"Well I didn't know my parents at all," Ty began. "They died in a car accident when I was a baby. I don't know if I was an only child or not. Anyway I kept being bounced from one foster home to another. I was lucky to stay in one for a whole year."
"That had to be hard for you," Rebecca said sympathy in her voice.
"It was," Ty said nodding. "I've heard a couple of them say that I gave them the creeps. One family even went as far to say that I was possessed by a demon."
"So even if you moved closer to me chances are that you'd be moving on soon," Rebecca said with a sigh.
"I don't know if that's true," Ty said. "I've been with my present foster family for over four years which is a record for me."
"Don't they get creped out by you?"
Ty shrugged and said, "I don't know. They haven't treated me the best so maybe I do and that's why they treat me like they do."
"When did you find out you had this power?"
"I found out on Saturday. That was my fifteenth birthday. I'm a late bloomer and Dustin was teasing me about it. I had wished he knew what it was like and it was like he had gotten younger. He went to tell Mark and June about it and I had hoped no one would find it strange. They didn't and then I decided to test my power at the mall. That's when I saw you sitting there all by yourself and changed you."
"Why would I have been sitting by myself?" Rebecca asked with a puzzled look on her face.
"I don't know but I had wondered what you would look like in five years and you aged five years," Ty said hugging Rebecca. "After that I had wondered what you would look like when you were nineteen and you were. It was then that I gave you your knowledge and had you love me. After we had sex and I saw you laying there with a lock of hair over your eye I was reminded that you were just a kid and I changed you back and sent you home though I forgot to make you think like a little girl again. I know it was wrong of me to make you love me and I should fix it."
"Our power can't make someone love someone else brother of mine," a female voice said behind them.
Ty and Rebecca turned around and saw a girl standing against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. She looked like she was sixteen or seventeen, maybe even eighteen and she had the same color hair and eyes that Ty had. "Who are you?" Ty asked.
"I'm Elizabeth and I'm your big sister Tyler," the girl said.
"How did you know my name?" Ty asked paling a bit.
"I heard Mom and Dad say your name enough times before they died," Elizabeth said unfolding her arms and walking up to them. "I was five and you were two when it happened. Since I turned fifteen I've been looking into it and I don't think it was an accident."
"They went off the road during a thunderstorm," Ty said. "The road was slick and they were going too fast."
"That's what the police report said," Elizabeth said nodding. "But it didn't have what Mom said just before we went off the road."
"You were in the accident too?" Rebecca asked.
"Both me and Ty were," Elizabeth said.
"We were?" Ty asked. "Why don't I know that."
"They figured it was best not to remind you of what you saw," Elizabeth said closing her eyes. "No child should see their parents die."
"So what did Mom say?" Ty asked.
"She said, "They found me," right before she lost control and slammed into the tree."
"Who are "they"?" Ty asked sounding a bit scared.
"I don't know," Elizabeth said shaking her head. "All I know is that Dad died immediately but Mom lived a little bit longer. She had told me she needed to tell me something. I unbuckled myself and put my ear close to Mom's mouth. She told me that I had to take care of you and that on our fifteenth birthdays we would receive the power to alter reality. In order to prove it to me she changed me into a boy but she died before she could change me back. It was then that I saw the flames. Fortunately my door had flown open upon impact and I was able to get you out of your car seat and out of the car before the fire spread. I practically had to drag you down the road away from the car. You wanted to go back to Mom and Dad so bad. Fortunately a police officer came along and I told him what had happened."
"Why were we separated?" Ty asked.
"I didn't know not to tell them that I had been a girl when I was clearly a boy," Elizabeth said with a sigh. "They figured that it was the trauma and put me with a foster family that could handle me. With you they figured you were still young enough that you wouldn't need the help I needed."
"What about your birth certificate?" Rebecca asked. "It had to say you were born a girl."
"It did," Elizabeth said frowning. "They thought it was a clerical error and instead of correcting it Mom and Dad went along with it dressing me up like a girl and calling me Elizabeth or my nickname of Lisa. That was another reason for me going into a special foster home."
"You were still wearing girl clothes?" Rebecca asked.
"Well Mom was going to change me back," Elizabeth said with a sigh, "so she didn't think to change anything else."
Ty shook his head as Lisa told her story. He could see the accident and the fire. He could feel himself getting soaked in the rain and wanting to go back but someone bigger than him was dragging him down the road. Taking a breath he asked, "What do you mean when you said we couldn't make someone love someone?"
"Emotions are very strong," Lisa said with a smile. "No outside force can change them."
"So I really do love Ty?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes you do," Lisa said smiling and touching Rebecca's nose.
"Well how do we handle this?" Ty asked. "I love Rebecca but she's just a kid."
"Maybe not," Lisa said thoughtfully.
"What do you mean?" Rebecca asked.
