Elizabeth pushed open the door to reveal a scene she recognized: the inside of Spellcast Magic Supplies. The group of young ladies entered, though the majority of Elizabeth remained in the hallway. Veronica and Cassie turned to the left and looked at a clearance table covered in plastic tubs each containing a different material - moldy hay, dried frog legs, hollowed out peppermint candies, rainbow-colored hair, and many more varieties.
Veronica picked up a tub containing several little red heart shapes. She gulped and unwrapped her tail from Cassie's leg and moved it in front of her, next to the container, as if to compare. After a moment she recoiled and dropped the tub.
"Oh, gross! These are succubus tail tips!"
She vanished and reappeared a moment later to Cassie's left. Her arms draped around Cassie's shoulders and her tail wrapped tightly around Cassie's left thigh. Vanessa glanced around wildly before loudly whispering to Cassie, "I don't like this!"
Cassie turned and gave Vanessa a quick kiss, "It's okay, V. I know where we are. You're completely safe."
Vanessa seemed to relax a little at Cassie's assurance, but she continued to stick to Cassie's left side as Cassie moved around and looked at more of the wares being offered by the shop.
Gina wandered around and looked at a few displays that featured seemingly normal items with a magical twist: purses that were advertised to hold dimensional pockets, cloth bow-ties that visibly sparkled like metal, socks that claimed to be permanently paired, even hair bands of illusion. Gina picked up one of the hair bands and tentatively put her ponytail up with it. To Elizabeth's surprise, suddenly Gina was standing on 2 legs, not 4.
"What the... Gina, are you okay?" Elizabeth worriedly asked her friend.
Gina turned to face Elizabeth. "Yeah, why?"
"Uhh... Look down."
Gina did and after a couple of seconds gasped in surprise. "Wait, what happened to my..."
She paused and looked at the shelf. Elizabeth was a little surprised to see a purse lift off the shelf and move over to Gina's waist where it appeared to dangle, but faint movement indicated it wasn't directly attached to her belt.
"Haha, okay this is amazing."
Gina turned back to Elizabeth. "I'm holding this purse with my 2nd set of arms. It's like a hologram or something."
She reached up and took off the hair band and Gina's form wavered and after a couple of seconds Elizabeth could again see Gina's full taur form, including the purse being held by her lower right arm.
"See? This is neat!"
Elizabeth shrugged and reminded Gina, "Be careful what you touch. This whole place is clearly magic."
Gina nodded and put both items back on the shelves, then walked deeper into the shop to explore further. Elizabeth followed slowly behind, more to get her entire body into the shop than for any other reason. She felt awkward holding the door open with her tail, and given the strange behavior of the hallway she couldn't help but wonder if keeping the door open was influencing anything else.
The shop extended much further than Elizabeth had expected. She passed sections with clothes designed for mythical and hybrid forms, sections with power tools and stacks of lumber, a section with several motor vehicles including a stretch motorcycle, and when she finally finished slithering in one of her ends was in a section full of groceries - though none of them looked quite normal. The apples had stems coming out both the top and the bottom, the lettuce was rainbow colored, carrots had a rocky texture, and the pears were 4 or 5 times their normal size.
Back at the entrance, Elizabeth addressed Cassie and Veronica, "Sso, we're here. Now what?"
Cassie shrugged, "Waiting for the proprietor. I expect we'll be served soon."
"Do magic sshopss like thiss alwayss have sservice from the owner?"
Cassie nodded, "It's expected. Any decent magic shop will have the owner or knowledgeable clerks personally attend to all customers. Besides, it's safer that way. Less risk of someone walking out with something they really shouldn't. Speaking of..."
Cassie quickly stepped into an aisle at the side and rushed down it, Veronica still attached to her left side and rushing to keep up.
Elizabeth looked around and spotted Devianne and an upright 9 foot tall grizzy bear wearing a top hat, a 3 piece suit, carrying a walking cane under his left arm and a small bag in his right paw. They casually walked out of a side door towards the front counter.
Devianne glanced over Elizabeth and let loose a low whistle, "Welcome back, dear! I must say, that is a very impressive change. I'll be with you in just a minute, let me finish assisting Mr Bertrand first."
The bear paused as they neared Elizabeth's torsos and gracefully bowed, removing his top hat in the process. He spoke in a hoarse yet refined manner, "Bartholomew Bertrand, and you might be?"
Elizabeth blushed and mimicked his bow, "Uh, hi. I'm Elizabeth. My friendss call me Liz."
The bear smiled and put his hat back on. "Fantastic! I do hope to see you here again. It would be a delight to have a chat, unfortunately time is of the essence today. I wish you a jolly afternoon, and may the blessings of the bear be upon you!"
Elizabeth was stunned as the cordial bear walked up to the counter and paid for his shopping with a credit card. He turned and gracefully stepped over Elizabeth's tail to leave and laughed deeply and loudly when he saw Elizabeth's other 2 torsos near the front door. "I say, Elizabeth, you certainly get around. That is most impressive."
He walked over to the door and as he left, he turned back and winked, "May we meet another day, miss!"
