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Lightbringer
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Finn swallowed thickly, watching the door. Any moment now, he would have to either make a run for it or he would fight. He wasn't sure which he wanted to do more. Run--no he definitely wanted to run more than he wanted to fight. As Lily whirled around, Finn leapt to the side and didn't bother waiting. Unlike Lily, who hesitated, Finn swung the metal candle holder through the dark figure that had appeared. His heart raced in his chest as he realized it was just the ghost. "You--" Finn cut himself off as Xevon gave him sharp directions and he turned around to open the door as quietly as he could. He didn't let go of Lily either, not daring. There was a deep imbedded feeling that if he let go... she would... disappear. He shoved himself into the stairwell, heart racing in his chest as he heard the lock click. "Where--what are we doing?" He finally asked, daring to whisper the faintest question. "And what is that thing?" Xevon gave Callisto a small look before guiding them up the stairwell to the next floor. He said nothing, letting Callisto explain the beast that was haunting the hallways of the hotel. He knew full well what it was but he, to the surprise of no one, didn't feel like talking much. Finn glanced toward Lily again, keeping a tight hold on her wrist. He didn't dare let go, not yet.
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Darkseeker
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Lily’s eyes finally moved to meet Finn’s once more as he spoke quietly. “I don’t know.” Her voice was so hushed that it was almost a breath not words. “I don’t think I really want to find out either.” And as if on cue, Callisto and his blurry friend appeared to lead them up the stairs. Callisto had caught the short look he had received from Xevon and continued his silence towards the man. At the lack of words from the dark man, he pushed out a sigh through his nose before he looked towards Lily. “This is his realm. People are sent here to please him, I do not know why these sacrifices are made to him.” He stole a careful glance up to where Xevon was drifting ahead of them. “He uses us as food, or energy or something. He drags souls into himself.” Callisto braved a look back to the living, studying their reactions. “That is why you were both sent here, I would presume. To feed him. We were sent here for that purpose as well.” As far as he knew, Callisto was meant to be gobbled up by this creature as much as Xevon was supposed to be. Not that he could actually recall why he was there, but the most common reason was sacrifice or offering. So he assumed he was brought here on a silver platter as well. Lily’s eyes widened at Callisto’s words. A flash of her dream or what she now assumed to be some type of memory, the dark hallway and the voices around her. She whirled her head to look at Finn, her eyes flickering over his features carefully. If she was brought here as some type of offering, was he? And on that note, was he with her before they arrived here? Callisto’s head turned to look back up towards Xevon, he could practically chew the seething tension strung between them. A brief shake of head and he dismissed his annoyance, it could wait. He had other things to address.
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Lightbringer
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Finn looked back to Lily and shook his head, as if to tell her that she didn't need to answer that at all--nor did he expect her too. It wasn't her fault, it wasn't her job. He offered the woman a faint smile, wane and fake but it was a smile nonetheless. As Callisto spoke, however, his attention turned to the pale ghastly figure. Wait--sent to please him. That made sense in the reason that Lily was there--she had the dream. The dream of being a bride. He... however... was assuming more toward the spoken reasons. Food, energy, made sense. Finn shrugged loosely. He had a deep rooted feeling he was never the groom. Maybe a ritualistic sacrifice or something similar. A small snort escaped through his own nose and he shook his head. "Well, that... makes sense for one of us," he addressed the unspoken agreement between the two living. "Guess I'm just the main course or something. Wish I could remember why I ... was here. But that hasn't come to me yet." "It might not," Xevon said shortly. "Not for a bit. If we are lucky, he will give up long enough for you two to rest," his words were short, curt and neutral. There was a lack of emotion in them as he paused beside the doorway to the last floor before his "lair". His eyes flashed for a moment. "It would be the best idea to just go into the room across the hallway and lock the door. We can do more later."
