The stone began to flash. In the new reality the stone had created, Jon and company were merely a figment of Jenny's imagination...possibly a future children's book. But the wish that they were real didn't contradict Jon's original wish for things to be interesting, however that wish was still running wild, having no limits.
The universe folded in on itself with incredible force. The old and the new merged together, and like a shockwave, elements of both exploded out of the universe into an infinite number of parallel universes. Suddenly, across the multiple branches of reality, new individuals suddenly existing...and in fact had always existed.
Back in this universe, however...
Jon blinked, and put down the stone, unable to shake the disorientation. He felt as if something had just happened, something important, but he had no idea what it was.
Seeing that the wish having appeared to do nothing, he relaxed a bit and headed downstairs.
Zoe was lying on the couch, watching TV. "Mom's looking for you," she called, not turning around.
"What about?"
"Am I your secretary or something? Ask her yourself. She's in the kitchen."
"Mom!" He called, heading toward the kitchen. He froze when he saw the woman moving toward him. It was a woman about his mother's age, but with a long mane of red hair and green eyes. There was something oddly familiar about her.
"Jon, good, there you are. I need you to go pick up your sister."
"But she's in the living room."
"Not Zoe, Stephie."
He frowned. Who was Stephie?
The woman continued. "She's at the library. I was going to go back for her, but Bibi is fussy today, and I need to get dinner started."
He thought about that for a minute. Walking to and from the library might give him time to figure this out. "Sure," he said.
"Thanks, sweetie," she said.
This stranger acting like his mother was odd enough, as odd as feeling like he knew her already. He headed toward the door, and paused. The family photo was different. There was his new mother, whatever her name was, Zoe, and two other girls with a definite resemblance. He guessed they were three years from each other and from Zoe. He continued to get that deja vu feeling.
He turned to grab his jacket and spotted Zoe. "You want company?" She said.
She looked like the same Zoe...except with more of a familial relation to this new mother they had. But Zoe was usually much less nice to him. She was still a Goth, but apparently not as an angry one. At least not angry at him, which was a small blessing. He could live with a sister who didn't curse him out at their mere meeting.
"If you want..." he said, testing the waters.
"Sure," Zoe said, grabbing her own jacket. She needed to get out for a bit.
