The Pilgrimage Ch. 03

"I know your name because my goddess told me a little about you. I know life's been a bitch to you Vanessa. You've gone through things that I can't imagine how you survived. I know your father wanted nothing to do with you. I also know he murdered your mother. I can't change the past for you Vanessa. What I can do though is to try and help you make your present a little better if you'll let me."

"That bastard murdered my mother? I thought so! She NEVER did drugs! She HATED them! I told those dumb cops that but they didn't wanna hear it. Was it that Frank guy?"

"I don't know for sure Vanessa. But something tells me it wasn't him. I have a feeling your father had a lot to lose in the event of a divorce. My father was the same fucking way. The only reason he married my mother was to get at her money. He was more than a little pissed when he found out that all he'd get was a fucking job and he'd only be able to keep that if he got my mom pregnant with me. Thank the goddess; the fucking prick is dead now!"

"I never knew who my sperm donor was. But it sounds like they were two peas in a pod. I don't understand what my mom saw in him, but she loved him with all her heart. She actually believed he was gonna leave his wife and that they were gonna get hitched. When she found out he'd had a kid with his wife, my mom went ballistic on him. He gave my mom the line that he was a 'family man' now. Even though I was born before she was! What a crock of shit! That little brat got everything while I got absolutely NOTHING!"

"I can understand how you feel to some extent Vanessa. The only thing the dickhead who fathered me cared about besides money was dipping his wick in any honey pot he could find. He never really acknowledged my existence at all. As far as he was concerned I was just some snot nosed little brat that kept my mom from tossing his stupid ass out in the street. Thing is I didn't realize that at the time. I joined the track team and became one of the fastest runners in the country trying to please him. The only thing I ever got from him for winning race after race was a dirty look."

"I know you think your sister got everything, but what if she didn't? What if your father treated your sister like our fathers treated us? What if I told you she has no clue you even exist; or that you're on this ship with her? What if I told you my goddess has promised your sister is a good woman with a kind, and loving heart; that she would welcome you into her family with open arms? Would any of that make a difference in how you feel about her? How can anything possibly be her fault if she didn't even know you were born?"

"You're good Morrigan, I've gotta give you that, damn good. The short answer is, I don't know, maybe. But how can you possibly know all that? How can you even know for sure she's on this... whatever the hell it is? No more dancing around. Come on Morrigan be straight with me. Tell me like it is."

"I'm positive your sister is here on this Arc because you wouldn't be here if she wasn't. Everyone aboard either has a patron, or is related to someone who does. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about that. I have no reason to doubt the rest of what I said because it came straight from my goddess."

"Do you always believe everything you goddess tells you Morrigan?"

"Of course I do. She would never lie to me."

"Why not?"

"She has no need to. She could destroy me in a heartbeat. Why bother lying to me?" Morrigan slapped herself on the forehead. "Gods, I can be so dense sometimes. My goddess would never outright lie to me. I'm positive of that. BUT, she has a habit of not telling me the whole story, and only telling me what she thinks I need to know, when I need to know it. Just enough to get the job done. If I get stuck for some reason, she has someone trip my trigger like you just did."

"Okay, you lost me now Morrigan. What in the hell are you rambling on about?"

"Uh, uh, not this time Vanessa. YOU tell ME what the hell's going on."

"I don't know what the fuck you're... Wait a god damn minute... Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I don't know what you think I'm saying, so I can't answer that Vanessa."

"No way! No fucking way! That's impossible! I'd never be that lucky! YOU, you're... no fucking way!"

"Just what are you trying to say Vanessa? Come on spit it out."

"Are you...my sister?"

"I honestly don't know. But I AM beginning to think that's why my goddess sent me here. Do you trust me Vanessa?"

"Um... Yeah, I guess so. I mean I don't think you'd do anything to hurt me. At least not on purpose. Why?"

Morrigan stood. "Because I need you to stand, take my hands, close your eyes, and don't open them until I tell you. I think we both need an answer to your question and if you'll trust me for just one second, I think I know how to get it."

Vanessa stood taking Morrigan's hands and closing her eyes. "Okay, but whatever..." she felt the air rush past her as bright colors swirled around behind her eyelids."What the fuck was that?"

"It's okay Vanessa, you can open your eyes now."

Vanessa opened her eyes and gasped. "What the... where... who...?"

