Suddenly, in the room, appeared... nobody.
"What? That didn't work?" said Jon. "I wish I knew why that didn't work."
"Did the stone run out of juice?" asked Karyn.
"No," replied Jon. "It's that life doesn't work that way. There really isn't one person to find. You can say that you will find the right man but it doesn't really mean there's one particular destined person, it means that whoever you find will be right. There could be a number of people who fit. I could wish for a man who would be right for me but it wouldn't mean that's the one I end up with."
"The stone's affecting your mind, Jon. Please, we have to do something about it."
"I told you. The wish was that it happens. Having me want it is just a way to help make it happen. If you wish that I don't want it, it's still going to happen, it'll just happen in a less convenient way."
"I still want to try something. Please lend me the stone."
"All right, but I wish that when I lend you the stone now you won't be able to make a wish that keeps me from finding the right man." He tossed it to Karyn. She caught it and immediately started thinking of ways to twist that wish, just so she could keep her friend from messing things up more than before. But she didn't need to--Jon had phrased it wrong in the first place. She was only going to undo the part affecting his personality, actually keeping it from coming true at all was something they could deal with later, once Jon was in his right mind.
"I wish that Jon's personality was no longer affected by the wish that he find and marry the right man."
"Karyn, you..." Jon got mad, for a second, but a second later, realized he had no need to. "Never mind. Thank you. Really... you did what I couldn't."
"You're not still planning to turn everyone into hermaphrodites, are you?"
Jon grimaced. "No, no, NO! I don't know what I was thinking... no, I do know. Too much magic."
Karyn smiled as she handed Jon the stone back. "That's good. But it's still not over. I got rid of one of the ways the wish tried to come true... but I couldn't get rid of the actual wish. We need to think of something."
