BEYOND 3A: BloodRed and ScaleBlack

The Fifty-Eighth Feather: Satan, The Cat God

Let's see what someone else is up to, now. In a place that can best be described as a complete post-apocalyptic hellscape, Levia inexplicably appeared out of thin air. Before he even acknowledged his surroundings, he muttered: "Fuck... I disappeared for three hours this time... That's twice as long as last time... At least someone recalled me early into this disaster... Now, where am I? Last time...Fuck, I can't remember... I was in my home with the cat, then... I was erased from existence again... Everything feels like it's in ruins, did a nuke go off on our heads or something? I guess the second time's the charm. I'm assuming everyone else died instantly, so... I guess I'll just go home."

He then crossed his arms and used his chopsticks ability to dash at an incredibly high speed in a random direction, hoping to reach the end of the area of effect of the presumed nuclear blast.

He ran for nearly half an hour until he came across a single, unaffected Church. Out of curiosity, Levia approached it and pushed its doors open, revealing not the interior of a church, but what appeared to be an infinite landscape covered by shallow, ankle-height water under a beautiful, starry night sky. A little farther ahead from the door was a white cat. Levia approached it and muttered: "Killakee? You're not dead?"

The Cat: "Close, but you're mistaking me for someone else."

Levia: "...Now that I'm closer, you look way too crude to be a normal cat."

The Cat: "Scathing."

Levia: "Who, or rather what, are you?"

The Cat: "I'm known by many names. Some call me God, and some call me the Devil, some call me justice, and some call me cruelty, some say I know everything, and some say I don't know anything. But since we're best friends, you can refer to me on a first name basis. Call me... hmm... Satan."

Levia: "Satan, huh? Not really helping your case, but I don't really care."

Satan: "Of course, you've never cared about anything. You haven't even peeped how I referred to us as best friends even though it's the first time we've met face to face."

Levia: "...That's true, I didn't notice that. I'm guessing there's more depth to that than what it seems?"

Satan: "Yes. You, Leviathan, are such a fascinating little anomaly. You're a Beyonder who was mutated by Petrosapien bones and ended up developing a power that wasn't meant to exist, or rather, shouldn't be allowed to exist; the power to eat fellow Beyonders and use their abilities to your heart's content. That mutation, although mostly coincidental, allowed you to become somewhat of a vessel for me. A messiah, perhaps."

Levia: "A vessel? Messiah? You've completely lost me. What are you trying to say?"

Satan: "What am I trying to say? Hmmm, I guess you're fed up with 'riddle speak' at this point, hm? Well, a little more than a year ago, one of my children instructed a maiden of fate to steer you into collecting my scattered fragments. Is that enough of a hint for you?"

Levia: "Maiden of fate...? Do you mean... Sabrine?"

Satan: "Bingo. Now, ask me what a maiden of fate is."

Levia: "What's a maiden of fate?"

Satan: "I'm so glad you asked completely unprompted. A maiden of fate is, simply, a chosen someone who is inescapably tied to their fate to fulfil a purpose greater than themselves. And in the case of your late Sabrine, that purpose was to make you my vessel."

Levia: "What are you-"

Satan: "Talking about? I dunno, you tell me. You've seen everything she went through before she passed. Hell, the only reason she died is because you digested her into nothing in your cocoon."

Levia: "What are you trying to say?! You're saying that Sabrine was being controlled by someone?! That she was doomed to die from the beginning?! And what the hell is this 'grand purpose' bullshit anyway?! Why would making me your vessel justify killing her?!"

Satan: "Pass the blame on me, like everyone else does. Honestly, consider it just bad luck that you fell in love with a maiden of fate, that one was just a heartbreak waiting to happen, same thing with that woman who nurtured you in your larval stage."

Levia: "...Mother? Was she... Was she one of those as well?!"

Satan: "Ding ding ding, correct. She was also a maiden of fate, meant to lead you down the path meant for you."

Levia: "You... You made her do this to me, then?! You made her turn me into a Nameless?!"

Satan: "Again, passing the blame to me. Leviathan, I haven't touched nor interacted with a single thing on the earth since I came to exist. As far as you should be concerned, I am not your enemy."

Levia: "If you're not the one who ruined our lives, smartass, then who else?!"

Satan: "How should I know? Do I look omniscient to you?"

Levia: "Bastard..."

Satan: "Let's make one thing clear, though, everything that has led you to this moment can't be blamed on a single entity. It was many, many lines of domino pieces that eventually connected to the same line. That line is your fate and the purpose of your existence."

Levia: "...So what? Am I just supposed to chalk it up to bad luck?! Whoops! Everyone I know and love died horrific deaths! I must've walked under a ladder!"

Satan: "I dunno, maybe."

Levia: "...?!"

Satan: "Point is, you'll come to understand the deeper reasons for why you were chosen as my vessel, but for now, I'll leave you to wallow in what you think your purpose is at the moment. You'll need to until your metamorphosis is complete. Let me ask you something, though, a bit of a departing riddle for you; When you die, where will you go and what will you leave for who?"

Levia: "...I want to go where my Mother and Sabrine are."

Satan: "I'm afraid that's not only an incomplete answer, but also a wrong one. Unfortunately, they are both somewhere you will never reach, even if you successfully kill yourself."

Levia: "... I know, but sometimes the only thing that can keep me going is an impossible fantasy."

Satan: "...I understand. We'll meet again, once you grow up a little more. Take that door to your left, it should lead you to someone you want to find."

Levia: "I get it. By the way, where the hell am I?"

Satan: "You're in a maze in which both space and time are contorted. That is all you need to know."

Levia: "Is it all I need to know or what you're willing to tell me?"

Satan: "Oh my me, I'm becoming predictable. Go on, Leviathan, let's see where your fate leads you."

Upon stepping through the door, he found himself in what appeared to be an amusement park.

Fifty-Eighth Feather:

Plucked