Morrigan grinned. "I ported us to my quarters. Aileen, Kelli, Ashling, Megan are on this side of the table. On that side we have the Goddesses Banba, Brigit, and Danu in that order. The Goddess Banba is my patron goddess. Why don't you ask them the question you asked me? If anyone can answer it for us it's them."

"I um... I really don't know which one of you to ask. But Morrigan says my sister is somewhere aboard this thingy. Please, we deserve to know... I NEED to know...is Morrigan my sister?"

Brigit spoke. "Morrigan's right. We could answer that question. But I don't think we really need to. You already know the answer, don't you Vanessa?"

Vanessa looked at Morrigan. "Yeah I do. I think you do to. Don't you Sis?"

Morrigan wiped the tears from her eyes. "I..." She took a deep shuddering breath. "I think I knew it the minute you opened your door. It was like someone threw a bucket of ice water in my face. I'm so sorry Vanessa... I swear I didn't know about you. If I had known, I would've moved heaven and earth to find you. I never would've left you alone out there like that. Please tell me you don't hate me anymore."

"Hate you? How could I possibly hate the only person that ever treated me like a person? I don't hate you Morrigan! I am a little pissed that we lost so much time together. But that's not your fault. I only hope we can make up for it."

Morrigan ran her fingers through her hair. "Gods, the day hasn't even started yet and already I'm an emotional wreck. Okay, time to pull myself together. Vanessa, you sit. Megan, you round up every last member of my family including my twin cousins. Tell them all I want to see them in my quarters in ten minutes, and Meg, don't you dare tell them why!"

Megan stood. "YAY! Morrigan's back! Okay, sweetie, I'll have them all here in ten minutes, and not a word, I swear!"

Morrigan looked over at the Goddess Danu. "Can you..."

"Yes Morrigan, I'll get the living-room ready for you."

A few seconds of telepathic communication passed between Morrigan and the Goddess Brigit. Morrigan took Vanessa's hand pulling her to her feet. "We don't have much time before our family gets here. I need to get you ready. Just trust me. Go with the flow and don't freak out on me. Okay?" She turned to the goddess Banba. "My goddess, would you please dress Vanessa in a blue silk dress that matches her eyes? Make it a bit more modest than the dress you gave me yesterday. Cinch it at the waist with an emerald green sash fastened by a silver buckle. Place some leather sandals on her feet, fix her hair in a single braid, then apply some light eye shadow, mascara, and clear lip gloss. Also highlight her cheekbones with some light blush."

The goddess Banba gave a quick flick of her finger making everything appear on Vanessa just as Morrigan asked. "I raised the neckline two inches and lowered the hem another two inches. Is that modest enough or do you want more?"

"The dress is perfect my goddess. Vanessa looks stunning enough to make any man hard, flashy enough to make any woman envious, and modest enough to meet Uncle Pete and Aunt Sally's twins. Now, could you do the same for me? Except make my dress green with a blue sash and a gold buckle?"

"How's this Morrigan?"

"I'd say we'll make quite an impression. What do you think Vanessa?"

"I... um... I don't know what to say. Are you sure this is how I should look to meet your family?" she asked as she nervously bit her lower lip.

"First of all, they're not just my family. They're OUR family! Yes, I want them all to see how beautiful my sister REALLY is!" Morrigan glanced at Brigit who nodded while handing Morrigan a ring and two lockets on long gold chains. Morrigan held the ring out to Vanessa. "You don't have to do anymore if you don't want to. This ring symbolizes the love, loyalty, trust, and respect we have for each other. If you choose to put it on your right ring finger, there will never be any more discourse between us."

"We've only just met Morrigan, but I already know I love you more than life itself. Gimme that thing!" Vanessa slid the ring on as she reached up giving Morrigan a kiss on the cheek.

Morrigan held up the two lockets. "We're gonna put these on each other at the same time. The one with the sapphire is yours. The stone matches your beautiful eyes. The one with the emerald is for me. When I put yours around your neck, I'm gonna tell you some things I want you to know. You're free to do the same if you want. Just make it quick. We've only got a couple of minutes left before everyone gets here."

Morrigan handed Vanessa the emerald locket then placed the sapphire one around Vanessa's neck. "This locket represents our bond as sisters. It has a catch on the side. When you push it, the locket pops open. Inside there's two photos, one of you and one of me. We're two halves of a whole, finally brought together to complete each other. Sisters now and forever."

Vanessa placed her locked around Morrigan's neck. "Wow! There's nothing I can say that expresses how I feel better than what you just said. I love you Morrigan! Sisters today, sisters tomorrow, sisters forever!"

