Chapter Text
Knock knock knock.
Ragatha knocked exactly three times at Pomni's door. It's been three days since the jester arrived, and Ragatha was still worried over her. Pomni's first days in the Circus were a lot. And by a lot, she means that, only minutes after arriving, she had discovered the, arguably, worst thing that could happen to them here. That is, what happens when you reach your breakpoint. She had, quite literally, been chased down and attacked by an abstracted Kaufmo.
Ragatha was in her right to fuss over her a bit. Not too much though, she didn't want to scare her.
Besides, it wasn't so weird of her to check on the newcomers. Things like making sure they adjust well to this digital place were right down her alley.
The door opened, and Pomni peeked her head out. Gosh, her avatar was so cute. The way those big pinwheel eyes looked at her reminded her of a cat. Ragatha wondered if Pomni would be as cute in the real world.
"Good morning, Pomni! Hope you had sweet dreams tonight! Especially after yesterday's candy adventure!" she cheered, moving her shoulder in a shake motion.
Pomni stared at her, unmoving, and furrowed her eyes just a bit. Ragatha didn't understand why. Was the small shoulder shimmy too much? Or was her comment out of place? All in all, the Candy Kingdom adventure had been a decent one, and, right at the end, Pomni had looked like she was beginning to grow used to the Circus. She had even left with a new friend — a friend who Caine had puffed not even a minute later after crossing the portal back.
Definitely not the topic to be greeted with first thing in the morning.
Ragatha's smile flattened awkwardly. "Shall we get going? Everyone's already up for today."
Pomni nodded and left her room, closing the door behind her. They walked in silence towards the hall, and, true to Ragatha's word, the cast of mismatched and wacky figures was waiting in the lounge area. Gangle sat against the arm of one of the couches, sketching on her notepad. Zooble was beside her, on another couch, as they argued with Jax just beside them. Kinger was on the floor playing with a bug.
"Hey guys, what are y'all up to?" Ragatha waved.
Jax completely ignored her, "Look who's up! Thought you didn't make it, kid." He stood up from the couch and patted Pomni on the head. The jester immediately recoiled and stepped away.
"I'm not a kid. And I'm fine, thank you," she grumbled.
"Sure kiddo," he ignored her and turned to Ragatha. "Thank God dollface was here to check you didn't choke on your sleep or something."
"We can't exactly choke here, Jax," Ragatha retorted. Although, in her mind, she wondered if she was being too overprotective over Pomni. Was she being overbearing?
"Oh! Have you held your breath yet, Pomni?" Kinger asked.
"Why would I do that?"
"Great idea, Kinger! Let's see what she does." Jax chimed. Pomni looked weirdly at him and then at Ragatha to check if she should follow along with the suggestion.
"It's gonna be fine, Pomni," Ragatha reassured. She would be lying if she said she wasn't curious too.
Pomni caved into the peer pressure. "Fine, but this is stupid."
Pomni held her breath, and, in mere seconds, her face turned blue.
"It's blue! I like blue," Kinger exclaimed.
Pomni looked perturbed, pupils so small that they'd soon turn to scribbles. It reminded Ragatha of the way she had looked when she first entered the circus — panicky over discovering she was now much more like a cartoon character than a human.
Poor thing.
Ragatha forced herself to stay put and not interrupt. There was no harm in this. If she said something, she would risk coming off as overbearing.
"My face was blue?"
"Yes it was, Now do it again. I wanna see what happens next," Jax rushed her, shooing away Pomni's worries.
Ragatha frowned a bit. That was no way to treat anyone in that situation. However, as soon as she noticed that Pomni didn't look annoyed at the order, she relaxed.
Pomni went again: she took a big breath and puffed her cheeks. In seconds, her face turned blue again. She didn't last longer than before, and, eventually, she gasped for air.
"I can't hold it any longer," she whined.
"Sure you can. We can't die from oxygen deprivation, remember?" Jax continued to pressure with a grin on his face.
"But, it still feels like I'm gonna die."
"Try not thinking about it." Kinger suggested.
"Or you could toughen up!" He approached the jester and grabbed one arm, pulling it with glee as it stretched longer than what would be logical. "I wanna see what your funny cartoon body does."
Now that was excessive. Ragatha cut in, pulling away his hand, "Hey, take it easy."
Pomni's arms stretched back into its normal form with a loud rubbery sound.
