Chapter 31

"...Wait… you already knew Molly was the new Winter Lady?" Harry asked. He sounded genuinely surprised, like he couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth.

Michael and Charity exchanged looks again. "Well, no. We had our suspicions that Molly had gotten involved with the Fae. We didn't know about that though. Thank you for clarifying Harry."

"Yeah, thanks Harry." Molly growled. Harry looked sheepish and small under Molly's glare. If looks could kill, Harry would be a smoldering pile of ash on the floor. Pyrrha now desperately wished that she hadn't said a word. If she could sink into the floor to escape the chagrin she now felt, she would have, gladly.

Michael coughed into his hand, stopping Molly in her tracks before she decided to strangle Harry and Pyrrha on the spot. "Molly, please don't change the subject."

She slumped against the nearest wall and sighed. "I… when? How?"

Michael found the nearest chair and slowly fell into it, letting out a relieved sigh as the weight on his leg lessened. After settling into the chair, he said, "Since the heist. Hades had several large statues in his vault. One of them was of you."

He sent Harry a look, and the wizard suddenly took a great interest in the ceiling. Michael shook his head and continued. "At the time I wrote it off as coincidence. But after the dust settled, Charity and I talked about it and compared notes. That's how we came to the conclusion that, at the very least, you were very involved with the Fae."

"That's it?" Molly asked. "A statue was all it took for my secret to get out?"

Charity moved to sand beside Michael, and spoke in a gentle tone, "Molly, you have been acting… different for almost a year now. I had suspicions ever since Harry came back. You've been much more… reserved than you used to be. Colder too, physically colder. It was obvious something was affecting you."

"The group of armed men living across the street from us were also a giveaway." Michael added.

Molly blushed, "You caught that huh?"

"I've spent most of my life in some form of combat Molly." Michael reminded her. "Of course I did. Please give you dear old father some credit."

Pyrrha really wasn't sure what any of them were referring to at this point. She thought about asking Murphy, but decided to keep her questions to herself until Molly and her parents sorted this mess out. She had already said far too much as it was.

"I just wanted to protect you guys after what happened last time." Molly explained. She sounded like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Not everyone who might come after you is going to be supernatural."

Charity smiled, "And we're grateful for it Molly, really we are."

"Then why do I feel like I'm being punished? If you guys knew this whole time, then why didn't you say anything?"

The two exchanged another meaningful look. Michael spoke this time, much more gently. "You're an adult now Molly. Your mother and I both agreed that we wouldn't confront you on this; we would wait until you were ready to confide in us."

Molly wiped frost from her eyes and folded her arms, "Well… now you know. I'm not even human anymore, just a replacement for a broken idol."

"Oh, honey…" Charity walked up to Molly and put her hands on the young woman's shoulders. She looked deep into her daughter's eyes and said, "You may not be human anymore, but you're still our Molly. And no matter what situation you've found yourself in, your heart has always been in the right place. I couldn't be prouder of you, and the Fae should count themselves fortunate to have someone like you in charge."

Molly sniffled and hugged Charity tight. They were joined a moment later by her siblings, in a large group hug. Only Michael remained sitting, but he was smiling ear to ear.

"Aw, see? Everything worked out!" Harry chirped.

Charity and Molly broke their hug and glared at him. Mouse made a huffing sound and placed a paw over his face.

"And I killed the mood, didn't I?"

"Kinda."

"Yes."

Harry scratched at the back of his head and smiled awkwardly, "Sorry about that."

At the very least, Pyrrha was grateful it was Harry that killed the mood and not her. Still, she couldn't just leave entirely alone, so she spoke up. "Er, Molly? I'm sorry about giving away your secret. I'm not normally that… blunt."

Molly blinked and looked at Pyrrha, and grinned, "Oh I know. I was in your head, remember? Anyway, don't worry about it. I'll get you back someday, but right now we've got business to take care of."

