His eyes slowly moved from the bed over to Alma as she verbalised her plan, he had to think for a moment to work out the little intricacies. It was plausible to do what she had proposed, it would just take a lot of effort. Then there was Xevon, if they were interrupted by him and he wasn’t himself then they had a major issue.

“That could work.” Callisto’s agreement was short and sweet. “As the basic plan, I think that will work rather well.” He offered Alma a small smile. “Providing it goes according to the plan, that is.”

A rather brutal way of dealing with Veles, but on the other hand the creature was so cruel in his own murdering that he deserved much worse. Especially now that he had Xevon ensnared in his disgusting claws, Callisto’s muscles tensed at the thought of Xevon being kept shackled to the god like some sort of pet.

The thing beneath his skin rippled at the sudden frustration that arisen from Callisto, however unlike Lily he was well practiced. He kept it under wraps, a mere bunching of muscles and twitch of his lip before it subsided and the man leaned back into the chair.

“As soon as he figures out that you mean something to Finntello, Veles will aim all of weapons at you. You know that, right?” Carefully, Callisto’s eyes slid to the side to observe the older woman.

Callisto knitted his eyebrows together at her slight dismissal, it was a small if but it would become a very big issue if it were to happen. Moving smoothly on in the conversation, the mention of Xevon potentially being harmed as they tried to help him was something he had thought about but not voiced.

“He is strong, but he is best at short bursts of insane strength. The longer it goes on for, the more likely he is to run away to recover.” His voice a little more serious now.

“We had an idea of hurtling those daggers at the lantern the second we saw it.” Callisto leaned up, sitting straight in his chair again and mimicking the action of throwing a dagger. “That way, his life energy is kaput. In theory, making him weaker.” His gaze returned to meet Alma. “It was a loose plan, as far as we got before..before we ended up here.” He avoided saying that Xevon had thrown himself at Veles in exchange and for whatever obscure reason, the god had accepted that trade off. The fact that it had worked was astonishing in itself, only made more so when Callisto’s living condition was brought into the picture.

“I think both can work, whether or not a combination is feasible..” He thought for a moment, glancing away. “Pinning him is good, great even. But before you hack at him, the lantern might be better off being destroyed first. It could make the issue of Veles a lot easier to deal with.”

Callisto let out a small sigh and let his shoulders relax. “They are kind people.” He commented, letting his eyes travel over towards the pair. “I did not exactly treat them in the friendliest manner, but they agreed to help me.” Callisto’s expression softened from his usual hardness for a moment. “I will owe them everything when we get back here.”

With another small huff of air, Callisto’s pink eyes turned to Alma and offered her a small smile. “This is a good plan, it will work.” His voice carried an air of confidence, more to convince himself than anyone else. “Kieran wanted us to meet him at 11o’clock tonight so that he had time to prepare. Whatever that means, either way I am locking the lot of them out of the room.” Callisto’s eyes narrowed, he didn’t even want to talk to the people that made up his cult in the modern day.

It had festered into something that made his stomach twist and pulled nausea to the forefront of his mind. They had corrupted it, Veles had corrupted it and the people. Contorting them into gross facsimiles of humans, peeling back their empathy and turning them into drones for his utilization.

“He said to meet at their, his house. It must be close enough to walk there, I suppose.” Callisto was quick to correct his statement, he didn’t want to lump Lily in with her father. She was nothing like the cantankerous old git.

Callisto remained where he sat, watching as Alma worked her way around the table in preparation for her departure. His head turning as she moved around him, what exactly she was going to gather up at the museum he wasn’t sure. Hopefully some mythical god killing weapon, but the odds of that were very unlikely.

“They will still be asleep by the time you get back.” He offered with a glance towards the draped wings of Fintello that were slowly rising and falling as his chest expanded to accommodate the air. “At least I hope.” Callisto rose to his feet and arched his back, feeling the gaps in his spine popping at the movement.

He wished he could sleep the hours away, it would make the time between now and finally reaching Xevon again move so much faster. But the closer they got to heading back, the higher the anxiety that was bubbling within him rose up and threatened to overwhelm him, Callisto knew he had to face it. To face Veles was more than a physical feat, it was facing his past mistakes and admitting that he had been a dreadful person. That he was the reason the cult had continued to send sacrifices, all because he couldn’t make it back to his group and set them on the right path.

Callisto had forced himself back into the death trap vehicle, ignoring the panic from his previous journey. At least this time Lily wasn’t the driver of the death trap, perhaps Alma was a better operator than her.

Lily still felt the sleepiness in her bones as she climbed into the van, she felt rather bad that Finntello had to squeeze himself into the confines of the back of the minivan. It certainly didn’t look comfortable. Twisting around in her chair, Lily caught his eyes and offered a small smile towards him.

“Looks comfortable.” She mused, trying to glaze over the rising panic in her own body by focusing on something else. Well, someone else. Her sleep had been mostly uneventful, covered by the ends of Finn’s wings, soothed by the warm presence beside her.

However, that didn’t help the immediate feeling of dread that had taken hold in her heart as she realised how close they were to going back to the hotel. How close they were to possibly losing one of them.

Callisto could practically hear Lily’s heart pounding out of her chest, she was doing a decent job at hiding the rising emotions within her, but it wasn’t as easy to hide the sound of her blood roaring through her.