Venn grinned up at his mother. "Look, madre! I have pointy teeth!"

Claudia knelt down in front of her three year old son. She examined his teeth closely. "That isn't normal, Little Vee," she said gently. "Go get your coat. We're going to the medico."

Venn's smile faded. "Are they going to pull my teeth?" He asked, suddenly nervous.

Claudia laughed and shook her head. "No, no. They're going to tell us why you have pointy teeth and black eyes. Maybe why you're so pale too."

Venn sighed and grudgingly went to retrieve his coat. "But I wanted to play with Magnus today!"

Claudia didn't reply to this. She knew he was trying to get out of it. She wasn't going to let him. She knelt in front of him and pulled his hat over his hair. She helped him put on his gloves before taking his hand. "It'll be fun just you wait and see."

Venn looked considerably less than thrilled.

A couple hours later, Claudia, Venn, and a doctor sat in one of the hospital rooms. Venn was sitting on the bed. He glared sullenly at the floor and wouldn't look at either of the adults in the room.

The doctor smiled at Claudia and held out a hand. "Hello, Madame Drake. I'm Patrizio Angelo."

Claudia returned the smile and shook his hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Doctor Angelo. I'm sorry for my son's behavior."

Patrizio laughed. "Please, he's a charming boy. A bit sad inside perhaps, but very enthusiastic. I believe he will go far."

Claudia glanced over at Venn. Sad inside? She turned her attention back to Patrizio. "I'm glad to hear it. Now, about the exam?"

Patrizio straightened up. "Ah. Of course." He sorted through some papers before he found what he was looking for. "Here we are. Right. So first off we have the eye exam. It seems that Venn has aniridia. It's extremely rare. Essentially, this means his iris is much smaller than normal and his pupil is much larger. His eyes are the most beautiful shade of ocean blue I've ever seen. Unfortunately, other cases of aniridia have vision problems as they get older. He may need glasses in the future."

Claudia nodded. She looked over at Venn, who was still sulking and fidgeting. She couldn't see the blue in his eyes. She made a note to look later. "And the teeth?"

"Aah yes. An even rarer mutation in genetics. It's called Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia. There are fewer people with this mutation than with aniridia, and none have such a perfect set of teeth! Usually they end up missing a few or the some of teeth fall out altogether." Patrizio was very excited. "Your son is fascinating... oh yes and we bandaged up his back properly for you."

Claudia blinked. "Bandaged his back?" She turned to Venn. "What's this?"

Venn hunched his shoulders. He refused to look at Claudia, keeping his eyes locked on the floor.

Patrizio shook his head. "He wouldn't tell us where he got it either. Nasty wound. He's probably had it for a few days. You didn't know?"

Claudia blinked. "No... no I didn't."

Awkward silence filled the room for a minute. Patrizio cleared his throat. "Another thing, because Venn is so pale you'll want to not let him be in the sun for too long. He'll burn fast."

Claudia nodded. "Of course. Is that all?"

Patrizio handed her a thin file. "That's it." He smiled kindly. "Take care."

After polite farewells, Claudia and Venn were heading home. Claudia stopped a couple blocks away from the hospital and turned to Venn. "You're injured badly enough that the doctor gave you bandages?! When were you going to tell me?!"

Venn flinched and wilted like a dying flower. "I... wasn't going to..."

Claudia glared at Venn. She was angry, but she was mostly upset. "Where did you get it?"

Venn shuddered. He looked away, staying silent and cold.

Claudia glared a few more seconds before she sighed and knelt down. "I'm sorry, Little Vee... next time tell me alright?"

Venn still didn't look up. ".....okay."

Claudia ruffled his dark hair. "Why don't you go find Magnus or Odalis? We'll talk about this later."

Venn nodded and darted away. He was lost to the crowds in seconds.