That promise of payback made the hairs on the back of Pyrrha's neck stand on end. She had a feeling that at some point, she'd really regret speaking out like she had. Hopefully Molly wouldn't take it too far…

"Alright," Molly clapped her hands together. "Hobbit, why don't you and the others head back upstairs?"

"What, why?" Hope, or Hobbit, asked.

Molly smiled, "Because I've got some business to discuss with Harry and I'd rather keep it on the downlow. Less people know, the better."

"But I'm right here," Harry Carpenter said, grinning.

Hobbit elbowed him again, before Alicia and Amanda grabbed them both by the shoulders and nodded at Molly. "Right, give us a holler when you're done."

Molly gave them the thumbs up as they left. Once they were gone, she turned around and opened her mouth, then paused when she saw Maggie was still sitting next to Pyrrha and Murphy.

"Maggie, why don't you go with them?"

Maggie grabbed Pyrrha's arm, "Nah-ah. Miss Pyrrha still needs me and Mouse, I can tell!"

Pyrrha raised a brow at that, as did Molly. She was an unusually perceptive little girl, Pyrrha would give her that. Still, if Molly wanted to discuss business, that really was not for a little girl, even if she would stubbornly insist otherwise.

"Maggie, I'll be okay," Pyrrha assured her.

Maggie stuck her lower lip out in an adorable pout and crossed her arms, "I've seen a lot of grown up stuff. I can handle business."

The room grew awkwardly quiet at that. A pained expression flashed over Harry's face, before it vanished and he walked over to the couch and plucked Maggie off it into his arms. "Alright, you can stay Maggie. But if I think it's too much for you to listen to, you're going to go with the rest of the Carpenter children, okay?"

Maggie giggled and wrapped her arms around her father's neck, "K!" she chirped.

There was a look in Harry's eyes when she did that, even under the physical trauma that had turned his face into a kaleidoscope, of pure bliss. Whatever the challenges and troubles, Pyrrha could tell that just having Maggie around made Harry happier than she had ever seen the man since she met him, and that was something to smile about.

Pyrrha scooted over so Harry could sit next to Murphy while Maggie sat in his lap. Molly sighed and rolled her eyes, wearing a bemused smile on her face. She walked over to free chair to their right and moved it so she was facing everyone, including Michael and Charity, who had moved to stand next to her husband again.

"Right then," Molly took a deep breath, "I was going to wait until Harry and I had a moment of peace to tell him this, but since the cat is out of the bag, I might as well just come out and say it."

She looked Pyrrha dead in the eye, and said, "Pyrrha, I know how to send you home."

Cinder herself could have walked in and set the entire house ablaze, and Pyrrha wouldn't have noticed. Her entire mind went completely blank, save for those seven words. The very idea that she could go home, it… it changed everything. Home, she could go home!

"Temporarily, that is." Molly added when she saw the look on everyone's faces.

And like that, the magic was gone.

"Temp...temporarily? Why?" She didn't mean to, but Pyrrha felt her frustration slip into her voice. Why could nothing ever be easy, did the universe simply take some sort of perverse pleasure in dashing her hopes!?

"I think the better question is," Harry added, "how do you know that?"

Molly tapped the side of her head, "Remember when you bound yourself to Demonreach Harry, and you gained a localized Intelluctus?"

"Intell-what?" Charity asked.

"Basically a magical search engine," Molly quickly explained. "If you think about something within the Intelluctus's parameters, you know it instantly. When I became the Winter Lady, I got the Intellectus that came with it."

Harry frowned, "Maeve had an Intellectus, really?"

Molly gave him a deadpan look, "Harry, do you really think Maeve actually trained a day in her life to control her power? Or that Lily actually went through the same training we did? Magic for Fae is… it's as easy as breathing to access and use it, but you still have to understand it in some way or another to use it well. That's where the Intellectus comes in. After that whole mess with Demonreach, I decided to do a little research into the whole Outsider mess, understand what I was thrown into."

"And?" Murphy asked. "That's how you learned how to send Pyrrha home?"

Molly nodded, "Yeah… kinda. The Multiverse is… complicated. It's kinda… well sorta… Hold on, this is difficult to explain with just words."

