Chapter Text
Everything and everyone was frozen, their limbs locked in place as they stood and stared. Pomnis eyes were glued to the bright white light, which shut off suddenly, leaving them all in darkness. She had never witnessed silence so… all consuming, tense, thick and… stagnant?
Behind her, the doors to the console room swung back open, the makeshift stars in the sky glimmering into the room.
Jax was the first to move, picking up the basket from the console and staring at it with those dilated eyes of his. “What a bad prize.” He said, face contorting in something grossed out as he dropped the basket on the ground and spun around in his usual animated manner— he was smiling, but not as manically as had been moments before, instead his grin was tense and, dare Pomni say, frail.
“Wow—That's… all you have to say?” Zooble asked, finally looking up from where they were staring at the buttons, limbs clicking and clacking as they flew around in an annoyed yet stunned manner.
“Jax…” Ragatha muttered, eyes wide and filled with tears, “why?” She asked, voice shaking and echoing throughout the room.
“I… thought you would want to leave— why don't you want to leave?” Gangle asked, her ribbons shaking as one of her tear drops dropped to the floor with a splash then regenerated just as the other one rushed to the ground.
Jax remained silent then sighed and began walking, passing everyone and heading straight to the checkered pathway.
He was running away— Again.
“No,” Pomni muttered. She heard the footsteps come to halt before turning around and eyeing Jax. “You don't get to walk away from this,” she hissed, “not this time.”
“I’ve already said everything I have to say so just quit it.” Jax said, grin wide, face blank.
“Well I haven't!” Pomni exclaimed, “you… you can't just do that! What if that was our way out?”
“It wasn't."
“What if it was though?" She reiterated.
“It,” —he took a step forward— "wasn't." —and another until he was near enough toe to toe with her.
He expanded his arms in a wild gesture— "That's what you should be focused on! We. Cant. Leave! There is no way out!” Now the maniacal laugher was back— “Caine got in my head! He— he—” His words flooded into roars of laughter that had him holding his chest— “F'boink'K!” He exclaimed as his breathing became more like desperate gasps for air, then, he screwed his eyes, whose pupils were the size of pinpricks, shut and went horrifyingly silent.
That blank smile etched across his face as he opened his eyes again, revealing dilated enlarged pupils. It was like he had done a whole 180. “Im taking a nap, see you losers.” He said before taking off out the door.
“Hey— no! Don't walk away Jax, not again!” Pomni screamed her voice echoing into silence as he continued to walk away— “R—running away again huh! You—you're a wimp! A wimp Jax, do you hear me!?” She screamed at one last ditch attempt— it didn't work, “respond to me— D'boink'N IT!”
Nothing. Absolutely nothing—
“What the heck was that!” Pomni yelled, “hey! I'm talking to you!” Jax continued walking down the checkered floor until he made it to Caine's office. “Coward!” She screamed. He stopped for a second, then casually shut the door behind himself, leaving everyone in stunned silence.
“Oh my God— what a d—” Zooble started only to get cut off by Ragatha.
“Okay lets—” Ragatha took a deep shaky breath, “lets just— relax— and take this one step at a time! We'll all be okay!” She exclaimed hand on Gangle and Pomnis backs as she led them towards the exit, herding them like a mother hen.
‘Optimism,’ Pomni thought, ‘always Ragatha go to solution.’ She flinched away from the touch, not having the energy to argue so she simply walked, and walked and walked until they came to a dead end— the slide they had slid down.
Jax was there, staring at it, annoyed as he poked and prodded at the walls as if he were expecting a secret door. “Does he expect us to climb up this thing or what—” Suddenly a portal opened up at the side of the room and he laughed. “Guess that answered its own question!”
Pomni followed him through. He immediately left the main area, heading to the hallway of rooms and she didn't have it in her to call out or follow— right now, everything felt like it was too much and her head was buzzing with roaring thoughts and questions— so many questions— and emotions that thundered in her skull and her stomach and— just everywhere!
All consuming, like bugs on her skin, digging into every essence of her digital code— infecting it.
She found herself mechanically sitting down on the blue couch, breathing unsteadyly as she stared at a black square on the ground, and continued to look and look and look—
She sensed the others— Ragatha trying to talk to her, Gangle crying softly and Zooble comforting her— but it didn't seem to mean anything to her brain.
The rage was shaky like static in her head as she stared and stared and stared. Eventually the thoughts stopped coming but the feeling continued to bubble— rage, confusion, sadness, grief, and a million other things she couldn't identify, all mixed into one.
Then the exhaustion came and she realised she should probably move, so she shifted uncomfortably before finally taking her eyes from that checkered piece and looking up.
“Pomni!” A voice exclaimed— it was Kinger calling from his pillow fort, a wide smile on his face, “hi! I've been trying to get your attention!” He said, waving his disconnected hands rapidly.
“Oh uh— hi…” she said, giving the chesspiece a small smile, “did you uh… need something?”
“I was wondering if you could come and get some lights with me so I can decorate— maybe some new pillows as well, and plants! They're always fun!” He rambled as he stood up, smile soft, eyes shut.
The old man looked joyful, innocent and downright wholesome as if nothing had ever gone wrong— and well she guessed that was how Kinger acted in his current mindset in a nutshell.
