Alma shook her head lightly, leaning against the doorway. Of course it was Florence. The mouthy little--wait. "Renissa?" The woman echoed, stepping outside and pulling the door closed behind her. "She's... she's still here?"

Alma's gaze slid over Florence for a moment, trying desperately to pick out any sort of familiarity she could but the woman did not recognize her at all. No wonder it felt home-y, it was Renissa's.

"I should've known," she murmured dryly and shook her head, making sure the door was mostly shut behind her. "Now that we can have a... constructive conversation without any... interruptions... I need your help..."

The woman didn't really wait for a confirmation. "Now, you said you knew how to get out of this realm. How... exactly do you do that?"

She knew of godly powers being able to jump between one realm and the other. Did she have those powers? No. No she didn't. But ... perhaps Renissa did. It was a struggle though, for Alma to remember... the name that wasn't Alma.

"Cressidae," she finally spoke, tone exhausted, "I was Cressidae."

--

Finn looked back at Lily and then up to Xevon. "Florence?" He echoed quietly. "Her again?"

"Shut up," Xevon reached one hand back, covering his mouth. "... ah, they've stepped outside--" he leaned back from the door and scowled.

"What do you mean witch?" Finn finally asked, his hands on his hips.

Xevon looked toward Callisto and then to Finn. "I don't know what kind of elixir she brewed but she is young now. Normal humans and mortals like us can not do that."

Lily scoffed at the harsh ‘shut up’ command that Xevon piped up with, the audacity, She scowled at him even as he turned around to reply to Finntello’s question. Rather disgruntled, Lily looked between the people gathered, only relenting her annoyance to speak.

“I thought she looked different.” She commented idly, glancing towards the door. Just as she did so, her eyes widened and she looked back to Callisto as quick as she could. She met a look of surprise that matched her own, clearly he had heard what she had.

She couldn’t hear very well, but she sure did hear the names being mumbled, what on earth were they talking about? Alma said she didn’t know anything about this place, that she was just as lost as them but she was talking to this strange Florence woman, using names and a familiar tone.

–

Florence resisted the urge to roll her eyes as the obviously unhappy reaction she received from the woman, she hadn’t gotten a very good look at this woman before so didn’t notice the change of youthfulness. Her eyes roamed over Alma, light with curiosity as she stepped out of the cottage and closed the door behind her.

“Yes, Renaissa. She isn’t here now, obviously. None of them are here.” Florence spoke as though what she was saying was common knowledge, flicking a manicured hand at the cottage as she spoke.

“Help? I thought you asked or rather demanded that before, I’m not too keen on working with arrogant men.” Florence narrowed her eyes sharply, giving a pointed look over to the front door before she looked back at Alma and let out a quick bark of surprised laughter. The tone was slightly mocking but it was a laugh none the less.

“You’re one of them, huh?” She mused, crossing her arms over her midsection. “I hope you aren’t as entitled as the rest of them.” Immediately, it was clear that Florence didn’t hold a soft spot for the gods that had lived here.

Callisto glanced between the arguing pair and couldn’t help but roll his eyes as the useless rambling debate they were having with each other. With an annoyed look directed towards them he began to approach the door, muttering under his breath.

–

“Pinning me to the floor after I tossed a rock to make you back off of my stuff is more dramatic than giving them some sass.” Florence still didn’t accept the excuse, popping her hip out and putting all her weight on that leg as she observed this woman. Cressidae. That didn’t mean she was going to show her much more respect than what she was already dishing out.

She waited for her to finish, carefully deciding on her next words. If she was stuck in this state, it didn’t bode well for herself.

“Fun fact that. You can’t get out right now.” She offered with a simply unfazed shrug. “We’re stuck here until they’re brought back, and how I do that, I have no idea. They’re somewhere, but they’re not coming back anytime soon.” Florence tossed a careless glance over her shoulder towards the rolling hills.

“That’s why I’ve been here since the 90s. I know times have moved on while I’ve been stuck here, but I came to visit and well..I found it like this. With the hotel being the only thing that seemed to have any life in it.” Florence scoffed, life isn’t what she wanted to call it. That hotel certainly wasn’t a place of life.

–

Callisto batted Xevon away from the door with a hushed word. “Why are you being so hush-hush.” It wasn’t a question meant to be answered. Instead he nudged Xevon out of the way, still taking the time to make sure he wasn’t crushing any feathers.

With that, Callisto fixed his hand around the handle and pushed the heavy wooden door open. With a quick step, he walked outside, hand still on the handle as his pale eyes settled on the form of Florence.

He was met with a scrutinous look from Florence, obviously she wasn’t impressed by his appearance.