She closed her eyes and waved a hand while muttering under her breath. To everyone's surprise, what looked like a neon blue river formed on top of the living room table. The brook had an almost glassy sheen to its surface, with barely a ripple until it reached the end of the table and slowly faded into nothingness. Pyrrha, Michael and Charity stared in surprise at the table, Harry rolled his eyes, and Maggie made a curious noise before reaching out and touching the 'river'. Her fingers passed through without disturbing the water's edge, which meant it was an illusion.

"Maggie dear," Molly said, opening her eyes, "please don't mess with the Time Stream."

Harry gently grabbed his daughter's hand and pulled her back onto his lap where she pouted.

"Thank you Harry." Molly said, and took a deep breath. "In order to understand the Multiverse, you have to understand its one constant, Time. While it's a bit of a cliche and really simplifies things, Time really does function like a stream. It's always flowing forward and is impossible to actually turn back. But on occasion, like with an actual river, Time sometimes branches off."

At her words, several distributaries flowed from the sides of the river in graceful flowing arcs that slowly looped back into the main time-stream. Molly continued her explanation with, "But there is no such thing as an 'alternate-timeline'. All Time comes back to the main stream eventually."

"Okay, cool," Murphy said, though her tone suggested otherwise. "But what does this have to do with getting Pyrrha home?"

Molly raised a hand, "I'm getting to that. See, in the Time Stream, we have individual universes. In this case, ours."

With another wave of her hand, an ocean liner appeared in the tiny river. It had a sleek black hull and white decks, with four angled smokestacks that billowed with a glimmering light. Labeled on its prow in golden lettering, was the name T.S.S Earth.

"Each universe in the Multiverse is self contained, like a ship on the ocean. The outer limits protect the passengers from the dangers of the Timestream, and lets it follow the flow."

"That explains the heck out of Shark-face…" Harry muttered under his breath.

"Of course," Molly continued, "It's a little more complicated than that. For every action we take a new universe where the opposite action was chosen is formed. Under most circumstances though, these changes are so mundane that in the grand scheme of things, they don't mean anything."

Harry raised his hand. Molly rolled her eyes, "Yes Harry?"

He lowered his hand and asked, "What about the Butterfly Effect. You know, butterfly flaps its wings in Asia, it causes a tornado in Kansas. That has no effect?"

"The Butterfly Effect is a heaping load." Molly said simply. "Our choices might create tiny differences, but they won't lead to one universe as a Utopia and the other as an Orwellian Nightmare. The problem is though, we have no idea what counts as a big choice or a small choice, so…"

"Right, got it." Harry nodded.

Molly sighed, "Really, if I wanted to be accurate, the boat would look like this."

The liner flickered, like a television with bad reception, then began splitting. A thousand copies, all occupying the same space, began moving in and out of the central figure, veering left then right then back again, some speeding forward and others slowing down. Behind them, was an infinite line of identical ships experiencing the same confusing pattern. It was… painful to look at. Molly waved her hand and the image went solid again.

"That's where deja vu comes from, by the way. One of those universes veering a little too close, and ahead, makes you see what might be."

Pyrrha made a noise of annoyance, "Okay, but what does this have to do with getting me home?" She was trying to be patient, she really was, but this was frustrating!

Luckily, Molly got the hint. Another ship, nearly identical to the first, pulled up alongside it. But on its prow, read the name T.S.S Remnant.

"Because of how the Multiverse works, you don't get people popping into other universes randomly. It takes a conscious, driven, effort to send someone between realms, and it's not something some hack can pull off either. If you don't have some sort of cosmic ritual or focal point for pulling it off, then your next bet is raw power."

On cue, there was a tiny cannon shot from the Remnant into Earth.

"That's pretty much how it goes. Like firing a cannon, except the devil is in the details." Molly said. "See, reality doesn't like it when something from one universe intersects with another, so eventually, the universe the foreign object is from will eventually pull it back. Kind of like a rubber band."

