When Claire returned to the estate that night, it was just past ten. Stepping into the main hall, she found Sean and Lissa speaking quietly. Most nights Lissa would bring him any concerns about possible threats related to the Kindred of the city, as it was her job as his enforcer, to eradicate any deemed serious enough.

“Claire?” Sean greeted her with a smile as she moved into the room. “You’re back earlier than usual. Isn’t the club open for another five hours or so?”

“Yes, but I needed to get some information,” she answered, returning a small smile of her own as she moved toward the two of them.

“We can talk about this, later,” Lissa told him with a quiet nod as she began to move away.

“You’re actually the one I needed information from, Lissa,” Claire stopped her as she moved past.

“Me?” Lissa responded with surprise. She and Sean both wore questioning looks then as Lissa turned back to Claire.

“Do you remember Marina DaCosta’s party, about twenty years ago?” Claire asked, trying to hide any worry in her voice, considering how very confident Lissa was in her abilities as enforcer, and the rareness of the two of them interacting with one another at all.

“The party where the Cainites embraced dozens of people, and killed even more?” Lissa replied. “No, doesn’t sound familiar,” she teased.

Intimidating as this woman could be when she needed to be, there was still a strange kinship between she and the couple, having known them longer than any other Kindred in the city, aside from Minna, who had also shared that boat ride with them all those years ago.

Claire was momentarily taken aback by the woman’s humor, considering her role there, but quickly managed a slight chuckle in response, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“So, what is it that you need me to tell you about that party? I mean, I thought you were quite close to a certain pair of Kindred who were also there that night. And you even have the films to prove it,” she added to lighten the mood once more.

“Well, Dae and...Daeran and Rion,” she backtracked over her more than substantial familiarity with her two former partners, “they weren’t exactly coherent for at least part of the night,” she excused. “And I don’t think they were even present during the part I have questions about.”

“What part?” Lissa narrowed her eyes, her serious vigilance returning moments after the glimmer of humor she had shown earlier.

“Can you walk me through what happened in that back room?” Claire asked, gesturing for Lissa to take a seat with her on the sofa nearest where Sean sat listening with interest as well.

“That back room?” Lissa questioned.

“When Kirielle was born,” Claire added softly.

“Kir---Oh, right she grew up to... she works at your club now, right?” Lissa stated, as though just then remembering a fact that she hadn’t deemed all that noteworthy upon hearing about it in passing some time in the last five years. After all, she was no patron of the arts, like Claire’s and Sean’s clan famously were.

Claire sighed softly, Sean also listening closely, as he was quite aware of who Kirielle was, as well as who had raised her. “What do you remember about the mother, and the woman who embraced her?”

Lissa sighed as she searched her memory of that night, “Mostly all I recall about the pregnant woman was her lying on the floor, bleeding out,” Lissa then attempted to soften her tone. “As for the other woman, she was... more memorable. She said that she hated the Sabbat who had caused all that horror there. But, she had no interest at all in the baby, obviously. All she wanted was to bring back the mother once she passed. And even after my warning, she plainly told me that despite her alleged hatred for the Cainites, she could not care less about our laws either.” She sighed again, “Then she gave the dead woman her blood and I had to get the baby to safety before she woke in frenzy. I struggled with whether to go back and end them, but if they truly weren’t Sabbat or Camarilla...” she looked down then, “But I still locked them in there together. Wishful thinking that her own childe may punish her refusal to acknowledge that fact that even if they were an independent clan, this was still a Camarilla city.” Another look down, “And I didn’t think I should punish the pregnant woman for her sire’s crime, right?” she asked, looking back at Sean briefly to see if he showed any disapproval of the snap decision she had to make that night.

Sean spoke up then, seeing that Lissa was looking for reassurance, “If we believed in punishing childer for the sins of the sires, then I would have had to end Nicolas too,” he stated sadly, which immediately caused Claire to look down in response to memories she hadn’t dwelt on in ages.

Stolen story; please report.

Claire took a long moment to respond, “Thank you, Lissa.”

“I’m not sure I really told you anything very helpful though, did I?”

“I was just trying to guess at what clan she could possibly be, that’s all,” she said softly, nodding for Lissa to take her leave. Though when Claire looked back at Sean a moment later, there was clear concern on his face.

“I’m guessing Kirielle’s mother has finally made an appearance?” he asked warily.

Claire’s knee jerk response was that he had once again pulled information from her head. But, taking a moment to think on it, it was possible that he had just come to the obvious conclusion for the reason behind her questions. Then there was also the fact that accusing Sean of violating her mind again, after the way she even came to know that Kirielle’s mother was back; that would make her feel like nothing short of a hypocrite herself.

