InsaneJournal

The island's oldest oak had quickly become a staff. Almost as if the wood knew what Harry wanted it to be, and shaped itself to his knife, in the days and weeks that followed the battle on Demonreach. As he sat and formed new foci for himself - a shield bracelet, made from the very ore of the land he meditated on, a blasting rod of beautiful oak, and the duster Karrin had bought for him, newly woven with enchantments - Harry remembered his conversation with Mab, and how she claimed he'd manipulated Molly. It had never been his intention to do it, but if he had, the Winter Queen was right, he couldn't have played a better game with her. The lump in his throat wouldn't go, as he thought of Molly's slack form splayed on the floor of the cottage-to-be, as the mantle of the Winter Lady passed to her.

Harry bent his head, trying to breath through the pain that clamped his chest. Despite knowing, knowing, that Mab had, to a greater or lesser extent, planned the events of the day, he couldn't deny his part in bringing her to that point. It was he that hired the assassin to kill him. Also he that took the mantle of Winter Knight when he'd been paralysed, in order to save Maggie, which ultimately exposed Molly to Leannahsihde, giving Mab the opportunity to prepare her for the Winter Lady mantle. Over and over his mind worked through his actions, his reactions, and all brought him to the same place. Here. On Demonreach, looking out over Whatsup Dock, having led The Wild Hunt to defeat The Outsiders. For now. Now, he was tired. So very tired! He pulled his duster around him, and lay his head down on the cot Molly had all-too-recently vacated.

"Huh? What?" he muttered intelligently. The duster was far too warm, and as he lay, he pushed it from around his shoulders, settling back against the wooden... wait. The floor had been wooden! Now it was the cold only associated with Arctis Tor and marble. Harry opened one, lazy eye, and sighed in relief. Well, at least he wasn't in Arctis Tor! He stretched, and pushed himself up from the floor. A hotel?

When finally, the clanging of clocks finished, Harry stepped out of the lobby and began to explore. Already he had more questions than answers, starting with how the hell had he checked in using a computer! Butters' set up had lasted all of ten seconds in his presence, before complicated things started to fail in complicated ways. His first thought was that perhaps his magic had failed, but after casting a quick light spell on his pentagram amulet he knew that wasn't the case. "Crap!" he muttered, as he walked along the corridors, wondering where, exactly, his assigned room was. "Mab, when I see you there's gonna be serious payback!" he snarled.