The door closed behind him and Elizabeth shook the million questions out of her mind and turned to Devianne. She stood behind the counter, leaning forward with her elbows on the counter and her hands supporting her head. Her low-cut V neckline revealed a massive crevice of cleavage, and for the first time, Elizabeth suddenly noticed that Devianne's skin was a bright red. Wings nicely framed Devianne's face, and a pair of petite horns stuck maybe a quarter inch out of her otherwise flawlessly smooth forehead.
"Uhhh. Right, that wass ssomething... Sso uh..."
Devianne flashed a perfect smile and stood up straight. "Dear, you've certainly outdone my expectations. That's no small feat! I do have to ask though - is the lovely humantaur rummaging through my minor enchantments display a friend of yours?"
Elizabeth nodded, "Yess that'ss Gina. We brought her along becausse... I don't know actually."
Devianne raised an eyebrow, "'We'?"
Elizabeth looked around with 2 heads while the other 2 continued to talk to Devianne,
"Yeah uh... Wait, where'd they go?"
Devianne's eyes narrowed and after a few seconds of fruitlessly looking about, she closed her eyes. A second later she gasped and vanished. A second later Elizabeth's attention was drawn to Veronica's scream.
Elizabeth slithered down the aisle she had seem Cassie vanish into. About 30 feet down and to the side she found Devianne hugging Veronica tightly, and Cassie standing off to the side, grinning. Veronica's tail still clung to Cassie's left leg, and she tried to pull herself out of Devianne's massive hug but was unable to make any purchase.
Devianne gushed, "Oh sweetie I've missed you so much! I knew you moved nearby but I never saw you after the incident so I never had a chance to attune the enchantment to you. Oh I'm so glad you still found the shop and came in! I couldn't be more happy!"
Veronica vanished from Devianne's hug and reappeared a few feet away next to Cassie. She breathed heavily as Devianne wiped tears away from her eyes.
Silence hung in the air for a few seconds as both succubi recovered their composure. Finally Veronica quietly spoke, "Hi mom..."
Devianne's gigantic smile could barely contain her excitement, "I'm so happy, you look healthy and strong. Definitely no malnurishment, I was so worried about that after you left! And your bust finally came in, I'm so proud!" She looked at Cassie, "And you must be Cassie! Oh I was never able to get much out of Veronica about you, but the way she talked about you when she did... You're a lucky young woman, Cassie!"
Cassie smiled, "It's nice to finally meet you in person, Devianne. I'd hoped we were going to meet at the ceremony, but well... You know how succubi get with their moms."
Devianne laughed boisterously and nodded, "Oh yes, I'm the same way. My mom doesn't even know that I'm living on the mortal plane. She still thinks I'm married to Damon down in Pandemonium. Wait, wait... ceremony? Does that mean... Veronica, did you get married?!?"
Veronica blushed, turning an even deeper shade of red. She looked up from the floor just enough to timidly nod. Her tail wound even tighter around Cassie's leg, and she wrapped one of her arms around Cassie's shoulders.
"Oh, Veronica... I'm so happy for you! Cassie, you better take good care of her! Make sure she's well fed!"
Cassie laughed, "I don't think that'll ever be a problem. We live in a college community. There's an overabundance of sexual energy, I don't think she's had to even look for a meal since we moved in, there's so much ambient energy."
Devianne nodded, "Fantastic! I must say Cassie, I was worried the first time Veronica described you over the phone. A succubus going long-term with a mortal is a bit unorthodox, but now that I've actually met you in person... You're a mage, aren't you?"
"It's more of a hobby. I'm actually a lawyer."
"Oooh, impressive. Mundane or magic?"
"Both. On the mundane side I look too young for anyone to take me seriously, so I focus on the magic side. I work for the VPA in the special cases division."
Devianne raised an eyebrow, "Most impressive. No wonder Veronica was always vague. Don't you worry, I'm one of the more law-abiding succubi around. I'm actually on the VPA's non-magic induction list!"
Cassie smiled and nodded, "The scry informed me of that. You should be proud, that's a great honor! Which tangentially brings us to our mutual semi-naga friend Elizabeth here. We need to have a serious discussion there. What do you say we put a brief hold on the family reunion and deal with the more pressing official business? I can setup a lunch for you and Veronica to catch up, say tomorrow?"
Devianne glanced back at Elizabeth, "Oops! My apologies, dear. It's not often I get to see my little Veronica." She stepped forward and tussled Veronica's hair, then gave her a kiss on the forehead. Little wisps of steam floated off Veronica's forehead where Devianne had kissed her. Veronica gave a small smile and tentatively gave Devianne a brief hug.
"Deal. Veronica, I'll see you tomorrow at the cafe upstairs. 11 sharp. Cassie, I expect you to make sure she's there."
Cassie laughed, "Oh don't worry. She will be, I guarantee it."
She turned to Veronica, who had pulled back and was once again hugging Cassie. Cassie whispered in Veronica's ear. Veronica nodded and after a second vanished.
Cassie turned back to Devianne, "I must apologize for that bit of unprofessionalism. Sadly, with the information available from Elizabeth I had no way of knowing that she had shopped at your establishment."
Devianne nodded and lead the way back to the counter, "Not a problem. If anything, seeing Veronica has put me in a fantastic mood."
Devianne moved behind the counter and one of Elizabeth's torsos and Cassie stood on the other side. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. Finally she opened her eyes again and flashed a perfect customer service smile.
"Alright then! What can I do for you ladies today?"