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Callisto kept to himself, settling into a steady pace off to the side of the group and most importantly not in Xevon's way. Instead he entertained himself by watching his own feet scuff into the grass. Lily turned to look up at Finn, one eyebrow lifted in question as to his strange look but was immediately side tracked by his own query. With a quick glance towards the group in front, she scrunched her nose up. "Not great. He's just decided that Xevon should have better. So...I guess we will see how that goes." Lily gave a gentle shrug. "I think they're both blind though. Callisto mostly." She quipped with a flick of her wrist towards the white haired man. Lily peeked down at the uneven floor, trying to walk in a mostly straight line which was hard when your depth perception had been completely changed. This was going to take some getting used to. Not only that, Lily didn't even want to think about what her eye actually looked like. Probably horrific and rather ugly. Lovely.
"What did he say? Why did you look like you'd seen a ghost?" She kept her voice quiet, though she knew a certain someone would still hear. "He seems to be reverting back to his soldier mindset, rather brutish actually." Lily cast the man a quick glance, watching his straight spined march towards the buildings. |
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Finn’s eyes flicked back at Lily, taking her hand to help guide her along the way. Callisto had decided that Xevon should have better, likely better than him. Even though Finn, and everyone else, knew better than that. They were both blind, he could agree openly with that. “Yeah,” he agreed loosely, sighing. “Yeah. Blind.” He didn’t bother moving much when she bumped against his shoulder, instead, just letting it happen and allowing the young woman to readjust and recalibrate herself. At her question and observation, Finn chewed on the inside of his cheek and took in a breath. “Yeah...he...he is. I don’t think he’s willing to admit that though. I think he’s reverting back to this mindset because he survived. It’s less because he wants to and probably more because he feels like he has to--it's a form of shell-shock, in a sense,” he kept his voice low as well, though he wasn’t sure he cared as much if Callisto heard. Maybe, it would prompt a conversation or something. “The buildings...look a lot like old photographs,” Finn said lightly, “and I tried to get Xevon to at least try and talk to me...a little bit...and uh...I got reprimanded. Quickly and uh... yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “But that’s my main concern is that he’s not going to be... himself until we get out of here and even then... I don’t know. There’s something--there’s a lot of things that he’s hiding from us.” |
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The steadying force of Finn beside her was appreciated, as embarrassing as it was to not be able to even walk right, he didn't say anything and it comforted her. There wasn't any comments on her awkward gait or missteps, just guidance. "Old photographs?" She repeated but kept her eyes on her feet to make sure she wasn't going to stumble over. "As in the ones you found?" Lily frowned, that didn't bode well for the safety of this place. Where ever they were. If there were ruins here it meant there had been some kind of fight or disaster and Lily wasn't sure which she would prefer. "Reprimanded?" Lily almost laughed at his wording, looking up towards him and tightening her grip on his arm to make sure she wouldn't misstep. "You seem to get reprimanded a lot." She teased, smiling through her words. "Mostly deserved."
Callisto kept stealing small glances towards Xevon, only stopping once they had reached the buildings. If you could even call them buildings anymore. The remains had a few areas where the roof was still in fact and rubble that had fallen to create little shelters, but it was still very much destroyed. He wanted to comment on it but he bit his tongue, instead he looked over to Xevon. "Did you happen to see a decent place to rest?" Callisto kept his voice low, not raising it above a murmur as if speaking any louder would draw creatures out from the structures. |
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Finn bobbed his head lightly and sighed. “Like… the ones we would see in school, when we’d talk about the war,” his voice was much lower than before–almost hesitant. He wasn’t sure if he could be heard from there but a part of him wasn’t sure he wanted to be heard either. It reminded him that something had gone down. Something that was likely not good. That did not help in any sense of the matter. Which was also a problem. “Reprimanded,” he chuckled and confirmed with a weary noise, almost a sigh. “I just wanted to talk to him about his home and stuff and he definitely told me that I should shut up.” Xevon glanced up in the ruins, stepping into each one carefully. The dagger held in his hand was tight, readied for anything to happen. But the silence was deafening and familiar. His eyes scanned back and forth, studying the buildings. The stone work was demolished, the shingles were mostly wooden as was the frame of most of the houses. “Not much,” Xevon confirmed quietly, his voice barely shivering the fragile silence. “This was the best we could find,” he gestured into the building as he stepped toward the doorway, having to duck down just to step inside. “We can rest here for the night. We’ll have to take watch.” Alma tipped her head. "I will take first. You will all rest--" when Xevon opened his mouth, she gave him a rather stern look. She had her eyebrow raised, jaw tight, staring back at him until he finally nodded. |
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Callisto watched as Xevon dipped into each section, waiting for a reply, he kept himself rooted to the ground. The most he thought about it tried to talk about anything more than what was necessary the more that sinking feeling in his torso began and dragged him down like an anchor. "Anything is better than being out in the open." He offered before walking past Xevon and further into the half crushed section of the building. It was dark, enough light filtered through the cracks to allow vision to those not blessed with excellent night vision, but it was still dimly lit. The ground was a mess of dirt and rubble, but they would have to deal with it. It was the floor or nothing. Lily gave a curious glance towards Xevon as he watched Alma stare him down, at least the man had enough sense to not try and win that battle. She offered Alma a small smile with an accompanying thank you, she would offer to be next but Xevon would certainly fight her. She didn't have the commanding presence of the older woman. "Well, this is homey." Lily whispered as she filtered her way into the makeshift shelter, tipping her head back to take note of any precariously balanced bricks that might spell doom if they fell. "Dirt floor looks just as comfortable as a bed right now." She was talking more or less to herself, but still held onto Finn. She could still see and the ground was even but this would take getting used to. |
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Xevon tipped his head lightly, sitting down on a pile of rubble. His eyes, as the sky began to darken, held a slight ruby red glow. As Callisto settled down as well, his dark wings stretched out to cover over the young man. The feathers provided at least some sort of cover, a blanket of sorts. “Homey,” Finn let out a weary noise, almost a chuckle. “Yeah. Something like that. It’s got a roof at least,” he said with a loose sigh. He watched Xevon sit down, upright and shook his head before finding a space where he could lay down, resting his chin in the crook of his arm. The other arm stretched out to take Lily closer to himself, covering her entirely with one wing and using the other as a makeshift blanket for himself. Alma sat down in the entrance, leaning against the doorway with the sling in one hand, dagger beside her. She glanced toward the group and took in a breath before letting it out again. She cleared her throat, noting the glow of red eyes still open. It wasn’t long before she took in a breath again and let out a small hum, letting her voice dance around the melody before adding the words. She sang it first in Spanish and then the translation. She ended with a faint hum, waiting to see if they were all asleep or if any of them were still awake. |
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The space wasn't exactly a comforting place to rest in but this was his only option. Briefly Callisto had debated shifting to curl up in a tight ball, but that seemed a little mean considering others had to endure the dirt floor. He had sat himself down on the edge of some rubble, waiting for the pull of sleep to begin to tug on his mind. His shoulders tensed as he felt something move, eyes flicking up he saw the dark shadow that was Xevon's wing flexed out to almost enclose him in the space.
