“Oh dearie me,” a voice in the back of his head fussed, “Perhaps I miscalculated something?”
Time around Jason seemed to freeze and the world around him dissolved into blue dust. He was suddenly in a strange room made of the stuff. Was he having an out of body experience? His body had no weight or feeling to it, exactly like a dream.
“I know that voice,” he thought aloud, “Is that you, Witch?”
“I only meant for you to learn about your new reality, not forget your old one,” the voice explained, “In case you’re wondering, I don’t find emotional pain entertaining. Physical pain, definitely. Mental pain, definitely not. Emotional pain? Forget it!”
“What did you do to me?!” Jason’s thoughts screamed, “Why would you do this to me?!”
“Simmer down, child,” the witch’s voice continued, “Lest you forget what’s going on around here. This is all penance for your reckless destruction of my magic orbs, remember. It’s like when a restaurant has you wash dishes when you can’t pay your tab. All I did was alter reality. Your siblings are still there, they’re just boys now. Marcy is still there, Darcy is still there, and Elizabeth is still there, even though they’re called something else and they aren’t girls anymore. I regret to inform you that a miscalculation on my end caused a side effect to your memory recollection, in that the new memories are replacing the old. I’m going to make it so that you will retain every single memory you have of your old life and everything you learn about the new.”
“Marcy… Darcy…,” Jason sobs, “I… I can’t believe I forgot them…”
“Well well, that’s the way it goes,” the witch said, “Nevertheless, as an apology for this mishap, I will shorten your sentence a smidgeon. No more boons after that though, you understand young man? Can’t have you forgetting your place, now can we?”
The dust began to swirl around Jason’s vision as weight and feeling returned to his body. The bus reformed as time started to move again and he could faintly hear Cody’s voice shouting at him.
“Jeezus, Jay! Snap out of it! You’re wigging me out here, man!”