Chapter Text
Jax had gone to his room and the idea tempted Ragatha as well speaking first, "Jax is probably right though we should head to bed. We don't know when Caine is going to come back," Zooble and Gangle nodded in agreement making their way to their rooms, "Have a good night guys. Do try to get some sleep, I wouldn't want to be the only one doing this adventure just for Caine to get mad." said Zooble before entering their room. Ragatha waved them goodnight not taking note she couldn't tell. She'd have to ask about it later in a non-prying way.
It was awhile before Ragatha spoke again, "Are you sure you want to stay out here with Kinger Pomni? I can take a shift if you need to."
Pomni answered Ragatha quietly, "I should be good, if I need to though I'll let you know". There was a silence of Ragatha being in her own thoughts before she realized she should probably get some sleep, "Have a good night Pomni."
Ragatha made her way to her door being careful not to be loud about it. Once the door closed she made her way to her bed laying down and doing her best to ignore the room around her. She didn't particularly enjoy her room as she tried to spend more time out of it. Burying her face in her pillows she thought about how the day had gone rethinking every interaction she had with Pomni and worried about what Jax might be doing to make it feel like Pomni was pulling away from her. As her mind spiraled she rolled over groaning, pulling her hand over her face getting exhausted.
When she opened her eyes again she was falling, she wasn't aware for how long and it terrified her. Ragatha screamed on the way down looking for anything in the dark void before noticing a light approaching her. She squinted trying to make out what it could be as she fell.
From what she could tell she was falling towards was a stained glass pillar. The glass depicted herself in the center splitting what seemed to be a dark and light side. Her hands were to her chest, the one eye she had shut. Once Ragatha slowed she tried to get a better look at the different sides of the glass.
On the left side were deceptions of abstractions roaming the circus as her friends fled them. She stood in front of the abstraction with something next to her on the floor. She didn't recognize what it was from previous adventures and she shivered at the sight. It had a handle of what looked to be a spinning wheel with a long thin spool of purple thread coming out one side and a needle poking out of the top.
Ragatha looked towards the other side, the wind in her ears becoming quieter as she slowed down. The right side of the glass showed her side profile kneeling with her hands up as if she was giving something up. The rest of the cast's hands were supporting her back though she noted Jax's arm was pink instead of the usual purple.
Once she landed on the glass she heard Caine's voice boom from the dark void, his voice sounded distant and echoed as if he was trying to be mysterious. "I had so much to do in so little time just for this adventure that I really didn't test how you guys would handle it. So I kind of just sent you guys as soon as I was done."
Ragatha facepalmed and let out a disgruntled noise. Caine could've waited until they all had slept and woken up already, but no he had to do it as soon as it was ready. "%$#! Caine what the hell are you going to put us through?"
The silence of the void was deafening as the ringleader didn't answer back. Ragatha had figured he'd stay a bit longer to explain the adventure, but he seemed to be already gone. Turning away from the dark void she thought she could see other pillars out in the distance. She counted 5 more each of them their own color and design, though there was not telling who was on each of them.
Ragatha went to grab something from her pockets when she realized she was in a different getup than her normal one. This must've been her adventure outfit. The white tank top felt wrong on her body since she was used to being in a dress all the time. The pink shorts were a nice change of pace though. Ragatha stared at her legs getting used to them being exposed to the digital air.
Some time had passed as she walked around trying to make sense of the glass and trying to get used to her new outfit. It was missing something for her though she wasn't sure what to add on. Looking up from the floor did she notice the staircase up to another glass pillar. She slowly made her way up trying to see if she could spot anyone else out in the void with her new vantage point.
Once she got to the top and realized she had no luck in spotting anyone, she pulled her attention away and moved it to her own situation. She looked down the stairs noting that the steps were disappearing, it was as if disembodied eyes were eating. They didn't look like some of Caine's all seeing eyes and that unnerved Ragatha.
Turning quickly around the glass design that she was on showed the same as the last one though the weapon as she recognized it now on the dark side was in her hands in front of her. She was confused at why such a small change was warranted, but didn't put much thought into it as she could hear the eyes moving behind her.
"This is going to be one of those longer adventures so don't think you'll be able to speedrun your way out of this one." Caine's voice boomed again as a door appeared in front of Ragatha. It was an ornate metal door that looked heavy to move. She liked the flower design on it that went around the edges, but ignoring Caine's advice in moving slowly and pushed quickly into the door. The light blinded her as she opened the door towards her and walked though. She covered her eyes until she heard seagulls in the air.