" 'Ooh, take it easy!' That's you," Jax mocked her, impersonating Ragatha's words in a more condescending tone.
She didn't sound like that, did she?
"All right. Here I go," Pomni announced, seemingly unfazed by Jax's antics. Maybe Ragatha was exaggerating, after all.
That's two wrongs in less than a day. Good job, Ragatha.
Pomni visibly inhaled a big breath of air.
After a few seconds, her face, once again, turned blue. Her cheeks were very round and puffed, in a way that made her look like a cute hamster — at least in Ragatha's eyes. The sight was enough to make her smile again, albeit less forced than before.
Pomni's face slowly turned into a soft pink, then red, and, almost immediately, shifted to orange.
She seemed to focus a lot more on keeping her breath, visibly trembling from the effort. Her face shifted into a bright yellow that smoothly faded into green.
"Whoa, look!" Kinger chimed in, bowing down to be at Pomni's eye level. "Now she's turning blue!"
"She was already blue," Zooble retorted unamusedly.
Pomni's face rapidly changed colors until she couldn't hold on any longer. She loudly exhaled, huffing and puffing as she tried to catch her breath.
"Huh. Guess the hue shift just gets faster," Ragatha stated, summarizing the experiment.
"Why am I the one doing this?" Pomni asked Ragatha, pointing at herself. Her left eye twitched in annoyance as she turned and demanded the other circus members. "Why not one of you guys?"
"Because something different happens with each person!" Jax cheerfully explained, amused with this place's dynamics. "For instance, Kinger starts glowing, Ragatha's hair noodles stick up, Gangle's mask starts spinning. And Zooble turns straight."
Zooble immediately scoffed at Jax, clarifying that only their limbs straighten up. Pomni questioned Jax about his reaction, yet he refused to answer under the guise of 'keeping the mystery alive'. Ragatha wanted to roll her eyes at that.
Out of nowhere, Caine popped up, turning all attention to him, "Why is everybody just standing around when there's ADVENTURE to be had?"
Unbeknownst to everyone, Zooble slid away from the scene.
The ringmaster introduced The Mystery of Mildenhall Manor adventure, one where they had to investigate a spooky mansion with plenty of paranormal activity while solving the house's deep mysteries. And also capture all the ghost activity that they could. He opened the portal and urged them to go into the fractal noise.
They entered a dimly lit hall, decorated with what appears to be family pictures and some mounted chandeliers. Overall, the mansion had an old Victorian ambience, typical of ghost stories.
It's been a while since they've been on a terror-themed adventure, and Ragatha is somewhat excited for how it's going to turn out. Sure, she didn't revel in being chased by the killer or having their lives, potentially, put at risk, but she would be lying if she didn't admit that she somewhat enjoyed the spooky stuff.
It sent her heart racing, her mind focused on only one thing and not other bad thoughts. It had a weird grip on her, the controlled pain. She's been on so many adventures that they didn't really terrify her anymore, as she well knew that they're NPCs. And the maps Caine prepares for them have a certain charm to them.
Her eyes wandered through the mansion.
"Oh, this place is spooky," she declared excitedly. Maybe this one could be fun. She looked down at Pomni, who was walking by her side, and added, wriggling her shoulder a bit. "I wonder how hard Caine's gonna go with the scare-factor?"
Pomni gazes up at her anxiously, shoulders up and twisting her hands.
"I hope this adventure doesn't end up being another horrible nightmare." She did a lookover of the place, and her pupils shrank, then, she gave Ragatha an uneasy grin. "I'm not really a fan of horror, and I don't really handle jumpscares that well."
Ragatha felt really sorry for her. Not even a day could go by without her undergoing something traumatic. This time, maybe, she could help somehow. She didn't get really scared by these things, so she could protect Pomni! That's it, she silently bowed to alleviate whatever grievance Pomni had today, utterly decided to break her bad luck streak.
"Boo!" Jax jumped right in front of Pomni. The suddenness made her jerk away by instinct as she put her palm up defensively. Ragatha was completely unimpressed by Jax's antics.
Jax chuckled at the jester's reaction.
"Come on! That wasn't even scary. What, you scared of the…" He pulled out a vacuum cleaner and brought it close to her face as he teased, "vacuum cleaner, too?"
One look at Pomni's troubled face and Ragatha was acting before she could think it twice.
