Chapter Text
It had been a few weeks since the circus had been rebuilt. Everyone, except for Gangle, would occasionally visit Jax in the tent. Pomni visited almost daily.
The atmosphere within the tent felt off as Pomni stepped inside. Despite the entire tent being deprived of all lighting, the abstraction within was outlined in jagged edges and thrashing around as if it were trying to break free. The soft glow had turned into a cycle of flashing lights. Something was irritating the abstraction but it wasn't clear what it was.
Pomni quickly scanned the room, checking to see if there were any spots where light could leak through. There wasn't anything obvious, so she continued walking into the tent.
"Jax…? What's going on?" She asked cautiously. She didn't get a response. Jax continued to writhe around in pain.
"I'll come and help you. Just… try and calm down."
As Pomni stepped closer to Jax's abstraction, the tent faded away. The exit was gone.
With each step, the pink rings of light returned. Pomni looked down to watch as the light rippled away from her. Once she looked back up, Jax was just a few feet away from her. The pink lamp that Jax had stood next to previously was glowing even brighter—it was the only thing that illuminated the dark space..
"You're back," Jax said, turning to face Pomni.
"I've always been around," Pomni replied. She took another step forward.
"I mean back in here. It's hard to do or understand anything out there while being abstracted, you know."
Pomni nodded and continued forward, the pink rings of light continuing to appear with each step. An invisible force pushed the rings closer to Jax.
Jax put her hands on her hips. "Why? Why are you back? You know there's no way to save me."
Pomni stopped and looked up. "You were- well, your abstraction was acting weird. It's in the tent but it's become… hostile."
"Yeah, that's what happens when you leave your pet dog alone in the dark."
"Jax, we're still trying to-"
"Don't. Don't call me that," she snapped, her eyes beginning to tear up. A familiar tune echoed throughout the space.
"I- I'm sorry. What do you want me to call you…?" Pomni asked.
"Just- Not Jax," she replied. "I'll figure it out."
Pomni stayed silent as she continued approaching ■■■. The tune playing in the background grew louder. The name of the song was on the tip of her tongue.
■■■ wiped the tears from her eyes and let out a shaky sigh, breaking the silence. "I'm going to be stuck in here forever. I deserve it."
Pomni shook her head. "You deserve another chance. You deserve to be happy."
"No! You… you saw everything. I can't let that happen again," ■■■ wailed.
The rings combined into one solid circle under ■■■, illuminating her from underneath. The circle pulsed in sync with the tune that played in the background. Pomni began to recognize it. ■■■ had played it in the room with the three other ■■■es.
"It won't happen again. You're a different person from the you in the real world," Pomni attempted to explain. The entire room began to glow pink.
"The me in the real world gets to live an actual life and I'm… I'm fucking trapped in my own mind! Do you think that's fair?" ■■■ began to rant.
The music stopped and everything went dark.