"What am I gonna do...what am I gonna do..." she worries as she starts to pace in a circle. "Ahuru knew all along...I wonder if Brianna knew! An' still Ahuru looked at me with kindness and didn't treat me any differently." she wonders in amazement. Suddenly she remembers all the oracles down the alleyway in the city who started coming out of their rooms to stare at her in fear...now she knows why. Ahura saw it...Ahuru knew it...who else has known all along?? Perhaps she owes Ahura...an apology? "Damn it, I shoulda asked Mother about Ahura!" she thinks, clenching her hand into a fist in frustration. "But now...now I have ta face my cohort...Paul...Brianna...I will tell Brianna, but I don't think I'll tell Paul or the cohort...especially not Memnon! Oh God, he's waitin' outside fer me!" Cliodhna starts pacing faster now, and punches the wall with her fist as she passes using Outrage.

"Sure HE gets a nice, normal family with a mother an' a father...a nice, respected father...oh, this thinkin' is gonna get ye nowhere, Cliodhna! Well, the thing that's ta be done is ta let Memnon get ta know me...ta see my actions an' heart...an' then he'll trust me an' maybe it won't matter when he finds out about my father. OK, get a hold o' yerself, girl-- don't leave the poor man ta stand about all night!"

Cliodhna takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and steadies herself. Then slowly she makes her way down the stairs, opens the front door, and walks out.

Memnon sees Cliodhna walk out the door. He walks over at a hurried pace. His sword is drawn and he looks behind her as if waiting for something. "I heard crashing noises. You ok what's going on??"

Cliodhna holds up her hands. "It's all right, Mem, tis OK. It's just me." Cliodhna looks down at her lightly-damaged fist and holds it up sheepishly. "See? It was just me lettin' off some steam." Memnon glances at her fist, looks back at the building, and finally relaxes and puts his sword back in its sheath. Cliodhna gives him a smile. "Things went better than expected-- I'm sorry fer being so secretive before, thank ye fer stayin'. My Shadow-- may it stay silent forever-- brought Mother ta me, an' we had a very...enlightenin' talk." Cliodhna leans in and speaks in a low voice. "She joined Markova ta help us-- ta be our eyes an' ears an' exert any influence she can in the Labyrinth." Cliodna lets out a relieved breath. That's all she's going to tell him about that, and not another word about it once her Shadow starts hearing again.

Memnon turns with an angry look. "Are your crazy? You could have gotten yourself hurt up there!" he says getting in her face a little. "Next time you try the kind of stunt you take me with you. Or at least fill me in on what's going on!"

Cliodhna looks at him with wide, surprised eyes, her mouth opened slightly in amazement. "I-- I'm sorry, Memnon..." Cliodhna wasn't expecting this reaction at all! Then she puts her hand on her hip. "Ye think I can't handle myself, then? Do ye know the things I've seen an' done an' who I was in life? All ye great, strong Garou always wantin' ta protect me! I came out in one piece-- why are ye so concerned, then? " Cliodhna asks, getting into Memnon's face right back.

"Why am I so concerned? Because you're an important person that's why! And if something happens to you then we're going to be lost. And I'm not gonna let that happen! I've been protecting important people all my life and I'm not gonna fail now." He says his finger in her face.

Cliodhna pushes his hand out of her face irritably. "An' how do ye think an important person gets ta be important? By walkin' timidly behind a bodyguard?" Cliodhna stares furiously at him for a moment, and then her body slumps a little. "Ye think if somethin' happens ta me all will be lost?" she asks incredulously.

"Yes I do! Who do you think will lead the men if you're gone? You've seen the fools they have in these positions. Who's going to take your place?" Memnon jerks his thumb at himself, "I'm going to make sure no one has to, and you better get used to it."

"Better...get...used to it??" Cliodhna says in a dangerous voice. "I don't "get used to" anythin'-- I make the rules!" she says more loudly. "Funny that ye made it so far not knowin' how ta show respect!" Cliodhna pokes her finger into Memnon's chest with each emphasized word.

"Oh really," he says taking a step nodding his head. "You make the rules do you...Well you don't make any rules over me, sister. And I intend," he say cocking his head and raising his eyebrow, "to be two steps behind you where ever you go."

Cliodhna unintentionally takes a step backwards as Memnon takes a step forwards. She's so furious that it takes a second for coherent words to form in her mind. "Arrogant bastard!" she finally spits out. "An' I thought ye'd be different, but yer just like the rest o' the hairy beasts, aren't ye! Gaia be damned fer makin' me find ye!" Cliodhna's face is turning red and it looks like she's wrestling with her emotions.