"Hey, be nice to her." She moved in front of Pomni and pushed the vacuum away. Then, she put her hands on her hips and, albeit softly, reminded him. "She's had a rough couple of days."
Jax rolled his eyes, "Her and everyone else. Right, Gangle?"
They had stopped in the next room, which would've been a dead end were it not for the two doors at the end of the wall. The room had kept the same aesthetic as before, except for some paintings that were a tad more creepy, some even seemingly looking at them. One in particular reminded Ragatha of an abstraction. It made her grow wary of what Caine had planned for today.
A mysterious giggling reverberated through the air. Its high-pitchedness sent a shiver up Ragatha's spine.
"Does anybody hear that?" Gangle questioned.
The giggling grew louder. Ragatha was searching the room for the source of the voice when deep green plasma materialized. It had shiny big eyes and a long set of teeth. It stares at them, creepily snickering.
Pomni screamed in terror, her eyes quite literally popping out of her face.
The ghost shrunk and transformed into a round and soft green creature, almost shaped like a drop. Their eyes were round and friendly, and they introduced themselves as their guide, Ghostly. They even did a little flip that Ragatha found cute. With a guide like this, it meant that she could let her guard down for now.
Pomni's eyes plopped down to the ground. She picked them up and wondered aloud why they weren't going back in. Ragatha pitied her. One could never get fully used to the cartoon logic and what it did to their bodies. It was an uncanny feeling.
At her side, Kinger softly chuckled and took one of Pomni's eyes out of her hands, putting it back into her eye socket. It popped out and fell to the ground. He's puzzled as to why they wouldn't retract, because they usually did that right away.
Ghostly ignored the situation and continued their explanation. They explain that, to continue the adventure, they had to choose one of the doors in front of them. The door on the left was the normal door, 'rated wow for all ages'. The one on the right was the scary door, 'rated AAAA for mature Zooble's only'. Zooble would've hated it.
Before he could finish the explanation, though, Jax turned on the vacuum and sucked the poor ghost into it. Ghostly cried painfully.
"Jax!" Ragatha scowled. There went their chance to have a nice and pleasant time. Why couldn't he behave for one adventure?
"What? I thought we were supposed to capture all the ghosts?" He shrugged.
Ragatha sighed, defeated. Although it was unwanted, Caine did say that they had to capture 'all the ghoulish ghost activity', so Jax kind of had a point there.
"Uhh... Which door should we choose?" Gangle asked Jax.
Ragatha was a bit conflicted. Personally, she would enjoy the scary door, but Pomni would have a bad time there. It would be best to compromise, and do the normal door so everyone could have fun. So at least Pomni could enjoy this adventure. Besides, there would be time for more terror themed adventures later.
"Hmm, not sure." Jax put his hand under his chin as he pondered the decision. He gazed back at Gangle, a devious smile forming. "Let's try this out."
In one move, he snatched Gangle's comedy masks and threw it directly at the scary door. Before impact, the door snarled and broke into pieces, revealing a rotten mouth beneath it. The door came to life and swallowed the comedy mask in one gulp. It grumbled, hungrily.
Ragatha looked back at Jax, unamused by his behavior. She stared at him, furrowing her eye, as she brought her arms up in a 'really?' motion. He made Gangle cry, again.
"Don't worry, Gangle! I'll get it for you!" Kinger exclaimed and then leapt right into the monster door. Unaware that he was still holding Pomni's eye, the jester got dragged behind him. She screamed, trying to grab hold of whatever could stop her fall, to no avail.
Ragatha stared in horror as Pomni was swallowed down. The door gulped, satisfied, and vanished, leaving an empty door frame behind that leads to the wall.
Ragatha was petrified, her eye widened. She had failed. She had just stood there while Pomni had been consumed by a monster. She miserably failed. Pomni was going to have a horrible time, and she had done nothing to stop it. She had just… stared.
"Oh, THAT's the scary door," Jax announced amusedly, as if the scene that unfolded hadn't impacted him at all.
Ragatha stared at him in disbelief. He was grinning. Ragatha couldn't make sense of it. She couldn't read anything else than entertainment in him, and that frustrated her to no end.
"Jax! Why did you do that?" she scolded, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Poor stuff doesn't deserve this again!"
"What? She's gonna be fiiiine. Besides, Kinger is with her. Don't you trust him?" He mocked. Jax leaned down at her, teasingly. Daring her to confess something horrid.
