Xevon refused to take his eyes off of her. While he was, somewhat initially, going to apologize, that apology had dried up entirely. He was now focused on the woman, entirely distrustful and unwilling to let his gaze move. He knew of spies that had feigned victim-like status and used it to infiltrate and then destroy others.

He was not going to let her do the same. Not at all. His feathers rattled only slightly as she went on her rant again.

Finn stepped forward, a touch protective of Lily. He tilted his head to the side and then shrugged loosely. "I dunno, fish around? I feel like firstly, we need to figure out who all... we need to find and what they could be. That could probably help us lead into where they could be based off of what they were or are or... you get the point. After that, finding out where we are in accordance to where we need to go should, in theory, help us. If nothing else, we borrow this cottage as a sort of headquarters and work out of it for the time being."

He paused for a moment before shrugging. "Something like that?"

Xevon didn't move his eyes from Florence in the slightest. He likely wouldn't unless she had a rather solid apology. And that meant changing her behavior as well.

"So we start with learning about the remaining gods?" He asked slowly.

Alma met Florence's gaze for a few brief and mere moments before looking down at the ground before nodding. There really was no good way to get them back and forth unless someone could return to their full godly form. Which she relayed.

"If one of them..." she paused for a moment and sighed, "one of us," the woman amended her words reluctantly, "can get to what we were before, full godly essence and whatnot, then they can travel between this realm and the next. But it requires them to remember who they were, gain their physical form again, bring them to their home and hope for the best."

"... why can't we do that with you?"

"I didn't have a home or a temple," Alma responded lightly, to Xevon's question. "My blessing was gifted. I was not born with it."

Finn let a ripple rush through his feathers. "It's like ghost hunting again. Ooh, this is great okay. Since you can see Renissa but she can't see you, that implies that she's a husk. A Husk is only the visual image of what once was a soul. Chances are, she can't see you because she isn't there. The rest of her is somewhere else and, if I have to take a gander, probably a Wraith of sorts. You have to get the Wraith to agree to follow you and lead them back to this place with the Husk in order for the soul to completely reunite."

Finn took in another breath and let it out. Onas? He had no idea. But it did tie into Renissa with Vedea. "So Vedea may or may not be here. That may be the Husk stuck in a point in time when it was torn from the soul. Sometimes, very briefly, you can connect to the Husk. But it takes a lot of work--"

"No," Xevon's voice was thoughtful and quiet, far different from his usual tone. It was hesitant, slightly broken and quiet. "She isn't broken... she's lost. She doesn't see you... because you aren't there. You weren't there when she lost Vedea. She's seeing the past, the moment when everything changed... when her world collapsed."

His feathered wings lowered slightly, looking at the ground for once. "I know. I've done it... I was lost. You need to break the cycle, someone who isn't what she's used to... using a name or something that she wouldn't be prepared to hear."

"No, you don't need to get Vedea," Xevon responded quietly. "You just have to find something--an old name, a mention something of the sort, said by someone she doesn't recognize."

He had heard Callisto, in that snowy mountain pathway. But it hadn't felt right. It only added to the loss he had felt, the whirlwind in his mind. It wasn't until an unfamiliar voice, commanding and firm, had called out his name--his call-sign--that everything had finally come to a halt and back to reality.

"The only problem is that you have to find Onas. We stayed in that ruin and someone was always awake, we circled it and scoped it out. There wasn't a thing that was still alive there. Renissa is going to be the easiest to reach out to. Because we.. I know how to."

Alma's gaze had softened, watching the man speak. There was a lingering touch of grief--and behind that was a hidden note of shame. "If we can help Renissa, then perhaps we can work on helping the others," Alma said softly. "If we have a way out, it feels less... like we're trying to survive and more ... more ..."

"Less like we're trapped here to survive and far more like we're here to help bring it back," Finn supplied the words that Alma was fishing for. "Chances are, we can leave Callisto and Xevon here to figure out how to help Renissa. We, on the other hand, can head out and find Onas if Renissa doesn't work. If we do both? Hurrah, more chances and more people to help," Finn gave a loose shrug with his words and set his hands on his hips. "Any sort of information Xevon can use to help with Renissa should probably be written down."

Finn bobbed his head. Leaving the two there. It would, in theory, separate Xevon and Florence. Not that it was entirely Florence's fault but... she had a tendency to pick and poke at Xevon and Finn did not want to plan a funeral for a stranger he had just met. Besides, it would give Xevon some time to calm down, to relax and not have to worry about the rest of them. Especially if Alma went with them.

Xevon watched Florence for a moment or two. "If you have Alma with you, you'll be fine. And, if nothing else, you've got free bait yapping over there--"

"Hey--!"

Xevon shook his head lightly, continuing onward, "but you said it yourself. If they see someone familiar, like Alma, it might snap them out of their current state. It's worth a try while we try and help Renissa."

He had more confidence in helping the ghost of a woman than Onas. Particularly since he had experience... being where she was.

It took everything in him to remain where he was rather than isolate himself. Which was what he wanted to do. His mind, briefly, flashed back to the dark room. The one that he had kept to himself.

That was usually where he would go. But now? He didn't have that.

"It is worth a try at the least."

Finn shrugged and thought for a few moments. Did they really need to take anything? "Other than a way to get back, but Florence said she's coming with us, so I think we're solid," he responded with a short bob of his head. He glanced back toward the doorway as Callisto returned with tea in hand. He nodded briefly, listening to Callisto agree that it was a good plan.

"Do you two need anything?" Alma asked the pale young man and Xevon. The dark winged man shook his head in return. He doubted they really needed anything at the moment. The sooner they could achieve their goal, the better.

Finn gave another firm nod, set his hand on his hip and looked toward Alma and Florence. "Sweet, I think we can get going then. If we don't need anything else, that's going to be good enough and we can get going."

Alma kept her gaze on Xevon and Callisto for another few moments. "Be safe," she finally said. "Be careful."

Xevon tipped his head in return, a sort of silent salute. His eyes followed Alma as she turned and nodded to Florence to lead the way, following their footsteps back to the ruins. He stepped inside of the cottage and exhaled, his shoulders falling slightly.

"If it's alright, Callisto, I ... I think I may just rest for a bit."