BEYOND 3A: BloodRed and ScaleBlack

The Sixty-Third Feather: Black Tar Soda

Let's leave those two to their problems for the time being and switch back to Levia and Yoko, who were still wandering deep inside the hauntingly-empty amusement park. Yoko tried to keep a certain distance away from Levia, due to still being shocked by what she saw him do to that clown demon, just close enough to be protected by him but far enough to not be his brunch for the day. Some more time of aimless walking passed and Yoko finally said something: "Hey-"

Levia: "AH! Jesus!"

Yoko: "Why did you get scared? I didn't do anything!"

Levia: "Since when were you following me?"

Yoko: "What?! You forgot I was with you?!"

Levia: "...I...Guess? I don't feel very okay, like, up here. It's getting harder for me to remember things, too."

Yoko: "Do you remember the clown demon?"

Levia: "...The what?"

Yoko: "What about Hell-Thunder?"

Levia: "Hell... Huh?"

Yoko: "Oookaaay, do you at least remember getting struck by lightning three times?"

Levia: "Is that why I smell like a burning corpse?"

Yoko: "...Well, it's not like you're the only one with brain issues, we're all a little loose in the head due to not sleeping for the better part of a month."

Levia: "Y-yeah, that must be it. Yeah..."

Yoko: "Well, anyway, are we any closer to getting out of here?"

Levia: "I... I don't think so... I don't know where we are right now..."

Yoko: "Oh, well that's just great! Now we're both lost!"

"I might be able to help you with that." proposed a feminine, yet raspy voice, coming from behind. They both turned around, ready to defend themselves, and saw Caitlyn.Yoko warned her: "You better not try anything funny! I've got lightning and I know how to use it!"

Caitlyn: "Calm down, both of you. I'm not here to pick a fight. I'm just searching for my father."

Yoko: "Oh, I guess we have similar goals then, I'm also looking for two people. You said you could help us, right? How, exactly?"

Caitlyn: "I'll keep things brief and simple. We're in a supernatural maze and the only way out is through jarring churches. There's more context, but this is what you need to know, essentially."

Yoko: "Hold on, how do you know that?"

Caitlyn: "I ran into some horned kid eating cotton candy earlier, he filled me in on what was going on."

Yoko: "Wait, he knew what was going on?! Why didn't he tell us?!"

Caitlyn: "Perhaps you didn't ask him about it."

Yoko: "...fair enough. So, we just need to find a church?"

Caitlyn: "Ones that look out of place. Each one of us has to go through five to escape, according to him."

Yoko: "Well, I haven't gone through any churches, so I guess I'm still on square one. What about you, Levia?"

Levia: "..."

Yoko: "LEVIA!"

Levia: "A-AH! What? What?"

Yoko: "Have you gone through any churches?"

Levia: "Uhhh, yeah, just one..."

Yoko: "Looks like you're one step farther than us. Let's go look around some more."

Caitlyn: "It shouldn't be too far from here by now."

And with that, the trio pressed onward into the lifeless park.

Eventually, they did actually find it, but it was locked, similar to Murmur and Killakee's situation. Levia moved Yoko aside, who was trying to force the door open, and pulled his knife out of his mouth to cut the door in half. But before he could do that, Caitlyn stopped him and said: "Hold on, if you destroy the door then we'll all be trapped here. Try to stick that knife through the gap between the doors and cut the lock."

Levia: "...That sounds easy enough..."

Taking her advice, he stuck his knife in and cut down with all his strength, successfully unlocking the door. Yoko sighed: "Phew, and here I thought we'd have to go searching for a key!"

Levia quietly walked through the door and shut it behind him, but when Yoko tried to go, Caitlyn stopped her. She alerted her: "Don't go through just yet."

Yoko: "Umm, why?"

Caitlyn: "You might get bundled up again with that monster."

Yoko: "I get what you mean, but either him or the other demons roaming around."

Caitlyn: "What's your name?"

Yoko: "Yoko Santo. And you?"

Caitlyn: "Caitlyn Bantra. Listen, Yoko, there's a certain skill that people learn that lets them smell a Beyonder's energy and determine its properties. I don't have that skill, but as a Shifter, I can smell his Beyonder stench without needing to try."

Yoko: "So you're telling me not to go with him because he stinks?"

Caitlyn: "No, there's a massive buildup of energy inside him, like a shaken can of soda waiting to explode. It's best that we let him wander on his own for our safety."

Yoko: "Yeah, you don't need to tell me twice. You should've seen how feral he was acting earlier. He devoured an entire clown demon and forgot about it later! Hell, he forgot I was with him in the first place!"

Caitlyn: "Glad to see that we're on the same page. We should be able to enter safely now."

Yoko: "Oh, are you sure he's gone far enough? It's only been a few seconds."

Caitlyn: "Trust me, he's forgotten all about us by now."

Yoko: "Yeesh, I feel sorry for the guy, suffering from dementia this early into his life."

And once they stepped through, they found themselves at a rainy beach decorated by countless unsettling mannequins. They analysed their surroundings and saw that Levia was walking into the water silently, as if he was possessed by a ghost. Yoko commented: "I'm starting to think this is much more than dementia now."

"Leave him to it, our priority is to find who we're looking for and escape. Let him drown himself if he wants to."

Yoko: "Yeah, no arguments from me."

The two of them carried on with their venture, and Levia was left to his own world.

Sixty-Third Feather:

Plucked