Callisto remained quiet, deciding that the pair were perfectly capable of following his form down the hallway and to the staircase. Despite being able to simply move skyward through the floor, he deemed it rude to not accompany them the entire way. He wasn't exactly on high alert like Xevon, instead his focus was on keeping tabs on the living duo. Xevon would let them know if Callisto needed to be shooing the pair away from an area, he was always better at staying calm in those situations. While Callisto was a calm and collected man in normal circumstances, the shrouded figure with such overwhelming presence made his skin crawl, his bones brittle and heart (well when it was living) go into overdrive.

He made his way up the grand staircase, just a head of Finn and Lily, glancing behind him to make sure they were following. That's when he caught Finn's form copying Xevon, his neck twisted to watch the large arc that Finn took to propell himself up to the next floor. A small sound drifted from his lips, a mixture of vague amusement and something else. This man was like a bouncier, less sombre Xevon. It was rather entertaining.

Lily however, she remained at the bottom of the staircase, watching intently as her companion flung himself up to the next floor with his brand new wings. For a heartbeat, there was panic, the idea of him falling. But then he landed squarely on his feet and turned to face her, snapping out his arms in a wide display. It pulled a soft laugh from her, despite the forboding circumstances, it was a humerous sight.

As she went to follow, she paused. Her eyes returning to Finn at the top, then trailing down all the stairs and then to her feet. She would have to climb the whole thing. Lily dipped her head in a small nod to her own thoughts, half wishing she would spontaneously burst wings.

When she reached the top, Lily stole a glance towards Callisto as he continued down one of the hallways. Unsure if she could even whisper after Xevon's quiet command, she didn't want to test his limits. Instead, she stuck close to Finn's side, listening to the gentle rustling of his feathers rather than the pounding silence and their footsteps.

Xevon's eyes trailed along the walls, keeping track of every single detail. If there was something off, he would pick up on it inevitably. There was not a thing he wouldn't notice. The figure that usually prowled the halls gave him an opposite reaction. Callisto had a tendency to flight and run, Xevon felt such a powerful drive of hot anger that he just rushed in for the attack. He couldn't think, just went for it.

Finn gave her a warmer smile, his hands coming to rest down on his hips. At least he had gotten a smile out of her and figured out that he could--in fact--fly. That was definitely new and he wasn't quite sure what to think of it initially.

But it was exhilarating. There was a feeling of weighted weightlessness. Where every wing beat kept his weight off the ground but at the same time, gravity still pulled him downward.

"Room," Xevon returned with a short flurry, gesturing to the nearest door. "Now, now," he whispered sharply. "Hide!"

Finn grabbed Lily's wrist, pulling her to the nearest door and fumbled with the doorknob before he pushed the door open and locked it behind them.

His heart raced in his chest, skipping beats. He hadn't ever seen Xevon look like that. The way he had a dark and haunted look in his red eyes, the way his feathers were fluffed outward. He hadn't even come inside yet and Finn leaned back just enough to see through the peep hole.

But all he could see was the hallway and a small bit of the staircase. Nothing exciting yet.

Callisto’s eyes were trained ahead of him, watching the shadowed figure of Xevon move on ahead. Waiting for some sort of look or gesture, but for the moment they were safe to continue walking down the hall. At least the living pair had heeded their warnings and were remaining close and quiet. A short glance over his shoulder showed the dup stepping side by side, Lily’s pace a little quicker in order to keep up. That was when he heard the sudden return of Xevon, his head swivelled back around to see the red eyes bounding towards them.

Hastily, Callisto whipped back around and moved towards the nearest door, flinging an arm out in a gesture towards the room. He watched as Finn pulled Lily along with him and vanished into the room, he took a beat to look back to where Xevon was before joining them.

Lily had nearly jumped out of her skin when Finntello had grasped her and yanked them into the nearest room. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, feeling the panic rise in her again after it was briefly forgotten. She brought her hands up close to her chest as Finn leaned down to look through the small hole in the door. Her face was contorted into a sick mixture of concern and fear, the way Xevon had barrelled back towards them and now as she saw Callisto join them. The haunted look in his gaze drew a cold knife of terror down her spine. She didn’t dare move.

Callisto wringed his hands out in front of him, gritting his teeth, the muscles tense under his skin. That winged idiot better follow them into the room, Xevon had a tendency to try and pick a fight whenever the chance came around. He waited a couple seconds before he was tempted to peek back out into the hallway, that was when he felt his body freeze up. He was out in the hall, the heavy air felt like it was trying to pull him down to the depths of hell itself. Callisto’s eyes widened as he seemed to stare at the wall in front of him, almost trance-like.

Lily’s gaze remained on him, it was only after a few more moments that she felt the weight of whatever was outside. It struck a spear through her heart, drawing all the blood from her body and leaving her anaemic and useless. Her breathing all but stopped, she kept her position close to Finn, the warmth of his body beside her the greatest reprieve from the overwhelming pressure. It unstuck her limbs, but did not do much to help her paused breathing. Lily shuffled sideways, almost pressing herself up against Finntello’s side, feeling his feathers brush at her back. After this, she wasn’t so sure they would make it out of here alive.

She could feel the feathers behind her shifting, angling themselves outwards in an attempt to appear larger. But she did not move from her solid position, her hands clasped together near her chest. It was only when she felt the compulsion to gasp for air, that Lily began to draw in deep lungfuls of air once more. The cadence of them shuddered, taking immense effort to keep herself from practically panting for oxygen.