"I'm arrogant? I'm arrogant?! Before you go throwin that word around you need to look at yourself. You're the one risking everyone's chance here by going off on your own. You're the one who says 'I can handle it'. Yeah well what if you can't? The first time I saw you, you were roughed up and ready to fall over. Or is your memory short on that?"

Cliodhna stares at Memnon-- her lips in a tight, thin line. Flashes of her death...her mother's death...rush through her mind. Memnon's right...bloody hell he's right, but how can she possibly admit that to him now?? The truth is that she can't, so she turns on her heel and starts walking back towards the city, feeling like a fool.

Memnon watches her turn and walk away. He trots over to her and keeps up with her side by side. He looks askance at her and raises his eyebrow.

"Aaagh!" Cliodhna growls in frustration, sprouts her wings, and starts flying away.

Memnon runs after her and grabs her by the foot. "Oh I see. I see you want to play games do you," he says as he wrestles with her a moment and throws her over his shoulder. "I saw where you were heading, 'your highness', why don't I escort you there myself." Memnon smiles as he starts walking towards Swar.

Cliodhna cannot believe this! 'Your highness??' She starts beating against his back and trying to squirm out of his arms while uttering some of her best curses yet, but damn, he has a strong grip! She quickly retracts her wings when she realizes they're only getting in the way, and then does a trick her mother taught her long ago. Cliodhna lays still-- seemingly resigned to her fate-- and then suddenly attemps to flicker out of Memnon's arms. "Ooof!" bursts out of her mouth as she only succeeds in moving the both of them ahead a couple of feet under much strain-- remembering too late the time when she tried to flicker away from the barghest and only succeeded in levitating them both and then falling with it still on top of her.

Memnon stops a moment, "You keep struggling and I'll make sure to parade us right in front of your men. Now you going to be good?? Promise me."

Cliodhna feels like she's going to kill him now, but restrains herself from trying. "That depends on what yer definition of "good" is, now doesn't it? An' what do ye mean-- ye'll put me down if I promise to be "good," or ye'll keep carryin' me, but just not past the men??" Cliodhna stops struggling, and places her elbows on Memnon's back with her chin resting on her hands. She sighs, blowing a piece of loose hair back.

Memnon chuckles, as he puts her down. "That's better, now let's go to Swar. I'll buy you a drink." he says with a winning smile.

Cliodhna glares at him for a few seconds-- feeling the odd temptation to suddenly stomp on his foot and run away-- and then closes her eyes for a few moments, pressing her fingertips against her eyelids like she does when she's trying to switch mental-gears. "Mem..." she mutters. "...why are ye givin' me such a hard time?" Cliodhna sighs. "Come on then." She grabs his elbow and starts pulling him with her, and then drops her hand when Memnon starts walking with her. "So I take it ye've appointed yerself my bodyguard then?" Cliodhna still has a gruff tone to her voice, but appears to be trying to smoothe things over now.

He smiles as Cliodhna grabs his elbow, "That's right, I am. Don't worry," he says with a cocky smile, "I will keep you safe."

He walks next to Cliodhna, every once in awhile scanning for harm.

"Oh Memnon, give it a rest already!" Cliodhna snaps when she sees him obviously scanning for danger. "Fine then, ye're my bodyguard." Cliodhna feels an odd tingle of excitement race through her. Shouldn't this situation be what she'd been dreaming about?? Her voice-tone becomes a little softer now. "Ye were right-- I have a...problem...with goin' off on my own and gettin' people hurt as a result." Ach, that was hard to say, Cliodhna thinks.

Memnon stops her and puts a hand on her shoulder, "Well admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery," he says and begins to laugh.

Cliodhna looks at him incredulously for a second, and then pulls back and punches him as hard as she can in the gut.

Memnon takes the blow and looks down at his gut then back at Cliodhna with a look of surprise. "You hit me..." he says as he begins to circle her, "You hit me..."

Cliodhna gives him a quick smirk and folds her arms arrogantly. "Yer a good one fer statin' the obvious. An' what are ye gonna do about it, then?" Cliodhna raises an eyebrow back at him, keeping her sword-arm on top.

"Oh. Oh really," he says as he nods his head at her. "You think you're going to stop what I'm going to do to you? Do you know what would happen to me when I spoke like that to my father? Do I have to do what he used to??" He says looking at her.

Cliodhna doesn't like the sound of this, and unintentionally takes a step backwards. "Quit talkin' ta me like I'm a child, Memnon-- I'm a good 10 months older than ye, anyhow. Now just calm down..." Cliodhna holds her hands up in a calming gesture. "I have a tendency ta punch things when I'm mad...we don't have ta fight..." Cliodhna continues taking a step back for every step forward Memnon takes.

"Alright, alright. I'll stop talking to you like that if you stop refusing help when you know you need it. Deal?"

