Peter found himself back in the Alley, following a little girl riding a cow.
Interestingly, no one seemed at all surprised by the cow, with more than a few friendly nods accorded to either Sarah or Mrs. Penn. Mrs. Penn seemed to enjoy the attention and Peter would swear she was nodding back, but she could just as easily have been simply moving her head cause Sarah kept petting her.
Sarah pointed to a slightly taller set of dividers close to the midpoint of the Alley near the plaza area. This place specifically had a set of wooden double doors, that at one point had been lovingly carved with a religious iconography. The doors must have been part of a church at one point, but Peter noted some discoloration and charring around the edges.
Peter knocked and Callisto's voice came in from the other side with a loud yell of, "Come in."
Even before he could open the large doors, Peter felt a tingle of prey settle upon him as an expectant hunter waited just behind them.
Peter stepped into a room that was just as much of a makeshift shack as the rest of the home created with dividers in the alley, but it was larger by far. There was a dirty curtain covering up a tunnel on the opposite wall. The room itself had a hugely ornate wooden desk dominating the space just before the curtain. The desk was just as heavily carved as the doors and looked to have been worked on by the same hand. The desk had a half-dozen wooden bowls and cups stacked up off to one corner. The top of the desk was heavily scratched up and it wasn't difficult to see why.
Calisto lounged behind the desk, idly toying with a knife that she twirled around her fingers, but would occasionally toss it into the air to let it land point first into the heavy wood of the desk.
There was no other furniture in the room that Peter could see. At least not real furniture. A few wooden crates scattered haphazardly around that could've been used as makeshift seats. A set of shelves on either side of the desk screwed into the rough wooden dividers where a handful of unlit candles were set.
"Dumas," She said, the sense of being prey sharpening to a razor's edge. "Close the door behind you."
He did as he was told and with the door shut, the noise of the alley dropped off dramatically, leaving them both in a leaden silence. He stood in front of the desk, growing more and more uncomfortable as she eyed him without saying a word.
"You haven't been here a day yet and you've already managed to make an enemy out of Masque." Callisto finally said, pulling the knife out of the desk and using the point to clean beneath her nails. She seemed to have made it a point to not look at him, but Peter could tell her entire body language spoke of keeping him entirely in her sights.
"I asked him to ease up." Peter replied, "Politely, I might add. He decided to send Sunder after me."
She smirked. "Masque can nurse a grudge like you wouldn't believe."
"That sounds like a him problem," Peter shot back.
Callisto nodded and Peter could swear he saw approval in her eye. "You don't back down. And you're strong enough to back it up. You'll be a fine Morlock."
"Thanks," Peter replied, barely keeping the flush from rising to his face. The possibility of her deciding to throw him out or perhaps even attack him with that knife hadn't fazed him, but he found himself reduced to stammering and blushing at the merest hint of a compliment.
"Is Masque going to try and make trouble for me, then?" Peter asked carefully.
"Not as such," Callisto replied absently. "He will do as he's told. You beat down the champion he set after you. That's settled. I've told him to leave you alone."
"You made me stand down and let him run away before I could get my hands on him." Peter replied, his voice level, but resentment growing rapidly in his heart. "If you really wanted it settled, that would have done it."
"I told him it's over, so it's over. I'm telling you it's over, so it's over for you too." She shot him a look. "If you provoke him again, that's on you.