There was validity to Finntello's words, if Florence had stuck around it would be only a matter of time before Xevon or Alma began clashing heads with her. She supposed that not everyone can keep biting their tongue in order to achieve something. Her head turned to the side as she felt Finn's hand slip into hers, Florence was practically gone now, and then she turned out of view of the rubble.

Following her departure, her vision was obscured by a wing as it angled itself around her, drawing her attention back to the man beside her.

"Leaving him to make all the decisions is a lot to rest on his shoulders, even with Alma's help." Lily kept her voice lowered, giving the other winged individual a short glance before returning her focus back to Finn.

Callisto frowned as he looked up at Xevon now, the man was just stnading there and looking like a personified thundercloud. Had he even heard what he had just said? Perhaps his annoyance at this new woman was enough to make him go mute.

"Xevon?" He pushed, moving a hand to touch at his arm, careful in its slow approach and the softest tap on his arm before retreating again. Hyperaware of the fact that Xevon might not be in the mood for informalities.

The sun had already climbed a decent way into the sky by now, with the rucksack being the only thing Callisto had found, they had nothing to show for their search. On top of that, where were they supposed to walk to now? Sure they had the two sets of wings to scout, but what should they be looking for? There had to be a cellar door situation in this realm as well, a back door their could slip out through and return to their home.

Lily frowned and looked back up at Finn as the words left his mouth, feeling his feathers brush her shoulder as she twisted to face him a little better.

"It doesn't always happen, that's impossible." She huffed, nudging her shoulder into him lightly but keeping her hold on his hand secured. "I can't think of anything you screwed up, so at least recently you haven't." Lily offered him a smile before a thought rose to the front of her brain.

"And before you say it," Her head cocked to the side. "You didn't screw up with Veles, he's a god so it would be stupid to assume there wouldn't be injury. You happened to be the one it happened to." She neglected the part where she had tried to stop it and ended up blinding herself. A fact that Lily hadn't quite come to terms with yet, obviously it was impacting her navigational skills. However, the gravity of the fact she was blinded on one side, along with a probably ugly scar to match, hadn't settled in yet. Not when they were in such high tension situations, she had no time to think about it.

Callisto took a small step back as Xevon moved past him to exit the ruins, he stared for a moment after him before reluctantly he picked his way through the rubble after him. This was all a bit much, he had spent years in relative peace and quiet, but this was a lot of action in a very short period of time and it was exhausting. That or he was simply too old in his mind and his younger body didn't match the inside.

"I suppose she could have been bluffing about these creatures." He mumbled in light agreement once he had made it outside to stand beside Xevon once more. It was on the tip of his tongue that perhaps barrell rolling into any living thing they found maybe wasn't the best move, but he knew it wouldn't help the situation at all. Things are better left unsaid.

Now that he was outside, Callisto could taste Florence on the humid air. Her scent lingered in the tiny weightless droplets of mist, leaving a distinct trail of where she had walked off to. Not that Callisto could see her at all now, there was only her trail left behind that vanished over a rise in the hillocks.

Lily’s eyebrows quickly found themselves lowering as Finn continued to talk, her head turned to look up at him carefully. Listening to each part of his reply with obvious interest in how he thought about this particular topic. She gave the conversation a heartbeat of silence before she paused their walking to lift her free hand up towards Finn’s face, using the tips of her fingers to tilt his head towards her with little force.

“You don’t need approval from him.” She offered a soft smile as she spoke in a hushed tone. “You don’t have to prove yourself worthy of anything to anyone. I think you’re delightful just the way you are, Finn.” Lily’s eyes creased slightly in the corners from where her smile was pushing the skin upwards.

Callisto watched as Xevon was clearly having a conversation with himself in his own head, eyes flickering around as he thought about the options they had. He wished he could be more helpful in this situation, but he was just as lost as everyone else. The book he had found all those years ago was only dedicated to Veles, there was no mention of this place, none at all. He gave the smallest glance over his shoulder towards the younger pair with them and Alma before drawing his pink eyes back to Xevon upon hearing his voice.

He fell into step with Xevon as they began their aimless walk towards somewhere they didn’t know. “You do not have to carry the weight of leadership alone, Xevon. We can split it between us all, you should not have to make all these decisions.” Callisto kept his voice lowered with the same honeyed voice he usually held, though softer now that he was talking to Xevon alone. He kept himself close enough to the winged male so that he could feel the light movement of the air surrounding his wings as he walked, but not close enough to be touching. Callisto wasn’t entirely sure where he stood with Xevon now.

However, even though their current circumstances were dire, Callisto couldn’t help the piece of himself that yearned to be touching Xevon. He wondered if it would feel different now that they both have bodies of flesh and bone, would it feel warmer? Callisto had to almost pinch himself to draw his attention back to reality, not that the light pink that had graced his face was leaving anytime soon.

