there is no greater pain
or punishment than memory

He knew, even as he took a step away from her, that it might not work. It might not pull another name from her, if Morgana wasn't actually her name. She might be that petulant if it wasn't, or she might be telling the truth on the matter. Quinn really ought to look into acquiring a way to figure out if people were lying to him. That was something he would set his mind to at a later time, though. Right now he was trying to lure it out if she had lied to him, and how else to do that with a child than to give the idea of them getting something out of it? Help getting away from all those who were looking for her right now, if she was Angela, was a good bit of bait for the truth. She had to be hiding out for a reason. Probably was fed up with not having a little more freedom to do things. Quinn can understand this, though. For a young child like this one, considering the parentage, she was bound to be seriously protected. It would be too easy to use someone's child against them if they were powerful. A terrible sort of curse to have when one had enemies. That was something Quinn had to think about more, too. That if he made enemies, his own offspring might be a target. He had already gone through a nervous issue when it had come to Ithiel and the risks and dangers that surrounded Ithiel's life because of where that child had come from and the issues surrounding it. At least at first. Who knew where it was at now?

But that was something to dwell on at a later time, after he found out what was going on here and now. Because without knowing if this child here was telling the truth or not, Quinn couldn't give it all that much thought. Why mess with himself in that way until he knew for sure? But there was still that lingering feeling of dread at the pit of his stomach. He hadn't liked the idea of the quest in general; he wasn't really big on the whole kidnapping scene, and certainly not if it had to do with children. He had his own pain to think about when it came to that kind of thought. Quinn couldn't say that he'd ever had any of his offspring kidnapped, but he had endured some of them being taken away from him. At birth, Ucal had been snatched away, though Quinn had thought for a long time that Vhetiveer had simply gone off with Ucal, since Quinn hadn't wanted to leave. Vhet had all but begged Quinn to take him away more than once and Quinn had wanted to fight a dragon, had wanted to see what more that place had to offer before going. It had been a regret that weighed heavily upon Quinn for a long time, but the truth was worse. Perhaps not worse on a stab to Quinn's pride, since Vhetiveer had not left of his own accord, but worse because Ucal hadn't survived. Quinn had been upset for so long that Ithiel's twin had been taken away, and that was the same feeling, almost, as a child being kidnapped. It still hurt.

And there had been the horrible feelings of a child dying and not being able to to do anything about it. Quinn had felt that more than once and it was a cutting feeling that really fucked him up. That was another big issue with having kids again, though. They could have any nimber of bad things happen to them. They might not make it at all. When you see three little wrapped bundles laid out and there wasn't a heartbeat between them, it was a feeling that Quinn couldn't even begin to explain. Thinking of explaining it was too painful to contemplate, and it made him freeze up each time he did. Quinn had given up the last bit of energy he had to try and heal Ari, and it hadn't made a difference. His memories were terrible after that, and he can't go into those. They cut into him like nothing else could right now. Quinn had been through so much, and now he was thinking about risking himself to all those terrible possiblities again? Was that really a good idea? Yet he couldn't help wanting what he did. Maybe he would have pushed it down and forgotten it, but one comment from Vhetiveer and that was lost. He couldn't help but want this, the option of family opened back up to him. It could work out this time, couldn't it? And that's why Quinn was here right now. That was why he was doing this, trying to find more information, to find out who Angela was, and then deciding if he could finish the quest out.

So he felt a number of different things when he heard the 'wait!' hissed from the child here in the rosebush. He turned back just slightly, listening as she started to speak again. Her other name was Morgana? Did that mean her name was Angela after all? But she did not confirm that part of it, and Quinn had to frown a little. Not at her words of him being a stranger and therefore he shouldn't talk to her anyway -- that was more or less ignored -- but because this wasn't exactly helping him. Any child might want an illusion pendant if it could help them get away when they wanted to, so there was that to keep in mind as well. The child had stood up and was tossing her hair, holding her hand out at him and telling him that he should just give her his illusion pendant. Telling him that if he did, she wouldn't tell anyone that he broke the rules by talking to her. Quinn had to repress a laugh building up in his throat, since if she was indeed Angela, that rule being broke was the least of her worries with him being right here. Quinn was pretty sure that kidnapping was a far worse offense. But he still couldn't be sure that this was Angela without any confirmation, and there was no way to even be perfectly sure of who she was even if she told him one way or the other. That was a thing that Quinn had not been anticipating on this matter. Now it only seemed logical that he should have given that part much more thought.

And so he did the one thing that would give him a few minutes to debate the subject; he opened his poppins bag and reached in to grab hold of his time-freeze horn and will it to freeze time all around him. It wouldn't last very long, but it did give him enough time to contemplate the situation he was in. He needed to figure out if this girl was actually Angela, and also if she was, what he was going to do about it. Then a thought came to him, and he eyed Angela, musing on the idea he had. He could try for taking some blood to see if he could nab a memory from her of someone calling her by her name. That would work. He had that power to use if he needed it. Might as well for this, and Angela was frozen in time for the moment, so she wouldn't even need to know. He could use a thorn from the rosebush to prick her arm or something, too. Which is exactly what he did. Used a thorn from the rosebush to pierce Angela's lower arm and then he was squeezing some blood from the tiny cut to his finger so he could lick it off and try for the memory he sought. Or any memory with someone talking to her by name. It took a few drops, but he got what he wanted and had to deal with that fact. Except there wasn't very long left for him to do that with the time-freeze running out. So Quinn did the only thing he had left to him for now. He stuck Angela's arm near some thorns, to explain the thorn cut, and then he walked quickly away.