Callisto on the other hand, his breathing was steady, only his eyes betrayed his own terror at what lurked outside. Especially when he heard Xevon’s voice in the distance, it made his skin crawl. He hadn’t followed them, or even fled to another room. No he was out there making a ruckus to draw him away from them, Callisto had never felt so shameful. He doubted the others could hear, but he could hear the gentle shuffling in the hall. The occasional clatter of what he knew to be bones against one another, and the steady thudding of the staff that he carried.

He knew he should help Xevon, but if he left these two alone and Xevon was somehow trapped or hurt then they would have no one left to direct them. That and Callisto doubted he would be of great use, he knew he was a hindrance.

His eyes travelled sideways, gauging the reactions of the pair beside him. It seemed that their personalities were not too far removed from the ghostly pair, Lily was standing so still the only way he knew she was alive was the rise and fall of her chest. Finn, on the other hand, was grasping a candlestick holder tightly, preparing to swing it at whatever opened the door. It seemed that history may repeat itself, tragic as that was.

Lily’s attention was brought to the metal object that Finntello had picked up, watching the light glint from the object, she suddenly recalled the object in her own pocket. Carefully, the woman reached back and pulled the small blade from her back pocket. It was almost laughable to use it as a weapon, but at least it was something sharp. Sharp could do damage. She gripped it tightly in her dominant hand, unwilling to let it slip from her grasp again. The adrenaline pulsing through her mixed with the anxiety that welled up and felt like it was going to seep out from her skin, her heart pounded in her ears.

Lily’s grip remained strong on the letter opener, unbeknownst to her, her pupils had returned to the slitted appearance she had directed to Callisto earlier. Narrowed into thin lines in her dark irises, boring a hole into one of the wooden panels of the door. Waiting, either for it to swing open or for the dreadful presence to pass them by.

Callisto’s eyebrows jerked up at the sound of Xevon’s continued speech, he caught the tinged words, a taunt thrown towards the entity. Of course, he couldn’t help himself could he. There was a beat of silence, a pause in the creature’s pace before it continued towards Xevon and past their door. The steady thumping of the staff on the floor with each step sent subtle vibrations through the floor, the sensation had Lily stiffened.

Callisto’s chest caved in, his friend was about to do something brash and rather stupid in his opinion. He knew if he didn’t dart out now, he would have to come from behind their captor and be unbearably close to him in order to get to Xevon. In a split second decision as the shulking figure stepped directly in front of their door, Callisto shot through the wall. Almost colliding with the dark figure before he shot towards Xevon like a bullet.

Lily’s head snapped to the side, just in time to catch half of Callisto’s form darting through the wall. Great. Now they had neither of their guides.

“Get inside, you moron!” Callisto’s concern manifested into perhaps a harsher tone, but he could amend things later. His arm hooked around Xevon’s torso and Callisto sent them both tumbling through the door and into the room he had been feigning their existence in. They did not remain in the room for long, only passing through the door before he pushed them down a level. The door was not locked, He could still get in if he wanted and Callisto was certainly not sticking around for that.

“Would you show some concern for your own wellbeing, at least once!” His words were more of a statement than a pointed question. His pink eyes burned with irritation and worry as he released Xevon’s torso from his hooked grasp. Hovering a foot or so above the ground on the lower level. “They need you in order to get out of here, do not take stupid risks.” Callisto’s eyebrows had hardened down, furrowing deeply as he surveyed his friend. He would not tag his own name onto that statement, that Callisto needed him too. “Let’s go.” He grunted, turning around to make his way to the area beneath the room that Finn and Lily were situated in.

Callisto’s eyes narrowed as Xevon pressed a hard poke to his chest, his body didn’t move as he listened. It didn’t matter what his friend said, if He had decided to do something Xevon would have bolstered himself for a fight. He refused to acknowledge his comment about skulking around in the shadows, instead he waited for Xevon’s dark form to vanish up into the room above. He could have snapped that it took seconds to reach him and then push them both down here before returning to their living counterparts, but decided that it would be useless at this point.

Lily felt the cuff of Finn’s hand tighten around her wrist, she had almost forgotten that she was being held, ready to be yanked along if they needed to run. Or rather fly away in Finn’s case, she supposed.

A soft surprised sound came from her lips as a murky dark figure leapt up from the ground, she was very close to spinning around and slashing with her blade. That was until she clocked the dark red circles that sat squarely in the top of the shadow. It was Xevon. Her hand dropped back down, unwilling to accidentally catch someone with it.

Her heart was still pounding as the door was opened, Finn and herself were back out in the hallway. Her non-weapon hand was still being gripped as they made their way down the hallway. Lily could feel the icy chill of whatever it was that lurked the halls behind them, she refused to look over her shoulder. She didn’t want to know what or who it was, now or ever.

She flicked the letter opener between two of her fingers before using the rest of her palm to push on the door handle, shouldering it open before slipping into the stairwell. Only once Finntello had sidled up beside her, did she turn to push it back closed and began to mess with the lock. Finally hearing the click.

Callisto rose through the floor to see the pair move out into the hallway again, except he kept his gaze solidly on Xevon. He remained quiet, his steeled gaze trailing on his friend before he moved himself into the hallway and followed the living down the walkway. He checked behind them, there was no longer the heavy deathly presence breathing down their necks. But soon enough, He would be back.