Cliodhna folds her arms again and squints her eyes, looking hard at Memnon. "All right then." She takes his hand and shakes it in one hard shake. "It's a deal." Suddenly Cliodhna smiles her most winning smile up at Memnon. "Now if ye'll excuse me, I have somethin' I need ta do-- ye can buy me that drink in Swar in a few hours, aye?" And with that, Cliodhna activates her 4th level of Argos and teleports herself immediately to her grandfather's cairn in Ireland, leaving Memnon standing there alone with his hand sticking out.

Memnon's smile suddenly fades and he looks around him looking for her. "Damnit! Where'd you go, you little....gragh!" he says as he hits the nearby wall. Memnon shakes his head and heads off to Swar. He stops and shouts to no one, "Oh when you get back......."

Cliodhna appears in the Blue Moon Cairn, looks around to make sure no one's near who could see her, and bursts out laughing. She has to lean against a wall, she's laughing so hard. Finally the laughs start to taper off and she wipes her eyes. She can't wait until she sees him again! But then again...he'll probably be incredibly pissed! Eee! Cliodhna starts chuckling again as she walks. Then she floats upstairs into her grandparents' room where they're sleeping, and crouches next to her grandfather's side. She sits quietly holding her legs. She can't believe how calm she is...it's like she's truly accepted that Markova is her father. But one thing will bring it all home for her, and that will be seeing this alleged birth certificate and the letters her mother sent home while pregnant with her.

Cliodhna closes her eyes, concentrates, and gently awakens her grandfather from his sleep. As he's stirring, Cliodhna flickers over to his closet so she's no longer crouched next to the bed where she would surely startle him, and she stands with her hands clasped. Her grandfather spots her immediately.

"Aah, my Cliodhna-- back are ye?" he whispers, and motions for her to approach him. She moves quickly over to his side and smiles. "What is it, Clee?" he says quietly, and she leans down.

"I think it best we go somewhere where we won't wake Gran," Cliodhna whispers-- as she only can in this form-- and her grandfather nods and gets out of bed. The two sneak down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her grandfather pours himself a cup of black coffee and sits at the table, but Cliodhna remains standing. "Grandfather...I...had a talk with mother..." and suddenly the weight of everything-- the talk, the secrets revealed-- comes crashing down, and Cliodhna sinks into the chair next to her grandfather and puts her face into her hands, crying.

"Clee-- Clee, what's wrong, lass?" her grandfather moves to put his arm around her instinctively, but it moves right through her form. "Sorry, love," he says softly, watching her cry.

Cliodhna lifts her tear-streaked face-- rare for her to show her face when she's crying-- and looks sadly at her grandfather. "She told me, Grandfather. I know." She looks steadily at him, and suddenly his eyes widen.

"Oh Clee, she told ye about yer father?" Cliodhna nods sadly. "Ah love, I'm sorry ye had ta find out." His face is full of sorrow. "Why did she decide ta tell ye?"

"Oh Gramps, where should I begin." she puts her face back into her hands and speaks muffledly. "She still loves him. She's ALWAYS loved him. She's no longer with Turtle-- she's with Him."

Grandfather McPhearson's hand begins to shake, and he has to put his coffee cup down as it's spilling. He sits back in his chair and runs his hands through his hair. "Ah Gaia...Amber McPhearson, what have ye done..." he murmurs.

Cliodhna looks up, and-- seeing her grandfather so distraught-- she places her hand on his using Outrage, and they can feel each other. He looks at her in surprise, and she smiles. "Grandfather...dear man, don't be upset. She's actually doin' us a lot o' good where she is. She can influence Him by bein' with Him. He doesn't know I'm his daughter...yet." Cliodhna helps her grandfather to stand, although it taxes her strength to use this skill to touch the living. "There's sommethin' I need ta see before I can continue. Do ye have my real birth certificate an' the letters Mother wrote while I was in her womb?"

Grandfather McPhearson nods slowly. "Aye, I have them safe. I understand-- ye want ta see them. All right then, follow me Clee." Her grandfather leads her to the back pantry, squats down, and pulls up a few of the floorboards. He reaches far down, and comes up with a fireproof lockbox. He stands with a grunt, and the two return to the kitchen table where her grandfather sets the box down, concentrates on it, and suddenly it pops open. He looks at Cliodhna for a moment, and then reaches into the bottom of the box and brings out a folded piece of paper. He unfolds it carefully-- almost reluctantly-- and spreads it open in front of her.

Cliodhna looks down at the paper laying open before her. Across the top it reads, "St. Mary's Hospital" along with the county, and then there it is...there in giant calligraphy-style lettering...Claudia Markova McPhearson born Mar. 27, 1941, delivered by Dr. Jonathan O'Reilly at 7:02 AM. Cliodhna stares at it for a second and then looks up at her grandfather. "Wait a second...I wasn't born in St. Mary's Hospital. I was born in ancient Ireland when there weren't any hospitals at all!" She looks sceptically at her grandfather.

