Reunion at Sea

Tense

After the excitement of having Varian and Ruddiger back had ebbed, and Gothel had earned a little more trust for not rejoining the Disciples when the offer was given to her, Rapunzel went to go and arrange for help to be sent to Ingvarr, and to go there herself to get rid of the rocks that still littered the landscape, guarded by Floyd and Eugene.

Donella seemed to be making herself right at home with the Saporians and Varian and Quirin approached the silver-haired woman that was showing Andrew, Varian and Lady Caine her fancy gun, with Hugo showing off the smaller one.

"...and I can build five of these babies in a week." Donella assured them. "And that's just with Hugo helping me. With everyone working together, we could have one for everyone."

"That's so cool." Lady Caine said with awe.

"I can't wait to build one!" Varian said excitedly.

"Well, if you're half as good as Ulla, I'm sure you'll be able to build one in a day." Donella said with a fond chuckle.

"Donella."

She paused and looked over her shoulder, then handed the gun to Varian before turning to Quirin fully. "...Hello, Quirin."

He stared her down, silently fuming as he sized her up. She hadn't changed much, aside from her clothes and her age. Unlike Quirin, she had been aging during the years since she'd come to their home with bad news. And now, apparently, she had adopted a son of her own.

"Let's talk." He nodded towards the side.

Something flickered in her eyes – Nervousness? Fear? Guilt? Quirin didn't know for sure – but she conceded to follow Quirin to a quiet area, away from everyone.

They ended up in the garden, and Donella walked over to take a seat on a bench, looking a little weary. And Quirin knew why, she'd just stopped a Disciple attack on Ingvarr, after all...but he also couldn't help but feel angry to see her displaying such weakness.

He walked over and stood over her. "...I didn't want your help."

"Well, you got it. I wasn't going to just stand by and let the Disciples do whatever with Varian." She sighed. "Queen Rapunzel told me about what happened...how he found out about his powers...about your being trapped in amber, and the guards and the King...and their journey. How he joined them by threatening to destroy Corona if she didn't take him to claim the Moonstone for himself. About the rocks..." She stood up and looked at him. "If you had told him about his powers from the start, maybe you would have never been in amber."

"Enough." He growled.

"You lied to him about his powers, your heritage, and what has it gotten him? Scars on his back, horrific trauma and a criminal record at fifteen!" She went on. "If I had stuck around, would that have happened to him? Apparently, no one in Corona, even his own father, could be trusted to take care of him properly!"

He reached out and grabbed her neck furiously. "I don't want to hear your judgment."

She placed her hand against his chest and he gasped and let her go as a jolt of lightning struck him from her hand. She landed on her feet, kneeling, then slowly got up and looked at him. "You may not want to hear it, but someone needs to judge you! You can judge the King all you like, but if you had told him about his powers from the start, then maybe Old Corona wouldn't have suffered!" She threw out her hands. "I know, I screwed up by not bringing Ulla home to you, but do you want to know the truth?! She's not dead! She's been transformed into a monster by the Eternal Library and nothing I could do would save her! I knew that if I told you the truth, you'd want to go and try to save her yourself, but you can't!"