"You all think this is so fucking funny, don't you?" Zoe said to the others. DTH Jon couldn't recall hearing this Zoe swear before.
"Looks like you've been picking up some bad habits from the other Zoe." He told her.
"I can certainly see why she hates you." She said standing up as the rage grew within her.
Athena stood up too and moved towards her. "Calm down Zoe. He is helping us get back home or find somewhere we can go at least."
"Exactly." DTH Jon said. Zoe shook her head in disbelief.
"You're defending her now? After everything she did. Don't you get it? She is only interested in the stone."
"I wasn't defending her. I was just agreeing with her. It's not the same thing." DTH Jon thought he better prove his point. "All her theories about the stone are nonsense."
"I still stand by what I said." Athena told him. The fragile peace in the group that had developed was slowly breaking down.
"Oh it's nonsense Athena. It's not real." Zoe practically shouted at her. "I'll tell you what else isn't real, " she paused, "everything!"
"What are you talking about?" A confused Athena asked.
"You, me, my house, your house, Sarah's house, the school, Lake Point, everything. It's fake!" Everyone was looking at her oddly now.
Karyn decided to join into the conversation to reassure Zoe. "Look Zoe, I know travelling with the DTH can be a little confusing at first. It does make you question reality. It just takes a bit of mental adjustment."
"I'm not talking about different worlds. Just one, mine." Zoe paused and took a breath. "You remember when Jon was changing his clothes in the bathroom and I was looking at the DTH?" Karyn nodded. "None of the buttons worked but the display was on. I could see the flower petal dimension, so it was pretty easy to work out where my world was on the screen. I could see the line leading to it was red."
"Oh." Karyn said.
Athena rubbed her chin. "They have something to do with wishes don't they?"
Zoe nodded. "Yes, wishes or magic devices. That's how our world was made. On someone's whim."
"It was the ARD." DTH Jon said solemnly. "When we hopped to ARD Jon's dimension, it conflicted with the DTH. That's how he ended up stuck in your world." He admitted.
"You never thought to mention this, at any time?" Zoe asked.
"It was upsetting enough for you to find out about my existence. I didn't want to compound that."
Zoe used a mocking tone on him. "Oh, yeah I care about your state of mind, I won't mention the fact your whole life is a big fat fake. That won't come back to bite me in the ass."
"I'm sorry." He said.
"Just don't. I'm not interested." She turned around and headed out the bedroom door. They heard her going down the stairs.
He quickly closed the door behind her. "Damn."
"Is your Zoe here?" Karyn asked him.
"I don't think so. I hope she isn't. This is my world, she could really mess things up for me here."
"I don't think she cares." Karyn said as she looked around the room. "One of us, should talk to her."
"I'll do it." A voice said. Sage Jon sat up in the bed. "I need to set her straight on a few matters. I'll explain it to you guys first."
Zoe wasn't entirely sure where she was going. Her anger had carried her out the room and down the stairs. Superficial appearances aside she was fully aware this wasn't her house. She wandered slowly towards the kitchen, when she spotted her mother.
Linda was cleaning the counters in the kitchen. "Hi Dear." She said before looking at Zoe again. "What have you done with your hair?" She asked. Zoe's mind was brought back quickly into focus.
"Yeah, I err, washed the dye out, I'm going to redo it when it dries properly." Linda looked at her strangely, it didn't make a lot of sense.
"It's nice like that. I like it."
"Thanks." She smiled. This stranger who looked like her mother had just made her happy albeit briefly.
"Did I hear you and Jon arguing again?"
"He's an asshole."
"Ah sibling ambivalence. I remember it well."
"Ambivalence?" Zoe asked.
"Yeah, you know the whole love/hate thing. It gets better as you get older, usually." She reassured her.
"It feels like quite a new thing for me. I've never had an," she was about to say older brother but quickly corrected herself, "I mean me and Mikey get on okay."
"There is a bigger age gap between you and Mikey." Linda stopped cleaning and walked over to her and hugged her. "Look I know you are upset with him but I'm sure he has good intentions. In his mind anyway." She laughed as she pulled away. Zoe smiled again. "Feeling better?"
"A little." She admitted. "I just want to sit in the garden for a bit." Linda nodded and resumed her cleaning as Zoe went out the back.
