"Jon!" Karyn shouted as she caught up with Prisoner Jon, DTH Jon and Zoe. Both Jon's automatically turned round on hearing their name. Zoe spotted the movement in her peripheral vision and turned around too.
Karyn slowed down as she approached. She noticed Prisoner Jon's poor physical condition. "You look like shit." She said as she came closer. "What happened when I was in the bathroom?"
"Nothing," a confused looking Jon told her, "we're just going to get something to eat at the food court. Sarah barely gave me any food, I'm starving."
"What has Sarah got to do with this?" She took another look at him. "Have you changed clothes?". She looked at Zoe and the female DTH Jon. "You never said Zoe was going to be here, I thought she was sick. Who is this other girl?"
It was at this point Zoe worked out this wasn't their Karyn. Asking about the clothes had done it. She noticed this Karyn was dressed properly, not in covered up pyjamas. "This is our cousin Jane." She said as she pointed at DTH Jon.
"Jane? I've known Jon for years, he's never mentioned a cousin Jane before."
"Well, actually..." Zoe started but couldn't think of anything else to say.
"It's all right Zoe." DTH Jon told her. "This Karyn is a blonde, so she knows about the stone. If she didn't, she'd have her original red hair."
Karyn turned to Prisoner Jon. "You told these two about the stone?"
"No! I don't know anything about this stone but it seems everywhere I go people keep talking about it." He told her sharply. "I just want something to eat."
"Don't shout. I'm just trying to help. You dropped it in the arcade. You are lucky I found it." She opened her purse and pulled it out.
DTH Jon grabbed her hand and pushed it back into the purse. "Don't take any chances with that thing, it's incredibly dangerous." He warned her.
Zoe moved closer to her. "And whatever you do, don't let Athena see it." She said.
"Your friend Athena?" Karyn asked.
"Not any more she isn't."
"What's going on here?" Karyn asked Prisoner Jon.
"Ask her or him or whatever she is." He told her while pointing at DTH Jon. She turned to face him and waited for an explanation.
"Okay, " he took a deep breath, "we're from different parallel universes. I used the stone to create a device that allows me to travel to different dimensions. Currently in our party there is Jon who was kidnapped by Sarah, Zoe from a universe where Jon doesn't exist, a morally dubious version of Athena from the same dimension, a Karyn from my dimension and me. I'm Jon too. We're spending time in this mall while we wait for the device called the DTH to recharge." Karyn stood silently looking at the three of them. "Do you understand?"
"I think so. So you're like Jon from a parallel world where he was born a girl?" Karyn asked.
"No. I'm in disguise." Karyn looked at his face and down to his chest.
"It's a really good disguise. It's amazing what you can do with make up and a bit of padding."
"It's a magical disguise obviously."
Prisoner Jon interrupted. "Look can we have this conversation in the food court. I can smell it already and if I don't have something soon I think I'll pass out." He put his hands to his stomach.
"Yes, of course." Zoe said. DTH Jon continued to fill Karyn in about his recent adventures.
As they got closer to the food court DTH Jon suddenly put his arm out in front of Zoe and Prisoner Jon. "Stop." He told them.
"What?" Zoe asked.
"Look at the food court." He told them by nodding his head to avoid being spotted.
In the food court eating a vegetarian lunch was Athena.
"Look at the make up and the clothes." Zoe said. The others looked at Athena. "She's not the Athena from my world." She turned to DTH Jon. "Karyn's here and Athena, what's going on?"
DTH Jon felt a little bit of insecurity. "From what Karyn tells me, her Jon was here earlier too. He disappeared in the arcade. I wouldn't be surprised if that has something to do with red lines on the DTH. The stone loves synchronicity."
"What's synchronicity?" Zoe asked.
"Unrelated similar events caused by coincidence. There are all sort of crackpot theories about it."
"This can't be a coincidence. Don't go blaming the stone, your machine brought us here."
"I don't fully understand it but I think the damage caused by the stones to the multiverse is affecting, for want of a better word fate. I suppose in a multiverse filled with magic stones we can't discount any crackpot theories."
"Zoe!" Athena cried as she ran over to them. They had been too distracted by the conversation to notice her looking towards them. Something in the back of Athena's brain told her something was going on near the front of the food court. Subconsciously she turned her head and saw her sick friend with her brother. "What are you doing out of bed?" She glanced at Zoe's bare legs. She pulled open the large overcoat Zoe was wearing. "You're still in your nightie. Oh my Goddess you must be delirious."
"I'm fine Athena." Zoe said as Athena put her hand on her forehead to check her temperature.
"I'm not taking any chances. You are going right back to bed. You've sweated so much all your hair dye has came out. I didn't even know that was possible." She took Zoe by the hand and looked at Prisoner Jon. "You really should know better, you know she's been off school this week. To be honest you don't look too well yourself."
Prisoner Jon just stared at her. DTH Jon intervened. "She's feeling much better." Athena looked at her strangely.
"And you are?" Athena asked.
"Her cousin." DTH Jon told her.
"Well think yourself lucky I'm not calling Zoe's mom to collect her. If you try to stop me, I'll call an ambulance or the cops or something." She said as she pulled Zoe away.
"That's not necessary." DTH Jon told her but they were already out of earshot. "Shit!"
Once outside Athena jumped into a cab, pulling Zoe along with her. She gave the driver Zoe's address. They left just as Karyn and DTH Jon got outside the mall.
Prisoner Jon had refused to follow them till he got something to eat. They had dropped him at the food court with a message for the others.
"They'll be heading back to my house." DTH Jon told her.
"Yeah." Karyn agreed.
"It will take us ages on foot and there isn't a bus for an hour. We could get a cab." Jon continued to look at Karyn.
"What?" She asked.
"Sorry, I'm used to my Karyn being in charge." He told her.
"I'm in charge? Really?" She seemed quite surprised.
"I guess you are a natural leader."
"Okay, let's get a cab." She told him.
"I don't have any money." He admitted.
"Dammit, I knew there would be a catch to being in charge."