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Darkseeker
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Lily’s attention was only snapped back to the present moment as Finn pushed a snort through his nose, she blinked rapidly as she brought her brain back to the conversation at hand. Her face twisted into discomfort at the idea of them being mere meals, but she supposed she was meant to be something more. Although, by the way the two ghosts were talking about Him, it began to seem more and more like she was simply a meal too. Callisto’s sharp eyes attached themselves to Xevon’s back as he spoke, his words were clipped. Despite his relationship with him, he knew how easily his friend’s temper could be flicked into action. He was on the receiving end of the majority of the outbursts, being the only other non-murderous being in the entire hotel, it was expected. However, this time, Callisto found himself just as ticked off. When they paused in the hallway, his eyes drifted down to the darkened room where Xevon’s bones lay alone. Callisto felt a twinge of guilt for snapping at him, but it was quickly rectified with the memory that his own bones were still lingering here, alone. In fact, he had been lingering here for decades prior to Xevon’s arrival. Bitterness tainted his expression as he began to guide the pair into one of the lit rooms in the hallway. Eyeing Xevon’s form before he watched the door close behind the living. “Do not pretend you would not have leapt at his throat given the chance.” Callisto’s voice was steady, his calmness a mismatch for the stern words. “Even if you had the intention of only distracting him, you would have tried it.” Ever so slightly, his pink eyes narrowed.
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Lightbringer
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Finn shrugged loosely. "I mean, it makes your dream make sense," he said briefly, laying his thoughts out. "A bride of sorts--that's new, I feel like that's a new one for this whatever he is. Devil? Spawn of Satan? Waste of oxygen--wait, does he even breathe?" Finn shook his head for a moment or two, clearing his thoughts. "I don't think I'd be much of a meal though," he glanced down at himself. "... yeah, not much ... meat on me. Muscles don't make good eating either." He stepped into the room, locking the door behind the pair of them. The lights were far more dim and almost eerie. But without the feeling of the being walking around, it felt far safer than before. Finn shook his head and stifled a small yawn. "Do I even dare sleep? At all? It feels dangerous..." Xevon looked back to Callisto, his jaw clenching slightly. "Even if I had," he said lowly, "it would've given you far more time to find a better hiding place," he left off the sharp word that lingered at the edge of his tongue. "He can not kill what is already dead, Callisto. I do not see why it matters so much," Xevon finally adjusted his words to be far more... blunt and less edged. "He can not kill me. Why would it matter?"
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Darkseeker
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Callisto’s lip twitched at the lack of self preservation that emitted from Xevon’s reply. His arms came to cross over his chest tightly. “Oh well then of course. By all means, if he cannot kill you throw yourself at Him.” He cocked his head to the side before, the sarcasm clear in his tone before it dropped to something closer to irritation. “So He can absorb you right into that staff and you never get out of here.” He practically growled, darkened gaze settling on Xevon and refusing to move. “I may scamper around like a mouse, but at least I do not throw myself into danger like you.” Lily found herself merely standing in the room, idly looking around it. It was relatively similar to their previous one, but she had to agree with Finn. She did not want to sleep now. Not when that thing was lurking around below them, not to mention she did not want more memories leeching back into her brain. Not if it were memories of her being offered to this place. “What do they want us to do in here? I thought we were going somewhere important.” She changed their conversation quickly, not purposely but that question was lingering in her head. Lily glanced down at where Finn’s hand still held her wrist, then to her other hand, realising she perhaps didn’t need the small blade anymore. She relaxed her grip and studied the handle of the letter opener, admiring the small cat engraving. Then she tensed her shoulders and abruptly looked back up to Finn’s wings, then to the door and then back down to her hand. If Xevon had wings. And Finn sprouted wings. Then… Lily brought the handle closer to her eyes, looking at the cat carefully. Are you kidding? Lily let out an exasperated sigh and tilted her head back. “A cat.” She puffed out. What? Was she going to form ears and a tail? At least Finn’s wings had a benefit, what would a cat do in this situation?
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Lightbringer
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"If he could just suck me up into that stupid staff and lamp, then he would have eons ago," Xevon retorted sharply, throwing his arm out to the stairs. "He would've sucked both of us up the moment we were killed. But the truth is, he can not. For whatever reason, that staff and his freaky magic trick doesn't work on us. We're doomed to spend eternity here. I ought to do something with it--and if it means throwing myself at him, then so be it." He squared his shoulders, looking down on the pale man. "At least, make sure that they are safe. Guide them to where they need to go, you and I both know the same routine that has to happen. This is the closest we have gotten to the daggers," he insisted. "To fail now, is to throw away our best chance." Finn took a few steps forward and sat down on the bed with a short huff. His entire body felt tight, tense and exhausted. He felt absolutely exhausted, like he had just run a marathon. "Cat...?" Finn echoed in confusion, tilting his head. "What do you mean a cat--?" His gaze immediately turned to look around the room, he didn't see... a cat initially. Maybe it was under the bed? Did she not like cats? "I don't see a cat," Finn said, looking back up at Lily. "... am I losing my mind?"
