I stifled a yawn as I tried to stretch in my seat, then grabbed my coffee from the cupholder and had a deep sip.

Amy smiled as she glanced over at me, before her attention returned to the road ahead of us. She was still smiling though as she commented, "Sorry hon. I guess I kept you up a little later than usual last night."

"Or a lot later," she added as her expression shifted into more of a smirk. The smile faded as she continued, "Seriously though, I should have been more considerate and let you get to sleep earlier."

I set my cup back down in the holder as I stated firmly, "Don't you dare apologize for last night! It was wonderful and amazing and I loved every second of it. I hope you enjoyed it too?"

"I did," she replied with another soft smile. "I'm glad you had fun."

Yesterday was my birthday, April thirtieth. Which meant it was also one of my girlfriend's two big holy days. We had a lovely romantic dinner in a five-star restaurant in New York city, then she teleported us back home and I had an absolutely unforgettable mind-blowing night in bed with my Goddess.

Now it was May first, and it was a Thursday. So I should have been up at seven this morning, getting ready to head into the clinic for nine so I could take care of my regular day job. Instead Amethyst and I slept in until ten, then she took me out for brunch at our favourite diner.

I wasn't playing hooky from work though, I'd actually planned to take today off. Not because I knew my girlfriend would leave me exhausted after my birthday celebrations, but because there was something else I wanted to take care of today. Something personal, and very important. Back on Monday I reached out to some of my clients, to reschedule their sessions or make alternate arrangements. That meant the last two days were busy, and tomorrow would be as well.

It was worth it though. It meant I didn't have to rush today, I'd be able to take all the time I needed. And I'd have all afternoon and evening to process any emotions or unresolved trauma that bubbled up in the meantime.

On the other hand, even though I had all day long that didn't mean I wanted to waste time. Which left me with a question, considering we'd been in the car for the past hour. It was about half past twelve, and we were only just approaching our destination in the suburbs in the east end of Toronto.

"Why did you insist on driving all this way today, cutie?" I asked after another sip of my coffee. "Why didn't you want to just teleport the two of us directly there and back again?"

"It's because of something Cassandra told me a while back," Amy replied.

Her voice sounded serious as she explained, "Lily and I asked her a similar question, about walking instead of teleporting? Obviously the circumstances were very different, but we both wanted to know why she insisted on making us walk to where we were going. I'm paraphrasing, but Cassandra basically said there was value in the journey. It gave us time to get into the right headspace, to find the right mood. And I hope you don't mind hon, but I felt like that might be appropriate for today."

I slipped my drink back in the cup holder again and replied, "Ok love. That's actually a good idea. Maybe I should be thinking more about that."

Amy glanced at me before looking at the road again, "Are you going to be ok?"

"Yeah," I nodded slowly. "For now anyways."

She gave me a sad smile, "Good. Because we're just about there."

Sure enough it was only another minute or two before we pulled into the parking lot of a church that was surrounded by densely wooded parkland. The building was relatively recent, only about twenty years old, but I knew it had replaced a much older structure. And being a random Thursday in May, it seemed like we had the place to ourselves.

I left the last of my coffee in the car as the two of us emerged. Then I opened the back door and pulled out the huge bundle of flowers we'd picked up after brunch. I took a deep breath, before finally setting out towards the large cemetery next to the church. Some of graves were hundreds of years old, it was originally a settler's grave yard, but the area I was interested in was a lot more recent.

Amy slipped an arm around my waist as she walked alongside me then commented quietly, "I never realized you grew up out here. I guess I assumed you always lived west of the city, since that's where you were when we first met."

"I wasn't actually in this area," I replied just as softly. "Me and mom lived a couple kilometres north of here, up by Steeles. I moved out to the west end when I started college."

After a few seconds I elaborated, "I ended up in that little one-bedroom apartment because the rent was affordable and it was within bus-range of the campus. I got lucky that it turned out to be close to Bev's clinic too."

"Ah," my girlfriend nodded, before going quiet again.

