BEYOND 3A: BloodRed and ScaleBlack

The Fiftieth Feather: Journey To The Depths

That morning had begun the same way it often did for Levia. He woke up to the loud meowing of Killakee, we went to the city to restock food, and spent the first few hours of his day serving food to the few customers who happened to find their way to his house.

Later on, three people entered his borrowed domain, those three being L'étranger, Ziggy, and Demogorgon. Those three, along with Levia and Killakee, gathered by a large table outside for another meeting.

L'étranger began with a greeting: "Sigh... I see we all made it here, that's great."

Levia: "What do you mean 'all'? Where's the cat bastard?"

Killakee: "Meow!"

Levia: "You're not the cat I'm talking about. You're still a bastard, though."

L'étranger: "I'll tell you about that later. For now, though, This meeting only concerns the people present here."

Levia: "Even me?"

L'étranger: "Especially you, now shut up and listen. There's good news and bad news. The good news is that we found the new location of the Florida kids, it's in Texas. The bad news is that it's like the step-brother of Fort Knox and Maneki was unfortunately taken captive by ALMACA."

Levia: "...How? Can't he vanish into a pocket dimension or whatever?"

L'étranger: "I've been wondering that myself, they must have done something to keep his powers inactive."

Levia: "Hm, So, let me guess, you want us to get the goods and rescue that shithead?"

L'étranger: "Leave that to me. As for the rest of you, your job is to acquire the blueprints and the Florida Kids."

Levia: "Hold on, I thought we agreed to steal the blueprints or whatever?"

L'étranger: "Yes, we're planning on doing that, but I had a chat with Misha yesterday and he says we need to bring at least one of them."

Levia: "You just can't make things easier on me, can you?"

L'étranger: "Relax, you talk as if you can even be hurt."

Levia: "Woman, I can barely gather the motivation to get out of bed in the morning, let alone do anything."

L'étranger: "...Anyway, here's what we'll be doing. We'll divide into two teams; Levia, Ziggy, and Killakee will infiltrate the hideout where the artificial kids are, meanwhile, Demo and I will steal the 'secret formula' from Mr. Krabs."

Levia: "Really? You're going to group me with a Kanye West wannabe and an actual cat?"

L'étranger: "How the hell do you know who Kanye is? Nevermind, this is an espionage mission for all of us. The hidden location, which is deep underground, is heavily guarded and although I know you can clear them with ease, doing that will most likely either startle the kids and kill them or alert their caretakers to take them away. I'm sending you there for a specific task that only you can accomplish."

Levia: "...Continue."

L'étranger: "Demo told me that you figured out how to create liminal spaces, well, I have with me here a bucket of salt water with plenty of sand inside."

Levia: "And?"

L'étranger: "Stick your foot inside and try to create your space."

Upon doing as she asked, he was immediately sucked into the bucket and shrunken down to the size of an ant while his home manifested before him. He immediately swam out, returning to his normal size, and asked loudly: "What the hell was that?! That startled the shit out of me!"

Demo: "We Beyonders can create liminal spaces under conditions similar to our natural habitats... Those conditions are extremely forgiving..."

Levia: "Woah, that's incredible."

L'étranger: "Totally. Here's what I need the three of you to do; Ziggy will clear a path for you both, Levia will locate the kids and put them in his bucket space and Killakee will make sure that they're at ease at all times. Simple enough, right?"

Killakee: "Meow."

Ziggy: "Sure as hell looks like it, we don't gotta worry about it!"

Levia: "But this is ALMACA we're talking about, their CEO is a total nutcase. Are you sure that he hasn't set up some kind of trap? Or maybe that place is just a decoy to lure us in for some kind of big 'Fuck you' attack?"

L'étranger: "That, my guy, is Ziggy's job to worry about."

Levia: "...Okay, that sounds reasonable. I'm not sure of what he can do about their security, but I don't really care enough to worry about it."

L'étranger: "...Levia, can I talk to you in private for a second?"

Once they stepped away from the others, she wrapped her arm around his head, pulled it closer, and whispered: "Listen to me, Damien. The others don't know about this, but this is your final mission."

Levia: "Your final one? What's going to happen?"

L'étranger: "If it goes smoothly, then no one will have to remember you, but if we were to fuck it up at any point, then no one will be left to remember you."

Levia: "...You can't be serious."

L'étranger: "Dead serious. I know it's been struggling to invest into anything after Sabrine's death but if you know what you want, then just this once, give us everything you can."

Levia: "...I'll see what I can do about it."

Meanwhile, Jake was preparing himself for his big journey and he was granted a backpack, courtesy of Imogen, with enough space to hide Corna's head inside and that entire time, he kept pondering about who Murmur was exactly, what kind of person she was, and whether or not she'd remember him. He couldn't help but blame himself for her death and doubt began festering inside him regarding whether or not the revival plan would go smoothly. Those thoughts, among many others, refused to let him be for even a moment, forcing him to curl up in dog form and quietly let his tears flow.

Elsewhere, Murmur was perched atop a tall building, watching civilians go about their day. Inexplicably, She felt that something was badly askew, so she put her hands on her eyes and muttered: "Alright, my subjects, show me what you see." and started going through the eyes of every pigeon in the world like security cameras until she saw Jake in his travels. She thought to herself: "That's '⨁⨄⨮⨨⨈⨇⨊⨎⨥⨂⨀⨇⨭⨹⪦', Corna's companion. Where is he going, I wonder? Let's get closer..."

The pigeon she was using to see flew closer to him and landed on his back pack. She thought: "A quick way to know where someone is going is by looking at the contents of their luggage. How many clothes are they packing? Is there any food and How much is there? Things like that. Let's see..."

She poked the pigeon's head inside and was shocked to see what it was hiding, sending her to a fit of rage and frustrated stomping, exclaiming: "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! How?! Why do you have someone who loves you so much that they're trying to revive you?! Why?! What makes you any different than I am?! FUCK! FUCK! I'll be damned if I let her get away with this!"

She then sprouted wings and flew off as fast as she could.

Fiftieth Feather:

Plucked