After Meadow got herself dressed, the girls headed out to the shop. Sierra's jaw dropped when they stepped through the door and her senses were assaulted by everything from the wafting scents of Lord-only-knew what to the stuffed boar hanging from the ceiling. Becky seemed to be equally stunned by the place.
"Pretty groovy, huh?" asked Meadow.
"To put it mildly!" said Sierra, letting her awestruck eyes wander around the chaotic shop and its exotic wares. Her eyes froze when they landed on the ageless, robed woman sitting behind the counter. If Sierra had to guess, she'd say the ebony-haired woman was around thirty... but her emerald eyes looked far, FAR older.
Circe smiled. Meadow Larkin was back for still greater magic, and she'd brought friends. She and her blonde friend had clearly been using the brush, judging from the hirsute growth on their legs, armpits, and... were those little whiskery hairs growing on their upper lips? The hippie had all the makings of a very loyal and enthusiastic customer.
Circe stared into the other girls' eyes. Ah, so these were the girls called Becky Cooper and Sierra Belville whose names the Fates had whispered to Circe in her dreams. The sorceress smiled to herself. Sierra would look so much prettier with her feathers.
"Hello again, Meadow!" Circe called out. "I see you've brought Becky and Sierra with you."
Becky almost fell over. "The fuck?!"
Circe chuckled. "Yes, I know your names. I was expecting you. You are here to make another purchase, correct?"
Sierra nodded. "Yeah, I wanna grow some—"
"...feathers," Circe finished with absolute confidence.
Sierra's brows knit together in confusion. "How did you..."
Circe smiled warmly at the redhead. "You were always meant to have feathers, Sierra Belville. I see you without them, and you look incomplete. I am merely correcting a horrible accident of birth." Sierra smiled at Circe's words.
"What can you do for her?" asked Meadow.
"Follow me," said Circe. She led them through the store to a basket full of brushes very similar to Meadow's, except each one had a mark on the back. There were brushes that bore the image of a scale, once of the image of a feather, and one or two with the image of a... tentacle?! Weird.
Circe picked up a feather brush. "These are our specialty brushes, for clients with... singular tastes. People such as yourselves. A single light brushstroke will blanket your skin in tiny, soft, downy feathers. Each additional stroke will grow the feathers bigger and more substantial, just like with the hair version. I'd recommend you shave any hair from areas where you want to grow feathers for the best results, including your scalp."
Sierra clapped her hands together. "Sweet!"
Becky raised her hand. "That's great and all, but how do we show our faces in public again after covering ourselves in feathers like a bunch of P.T. Barnum sideshow freaks?"
Circe's lips curled into another mysterious smile. "Smart girl." She vanished to another aisle before returning with three silver medallions shaped like eyes. "As long as you wear these, people will see all your changes as normal. If you grow feathers, nobody will see anything odd about you having feathers. As far as they know, you've always had feathers and things like that just happen sometimes. Instead of getting you arrested, your feathers will probably get you compliments."
"Sounds pretty good to me," said Sierra. The other girls nodded.