As Kellie bonded with Lisa and Ann, Katie found herself standing outside of the Magic Shop. The whispers from the Ring of Age had haunted her since last night, the idea that Kellie, her mom, was actually alive somewhere haunted her. After tossing and turning all night she had finally made a decision. She needed to find out for herself.
Taking a deep breath Katie entered the Magic Shop full of apprehension. As she stared at the counter she could see the elderly wizard doing an inventory. Looking up Merlin smiled as Katie slowly approached. “Katie,” he said warmly. “What a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon.”
Katie’s throat went dry as she tried to muster the courage to ask a question she had wondered about for years. “Merlin,” she said hoarsely. “I know my mother is alive and I need some questions answered.” A solemn look now crossed the elderly wizards face. Beckoning Katie forward he waved his hand, the sound of the lock click signaling that he and Katie would not be disturbed. “So,” he muttered. “It appears you have some serious questions that need to be answered. I never thought we would have this conversation but I will do my best to answer them.”
Katie let out a sigh of relief as she now sat across from Merlin. “Yeah I have a ton of questions, most importantly how is that possible. I thought Kellie WAS my mother.”
“Yes and No,” Merlin stated. “Kellie, your Kellie, does resemble your mother at that age, with some differences. She has some characteristics from Lee and Maggie and has inherited their genes.”
“So is she my mom or not then,” Katie exclaimed.
Merlin fidgeted slightly as he looked at an exasperated Katie. “Like I said yes and no,” he stated. “Yes she was Kellie, your mother. The ring though altered reality so that now she is Kellie, the daughter of Lee and Maggie Carlson and your fiancé.”
Katie nodded, still bewildered by the information Merlin was conveying. “That’s pretty much what the ring said to me last night,” she muttered. “But it doesn’t make any sense, how can she be both my mom and not my mom. And what happened to my mother then? The ring said she was alive somewhere.”
“Ah,” Merlin smirked. “And that is the nature of the ring that is most confusing.” Katie frowned at Merlin silently conveying a look of annoyance at conveying the obvious. Merlin laughed softly as he looked at Katie. “Yes I know very confusing,” he grinned. “Unfortunately when reality altering magic is used it often times creates other timelines.”
“What does that mean,” Katie asked, still confused. “Well,” Merlin said. “To explain it I will try to keep it simple. Let us say you reached a fork in the road. When you decided on which path to take you alter reality and create a second option. In your time you decided to take the left turn however a second option existed in which you decided to take the right turn. This creates an alternate reality.”
“Okay,” Katie nodded, now slowly beginning to understand. “So if my mother exists in another timeline then how did that happen?”
Merlin smirked devilishly as he leaned back in his chair. “To be honest I can not say,” he said. “I suppose we will just have to ask her.”
“Wait WHAT!!!” Katie kept to her feet, shocked at the possibility of meeting her mother once more. “But how though?”
“My dear Katherine,” Merlin chortled. “You underestimate me, entering an alternate reality for me is as easy as entering a room in my home. The question I must ask you though is this. Are you sure you want to do this? It could be dangerous.”
“Yes,” Katie said quickly. “I’ve......ive always felt a certain bit of guilt about changing my mom like I did. This...this is something I need to do.”
“Very well then,” Merlin said solemnly. Slowly the ancient wizard stood, extending his hands outwards towards Katie. “Take my hand Katie,” he said. “I will take you their, you will feel some disorientation afterwards but you will quickly recover.” Katie slowly extended her hands, taking Merlin’s. In a flash a brilliant white light filled the Magic Shop. Katie felt as if her head was spinning as she found herself temporarily blinded. As the light faded she slowly rubbed her temple, feeling as if she was hungover from a hard night of drinking. As she slowly began to adjust to her surroundings she could hear a voice asking a question.
“Merlin what the hell is going on, why is their a doppelgänger of you in our house?”
Katie tried to clear her head as she gazed around the room. The home seemed vaguely familiar, as she now searched her memory she remembered that it looked similar to an elderly neighbor that lived close by in her neighborhood. Clearing her vision she could see two people staring at her in shock. One was another version of Merlin, the other a teenage girl around 16. As Katie looked at the girl, she gasped. “Mom!”
Kellie had at first been confused by the other Merlin and the college girl that had appeared in their living room. After all the problems they had with Mary Elise and Morgan Lefay she was worried that this could be another trick. As she looked at the girl she realized who it was and found herself gasping in shock. “Katie,” she exclaimed, feeling her eyes dampen. “Oh my god, KATIE HOW DID YOU GET HERE!!!”