Ragatha frowned and groaned, crossing her arms and looking away. She loved the chess piece, but she couldn't trust him with this. The thought hurt. Ragatha had relied on Kinger since her first step in the Circus.
The truth is, Ragatha wanted to be the one Pomni would rely on. And it terrified her how much she had come to yearn for it, how selfish she was being.
"Guys… What should we do now?" Gangle questioned, putting an end to the forming argument.
"We would've known if SOMEONE didn't kill the guide." Ragatha retorted.
"Hey, I didn't kill anyone. It was already dead." He put his hands up to prove his innocence.
"You know what I mean!"
"Well, it seems to me that we only have ONE way to go." Jax pointed at the only door standing.
Ragatha didn't argue, maybe if they finished the adventure they could save, or meet, Pomni and Kinger. They opened the normal door without issues. As soon as they stepped in the next room, the lights flickered, which made Gangle squeal.
"Laaame!" Jax complained. "Let's go capture some ghosts"
"Shouldn't we be looking around for clues to solve the mystery?"
"Who cares?"
They're in the foyer now. The space was open and they could access every room from here. A big chandelier dropped from the tall ceiling, and a spiral staircase led to the second floor. However, the stairs had a big construction sign, warning visitors that the floor was too scary to go up.
Ragatha went ahead and searched the only open entryway. There seemed to be couches, so she guessed that it was the living room. It could be a good place to start, so she led the group there.
It had the same dimly lit aesthetics, yet it looked like someone hadn't lived there in ages, as the couches were full of dust and some furniture was under sheets. There's a big portrait on top of a chimney. It depicted a lady and a man standing by each other, serious. Judging by the rings on their hands, they were married.
"What do you think happened to them?" she wondered out loud.
"Isn't it obvious? They died,"Jax shrugged.
They decided to start with the room on the right. Once they set foot inside, it became clear that it was a nursery. It had sweet pastel colors all over the walls, although the paint had decayed with age. Over a corner a wooden crib was placed, a wooden wind chime with bees hanging over it and making a sweet, calming sound.
By the looks of the portraits scattered across the house, it didn't seem like this family had a child. Ragatha wondered if maybe they were expecting one before whatever happened to them occurred. The child could've grown in a household that clearly wanted them. The thought put a frail smile on Ragatah's face.
Ragatha picked up a train toy. It was one of those old models that contained lead paint. She assumed Caine didn't know what lead is, though. Suddenly, the sound of a baby's wails echoed through the walls.
"Is that you, crybaby?" Jax teased Gangle.
"I don't even sound like that…" she weakly protested.
As Ragatha turned back to face the other two, another ghost emerged from thin air. This ghost, too, was round-shaped and had a sweet green color. It had the same shape as the teddy bear Gangle had in her arms.
"Hello!" The teddy waved at them excitedly. It had a childish gleam on it. "It's been so long since we had visitors, would you like to play with me?"
"Yes, of course-" Ragatha's reply was cut off by the sound of a vacuum turning on.
The ragdoll stared at Jax incredulously, eyebrows raised in astonishment.
"What? It gave me the creeps," he excused himself. He grabbed Gangle by her ribbon arm and dragged her with him out of the room. "Let's get moving, losers."
The next room they entered was a bathroom. Its old tiles were covered in cracks, and mold grew in some places. As soon as they opened the door, a ghost came out of the toilet.
"Hello ther-" Jax vacuumed him before the sentence was finished. Ragatha groaned in frustration. They were never going to solve the mystery at this rate.
"Could you at least wait until they explain things first?" she grumbled, annoyance radiating from her features.
Jax gasped exaggeratedly, bringing a hand to his chest and feigning indignance. "And give them a chance to attack us? I didn't know you were into that stuff, dollface."
His cocky grin infuriated Ragatha. It was one thing to not take anything seriously—annoying, sure, but she was used to it—, but actively sabotaging their investigation was proving to be more exasperating.
"I'm not!" she refuted, one foot stomping on the floor while she curled her fingers into her hands. "I just want to follow the adventure!"
"How enthusiastic! Why don't we investigate the toilet then? That's where the ghost came from." His grin widened, as if malicious thoughts had just crossed his mind. "Gangle, would you do the honors?"
Gangle squeaked, surprised to be called at all, as she was quietly looking through the cabinets.
"Wh-why me?" she cried, cartoon tears big on her mask.