It was only a little while after that when I found what I was looking for, and we both came to a stop. I held the armload of flowers a little tighter as I stared, while Amy gave me a gentle comforting squeeze.

We both stayed silent for at least another minute or so before I finally whispered, "I can't believe I never thought of this before. I should have asked you to do this ages ago."

"Don't beat yourself up about it, ok hon?" Amy replied softly. "I didn't think of it either, but I really should have. Especially considering the circumstances when you told me about her. The important thing is we're here now."

After a few seconds she suggested, "We'll have to make a point of thanking Lucie, for giving us the idea."

We hadn't actually heard the story directly from Kid Chaos' new not-angel. Amy and I met with Cassandra and Kaylee for brunch again on Sunday, and the chaos goddess mentioned in passing that she and Lucie crashed the fox-bun-girl's funeral a couple days earlier.

That led to my girlfriend and I learning the circumstances which originally brought Lucie to Cassandra's attention, and that struck a deep chord with me. Now we were here and my emotions were churning so hard I didn't entirely trust my voice anymore.

It took me a few more seconds before I finally responded, "I'm glad everything worked out alright for Lucie. But I hate that some trans kids are still ending up in that sort of situation, facing those sorts of choices."

"I know hon," Amy replied quietly as she hugged me a little tighter. "But we're working hard to fix that. You and I, Siggy, Cassandra, Lily, and all the others. We're all working towards a future where no trans or queer or neurodivergent kids will ever face those sorts of situations, or feel forced to make those kinds of choices ever again."

I sniffed quietly, then nodded towards the gravestone. "Let's take care of this now, ok? I need to see it fixed, I need to right this wrong."

My goddess girlfriend nodded, "Of course."

We'd already discussed the details, so there was nothing more for me to do but watch as the dark grey stone was engulfed in swirling golden light. It only took a moment, then the divine magic faded to reveal the new monument.

It was larger than before, and made of polished pink granite. The cross had been replaced with a stylized flower. And her deadname was gone for good, replaced with her real name. Likewise the old epitaph and its lies were erased, replaced with something a lot more real. And even though I'd basically come up with the new text myself, seeing those words set in stone left my eyes burning as they started to pool up.

I took a moment to wipe away some tears, then I stepped forward and opened up the big bundle of flowers I'd been carrying.

"Goodbye Daisy," I whispered as I gently set the large bouquet down in front of the grave marker. Then I spread all the loose flowers around the base of the stone.

They were daisies, well over a hundred of them. Even the carving on the monument was a daisy. I might have been the only person to remember her true name, but I wanted to be sure that name would never be forgotten.

I finally stepped back again, and as I did so my girlfriend's magic flickered over the site a second time. We hadn't discussed that, but somehow I already knew what she did. All those loose flowers I'd left on the ground had taken root, and they'd be back to bloom again every spring. To show the world that someone still cared about Daisy, and that she was still loved, and still missed.

Fresh tears filled my eyes as Amy pulled me into another hug. We ended up standing there for a while longer, just silently holding each other while I dealt with the emotions and processed some old trauma and helpless anger I'd felt back then.

At long last I pulled back and wiped my eyes as I sniffed, "Thank you Amy. I really appreciate this."

"You're welcome love," she replied with a sad smile. "Do you want to stay a while longer?"

I shook my head, "No thanks. I think I'm ready to head back home now."

Amy kept an arm around me as the two of us turned and began slowly walking back through the cemetery. We'd almost reached the edge of the parking lot when we realized we weren't alone. My girlfriend and I both hesitated as we noticed the teenage girl who was sitting atop a squat stone monument.

There was something about the way she was staring at us that made me feel uncomfortable. Which was strange, considering she seemed to be a normal kid.

She looked to be about sixteen years old, she had long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and fair skin. She wore a baby-blue hoodie over a pair of leggings, and had sneakers on her feet. There was a small backpack slung over her left shoulder like any typical high-school kid. Except instead of being in class, she was hanging out alone in a graveyard.