The 16 year old girl now sprinted towards her daughter embracing the young woman in a tight hug. Katie numbly returned the hug as the two began to cry. “Oh my god mom,” Katie cried. “It is you. How....how is this possible? And why are you so young?”
Kellie gave a short laugh as she looked at her daughter. “How did you get so old,” she laughed. “My god look at you, I could be your little sister right now.” Katie giggled as she wiped her eyes. “Mom,” Katie cried. “I’m...I’m so sorry I never told you about the ring. I...I just wanted to be more grown up....I....I never meant to send you to another dimension.”
“Shhh sweety,” Kellie soothed as she brushed her daughters hair. “This wasn’t your fault, it was mine and to be perfectly honest you did me a favor.”
Katie gave her mother a confused look as Kellie sighed sadly. “How is this your fault mom,” she asked. Kellie sighed as she now looked at her college age daughter. Slowly she now told the story of how she had snuck into their home the night of Lisa and Katie’s sleepover and unmade them. As a result of her actions she unknowingly did two things. She regained the knowledge of her adult self from before the Ring was used and she banished herself from her daughters reality. Katie gaped at her mother, who now lowered her head sadly. “I can’t believe you unmade me Mom,” Katie said tersely. “What the hell possessed you to do something like that.”
“I know it was stupid,” Kellie groaned. “And watch your tongue young lady, you know how I feel about swearing.”
Katie and Kellie looked at each other in silence before bursting into laughter. “Sorry mom,” Katie laughed. The two girls now wiped their eyes as they looked each other over. “So tell me,” Kellie asked. “What exactly has been going on with you. You look old enough to be in college now.”
“Yeah I’m a junior at state now,” she said warmly. “In fact, I’m actually engaged to be married to Kellie next winter.” Kellie squealed in a girlish fashion as Katie showed off her engagement ring. “Oh darling that’s incredible congratulations,” she said, hugging her daughter tightly. “I’m so happy for you, you deserve this.”
“Thanks mom,” Katie said. “To be honest I was a little nervous about it, considering that...you know..I thought that Kellie, my Kellie..was still kind of you...in a way.”
“Yeah about that she is and she isn’t,” Kellie laughed. “Don’t try to think about, you’ll end up with a headache.”
Katie nodded as she now looked at her teenage mother. “So what about you mom,” Katie asked. “What is this, what exactly is going on?” Kellie sighed as she looked at her daughter. “Well,” Kellie sighed. “Things have been a little bit adventurous for me. Nothing I can’t handle really. Right now I’m dealing with a issue with Mary Elise.”
“What’s wrong with Mary?”
“Well,” Kellie started. “The thing is this reality..MY REALITY..is very similar to yours with some slight differences. And I’ll tell you them right now.” Katie listens intently as Kellie explained how she now lived as an apprentice and adopted daughter of Merlin, how the Katie of this reality was the twin sister of Lisa, how Katie’s fiends had changed slightly from what she was used to and how other wizards were trying to exploit this situation. Katie sat spellbound as she listened to her mother’s tale. “Geez mom,” Katie said in awe. “Sounds like you have quite the situation going on.”
“Eh it’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before,” she said nonchalantly. “Merlin and I should be able to sort this out sooner or later. Personally I’m just so happy to see you again. I thought I lost you forever.”
“You never lost me mom,” Katie said warmly. “I think about you all the time, I..I always wondered what it would be like to finally talk with you again. Not the you that I fell in love with but the you that used to tuck me in at night.” Kellie smiled as she now embraced her daughter once more. “I feel the same way,” she sighed. Looking at her daughter Kellie couldn’t help but feel both pride and thankfulness for the wish her daughter had made.
“You have no idea just how thankful I am for the wish you made Katie,” Kellie said. “The life I have here may have its bumps in the road but I’ve never been happier. The only thing I truely miss..is you.”
Katie smiled as she now looked between the two Merlin’s and her mother. “So mom,” Katie asked. “You think maybe the two of us can just sit down for some girl talk. There’s so much I want to talk about.” Kellie looked back towards Merlin who simply smiled and nodded. “Yeah we got time,” Kellie said happily. Mother and daughter wiped their eyes as they made their way towards the couch. For right now the two could forget about all the things that had happened throughout their adventures and simply remember that the whole thing started with a young girl and her overstressed mother.