Callisto stared for a moment before trailing his eyes along the main arm of the wing to where it met with Xevon's torso. Suddenly he felt rather stupid. He returned his head to sit straight, arms neatly placed in his lap. The shuffling sound from Lily and Finn quieted as they settle into whatever irritatingly cute position they had decided upon.
"I am sorry." Callisto breathed out, lifting one hand to adjust the top of his vest, wiggling it side to side before straightening it.
Lily had sat herself down close to Finn, but was quickly scooped backwards, producing a small sound from her as she felt the warmth of his wing settle over her. Enclosing them both in a sort of makeshift tent, a much warmer and comfortable environment than the exposed ruins. Her hand moved to hold onto the one that had pulled her backwards, using his hand to rest the side of her face on rather than straight dirt. The sound of the other two were ever so slight muffled by the wings, but the steady breathing of Finntello was enough to coax her into a sleepy state far more quickly than she would ever admit. |
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Alma was never quite sure how on earth Finn could just sleep. He could just sleep wherever whenever. It didn’t seem to matter where or what he was doing, he just laid down and dozed off. It was often in short bursts but he did it. She envied him, slightly, but not by much. She was silent, watching the space outside. There were no stars in the sky, just an empty velvet darkness that stared back on the cold landscape below. The woman kept her eyes outside, not glancing back. It was obvious at least someone was still awake by the red glow. Xevon’s eyes flicked toward Callisto as he let out a small, the briefest whisper of an apology. “... for what?” He asked in return, his tone was breathless and quiet, careful not to disturb anyone else. There was a quiet edge of gentleness to his voice as he finally turned his eyes to look toward the pale young man. It was a brief look but Xevon didn’t want to just stare back at him. He knew how unnerving it was to look into his eyes, seeing nothing but his eyes illuminating the space around them... he could tell it was uncomfortable for a lot of people. Xevon glanced back toward the doorway, he took in a deep breath of the dusty air. His shoulders were still squared, keeping his guard up. While he wished he had a weapon that he had trained on, the dagger was a comforting weight in his hands. At least he had the use of both arms. |
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Callisto was surprised by the vague alteration to Xevon's tone, contrast to his blunt commands that he was dishing out before. It made him turn his head to look up at the other man, caught off guard by the fact that he was already looking down at him. He had seen the sharp red of his eyes for far too many years to be scared of him. Then it dawned on him. He had apologised but Xevon didn't know who he was, he hadn't seen him since he had remembered. Cursing himself he lifted his shoulders up to his ears. "I-I gave Veles power in the first place. If it were not for me being a selfish fool, you would not have endured..all this." Callisto had not prepared for what he was going to say and now he had no choice but to let out his secret even if it wasn't well thought through. "This cult..it used to be mine but it was not like it is now. Now it is a den of sick sadists, not what I had encouraged it to be." He paused and looked up again. He was rambling. "I did not know who I was until I was thrown out of the hotel. I am so sorry, Xevon." Callisto fought the urge that was building in his chest, the same desperate one that had made him burst out into a total mess in that first field that had been dropped in. |
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Xevon turned his gaze away to look around, finally resting on the distant wall. His chest rose and fell a couple times as Callisto explained his background to the whole thing. He wasn’t going to say anything but that was not exactly what he thought he would be apologizing for. His gaze lowered down to the ground. Callisto explained that he had been the one to give power to Veles. He knew that, vaguely. He was nothing like the paintings or the legends that had been told. Mostly in the booklet in the hotel. The young man let out a weary breath, shook his head. “I already knew that," his words were curt and short, unknowing if that was a touchy subject for the other man. He had tried to apologize for it, like it was his fault. But Xevon had far more experience with folks who used others for their gain. Granted, it was less magical and much more ... normal. If that was a thing to be considered. “My brother was a part of it,” he said briefly, swallowing thickly, “he found it after trying to find Mother and Father egged him on. Gramps disowned them and I stayed with Gramps, I was disowned too but didn’t care. I ended up needing a place to stay... he pointed to the hotel and the rest is history.” Even if he was technically a part of history. |
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Spring 
Night 
Fog Moon: 