Understanding dawned in Pyrrha's eyes. "So that's why it's temporary. I'll be pulled back by… this universe? Wait, now I'm confused again."

Molly sighed, "When you were sent here Pyrrha, you were bound to Earth. As far as Reality is concerned, you belong here now. If I could undo it I would, but that's not really within my power."

Harry raised his hand again. Molly rolled her eyes again. "Yes Harry?"

He lowered his hand and asked, "Where do the Blackstones fit in then? They don't seem very cannony."

"Right, that." Molly took a breath. "When I mentioned rituals, I was referring to something like the Blackstones. Those portals are basically like… bridges, between universes."

A metal bridge formed between the two ships, locking them in place.

"The problem with those kind of rituals though, is that, like a bridge, too much power can put on too much of a strain. And if one universe suddenly hits a current that pushes it ahead, the bridge snaps and you get dragged back to your world. But, from what you've all told me about these Blackstone's, it seems that, well…"

The metal bridge suddenly shifted and changed, adding arches underneath it and cables above it until it grew into a solid and sturdy structure that prevented either liner from moving too far ahead of the other.

"So they're supporting one another…" Murphy said, understanding in her voice.

Molly nodded, "Probably. This lets the user stay connected to their original universe without worrying about being pulled back, I think. I haven't looked into ritual crossings that much, they're too long and complicated normally."

"Until now," Harry said.

"Right, until now…"

Molly rubbed at her face and let out a sigh, "Anyway, with the method I would use… well, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't even suggest it. Problem with firing a cannon is that you have to know where to aim. I've never been to Pyrrha's world, so I'd be firing blind. She could land somewhere safe, or at the bottom of the ocean, or go flying through space. And assuming she didn't do any of those, I could wind up sending her a thousand years into the past or future. Too many variables normally."

"I'm sensing a big but here," Harry said.

Molly sighed, "But, Pyrrha is a special case. Because unlike most people, she has a lifeline to Remnant and back."

Pyrrha stared at Molly with her confusion plain on her face, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Remember when you did your whole Aura unlocking thingy?" Molly asked. Pyrrha nodded.

"Well, that did more than just give your boyfriend a fighting chance and turn back Murphy's biological clock. Intentional or not, you've left a little bit of yourself with both of them. That's why you were able to talk to him in your dream last night."

"Wait, you did what?" Harry asked, looking at Pyrrha with a surprised expression.

Pyrrha ducked her head, "With everything else going on, that… didn't seem very important."

Harry groaned, "Pyrrha, when this is over, you and I are going to have a long talk about keeping important information a secret from people."

It was by God's good grace that the sheer hypocrisy of Harry's statement didn't kill him on the spot. Murphy glared daggers at him instead, while Michael pinched his nose and shook his head.

Maggie giggled though, and chanted, "Pyrrha's got a boyfriend, Pyrrha's got a boyfriend!"

Pyrrha turned away before anyone saw the blush on her face and said, "Right, well, what's your point Molly?"

"My point…" Molly sighed, "Is that I can use that link you share to send you right to Jaune, and when Earth pulls you back, you'll pop in wherever Murphy is. No worry about time being off or landing in an ocean. As long as neither of them have been poured in concrete, you'll be fine."

That… was actually rather comforting. Molly had explained the risks and Pyrrha was about ready to just give up on the idea as a whole. But there was a chance now, a real chance for her to get home and let everyone know she was alive! There was only one catch…

"How long would I have?"

Molly winced and the illusion faded. She bit her lip and said, "Fifteen minutes… twenty, tops."

A/N: Admittedly short, but... that's for pacing mostly. This was an expository chapter, obviously, mostly meant to explain some of how the multiverse works in this story. Not the most original, but it keeps it simple. This is the mostly unedited chapter, as neither editor is available and I am INCREDIBLY impatient, so expect some changes sometime tomorrow.

Otherwise, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, make sure to review and let me know what you thought, or leave your critiques. Either way, I'll see you guys on Saturday, when the next chapter will be... a bit different.