It made Pomni uncomfortable— it was like he was pretending and masking, just like Ragatha with her optimism or Jax with his funny guy persona, but she knew in his case he couldn't help it, and she found it kind of… sad.
“It's either that or sit in my room so uh sure?” Pomni said mechanically standing up from the couch and following him as his cloak gracefully dragged across the ground and he walked with a sort of skip in his step. “Where… do you find the lights?”
“The light room of course!” He said, "It's quite a walk but I find walks nice— plus I can imagine you haven't had the chance to explore— do you like to explore, Pomni?”
“I uh— yeah I guess I do.” She shrugged.
Kinger carried the conversation there, talking about how his favourite place was his pillow fort and saying many reasons why he liked it. When he repeated stuff about things like the softness of his favourite pillow, she couldn't bring herself to tell him he had already said that so she continued nodding out of politeness.
Eventually, after who knows how long, they made it to the light room. The door was plain like anyone else and when Kinger opened it, it revealed a dimly lit room of different kinds of soft lights.
“Let's try them out!” He exclaimed, stepping in and Pomni nodded, humming as he excitedly rambled about lights.
They ended up with several string butterfly themed lights to lug back with them but even when he had picked them out he wouldn't stop looking.
“I have lots of places to show you! I can take you on a tour tonight if you'd like?” Kinger asked, hand landing on her shoulder snapping her out of her daze, which was locked on the firefly light she figured Kinger had been talking about.
Pomni gave him a polite smile. “...maybe another time?” She asked, fidgeting with her gloved fingers, “im… tired after everything.”
“But we don't need to sleep in this place? The night is ours for the taking Pomni!” He exclaimed.
“It's not… that type of tired…”
“Like an… everlasting mental exhaustion?” He asked.
She nodded averting her gaze and clamping her mouth shut, not trusting herself to speak. “Something like that…” she managed to squeak out once the silence drew out too long.
Kinger clicked the light off so only the glow in the dark parts remained. “Is this about the adventure?” She blinked as he continued, “sorry I remember now… it didn't go well, did it?”
She stared at the faint glow in the dark light in the corner and shook her head. “No… it didn't— it really didn't Kinger…” She said voice changing to a cry.
“Oh Pomni…” He said crouching down and opening his arms. She hesitated and then let out another sob, running into them and squeezing tightly.
“I know, I know,” he hushed, rubbing her back, “let it out.”
“We can't leave!” She exclaimed, everything overflowing, “we're trapped and— I don't know what to do— I'm scared Kinger! I'm scared! This— this all feels so wrong!” She said, burying her head into Kinger's cloak.
“It'll be okay,” Kinger said holding on tighter, “it… might not seem like it right now but trust me… we'll figure this out.”
Pomni continued to sob. “I don't want to stay here! I don't want to abstract!” She exclaimed, “C—Caine causes them he— he causes them Kinger! That's what you implied back there—”
Kinger held Pomni a bit tighter, eyes wide. “Listen Pomni, abstraction… it's not what they intended it to be— the coding was never finished. Caine was always intended to have the power to kickstart it under certain circumstances however there were never limits added, meaning he can do it as he sees fit. With me so far?”
Pomnis’ eyes narrowed and she hesitantly nodded. “Yes but… who do you mean by they?”
Kinger straightened, eyes creased in guilt. “Pomni…” His voice led to nothing— he couldn't seem to get the words out— then their surroundings warped from dullness to the Circus’ brightly coloured walls.
‘What—’ She thought before turning around and seeing Caine above them, snapping his fingers and summoning the others— first Zooble and Gangle, then Ragatha, then Jax.
Zooble let out an array of cuss words while Jax was summoned seemingly while laying on something. His body remained mid air for a second as he stared at the ceiling, then his eyes widened as he plummeted to the floor.
Gangle stuck to Zoobles’ side, while Ragatha looked over Pomni and immediately crouched down to check on her. Pomni barely noticed as she stared up at Kinger, whose eyes were dazed and unclear—
“Are you okay?” Ragatha worried, yet all Pomni could do was turn and stare back at her with wide eyes, “you look like you've been crying.”
Pomni rubbed away the remainder of her tears. “I—I'm fine,” she said before looking up at Kinger, “Kinger helped…” She smiled, “in fact… he was about to say something…” She said fidgeting.
“Say—uh—what now?!” Kinger asked, pupils darting around as he cocked his chesspiece head to the side.
Pomni sighed as Ragatha frowned. She shuffled uncomfortably before looking back up at Caine, who was in the middle of being cussed out by Zooble.
“Nevermind I guess I'll have to try and get it out of him later—” Pomni said, voice quieter now.
“Get a who out of a what?” Kinger asked.
Pomni smiled, expression shaky. “Dont worry about it.”
It was… fine. She could get it out of him, all she needed was a dark space. She drew her focus back to Caine, who was looping around in the air— “I have another adventure planned! Even funner, bigger and amazinger than the last!” He exclaimed, straightening his bow tie. “Let's take…” he waved his hands in the air in the shape of a rainbow revealing white letters that danced in the air— “A Trip Down Memory Lane!”