“So, her mother’s some independent clan then?” she managed as she made herself move forward through the conversation.

“Seems the case,” Sean agreed thoughtfully.

“But who even are the independent clans anymore?” Claire asked as she moved to take a seat closer to him.

“There’s the more common ones, but really, any Kindred, or rather Cainite, who isn’t out murdering humans, or bowing to me, they could be called independent, honestly,” he told her as he continued to ponder the question.

“I think she offered to turn Kirielle,” Claire made herself tell him out of sheer concern for the young starlet, as well as Lucian.

“And you have reason to believe Kirielle would want that?”

“Reason enough,” Claire admitted sadly.

Claire then began searching her mind for the information she had gleaned from Kirielle that night. She was trying to determine exactly how truly worried they should be that Kirielle would take this woman’s offer. Then she remembered another part of Penelope’s and Kirielle’s conversation she had seen in those thoughts.

“The independent clans,” she began, turning back to Sean again, “Do any of them call themselves the ‘Daughters?’” she asked.

“The Daughters?” Sean repeated as he looked quickly back her way.

“That actually means something to you then?” Claire responded with worry.

“Did Kirielle give you that name?”

Claire closed her eyes a moment before trying to move on, “So you know who these ‘Daughters’ are then?” she asked once again, more urgently.

Shaking his head, Sean tried to decide where to begin, “I’ve also heard them referred to as the Sirens. Which, I suppose, would make sense that they’d want Kirielle, all things considered,” he added thoughtfully.

“Sirens?” Claire gave him an incredulous look, “What do you know about them, Sean?”

“Not a lot, they’re a new clan. Most never even heard of them before the last century or so.”

“New? How can a clan be new? Isn’t the whole theory behind what we are, is the thirteen children of Caine, etcetera. As in thirteen clans, period. How can there be a new one?” she asked in exasperation.

“How is part of their mystery. No one can decide how they even came to be. All the theories usually agree on some odd experiment done, years ago, somehow finding a way to combine the blood of two of the original clans into this new one somehow. Their actual clan name is the Daughters of Cacophony,” he added more quietly.

Claire was taken aback once again, trying to process how any of this could even make sense, not to mention how it could affect people she cared about now. Swallowing a lump in her throat, “So some ‘experiment’ on other Kindred made a whole new strain, or clan? And that’s their name: And they’re also called ‘the Sirens’ even? None of this sounds very good, Sean. Especially for Kirielle,” Claire added with deepening worry.

“I mean, she hasn’t been embraced yet, and, they’re independent, not Sabbat, but...” his voice trailed off, as though trying to quell his own worry as well as Claire’s.

Then Claire interrupted, “What two clans?”

“Sorry?” Sean asked as he looked back at her again.

“You said they were supposedly made from two of the original clans. After hearing what they’re called, I have to know. What two clans were these Daughters supposedly created from?”

Sean took a moment, allowing a sigh to pass his lips, “You’ve seen and heard Kirielle. And they apparently want her. So, I’m sure you can guess who one of the clans were,” he stated softly.

Claire let out a shaky sigh then, “So, Toreador and who, Sean?”

He looked down a moment, “Considering how crazy a ‘new’ clan even sounds...? Key word, crazy,” his voice dropped again.

Claire’s eyes filled with more fear then, “Her own mother wants to turn her into a Kindred who’s part us, and part... Malkavian?”

Another deep sigh from Sean, “As far as I’ve heard, they’re not seers like a pure Malkavian. So even if she did end up embraced, we won’t have to worry about Kirielle singing any more prophecies at us. So there’s that?”

“Is that supposed to be funny, Sean?” Claire retorted with a scowl.

“She hasn’t been embraced yet, Claire,” he attempted to assure. Then shook his head and tried again, “And they’re supposedly not quite as crazy as a true Malkavian, either.”

“Not quite as crazy?” she repeated with a continued lack of amusement. “Is that honestly supposed to make me feel better?”

“Again, she hasn’t been embraced yet,” Sean returned with another attempt at a tiny smile, which Claire failed to return.

“I need to warn Lucian, before his little girl ends up ‘not quite as crazy’ as the one whose incomprehensible prophecy has left me living in fear for centuries: Also, the one who convinced Eliot that time traveling was a thing he could actually safely do.” Claire huffed as she stood up, “I think Lucian just might want to know about what her mother really is, and what she wants to make Kirielle into.” And with that, she determinedly left the room.