Morrigan wiped the tears from her eyes taking Vanessa's hand. She led Vanessa to the living-room sitting in an overstuffed easy chair pulling Vanessa into her lap.

Vanessa looked at back at Morrigan. "What...? Why...?"

"This isn't gonna be easy for either of us. We're gonna need to lean on each other for support if we're gonna get through this. I also want you to feel safe, loved, and protected. Okay?"

"Okay Morrigan. But it's just... it's a little weird that's all." There was a light knock on the door. Instantly, Vanessa understood what Morrigan was getting at. She turned her face in Morrigan's shoulder as her whole body shook with nervous tremors.

Morrigan yelled, "Enter," as she gently stroked Vanessa's hair kissing the top of Vanessa's head. "Shh, calm down sweetie. Everything's gonna be okay, I promise."

One by one, her family members walked in. Each giving Morrigan a quizzical look. Morrigan said nothing, tilting her head towards the seats, indicating she wanted them all to sit first.

Megan stopped in front of Morrigan. "I know you didn't mention Kylie. But I figured you'd want her here, so I brought her along too."

"As usual, you know me better than I know myself, thank you Megan."

Erin surprised everyone by kneeling down gently turning Vanessa's head, looking directly into Vanessa's eyes for a few seconds. "I don't know your name child, and I don't know who your mother is. But I damn sure know who your father was. Welcome daughter of Erie, blood sister to my daughter." Both girls were completely dumbfounded as Erin gave them each a kiss on the cheek then sat on folded legs looking up at them expectantly.

Morrigan shook off her shock as she studied her mother's face. "Wow mom! That was...um... a bit unexpected to say the least. I don't know how you knew. But you're right. Everyone, meet my sister Vanessa. She's nineteen. The same sperm donor that helped create me, helped create her as well. To say that Vanessa's had a rough life would be the understatement of the millennium. But before we get in to all that, I'd appreciate if each of you would stand, introduce yourselves and say hello. Vanessa honey, I know you're nervous. I don't expect you to remember who's who right now. But you have to at least look at them as they're saying hello."

Everyone could see that Vanessa was a nervous wreck. They tried to keep things short and to the point. All but Morrigan's twin sixteen year old cousins Sally and Susie, that is. When their turn came, they strolled over to a surprised Vanessa, each giving her a kiss on opposite cheeks, then chatted her up like they were old friends. Vanessa couldn't help but smile at their exuberance and after a couple of minutes, they had her talking and laughing right along with them.

Finally Erin said, "Susie, Sally, the two of you need to sit back down for a minute. I have a few things I need to say. Okay?"

The two of them gave Erin a little pout, than in unison said, "Okay Auntie Erin."

Erin looked up at Morrigan with a smile. "I know you wanted us to hear Vanessa's story. But this is family, so I out rank you. Vanessa's not going anywhere anytime soon. Her story can wait. Besides there's absolutely NOTHING either of you can tell me that changes the fact that she's my daughter now. I also know you don't wanna interrupt Mark, Rose and Adam. So I've asked our goddess to arrange a little surprise for you both in the rec room down the hall. Get up off your butts and let's head there now."

When they got there, it wasn't the buffet tables filed with food and drink and the picnic tables scattered about that shocked Morrigan and Vanessa. It was the poster sized photos adorning the walls. Each photo was a slice in time showing a different part of Morrigan and Vanessa's story. Beginning with Morrigan standing outside Vanessa's closed door, and ending with Vanessa huddled in Morrigan's lap as the family entered Morrigan's quarters. As the two sisters looked at each other in shock, a final photo appeared showing them standing there, eyes wide, mouths agape.

Morrigan noticed the new photo. "MOM! Cut that out. Enough already."

"Cut what out sweetie? I'm not doing anything."

"Then where did THAT come from?" Morrigan asked, pointing to the new photo.

"Oh that. The goddess thought the looks on both your faces was priceless. She's the one that wanted that image saved for posterity, not me."

"Yeah right, and you had nothing to do with it, I suppose?"

"Weeeellll... I did say it was the first time I ever saw YOU utterly speechless," Erin giggled.

Suddenly, for no apparent reason, Vanessa dropped to the floor sitting on her legs, her face covered by her hands, as her whole body wracked with deep sobs.

To be continued...

If you've got this far, I assume I've at least partly entertained you.

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