"Don't pick on her!" Ragatha jumped. In response, Jax raised an eyebrow, tempting Ragatha to correct his suggestion. The doll knew his idea was good. There could be something there, but forcing Gangle to do it was too mean. "I'll do it."
She didn't think before speaking. The thought of saving Gangle the struggle was more on her mind than her own discomfort of sticking her hand in some old-ass toilet.
She glanced at Jax, brows furrowed. He looked pleased with himself, still smiling big and innocently. Ragatha took a deep breath, telling herself to not think about it. She knelt in front of the toilet and, without hesitation, pummeled her right hand right into the water.
It was cold and-
"Eugh, why would you put your hand there, poopiehead?" Jax laughed behind her. She stood so fast that she almost stumbled on her feet. Indignation flared.
"I- You just told me to do it!"
"Guys, I think there's nothing in here." Gangle cut in.
"Good job ribbons. At least someone is working here." He smiled back at Ragatha.
Ragatha hoped Pomni was having a better time here than her.
They've been wandering for a while. The last room to check on this floor was the dinner room, which Ragatha assumed connects to the kitchen. There was a long table inside, a silhouette at the end of it, staring out of the window, its back at them.
"Is anybody here?" Ragatha announced her presence with trepidation.
The ghost craned its neck and, without moving its body, turned its face at them. Expecting the ghost to lunge at them, Ragatha stepped back into the doorway. The ghost stayed still, gazing curiously at the intruders. That's when Ragatha noticed something special about it… it was the ghost of the pretty lady from the portrait!
Jax lifted the vacuum, but, midway through the act, the lady caught his intentions. With a swing of her hand, rope came flying through the air and tied him up. He was finally restrained. Gangle gasped in surprise, shrieking away from Jax.
The lady stared at them menacingly, ready to pounce if they dared attack again.
"Hello there! Uhm... Please pardon our intrusion. We're here to investigate and capture some ghosts. Not you, of course, you're very lovely- I mean, your house is lovely!" Ragatha explained, her ramble involuntarily evolves into nervous laughter.
Gangle and Jax glanced at her, unimpressed by her fumble.
"Wow dollface, hold your pants."
Ragatha frowned at him.
The lady's expression softened. "You want to know what happened here? Oh dear, that's a long story. Let me make some tea first."
"And now you're getting a date? How lucky, Raggy!"
Ragatha rolled her eyes and pleaded to the ghost, "Can't you do something for that?"
"You don't want me to release him?" she inquired, brows raised in confusion. Ragatha profusely shook her head. She wanted one moment of peace. The lady pondered for a moment. "Sure, let me just…" Tape flew over them and stuck to Jax's mouth. "Please sit down, sweethearts. I'll be back in a clock tick."
Gangle and Ragatha shared a look and decided to just do as they were told. It's been a while since they could just sit down and enjoy an adventure. Besides, it has been even longer since they could keep Jax at arm's length.
The ghost lady came back from the kitchen with a set of teacups, a kettle, and two plates with a piece of cake.
"Thank you, um… ma'am."
"How inconsiderate of me! Not even introducing myself." The ghost sits down at the head of the table. "Please excuse my manners. I'm Martha Mildenhall. Make yourselves at home, sweethearts."
Ragatha didn't dare mention they had been wandering all day through the mansion already. Nevertheless, her politeness made Ragatha smile. She really enjoyed when the NPCs were nice to them, especially if they were as gorgeous as Martha was.
"No problem, Martha," she reassures, taking a bite of the cake. As expected, it tasted duller than what she remembered pastries like these tasted like. The ghost lady poured the tea from the kettle into their cups.
Ragatha grinned contently as she grabbed the steamy cup of tea. She took a sip and savored the familiar digital flavor. It wasn't as bad once you got used to it.
There was no doubt, if she were to decide, Ragatha would say that her favorite NPCs were the women. For no particular reason, though. She just appreciated their style and design, quite pleasant and pretty. On top of that, she always got a warm feeling every time they talked or gushed over her.
Women hyping up women, and all that. Nothing weird.
Ragatha wondered if Caine had noticed her love for lady NPCs. She sure had suggested some adventures full of women, more than once. But those were other times, when she was more.. lonely. Desperate.
"Sooo… where's your husband?" Ragatha inquired curiously. She stirred the spoon in her tea, even though it had no sugar.