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Darkseeker
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Callisto’s form didn’t budge from where he stood as Xevon practically spat words at him. Nevermind the height difference, he stood strongly where he was. “And we know that for sure, how?” He kept his calm tone despite the distaste that tainted it. “We could be entertainment and now there is fresh meat running around the halls, he could be done with us and that’s the end.” He decided not to try and take his irritation any further, glancing towards the darkened room at the end of the hallway. At Xevon’s almost command, Callisto lifted a hand and waved it dismissively at Xevon, turning his head away before he drifted into the room. She blinked before looking to where Finn sat on the bed, realising she had spoken out loud. She waved her hands. “There isn’t a cat here.” She cleaned up her previous confusion, walking towards the bed and holding the letter opener out so he could see it. “If you formed wings and that Xevon has wings, then it’s clearly connected. So if I have this.” She moved the blade a little to emphasise her point. “Am I going to just poof into a cat?” Lily’s voice almost laughed at the idea, but Finn had just burst out with wings. So at the moment, nothing was really off the table. As Callisto entered the room, he caught Lily’s question and quirked an eyebrow. She had caught on. Not that it was particularly hard to devise the blessing from the item if Xevon’s blessing took hold first. Instead of commenting, he made his way towards the open space near the bathroom and hovered in a sitting position, one leg hooked over the other one.
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Lightbringer
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"Well, he's had eons. There are times when people aren't here, when there hasn't been fresh meat and I've still thrown myself at him," Xevon responded flatly. "He doesn't control it. That staff does and for whatever reason, we're not part of its menu." He drifted into the room as well, watching as Finn looked around the room, knelt down beside the bed, to look under it. He almost thought that perhaps he had lost something until the young man prompted about a cat. As an eyebrow rose, he glanced toward Callisto silently. So that was coming up. "Well, I doubt it will be as bloody as the other blessing," Xevon mused aloud, "more dramatic maybe but not as messy." Finn's eyes flicked to Xevon and then to Lily, back to Callisto, and then to Lily once more as she pointed out the cat on the blade. "... huh," he fished the locket out of his pants pocket. The gold surface was etched with a laurel and the inside was empty. There was no hinting as to what would happen. "... a cat, I guess," he shrugged. "Did you see Callisto turn into a cat or poof or whatever?" Xevon shook his head lightly, leaning back against the wall, hovering a few feet above the ground. He wasn't entirely sure if it hurt or not, Callisto really hadn't said much in that sense. Xevon didn't even really remember if it hurt for long after he had grown wings spontaneously. It had been so long ago.
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Darkseeker
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Her frown solidified on her features as Finn prompted the question about Callisto, slowly she turned her head to look towards the pale haired man, her query evident in her eyes. Callisto did not change his stance or expression as he met her gaze, he was still subtly seething from Xevon's mutterings to properly concentrate on the conversation at hand. His land lifted and waved in a dismissive gesture. "It will not be as dramatic as your friends." Callisto's tone was certainly directed towards Xevon's dramatic nature rather than the actual winged blessing. "But, it will hurt. In fact, it will hurt on two occassions." Quietly, he surveyed her form, debating his next words. It was an educated guess that she would be more like himself than many of the others. "You will experience it twice, whenever that may be." He glanced towards Xevon from the corner of his eyes. Callisto had never had a reason to progress his ability past that of a small cat in front of Xevon, he much preferred to high tail it away from the danger. That was not to say he had never used it in the past, in fact he used it quite a bit. Lily's frown only deepened at the cryptic rambling. How was that supposed to help her? One, it would hurt more. Two, no blood. That wasn't exactly soothing to hear. "Right...So, not a cat? Or yes, cat?" She trailed off, turning her head to look over towards Finntello. Once again, her confusion was written on her face as clear as day. She quirked an eyebrow towards him, asking for any sort of interpretation. Callisto's eyes narrowed as he watched her turn around, sighing he dropped his arms from his chest. He gave a quick, pointed look towards Xevon, daring him to comment on his decision to simply show her. Then in an instant, he shrunk down from his standard size into the form of the smooth coated little white cat once more. The only interruption to the pure fur being the rough scars on his back. He dropped towards the ground and his paws met the floorboards, not that he could feel them properly beneath his form. But, it felt stranger to be a floating cat than it did a floating human.
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