"So this might seem like a strange question," the girl suddenly spoke up as our eyes met, "But does the name Cleary mean anything to you?"

"I'm asking because your scent is familiar to me," she added.

My eyebrows shot up, while I felt Amy tense slightly as if she was suddenly wary of this strange kid. Apparently our reactions were all the girl needed, she spoke up again before either of us could get a word out.

"I knew it," the blonde grinned. Then she addressed my girlfriend, "So the redhead's a Cleary, that leaves me wondering why she's got you cosplaying as her goddess."

Amy raised an eyebrow and asked calmly, "What makes you think I'm in cosplay?"

"And what do you mean by scent?" I asked the girl. "Are you a werewolf?"

The teen was still grinning as she relaxed ontop of somebody's grave, "Not a werewolf, nope. And I think your friend's dressed up like Amethyst because why would an actual goddess be slumming it down here with the mortals?"

Apparently my girlfriend decided it was time to clear up a few misconceptions. I felt her let a little of her true self shine through, and sure enough the blonde's eyes widened as the grin vanished off her face.

"Oh shit," she mumbled to herself, but other than looking surprised she didn't actually seem as awed as most people did when exposed to Amethyst's divine aura.

Meanwhile Amy quietly told me, "That kid's no mortal, and she's no werewolf either. She's some kind of powerful vampire."

"The name's Penny," the teen finally introduced herself. She was still staring at Amethyst as she added, "And honestly I thought you'd be taller than that. Based on Brighid's descriptions, anyways."

I frowned, "Who's Brighid?"

Amy finally pulled her aura back in as she responded, "Brighid Cleary was one of your ancestors, she died in eighteen-thirty-nine. She was Aileen's mother."

"What?" I gasped. Then I looked at the kid and demanded, "You knew my family? How?!"

Thanks to the family tree Niamh put together I knew about Aileen, but that was the first name on the list. I'd never heard of Brighid before, and the idea that this teenage girl had been around at least two hundred years and knew my ancestors boggled my mind.

Penny shrugged as she finally hopped off the gravestone, "It's a long story. Short version is, I was wandering around Ireland at the start of the eighteen-hundreds. Found myself in a little village in the middle of County Wexford, and to my surprise a 'wise woman' recognized me for what I am. She confronted me, said it was her duty to protect her village from 'monsters' like me. We ended up talking, and she realized vamps weren't the threat that the church claimed."

The kid continued, "Her daughter Aileen was about my age at the time, and I guess the two of us became friends. When Brighid was teaching her kid witchcraft she let me sit in on the lessons. Eventually Aileen grew up and had a kid of her own, then Brighid passed away, so I moved on."

"And speaking of moving on I actually have to get going now," Penny commented as she turned and started walking away. "Sorry to interrupt your mourning or whatever."

She glanced back over her shoulder and added, "I'm glad the Cleary line's still going strong. And that you're keeping up the family business, after all these years."

I started after her as I shook my head, "Wait a second! You can't just drop all that on me then walk away!"

"Let her go hon," Amy said as she pulled me into another hug. She lowered her voice as she added softly, "You know I can tell you almost anything you want to know about your family history. All you have to do is ask. And now we know Penny's here, we can always come back and find her again if we need to."

By that point the teenage vampire was already out of sight, she'd disappeared into the woods just south of the church.

"Alright Amy," I sighed. "Let's go home. But I'm definitely going to hold you to that. I've got lots of questions, so I expect to hear lots of answers this afternoon."

"It's a deal," she replied as we finally headed across the parking lot to her car.

PurpleCatGirl

Patrons got to read this bonus chapter on May 1st, the same date the chapter took place!
For folks curious about the timelines: (spoilers for related stories)

Spoiler

This chapter takes place 6 days after chapter 6 of Beyond the Veil, which itself takes place a few months after the end of Really Strange Stuff. This chapter happened exactly 5 months before Sam & Tara meet Penny in ch.48 of Blood of the Covenant.

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