss good to me. Uhh... I sshould warn you though. When I get moving fasst, my tail goes sside to sside pretty damn fasst. Are you ssure you want to latch onto my tail like that?"
Cassie shrugged, "Worst case scenario, I take off and just fly low above you."
Elizabeth laughed, "Okay, fair enough."
She then slithered out through the front door. The total time to get Elizabeth's 200 foot long body out of Vanessa and Cassie's apartment was nearly a minute. Out in the parking lot Gina ran and jumped over Elizabeth's moving tail like a horse jumping a hedge. She giggled and laughed hectically at the experience. Cassie never released her hold on Elizabeth's tail and just shifted to be upright when the coil she had grappled unwound and started moving along the ground.
Outside in the parking lot Elizabeth approached her rider, "Sstill doing okay? That wass nothing compared to when I get up to sspeed."
"Yep, I'm fine. I cast an enchantment that makes me very resistant to disorientation for the next couple hours, so nothing to worry about."
Elizabeth raised several eyebrows but accepted Cassie's explanation. Over at Vanessa's car it took Gina a couple of tries to successfully get into the back seat. That her car was a compact didn't help, but Gina insisted she was able to do it by herself.
Vanessa leaned out the driver window and addressed Elizabeth's closest head, "You lead the way, I'll be right behind you."
Elizabeth nodded and her other end moved out into the parking lot. She slithered down the road towards the exit of the complex. Suddenly a semi-transparent image of a truck appeared around her. She could see the exact bounds of the image - from the inside it looked like a truck turned inside out: She could see the grill in front of her, the windshield above, and with her rear heads could see the cargo door behind her.
She stopped at the exit of the apartment complex and waited for Vanessa to pull up behind her. Many of her heads marveled at the image around her. Not only did it look like a truck, but it sounded like one too. She moved over and touched the grill, and to her surprise found that it had weight and resistance to her touch - almost like it was a grill made of silly putty or gelatin.
A series of unusual sensations told Elizabeth that Cassie had released her grip and was walking down Elizabeth's tail to her current front end. Cassie latched on again just behind one of Elizabeth's torsos as Vanessa pulled up in her compact. Elizabeth waved with one of her current rear torsos, and to her surprise she could see the image's tail lights flash in tune with her waving.
"To the rest of the world, the space you see occupied by this illusion, as well as the ground under it, is only a truck. Your original human form is visible inside the truck cab as the driver. Even Vanessa can't see inside of the illusion."
"Thiss is amazing."
"Thank you. I'm ready when you are."
Elizabeth grinned and slithered out onto the road. She rapidly accelerated and felt Cassie grip her tail even harder. It didn't hurt, and Cassie's talons had no chance of piercing her scales, but it gave Elizabeth a sense of satisfaction of getting a reaction out of the confident harpy girl. A minute later she slowed and stopped at a red light.
"All good Casssie?"
"Yep."
To all the girls' relief, the trip was fairly uneventful. Elizabeth had already gotten the hang of slithering in traffic from her earlier expedition with Gina. Cassie's confidence was well placed: she had no trouble staying mounted on Elizabeth's tail and maintaining the illusion the whole time. True to her word, Vanessa stayed directly behind them the whole time. They arrived at the mall after 20 minutes on the road, and at Cassie's insistence, Elizabeth slithered behind the mall into the deliveries section where the truck illusion faded out over about 10 seconds.
Vanessa parked in the employee parking and helped Gina get out of the car. The 4 girls reunited at the mall entrance and they headed down the concourse together.
Gina continued to bounce and sprint ahead only to rush past in the other direction like a toddler on a sugar rush. The enthusiasm and boundless energy reminded Elizabeth of why she really valued Gina's friendship. Plus, with her new excess of heads she was able to watch Gina's perfect ass and new breasts as she bounced around the mall, while also acting like she wasn't checking out her roommate's new body.
"Do you remember the name?"
"Uhh... Sspellssomething. It wass 3 wordss, two of them sstarted with Ss. Not a hisss. But the letter ss."
Cassie rolled her eyes, "Right, I got that. Hey V, know what I'm thinking?"
Veronica glared at Cassie, "Don't you dare say it. I will not submit to that possibility unless it is an inevitability."
Cassie shrugged, "Don't ever change, V."
Elizabeth stopped and pointed at a door so nondescript that among all the branding of the mall it stood out as peculiar. "Guyss, it'ss right down here."
Veronica looked at the door, sighed, and vanished. A second later she reappeared with Gina next to her. Gina was mid-bounce and had clearly not expected to suddenly be teleported elsewhere.
"What the f... Oh god I'm gonna puke." Gina doubled over and held her stomach with her arms. Interestingly, her second pair of arms mounted on her lower torso reached down and held her lower torso's stomach.
Veronica laughed, "You'll be fine."
A couple seconds later Gina stood up straight and looked around. She glared at Veronica, "The fuck was that? Maybe a little warning next time!?!"
"Eh, maybe. I like to surprise people. Liz says we're here."
Gina looked where Elizabeth was pointing. Elizabeth could clearly see Gina's pupils slide away from where the door was located and onto other parts of the wall. Gina looked around and every time she looked at the door her pupils slid away past the door.
"What? A wall?"
Cassie grinned, "It's a damn good mirage enchantment. Lead the way Liz." She turned to Gina, "Don't worry, even though you can't see the door right now, you'll still be able to enter it. Hold my hand and don't let go."
Gina grabbed hold of Cassie's hand. Cassie turned to Elizabeth and motioned.
Elizabeth slithered forward and opened the door. She held it open with one torso as her other end's 2 torsos slithered through first. Cassie, Gina, and Veronica walked through the door next to Elizabeth.
The hallway seemed to stretch forever. Elizabeth was positive it was not this long the last time she had been here - it had been short, just a few steps. Finally she got her whole body into the hallway and closed the door behind her. Suddenly there was another door just in front of her. She pushed it open and...