Lily’s smile softened into one dripping with warm affection as his hand raised to sit over hers. She was grateful that he had been the one to escape the claws of her father’s cult. He deserved to have been freed from that poisonous place, to never have to experience the frequent horrific sights that she had bore witness to again and again. Even if that meant he had played right into this situation, a selfish part of herself was glad he had been through this. Otherwise, she would not have met him. She probably would have been wed to Veles by now, resigned to her fate.

“I think killing a god with me is more than enough to prove yourself.” Lily’s eye followed his head as it dipped carefully to grace her hand with a small kiss. The touch drew a small laugh from her, it was airy and short-lived as they continued their short catch up to the men in front of them.

His eyes had been focused on the horizon, cringing as he listened to the reasoning that Xevon was giving. He was trained and they were not, that was true but that didn’t mean he should shoulder all of the pressure. That was how you break a man. His head jerked to the side as his companion continued, Callisto’s eyes widened at the claim that was being made. Initially he felt his chest flood with excitement, it was quickly drowned out by the guilt that followed. Like a freezing tidal wave it extinguished the excitement as quickly as it had risen. Callisto was the reason he was here, even if he thought it was unconnected. If Callisto had resisted the pull of power, he never would have given Veles the access to their world. He would not have been able to draw people into that hotel on his own if Callisto had not summoned him that first time. He hated himself for it. And here Xevon was proclaiming that Callisto was..well..

There wasn’t much time to reply as Xevon had swiftly moved on in the conversion, he was good at that, always was. Saying something that made Callisto’s heart panic and his legs trip over themselves and then deftly continuing as though he hadn’t said a thing.

“She is not human, I told you.” He cleared his throat in an attempt to cover up the flustered storm of thoughts that were colliding within his head. “What she is, I could not tell. Alma is Alma, I do not know what these modern people are like. I have only met these three and Lily’s snivelling father.” He pointed out, for all he knew Alma could be the bog standard normal human. She did hold herself much more differently to Lily though, perhaps Xevon had a point.

“Do not think steering the conversation away from you is going to stop me from making sure you are not taking on too much for our sakes.” Callisto flicked his head to the side to look up at Xevon, one eyebrow raised slightly to just above where the pink faded back out into his skin.

She couldn’t see his wings flex and flutter around her, but she could feel them brush against her back as they moved. Letting her know he was fluffing them outwards in a bold display, a flicker in the corner of her good eye confirmed her suspicions. Lily succumbed to the coaxing of another small laugh, shaking her head lightly before peering back up at him, twisting her neck.

“You very well could be the first.” She mused, nudging her shoulder gently into him at the sigh that came from him. She didn’t know a whole lot about mythology, aside from what surrounded Veles, so in her eyes he was a god slayer. She would have turned to look over her shoulder towards Alma and try to offer her a smile, but Finntello’s wing was practically wrapped around her which blocked her view of anything behind her.

They were both human, no doubt. They had been given boons, that was all. Lily was a little more calculated, true, however Finn was slightly more intelligent than Xevon was giving him credit for. It was hidden behind the upbeat nature that made Finn himself.

Callisto found himself meeting Xevon’s gaze as he looked back to him, forcing himself to maintain eye contact without fumbling through his words. The reply made his eyebrows crease together, wrinkling the skin between them quickly. It only brought on a heavier feeling to his shoulders, not only had Callisto enabled this entire scenario to take place, Xevon had suffered long before he was ever involved in it.

“I do not believe that is your fate.” He spoke a little too quickly after Xevon had finished speaking but did his best to pretend he wasn’t embarrassed by it. “You do not have to live in the past anymore. Once we leave this place, you can enjoy a life you were meant to have.” He left out the part where they weren’t sure if they were ever going to get out of this place, that would bring the mood even further down.

He kept his pace beside Xevon, remaining mostly silent as they continued their almost march across the land. There wasn’t a whole lot to take in, small rises and dips in the grassland but that was all for hours as they continued forwards. The winged pair could have taken flight to scout far ahead but Xevon was rooted to the ground, Callisto knew it was because he thought he needed to be there in case of another Florence encounter or something worse.

He had no pocket watch to count the hours they meandered, but the skin was beginning to tinge dusky pinks and purples by the time a black silhouette emerged over one of the rises of hillock. Callisto stumbled over his own feet at the sudden intrusion into his vision, unexpected with how close it was. He waited at the top of the rise, carefully studying the building before them.

It was a cottage of sorts, but certainly not modest. It was large with a sprawling garden surrounding it with various vegetables and ornamental plants taking over the space, a few trees dotted around that looked to have a sort of fruit hanging from them. The place appeared abandoned, if not for the steady plumes of smoke that were billowing from the chimney on top of the thatched roof.