By any other name... [Finished]

[Kari Muffin]

Castiel didn't particularly mind the other girl. She just wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to get into trouble with Linnea. She was older and "more responsible" in the eyes of Dad. Even though she was a Club sometimes it seemed that she got far more respect. And she wasn't even related by blood to Dad... neither was Conall and Dad treated him like family. It wasn't really fair...

She ran her fingers through her hair. "No point in wasting our time here, right? Let's go investigate." A smile spread on her face at the thought of getting even with the nasty girl that was her sister. Maybe they would be able to find something extra interesting this time around.

Castiel hopped down from her seat, more than ready to get the party started, so to speak. "You won't tell any adults will you Linnea?"

[Kari Muffin]

Linnea perked slightly. They were going to let her join as long as she didn't tell any adults? That was perfectly fine with her. If they got in trouble it wouldn't be because of her.

"I won't tell anyone. And I won't be a bother. If worse comes to worst I'll be a distraction for Nerissa," She gave a wink to both of the other children. Her tail curled a bit at the thought of the adventure they were going to have. That girl's lab was filled with all sorts of things.... horrible things. But sometimes among all of the strange things in jars and all of the scattered notes there were quite a few fascinating trinkets.

"Thanks for letting me come," she said cheerfully as she padded along beside them. The walk was long and filled with conversation until they were getting closer to their destination. All three fell silent, waiting for the devious party to pass by. Once she did, and once they were sure she was headed out for a while they made their way into the "lab."

[Kari Muffin]

It wasn't difficult to get the door open. After so many times of jimmying the door open out of pure curiosity, he was surprised that the lock hadn't broken. Conall stood to the side to allow the girls to filter in. He was careful to leave the door slightly ajar.

Not that anything horrible would happen if they were caught. Nerissa might bite them or threaten them, but there wasn't much she could do to them without getting punished herself. Considering she wasn't supposed to have the lab in the first place.

The room was lined with shelves, had a work bench, and plenty of jars throughout it. Everything was meticulously labeled, though plenty of things seemed out of place. The first thing that caught Conall's eye was the strangely shaped jar with an eye in it.

He picked it up carefully to exam it closer. Under the name of the item there was a small instruction of "eat me in case of emergency." His nose wrinkled. Who would eat something like this?

[Kari Muffin]

Castiel found herself staring at all of the lined shelves. Nerissa did know how to keep everything in order. And there was quite a bit to go through. "Let's see... what's new..." she muttered as she started looking at the various bottles.

She paused when she noticed the bottle that Conall was holding. She slipped over closer to him. "What does it say?"

The little bird on his shoulder fluttered violently. It was quite obvious that Conall's heart had skipped a beat with surprise. "It says 'eat me in case of an emergency.' Pretty strange huh?"

She nodded in agreement before taking the vile out of his hands. It was a pretty interesting eye. What magical properties did something like this have? Maybe she should find out.... huh? She removed the cap, giving Conall a grin.

The expression on his face was a clear sign he didn't think what she was doing was funny.

[Kari Muffin]

Linnea was busy in her corner of the room, investigating one of the journals. It was written in a language that she wasn't particularly sure of. It didn't look like the Hearts language, and it wasn't any of the ones she and crossed in her various tutoring....

Her ears perked when sh heard the pair of other children speaking. What were they up to? She craned her neck to see.

"What are you planning to do with that?" She asked, still keeping her distance and shuffling through the books. The answer was obvious, but she might as well voice the question. It was up to Castiel to do something stupid and actually believe something that was labeled in this little lab of horrors.

But what would happen if it was poisoned or something? Castiel wasn't a Heart. In fact Conall was the only Heart in the room, and she was fairly certian that Nerissa was fond of all sorts of nasty things.

She didn't have time to protest.

[Kari Muffin]

Conall stared at Castiel in horror. What was she supposed to say in response to what she was doing? Was she really going to put an eye in her mouth and eat it? The thought made him cringe slightly. Eating "strange things" was part of his bog heritage, but he was fairly certian that eating eyeballs out of vials was just a bad idea no matter what realm you came from.

"Castiel you can't be serious...." he said shortly after Linnea had asked the question. He knew from the look on the human girl's face that she was actually debating on popping that in her mouth. "For all you know it could be a trap filled with poison. Consider where we are."

He hoped that he could be the voice of reason. But he knew better. He knew that once she made up her mind she was going to do whatever she was plotting. It didn't matter how stupid it was.

[Kari Muffin]

Castiel chuckled. "No, I heard a rumor about this thing. It was a gift to Dad not too long ago from Grandma. Supposedly it's from a fallen Queen... and it's highly magical. No one knows what it's capable of, however."

Curiosity killed the cat. That's what Dad always said, but Grandmother corrected that satisfaction brought it back. She paused for a moment when Linnea asked the question. "I'm planning to eat it."

And despite Conall's protest she tipped the glass back and swallowed the eye without hesitation. She cringed slightly at the feeling of the eye sliding down her throat, and for a slight moment she thought she was going to suffocate or vomit. She smiled after a moment. "See no harm--"

Something didn't feel right. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sudden sensation on her forehead. She reached up to grab it, leaning on one of the tables as she did so. Maybe.... she should have listened to what Conall had said?

[Kari Muffin]

Crap.

Linnea jumped from the table she was perched at to scurry over to Castiel's side. Of course it wasn't like there was anything they could do in a situation like this. It wasn't like she had magical first aide or anything.

She could get a doctor though. "Conall, you stay here with Castiel while I run to get a doctor." She could only hope that nothing horrible happened while she was gone. Poison was a terrifying thing, but negative magical response were far worse. Suits only knew what would happen if that was the case.

So as fast as her feet could carry her she ran to the medical ward. Hopefully she wouldn't run into any adults who would be suspicious about her actions. And most of all she hoped not to run into Nerissa. That would just be a pain in the ass to deal with.

[Kari Muffin]

Conall was more than a little alarmed, and completely unsure of what to do. He blinked at surprise when Linnea suggested what she did, and bolted out of the room before he could find a single word of protest.

He watched Castiel's eyes tear up.

"Does it hurt?" he said carefully reaching out to touch her shoulder. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Crisis was never a strong suit for anyone. But at this moment he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. His friend might be in serious trouble, and there was nothing he could do to make things better.

And then he froze when he watched Castiel remove her hand from her forehead. For a moment he felt nothing but terror. There was, very much, an eye that was staring back at him. "C-Castiel...."

[Kari Muffin]

Castiel wasn't sure what to say or what to do. She could only really focus on the terrifying sensation on her forehead. She almost whimpered at the touch of Conall, She wasn't able to respond until she felt something.... open?

She looked up at Conall, her eyes wide with just as much terror as him. "What... what is it?"

She could feel it. There was an eye in the center of her forehead. It was impossible to ignore. And she couldn't seem to comprehend what was going on. And then as fast as it had opened the eye shut.

Castiel reached up to touch her forehead. Yes. There was something there. There was something there that she couldn't actually hide for her parents. "Oh no... I can't believe this happened. Conall what do I do? How do I explain this to my parents?"