She was pretty sure that Martha would explain it even if she didn't prompt her, but Ragatha has learned to like talking to NPCs. They're easy to talk to and -mostly- friendly and nice. She never had the trouble she had with her Circus members with them, really. And, to crown it all, they would forget if she said something weird unawarely.
"In Hell. He killed me," Martha stated, deadpanning. Ragatha almost dropped her spoon. "But it's fine, it was an accident."
How could something like that be an accident?
"What happened?" Gangle asked.
"Long story short, we had a creature haunting us," Martha said nonchalantly. Ragatha shot Gangle a surprised look, which wasn't returned. "He became obsessed with it, and, in a spree to protect me, he mistook me for the creature and shot me. No need to fret about it."
Martha brushed it off, but Ragatha couldn't imagine she'd forgive her husband for killing her so easily. Well, that may have had to do with the fact that she didn't really want a husband. Despite her mother fervently insisting on it, Ragatha had yet to see the appeal.
She did like the idea of having a partner, of being the number one for someone. The thought of someone caring for her, and her caring for them in return, was really enchanting. However, having to marry and being entangled with a man for all her life? Yep, not really as exciting.
Ragatha pushed away the thought. There was no need to dwell on a fantasy. Instead, she needed to focus on the present. "Aren't you mad at him?"
"I was, for a while," Martha revealed, particularly calm. She stared down at the ring on her hand, as if going down memory lane. "Most of all, I wish he would've talked to me before losing himself. I could've helped him..." Martha chuckled bitterly, "His mind was always his worst enemy."
Silence fell over them. Martha kept staring at her cup, she glanced at Gangle's and saw it had become empty. Her demeanor turned bright again.
"Let me get that, sweetie." Marta lifted the kettle and refilled Gangle's cup, who gave a small thanks in return.
Ragatha didn't know what to say. The conversation had taken an unexpected detour, one almost too real for the ragdoll. She was a bit uncomfortable, but kept her smile up.
She sipped her tea and decided to deflect the topic. "Mmm, good tea. Sorry again about your husband killing you, and everything."
She nervously stared at the ghost, hoping to get a happy reaction out of her.
"Oh, you know how men are." Martha's voice was almost sultry, it made Ragatha feel drawn to it. "Always having the silliest priorities."
Ragatha forced a chuckle. She looked over to her right, where, sure enough, the purple rabbit was still tied-up. "Don't I know it."
Jax tried to respond, but his protests came out muffled due to the tape. Ragatha felt a bit bad admitting she would miss it once they were back in the Circus.
"If your friends see him, I only hope he doesn't bore them to death with his endless monologues. That man could turn a 57-second story into a Greek tragedy."
Ragatha assured her that she would ask them next time she sees them, which, hopefully, would be sooner than later. Sensing that the conversation had died and they had successfully discovered the house's mystery, Ragatha stood up and waved Martha good bye.
Gangle followed suit, letting Ragatha drag Jax in the red wagon. Surprisingly, the door that they came from led them back to the main entrance, where a big 'congratulations' banner with Caine's face popped out of the air. It came with Caine's voice, too.
"CONGRATULATIONS, my little ironclad waffle cones! You've taken the PACIFIST ROUTE, and you should be proud of what good people you are! Unfortunately, we still need to wait until your other teammates finish their adventure before I can grant you permission to leave."
Gangle turned back to Ragatha. "I wonder how long that'll be?"
Then it hit Ragatha that Kinger and Pomni weren't back yet. She really, really hoped Pomni was having a great time today. If she had another traumatic experience, she may get disheartened with the Circus. They didn't need to enjoy every adventure, but, without it, they were prone to think too much, lose themselves, and just…abstract.
Would Pomni abstract so soon after arriving? The idea felt like a bucket of ice.
It was going to be fine, Ragatha told herself. If the normal door was anything to go by, the adventure wouldn't be so harsh on her. Maybe a bit scary, nothing too bad, hopefully. It would just have a teensy, but harmless, scary stuff.
Oh god, Pomni didn't like horror!
Ragatha started to wriggle her hands anxiously. The wait was killing her. She looked around the room for something to distract her.
"Hey Gangle, isn't that a nice painting?" She pointed to the drawing on top of the door, trying to make small talk to pass the time.
"Uh… I guess. I'm not a fan of the style," Gangle replied, unsure and confused.
Ragatha shut up after that. That had been too awkward.
The silence only brought a swarm of thoughts.
