Chapter Text
Pomni laid motionless buried beneath her blankets, the endless ticking from the clock on her wall was beginning to make her head throb
Why did she ever agree to that damn thing on her wall? She frowned at the thought, regretting her decision.
She wanted to smash that stupid clock on the floor.
Groggily she rubbed her eyes, squinting in the darkness,
3:11 am.
Sighing, she rolled over, staring blankly at the ceiling above her bed.
Caine meant well, when he suggested clocks for the residents of the circus, so they would have a means to tell the time.
"So all you beautiful humans, can keep track of your day!" He beamed, feeling proud.
He was trying so hard to make up for all the chaos he had caused.
She would just have to ask him for a digital clock instead and not a ticking one that was slowly beginning to make her go crazy.
Every day little by little, he tried in small ways to make life better for her and the others. It was beginning to make a difference and slowly they were learning to trust him again.
Even so though, the weight of learning that they were all in fact digital copies of their human selves, was not an easy fact to accept
Not to mention that, one of them was gone now.
And no matter how busy they tried to be, things just didn't feel the same. In his absence they all felt the emptiness that was beginning to settle into the very walls of their home
“I don't want to go.”
Pomni felt hot tears form in the corners of her eyes, clutching her pillow tightly over her eyes to erase the image of the last time she saw him.
She could still hear him though, even now, calling out desperately to her in the darkness
Had it really already been 3 months?
“Please, I don't want to go..”
“Jax, stay with me alright? I'm not going anywhere”
That was a lie.
Stop..stop thinking Pomni told herself.
Siting up, she hugged her pillow tightly, in an attempt to comfort herself.
There would be no sleeping now.
Not until she could clear her mind.
3:17 am
Maybe a walk, she thought, would help her feel tired enough to attempt sleep again. If she went now, she was less likely to run into someone as well.
She scooted to the edge of the bed, nestling her feet into a pair of black fuzzy cat slippers, taking a moment to distract herself and appreciate how soft they felt. Like walking on a cloud.
One of the better things they now had was the choice of choosing their wardrobe.
Pomni felt proud of suggesting it to Caine, and though he had lost most of his powers, he was still able to produce a large chest of clothing, which everyone eagerly dove into.
Pomni was wearing an oversized nightshirt with a cat on it, and black shorts with little white paw prints on them.
Originally Gangle had grabbed the outfit, and she bashfully, handed them to Pomni,
“Here, I think these would look better on you. She had stammered quietly while blushing.
Pomni, smiled lightly at the memory while playing with the hem of her pajamas.
She was lucky to have such amazing friends.
Ragatha, Gangle, Zooble, and kinger, she was so grateful for them, even Caine.
But lately she was beginning to find it exhausting being around them.
They all saw through her smiles, they could see she was in pain.
That she missed him. And every time one of them asked her how she was doing, or if she wanted to talk about it, that facade would crumble away.
The last thing Pomni wanted was to be a burden to her friends. Lately she began to find solace at night , at least in her room, she could be alone, and no one would ask her how she was feeling.
She quietly crept to her door, opening it slowly. The hallway was dimly lit, from a door slightly ajar at the end of the hallway.
Zooble’s room.
They were often up late, being a night owl.
As pomni drew closer to their room, she could hear Gangle’s voice, and quiet giggling.
It was no secret what Gangle and Zooble were to eachother, even if they tried to hide it.
Even though Pomni was happy for her friends, she envied them in some ways.
What they had. What she could have had, would never happen now.
She continued, unnoticed, in the darkness, her footsteps masked by the soft soles of her slippers.
In the center of the main room, Jax’s fort loomed large, and tall casting eerie shadows on the checkered floor.
It took alot of convincing to get Cain to agree to let Jax’s abstracted form stay amongst everyone else.
Surprisingly, what ended up convincing Caine, was how calm , Jax’s abstracted form was compared to the others. That fact alone spared him the banishment down in the depths of the cellar. At least for now.
Pomni seemed to have quelled him somewhat in his mindscape it seemed.
She often visited, at the edge of the fort, (This was as close as she could get without Caine or her friends stopping her) checking in on him, almost hoping that somehow he would return to his normal self, walking out of the fort, winking at Pomni, with that mischievous smile that she missed so much.
“What's up dork? Long time no see!”
But it was no use. It would never happen. Caine was 100 percent on that.
When a mind file abstracts, there is no saving it.
Jax was gone.
Pomni could feel her face getting flushed once more, the guilt hitting her once more. It left a bad taste in her throat.
If only she had followed him, when he hesitated and turned his back to her, as he disappeared in the darkness.
Maybe he still would be here, had she reached out to him.
Maybe if he knew, how she actually felt, he would have wanted to fight.
Now it was too late.
She would never get the chance to tell him, how she really felt.
The finality of it was too much to bear, and it took everything in her not to get lost in it.
Breathe..she told herself inhale..exhale.
“You know we can't actually breathe right Pomni? Hello? No lungs! Like that's going to do anything”
She chuckled softly, Jax definitely would be making fun of her in this anxious state.
Pomni paused at the entrance to the tent, debating about entering it. If Caine caught her, in there at this hour, it would end in a lecture for sure.
Then something caught her eye.
Tiny, gold and glowing, floating in the air, followed by another.
At the doorway to the circus tent, these small little orbs were floating, dancing, glowing even more by the light of the moon.
Pomni put a hand out as one came towards her, it's soft light illuminating her face.
It was a firefly.
When she was a child, she was fond of catching them. A wave of nostalgia washed over her, calming her nerves.
She turned towards the entrance, following the fireflies outside.
Squinting she emerged from the circus tent, everything was bathed in the soft glow of moonlight, stars twinkling in the night sky.
The Fireflies floated down the main pathway, into the forest towards the digital lake.
Entranced, Pomni ventured down the path, cast under the spell of the fireflies dance.
Without even realizing it, she found herself at the edge of the lake.
The Fireflies reflected on the water's surface, every so often one would touch the water's surface, making golden ripples.
It was so beautiful outside, and she couldn't help but feel somewhat better.
Pomni, knelt at the water's Edge, gazing at her reflection.
Her hair was a tangled mess, and her eyes were bloodshot from crying.
What a contrast to the scenery around her.
She chuckled in the irony of the moment, and how relieved she felt no one was around to see her like this.
Pomni!!!
She froze, was her mind playing tricks on her? It, it couldn't be.
“Hello!! I'm talking to you dork!
Shaking she turned her head around, still kneeling in the sand
“Jax?!?”