"You were sitting all alone at the mall right?" Lisa asked.
"She was," Ty confirmed.
"Well perhaps the reason she was sitting all alone was that someone had changed her," Lisa said. "There are others with the same power that we have."
"Wouldn't I remember being changed?" Rebecca asked.
"Not if whoever did it blocked your memories," Lisa said. "There's a simple way to check. Wishing ring wishing ring unblock Rebecca's memories."
Rebecca scrunched up her face as her memories were unblocked. She looked at Lisa and Ty with wide eyes and said, "I remember now. I am nineteen or I'm suppose to be. I broke up with Michael at the mall since he had changed. He said I was being immature and if that was how I was going to act then that was how I would be."
"Well it looks like we have to age you up a bit," Lisa said with a smile. "Wishing ring wishing ring make Rebecca nineteen again and change her clothes to match."
The first thing that happened was Rebecca's clothes disappeared. She then started growing. As she grew her hips widened, her waist narrowed, her butt filled out, and her breasts filled out as well. Once she was done growing clothes started to appear on her. First a blue thong appeared as well as a matching bra. Next a dark blue t-shirt appeared and then a dark blue denim skirt. Finally a pair of sandals appeared on her feet and a purse appeared on the floor next to the couch. "Oh I'm glad to be back in my proper body," she said hugging herself.
"I know the feeling," Lisa said with a smile. "At least you weren't changed for long and you weren't aware of it."
"Oh I didn't even think about how it must have been for you," Rebecca said. "I can't imagine what it was like for you."
"Oh you don't have to imagine it," Lisa said with a smile. "You can experience it for yourself."
Ty looked at Rebecca waiting for a change to happen by when nothing did he looked at Lisa and asked, "Why didn't anything happen? When I say or think something it happens but it didn't happen with you."
"That's because I didn't say my pass phrase," Lisa said.
"You mean, "wishing ring wishing ring," is your pass phrase?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes," Lisa said nodding. Looking at Ty she said, "Right now your power is uncontrolled Ty. That's why when you think of something or say something it happens. You need to control it."
"How do I control it?" Ty asked.
"Well first you have to find the power within yourself," Lisa said. "Then you build a sphere around it. You have to include a hatch in the sphere so you can still access your power when you want to. Give the hatch a pass phrase to open and allow your power to do what you want. Don't use, "I wish," as your pass phrase. Make sure that the hatch will close once your power has done what you wanted it to do."
"How do I find the power within myself?" Ty asked.
"It's best to close your eyes and focus inward," Lisa said. "You'll find it if you do that."
"Ok," Ty said. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and focused inward. He started to think it was silly when a light nearly blinded him. He yelled out and opened his eyes.
"What happened?" Rebecca asked her voice full of concern.
"A light nearly blinded me," Ty said irritated.
Lisa smiled and said, "That's your power. You have to contain it so it doesn't go wild on you."
"Why didn't you warn me?" Ty asked glaring at Lisa.
"The power looks different to different people," Lisa said shrugging. "I know a woman who said when she looked on her power it looked like a lobster. What I saw was a pink fog. You just happen to see a bright light. It won't blind you. Now go contain your power."
Ty reluctantly closed his eyes again and focused. He found the light quicker this time and he just about turned away from it again. He didn't want Lisa angry at him though which he thought she would be if he turned away again. He had to wonder how he was suppose to build a sphere around it but then he figured that he'd just will it around the light. Once he started willing it the sphere grew around the light. He made sure to include the hatch and set the pass phrase as, "Ty says." He made sure the hatch would close after the power was done doing what he wanted. Once he was satisfied he opened his eyes and said, "I've done it."
"Now we need to test how well you did it," Lisa said. "Try to change something without using your pass phrase."
Ty thought for a moment then said, "I wonder what you looked like as a boy Lisa."
Lisa looked down at herself and seeing that she didn't change said, "Looks like you did it right."
"What can we do with our power?" Ty asked.
"Well nearly anything as far as I can tell," Lisa said. "There are a couple of exceptions. We can't change any emotion. We can't erase someone's memories but we can block them. Other than that it doesn't look like our power has any limits."
"Well I can think of some fun things to do," Ty said smiling and a gleam in his eyes.
"I should warn you that I had a visit from a strange man when I turned fifteen and made myself a girl again," Lisa said.
"What did he say?" Ty asked.
"He said to use my power wisely or I would end up like Mom," Lisa said. "He also said that no one is neutral."
"What did he mean by that?" Ty asked looking confused.
Lisa sighed and said, "I don't know. He didn't say anymore. He just vanished after he told me those two things."
"That's creepy," Rebecca said shuddering. "Do you think Ty will get a visit from him?"
"I don't know," Lisa said shaking her head.
"Well lets have some fun," Ty said smiling.
"What did you have in mind?" Lisa asked.