Seagulls? Wasn't she on the glass still? Opening her eyes carefully Ragatha took the sight of the beach in. It wasn't the same beach as the one outside the tent, though still the same. She quickly looked around for the others just in case they ended up here with her to no avail. She was truly alone on the beach. With a frown she started to explore working her way to the tower first.
Arriving at the tower she took note of how unsafe the stairs looked and how the ladder had seen better days. Taking her chances she put pressure on the stairs and found it to be surprisingly steady. Working her way up the tower she thought about the eyes that ate up the staircase. They seemed familiar in a horrifying way. The colors of them change constantly. How sharp they looked. How angry they seemed to be for not getting Ragatha in time.
Once reaching the top she looked down on the beach where she arrived hoping to see someone popping into existence next. What she saw made her stiff. A green frog with a yellow shirt and blue pants was sitting on the edge of the water looking longingly towards the water.
Her mind was racing at the impossibility of it. How could they be here and how were they here? Did Caine somehow find a way to reverse what had happened? If so, why didn't he just tell the cast? Ragatha had so many questions, and not enough answers.
She turned her head away from the beach surveying the area. This was when she realized that she had been put on an island and something was telling her that Caine had something else in mind for the island critters. Maybe it had something to do with the person on the beach. Sure, Ragatha nodded her head, that's what it was, something made up by Caine to mess with them and torment them a little more. An NPC that's all it was.
Spotting a wooden shack she took note of its destination and moved to checkup on the NPC; it hadn't moved a single inch. Ragatha let out a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding. It must be a smaller proximity trigger to make it start moving.
Something caught her eye near her foot. Bending down and picking it up she noted it was a seashell and with a couple more they could look like a star. That's when she got an idea.
Looking around the tower top to look for other seashells she was worried the NPC somehow making its way up to her and start asking questions. Trying to wrap her head around why Caine would do something like this. of course Caine had mentioned wanting there to be stake in previous conversations, but she never imagined that would be how he might go about that.
She would've taken the slide down the tower, but once she caught sight of the NPC she wanted no reason to get anywhere close. Normally she would be all right with talking to anyone in the adventures, but who she saw made her shiver. They reminded herself why she tried so hard to be kind in the Circus. Being friends with everyone was easy when you didn't have to face the cause of it.
Once she reached the bottom of the staircase she noted a door hiding in the dark. It looked like one of the hallway doors, though there was no character icon on it and there was no way to open it. Before Ragatha could touch it she noticed a rock on the ground. Picking it up she carved her finding the door near the door just in case she was gone later.
She heard a flutter of cloth behind her, expecting the NPC she saw earlier she turned quickly only to see the NPC still at the edge of the water. She shook her head wondering if she was just tired from being taken straight from her bed. Making her way out of the tower she made her way to the wooden shack she saw earlier.
The forest wasn't as dense as she thought it was and she swore that she accidentally walked through one of the trees, though being in your own head does wonders in trying to remember what happened only seconds ago. Hitting her head hard in an attempt to repeat what she thought happened she hissed in pain not wanting to yell and alert them on the beach. Holding her head a coconut fell on top of her head bouncing onto the ground with an unceremonious and soft crack.
She hated when she was wrong, thankfully Jax wasn't here to point it out and rub it in her face. Then again it was probably better that way, maybe that was what Caine was trying to test. Having different adventures happening at once. Her eye shot open at the eureka moment.
Arriving at the cabin with a new spring in her step she opened the door to essentially nothing. The only thing there was a green circle. Approaching it she stepped in carefully as if trying to tiptoe her way in. The circle made a noise but she didn't feel any different. Though she did note that her stitches felt tighter and her stuffing more dense. She shrugged, thinking it was a placebo and that nothing had happened.
"Well well well, you weren't the first person I was expecting to see here."
Ragatha froze hearing their voice not wanting to turn around and look at it in the eyes. Why would it be using that voice? It was as if Caine was tormenting her with their visage and sound. She ran through all the possibilities in her mind in how to react. Should she just play it off? Act like nothing happened? Make an excuse- wait a minute, who were they expecting? Had she not been the first one here?
"I know it's been awhile, Ragatha, but it doesn't mean you get to run off into the forest just cause you got bored." They were starting to sound annoyed and had closed the door.
Ragatha could work with that, maybe she could play off them maybe being here for some time and Caine working a background into their story. Ragatha turned around putting her cheery face first and waving, "Sorry about that, I just saw something that caught my eye. Remind me who were you expecting?"
Ragatha was certain now. Caine had brought Ribbit back in some capacity for at least this part of the adventure and was almost puppeteering them to how they used to act. Their clothes might have been different, but they certainly acted the same.
Ribbit sighed, putting their hands on their hips, "I was expecting Jax."