Pomni's terrified expression was latched onto her mind, repeating itself. Ragatha felt horrible for forgetting about her until now. What's more, she felt absolutely terrible for not having acted to save her.
So much for protecting her…
How would she look at Pomni when she comes back? Would Pomni even want to look at her? She could be hating her right now.
No. Ragatha needed to stop. This excessive fretting over the jester was creepy, and weird. Pomni had hinted that she didn't want to be treated as a kid. All the attention must be overwhelming.
Had she been too much? Was she too much?
"So, umm, Gangle… want to play ball or something?" she suggested, hating the quiet. She fidgeted with the bottom of her dress, desperate for something to take her mind off it, if only a little.
Gangle slowly blinked. "I don't know how to throw. Or bat."
"Oh!" Ragatha wanted to crawl into a hole. "Don't worry. Forget I asked! Let's just… uh, wait for Pomni and Kinger instead."
Ragatha could feel a muffled snicker coming from behind her.
However, she turned to stare at the main door. Silence once again flooding the air.
Now that she had time to think, recollections of her interactions from today flashed through her conscience, as if they were a photo album. Each photo hammered against her mind, smacking a nail of mortification.
Her doing some kind of sad attempt of shoulder shimmy while talking about 'spooky'. Or when she had gone to get Pomni just this morning and she had made fun of her dead gummy friend. It made Ragatha recoil and shake her head to get rid of them.
And what about when she had stood stuck on her feet at Pomni being, literally, dragged to Hell? What if that experience was so horrible that it sent Pomni right at her breaking point and the next time she saw her it would be as a glitched black monster?
Ragatha's breaths became shallow. It would be Ragatha's fault if Pomni abstracted. She hadn't done anything right to help her.
Ragatha heard the sound of a door unlocking behind her. She quickly turned, just in time as Pomni and Kinger walked out of it. She checked them over, looking for any kind of indicator that something was wrong.
"Oh, Pomni! Kinger!" she excitedly waved at them. She didn't wait to recompose herself and hide her worry. "Are you guys okay? Was it scary?"
"I'm fine, actually," Pomni stated, quite calm, which surprised both her and Ragatha. Pomni being peaceful was unusual, afterall, but Ragatha sighed in relief, tension leaving her body. Pomni stopped in her tracks and pointed back at Jax. "What happened up here?"
Ragatha panicked as her mind scrambled to find an excuse. "Uh… don't worry about that!"
Kinger, unaware of the situation, interrupted. Ragatha was so grateful for that and turned away to give them some privacy.
"Pomni was very brave. At least, I think she was... " Kinger declared. He scratched his head in thought, trying to remember. He turned to Pomni. "Were you?"
"Something like that." Pomni stared at him fondly.
"Hey, Ragatha," she heard Pomni say.
Ragatha immediately turned to her, anxious as to what Pomni had to say to her. She kept her nerves behind a smile. "Yeah?"
"I just want to say…" Pomni looked away, her face scrunched in thought for a moment as she sighed. Was Pomni nervous, too? "Thanks for always being concerned about me." She put a strand of hair behind her ear. Ragatha's face softened. The jester still retained some habits from her human form, and it made her awfully adorable. "I feel like, through everything, I haven't really been appreciative enough about that."
The confession took Ragatha aback. She wasn't expecting Pomni to just recognize her effort, even less valuing them. Nobody had done that here for her. A pleasant feeling spread through her body. It warmed her heart. Ragatha had forgotten how wonderful it felt to be seen.
The realization was almost enough to send her to tears. She mentally scolded herself for that. Pomni was just being nice. A lump formed in her throat.
She blinked away the tears as she caught herself. "O-Oh! Thank you, Pomni. I just want to make sure you're doing alright. You know, we care about you."
"Did you remember to get my comedy mask?" Gangle spoke up, completely derailing the heartfelt moment.
Kinger cursed, and Pomni hid a nervous grin behind her hand at that. Ragatha wasn't paying attention to him, nor was she worried about Gangle's mask. Instead, she was still riding the high from Pomni's comment.
A portal appeared, and they all crossed it.
When Ragatha got back to her room, she noticed that she still felt something in her throat. She tried to clear it, but nothing changed. Maybe it was something from the manor? She tried again, forcing some coughs until the discomfort was gone.
The simple action of looking down at her hand left Ragatha completely baffled. She had just coughed up a red petal.
"Uh?"