"Yer right, love, an' they sure as didn't have printed birth certificates, neither. Yer mother knew that ye would have need of a birth certificate fer school records an' such, so the minute the two o' ye returned ta the Ireland o' 1941-- or 1942 as it were-- we had one of our contacts at St. Mary's print up a birth certificate fer ye. Yer mother went over an' told them the date an' time o' yer birth, and-- now it all makes sense!" Cliodhna's grandfather chuckles to himself. "If what ye say is true an' she's been in love with yer father all along, that explains why she was so defensive when she showed us this birth certificate with "Claudia Markova McPhearson" printed on it an' we started yellin' at her about how daft she was! O' course she wanted ta name ye after yer father...the man she was in love with!" Cliodhna's grandfather laughs, and then remembers the sleeping household and quiets quickly. "It took both yer grandmother an' me ta convince her ta go back an' have another birth certificate printed up with the name yer ancestor thought up fer ye-- Cliodhna. Thank Gaia she did." He nods to himself while reliving his memories.

Cliodhna listens to everything with her eyes closed. When her grandfather's done talking, she opens her eyes and smiles at him. "Thank ye both, Grandfather, fer bein' so protective o' me." She pauses for a moment. "May I...read the letters Mother wrote?" Her grandfather nods and pulls a stack of envelopes rubber-banded together out of the box.

"Here ye are, love. Ye might want ta read them in chronological order based on the postmark. The earliest letters are the ones that speak o' yer father's identity, and then after that are the lessons she wanted us ta teach ye about history an' geography an' Markova's use o' logic," Cliodhna's grandfather flinches when he realizes he's spoken Markova's name aloud, and he quickly starts spreading the letter-pages open on the table so she won't tire herself out using Outrage to look at them. "Anyhow, Clee, if ye don't mind, I'm gonna head back up ta bed an' try ta get some sleep before the sun rises."

Cliodhna nods absent-mindedly and murmurs her thanks-- already engrossed in the first letter-- and her grandfather chuckles and walks with stiff joints back up the stairs to bed. Cliodhna sits at the table-- motionless except for her eyes as they roam over the yellowed pages. The hours pass, and as Cliodhna finishes the last letter, she finally looks up and notices that the sky has begun to lighten. She's gone through many emotions-- from tears to laughter-- while reading her mother's legacy of knowledge, but at the end all she feels is love and gratitude. She wishes she knew who her father was before all of this-- when he was young and trying to figure out his future. Had he been a good fighter? A good student? What were her other grandparents like? Did she have any aunts, uncles, cousins...thousands of years ago? Had he been as shy and awkward as she had been? Had he gotten beat up by bullies all the time, too-- or been teased? So many questions go through her mind. Will she ever have the chance to ask him? "Not if Amon has his way," she thinks sadly, and then...then she has an epiphany!! She suddenly knows how they can turn the deadly points of the Amenti and Stygia towards each other and away from New York City!

The sun is definitely rising now-- Cliodhna knew she better get to Swar or Memnon would have the entire city in an uproar searching for her! Not to mention she can't wait to share her revelation with Brianna and Ahuru...and even Memnon. She chuckles to herself when she thinks of how she left Memnon-- though not without some fear-- and looks at the papers scattered over the kitchen table. "Gramps better wake up before Gran does!" she thinks, and then quickly blinks back to her fetter in New York City.

The city is just waking up as Cliodhna enters the casino in Swar. She looks around nervously-- attempting to sneak over to the stairs that lead up to Brianna and Ahuru's room without anyone seeing her...

From across the room she sees a hulking figure stand with its eyes glaring at her. "So...there you are." Memnon says walking over to her hands on his hips. "Oh yeah, I've been waiting for this," he says as her grabs her waist and lifts her up, and walks over to a stool. He begins to turn her over on his lap.

"I told you what I'd do if you did that again, didn't I!" he says as he raises his hand. The rest of the crowd turns as Memnon picks up Cliodhna, they begin to chitter and laugh as Veruku cames out of the office and begins to walk over.

"Please please no spanking in de barroom, take it upstairs!"

"Oh no ye don't, ye big bast-- MEMNON!! Put me down! Ye big piece o' shit! Ye let go o' ME!" Cliodhna starts screaming and struggling as if her life depended on it-- horrified and embarrassed beyond all reason as she realizes people are watching this!! What if another Hierarch official were in here?? Or an aneceron! GOD!!!

Ahuru stops Brianna is mid-question and touches her shoulder. "We have company."

Continued...