Chapter Text
Chapter 1 – Dreams
“I don’t want to go…”
Jax, or maybe what was left of his mind, sat on a bench he knew isn’t real. It was on a ground he knew isn’t real, beside a lamppost he knew isn’t real. He looked up at the stars above he knew isn’t real, and thought about the pain that he caused. That was real.
He does not know how long he has been sitting here. Sometimes, Pomni visits. She sits beside him, she tells him all the unbelievable things she and the others have done, and then disappears.
The seat beside him was empty for a long time now.
Was that it? Did she finally stop caring about him? Like he deserves?
Or… has it been so long that she herself has abstracted?
He hated both options, but knew he could not do anything about it… except maybe cry.
He put his face on his hands and sobs.
He wants, he wishes, that he did things differently.
Pomni made him see that he was loved… and it made him feel worse.
An eternity of regret is what he deserved, but… is it really too late for him to absolve his wrong doings, or is it just a dream? A dream of a doomed rabbit, laying in the bed he made. Or rather, sitting on a bench.
Speaking of, someone sat next to him.
Pomni? He quickly wiped his tears and faced her.
“What took you so long, Pom—”
His words stopped. Right next to him was some distorted light blob. Someone was there sure, but he cannot make out who.
“Hello, Jax.” It greeted.
The voice was distorted as well. He could not tell who it belonged to.
“W-who are you?”
It does not respond for a while. Even though he cannot see it, Jax knows that it is staring at him.
Finally, it responds. “I’m an angel.”
He blinked in shock. An… angel? Was it an angel of death? A proper reaper to finally take him? With someone like him, there was only one place to go…
Tears fall down his eyes. This was it. His heart, if he even still had one, was filled with the pain of knowing he will leave this world a murderer and an abuser. Regret and anguish is all he knows now.
“Why are you crying?”
He automatically flinched at that question. His parents would ask him that before things get worse… yet somehow, coming from this thing, it was comforting. One last gift before passing on, perhaps?
“I-I’m gonna die. Not just abstract, d-die.” He stuttered. “I’m gonna die, knowing I can’t ever make up for what I did.” He broke down into a full cry.
The angel patiently let him let it all out.
“I’ve been a monster.” He continued. “Too scared to let people in, so I just…” his breath hitched, and he continued crying for a while before he spoke again. “My fault.” He sniffed. “I have no one to blame but me.”
The angel was motionless as Jax sat up straight and wiped his eyes dry.
“I wish I could have given the love shown to me by Ribbit, by Pomni… I would have given it back to them, to everyone, tenfold!” He declared.
“You would?” The angel asked.
Jax turned to face it and nodded. “In a heartbeat.”
“Do you promise?”
Jax blinked. He tilted his head in confusion. “…what?”
“Do. You. Promise?”
Finding a bit of resolve, Jax nodded again. “I promise.”
“…I accept your terms.”
The angel summoned a… video? It appeared in front of the bench. The video was of him. It was a livestream of him. As he waved, Jax in the video waved as well.
A small piece of entertainment for him, but it had to stop.
The video started rewinding backwards.
Jax winced, seeing all his wrong-doings. The fight with Pomni, his abuse of Gangle, throwing Zooble in a volcano, putting Ragatha in a fryer.
He sobbed and closed his eyes. It was agony, seeing this again.
After a while, the angel spoke up. “Here.”
Jax hesitantly peaked at the screen. His eyes widened when he saw what was on screen.
It was that day he opened up to Ribbit.
He was stunned, seeing this again.
“Do you not remember this?” The angel asked.
To his horror, the video played. He watched as he threw down the ribbon on his head after Kaufmo knocked and rang Ribbit’s doorbell.
“STOP! PLEASE!” He yelled.
The video stopped and the angel spoke. “Here is your first stop.”
Confused again, he was about to ask what the angel meant, when the video grew in size.
“Step in, and fulfill your promise.”
Jax stood up. “Is this…?” For the first time in a very long time, he felt hope. “Is it really—?”
“Fulfill your promise.” The angel demanded.
He closed his eyes and breathed in slow. “I will.”
Jax stepped into the video.